206 



THE POPULAE EDUCATOE. 



the productive resources of the earth declined as it became 

 Romanised. 



The Romans were, however, too sagacious to rest satisfied 

 with barren conquests. Though unwilling to labour, they 

 stimulated industry to a certain degree in every country that 

 came under their sway. They removed the sense of subjuga- 

 tion by enrolling the conquered people as part and parcel of the 

 empire. They made roads and bridges, they built cities and 

 aqueducts, and brought the soil into cultivation. They en- 

 couraged the arts and sciences of the Greeks, and extended their 

 own civilisation to many other countries. The Romans, like- 

 wise, in obtaining the supremacy of the world, put an end to 

 the incessant petty warfare between rival states, and established 

 an unrestricted trade and a community of interests in all their 

 provinces. Their chief service to commerce was that of render- 

 ing intercommunication everywhere easy and safe. Their great 

 works in road-making spread over every province, from Britain 

 to the Euphrates. So broad and solid were many of these roads 

 that parts still remain entire. Watling Street in our own 

 country is an example. This road led from the Kentish coast 

 through London to Carnarvon, and is still one of the best English 

 roads. 



After good roads followed the system of posts or stages, by 

 which couriers in the service of the emperors could change 

 horses a plan said to have been first used by Cyrus. The 

 posts only conveyed public despatches. Post-offices, as we 

 understand them, are quite of modern origin, Louis XI. having 

 introduced them into France, and Charles II. into England. 



Our monetary and banking systems have both been founded 

 on Roman practices. The s. d. of accounts are the initials of 

 libra, solidi, and denarii Latin terms applied to the metals 

 used as media of exchange, whether by weight or coinage. 



There were in Rome government banks, private banks, and 

 loan banks. A prevalent prejudice against receiving interest 

 for money lent caused the private bankers to be but little 

 esteemed ; but the government banks were managed by men 

 of high position. Loan banks lent money on land and other 

 property, for a certain term, without interest. The Romans 

 also (some say the Rhodians) introduced underwriting or marine 

 insurance. 



The downfall of the Western Empire marks an epoch in 

 political and commercial history. The relation between the 

 different nations entirely changed at this period. It is the 

 historian's line of demarcation between ancient history and that 

 of the Middle Ages. 



CHAPTER XIII. THE NATIONS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, 



FROM B.C. 476 TO A.D. 1453. 



COMMERCIAL RELATIONS OF THE BYZANTINE OR EASTERN 

 ROMAN EMPIRE. 



SEATED upon two continents, on each side of the narrow strait 

 between the Euxine and the Mediterranean, Constantinople has 

 an unrivalled position. Its site was selected by the Greek 

 colonisers with a sagacity to which, as Hallam observes, the 

 course of events has given the appearance of prescience. Under 

 the name of Byzantium, the city flourished for a thousand years 

 (B.C. 658 to A.D. 330). It was alternately held during the 

 Peloponnesian wars by the Athenians and Lacedaemonians, 

 and after the expulsion of the latter (B.C. 390) by Thrasybulus, 

 it remained for some time independent. The Macedonians were 

 afterwards masters of the city. Severus (A.D. 196) took it after 

 a three years' siege, and razed a large part of it to the ground. 

 Constantino (A.D. 330) rebuilt it, called it after his own name, 

 and removed thither the seat of empire from Rome. But the 

 Eternal City could not be thus easily stripped of its metro- 

 politan rank. The removal of the capital led ere long to the 

 division of the Roman world into Eastern and Western Empires. 

 Constantinople became the centre of a power Greek in cha- 

 racter, Roman in name. 



We have seen how, after the conquest of Greece, Egypt, and 

 the East, Rome was flooded with ill-gotten wealth. The citizens 

 made display the chief aim of existence ; wealth became mere 

 tinsel, and outward prosperity a hollow mask. At length, 

 Western and Southern Europe were overrun by tribes of bar- 

 barians, who trampled in the dust the glitter of Rome, and with 

 it destroyed the previous geographical knowledge arising out of 

 the world's commerce. 



