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AUTHOR KEIGHTLEY, THOMAS TITLE: HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE PLACE: NEW YORK DA TE : 1848 COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT Master Negative # BIBLIOGRAPHIC MICROFORM TARGET Original Material as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record Restrictions on Use: ■MMMK lii^iiiiTr r"n 874.07 K26 Keightley, Thomas, 178y-l872« Hiotory of the Roman empire, from the aooessicm of Augustus to the end of the empire of the "West, bein{^ a continuation of the History of Rome^ by Thomas Keightley, ••edited by Joshua Toulmin Smith Nevr York, Leavitt, 1848 • t • • • xii,438 p. 22-S- cm. '■1 TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: 2^-^ IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA /TIA; IB IIB DATE ¥lLUED._JjJ_,2^j^_ REDUCTION RATIO:_____Z^_)C. INITIALS HLMEDBY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC WOODBRIDGE. CT IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 IIIIM 2.8 ^ |3-2 ■ 6.3 1.4 2.5 2.2 I.I 2.0 1.8 1.6 1.25 150mm .// \ PHOTOGRAPHIC SCIENCES CORPORATION 770 BASKET ROAD P.O. BOX 338 WEBSTER, NEW YORK 14580 (716) 265-1600 ly, ///it Vw* ^ " \ ♦ ^^ ^ K^e (Tnlumbta Inm^rnttg library %n\x^ Etnmgstntt SIinmaB BORN 1835-DIED 1903 FOR THIRTY YEARS CHIEF TRANSLATOR DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, D. C. LOVER OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE HIS LIBRARY WAS GIVEN AS A MEMORIAL BY HIS SON WILLIAM S. THOMAS, M. D. TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY A. D. 1905 \ \ I I 1 i iyi i i 1 1 t i i f 1 i lu 1 H 1 ^1 DAVID H. GlII\]?i IK tl I*' •i HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, FROM THE ACCESSION OF AUGUSTUS TO THE END OF THE EMPIRE OF THE WEST,; BEING A CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF ROME. KY THOMAS KEIGHTLEY, AUTHOR OF "history OF GREECE," '' HISTORY OF ROME, "history of ENGLAND," «fec. EDITED BY JOSHUA TOULMIN SMITH, AUTHOR OF "progress OF PHIL090FHT AM05G THE ANCIENTS," " COMPARA.TIT» VIEW OF ANCIENT HISTORY," "NORTHMEN IN NEW ENGLAND," tc. NEW-YORK : LEAVITT, TROW AND COMPANY, 191 BROADWAY. 1848. * I Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1840 By Harrison Gray, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION The present valuable addition to the " History of Rome " was not published in England when that work was prepared for the press in this country. It is, therefore, thought better to publish it, as it was published in England, as a separate work, than as a second volume of that work, although none can feel the history of Rome to be complete without tracing it, not only from its rise to its highest pitch of greatness, but through the gradual steps of its decline and fall. The present volume is peculiarly valuable on many accounts. It embraces a period, the history of which exists in no accessible form, while its facts are of a most interest- ing and important nature, as connected with the rise, and spread, and influence, and corruptions of the Christian church. It forms a connecting link between the times and nations properly called ancient, and those properly called modern, inasmuch as it displ'ays the first inroads of the peoples and races destined gradually to mould the latter, upon the strength, and power, and sway of the former, and their final rise upon their ruins. The same impartiality marks this History, both in its treatment of civil and ecclesiastical affairs, as marks Mr. Keightley's other histories. 39,^174 ;l IV PREFACE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION, The labor of the editor has been somewhat more called for in this volume than in the " History of Rome." More points seemed to need note and illustration, it being a period less familiar. In some places, too, owing to the confusion of authorities, errors of dates, &:c., had crept in, all of which have been carefully altered. In this case, the alterations have been made without any distinctive mark. In all other cases, the same marks of addition or alteration as have been used in the other volumes of this series of historical works have been here used. That series, comprising the Histories of Greece; Rome, and England, is completed with this volume. J. T. S. Boston, December 1, 1840. >' PREFACE. The present work completes my History of Rome. In- stead, however, of entitling it a second volume, I have made it a distinct work ; for, having been induced to depart from mv original plan, and write a History of England after the completion of that of the Roman Republic, and fearing lest some event might occur to prevent my completing my de- sign, I was desirous that a work on which I had employed so much time and thought should not present an imperfect appearance. A further motive was, that some persons were of opinion that the History of the Empire would not be read so generally in schools as that of the Republic ; and I wished to shun the imputation of forcing any one to buy a volume that he might not want. This last opinion I am disposed to regard as erroneous. There is no part of the Roman history more necessary to be read in classical schools than the reigns of Augustus and his successors to the end of that of Domitian ; for, without a knowledge of the history of that period, the writers o( the Augustan age, and Juvenal, cannot be fully understood. Of this'' period we have actually no history, at least none adapted to schools; and hence arises the imperfect acquaint- ance with the historic allusions in Horace and the other poets which most readers possess, in consequence of being obliged to derive their information piecemeal from annota- tions. I have, therefore, taken especial care, in the present volume, to obviate this inconvenience ; and I believe that scarcely any historic allusion in those poets will be found unnoticed. Another feature of this work is, the sketch of the history of the church, its persecutions, sects, and heresies, during the first four centuries, with brief notices of the principal |H| IMS u 11 ▼1 PREFACE, Fathers and their writings. To write a history of the Ro- man Empire without including that of tlie church, would have been absurd ; but, as readers might not have sufficient confidence in me as an ecclesiastical guide, and as my works are cliiefly designed for youth, I have deemed it the ^afer course to take as my usual authority the learned and candid Mosheim, whose works have stood the test of nearly a century, and are always included in the list of those recommended to students in divinity. It is the work iJe Rebus Christiauis ante Constaniinum, m the excellent translation of Mv. VidaK that 1 have chiefly used. At the same time, I must declare that 1 am by no means a stran- (rer to the Fathers. Many years ago, 1 had occasion to read them a good deal ; and the opinions which 1 then formed of thcui as writers and teachers have been con- firmed by my renewed acquaintance with their works. The advantao-es, therefore, to be derived by students from this volume" are, illustrations of the Latm poets some knowled he had also large estates in Sicily (Hor. Ep. i. 12) and elsewhere. If Pliny (N. H. xxxvi. 15) says it was dedicated to Jupiter Ultor. 1 B.C. IL] FOREIGN AFFAIRS. 13 By his will he left his gardens and the baths named after him to the Roman people. Augustus, who was his principal heir, gave in his name a donation of one hundred drachmas a man . to the plebeians. The place of Agrippa was not to be supplied ; but as some one in his station was absolutely necessary to Augustus, he, much against his inclination, made choice of his stepson Tiberius. As he seems to have made it a rule that the per- son next to himself should be the husband of his daughter Julia, he obliged Tiberius to divorce Agrippina, the daughter of Agrippa, to whom he was. most sincerely attached, and who had borne him one child and was bearing another, and espouse Julia. He then sent him against the Pannonians, who had resumed their arms when they heard of the death of Agrippa. We will now for some time direct our attention to the foreign relations and military affairs of the empire. Within the limits of the empire the only people who ven- tured to resist the arms of Rome was the Basque population of the mountains in the north of Spain, who, secured by the nature of their country, though often defeated and reduced, were never completely conquered. On the southern frontier in Africa the native tribes gave occasional employment to the governors of the adjoining provinces. In the year 732, the /Ethiopians, led by their queen Candace, invaded Upper Egypt, and advanced as far as the city of Elephantina; but they were speedily repelled by the governor C. Petronius, who invaded their country in return, and forced them to sue for peace. On the side of Parthia all was quiet during the reign of Augustus; but the tribes in the vicinity of the Danube and Rhine, who were destined to be Rome's most dangerous foes, even now required the employment of large arnnes to repel or subdue them, and more than once they sent alarm even into the city. The reduction of Thrace to a province gave occasion to some warfare ; for the native tribes, unused to submission, and defended by the ranges of Rhodope and Ha3mus, were prone to reheJlion. A general rising among them took place in 743; and, after lasting three years, it was at length sup- Dion (liii. 27) would seem to intimate that it was consecrated to Mars and Venus. He thinks that it was named from its resemblance in form to the heaven. The supposition of its being dedicated to aJI the gods is a modern error. <:0NT1N. 2 ( ii ■M 14 AUGUSTUS. [b. C. 11. pressed by the governor L. Piso, who thereby obtained the triumphal honors. The Roman frontier had, in the latter times of the repub- lic, been gradually advanced into Illyricum, the region lying to the north of the Adriatic, and commercial relations were formed with the nations who dwelt farther inland. Their own unquiet spirit, and the arrogance and oppression of the Romans, naturally gave occasion to hostilities. In 738 two of the Alpine tribes, named Cammunians and Venians, took arms ; but they were speedily reduced by P. Silius, the pro- prjEtor. Immediately after, the Pannonians, aided by the Noricans, invaded Istria ; but they were repelled also by Silius, who then carried his arms into Noricum and reduced it. Shortly after, the Rietians of the Alps, and the Vindeli- cans* who dwelt between them and the Danube, began to make incursions into Gaul and Italy, and they seized and put to death such of the Romans or allies whom they found travel- ling through their country. Augustus committed the task of redTicing tliem to his stepson Drusus, who gave them a de- feat m the hills of Tridentum, ( Trent ;) and. as they still plun- dered Gaul, he caused Drusus's brother Tiberius to attack them on that side; and by the united efforts of the two broth- ers and their lieutenants, the mountaineers were completely brought under subjection.t The more vigorous portion of their^male population was carried away,, and only those left who were too feeble for insurrection. The Pannonic war already alluded to broke out in 74:3. It was conducted and successfully terminated by Tiberius, who was decreed for it a triumph by the senate ; but Augustus would only allow him to receive the triumphal ornaments. Drusus was meantime carrying on war in Germany. The Roman dominion having been extended by Coesar, the dictator, to the Rhine, the Ubians, Vangionians, and some other Ger- man tribes, t had been induced to cross that river and settle on its left bank, under the protection and authority of the Romans, whose manners they gradually adopted. The ter- ritory in which they dwelt was hence named the Upper and * Dion (liv. 22) mentions only the Rcetians, but he appears to include the Vindelicans in that name. The Vindehcans are expressly men- tioned by Suetonius, (Tib. 9,) Velleius, (ii. 95,) and Horace, (Carm. iv. 4. IB.) t See Horace, Carm. iv. 4 and 14. t See Appendix (C.) for an account of the German tribes. B.C. 13-11.] GERMAN WARS. 15 Lower Germany; it extended from the modern town of Schlettstadt into the district of Cleves. The Romans had several fortified posts along the Rhine, but they had as yet no footing beyond that river. They had, however, the usual relations of trade and intercourse with the peoples of the op- posite bank. In 7*29 the Germans murdered some Romans who had gone over in the usual manner into their country. To punish them, M. Vinicius, who commanded on the left bank of the river,' led his troops against them, and his successes gained him the honor of the triumphal ornaments. Nothing further occurred till the year 738, when the tribes named Sicambrians, Usipe- tans, and Tencterans, seized and crucified the Roman traders in their country, and then, crossing the Rhine, ravaged Gaul and the Germanies. M. Lollius, the legate, led his Uoops to engage them ; but they laid an ambush for the cavalry, which was in advance, and routed it. In the pursuit they came un- expectedly on Lollius hin^self, and defeated him, taking the eagle of the fifth legion. The intelligence of this disgrace caused, as we have seen, Augustus to set out for Gau^ but the Germans did not wait for his arrival, and when he came, they obtained a truce on giving hostages. Augustus remained nearly three years in Gaul. When leaving it, (741,) he committed the defence of the German frontier to his stepson Drusus. His departure imboldened the Sicambrians and their allies to resume hostilities; and as disaflfection appeared likely to spread among the Gauls, Dru- sus took care to secure their leading men by inviting them to Lugdunum, (%o//.s) under pretext of the festival which was to be celebrated at the altar raised there in honor of Augus- tus : then watching the Germans when they passed the RhTne, he fell on and cut them to pieces, and crossing that river himself, he entered the country of the Usipetans,'and thence advanced into that of the Sicambrians, laying both waste, (742.) He embarked his troops on the Rhine and entered the ocean, and sailing along the coast, formed an alliance with the Frisians who inhabited it. His slight vessels, however, being stranded by the ebb of the tide on the coast of the Chaucans, he was indebted for safety to his Frisian allies. He then led his troops back, and put them into winter-quar- ters. In the spring (743) he again crossed the Rhine, and completed the subjection of the Usipetans; and taking advan- tage of the absence of the Sicambrian warrio's, who had 16 AUGUSTUS. [b. c. 10-9. marched against the Chattans on account of their refusal to join their league, he threw a bridge over the Lippe, {Lupia,) and marching rapidly through the Sicambrian country, and entering that of the Cheruscans, advanced as far as the Weser, (Visurgis.) Want of supplies, however, forced the Romans to return without passing that river. In their retreat they were harassed by the Germans, and on one occasion they fell into an ambush, where they were only saved from destruction by the excessive confidence of the enemy, who, regardmg them as already conquered, attacked them in disorder, and were therefore easily repelled by the disciplined legionaries. Drusus built a fort at the confluence of the Elison and the Lippe, and another in the Chattan country on the Rhine, and then returned to Gaul for the winter. The following year (744) Augustus, on account of the German war, went and took up his abode at Lugdunum, while Drusus again crossed the Rhi.:- and carried on the war against the Sicambrian league, which had now been joined by the Chattans, who became in consequence the principal sufferers. At the end of the cam- paign, Augustus and his stepsons returned to Rome. The next year (T45) Drusus passed the Rhine for the fourth time. 