Page:History of Greece Vol II.djvu/78

 2 HISTORY OP GREECE. from the enemy, a large previous share, comprising probably the most alluring female captive, is reserved for him, apart from the general distribution. 1 Iliad, ix. 154-297 ("when Agamemnon is promising seven townships to Achilles, as a means of appeasing his wrath J : 'Ev 6' uvdpef vaiovai -Ko^vp Ol KE ae duTivricn, &ebv we, Kai aot ii/ro cvc^Trrpcj hmapur TfTiiovai defiiaraf. See Iliad, xii. 312; and the reproaches of Thersites (ii. 226) /3cKH?.r/e? 6upou-yovs CHesiod, Opp. Di. 38-264). The Roman kings had a large repevof assigned to them, '' agri, arva, et arbusta et pascui loeti atque uberes " ( Cicero, De Republ. v. 2) : the German kings received presents : " Mos est civitatibus (observes Tacitus, respecting the Germans whom he describes, M. G. 15} ultra ac viritim conferre princip- ibus, vel armentorum vel frugum, quod pro honore acceptum etiam necessi- tatibus subvenit." The revenue of the Persian, kings before Darius consisted only of what were called dtipa, or presents (Herod, iii. 89) : Darius first introduced both the name of tribute and the determinate assessment. King Polydektes, in Seriphos, invites his friends to a festival, the condition of which is that each guest shall 'contribute to an epavof for his benefit (Pherckydes, Fragm. 2G, ed. Didot); a case to which the Thracian banquet prepared by Seuthes affords an exact parallel ('Xenophon, Anab. vii. 3, 16-32 : compare Thucyd. ii. 97, and Welcker, ^Eschyl. Trilogie, p. 381). Such Aids, or Benevolences, even If originally voluntary, became in the end compulsory. In the Euro- pean monarchies of the Middle Ages, what were called free gifts were more ancient than public taxes : " The feudal Aids (observes Mr. Hallam) are the beginning of taxation, of which they for a long time answered the purpose." (Middle Ages, ch. ii. part i. p. 189.) So about the Aides in the old Trench Monarchy, " La Cour des Aides avoit etc institute, et sa jurisdiction s'etoit formee, lorsque le domaine des Hois suffisoit a toutes les depenses de 1'Etat, les droits d'Aides etoient alors des supple'mens peu considerables et tonjours temporaires. Depuis, le domaine des Hois avoit ^te aneanti : les Aides, an contraire, etoient devenues permanentes et formoient presque la totalite dea ressources du tre'sor." (Histoire de la Fronde, par M. de St. Aulaire, ch. iii. p. 124.) 1 'Erri pi)Tol<; yk^aai TrarpiKal paai'hflai, is the description which Thucy- dides gives of these heroic governments (i. 13). The language of Aristotle (Polit. iii. 10, 1) is much the same : 'II fiaait.eia T! nept roi>s j/putKovf %povovc avrj) <5' qv inovruv fj.lv, iiri rial J' upiapi- 9oif orparqybc 5' ?/f Kal diKaarft 6 /3aat/lct)f, Kal ruv Kpbf Tovf ?coti{ Kt'ptOf. It can hardly be said correctly, however, that the king's authority was Defined : nothing can well be more indefinite. Agamemnon enjoyed or assumed the power of putting to death a disobo-