He had resided at Rome as a hostage, and afterwards for his pleasure at Athens, and had brought to his kingdom an admiration for republican institutions and an enthusiasm for Hellenic culture - or, at any rate, for its externals.
He dwelt strongly on the importance of men looking away from the externals of the sacrament to the spirit of love and piety.
This conclusion is not yet universally accepted, but it seems difficult on the evidence to avoid the conclusion that Prof. Hrozny is right, and if so the curious resemblances of some of the externals of Roman and Hittite religion, and the legendary and other connexions between the Etruscans and Asia Minor, are seen in a new light.
As the medieval lyric decayed, more and more attention was given to the externals of poetic composition, the form, the number of syllables, the melody; and it was such externals that attracted the interest of these burgher-poets.
The judgment of posterity has not repeated the flattering verdict of his contemporaries; but he remains the model of a great king in all that concerns the externals of kingship.