Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 11.djvu/125

Rh trous to the Romans also. The period when it occurred was that of the rise of the Saracens, and the exhaustion caused by it contributed in no slight degree to the exten sion of their power.

We turn now to the condition of the Greeks during this period. In the interval between the first Gothic invasions and the accession of Constantino the material prosperity of Greece had increased, owing partly to the devastation of the provinces to the north of that country, the wealthy inhabi tants of which were forced to take refuge in Greece, and partly to the insecurity of the Red Sea, Egypt, and Syria, which caused the commerce of Central Asia to take the route of the Black Sea, whence the trade of the Mediter ranean passed once more into tbe hands of the Greeks. It can hardly be said that the reforms of Constantino benefited the population, because of the severe exactions they intro duced ; for, as. has been already mentioned, the rich were forced to supply from their own incomes any deficiency that might occur in their district, and by this means, before Justinian s time, the class of great landed proprietors had been extinguished. But the fixed position which the clergy and the lawyers obtained under Constantine s system was a general advantage, because this constitutional check modified the oppressiveness of the Government in its dealings with the people. In the case of the latter of these two orders the effect would have been greater, had not Latin been the language of legal business until after the time of Justinian. The period of 120 years between the death of Arcadius and that emperor s accession was a time of improvement. During the long reign of Theodosius II. the power was in the hands of his sister, the philanthropic Pulcheria, and of his ministers, and these seem to have ruled judiciously ; and the five succeeding emperors, Marcian, Leo I., Zeno the Isaurian, Anastasius, and Justin, were all men born in the middle or lower class of society, and of provincial origin, and had come to the throne at a mature age. The sympathy which they thus had with the body of their subjects accounts for their economy, and for their endeavours to restore the re sources of the empire and alleviate its burdens, and generally to introduce regular forms of procedure into public business. Far different was the case with Justinian, whose severe demands for money distressed all classes of his subjects. Uhens. But it was on Athens that h .s hand was most heavily laid. That city was still a literary capital where Hellenic learning was cultivated ; and if the Hero and Leander of Musaeus and that graceful pastoral romance, the Daphnis and Chloe of Longus, are to be assigned to so late a date as the fifth century, the spirit of the ancient literature had not long been extinct among the Greeks. The ancient buildings still existed in all their splendour ; the citizens lived a life of quiet, self-complacent ease ; and the paganism, of which it was now the centre, had been purified from its vices by the maxims of philosophy and the influence of Christianity. It remained for Justinian, in his merciless centralization, to close its schools and confiscate their revenues. At the same time the Olympian games were brought to an end. From this time onward the inhabitants of Hellas are but little heard of, and at the beginning of the 8th century we find them spoken of by Byzantine writers under the contemp tuous title of Helladici, while the Greek nation is represented by the population of Constantinople and Asia Minor. Yet this period was not wholly disadvantageous to Greece. As the danger from the invading barbarians increased, its citizens regained the power of using arms, and revived a municipal administration to direct their efforts. It was also in Justinian s reign that silkworms were introduced from China, and the manufacture of silk became a profitable source of revenue to Thebes and other towns.

One result of the financial legislation of this time was a change which, though the lawgivers certainly did not foresee it, was most beneficial in its effects. This was the gradual Extim extinction of slavery in the Eastern empire. The power tion o that effected this was not Christianity, for that religion had s ^ aver l recognized slavery as an institution, nor yet civilization, for that among the Greeks was intimately connected with the employment of slaves. It was rather produced by an alteration that was taking place in the condition of certain classes, which annihilated the distinction between the free man and the slave. When the oppressiveness of taxation had destroyed the wealthy proprietors, and, in order to pre vent the land from falling out of cultivation and thus diminishing the revenue, the cultivators of the land were tied to the soil, the poorer class of freemen began to sink down into the condition of serfs. On the other hand the slaves who were employed in agriculture became for the same reason an object of solicitude to the legislature, and their proprietors were forbidden to alienate them. They thus acquired a recognized position, not far removed from serfdom ; and when all the lower class were reduced to the same state of poverty, the difference in the political status of the two orders came to be obliterated. Many centuries elapsed before this change fully worked itself out. The slave trade was still an important branch of commerce in the Roman empire, and freemen were sold as slaves if they failed to pay their taxes ; but henceforth the system was doomed to ultimate extinction. When we consider the ex tent to which slavery prevailed in the ancient world, and the misery which it caused, we cannot regret the circum stances which caused it to disappear, even though they were accompanied by much suffering.

It is important also to remark, now that we are The s approaching the period of change from ancient to modern *&amp;lt; &amp;gt;&amp;gt; society, that the decline of civilization in the later Roman. empire was not owing to degeneration in the people them- at f. u selves, or to an inevitable downward tendency in highly civilized communities. It is a mistake to attribute to decay in human character changes that are clearly trace able to the need of such external resources as are indis pensable for its development. The prohibition to carry arms necessarily renders a people unwarlike. Where municipal institutions are discouraged, public opinion soon becomes powerless. When the resources which might be employed in constructing roads are withdrawn, communica tion ceases, and with it the interchange of ideas and other influences by which the intellect is quickened. The degra dation was produced by the injustice of the Government, which pillaged its subjects, and systematically destroyed all independence among them. Whenever the iron hand was removed, they showed signs of renewed life and vigour, but the strength of the central power was too great to encourage any hope of resisting it successfull} 7. They had no choice but to sit down under it, and suffer it to drain their life-blood by slow degrees.

At the commencement of the 8th century the extinction of the empire of the East appeared to be imminent. The same causes which had overthrown the Western empire were threatening it with destruction. The Saracens had overrun all its Asiatic possessions, and had attacked the capital itself, while in Europe it was threatened by the Bulgarians. The provinces were falling off: Syria, Egypt, Africa, and the conquered provinces of Spain were wholly lost, and in Italy the dominions of the exarchate were greatly circumscribed by the Lombards. At home rebellion prevailed in the army, and anarchy in the government, six emperors having been dethroned within the space of twenty-one years. It seemed as if the Greek race itself would be destroyed ; in the countries conquered by the Saracens the Greeks were almost exterminated, and Greek civilization proscribed, while Hellas was threatened with occupation by the barbarians. But at this moment the helm of the state was 