1)tvistoss OF IitsTOay. History is commonly divided chronologically into three great periods Aneient, Medi:rya]. and Alodern. While there is eomplete continuity in the course of history. eaeli one of these periods has certain character istics distinguishing it from the others, and mak ing it convenient to treat each as a unit. In tim first period the beginning and growth and de cline of the great civilizations of antiquity are comprised. Here are eonsidered the old East, Egypt, 'Mesopotamia. and Syria, Greece, and Rome. In these remote ages were laid the foun dations of civilization, the elements of whieh were handed on from the valleys of the Nile and Euphrates to the Greeks and Romans. who fashioned them into instruments available for later generations. The Roman Empire welded together all the diverse elements of the aneient world. Ancient history is usually- regarded as ending when the irruption of the Germanic bar barians from Northern and Central Europe into the highly developed Boman civilization caused the downfall of the old Empire in the fifth century of our era. and ushered in several een turieQ, of confusion. The world that had been so thoroughly organized by the Roman was ma terially modified in its stnieture by the individu alism for which the German stood, in contra distinction to the principle of imperial unity emphasized in the Roman world. Out of this stormy mingling of conflicting ideas in the Middle Ages came modern Europe, which rests politically upon a combination of the German and Roman principles. The Middle Age is regarded as cicsing about the end of the fifteenth century, when the fall of Constantinople had removed the last shadow of the old Roman world, when the discoveries of Columbus had immeasurably wid ened the European horizon, and the revolt was beginning against ecclesiastical imperial ism. The national idea slowly took form out of the feudalism of the Middle Ages. and modern nations gradually arose, with the re sult of bringing into being a legal code for the regulation of international relations. The in ternal confusion of the Middle Ages had sep arated Europe from the rest of the world. but with the revival of learning and the interest in new things. known in history as the Renaissance, came a larger acquaintance with that older world of the East which. while less progressive, had its own civilization, institutions, and history. The conflict of the religions and civilizations of the P.1st and \\ est produced the Eastern question, in which are contained so many of the most diffi cult problems of modern international politics. The opening of the New World in the period of discovery introduced a new factor of the greatest importance in the world's history—the future great power of the \Vcstern Hemisphere, which had as its heritage the civilization of Europe. but was unhampered by immemorial traditions and institutions, and by conflicting national interests. The same pregnant era that saw these new elements thrown into the world's life saw also the renewal of the old conflict between the German idea of liberty and the Roman idea of unity in the Protestant revolt against the control of the Roman Church. This conflict shaped much of the world's history for three centuries. The
expansion of population in the older countries, the development of commerce. the increasing knowledge of the world, and the growing ambi tion of nations conscious of their own possibili ties and increasing rapidly in power and wealth. together with the religious persecutions generated by the Protestant revolution, brought about the opening and settlement of new and hitherto in accessible regions, resulting in the widening of national interests, enormous increase in the power and resources of the great nations, and a development of national rivalries on a scale hith erto unknown. There has also come an insistence on the part of civilized peoples that barbarian races shall submit to civilization and not ob struct the progress of world development. His tory has until recently concerned itself almost exclusively with the Occidental nations, regard ing the Orient only as it has come in contact with the \Vest. Now, however. the histories of India, China. Japan. and all other peoples that have enjoyed organized life have assumed importance in view of their bearing upon the larger problems of the age. Such has been the movement of the great current of history which has expanded in volume with the expansion of the race. Within these wide boundaries the histories of different countries may be studied in detail: and the study cf history may be still further specialized along the lines of social. economic. political, or con stitutional fields. or in those of art. literature. or thought. These special fields become in creasingly important as history grows in com plexity, so that light is needed upon its phases in detail.
The true spirit of history is nowhere better expressed than in Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay on History. See also Frederic Harrison, The Meaning of History (London, 1894) ; Lord Ac ton's inaugural address as regius professor at Oxford (London, 1895) ; W. S. Lilly. "The New Spirit in History," in Nineteenth Century (Oc tober, 1395) ; White, "The Study of History," Atlantic Monthly (January, 1870) : Freeman, Methods of Historical Study (London. ISS6) ; Droysen, Grundriss der Historik, trans. by An drews as Outlines of the Principles of History (Boston, 1893) : Adams. Manual of Historical Literature (3d ed., New York, 1889) ; Bernheim. Lchrbuch der historisehen Methode (Leipzig, 1894) Langlois and Seignobos, Introduction to the Study of History, trans. from the French by G. G. Berry (New York, 1898) : Fronde. Short Studies on Great Subjects (New York. 1893). On the pedagogical aspects of the subject. see Hall (ed.), Methods of Teaching History (Boston, 1883-S5), a collection of papers by well-known educators: Charming and Hart, Guide to the Study of American. History (Boston, 18961. very full bibliographies; Committee of Seven of the American Historical Association, The Study of History in Schools (New York, 1899) publica tions of the New England History Teachers' As sociation. The publications of the American Historical Association contain many papers re lating to history in general in its different aspects.
(Neo-Lat., from Lat. histrio, actor Gk. mastix, scourge). A comedy produced not later than 1599, of which John Marston was at least a collaborator, and printed in 1610.