The feudal system had its origin in the period of anarchy 



following the irruptions of the Goths and Huns, by whom 

 industry and trade were regarded as effeminate. For centuries 

 distinction amongst the great was measured by landed pos- 

 sessions and the number of vassals. War was the only means 

 of increasing property, and bands of idle retainers were kept, ever 

 ready to obey the behests of their chief. 



The Byzantine empire at this epoch bridged over the interval 

 between the past and the future. Constantinople, free from the 

 Scythian hordes, which had darkened Europe, retained many of 

 the traditions of Rome, and kept up a commercial intercourse 

 with the countries of the East. It was mainly by its instru- 

 mentality that the restoration of art and science was effected. 

 Italy was the first to exhibit the growth of new tastes, which, 

 as they spread through Europe, changed the aspect of social 

 life. The nobles, diverted from fighting, displayed their wealth 

 in dress and equipage. Their retainers gradually became peace- 

 able labourers and handicraftsmen, and their descendants have 

 placed within the reach of the poor of modern times many things 

 either unobtainable, or obtainable only with great cost and diffi- 

 culty even by the Emperors of Rome. 



There were not wanting rulers who viewed the revival of 

 commerce with alarm, and who enacted sumptuary laws, copied 

 from those of Rome, concerning the number of guests, the 

 variety of viands, and the cost of entertainments. Even in our 

 own country, for instance (1377), only two courses, and two 

 kinds of food at each course, were permitted by law, except at 

 festivals. Furs and silks were prohibited to any one with an 

 income of less than .100 a-year. Foreign cloth was -to be worn 

 only by members of the royal family. Henry IV. restricted the 

 breadth of the toes of shoes to six inches. Edward IV. com- 

 manded that only lords should wear a short mantle. An edict 

 against gilt spurs and bridles was issued in Ireland (1447) ; and 

 any one was empowered to seize and keep for his own use horses 

 caparisoned contrary to law. Such measures are always im- 

 politic and radically bad. Where people are inclined to 

 extravagance, sumptuary laws are powerless to check it, and 

 they are met by bad habits and evasion they cannot alter 

 dispositions. 



It was in the reign of Justinian (527-565) that industry and 

 commerce received from a foreign source an impulse, the influ- 

 ence of which has spread more and more in succeeding ages. 

 This was the introduction of the silkworm. For many centuries 

 silk was thought to be a vegetable down, like cotton, its truo 

 origin having been jealously concealed from merchants. Two 

 missionaries returning from China concealed in a cane somo 

 silkworms' eggs, which they brought to Constantinople. Worms 

 from these eggs were distributed throughout the Byzantine 

 empire. Cyprus and Sicily soon produced great numbers, and- 

 the Peloponnesus became known as the Morea, from the 

 white mulberry trees, which began to be abundantly cultivated 

 there. 



The early Byzantine trade with India was carried on through 

 Egypt, the Persians at that time intercepting the direct over- 

 land traffic. Soon after, the Euphrates valley was once more 

 opened to caravans. Syria and Mesopotamia were subdued by 

 the Caliph Omar, who built the town of Bassora ; yet few goods 

 reached Constantinople, for the empire was nearly always at 

 war with the Arabs. When Alexandria fell into the hands of 

 the latter, the communication by way of Egypt was cut off, as 

 the Christian states would enter into no dealings with the 

 infidels. Such, however, was the desire for Indian commodities, 

 that a route was opened by way of the Greek settlements on 

 the Black Sea and Independent Tartary ; and for 200 years the 

 products of India and China reached Constantinople almost ex- 

 clusively by this circuitous course. 



Each generation improved the commerce of the Mediterranean 

 coasts, and an active trade arose between the Greek empire and 

 Spain, Africa, and the Republics of Italy. 



Amongst the commodities from the East and the West, which 

 passed through Constantinople, and showed the extent of Byzan- 

 tine commerce daring Justinian's reign, were Egyptian silks 

 and half silks, raw silks, linen, and flax ; sweet wines and 

 fruits especially dates and figs sugar, cassia, and drugs ; 

 Indian spices, cloves, nutmegs, mace, cinnamon, galanga root, 

 and large quantities of pepper. Precious stones, perfumes, and 

 horses also came from India. Silver was imported by the 

 Genoese, probably from Spain ; while the Pisanesc introduced 

 .woollen stuffs, scarlet, and fustian. Few of the exports were 



