and there do bloody work, as did your sires at old Thermopyla! Is Sparta dead? Is the old Grecian spirit frozen in your veins, that you do crouch and cower like a belabored hound beneath his master's lash? O comrades, warriors, Thracians! if we must fight, let us fight for ourselves. If we must slaughter, let us slaughter our oppressors! If we must die, let it be under the clear sky, by the bright waters, in noble, honorable battle! -Elijah Kellogg. NOTES 1. Gladiators. Gladiatorial combats originated in Etruria in northern Italy. The early Etruscans first slew the prisoners upon the grave of a dead warrior, as blood thus shed was thought to delight the shades that hovered over the dead. Later, the prisoners were made to fight and kill each other, this being thought more humane than cold-blooded slaughter. The Romans adopted the custom in modified form. The first gladiatorial show in Rome was held in one of the forums and was presented by two sons at the funeral of their father, 264 B. C. The public taste for these bloody spectacles grew until imperial days saw Rome fairly infatuated by blood and slaughter. 2. Volturnus. A river near Capua. 3. Arena. The large open space in the amphitheatre. Sometimes it was covered with sand for the gladiatorial shows, sometimes flooded for naval com.bats. 4. Prætor. A Roman official performing the office of judge and interpreter of the laws. 5. Vestals. The six virgins, called vestal virgins, who kept the sacred fires burning in the temple of Vesta, the household goddess, from generation to generation. 6. Numidian lion. The most ferocious lions used in the arena were brought from Numidia in northern Africa. 7. Roman Adonis. A Roman nobleman having the fine manners and winning ways of the Greek god, Adonis, who captivated Venus by his charms. 8. Sesterces. The sestertius was a Roman coin commonly used as a unit of value. The term sesterces as here used is a general term for money. 9. Thracian. Thrace, a country north and east of Greece, touching the Black Sea. 10. Be prepared to give the meanings of the following words and expressions: gladiator, arena, private brawl, belie, defile, venerable, prætor, funeral pile, derision, pollution, carrion, plaited mail, ooze, tightened sinews, Adonis, sesterces, belabored hound, amphitheatre, victorious eagles, corselet. EXERCISES 1. How did Spartacus come to be a gladiator? 2. What kind of gladiator had he proved himself to be? 3. Just who were these gladiators? 4. Tell the origin of gladiatorial combats. 5. In what sense was Spartacus "a savage chief of still more savage men"? 6. What tells of the simplicity of his early life? 7. Why should the boy's cheeks burn as he heard the tales of Spartan heroism? 8. What cause had he to hate the Romans? 9. Why does he mention the killing of his friend? 10. Why does the prætor not grant the boon asked? 11. Why did the crowd shout in derision? 12. What lessons had Rome taught him? 13. What points does Spartacus make in his final appeal to the gladiators? 14. What is the highest motive to which he appeals? 15. In what sense does he regard battle as "noble, honorable"? ADDITIONAL READINGS MITFORD: Rienzi's Address. PATTEN: The Seminole's Defiance. KNOWLES: William Tell Among the Mountains. MONTGOMERY: Arnold von Winkelried. BROWNING: Incident of a French Camp. HALLECK: Marco Bozzaris. BYRON: The Isles of Greece. HALE: The Man Without a Country. BRYANT: William Tell. WENDELL PHILLIPS: Toussaint L'Ouverture. WHITTIER: Toussaint L'Ouverture. ON HIS BLINDNESS When I consider how my light is spent Ere half my days in this dark world and wide, And that one talent which is death to hide Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent To serve therewith my Maker, and present My true account, lest He returning chide, "Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?" I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent That murmur, soon replies, "God doth not need Either man's work or his own gifts. Who best Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best. His state Is kingly thousands at his bidding speed, And post o'er land and ocean without rest; They also serve who only stand and wait." -John Milton. THE LOSS OF THE BIRKENHEAD THE world has been long engaged in a vain search for a true definition of bravery. Such a definition seems impossible at present, but thousands of instances might be cited where some phase of true bravery was exemplified. When a display of heroism is made with no possibility or hope of reward, it arouses universal admiration. Such incidents are the delight of the poet, and literature abounds in the narration of them. In 1852, a steamer, The Birkenhead, engaged in carrying soldiers, struck on a hidden rock during one of her voyages. She sank soon after striking, carrying with her more than four hundred soldiers. Though this accident occurred off the Cape of Good Hope, many miles from their native England and not in the midst of the characteristic scenes of the battlefield, these heroes were honored as seldom falls to the lot of the ordinary soldier. In the following selection, it is supposed that one who survived the wreck tells the story. THE LOSS OF THE BIRKENHEAD Right on our flank the crimson sun went down; The deep sea rolled around in dark repose; When, like the wild shriek from some captured town, A cry of women rose. The stout ship Birkenhead lay hard and fast, Her timbers thrilled as nerves, when through them passed The spirit of that shock. And ever like base cowards, who leave their ranks In danger's hour, before the rush of steel, Drifted away disorderly the planks From underneath her keel. Then amidst oath, and prayer, and rush, and wreck, Faint screams, faint questions waiting no reply, Our colonel gave the word, and on the deck Formed us in line to die. To die! 'Twas hard, whilst the sleek ocean glowed |