But these difficulties
were overcome by him; he subjugated the neighboring tribes, and
made Christianity the state religion. The new faith was accorded
great privileges and means of influence, in many cases favorable to
humanity and showing respect to the rights of individuals. So great
an advance in civilization is an early milestone on the path of
progress.
About A.D. 241 or 242 the Sixth Roman legion, commanded by Aurelian, at
that time military tribune, and thirty years later emperor, had just
finished a campaign on the Rhine, undertaken for the purpose of driving
the Germans from Gaul, and was preparing for eastern service, to make
war on the Persians. The soldiers sang:
"We have slain a thousand Franks and a thousand
Sarmatians; we want a thousand, thousand,
Thousand Persians."
That was, apparently, a popular burthen at the time, for on the days of
military festivals, at Rome and in Gaul, the children sang, as they
danced:
"We have cut off the heads of a thousand, thousand, thousand
Thousand;
One man hath cut off the heads of a thousand, thousand, thousand,
Thousand thousand;
May he live a thousand thousand years, he who
Hath slain a thousand thousand!
Nobody hath so much of wine as he
Hath of blood poured out.
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