'He laid waste the Chattan territory, whence he advanced into Suevia, which he treated in a similar manner, routing all that resisted him; then entering the Cheruscan countr'y, he crossed the Weser, and advanced till he reached the Elbe, {jUhis,) wasting all on his way. Having made a fruitless effort to pass this river, he led back his troops to the Rhine; but his horse having fallen with him on the way, he received so much injury by the fall, that he died before he reached the banks of that stream.=^ His body was conveyed to Rome, where the funeral orations were pronounced by Auaustus'and Tiberius, and his ashes were deposited in the Julfan monument. The title of Germanicus was decreed to him and his children, and, among other honors, a cenotaph was raised by the army on the bank of the Rhine. Drusus was only in his thirtieth year when he thus met with his untimely f\ite. He was married to the younger daughter of Octavia by M. Antonius, the triumvir, by whom he had several children ; but only three, Germanicus, Clau- dius, and Livilla, survived their father. The character of Drusus stood high both as a soldier and a citizen ; and it * Livy, Epit. 140. B. c. 8.] LATIN LITERATURE. 17 was generally believed that he intended to restore the repub- lic, if ever he should possess the requisite power.* It is even said that at one time he wrote to his brother proposincr to compel Augustus to reestablish the popular freedom, but that Tiberius showed the letter to his stepfatlier.t Some even, m the usual spirit of calumniating Augustus, went so far as to hint that he caused Drusus to be taken off by poison when he neglected to give instant obedience to his mandate of recall, issued in consequence of that information.| Death had already (743) deprived Augustus of his sister Octavia, and within two years after the loss of Drusus, he had to lament that of Maecenas, his early friend, adviser, and minister, who died toward the end of the year 740, leaving him his heir, notwithstanding the affair of Terentia. ' "^ Ma3cenas was a man in whom were united the apparently opposite characters of the refined voluptuary and the able and judicious statesman. When called on to exert himself in public affairs, no man displayed more foresight, vigor, and activity ; but the moment he could withdraw from thein, he h:istened to relax into an ease and luxury almost more than feminine. Satisfied with the abundance of werdth which he derived from the bounty of Augustus, and content with hav- ing the power to bestow honors and offices on others, he sought them not for himself, and to the end of his life he re- mained a simple member of the equestrian order in which he had been born. It does not appear, that, like Agrippa, he devoted his wealth to the improvement or ornament of the city ; but he was the patron, and in some cases the benefac- tor, of men of letters ; and while the poetry of Virgil and Horace shall be read, (and when shall it not?) the name of Maecenas will be pronounced with honor by thousands to whom that of the nobler Agrippa will be comparatively un- known. Such is the power of literature to confer everlast- ing renown ! This was in effect the most splendid period of Rome's literary history. Though we cannot concede that literary genius is the creation of political circumstances, yet we may observe that it usually appears synchronouslv with great po- litical events. It was during the Persian and Peloponnesian wars, that the everlasting monuments of the Grecian muse * Suet. Claud. 1. Tac. Ann. i. 33. 1 Suet. Tib. 50. t Suet. Claud. 1. Tac. Ann. ii. 82. 2* r. n I ||5| iji. IB AUGUSTUS. [b. C. 8. were produced ; and it was while the fierce wars excited by religion agitated modern Europe, that the most noble works of poetic genius appeared in Italy, Spain, and England. So also the first band of Roman poets were coexistent with the Punic wars, and the second and more glorious, though per- haps less vigorous, display of Italian genius rose amid the ca- lamities of the civil wars. The first of these poets in name, as in genius, is P. Vir- gilius Maro, who was born at Andes, a village near Mantua, m 684, and died at Brundisium, in 735. Residing in the cojmtry, and fond of rural life, his first poetic essays were pastorals in the manner of Theocritus. In this attempt, how- ever, his success was not eminent ; for though his verse is sweet and harmonious, and his descriptions are lovely, he at- tains not to the nature and simplicity of his Grecian master. He next wrote his Georgics, a didactic poem on agriculture ; and here his success was beyond doubt ; for it is the most perfect piece of didactic poetry that the world possesses. He then made the daring attempt of competing with Homer in the fields of epic poetry ; and though the ^neis is inferior in fire and spirit to the Ilias, and possesses not the romance and the domestic charms of the Odyssey, and as an epic must even perhaps yield to the Jerusalem Delivered of modern Italy, it is a poem of a very high order, and one which will never cease to yield delight to the cultivated mind. In thus select- ing Roman subjects, Virgil proved his superior judgment ; and he assumed the place which had been occupied by En- nius, and became the national poet. Q. Horatius Flaccus, born at Venusium in Apulia, in G89, is distinguished for the graceful ease, mild, philosophic spirit, and knowledge of men and the world,* displayed in his satires and epistles. ° He had also the merit of transferring the lyric measures of Alca^us, Sappho, and other Grecian poets, to the Latin language. His odes of a gay and lively, or of a bland, philosophic tone, arc inimitable ; in those of a higher flight he has less success, and the appearance of effort may at times be discerned. Horace died in 746, in the same year with his friend and patron Msecenas. * Omne vafer vitium ridenti Flaccus amico Tangit, et admissus circuin proBCordia ludit, Calhdus excusso populurii suspendere naso. Persius, Sat. i. 116 B.C. 8.] LATIN LITERATURE. 19 Albius Tibullus and Sex. Aurelius Propertius wrote love elegies addressed to their courtesan-mistresses under feigned names, such as Neaira and Cynthia. The former approaches nearer than any of the ancient poets to modern sentimental- ity ; the latter shows extensive mythologic learning, correct taste, and a degree of delicacy and purity hardly to be ex- pected from an amatory poet of that age. Varius, Valgius, Cornelius Gallus, Plotius Tucca, Varro Atacinus, and a number of other poets, wrote at this period. They are praised by their surviving contemporaries, but their works have perished — a proof, perhaps, that their merit was not considerable. They were all imitators of the Greeks. P. Ovidius Naso belongs to the second period of the reign of Augustus, whom, he survived. He was born in 711, at Salmo, in the Pelignian country, and died in 771, in exile, at Tomi, on the Euxine. Ovid was a poet of original genius, which he tried on a variety of subjects. He wrote Heroic Epistles in the names and characters of the heroes and her- oines of Grecian antiquity ; love elegies ; a didactic poem called the Art of Love ; Metamorphoses ; and a poem on the Roman Fasti, He also composed a tragedy, named Medea, which was much praised by the ancient critics. Grace, ease, and gayety, prevail throughout the compositions of this poet; but he was deficient in vigor, and was too prone to trifle on serious subjects ; and in his amatory poetry he was very far from imitating the delicacy of Tibullus and Propertius. Yet, with all his defects, he is a delightful poet. The origin of his exile to Tomi in 762 is a mystery which can never be un- veiled. He ascribes it himself to two causes, his Art of Love, and his havinor seen something which he should not see. The • ••11 epistles written after his exile evmce a spirit quite broken, and exhibit little trace of the poet's former powers. The reign of Augustus was also the period of the appear- ance of the eloquent and picturesque history of the Roman republic by T. Livius. This great historian was born at Pa- dua {Pat avium) in 695, and he died in 771, the same year with Ovid. His history (of which the larger and more valu- able part is lost) extended from the landing of iEneas to the death of Drusus in 745^ I i I ' I! i !''!. 20 AUGUSTUS. [b. c. 8-G CHAPTER II.* AUGUSTUS. (coNTiNUEi>.) A. u. 746-767. B. c. 8-a. d. 14. TIBERIUS. BANISIIMExNT OF JULIA. GERMAN WARS OF TI- BERIUS. DEFEAT OF VARUS. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF AUGUSTUS. FORM AND CONDITION OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. TwENTY-oNE ycars had now elapsed since the return of Augustus, victorious over Antonius, and his assumption of the sole supreme authority in the state. In that period, death had deprived him of his nephew, his nobler stepson, and his two ablest and most attached friends. His hopes now rested on his two grandsons and adopted sons Caius and Lucius, and their posthumous brother, named Agrippa after their father; on Tiberius, and on the children of Drusus. Caius was now (746) in his thirteenth year ; his brother was three years younger. As they grew up, the characters which they displayed were such as caused pain to their grandfather. They were in fact porphjrogeniti, (the first that Rome had seen,f) and therefore were spoiled by public and private flattery, and displayed insolence and presumption in their conduct. Though Augustus was fully aware of the defects in the character of Tiberius, he could not avoid as- signing him the place in the state for which his age, and his abilities and experience, qualified him. He had, therefore, on the death of I>usus, committed to him the conduct of the war in Germany ; and, in 746 and the following year, the Roman legions were led by him over the Rhine, but no re- sistance w'as offered by the Germans. The next year, (748,) Augustus conferred on him the tribunitian power for a period of five years, and appointed him to go to regulate Armenia, where affairs were now in some disorder,! Tiberius, however, had resolved on retiring for a time from public life. The pretext under which he sought permission from Augustus, was a satiety of honors and a longing for * Authorities same as for the preceding chapter, t [That is, the first princes-horn ; having been born since the as sumption of supreme authority by Augustus. — J. T. S.] t Zonaras, x. 35. B.C. l.-A.D. 2.] TIBERIUS. 21 quiet and repose. What he afterwards assigned as the real cause was his wish not to appear to stand in the way of Caius and his brother, who were now growing up to man's estate.* The improper conduct of his wife, Julia, was also given as a reason for his retirement, or his expectation by absence to increase his authority in the state in case his presence should be again required : it was even said that he was banished by Augustus for conspiring against his sons. It was with great difficulty that he obtained permission from his mother and stepfather to put his design into execution. We are told that, to extort it, he menaced to starve himself, and actually abstained from food for four days. When he had thus drawn from them a reluctant consent, he went down privately with a very few attendants to Ostia, and, getting on board a vessel, proceeded along the coast of Campania Hearing that Augustus was taken ill, he halted ; but, finding that his so doing was imputed to a design of aiming at the empire in case of his death, he set sail, though the weather was not very favorable, and proceeded on his voyage to Rhodes. • He had. selected this island for his retreat, having been pleased with its amenity and salubrity, when he visited it on his return from Armenia, in the year 785. He adopted a pri- vate mode of life, dwelling in a moderately-sized house, and living on terms of equality with the respectable inhabitants. He was visited in his retreat by all those who were going out as proconsuls or legates to Asia. When Caius Ca3sar was sent out to regulate the affairs of Armenia, (753,) Tiberius passed over to Chios to wait on him. The young man showed him all marks of respect as his stepbrother and elder; but the insinuations of M. Lollius, whom Augustus had given him as a director, soon alienated his mind from Tiberius. The period of his tribunitian power being now expired, Tiberius sought permission to return to Rome, avowing that his motive for quitting it had been the wish to avoid the sus- picion of emulation with Caius and Lucius. As they were now grown up, and were able to maintain their station as the second persons in the state, his absence was no longer requi- site, and he wished to be permitted to revisit his friends and relatives. He, however, received a positive refusal; and all his mother could obtain was his being named a legate, in order to cover his disarace. He remained at Rhodes two years longer, when Caius, without whose approbation Augus- • Suet. Tib. 10. Veil. Pat. ii. 09. *M ii i)'\ \ fl H : ^1 b ti 22 AUGUSTUS, [a. d. 2-5 tus had determined to do nothing in his case, havuig quar- relled with LoUias, gave his consent to his recall. He was therefore permitted to return, but on the express condition of abstaining from public affairs, (755.) During the absence of Tiberius from Rome, the dissolute conduct "of his wife, Julia, after having long been generally known, had at length (75*2) reached the ears of her father. Julia had been unchaste even when the wife of the excellent Agrippa; some of the noblest men of Rome were among her paramours ; and she had at length become so devoid of shame and prudence as to carouse and revel o|>enly at night in the Forum, and even on the Rostra. Augustus had al- ready had a suspicion that her mode of life was not quite cor- rect ; when now convinced of the full extent of her depravity, his anger knew no l>ounds. lie communicated hi;s domestic misfortune to the senate ; he banished his dissolute daughter to the isle of Pandateria, on the coast of Campania, whither she was accompanied by her mother, Scribonia. He forbade her there the use of vvine and of all delicacies in food or dress, and prohibited any person to visit her without his special permission. He caused a bill of divorce to be sent her in the name of her husband, Tiberius, of whose letters of interces- sion for her he took no heed. He constantly rejected all the solicitations of the people for her recall ; and, when one time they were extremely urirent, he openly prayed that they n)io-ht have wives and daughters like her.