vol. xxx, no. 4 april 1926 universal brotherhood - a fact in nature

NEWS FROM THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL FIELD
inspiration from Greece. Last year, the first discovery of an actual
Greek painting on a large scale was made at Corinth, and the artistic and
archaeological world is looking forward to a real revelation when it is
completely excavated.
This picture dates from a little earlier than the beginning of the
Christian era, after the Romans had introduced their brutal games to
degenerating Greece, and so it is not of the great period of Greek art.
Corinth was destroyed by the Romans in 146 B. c., but Caesar had it
rebuilt a century later, and then the remains of the old Greek theater
were converted into an arena. The painting decorated the high wall
surrounding this gladiatorial arena, and represented gladiators fighting
lions. It is 300 ft. long, but only 45 ft. are yet uncovered.
The importance of the discovery is shown by this statement of
Dr. L. Shear of Princeton, who is in charge of the excavations:
"The paintings were beautifully done by fine artists and indicatc that we must
wholly revise our ideas of Greek painting and the decoration of Greck and Roman buildings.
The colors are very rich and subdued. This shows that the attempts to restore the colorscheme
of ancient Greek temples have been all wrong. In these attempted restorations garish
tints have been used. In the absence of real information on this subject it was supposed that
garish tints were used by the Greeks, but the paintings at Corinth show that the contrary
was the case.
"The field against ~hich the figures are painted is a dark blue. This rests on a
band of yellow. Below that is a narrow band of deeper blue, and at the bottom of all is a
broad band of dark red. The lions are a tawny red. The scarlet boots, which are something
entirely new in this country and period, stand out conspicuously. The painting was done
on a large scale in order to make an effective picture for the audience in distant seats."
3
DISCOVERIES
of relics of ancient races, now crowding in upon us
so rapidly, support the Theosophical teaching that man has changed
very little in essentials, if at all, in many thousands or perhaps hundreds
of thousands of years. When simple objects of domestic use are found
similar to those we employ today, we seem to come very near the inti-
mate personal life of the people of bygone ages, and sometimes in a
very touching way.
For instance, in the recent explorations in North Africa, Count B.
K. de Prorok unearthed in Utica, the elder neighbor of Carthage, a large
number of babies' bottles and children's toys. The bottles differed from
ours in the absence of rubber nipples, but they must have been quite
effective for their purpose. They were made of pottery with a nipple of .
the same material containing a very small hole, and some were ornamented
with a pair of smiling eyes and a laughing mouth. A crockery savings-
bank was found with a slot and containing a few coins, and also many
toy-animals in pottery; horses, chickens, and ducks.