nation, yielded rapidly to the seductions of luxury, and fell abruptly
before the Macedonian Alexander, lasting less than two hundred
and fifty years. Macedonia, trained under Philip, rose to great
military power under Alexander, conquered in twelve years the ten
most wealthy and populous countries of the world--nearly the whole
known world; but fell to pieces almost instantly when Alexander
died. The cities of Greece enjoyed a rare pre-eminence both in
the arts and sciences of peace and in military power, but only
for about one hundred and fifty years: falling at last before the
superior military force of Macedon, after neglecting the practice
of the military arts, and devoting themselves to art, learning,
and philosophy. Rome as a great nation lasted about five hundred
years; and the last three centuries of her life after the death
of Commodus, about 192 A. D., illustrate curiously the fact that,
even if a people be immoral, cruel, and base in many ways, their
existence as an independent state may be continued long, if military
requirements be understood, and if the military forces be preserved
from the influence of the effeminacy of the nation as a whole. In
Rome, the army was able to maintain a condition of considerable
manliness, relatively to the people at large, and thus preserve
internal order and keep the barbarians at bay for nearly three
hundred years; and at the same time exert a powerful and frequently
deciding influence in the government. But the effeminacy of the
people, especially of those in the higher ranks, made them the
creatures of the army that protected them. In some cases, the Emperor
himself was selected by the army, or by the Pretorian Guard in Rome;
and sometimes the guard removed an Emperor of whom it disapproved
by the simple expedient of killing him.

After the fall of the Western Empire in 476, when Rome was taken by