* At length, after a period of five years, he allowed her to remove to the town of Rhecrium, on the continent, and made her treatment some- what milder. Anions the adulterers of Julia was Julus Antonius, the son of the triumvir by Fulvia.t Augustus had treated him with the crreatest kindness; he had given him in marriage the dRucrlner of his sister Octavia, and had conferred on him all the honors and dignities of the state. His ingratitude was therefore without excuse, and he expiated his offence by a voluntary death.t Of the rest, such as Sempronius Grac chus, auinotius Crispinus, and Appius Claudius, some were executed and others banished. * Her freed-woman and confidant Phcebe having hung herself when the discovery was made, Augustus declared that he would sooner have beenthefath.>rofPha3be thajiof Juha. s-.u a.u\. i. f It was to him that Horace addressed the second ode of the 4th booft of his Odes, probably in the year 739. \ Veil. Pat. ii. 100. If h A. D. 6.] GERMAxN WARS. It was in his family and his domestic relations that Augus- tus was destined to feel the adverse strokes of fortune. In 755, his grandson Lucius fell sick on his way to Spain, and died at Massalia; and, eighteen months later, (757,) Cnius breathed his last in Lycia, as he was on his return to Italv. Augustus had now only one grandson remaining, the posthu- mous child of Agrippa, of the same name with his father. He therefore adopted him and Tiberius on the same day, saying with regard to the latter, " Tliis I do for the sake of the republic." He at the same time made Tiberius adopt Germanicus, the eldest son of his brother Drusus, althouorh he had a son of his own by his first wife, also named Drusus. Tiberius was inve^ed with the tribunitian })ower for another period of five years, and was immediately despatched to assume the conduct of the German war, which had been going on for the last three years.* In his first campaign, he passed the Weser, and, having kept the field till the month of December, he placed his troops in winter quarters at the head of the Lippe, and returned himself to Rome. In the following campaign, (758,) having received the submission of the Chaucans and hroken the power of the Langobards, who were reofarded as the fiercest of the German tribes, he advanced to the banks of the Elbe; while his fleet, having safely circumnavigated the coast from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Elbe, joined the land army in this river, and aided its operations. The plan of the campaign for the ensuing year (759) was a very extensive one. The people named Marcomans had quitted their original seats, and occupied the country named Bohemum, (Bohemia,) which lay in the heart of the great Ilercynian forest. Their prince, named Maroboduus, was one of those men of superior talent, who have so often, among barbarous tribes, evinced the power of ment;d over corporeal qualities. He had established an undisputed authority over his own nation, and reduced all his neighbors to submission by arms or by persuasion. He maintained a disciplined army of 70,000 foot and 4000 horse; and, as his southern frontier was little more than two hundred miles from the Alps, it was in his power suddenly to pour a large army even into Italy; and he was always ready to support revolt in the German or Illyrian provinces. Tiberius, a far-seeing statesman, re- solved to anticipate the danger, and prepared to make a com- bined attack on the Marcoman prince. He therefore sent Veil. Pat. ii. 104, f ' i I I ; I I- ; tl I 'A ' *. 24 AUGUSTUS. [a. d. 6-9. orders to C. Sentius Saturninus to invade Bohemia in the north from the country of the Cattans, while he himself should enter it from the south with the army of Illyricum, which he had assembled for the purpose at Carnuntum, in Noricum. But this extensive plan was frustrated by a formidable in- surrection of the Dahnatians ; for this people, who ill bore the weight of tribute imposed on them by the Romans, when they saw the troops that were in their country drawn away for the German war, and at the same time, in consequence of orders given them to prepare an auxiliary force, became aware of their own numbers and strength, at the impulsion of a Dalmatian named Bato, resolved to assert their inde- pendence. The Breucans, a Pannonian tribe, led by another Bato, joined them, and speedily all Pannonia shared in the revolt. We should only weary the reader were we to enter into the details of this war, which lasted for the space of three years, employed fifteen legions and an equal number of aux- iliaries, and was regarded as the most dangerous foreign war that had occurred since the days of Hannibal ; for the seat of it was the confine of Italy ; so that Augustus declared openly in the senate, that, if proper measures were not adopt- ed, the enemy might come witliin view of the city on the tenth day. The Pannonians were also remarkably familiar with the laniTuacre, arts, and knowledcre of the Romans. The forces of the confederates were estimated at 200,000 foot and 9000 horse, under able and active leaders. In order to raise a force sufficient for the war, Augustus was obliged to call out all the veterans, to employ freedmen as soldiers, and to purchase for this purpose able-bodied slaves from their masters and mistresses. To add to his difficulties, Rome was at this time suffi^ring severely from fsimine. In the conduct of the war, Tiberius certainly proved him- self to be an able general, and his adopted son Germanicus, to whom Auorustus had criven a command, laid the founda- ~ ~ tion of his future fame. The success of the war was com- plete, the whole country, from the Adriatic to the Danube, and from Noricum to Thrace and Macedonia, being reduced to complete submission, (762.)* * When Bato surrendered and appeared before the tribunal of Tibe- rius, the latter asked him why they had revolted. '' Yourselves," re- plied he, "are the cause, for you send to your flocks, wolves, and not doors or herdsmen. ' Dion, Iv. 33; Ivi. IG. IF ; f '< t A. D. 9.] VARUS. 25 This dangerous war was hardly brought to a close, when intelligence arrived of a dreadful disaster which had be- fallen the Roman arms in Germany. Since the reduction of a part of the country beyond the Rhine, a military force had been maintained in it, and some forts were erected ; the Germans were gradually adopting Roman manners, and ac- customing themselves to Roman institutions. Had they been prudently managed, they might have been civiliz.ed and made useful subjects; but the present commander in Germany, P. Quinctilius Varus, who had been governor of Syria, and was therefore in the habit of meeting with a prompt obedience to all his commands, forcrettincr the difference between un- warlike Syrians and barbarous Germans, began to treat them with rigor, and to impose heavy taxes. Their native spirit was roused, and they secretly formed a plan for delivering themselves from the foreign yoke. Their principal leader was Arminius, [Hermann,) son of Sigimer, a Cheruscan prince who had loner served with the Roman armies, and had ob- tained the freedom of the city and the equestrian rank. The plan adopted being to lull Varus into security, they made a show of yielding the most cheerful obedience to all his com- mands, and thus induced him to quit the Rhine, and advance toward the Weser. Sigimer and Arminius were continually w^ith him ; and so completely had they won his confidence, that when Segestes, prince of the Chattans, had given him information of the plot, and advised him to seize himself Arminius and the other leaders. Varus refused to believe in it. When all the necessary preparations had been made, some of the more distant tribes were directed to take up arms, in order that Varus might be attacked with more advantage when on his march to reduce them. Arminius and the others remained behind, under the pretext of raising troops with which they were to join him ; and, as soon as he was gone, they fell on and slaughtered the various detachments, which, at their own particular desire, he had stationed in their country; then, collecting a large force, they followed and came up with the legions when in a place suited to their purpose. The Roman army, consisting of three legions, with their requisite cavalry and auxiliaries, in all of upwards of 24,000 men, accompanied by women and children, by wagons and beasts of burden, was advancing without regular order, as in a friendly country. They had reached a place surround- CONTIN. 3 D 4 i ; 'U I' i-'il i 26 AUGUSTUS. [a.d. 10-12. ed by hills, and covered with marshes, and with trees, which they were obliged to cut down in order to effect a passage. The weather was tempestuous, and, in the midst of the wind and rain, while they were floundering in the mire, and im- peded by the standing stumps and fallen trunks of the trees, they found themselves assailed on all sides by the Germans. After suffering much from their desultory assaults, they seized a dry sp'ot, where they encamped for the night, having burnt or abandoned the greater part of their baggage. Next day they attempted to march through the woods ; but the wind and rain still continued, and the persevering enemy gave them no rest. At length Varus and his principal officers, seeing no chance of escape, rather than be taken or slain by the barbarians, terminated their lives with their own hands. The soldiers now lost all courage: some iuiitated the act of their officers, others ceased to resist, and suffered themselves to be slain or taken ; and, had not the barbarians fallen to plunder, not a man had escaped captivity or death. The legate Numonius Vala* broke away with the greater part of "the horse, and made for the Rhine. When intellifjence of this calamity arrived at Home, the consternation which prevailed was extreme. Since the days of Crassus, no such misfortune had befallen the Roman arms. It vvas feared that the victorious Germans would in- tade Gaul, and even push on for Italy and Rome itself, and there was no army of either citizens or allies on foot to re- gist them. Augustus shared in the general alarm. He rent his raiment in^'grief; he vowed (what had only been done in the Cimbric and Marsic wars) great games to Jupiter Optimus Maximus, if the state should return to a safer con- dition ;f he doubled the guards in the city, and prolonged the command of the governors of the provinces. Finding that none of the men of the military age came forward to enroll themselves, he made them cast lots: and of those under five-and-thirty every fifth, of those over that age every tenth man, was to lose his property and to be infamous. Yet so decrenerate were the Romans become, that even this * This is probably the person to whom the fifteenth epistle of the 1st book of Horace's Epistles is addressed. t Any one acquainted with the character of Auirustus will not easily believe, that, accordinor to the report (ferunt) mentioned by Suetonius, (Oct. 23,) and Dion; (Ivi. 2:^,) he let his hair and beard grow for several months, and used to dash his head agamst the doors, cryin ! 111 33 AUGUSTUS. end of tbe Mithridatic war, when they were abolished; but JuliiK Cssar caused them to be again collected.* They were levied ad valorem by Augustus, and varied from twelve and a half to two and a half per cent.; articles of luxury, such as the precious stones, silks, and spices, of the East, beincr of cmirse, the most highly taxed. The excise was imposed by Augustus chiefly with the view of providing a fund for the payment of the troops; it was a duty of one per cent, (rcntesima) levied on all articles, great and small sold in the markets or by auction at Rome or throughout Italy. This not proving sufficient, he imposed (759) a duty of five per cent on all le^racies and inherit an<:es, except in the case of the poor, or of'very near relations.t This equitable tax, however, proving very odious to the leg^acy-hunting "obihty of Rome, in order to stop their murmurs, he sent (/bO) to the senate, requesting them to suggest some less onerous imposition to the same amount ; and when they could not, vet declared that they woukl pay any thing rather than it, he substituted a property tax, and sent out officers to make an estimate of the property in lands, houses, etc., throughout Italy This brought them to reason, and there was no hir- ther opposition to the legacy duty.| The treasury of the prince, whence the pay of the army was to issue, was named the Fisc, {Fiscus,) and was distinct from the public treasurv, {.Erarium,) and managed oy dit- ferent officers ; but the distinction was more apparent than real, as both were equal^y at the devotion of the master ot the legions. . i i • * Such was the form of the Roman empire, as reduced into order and recndnted by the wisdom and prudence of Augus- tus \vhile the civilized world thus formed one body, ruled by one mind, it pleaseil the Ruler of the universe to send his Son into it, as the teacher of a religion unrivalled m sublimity, purity, and be-neticence, and which was gradually to spread'to the remotest ends of the earth. In the year of Rome 752 by the Catonian, 754 by the Varronian computa- tion, Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judaea.§ * (Tic. Alt. ii. 16. Dion, xxxvii. 51. Suet. Jul. 43. t Dion, Iv. 25. t Dion, Ivi. 28. ^ We shall henceforth reckon by the Christian, era. A. D, 14.] FUNERAL OF AUGUSTUS. 