nation. Augustus, aged seventy-seven, died peacefully
in bed.

The reign of Augustus marks the crest of the power of Rome, and a crest
is a place where no man nor nation stays--when you reach it, you go over
and down on the other side.

When Augustus set up his Termini, announcing to all mankind that this
was the limit, the enemies of Rome took courage and became active. The
Goths and Vandals, hanging on the skirts of Rome, had learned many
things, and one of the things was that, for getting rich quick, conquest
is better than production. The barbarians, some of whom evidently had a
sense of humor, had a way of picking up the Termini and carrying them
inward, and finally they smashed them entirely, somewhat as country
boys, out hunting, shoot railroad-signs full of holes.

* * * * *

In the Middle Ages the soldier was supreme, and in the name of
protecting the people he robbed the people, a tradition much respected,
but not in the breach.

To escape the scourge of war, certain families and tribes moved
northward. It was fight and turmoil in Southern Europe that settled
Norway, Sweden and Denmark, and produced the Norsemen. And in making for
themselves a home in the wilderness, battling with the climate and
unkind conditions, there was evolved a very strong and sturdy type of
man.

On the north shore of the Baltic dwelt the Norsemen. Along the southern
shore were scattered several small tribes or families who were not
strong enough in numbers to fight the Goths, and so sought peace with
them, and were taxed--or pillaged--often to the point of starvation.
They were so poor and insignificant that the Romans really never heard
of them, and they never heard of the Romans, save in myth and legend.
They lived in caves and rude stone huts. They fished, hunted, raised
goats and farmed, and finally, about the year Three Hundred, they
secured horses, which they bought from the Goths, who stole them from
the Romans.

Their Government was the Folkmoot, the germ of the New England Town
Meeting. All the laws were passed by all the people, and in the making
of these laws, the women had an equal voice with the men.

When important steps were to be taken where the interests of the whole
tribe were at stake, great deference was paid to the opinions of the
mothers. For the mother spoke not only for herself, but for her
children. The mother was the home-maker. The word "wife" means weaver;
and this