Page:Ancienthistory01myergoog.djvu/9



I cannot perhaps better introduce what I have to say here than by quoting the following paragraph from the preface to the 1888 edition of this work. "The following pages are a revision and expansion of ... my Outlines of Ancient History, which was published as a library book in 1882 by Messrs. Harper & Brothers. It is through the generous action of these publishers that I have had the advantage of making this earlier work the basis of the present text-book."

After the lapse of sixteen more years I now give out the present revised edition. The Oriental portion of the work has been almost wholly rewritten; the Greek part is based on my History of Greece (1895); the Roman portion on my Rome: Its Rise and Fall (1901).

Besides this brief statement of fact there are various other things relating to the scope and aim of the work that might properly enough be said in this place; but the book must speak for itself. I write these prefatory words solely to express my gratitude to those who have helped me, and in doing this to disclaim title to that which does not belong to me. It would not be right should I withhold the fact that during the years I have labored on the volume I have from time to time been assisted by several eminent historical scholars, and that, while the faults of the book are all my own, to these scholars should be ascribed in part whatever merits it may possess. To Professor Nathaniel Schmidt of Cornell University I am deeply indebted for aiding me in the revision of the proof sheets of the chapters of the Oriental part of the volume; to Dr. Rufus B. Richardson, for many years head of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, I owe special thanks for reading the proofs of the Greek portion; to Dr. Eduard Meyer of the University of Halle and