Here was drawn up the famous Benedictine rule, which was far more
adapted than any other code to prevent the cloister from becoming the
abode of idleness or lascivious ease. To the three vows of poverty,
chastity, and obedience, was added the obligation of manual labour, the
brethren being required to work with their hands at least seven hours
daily. The profession for life was preceded by a novitiate of one year,
during which the rule was deeply studied by the novice, that the life
vow might not be taken without due consideration. The colour of the
habit was usually dark, hence the brethren were called the Black Monks.
St. Benedict died of a fever, which he caught in ministering to the
poor, on the eve of Passion Sunday, A.D. 543. Before his death, the
houses of the order were to be found in all parts of Europe, and by the
ninth century it had become general throughout the Church, almost
superseding all other orders.
xviii The Roman Roads.
Roman roads were thus constructed: Two shallow trenches were dug
parallel to each other, marking the breadth of the proposed road; the
loose earth was removed till a solid foundation was reached, and above
this were laid four distinct strata--the first of small broken stones,
the second of rubble, the third of fragments of bricks or pottery, and
the fourth the pavement, composed of large blocks of solid stone, so
joined as to present a perfectly even surface.
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