Chapter VIII 



THE NEW ERA 



Many readers who have not had much time to study 

 world-history will have been surprised to read that 

 the fall of Rome involved a complete suspension of 

 the story of the evolution of civilization. It is 

 generally thought by the inexpert that there was a 

 more or less continuous advance ; that, in fact, the 

 world made greater progress than ever after the fall 

 of Rome. Now, if the reader wishes to have a 

 mentally satisfactory view of the world's progress, 

 and especially if he wishes to preserve something 

 like a faith in man and a trust in evolution, it is 

 very necessary to correct this error. The error is, of 

 course, not due to any difference of opinion among 

 historians. Every serious historian now admits that 

 European civilization perished with Rome. 



Let us sum up our impressions from our survey of 

 the older world. The chief impression of those who 

 make this survey for the first time is one of surprise, 

 if not bewilderment, to find so much that we regard 

 as distinctively modern well known thousands of 

 years ago. Perfect drains in ancient Crete and 

 irrigation and engineering, if not magnifying lenses 

 (it is said that one has been found) in Babylon, four 

 thousand years ago, are surprising enough. On the 

 scientific side, however, we are not troubled. Our 

 age is in this respect incalculably beyond any age 



105 h 