39 CHAPTER III.» TIBERfUS CLAUDIUS NERO C^SAR A. u. 767—790. A. D. 14—37. FUNERAL OF AUGUSTUS. MUTINY OF THE LEGIONS. VICTO- RIES OF GERMANICUS. IIIS DEATH. CIVIL GOVERNMENT OF TIBERIUS. RISE AND FALL OF SEJANUS. DEATH OF AGRIPPINA AND HER CHILDREN. DEATH OF TIBERIUS. The death of Augustus was kept secret by Livia and Tiberius till the danger of a disputed succession should be removed by the death of Agrippa Posthumus. Orders in the name of Augustus were therefore sent to the officer who had him in charge, to put him to death. The orders were forth- with executed; but when the centurion, who was the agent, made his report to Tiberius, according to the usual custom, the latter made answer that he had not ordered it, and that the centurion nmst account to the senate for it. The mat- ter, however, ended there, for no inquiry was ever instituted. When the death of Augustus was at length made known at Rome, the senate, the knights, the army, and the people, hastened to swear obedience to Tiberius, who had already assumed the connnand of the army as Impcrator, Tiie body of Augustus was conveyed by night from town to town by the deatrions or councilmen of each. At Bovilla^ it was met by the Roman knights, who carried it into the city, and deposited it in the vestibule of his house on the Palatine. Tiberius, by virtue of his tribunitian authority, convoked the senate to consult about the funeral and the honors to be decreed to the deceased. These, had the real or pretended wishes of the senate prevailed, would have been excessive; but Tiberius set a limit to their adulation, and only con- sented that the senators should carry the body to the pyre. The will of Augustus, which was in the custody of the Ves- tals, was then produced and read. The funeral orations were pronounced by Tiberius himself and his son Drusus. The body was borne on the shoulders of the senate to the Campus Martins, and there burnt; the ashes were collected * Authorities: Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion. I ! / / 40 TIBERIUS. [a. D. 14 by the principal men of the equestrian order, and deposited in the Mausoleum, which he had built in his sixth consulate, (726 ) between the Flaminian road and the Tiber, and sur rounded with plantations and public walks. An eagle had been let to ascend from the flaming pyre, as the bearer ot the soul of the deceased to heaven ; and Numinius Atticus, a man of praetorian rank, swore publicly that he saw Augus- tus mounting to the skies ; for which falsehood L.via gratified him with a gift of 25,000 denars. A Heroum was therefore decreed to be raised to Augustus, as to one who had not shared the fate of ordinary mortals, but, like Hercules or Romulus, was become a god. , t ■ ■ By his last will, Augustus had made Tiberius and Livia (whom he had placed in the Julian family, and named Au- gusta) his heirs, the former of two thirds, the latter of one Uiird of the property which would remain after payment ol the numerous legacies which he left. He bequeathed a sum of 43,-500,000 sesterces to the Roman people ; to the Frs- torians 1000 sesterces each; half that sum to each of the Urbans, and 300 to each of the legionaries. He also be- queathed varioits sums to his friends. He expressly forbade either of the .Tul.as to be laid in his monument when they died. Beside his will, Augustus left three pieces in writing, the one containing the directions about his funeral, another an account of his actions, which he directed to be cut on brazen tables, and set up before his Mausoleum, and a third sivin.r a view of the condition of the whole empire, the number of soldiers under arms, the quantity of money m the treasury and fisc, or elsewhere, adding tlie names of the treed- men and slaves who might be called on to account lor it. The man into whose hands the supreme power was now transferred, was in character diametrically opposite to Au- austus. Tiberius Claudius Nero, who was by adoption a member of the Julian house, was nearly fifty-four years of age. He had exercised all the principal offices in the state and had commanded armies with reputation. He was tond of literature and science, and of the society of learned men ; but he had all the innate haughtiness of the Claudian family ; he was suspected of an inclination to cruelty ; yet so profound vas his power of dissimulation, that he had attained to that mature aue without his character being generally understood. * In his first campaicrns, the soldiers, noticing his love of wme, called him Biberias Caldius Mero. Suet. Tib. 42. A. D. 14.] MUTINY OF THE LEGIONS. 41 His manners and carriage were repulsive and forbidding; he was generally silent, and did not unbend and decline inlo familiarity. When all due honors htid been decreed to Augustus, the senate turned to Tiberius, imploring him to assume the su- preme power; but he feigned reluctance, spoke of the diffi- culty of the task, and his own incompetence, saying that, in a state possessing so many illustrious men, such power should not be committed to any single person. This only caused them to urge him the more; they called on the gods and on the statue of Augustus : Tiberius marked the words of each, and for some incautious speakers he laid up future vengeance. At length, yielding as it were to compulsion, he accepted the wretched and onerous servitude, as Ite termed it, until tiie senate should see tit to grant some repose to his old acre. In this affected reluctance, Tiberius, no doubt, was act- ing according to his natural character of dissimulation, and seeking to learn the real sentiments of the leading senators; but he had other reasons and causes of apprehension. He was uncertain how the two great armies, which were stationed in Pannonia and Germany, would act when they heard of the death of Augustus; and he feared lest Germanicus, who commanded the latter, and who was universally beloved, might choose to grasp the supreme power when within his reach, rather than wait for it to come to him by the more tedious course of succession. He did, however, the noble Germanicus injustice?; but his suspicions of the legions were not unfounded, for they broke out into mutiny when intelli- gence reached them of the late events. The mutiny commenced in the Pannonian army of three legions under the command of Junius Bliesus. The soldiers complained of the smallness of their pay and the length of their service, and demanded to be placed on an equality in both these points with the Praetorians. Blaesus having suc- ceeded, in some measure, in calming them, they selected his own son as their deputy, to lay their grievances before Ti- berius; but when he was gone, the mutiny broke e-ut anew, and they killed one of their officers, drove the rest out of the camp, and plundered their baggage. When Tiberius heard of the mutiny, he sent off his son Drusus with a ^uard of the Praetorians, and bearing letters to the troops, in which he promised to lay their grievances before the senate, adding that Drusus was authorized to concede at once all that could be granted without a decree of the senate. per Not content with military glory, he sought f.""^ al o f,! the peaceful fields of literature* He was a a.thful husband, an affectionate parent, a constant friend ; m hnc both in public and private virtues, he has few superiors in the Dinres of history. , . , , , , ,, After the death of Germanicus, a consultation ^yas held, by such of the senators as were present, on the subject ot the government of the province of Syria, now vacant, and it was ^Sved to commit' it to Cn. Sei.tius. Meantime Piso^^who was at Cos when the news o the death of Gernamcu. reached him, consulted as to what h: should da H.s son ur. 2i AH the historians are agreed that he both disliked and feared Germanicus, and that it was the awe in which he stood of that favorite of the soldiery and the people that caused him to act with so much moderation in his first years, in which there is really little to reprehend. His plan was to possess the reality of power without ex- citing hatred or envy by the useless display of the show of it. He therefore rejected the titles that were offered him, such as that of Imperator, as a pranomcn, and that of Father of his Country ; even that of Augustus, though hereditary, he would only use in his letters to kings and dynasts : above all, he rejected that of Master, {Duminus;) he would only be called C?Esar, or First of the Senate. This last (which we shall henceforth term Prince) was his favorite title : he used to say, " I am the Master of niy slaves, the Imperalor of the soldiers, and the Prince of the rest." He would not allow any thing peculiar to be done in honor of his birthday, nor suffer any one to swear by his fortune : neither would he permit the senate to swear to his acts on new year's day, or temples, or any other divine honors, to be decreed him. He was affable and easy of approach; he took no notice of libels and evil reports of which he was the object, while l>e re- pelled flattery of every kind. To the senate and the magistrates he preserved (at least in appearance) all their pristine dignity and power. Every matter, great cy small, public or private, was laid before the senate. The debates were apparently free, and the prince was often in the minority. He always entered the senate- house without any attendants, like an ordinary senator ; he reproved consulars in the command of armies for writing to him i[istead of the senate; he treated the consuls with the utmost respect, rising to them and making way for them. Ambassadors and deputies were directed to apply to them, as in the time of the republic. It was only by his tribunitian right of interceding that he exercised his power in the sen- ate. He used also to take his seat with the magistrates as they were administering justice, and by his presence and authority gave a check to the influence of the great in pro- tecting the accused ; by which conduct of his, while justice gained, liberty, it was observed, suffered.* The public morals and the tranquillity of the city were * " Sed dum veritati consulitur libertas corruinix'batur. Ann. i. 75. Tac. \ A. D. 21.] CONDUCT OF TIBEPIUS. 53 also attended to, A limit was set to the expenses of plays and public shows, and to the salaries of the players, to whom the senators and knights were forbidden to show marks of respect, by visiting them or attending them in public. Profligacy had become so bold and shameless, that ladies were known to have entered themselves in the list of professed courtesans in order to escape the penalties of the law, and young men of family to have voluntarily submitted to the mark of infamy in order to appear with safety on tne stage or the arena; both these infamous classes were now subjected to the pen- alty of exile. Astrologers and fortune-tellers were expelled the city ; the rites and ceremonies of the Egyptian and Judaic religions were suppressed. Guards were placed throughout "^Italy to prevent highway robbery; and those refuges of villany of all kinds, the sanctuaries, were regu- lated in Greece and Asia. Yet people were not deceived by all this apparent regard for liberty and justice ; for they saw, as they thought, from the very commencement, the germs of tyranny, especially ni the renewal of the law of treason, [niajrstas,) In the time of the republic, there was a law under this name, by which any one who had diminished the greatness {majcsfas) of the Roman people by betraying an army, exciting the plebs to sedition, or acting wrong in command, was subject to pun- ishment It applied to actions alone ; but Sulla extended it to speeches,* and Augustus to writings against not merely the state, but private individuals, on the occasion of Cassius Severus 'having libelled several illustrious persons of both sexes. Tiberius, who was angered by anonymous verse? made on himself, directed the^ pra:tor, when consulted b) him on the subject, to give judgment on the law of treason As this law extended to words as well as actions, it opened a wide field for mischief, and gave birth to the vile brood of Delators, or public informers, answering to the sycophants those pests of Athens in the days of her democratic despot- ism. This evil commenced almost with the reign of Ti- berius, in whose second year two knights, Falonius and Rubri'us, were accused, the one of associating a player of infamous character with the worshippers of Augustus, and of having sold with his gardens a statue of that prince, the other of having sworn falsely by his divinity. Tiberius, however, would not allow these absurd charges to be en- * Cic. ad Fam. iii. 11. 5 1 54 TIBERIUS. [a. d. 22. tertaliifd. Soon after, Granius Marcellus, the pra;tor of Bittnnia, was charged w.th treason by his qusstor, Cajpio Cri'^pinu^ for having spoken evil of Tiberius, having placed his own -tatue on a higher site than tliat of the Cssars, and havincr cut the head of Augustus off a statue, to make room for that of Tiberius. This last charge exasperated 1 ibenus, uho declared that he would vote himself on the matter; but a bold expression used by Cn. Piso brought him to reason, and Marcellus was acquitted. , , , After the death of Germanicus, Tiberius acted with less restraint; for his son Drusus did not possess the qualities suited to gain popularity, and thus to control him. In tact, except hi' affection for his noble adoptive brother, there was nothin>'. \''f;^'"t'„^ ' " n.sed publicly to style him " the associate of his labors a 1 even allowed his statues to be placed and worshipped m tem- ples and theatres, and among the ensigns of the legions. Seianus ha.l, in fact, formed the daring project of dcstroy- i,,^ Tiberius and his family, and seizing the supreme power. aJ beside Tiberius and Dnisus, who had two sons, there were a brother and three sons of Germanicus living, he re- solved as the safer course, to remove them gradually by art ;,ul treachery. He began with Drusus, against whom he had a ..ersonal spite, as that violent youth had one time pub- licly g yen him 'a blow in the face. In order to effect his purpose he seduced his wife, Livia, or Livilla, the sister of Geman.cus; and then, by holding out to her the prospect of a share in the imperial power, he induced her to engage i, the plan for the murder of her husband.* Her physician Euden us, was also taken into tlie plot; but ,t was some time before the associates could finally determine what mode to adopt. At length a slow poison was hxed on which was a,h, inisteredto Drusus by a eunuch named Lygdus ; and he d ed apparently of disease, (23.) Tiberius, who, while his son was Ivincr dead, had entered the senate-house, and ad- ■ dressed the inembers with his usual composure, pronounced the funeral oration himself, and then turned to business for ""so far'Til had succeeded with Sejanus, and death carried off the younger son of Drusus soon after his father ; but 4r (( Neque femina, an.issa pudicilia, alia abnuerit," observes Tacitus. • «K«»n»»i* i««n* ' <»' ■ wi ».».H i i i pt.p. 'irj'i i ii *T ^ -- ■»'^---— -t. 'ilw J TTiiiiP ii CMIip^itiw-Ciiri^ 58 TIBERIUS. [a. D. 26. you are angry with them, their truth seems to be acknowl- edged. I s'peak not of the Greeks, among whom not only liberty but license was unpunished; or if any one did take notice, he avenged himself on words by words. But there was the greatest freedom, and no reproach, when speaking of those whom death had removed from enmity or favor. Do I, in the cause of civil war, inflame the people by my harangues, while Brutus and Cassius are in arms, and occu- pying'^the plains of Philippi ? Or do they, who are now dead'these seventy years, as they are known by their images, which the conqueror did not destroy, retain in like manner their share of memory in literary works? Posterity allots his meed to every one ; nor, should a condemnation fall on me, will there be wanting those who will remember not only Brutus and Cassius, but nlso mcJ' Having thus spoken, Cordus left the senate-house, and, returning to his own abode, starved himself to death. The senate dl^creed that the copies of his work should be col- lected and burnt by the ccdiles ; but some were saved by his daughter Marcia, and were republished in the succeeding reigu At length, ('26,) Tiberius quitted Rome, and went into Cam- pania, under the pretext of dedicating a temple to Jupiter at Capua, and one to Augustus at Nola : but with the secret intention of never returning to the city. Various causes, all perhaps true, are assigned for this resolution. The sug- gestions of Sejanus were not without effect; he was grown thin, and stooped ; he was quite bald, a!id his face was full of blotches and ulcers, to which he was obliged to have plasters constantly applied; and he may therefore have sought, on this account, to retire from the public view. It is further said that he wished to escape from the authority of his mother, who seemed to consider herself entitled to share the power which he had obtained through her exer- tions ; but perhaps the most prevalent motive was the wish to be able to give free course to his imiate cruelty and lusts when in solitude and secrecy. He was accompanied only by one senator, Cocceius Ner- * See Sen. Cons, ad Marciam ; Suet. Cal. 1(>. "Quo ina^is socor- diam [1. e. vecordiam] enrum inridero licet." observes Tacitus^ "qui prtBsenti potentia creiunt extinorui posse etiam seqiientis m\\ memori- am; nam contra, punitis inireniis trliscit auctoritas ; neqne aliud ex- terni reires, aut qui eadem sa3vitia usi sunt, nisi dedecus sibl atque illis trior iani pcperere." A. D. 27.] TIBEIUUS IN CAMPANIA. 