Finally, there came the heroic struggle against the
Persian invaders, and from the ashes of their early civilisation
arose the marble city which will never die in the memory of
Europe.
The Romans had meantime been advancing. We may neglect the older
Italian culture, as it had far less to do with the making of
Italy and Europe than the influence of the east. By about 500
B.C. Rome was a small kingdom with a primitive civilisation, busy
in subduing the neighbouring tribes who threatened its security,
and unconsciously gathering the seeds of culture which some of
them contained. By about 300 B.C. the vigour of the Romans had
united all the tribes of Italy in a powerful republic, and wealth
began to accumulate at Rome. Not far to the east was the
glittering civilisation of Greece; to the south was Carthage, a
busy centre of commerce, navigation, and art; and from the
Mediterranean came processions of ships bringing stimulating
fragments and stories of the hoary culture of the east. Within
another two hundred years Rome annihilated Carthage, paralysed
and overran Greece, and sent its legions over the Asiatic
provinces of the older empires.
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