o, and Troy, the beautiful city, was
burned to the ground.

All this, as you know, happened many years ago,--so many that no one
knows just how long. The city thus destroyed was never rebuilt. Some
years ago a German traveler began to dig on the spot where it once
stood. Deep down under the ground he found the remains of beautiful
buildings, some pottery, household utensils, weapons, and a great deal
of gold, silver, brass, and bronze. All these things were blackened or
partly melted by fire, showing that the Greeks had set fire to the city,
as their famous old poems relate.

The Greeks said, however, that their gods were very angry with many of
their warriors on account of the cruelty they showed on that dreadful
night, and that many of them had to suffer great hardships before they
reached home. Some were tossed about by the winds and waves for many
long years, and suffered shipwrecks. Others reached home safely, only to
be murdered by relatives who had taken possession of their thrones
during their long absence.

[Illustration: Vase.]

[Illustration: Jug.]

[Illustration: Cup.]

Only a few among these heroes escaped with their lives, and wandered off
to other countries to found new cities. Thus arose many Greek colonies
in Sicily and southern Italy, which were called Great Greece, in honor
of the country from which the first settlers had come.

As you have already seen, Prince AEneas was among these Trojans. After
many exciting adventures, which you will be able to read in the "Story
of Rome," he sailed up the Ti'ber River, and landed near the place where
one of his descendants was to found the present capital of Italy, which
is one of the most famous cities in the world.

XIX. HEROIC DEATH OF CODRUS.

You remember, do you not, how the sons of Pelops had driven the
Heraclidae, or sons of Hercules, out of the peninsula which was called
the Peloponnesus? This same peninsula is now called Mo-re'a, or the
mulberry leaf, because it is shaped something like such a leaf, as you
will see by looking at your map.

The Heraclidae had not gone away willingly, but were staying in Thessaly,
in the northern part of Greece, where they promised to remain one
hundred years without making any attempt to come back.

Shortly after the end of the Trojan War, this truce of a hundred years
came to an end; and the Heraclidae called upon their neighbors the
Dorians to join them, and help them win back their former lands.