59 va, who was deeply skilled in the laws, by Sejanus and another knight, and by some persons, chiefly Greeks, who were versed in literature. A few days after he set out, an accident occurred, which was near being fatal to him, but proved fortunate for Sejanus. As, at one of his- country- seats, near Fundi, named the Caverns, {Spclunc pina and Nero, and crying out that the letter was forged, and the prince deceived. Nothing therefore was done on that day, and Sejanus took the opportunity of irritating the mind of Tiberius, who wrote again to the senate; but, as in the letter he forbade their proceeding to extremes, they passed a decree, declaring themselves prepared to avenge the prince, were they not hindered by himself Most unfortunately the admirable narrative of Tacitus fails us at this point; and for the space of more th;m two years, and those the most important oMhe reign of Tiberius, we are obliged to derive our knowledge of events from the far inferior notices of Dion Cassius and Suetonius. We are therefore unable to display the arts by which St^janus efTected the ruin of Agrippina and her children, and can only learn that she was relegated to the isle of Pandateria, where, while she gave vent to her indignation, her eye was struck out by a centurion ; and that Nero was placed in the isle of Pontia, and forced to terminate his own life. The further fate of Agrippina and Drusus we shall have to relate. "Sejanus now revelled in the enjoyment of power ; every one feared him, ?very one courted and flattered him. ''In a word," says Dion, " fui seemed to be emperor, Tiberius merely the ruler of an island ; " for, while the latter dwelt in solitude, and apparently unthought ot; the doors of the former were thronged every morning with saluting crowds, and the first men oT Rome attended him on his way to the senate. His pride and insolence, as is always the case with those who rise otherwise than by merit, kept pace with his power, and men hated while they feared and flattered him. He had thus ruled for more than three years at Rome, with power nearly absolute, when (31) Tiberius made him his colleague in the consulate — an honor observed to be fatal to every o°ne who had enjoyed it. In fact, the jealous tyrant, who had been fully informed of all his actions and designs,* had secretly resolved on his death ; but fear, on account of Se- janus's influence with the guards, and his uncertainty of how the people might stand affected, prevented him from pro- * According to Josephus, (Antiq. xviii. 6,) Antonia,the widow of his brother Drusus, wrote him a full account of Sejanus's proceedings, and sent it by a trusty slave named Pallas. CONTIN. 6 r 6-2 TIBERIUS. [a. D. 31. ceediiiT openlv against him. He therefore had recourse to artifice^ in which he so much delighted. At one time, he wouhl vvrite to the senate, and describe himself as so dl that his recovery was nearly hopeless; again, that he was in per- fect health and was about to return to Rome. He would now praise Sejanus to the skies, and then speak most disparao-incrlv of him ; he would honor souie and disgrace others of his friends solely as such. In this way both Seja- nus himself and all others were kept in a state of the utmost uncertainty. Tiberius further bestowed priesthoods on Se- ianus and his son, and proposed to marry his daughter to Drusus theson of Claudius, the brother of Germanicus; yet, at the same time, when Sejanus asked permission to go to Campania, on the pretext of her being unwell, he desired him to remain where he was, as he himself would be coming to Rome immediately. All this tended to keep Sejanus in a state of great per- turbation ; and this was increased by tlie circumstance of Tiberius when appointing the voun^r Cams to a priesthood, having not merely praised him, but spoken of him in some sort as his successor in the monarchy. lie would have pro- ceeded at once to action, were it not that the joy manifested by the people on this occasion proved to ^im that he had onlv the soldiers to rely on ; and he hesitated to act with them alone. Tiberius then showed favor to some of those to whom h was hostile; and, when writing to the senate on the occasion of the death of Nero, he merely called him Sejanus and directed them not to offer sacrifice to any man, nor to decree any honors to himself, and of consequence to no one else. The senators easily saw whither all this tend- ed; and their neglect of Sejanus was now pretty openly displaved. ^ , , , Tiberius havincr thus made trial of the senate and the people, and finding he could rely on both, resolved to strike the loncT-meditated blow. In order to take his victim more complet'ely at unawares, he gave out that it was his intention to confer on him the tribunitian power. Meantime he gave to NsEvius Sertorius Macro a secret commission to take the command of the guards, made him the bearer of a letter to the senate, and instructed him fully how to act. Macro entered Rome at nicrht, and communicated his instructions to the consul, C. Memmius Regulus, (for his colleague was a creature of Sejanus,) and to Gra^cinus Laco, the com- mander of the watchmen, and arranged with them the plan A. D. 31.] FALL OF SEJANUS. 63 of action. Early in the morning, he went up to the temple of the Palatine Apollo, where the senate was to sit^ that day and, meeting Sejanus, and finding him disturbed at Tiberius's having sent him no message, he whispered him that he had the grant of the tribunitian power for him. Sejanus tlien went'^in highly elated; and Macro, showing his commission to the gua'^rds on duty, and telling them that he had letters promising them a largess, sent them down to their camp, and put the watchmen about the temple in their stead. He then entered the temple, and, having delivered the letter to the consuls, immediately went out again, and, leaving Laco to watch the progress of events tlx^re, hastened down to the camp, lest there should be a mutiny of the guards. The letter was long and ambiguous; it contained nothing direct against Sejanus, but first treated of something else, then caine to a little complaint of him, then to some other matter, then it returned to him again, and so on; it conclu- ded by saying that two senators, who were most devoted to Sejanus, ought to be punished, and himself be cast into prison; for, "though Tiberius wished most ardently to have him executed, he did not venture to order his death, fearing a rebellion. He even implored them in the letter to send one of the consuls with a guard to conduct him, now an old man and desolate* into their presence. We are further told that such were his apprehensions, that he had given orders, in case of a tumult, to release his grandson Drusus, who was in chains at Rome, and put him at the head of those who remained faithful to his family ; and that he took his station on a lofty rock, watching for the signals that were to be made, having ships ready to carry him to some of the legions, in case any thing adverse should occur. "His precautions, however, were needless. Before the letter was read, the senators, expecting to hear nothing but the praises of Sejanus and the grant of the tribunitian power, were loud in testifying their zeal toward him ; but, as the reading proceeded, their conduct sensibly altered ; their looks were no longer the same ; even some of those who were sitting near him rose and left their seats : the praetors and tribunes closed round him, lest he should rush out and try to raise the guards, as he certainly would have done, had not the letter been composed with such consummate artifice. He was in fact so thunderstruck, that it was not till the consul had called him the third time that he was able to reply. All then joined in reviling and insulting him: he i: 64 TIBERIUS. [a. D. 31. was conducted ,o the F''-" ^Vl^ To tplce poured er .nagistrates. As he passed aUu^jhepopul^^ p^^ rr:^^:^ ''"nd d/aS Z^Z.. the street. The heads ott ot inem, cinu ^'*^co ^,,^io mtkI findintr that senate, see.ng th,s d.spos,.,on «/ '- P^g-^ J; u.e tem- the guards reu.an.ed qu.et met u. '*^ ;~;;;„„,a i,i,n to pie If Concord, close to the Pf'^"' ""^.^T^'^t ,eless body death. He was executed without delav .^ » j j^ u^s tlung down the Gemo.nan steps ^^^'''^J^^,^ was expSscd to every ^'^ ^^^^^^^ i^^ .o ^e.^ : cast into the liber."* His clniurtn ar ' j j- j^e his little daughter, who was to have been h<^ br ^^^ pnnce's grand-nephew, was so young - {.-""J,,,' ,,.e had they carried her to prison, she "^ept aswin donV and whither they were ;-gf, g„ ,vte Ivh.pped if would do so no more, =^-"1/''''^ Xns refinements of bar- naughty. Nay, by one of ;''''^!,,"f "" ,;,^;." w, .le adhering barhy which trample on justice and " ";^" .;^ ^^„,,^„d „? to the letter of the law, •^f'^ause it wa, ^^'^^^^^^^^ ,,,3 for a virgin to ^e capita lypuushedthe^e^^^^ „,ade to deflower the child belore he st ang ^^ ta, the divorced wife of Sejanus, on '^a "g o* ^^^ her children, and see.ng f^^^f^^teVo Tiberius a full the steps, went home; and, havmg vvn en to 1 ^^^ account of the true manner of >« 'leatU o' ^_^^^_ of the gu.lt of LiviUa, P^^^.^ ^^U wh" Le concer,,ed quence of this discovery, Livilla, ana an in that murder, were put to '!«='*';,• j „„ the friends of The rage of the ^'^^^^-^^Z. The preeto- Seianus, and many of them ''f^^'n^ led and at the na!i guards, too, -"f!,^;^,': "hrXto burn and plun- watchmen being preferred to ^''e ". " . , der houses. The senators were in a state "^^^"^ ^^-^ turbation, some trembling on aca.u. of the ^^^^ court to Sejanus, others |W,o '-J -" ^^^t^,, ^^Uen. All, fallen favorite. ^nnrehension, ffave loose to Tiberius, now free^ from a lapp^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^.^^ tTdThTpris^n w!s"fi";ietvnth the fr.ends and creatures of * see the graphic picture of the fall of Sejanus in Juvenal, Sat. x. 66, seq. I ■ A. D. 32-^3.] SEJANUS S FRIENDS. 6 O Sejanus; the baleful pack of informers was unkennelled, and their victims of both sexes were hunted to death. Some were executed in prison ; others were ^ung from the Capitol ; the lifeless remains were exposed to every kind of indignity, and then cast into the river. Most, however, chose a vohjn- tary death; for they thus not only escaped insult and pain, hut preserved their property for their children. In the following year, (3*2,) Tiberius ventured to leave his island, and sail up the Tiber as far as Cajsar's gardens; but suddenly, no one knew why, he retreated again to his soli- tude, whence by letters he directed the course of cruelty at Rome. The commencement of one was so remarkable that historians have thought it deserving of a place in their works; it ran thus : " What I shall write to you, P. C, or how I shall write, or what I shall not write, at this time, may the irods and goddesses destroy me worse than I daily feel myself perishincr, if I know."* A. knight named iM. Terentius, at this time, when accused of the new crime of Sejanus's friendship, had the courage to adopt a novel course of defence. IJe baldly acknowledged the charge, but justified his conduct by saying that he had only followed the example of the prince, whom it was their duty to imitate. The senate acquitted him, and punished his accusers with exile or death, and Tiberius ex- pressed himself well pleased at the decision. But, in the suc- ceeding year, (33,) his cruelty, joined with avarice, (a vice new to him,) broke out with redoubled violence. Tired of murdering in detad, he ordered a general massacre of all who lay in prison on account of their connection with Sejanus. Without distinction of age, sex, or rank, they were slaugh- tered ; their friends dared not to approach, or even be seen to shed tears ; and as their putrefying remains floated along the Tiber, no one might venture to touch or to burn them. The deaths of his grandson Drusus, and his daughter-in- law Agrippina, were added to the atrocities of this year. The former perished by the famine to which he was destined, after he had sustained life till the ninth day by eating the stuffing of his bed. The tyrant then had the shamelessness * Suet. Tib. 07. Tac. Ann. vi. G. <' Adeo," adds Tacitus, *• facinora atque flagitia sua ipsi quoque in supplicium verterant. Neque frustra prfEstantissimus sapientios [Plato] firmare sohtus est, si recludantur tyrannorum mentes posse aspici laniatus ct ictus ; quando ut corpora verberibus, ita scevitia, hbidine, mails consultis animus dilaceretur : quippe Tiberium non fortuna non solitudines protegebant quin tor- menta pectoris suasque ipse poenas fateretur." 6* , 66 TIBERIUS. [a. d. 33-37. 1 ^ ;r. iha ^Pnitp the diarv which had been o rniirse of vears, and ot tne inaigiiuics ui 013^ "J Liiaij^iiio Qpi-unis; two vcars beforc, he 01- >ius, and M. Vinicuis,; anu j. ■ . ,„ i,„,. musin Nero. „f Drusus, which last had been married to her cous n i>ero, .ore or less to -nceal his natura char^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ?heTo;n:in,''T: "e ' Se a-- though the a./nt of his : ltv"i>arb;en the cause if his l-t^^';-"^^.: o 'altt But nolv all barriers were re-noved ; for Ca.us ^v«s so l^F^ K ho;nd practices >n which he indulge, a.n.ds^^ he rok, ol-Capre^E. Meantime there was no ■"'^'"'"'^'^ ."J^'^'J^^^^^; Macro was as bad as Sejanus, only more covertly there was no lack of delators, and men of rank per.shed da.ly. Nature however, at last began to give way. He had quit ted'lSnd, and a'pproached to withm seven rn.esoRor^e (37 ■) but terrified, it is said, by a prodigy, he did not v en lure to enter the city. As he was on his way back to Cam- Tac. Ann. vi. 51. t Id. ib. 20. A.D. 33.] LAST ILLNESS OF TIBERIUS. 