Ernest Renan 
History of the People of Israel [PDF ebook] 
Till the Time of King David

Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. The great creations of Greece and J udea will not have had the conquest of the world all to themselves. The world, before it was ready to accept Hellenism and Christianity, had to be prepared and made smooth, so to speak, for centuries beforehand. A great human izing force had to be created — a force powerful enough to beat down the obstacles which local patriotism offered to the idealistic propaganda of Greece and Judea. Rome fulfilled this extraordinary function.