ALEXANDER DISCOVERING THE BODY OF DARIUS, _Gustave Doré_ 12 GENEROSITY OF SCIPIO, _Schopin_ 20 MARIUS ON THE RUINS OF CARTHAGE, _John Vanderlyn_ 32 THE IDES OF MARCH, _Carl Von Piloty_ 36 THE LAST GLADIATORIAL CONTEST, _J. Stallaert_ 58 CLOVIS PUNISHING A REBEL, _Alphonse De Neuville_ 62 BELISARIUS RECEIVING ALMS, _Jacques-Louis David_ 68 CHARLES MARTEL AT TOURS, _Charles Steuben_ 72 PEPIN AFTER THE MURDER OF DUKE WAIFRE, _Th. Lybaert_ 74 A NORSE RAID UNDER OLAF, _Hugo Vogel_ 84 WILLIAM AT HASTINGS, _P. J. De Loutherbourg_ 94 GODFREY DE BOUILLON ENTERING JERUSALEM, _Carl Von Piloty_ 104 SALADIN, _Gustave Doré_ 108 EDWARD III. AND THE BURGHERS OF CALAIS, _Berthelemy_ 118 BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN, _Alphonse De Neuville_ 128 HUNIADES AT BELGRADE, _Gustave Doré_ 146 YORK AND LANCASTER--THE RED AND WHITE ROSES, 148 PIZARRO EXHORTING HIS BAND AT GALLO, _Lizcano_ 158 HENRY IV. OF FRANCE AT HOME, _J. D. Ingres_ 176 RALEIGH PARTING FROM HIS WIFE, _E. Leutze_ 188 DEPARTURE OF THE MAYFLOWER, _A. W. Bayes_ 192 WALLENSTEIN'S LAST BANQUET, _J. Scholz_ 198
Sleep, soldiers! still in honored rest Your truth and valor wearing: The bravest are the tenderest. The loving are the daring.
[Footnote 1: Copyright, 1894, by Selmar Hess.]
With the death of Sardanapalus, the great monarch of Assyria, and the taking of Nineveh, the capital city, by the Medes, the kingdom of Assyria came to an end, and the vast domain was parcelled out among the conquerors. At the time of the catastrophe, the district of Babylonia, with its capital city Babylon, was ruled as a dependent satrapy of Assyria by Nabopolassar. Aided by the Medes, he now took possession of the province and established himself as an independent monarch, strengthening the alliance by a marriage between the Princess Amuhia, the daughter of the Median king, and his son Nebuchadnezzar.
In the partition of Assyria, the region stretching from Egypt to the upper Euphrates, including Syria, Phoenicia, and Palestine, had fallen to the share of Nabopolassar. But the tribes that peopled it were not disposed to accept the rule of the new claimant, and looked about for an ally to support them in their resistance. Such an ally they thought they had found in Egypt.