The Pedestrian's Record

36 the pedestrian's record. comprised " whatever couldadd strength to the body, activity to the limbs, or grace to the motions." The soldiers were diligently instructed to march, run, leap, swim, to carry heavy burdens, and handle every species of arms that were used, either for offence or for defence, either in distant engagement or in closer onset. We read that Hadrian and Trajan, andother able generals,were in the habit, not only of instructing these athletes in their various feats of strength, but sometimes also disputed with them the prizes of superior dexterity ;and as long as athletic exercises continued to be a Roman institution, so long the Empire retained its vigour—their gradual cessation was the first mark of decay. Flavius Rennatus informs us that when the Roman soldiers refused the use of their heavy armour, that had conqueredthe world, " it fell uselessly from degenerate shoulders," and contributed largely to the decline and fall of that empire. It is evident, therefore, that the ancients thought all manly exercises necessary to the perfec­ tion of manhood and development ofstalwart soldiers. This training of nations in various exercises, which increased their strength and rendered them capable of withstanding the hardships incident to war, was a form of discipline which must have produced in many human specimens men of great strength, who per­ formed those feats which are so Herculean that moderns look upon them as mythical. Make a demand, and supply will follow. Strong bodies were wanted in the days of yqre, for without strong men