The Boys' Book of Famous Rulers

THE aim of this book is to give in as concise manner as possible, consistent with graphic narration and biographical completeness, the most important and interesting events in t...

“Fair art thou, Paris, beauteous indeed, but ill thy soul supplies a form so fair! Thou makest us the scorn of the proud Greeks, by thy unmanly fear. Little will it avail thee t...

Then did the goddess descend down from high Olympus in hot haste, and Athené lighted from the air at Achilles’ side, and whispered: “This is our day of glory, great Achilles! He...

Astyages then told Cyrus that he might continue his plain fare in Media, if he thought it was better for his health. Cyrus then asked his grandfather if he would give him all th...

As soon as Cyrus had become established on his throne as king of the Medes and Persians, his power began to extend westward toward the empire of Crœsus, king of Lydia.

Cyrus, having established himself in the midst of his wide kingdom, with his chief residence at Babylon, resolved to appear before the people in an august religious ceremony, by...

The wedding was at length celebrated with much splendor, and the day after the nuptials was devoted to games and processions. In one of the latter, which was a religious ceremon...

The two opposing forces came in sight of each other upon a plain near the city of Issus. It was now evening. At midnight the army of Alexander had reached a defile in the chain...

One of his oldest and most faithful generals, named Clitus, was present at one of the frequent banquets given by Alexander. That monarch, excited with wine, had been boastfully...

He was chosen _ædile_ by the people. He now had charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the games and spectacles which were exhibited in them. The arrangements made by...

Cæsar, in pursuit of Pompey, soon after reached Alexandria, where he learned of his death; and the Egyptians, hoping to please him, presented to him the bloody head of his late...

But the Gauls living in those provinces conquered by the Romans, had given up their old Druidical religion, and adopted that of their conquerors, which was no improvement, for i...

But notwithstanding all King Didier’s fear, he and the Lombards evinced such resistance, that Charlemagne was obliged to settle down before Pavia in a long siege. His camp witho...

After the conquest by Cæsar, the Romans retained possession of the island for four hundred years. During this time there were many rebellions in the various provinces, until at...

Alfred, now at the age of twenty-three, ascended the throne of his fathers, which seemed at that time tottering, and was not an inheritance to be desired in the year of 871, whe...

Before the time of Richard the Lion-Hearted, Jerusalem had been conquered by the Christians, and they had set up in it a king. This was in 1099, when the crusaders elected Godfr...

King Richard now arranged with King Philip of France, to go upon a crusade. Richard was brave, though he was not a good man. His greatest delight was in fighting, and as his cla...

The time which had been agreed upon for Saladin to comply with the stipulations of the surrender of Acre having expired, Richard ordered the five thousand prisoners, which he he...

The eldest son of this brave knight and beautiful countess, who had risked so much for love, and whose marriage was as romantic as any described in Scottish tales of fiction, wa...

During this time the Scottish king met with many adventures. One day, leaving the island of Rachrin, he sailed with his little band in some small boats to the isle of Arran. On...

“Now praised be God! for I shall die in peace, since I am assured, by the faith you owe to your God and the order of knighthood, that the best and most valiant knight of my king...

Soon after the arrival of Isabella, the Moorish garrison offered to capitulate. Ferdinand was so anxious to secure the place, that he agreed to allow the army to march out with...

CHARLES V. of Spain, the father of Philip II., was the grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella. Through his father he inherited the Netherlands and part of Burgundy, and at the age o...

“This was the signal for havoc. The rioters dispersed in all directions on the work of destruction. High above the great altar was an image of the Saviour, curiously carved in w...

Gustavus was now thirty-four years of age. He had prosecuted wars with Denmark, Russia, and Poland, and secured advantageous terms of peace with these nations. Before he had rea...

His death is thus described. Learning that the centre of the Swedish lines were wavering, Gustavus hastened thither. “Arriving at the wavering centre, he cried to his troops, ‘F...

Louis XIV. had never recovered from the mortification he had experienced at the fête at Vaux. He resolved to rear a palace so magnificent that no subject, whatever might be his...

The Spanish ambassador dropped upon his knee before the young prince with expressions of profound homage; while the king, embracing the neck of his grandson with his left arm, a...

At this time, there were a dozen princesses living at the palace,—the sisters and the aunts and the six daughters of the Czar Alexis. All were unmarried. They were forbidden to...

While at Archangel, besides the time which Peter gave to the study of commerce and ship-building, he found leisure for inspecting various industries and for practising both at t...

“He is a king, every inch of him, though without the trappings of a king. He presents himself in a Spartan simplicity of vesture: no crown but an old military cocked hat, genera...

Meanwhile the crown prince was conveyed from Wesel to the castle of Mittenwalde, where he was imprisoned in a room without furniture or bed. Here Grumkow, one of the king’s mini...

Frederick did not pursue the Austrians after this victory, and on the 11th of June the treaty of Breslau was signed. By this treaty Silesia was ceded to Frederick, and he agreed...

And accomplish he did. But how? By the same measures he had declared should have been taken when, a short time before, he had watched the furious mob rush unrestrained through t...

“Up to the peace of Tilsit, the wars of France were _essentially defensive_; for the bloody contest that wasted the continent for so many years was not a struggle for pre-eminen...

An English writer, who holds the position of a professor in the University at Cambridge, in a work lately published, thus gives to Napoleon his place in history: “There are time...