and mans were wholly unacquainted with money; A.D. 1500. 1500. A. D. habits and a love of splendour, and heap honours and rewards on all who excel in the beauties of art; but gradually men become enervated in mind, and the riches they imagined for their happiness, too often prove their ruin. Certain private persons acquire unbounded wealth, and, through those means, commanding influence; this wealth descends from father to son; and in these instances particular families defy all competition, and obtain a monopoly in the commercial world, as well as great political influence. The consequence is, that in almost all countries where commerce unduly prevails, powerful aristocracies spring up, by which the poorer classes are liable to considerable oppression. CHAP. XVI. THE PHOENICIANS ANCIENT COMMERCE B. C. SIEGE OF TYRE. THE most ancient commercial people distinguished 2000. in the history of former times were the Phœnicians. When the Jews settled in Sidon, they found that capital of Phoenicia already much frequented as a harbour. It could not, therefore, have been built later than the year 2000 B.C. The Phoenicians first traded with the island of Cyprus, though commerce in those days was nearly It was here that they B C. 600. 700. B. c. proper course: so that, till 600 B.C., they were the only nation that had undertaken so distant a voyage. But it was not only by sea that the Phoenicians carried on their commercial enterprises. Their caravans traded to the north and the east; while Arabia, in the south, supplied cinnamon, spices, ivory, and gold, commodities that the Arabians had purchased from the merchants of other nations. One part of the business of the Phoenicians was to be the mere carriers of merchandise between one country and another; but they had also most extensive factories in Tyre, Sidon, and other cities. The principal article of manufacture was glass; but they also prepared and dyed linen and woollen stuffs with the beautiful purple of the Murex. Thus Sidon first became a flourishing city, and then Tyre. These were the two wealthiest cities of the age: from them came every fabric of beautiful and elaborate texture. The Phoenicians built splendid palaces, and every land brought them its treasures. Such is the account given by the prophet Isaiah, and yet more minutely by Ezekiel, of Tyre and Sidon, as they existed about the year 700 B.C.; accompanied, however, with a solemn prophecy of their approaching destruction, which was accomplished in their fall in the year 600 before the Christian era. Sidon did not long resist the arms of Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty Babylonian conqueror, though Tyre did not fall under his power till after a siege of thirteen years, and, when taken, nothing but 330. empty walls received the victor; for nearly all of B. C. the inhabitants had escaped to a neighbouring island a short distance from the shore: here they again established themselves; and their settlement in the island was no less renowned than their illfated capital. In the year 333 B.C. another ambitious conqueror, Alexander the Great, came from Macedonia; and though the Tyrians defended themselves with the utmost ingenuity and valour for the space of seven months, they were at length obliged to surrender. The city was utterly destroyed, and all who escaped the sword were sold into slavery. This conquest gave Alexander full command of the commerce of Egypt, extending to every part of the then known world. CHAP. XVII. THE SEVEN GREATEST EMPIRES IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. THE following empires, in different ages, held the B. C. sovereignty of the greater part of the world: First, the Assyrian empire, commencing about 2000 B.C. This empire was dissolved in the year 888 B.C., and divided into the kingdoms of Assyria, Babylon, and Media. Nebuchadnezzar, 2000. |