--ED.
[92] Even in the second century after the Romans had pillaged Greece to
adorn their palaces, there were many thousands of statues in the Greek
cities.
[93] It is not certain that the Apollo Belvidere was not a Roman copy.
[94] In the ruins of Olympia has been found a statue of Hermes, the work
of Praxiteles.
CHAPTER XV
THE GREEKS IN THE ORIENT
ASIA BEFORE ALEXANDER
=Decadence of the Persian Empire.=--The Greeks, engaged in strife,
ceased to attack the Great King; they even received their orders from
him. But the Persian empire still continued to become enfeebled. The
satraps no longer obeyed the government; each had his court, his
treasure, his army, made war according to his fancy, and in short,
became a little king in his province. When the Great King desired to
remove a satrap, he had scarcely any way of doing it except by
assassinating him. The Persians themselves were no longer that nation
before which all the Asiatic peoples were wont to tremble. Xenophon, a
Greek captain, who had been in their pay, describes them as follows:
"They recline on tapestries wearing gloves and furs.
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