67 pania, he fell sick at Astura; having recovered a little, he went on to Circeii, where, to cojiceal his condition, he ap- peared at the public games, and even flung darts at a wild boar which was turned out into the arena. The effort, how- ever, exhausted him, and he became worse; still he went on, and reached the former abode of Lucuilus at Misenum, Each day he lay at table and indulged as usual, A physi- cian named Charicles, under pretence of taking leave, one evening contrived to teel his pulse. Tiberius perceived his object, and, ordering more dishes up, lay longer than usual, under the pretext of doing honor to his departing friend ; but Charicles was not to be deceived; he told Macro that he could not last two days, and measures were forthwith taken for securing the succession of Caius. On the IGth of March, he swooned away, and appeared to be dead. Caius was con- gratulated by most of those present, and was preparing to assume the imperial power, wljen word was brought that Tiberius had revived and called for food. All slan'k away, feigning grief or ignorance : Caius remained in silence, ex- pecting his fate, when Macro boldly ordered clothes to be heaped on him; and Tiberius thus was smothered to death, in the 78th year of his age. CHAPTER IV.» CAIUS JDLIUS CiESAR CALIGULA. A. u. 790—794. A. D. 37— 4L ACCESSION OF CAIUS. HIS VICES AND CRUELTY. BRIDGE OVER THE BAY OF BAI^. HIS EXPEDITION TO GERMANY. HIS MAD CAPRICES. HIS DEATH. The intelligence of the death of Tiberius diffused univer- sal joy. The memory of Germanicus, and the hard fate of his family, recurred to men'.s minds, and led them to think favorably of his son, and to conceive hopes of happiness * Authorities: Suetonius and Dion. 63 CAIUS. [ArD. 37 • under his daminion. As Caius,* therefore, iii a mourning habit and in attendance on the corpse of his grandtather movedfrom Misenum to Rome, joyful crowds poured lorth to meet him, altars were raised and victims slam on the way and the most endearing epithets greeted him as he passed When he reached Rome, he proceeded to the senate-house, and the will of the late prince was opened and read. It a;)- peared that he had left (Jaius and Tiberius the son ot Drusus joint heirs ; but the will was at once set aside, under the pre- text of the testator not having been in his right mmd, and the sole power was conferred on Caius, so entirely with the public approbation, that it was computed that m less than Three months upwards of IGD.OOO victims were slain m testi- mony of the general jov. Caius, in return, was lavish ot pro- fessions, assuring the senate that he would share his power with them, and do every thing that pleased them, calling himself their son and foster-child. He then released all who were in prison on charges of treason, and he burned (or rather pretended to do so) all the papers relating to them which Tiberius had left behind him, saying that he did so in order that, if he should feel ill disposed toward any one on account of his mother and brothers, he might not have it m his power to gratifv his vengeance. As soon as he had celebrated the obsequies of his grand- father whose funeral oration he pronounced himself, he got on shipboard, and, thouah the weather was tempestuous, passed over to the isles of Pandateria and Pontia; and, h;iv- incT collected, and with his own hand inurned the ashes ot his mother and brother, he broucrht them to Rome, and deposited them in the Mausoleum of Augustus. He appointed annual relicrious rites in their honor ; he directed the month of Sep- tember to be called Germanicus, after his father ; he caused all the honors, which had ever been bestowed on Livia Au- gusta to be conferred, by one decree, on his grandmother Antoma; he made his uncle Claudius, who had hitlierto been in the equestrian order, his colleague in the consulate ; he adopted his cousin Tiberius the day he took the xm\e toga, and named him Prince af the Youth ; he caused his sisters ^ So he is called by all the historians. For the origin of his soubrl^ Quet " Calicrula," see^above, p. 44. t " Faus'ta oinina sidus et yullum et j)vj>j>um et alumnum appellan- tium." Suet. Cal. 13. A. D. 38.] FIRST ACTS OF CAIUS. 69 TernTtils.*" '-^^^^ociated with his own in oaths and other so- He drove from the city all the ministers of the monstrous lusts of libenus, being with difficulty withheld from drown- mg them. He permitted the works of Cremutius Cordus and others to be made public He gave the people abundance of public shows, and he distributed to them and the soldiers all the money that had been left them by Tiberius and Livia Augusta. Such was Caius in the first months of his reign. He then had a severe fit of illness, in consequence of which his intei- iect, It would seem, became disordered, for his remainincr acts were those of a madman; and the world witnessed the dreadful sight of a monster, devoid of reason, possessed of unlimited power. There, however, seems to have been no reason to expect that, under any circumstances, Caius would have made a good prince; he was already stamed with every vice. While yet a boy, he was, it was said, guilty of incest with his sister Drusilla. On the death of his wife, Junia Claudilla, the daughter of M. Siianus, he formed an adulter- ous connection with Ennia, the wife of JVIacro, and gave her an engagement to marry her if he should attain the empire 1 hough he conducted himself with the most consummate dissimulation, and manifested such obsequiousness to Tibe- rius as gave occasion to the well-known saying of Passienus that ^' there never was a better slave nor a worse master "' yet the sagacious old prince saw his real character ; and as c^V'^'' ^"^ ^^y i" ^"s presence speaking with contempt ot hulla^ he told him that he would have all Sulla's vices aiid none of his virtues ; he also said at times that Caius lived for hJs own destruction and that of all others, and that in him he was rearing a serpent for the Roman people and a Phae- thon for the earth. One of the first acts of Caius, after his restoration to health, was to put his cousin Tiberius to death, under the pretext of his having prayed that l>e might not recover. He also forced his father-in-Jaw, Siianus, to. terminate his own hfe, because he had not accompanied him on his late voyatre pretending that he intended to occupy the empire if aliy thing adverse had befallen him, though Silanus's only reason Auctor fuit ut omnibus sacramcntis adjiceretiir, jycquc me Hhc- rosqiie mcos carwres haheho guam Caium sororrsquc ejus Item rela- tJon.bus consuluin. quod bomim felixque sit C. £(Bsarl sororibioique ejus. Suet. Cal. lo. ^ 7a CAIUS. [a. d. 38. had been dislike of the sea. A knight had vowed to fight as a aladiator, and another person to die, if Caius should re- co°ver ; and, instead of rewarding tliem as they expected, he forced them to perforin their vows. Thus passed the first nine months of Cauis s rule. He be- -ran the next vear (38) auspiciously, by directing that the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of the rev enue should be made public, according to the practice adopted by Augus- tus but intermitted by Tiberius. He also revised the equcs- tria'n order, removing unworthy members, and introducmg men of birth and property. He restored to the people tlie right ol election, and abolislwd the oxci-'« duty ot one per cent. — measures, however, both, it is said, condemned by men ot sense who deemed that no gooom indulging his innate ferocity. When his spirits were elevated with meat and wine, he caused several ot those who were with him on the bridge to be flung into the sea, and then, getting into a beaked ship, he sailed to and fro, striking and sinking the vessels which lay about the bridge, filled with revellers. Some were drowned; but, owing to the calmness of the sea, the greater part, though they were drunk, escaped. r i • i Various causes were assigned for this mad freak of bridg- incT over the sea. Some ascribed it, and probably with rea- son, to the wish to surpass Xerxes ; others said that his object was to strike with awe of his power the Germans and Britons, whose countries he meditated to invade. Suetonius savs that, when a boy, he heard from his grandfather that the reason assigned by the people of the palace was a desire to give the lie^'to a declaration of the astrologer Trasyllus, who on being consulted by Tiberius about the succession, had said that " Caius would no more reign than he would drive horses through the Bay of Baiae." Whatever was the cause, the effect was the destruction of an additional number of the Roman nobility, for the sake of confiscating their properties, in order to replace the enor- mous sums^which the bridge had absorbed. When Rome ^ A. D. 39.] GERMAX EXPEDITIOX. 73 and Italy had been thus tolerably well exhausted of their wealth, the tyrant resolved to pillage in like manner the opulent provinces of Gaul, and then those of Spain. Under the pretext of repelling the Germans, he suddenly collected an army, and set out for Gaul, going sometimes so rapidly that the praetorian cohorts were obliged to put their stand- ards on the beasts of burden, at other times having himself carried in a litter, and the people of the towns on the way being ordered to sweep and water the roads before him He was attended by a large train of women, gladiators, dancers running-horses, and the other instruments of his luxury' When he reached the camp of the legions, he affected the character of a strict commander, dismissinir with i^rnominy such ot the legates as brought up the auxiliary comincrents slowly. He then turned to robbing both officers and men by dismissing them a little before they were entitled to their disdiarge, and cutting down the pensions of the rest to O'JOO sesterces. /A'he «ori of Cinobellinus, a British prince, who was ban- ished by his father, having come and made his submission to him, he wrote most magniloquent letters to Rome as if the whole island had submitted. He crossed the Rhine as It m quest of the German foes ; but some one happenina to say, as the troops were engaged in a narrow way, that there would be no little consternation if the enemy should then ap- pear, he sprang from his chariot in a fright, mounted his horse, and gallopped back to the bridge, and, findincr it filled with the men and beasts of the baggage-train, he scrambled over their heads to get beyond the river. On another occa- sion, he ordered some of his German guards to conceal them- selves on the other side of the Rhine, and intellio-ence to be brought to him, as he sat at dinner, that the en°emy was at hand ; he sprang up, mounted his horse, and, followed by his friends and part of the guards, rode into the adjoining wood, and, cutting the trees and forming a trophy, returned'^with it to the camp by torch-light. He then reproached the cow- ardice of those who had not shared his toils and dangers, and rewarded with what he called exploratory/ crowns those who had accompanied him. Again, he took the young German hostages from their school, and, having secretly sent^'them on, he jumped up from a banquet, pursued them, as if they were running away, with a body of cavalry, and brought them back in chains. In an edict he^everely rebuked the senate and people of Rome for holding banquets, and frequenting/ CONTIiX. li ■I !i| !"'t ml U'i it ill 11 74 CAIUS. [a. d. 39. theatres and delicious retreats, while CiEsar was carrying on war, and exposed to such dangers. His invasion of Britain was, if possible, still more ridicu- lous. He inarched his troops to the coast, and drew them up with all their artillery on the strand. He then got aboard of a aalley, and, going a little way out to sea, returned, and, ascending a lofty tribunal, gave the signal for battle, and, at tlie sound of trumpets, ordered them to charge the ocean, and gather its shells as spoils due to the Capitol and Pala- tium? He bestowed a large donative on his victorious troops, and built a lighthouse to commemorate the conquest of ocean. Meantime he was not neglectful of the purpose lor which he came. He pillaged indiscriminately, and put to death numbers whose only crime was their wealth. One day, when he was playing at dice, he discovered that his money was out; he retired, and, calling for the census of the Gauls, selected the names of the richest men in it, ordering them to be put to death ; then, returning to his company, he said, " You are playing for a few denars, but / have collected a hundred and fifty In illions." He afterwards caused the most precious jewels and other possessions of the monarchy to be sent to iiim, and put them up to auction, saying, " This was my fither's; this was my mother's; this Egyptian jewel be- longed to Antonius; this to Augustus ; " and so on, at the same time declaring that distress alone caused him to sell them. The buyers'^were of course obliged to give far beyond the real value of the articles. Among those put to death while he was in Gaul was M. Lepidiis,''ihe husband of his beloved Drusiila, and the sharer in all,his vices and debaucheries. The pretext was a con- spiracy of Lepidus with Livilla and Agrippina against his life. He wrote to the senate in the most opprobrious terms of his sisters, whom he banished to the Pontian isles. As he was sending them back to Italy for this purpose, he obliged AtTrippina"t() carry the whole way in her bosom the urn which contained the ashes of Lepidus. To commemorate his escape, he sent three daggers to be consecrated to Mars the Avenger. At this time also he put away Lollia Paullina,^under the pretext of her infecundity, and married Milonia Ca3Sonia, a woman neither handsome nor young, and of the most disso- lute habits, and the mother%lready of three daughters. She was at the time so far gone with child by him that she was A. D. 40.] CAIUS IN GAUL. 75 delivered of a daughter immediately after her marriage. He loved her ardently as long as he lived ; he used to^ exhibit her naked to his friends, and take her riding about with him through the ranks of the soldiery, arrayed in a cloak, helmet, and light buckler. Yet he would at times, in his fondness' protest that he would put her to the rack to make her tell why he loved her so much. Before he left Gaul, (40,) he proposed to massacre the legions which had mutinied against his father. He was dis- suaded from this course; but nothing would withhold him from decimating them, at the least. He therefore called them together unarmed, and surrounded them with his cavalry ; but, when he observed that they suspected his design, and were gradually slipping away to resume their arms,°he lost courage, and, flying from the camp, hastened back to Rome, breathing vengeance against the senate. To the deputies, sent to entreat him to hasten his return, his words were, " I will come— I will come ; and this with me," striking the hilt of his sword; and he declared that the senate would find him in future neither a citizen nor a prince. He entered Rome in ovation instead of triumph on his birthday, (Aug. ;H,) the last he was to witness; for the measure of his guilt was full, and the patience of mankind nearly exhausted. It may be worth while to notice some of the acts of which a madman possessed of absolute power was capable. Caius declared himself to be a god, and had a temple erected to his deity, in which stood a golden statue of him, habited each day as he was himself >eacocks, pheasants, and other rare birds, were offered in sacrifice every day : his Wife Ca3sonia, his uncle Claudius, and some persons of great wealth, (who had to purchase the office at a high rate,) were the priests. He added himself and- his horse Incitatus to the college. He appeared in the habit and with the insignia sometimes of one, sometimes of another god or goddess. He used to invite the moon, when shining full and'bright, to de- scend to his embraces. He would enter the temple of the Capitoline Jupiter, and engage in confidential discourse, as it were, with the god, sometimes even chiding or threatening him. Being invited, he said, to share the" abode of that deity, he threw a bridge, for the purpose, over the Forum, from the Palatium to the Capitol. It would be endless to relate all his freaks of this kind. He devised new and extraordinary taxes. He laid an im- post on all kinds of eatables; he demanded two and a half ■ , if 76 CAIUS. [a. d. 40. per cent on all lawsuits, and severely punished all those who compounded their actions. Porters were required to pay an eicrhth of their daily earnings ; prostitutes were taxed in a -iiiiTlar manner. He even opened a brothel in his palace, which he filled with respectable women, and sent persons throuo-h the Forum inviting people to resort to it. When his da'ucrhter was born, he complained bitterly of his pov- erty and received presents for her support and dower. On new' year's day, he used to stand at the porch to receive the crifts which were brought to him. He would often wa k barefoot on heaps of gold coin, or lie down and roll himselt on them. . u 4, r His natural cruelty made him delight in the combats ol frhdiators : he was equally fond of chariot-races; and, as he chose to favor the sea-colored faction, he used to cause the best drivers and horses of their rivals (the green) to be poi- soned. He was so fond of one of his own horses named Incitatus, that he used to invite him to dinner, give him jrilded barley and wine out of golden cups, and swear by his sifety and his fortune ; and he was only prevented by death from raisincr him to the consulate. One day^ at a show of gladiators, he ordered the awning, which screened the spectators from the burning rays of the sun to be withdrawn, and forbade any one to be let go out. Another time, when the people applauded contrary to his wishes, he cried out, " O that the Roman people had but one neck ! " . , ^ r v, A conspiracy at length delivered the world from the mon- ster who thus oppressed it. The principal freedmen and officers of the guards were concerned in it ; they were actu- ated by a principle of self-preservation, and not by any patri- otic views or generous aspirations after the liberty and happiness of the Roman people. It was, in effect, such a conspiracy as most usually occurs in absolute and despotic governments.