1. ABout this time there arose so great a Mutiny and Sedition of the Slaves in Sicily, as no Age before could ever parallel, in which many Cities suffer'd, were miserably ransackt, and innumerable multitudes both of Men, Women and Children fell into most grievous Calamities; and the whole Island was now upon the point of falling into the hands of the Slaves, who design'd no other bounds should be put to their exorbitant Power, than the absolute Destruction of their Masters.
And these things fell out when none in the least suspected them; but those who were accustomed to pierce deep into the Grounds and Causes of all Events, concluded that this was not a thing that happen'd meerly by chance. For the Inhabitants of this rich Island growing wanton with too much plenty, fell into Luxury and Voluptuousness, and then into Pride and Insolence. For those reasons the Cruelty of the Masters towards their Servants, and the Hatred of the Servants to their Masters raging and increasing more and more every day, at length (a fit opportunity offering it self) their Hatred broke forth, and many Thousand Slaves on a suddain (without any sign or appearance of any such thing before) got in a Body together to cut the Throats of their Masters.
And the same thing happen'd in Asia, almost about the same time. For when Aristonicus, without any colour of Right, sought to gain the Kingdom of Asia, all the Slaves, by reason of the Cruelty of their Masters, join'd with him, and fill'd many Towns and Cities with Blood and Slaughter.
2. In like manner those that had large Possessions in Sicily bought up whole Goals to till their Lands—Some they shackled, others they overcharg'd with hard Labour, and branded and stigmatiz'd every one of them: So that such a multitude of Slaves, even like a Deluge, overflow'd all Sicily, that the excessive number may seem incredible to all that hear of it; for all the rich Men of Sicily vied with the Italians for Pride, Covetousness, and vicious Practices; For many of the Italians who had great numbers of Servants, accustom'd their Shepherds to that degree of Rapine and Licentiousness, as that they suffered them to Rob and Steal for want of necessary subsistence from them themselves. Which Liberty being once Granted to those Men who had strength of Body, sufficient to enable 'em readily to execute any Villany, together with Time and Leisure, and through want of Subsistence were reduc'd to the utmost Extremity of attempting any thing for their Supply; these unruly Fellows in a short time were ripe and compleat in wickedness. At first they us'd to Murder Travellers upon the High-way, when only One or Two were together: Afterwards they would in Bodies enter into little Villages, in the Night, and pillage poor Mens Houses, and forcibly carry away whatever they found, and kill all that oppos'd them. At length growing every day more and more Audacious, there was neither Security in the Roads in Sicily for Travellers in the Night, nor Safety in their Houses for them that dwelt in the Country, but all places were full of Rapine, Robberies and Murthers. And because the Shepherds and Herdsmen were furnish'd with Arms, and inur'd to lie Night and Day in the open Fields, they every Day grew bold and daring: For carrying Clubs and Lances and long Staves, and cover'd with the Skins of Wolves and Wild Boars, they lookt with a most dreadful and terrible Aspect as the Children of Mars. Besides, every one had a Guard of great Mastiff Dogs to attend them, and guzling down Milk, and glutting themselves with Flesh, and all sorts of other Food and Provision, they resembled Beasts both in Souls and Bodies. So that the whole Island seem'd as if it had been full of Soldiers roving up and down in every place, or as if all the daring Slaves were let loose by their Masters to act the parts of raging Mad men. It's true indeed that the Roman Praetors and Governors did what they could to suppress this Insolency of the Slaves; but because they durst not punish them, by reason of the Potency of their Masters, they were forc'd to suffer the Country to be infested with Robberies; for whereas most of their Masters were Roman Knights, who had Judicial Authority at Rome, and were us'd to chuse Judges out of the Aequestrian Order in the Causes of the Praetors and the Proconsuls, who were summon'd to appear before them after their Provincial Authority was determin'd, the Magistrates were upon good grounds afraid of them.
3. The Italians, who had large Possessions in Sicily, and therefore bought many Slaves, every one of whom they stigmatiz'd with marks on their Cheeks, and opprest them with hard Labour, and yet defrauded them of their Wages and Subsistence.
4. There was one Damophilus of Aenna a wealthy Man, but very proud and arrogant;
The Histories of Herodotus written in 440 BC is considered to be the founding work of history in Western literature. His history included stories and fables but he claimed to have traveled extensively and learned about many countries through direct observation.
The thesis of Stolen Legacy is that the Egyptians created what is wrongly called Greek philosophy. Dr. James argues that the African origin of Greek Philosophy is well known but rarely discussed. Ancient Greek historians such as Herodotus and Diodorus the Sicilian wrote in significant detail about the contributions of Egypt. Egyptian technology and libraries were unmatched and Greek philosophers such as Pythagoras and Plato studied there. The contribution of Africa to the intellectual foundation of modern knowledge is tremendous but unacknowledged.
The Library of History by Diodorus the Sicilian is one of the most highly regarded universal histories in antiquities. His work includes the history of Egypt, Asia, Africa, Greece and Europe. His book is a must read for research of ancient history.
Bible Study The King James Bible (kjv), World English Bible (web) and Bible in Basic English (bbe) are all examples of public domain books. The King James Bible (kjv) online uses the content from these books and open source software to enhance Bible study capabilities. The site includes the verse of the day, search tools, christian literature and links to related content. It demonstrates the use of open source to create a valuable service.