A NEW DISCOVERY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 71, Issue 220, 17 September 1928, Page 11

A NEW DISCOVERY

A CHARM OF ANTIQUITY When the scientists discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen in 1922 they opened up a long-buried collection of unique and priceless works of art. But they did something else. They opened the eyes of the average man to a world not realised, a world remote from the one wo know, yet full of entertainment and instruction. The past was found to be packed with marvels, and rich in the stir and tuinu t of life (says the Melbourne Age). One immediate result was a dcman/l for books formerly Kttlc read. People had thought of antiquity as a dreary desert where Professor Dryasdust and his henchmen dug up old bones or tried to trace the outlines of a house that had disappeared thousands of years ago. The dead, the long-dead, I Tutankhamen seemed to sit up, wave 1 his sceptre, and command the world I to hearktn and to reflect. Mr Arthur Weigall, who served the Egyptian Government as InspectorGeneral of Antiquities, and has written on Cleopatra and kindred themes, found that his books, previously little read, passed through several editions after Tutankhamen came to lighL His

despatches from Egypt in 1923 appeared in many journals, and it is calculated were read by nearly 300.000,000 people, and when he returned to Britain he was besieged- for lectures. To meet the new demand for knowledge he has published “Flights into Antiquity,” a vo’ume of 30 short essays, well printed and illustrated (London, Hutchinson, and Co.) Vice and Virtue What a collection of studies, chiefly biographical sketches, revea ing a curious medley of vice and virtue, power and. weakness, yet lifting the veil from a romantic and far-off region. Nothing trivial is shown, nothing is here but what provokes interest and inquiry about the vivid life of long ago. The vo’ume opens with a brief account of “The Golden Lunatic,” Elagabalus. better known as Heliogabalus, who on coming to the throne in 218 A.D. was called Alareus Aurelius Antonins. He became emperor at 14 years of age, and was murdered when he was 18. He was precocious y sensuous. and revelled in such dishes as peacocks’ tongues, brains of thrushes, parrots, and pheasants, dormice baked in poppies, with honey and similar gastronomic monstrosities. At public festivals ho would fling money in car loads to the people and hand out rich vases, s’aves, carriages, camels, and oxen. In the amphitheatre ho had w brass band of 1000 instruments, char-

iot races in which the cars were drawn by lions, tigers, stags and dogs, and: acrobats vaulting over the backs of wild zebras. The rooms of his palace had walls of rare marble, inlaid with precious stones, and there were ivory ceilings from which carved flowers hung down. His dogs, it is said, were fed on foie-gras, his horses on rare grapes, and his tame leopards on pheasants and parroquets. No wonder his subjects grew tired of him, murdered him, and dropped his body into the common sewer. Air Weigall recounts in succeeding chapters the scandals of the Queen of Sheba and King Solomon, of Julius Caesar and Cleopatra, Pericles and Aspasia. Julius Caesar is pictured as possessing a high shrill voice, a mincing gait, affected speech, and a habit of running his fingers delicately through his hair. His marriages were a kind of procession. One was for money, another for love, another for political reasons, and only the incident of his murder prevented him from . marrying the Egyptian Queen. His • so'diers called him “the bald-headed • old sinner,” and warned citizens to , lock their wives up when he came > home to Rome. Ancient Bolshevists The fourth study of the 30 describes the rising of the Bolshevists of 2200 8.C., when recent events in Russia were marvellously anticipated in Egypt. The author says that the revolution was due in part to Semitic influence, and that Communist ideas were propagated by aliens who belonged to .districts where republican ideas ruled. The palace was overthrown, the King turned out, the Treasury made common property, the poor became rich, and the rich became poor. There were terrible scenes in which noble children , were • lashed against the walls, officials murdered, food and fuel became scarce, and only after a period of general misery was order restored. About the year 40 B.C. Alare Antony and Cleopatra founded at Alexandria a society called the “Amimetobioi.” or, “the Inimitable Livers,’’ a name which had reference both to diet and whatever pleasures cou’d be devised between meals* The members were so situated that they could always find money, and an obsequious public ready to be amused by the excesses of royalty. At that time Alexandria was “the Paris of the ancient world.” The street of Canopus was three miles long, 100 foot wide, and flanked by shady colonnades. The whole city was as well laid out as Alelbourne. Behind Alexandria proper lay the romantic Lake Mareotis, with its eight islands and gardens, and not far away was the race-course, a pleasure resort -with restaurants, an open-air theatre, from whose marble seats one could look across the stage to Pharos and the blue Afcditerranean. Tn those days Cleopatra was “a har-um-scarum soul, always up to some prank or another,” and Antony was a big fellow with a nock like a bull’s and muscles like a prizefighter’s. The society lived for . many years, but when disaster came its name was changed into “Those who perish togother.D and its motto was /‘Eat, drink and be merry, fot- to-morrow we die.” There wore more wild banquets before the last pranks were played.

One of the most vivid chapters in t vivid hook is that which describes Iho disaster of Herculaneum. The sunny little town was pleasant and well laid out. The side walks were paved with inlaid marble* s , the shops were beautiful, the statues artistic, and ornamental fountains were everywhere. Pompeii was not in the same class. At Herculaneum the open air theatre could ho’d 3000 people. The eruption which destroved the place occurred in the year 79 A.D. Admiral Pliny, who was at Misenum. ordered a galley when he saw the | cloud above Vesuvius, and as the hunt drew near the shore cinders fell on the d*eck. A course was made for Stabiae, which seemed safe, and there Pliny had dinner with a friend. Perhaps he drank too much wine, but at any rate he fell asleep and snored loudly, but awoke to find himself thick in ashes and the wjj’ls rocking. Tie and his friends rushed out into lhe darkness, protecting their heads n-ith cushions to keep off the cinders. The sea was too rough for any boat, and the admiral sat down cursing himself for not escaping sooner. His asthma and the poisonous fumes did fhe rest.