* The most active agents were Cassius Chae- rea and Cornelius Sabinus, two tribunes of the guards, who had private motives of revenge, in particular Cas- sius whom, though advanced in years, and a man of great strength and courage, Caius used to term effemmate, and to give Venus or Priapus, or some suclflascivious term, when he came to him for the watchword. ^ A vcrv circumstantial account of the murder of Caius, and the sue cession of Claudius, is given by Josephus, Antiq.xix. 1—4. A. D. 41.] DEATH OF CAIUS. i i On the 24th of January, (41,) a little after noon, thouah ms stomach was suffering from the effects of the previous day s excess, Caius yielded to the instances of his friends and was proceeding from the theatre, where he had passed the morning, to the dining-room. As he was go'nnr along the vaulted passage leading to it, he stopped to inspect some boys of noble birth from Ionia, whom he had caused to come to Rome to sing in public a hymn made in his honor VV uJe thus engaged, he was fallen on and slain by Cha3rea feabmus, and other officers of the guards. A centurion by the order of Chx-rea, killed, in the course of the niaht'his vvife, Ca^sonia, and the brains of their infant dau'Thter were dashed out against a wall. Such was the end of this execra- ble tyrant, in the twenty-ninth year of his aue, after a reicni of somewhat less than four years. After his death theTe were found in his cabinet two books, the one havincr'for its title the Sword, the other the Dagger, and contaiimur the names of those whom he intended to put to death There was also discovered a large chest full of.all kinds of poisons CHAPTER v.* TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS CESAR. A. u. 794—807. A. D. 41—55. ACCESSION OF CLAUDIUS. — HIS CHARACTER. — HIS USEFUL MEASURES. — MESSALINA AND THE FREEDMEN. — HER LUST AND CRUELTY. — CLAUDIUS IN BRITAIN. — VICIOUS CONDUCT OF MESSALINA.— -HER DEATH. — CLAUDIUS MAR- RIES AGRIPPINA. IS POISONED BY HER. As soon as the death of Caius was known, the consuls set guards throughout the city, and assembled the senate on the Capitol, where the remainder of the day and all the ni^ht were spent in deliberation; some wishing to reestablish the republic, others to continue the monarchy. But while they were deliberating, the question had been already determined HI the camp of the prsetorian cohorts. * Authorities : Tacitus, Suetonius, and Dion. mamnimimttm 78 CLAUDIUS. [a. d. 41 When Caius was slair., his uncle Claudius in h.s terror hid himself behind the door curtains of one of the rooms. A conunon soldier, who was running through the palace m quest of plunder, happening to see h.s feet_ under the cur- tain draLd him o"^. Cland.us fell on h.s knees, su.ng for mercvrbnt the soldier, recog,.izing hun, saluted hnn en.- neror and led him to his comrades, who placed hnn ui a Finer' and carried him, trembling for his life, to the.r camp- The consuls sent the tr.bunes of the people to summon hun as a senator to come and give his presence at their delibera- tions: but he replied that he was detained by force. In the mornin* A. D. 52-55.] AGRIPPINA. 89 servile senate desired of Claudius that he might be consul at the age of twenty, and meantime be elect with proconsular power without the city. A donative was given to the sol- diers, and a congiary (co7igia?'iuin) to the people, in his name. At the Circensian games, given to gain the people, Nero appeared in the triumphal habit; Britannicus, in a simple pratexta. Every one who showed any attachment to this poor youth, was removed, on one pretence or another, and he was surrounded with the creatures of Agrippina. Finally, as the two commanders of the guards were supposed to be attached to the interests of the children of Messalina, she persuaded Claudius that their discipline would be much improved if they were placed under one commander. Ac- cordingly, those officers were removed, and the command was given to Burrus Afranius, a man of high character for probity, and of great military reputation, and who knew to whom he was indebted for his elevation. The pride and haughtiness of Agrippina far transcended any thing that Rome had as yet witnessed in a woman. When (51) the British prince Caractacus and his family, whom P. Ostorius had sent captives to the emperor, were led before him, as he sat on his tribunal in the plain under the praetorian camp, with all the troops drawn out, Agrippina appeared, seated on another tribunal, as the partner of his power. And again, when (53) the letting off of the Fucine lake was celebrated with a naval combat, she presided with him, habited in a military cloak of cloth of gold. Agrippina at length (55) grew weary of delay, or fearful of discovery. Narcissus, who saw at what she was aiming, appeared resolved to exert all his influence in favor of Bri- tannicus; and Claudius himself, one day, when he was drunk, was heard to say, that it was his fate to bear with the infamy of his wives, and then to punish it. He had also begun to show peculiar marks of affection for Britannicus. She therefore resolved to act without delay; and, as Clau- dius, having become unwell, had retired to Sinuessa for change of air and the benefit of the waters, she proposed to take advantage of the opportunity thus presented. She pro- cured, from a woman named Locusta, infamous for her skill in poisoning, a poison of the most active nature. The eu- nuch Halotus, who was his taster, then infused it in a dish of mushr(^oms, a kind of food in which he delighted. The poison, however, acted violently on his bowels, and Agrippi- na, in dismay lest he should recover, made a physician who ' 8* L Ii I ■ ! It i: M ' ' M I I* 90 NERO. was at hand introduce a poisoned feather into his throat, by way of making him discharge his stomach; and in this man- ner the nefarious deed was completed. The death of Clau- dius was concealed till all the preparations for the succession of Nero should be made, and the fortunate hour marked by the astrologers be arrived. He then (Oct. 18) issued from the palace, accompanied by Burrus ; and, being cheered by the cohort which was on guard, he mounted a litter, and proceeded to the camp. He addressed the soldiers, prom- isincr them a donative, and was saluted emperor. The senate and provinces acquiesced without a murmur in the will of the guards. Claudius was in his sixty-fourth year when he was poi- soned ; and he had reigned thirteen years and nine months, wanting a few days. CHAPTER VI.* NERO CLAUDIUS CAESAR. A. u. 808—8-21. A. D. 55—68. DECLINE OF AGRIPPINA's POWER. POISONING OF BRITANNICUS. MURDER OF AGRIPPINA. NERO APPEARS ON THE STAGE. MURDER OF OCTAVIA. EXCESSES OF NERO. BURNING OF ROME. CONSPIRACY AGAINST NERO. DEATH OF SEN- ECA. DEATHS OF PETRONIUS, THRASEAS, AND SORANUS. NERO VISITS GREECE. GALEA PROCLAIMED EMPEROR. DEATH OF NERO. The new emperor t was only seventeen years of age. On account of his youth and his obligations to her, Agrippina hoped to enjoy the power of the state ; but Nero was not feeble-minded, like Claudius, and Seneca and Burrus were resolved to keep in check the influence of a haughty, unprin- cipled woman. All outward honors, however, were shown her. When the tribune, according to custom, asked the emperor for the word, he gave, ' My best Mother ; ' the sen- * Authorities: T-icitus, Suetonius, and Dion. t We sliall henceforth employ this term. Its original meaning must be familiar to the reader. « A. D. 56.J DECLINE OF AGRIPPINA's POWER. 91 ate decreed her sundry privileges, but Burrus and Seneca checked her lust of blood. She had, however, caused Junius Silanus, the proconsul of Asia, to be poisoned for being of the imperial family, and she forced Narcissus to be his own exe- cutioner. When the senators were summoned to the palace on any affair of state, she used to stand behind the door cur- tain, that she might be present and share in the debate with- out being seen ; and when ambassadors came from Armenia, she was about to ascend the tribunal with her son, had not Seneca bidden the emperor to go and meet his mother ; and thus, by the show of filial duty, the disgrace to the majesty of Rome was avoided. All now was full of promise. The young emperor made speeches, the compositions of Seneca, replete with sentiments of clemency and justice. He declared that Augustus should be his model in government. He diminished the taxes, and reduced the rewards of informers to a fourth. When re- quired to sign the warrant for the execution of a criminal, *' How I could wish," said he, *' that I were ignorant of let- ters!" He practised many popular arts, and acted in a char- acter easy to assume, but difficult to maintain if not prompted by n^ature. The power of Agrippina received its first shock (56) by the passion of her son for a freedwoman named Acte, a native of Asia, and, as he fiin would have it. a descendant of the kinas of Pergamus. His graver friends were willing to wink at this attachment, for, as he testified an aversion for his chaste and modest wife, Octavia, they thought it would be a means of keeping him from debauching women of rank. But the violent Agrippina at first set no bounds to her rage ; then, passing to the other extremes, she offered him her purse and her apartments for the gratification of his wishes. Nero and his friends, however, s;iw through her arts, and the plan for reducing her power was steadily pursued. Accordingly Pallas was now deprived of his office of treasurer. This again drove her furious; she menaced her son with setting up Bri- tannicus against him, declaring that she would take him to the camp, and, as the daughter of Germanicus, appeal to the sol- diers against her unworthy son. Nero now became alarmed ; he knew of what his mother was capable, and a late incident* had shown him that Britan- * In the Saturnalia, when boys were, as usual, givinfr the kingdom by lot, it fell to Nero. As all were then bound to obey his commands, Hi *• « i? ■^1 92 NERO. [a. D. 56. nicus was not without spirit, and was possessed of friends. He therefore resolved to remove him, and for this purpose had a poison procured from Locusta, and administered by those about the youth. It proved, however, too weak; and the em- peror, sending for Locusta, beat her with his own hands, and made her prepare a stronger dose, of which he made trial on a kid and a pig, till he was satisfied of its efficacy. He then had it brought into the dining-room, and given in some cold water to Britannicus, as he sat at dinner. The unhappy youth dropped suddenly dead ; Nero said carelessly, that he had been subject to epilepsy from his infancy, and that he would soon recover. Agrippina was struck with terror and conster- nation, but did no°t venture to express them. Octavia, young as she was, had learned to conceal her feelings. So, after a brief interval of silence, the entertainment was resumed. The body of Britannicus was burnt that very night, the arrange- ments for it having been previously made. To stifle the memory of this atrocious deed, Nero be- stowed large gifts on the persons about him of most influ- ence. By many Seneca and Burrus vvere much blamed for accepting them, while others excused them by the plea of ne- cessity. 'Nothing, however, could soften Agrippina; she em- braced Octavia; she held secret meetings with her friends; she collected money; she courted the officers of the guards; she treated the remaining nobility with great respect. Nero, in return, deprived her of the guard of honor which had been hitherto assigned her, appointed a different part of the palace for her residence, and never visited her without a party of centurions. The enemies of Agrippina were now imboldened to attack her life. Junia Silana,* who had been her intimate friend, irritated by her having been the means of depriving her of an advantageous match, caused two of her clients, named Iturms and Cafvitius, to accuse her of a design to marry Rubellius Plautus, who was related to Augustus in the same degree that Nero was, and to set him up as his rival for the empire. This information was communicated to Atimetus, a freed- man of Domitia, Nero's aunt, who also was at enmity with he ordered Britannicus to stand in the middle and sing a song. Bri- tannicus obeyed ; but the song he sang was one expressive ot his own fate in beincr cast out from empire and his paternal seat. lac. An. xiii. 15. It'' is probably to this play that Horace alludes, Lp. i. 1, oJ. It is also the original of our Twelfth-day kings. * See above, p. 64. 1^ A. D. 56-59.] ATTACK ON AGRIPPINA. 