File:The dawn of American history in Europe (1912) (14764054942).jpg

Identifier: dawnofamericanhi00nida (find matches)
Title: The dawn of American history in Europe
Year: 1912 (1910s)
Authors: Nida, William Lewis
Subjects:
Publisher: New York, The Macmillan company
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: Sloan Foundation

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ficent tombsalong the Appian Way were broken and falling to pieces.Law and order were gone, and Rome had become a den ofthieves and robbers. Men were brawling in the streets,ill clad and savage, armed with sword and knife and club.Children were running the streets wild and untaught, andwere growing up to be fierce and ignorant Kke their fathers. Commerce and Travel cut Off. — The roads fell out ofrepair, and the bridges were torn down. Travel and com-merce were almost entirely stopped except along the Medi-terranean coasts, where a few ships dared to ply in spite ofthe swarms of pirates. Communication, not only betweeninland cities and countries, but even between neighboringtowns, was broken off. Highway robbers were in hidingeverywhere. Unable to get provisions from abroad, thepeople were left to feed and clothe themselves by theirown toil. Knowledge and Skill Disappear. — Much of skill inmaking things was forgotten because the people, who were BARBARIANS DESTROYING THE EMPIRE 73
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74 DAWN OF AMERICAN HISTORY IN EUROPE slipping back into barbarism, no longer cared for the con-veniences and luxuries that civilized people need. Therewas no longer any skill in art, building, or decorating, noreven a love for beautiful things. In the palmy days of Rome, industry had been purelydomestic; that is, all manufactured articles that were notbrought from abroad were made in the homes. Therewere no factories. In the mansions of nobles, and even inthe palaces of kings and emperors, women and serf work-men were employed to manufacture the coarse stuffs withwhich they clothed themselves and their households.These mansions had been many times looted by the bar-barians, and the workmen had been driven to the fourwinds. Thus skill in all these handicrafts was lost, and allmanufactured articles became rude and barbarous like thepeople. Schools and Learning Vanish. — No one was now inter-ested in learning. In the wild days of the Prankish, theGothic, and the Lombard kings, men had

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