93 Agrippina ; and he urged Paris the actor, another of her freed- men, to go at once and inform the emperor of the danger that menaced" him. Paris hastened to the palace. It was late at night when he arrived. Nero, who had been drinking freely, was dreadfully alarmed at this intelligence. In the lirst ac- cess of his terror, he would have had both his mother and Plautus put to death immediately ; but he was withheld for the present by the instances of Burrus. In the morning, Burrus, Seneca, and some of the freedmen, waited on Agrippina. She treated the charge with disdain, exposed its absurdity, and assigned the motives of its inventors. She insisted on being admitted to an audience of her son; and, when she saw him,''she demanded, and she obtained, rewards tor her friends, and'vengeance on her enemies. Silana was exiled, Calvitius and Itunus were relegated, Atimetus was put to death; but Paris was too necessary to the pleasures of the prince to allow of his being punished. Pallas and Burrus were now accused of a design to set up Cornelius Sulla, the son-in-law of Claudius. But the charge was so manifestly absurd, that the accuser was sent into exile. A remarkable instance of the pride and insolence of Pallas appeared on this occasion; when the freedmen who vvere his confidants were named, he replied that in his house he always indicated his wishes by a nod or by a sign of his hand, or, if many things were to be expressed, he wrote them down, that he might not mingle his voice with those of his spi* vnnt s Little of importance occurred at Rome during the three succeeding years. The matter of most note was the connec- tion which Nero formed (59) with a lady named Poppaea Sabina. This woman, who, as Tacitus remarks, possessed every thing but virtue, was at this time married to M. Salvius Otho, for whom she had quitted her former husband, Rufius Crispinus. Otho, who was one of Nero's greatest intimates, could not refrain from boasting frequently before him of the beauty and elegance of his wife. Nero's desires were in- flamed ; he soon managed to become acquainted with Pop- paea ; and this artful woman pretended to be captivated with his beauty, but at the same time declared that she was strong- ly attached to Otho, on account of the noble and splendid life which he led, while Nero, the associate of the freedwoman Acte, could not be expected to be any thing but mean and servile. This line of conduct succeeded completely ; Nero 94 NERO. [a. d. 59-60. became all her owa, and Otho, that he m.ght no be n he wav of their amours, was sent out as governor of Lusitania. It was now that Agrippina was in real danger Poppa^a, whose power over her lover continually mcreased, knew that, L long'as his mother bved, she could not hope to succeed ,n making him divorce Octavia and n.arry herself ^h^ 'lej fore had recourse to her usual arts, callmg hun a waul, ttil ina him that he did not possess freedom, much ess emp.re, and tauntingly asking him. was .t on account "f her noble u^ cestors, or her beauty, or her fecundity, or her spirit, that he delayed espousing her, and so forth. Tacitus re!ates^ on the authority of several writers, and of common fame, that Agrippina's desire for the «-etcn t-on o power was such, thnt she actually sought to seduce her »on to the commission of incest ; and her design was only prevent- ed by Seneca's making Acte tell the prince that the tame of it was gone abroad, and that the soldiers would not subm.to he rufe of a profane prince. Others said tha the guilty party was Nero himself, but that he was diverted trom Ins de- sign by Acte, as just related. Nothing, we lear, is too bad to be believed of either mother or son. -, , „ Be the truth as it may, Nero henceforth avoided all occa- sions of being alone with his mother ; and he secretly resolved on her death The difficulty was how to accomplish it ; poi- son was out of the question against a woman of such cau- tion ; a violent death could not be concealed and he also feared that he could get no one to attempt her life. At length Anicetus a freedman who commanded the fleet at Misenum, proposed the expedient of a ship which should go to pieces. The prince embraced the idea, and, as he was spending the festival of the auinquatrus at Baia3, (60,) he invited his mother who was at Antium, to visit him there, saying that children should bear with the temper of their P^en^^;^ "« met her on the way, and conducted her to a v.Ua named Bauli on the sea-coast. Among the vessels lying there was one superior to the others, as if to do her honor^ She was invited to proceed in it to Baiae ; but 't •/ ^^id that she had cotten warnina, and therefore declined, and proceeded thither m her litter °The caresses of her son, however, dispelled her suspicions, if she had any ; the banquet was prolonged into the right, and, when she rose to depart, the emperor attended her to the shore where she was to embark, and, as he was taking leave of her, he kissed her eyes and bosom repeatedly. J'51 MURDER OF AGRIPPINA. 95 A. D. 60.] either the more completely to veil his purpose, or possibly from some remnants of the feelings of nature. The night was starlight — the sea was calm : Agrippina, attended o'lily by Creperms Gallus and her maid Acerronia, went on board. The vessel had proceeded but a little way, when, asCreperius was standing near the helm, and Acerronia was reclining over the feet of her mistres.s, and congratulatmg her on the recent reconciliation, the deck, which was laden with lead, at a given signal came down on them: Creperius was killed on the spot ; the strength of the sides of the bed saved Agrippina and Acerronia; the ship did not go to pieces, as intended. The rowers then attempted to sink it by inclining it to one side, but did not succeed. Acerronia foolishly crying out that she was Agrippina, and calling to them to aid the mother of the prince, was despatched with blows of boat-hooks and oars. Agrippina, who preserved silence, only received a wound in the shoulder ; and she floated 'along till she was picked up by some small boats, and conveyed to her villa on the Lucrine lake. She now saw through the whole design of her impious son ; but, deem- ing it her'vvisest course to dissemble, she sent Agerinus, one of her freedmen, to inform him of the escape which the goodness of the gods had vouchsafed her, begging him not to come to visit her, as she required repose Nero's consternation was extreme when he heL^l of her escape. He deemed that she would now set no bounds to her vengeance ; that she would arm her slaves, and appeal to the soldiers, the senate, and the people, against her parricidal son. He summoned Burrus and Seneca to advise him. They both maintained a long silence : at length Seneca, seeing that either Nero or Agrippina now must fall, looked at Bur- rus, and asked if a soldier should be ordered to slay her? Burrus replied that the soldiers would not touch the issue of Germanicus, and added that it would be better for Anicetus to go through with what he had commenced. Nero was overjoyed when Anicetus declared his willingness. Just then Agerinus arrived ; and, as he was delivering his message, Nero cast a sword at his feet, and then caused him to be put in chains, that he might be able to say that his mother had sent her freedman to assassinate him, and had killed herself out of shame when she had failed in her design. When Anicetus arrived at Agrippina's villa, he dispersed the crowds which had assembled to congratulate her on her escape. He set a guard round the house, and then, with a !«^ ! 'M *l ■( -I •1 1 t iV 1 i it- :i I 96 NERO. [a. D. 60. captain of a galley and a centurion of the marines, entered her chamber, where she was waiting with extreme anxiety for intelligence. The only maid about her was leaving her : ** Do you° also desert me I " said she ; and, looking around, she beheld Anicetus. She told him, if he came to see her, to say that she was recovered ; if to perform a crime, she would not believe that her son would command the murder of his mother. The captain struck her with a stick on the head ; as the centurion was drawing his sword, she showed her womb, crying out, " Strike here : " she was then despatched with several wounds. Such was the termination of the guilty ambition of the highly-gifted daughter of Germanicus. It was said that she had long foreknown her fate; for, having one time consulted the astrologers on the future fortunes of her son, they replied that he would reign, but that he would kill his mother. "Let him kill me," cried she, "provided that he reigns." Some writers related that Nero came to view the dead body of his mother, and that he criticised the various parts, observing, on the whole, that he did not think she had been so handsome. Yet conscience asserted its rights : terrific dreams scared him from his couch ; the aspect of the smiling shores of the Bay of Baia) became gloomy to his view; imagination heard the wailing of trumpets from the place whe're the unhonored ashes of Agrippina lay. Though the officers of the guards, at the impulsion of Burrus, came to congratulate him on his escape from the treachery of his mother ; though his friends and the adjacent towns of Campania wearied heaven with thanksgivings, and the ob- sequious senate decreed supplications and honors of all kinds, his mind could not find rest, and for years he was haunted by the memory of his murdered parent. Nero went first to Naples, and, having remained sometime in Campania, dubious of the reception he might meet with at Rome, he was at length impelled by his flatterers to enter the city boldly. He did so, and found that he had had no just cause for alarm ; for senate and people alike, all ages and sexes, vied in servility and adulation. His entrance was like a triumph, and he ascended the Capitol and returned thanks to the gods. The restraint of his mother being removed, Nero now gave a free course to his idle or vicious propensities. He had always been fond of driving a chariot, and of singing to the lyre after his dinner, justifying it by the example of ancient A. D. 60-63.] NERO ON THE STAGE. 97 kings and heroes, such as the Homeric Achilles. Seneca and Barrus thought it advisable to humor him in the former propensity, and a space was enclosed in the Vatican valley for his chariot driving. But he was not contented till the people were admitted to witness and to applaud his skill. In order that the infamy of his exhibitions might be dimin- ished by ditfusion, he obliged some of the noblest of both sexes to appear on the stage, the arena, and the circus. He also instituted games called Juvciialia, (from his then first shaving,) in which, in theatres erected in his gardens, he himself sang and danced; and he forced the nobility of all ages and sexes, without any regard to the honors they had borne, to do the same. A lady, for example, named ^lia Catella, rich and noble, and eighty years of age, was thus obliged to dance in public ! He finally appeared on the pub- lic stage; and the lord of the Roman world was seen to come forward, lyre in hand, wearing a long, trailing robe, and, hav- ing addressed the audience in the usual form, ("Gentlemen, hear me witfi favor," ) sing to his chords the story of Attis or the BacchfE. The officers of the guards stood around, Burrus grieving and applauding. He further selected five thousand young men, named Augustans, who were divided into companies, whose task was to applaud him w^hen he was sinsfin^. The death of Burrus, (03,) which some ascribed to poison, removed another check from the vices of Nero. The com- mand of the guards was again divided ; Fenius Rufus, an honest but inactive officer, being joined in it with Sofonius Tigellinus, a man polluted by every vice, but whom similarity of manners had recommended to the favor of the prince. Seneca, finding his influence reduced by the death of Burrus, and himself marked as the object of attack by the base minions of the court, craved an audience of the prince, and requested to be allowed to restore all the possessions which he had bestowed on him, and permitted to retire into the shades of private life. But Nero, accomplished in hypocrisy, made the most affectionate objections, would not hear of his retire- ment, and lavished caresses on him. Seneca returned thanks and retired ; but he altered his mode of life, and henceforth avoided publicity as much as possible. Cornelius Sulla and Rubellius Plautus, beinor both de- scended-in the female line from Augustus, were objects of alarm to Nero : he had therefore removed them from the city : the former resided in Gaul, the latter in Asia. But CONTIN. 9 M tl' It; . ■ If I !: h i f r it iP 98 NERO. [a. d. 63. Ticrellinus, now pretending extreme solicitude for the safety of the prince, and exaggerating the dangers to be apprehend- ed from those noblemen, obtained permission to inurder them Sulla therefore was slain as he was sitting at dinner at Marseilles, and Plautus as he was engaged in gymnic ex- ercises. Their heads were brought to Nero, who mocked at the first as gray before his time, and observed of the sec- ond that he was not aware of his having had so large a nose. He 'moreover, when he saw the head of Plautus, cried out, thai now he might venture to put away Octavia, blameless and loved of the people as she was, and espouse his dear Poppa;a. Accordingly, having informed the senate ot the deaths of Sulla and Plautus, and finding that supplications and so forth were decreed without hesitation, he judged that lie had nothing to apprehend from that ^P'rit ess as- sembly : lie therefore at once put away Octavia, on the pre- tence of sterilitv, and marrie.l Poppa^a, who then attempted to convict Octuvia of an intrigue with a flute-player named Eucerus. But the noble constancy of the greater part o that lady's female slaves, whom all the tortures of the rack could Hot induce to testify falsely against their mistress, de- feated the ini<,uitous project. The murmurs o the popul ce soon oblicred Nero to take back Octavia, and the public joy was manifested in the most signal manner ; the statues ot Poppa;a were flung down, and those of Octavia were carried about covered with flowers, and placed in the temples Poppa;a now seriously alarmed for her safety exerted all her'^^T.fl'uence over Nero; and he obliged the notouous Anicetus to confess a criminal intercourse with Uctavia. Pretenn. nobis vel aliis auctoribus, noscen , prajsump- tnm hab^antTuot,ens fugas et CiEdes jussit prmceps, totiens grates de" act, qUue re" u„. fecundaruni olim turn publica, clad.s ins.gn.a fuisse." . if y A. D. 64-65.] NERO AT NAPLES. m poison, as was believed) of Pallas and some of the other freed men. The crime of Pallas was his detaining, by living too long, his immense wealth from the covetous prince. At length, (64,) to his excessive joy, Nero became a father, Poopaea being delivered of a daughter at Antium, the place of his own birth° The senate, who had already commended the womb of Poppaea to the gods, now decreed to her and the in- fant the title of Augusta ; supplications, temples, games, and all other honors, were voted; and when the baby died, in its fourth month, it was deified by the obsequious and impious assembly, and a temple and priest were voted to it. Hitherto Nero had confined the exercise of his scenic pow- ers to his palace and gardens ; but he longed for a more am- ple field of display. He would not yet, however, venture to insult the prejudices and feelings of the people by appearing on the stage openly at Rome; and he therefore selected Naples, as a Grecian city, for the place in which he would make his debut in public, intending then to pass over to Greece, and contend at all the great games of that country, and thus overcome the prejudices of the Romans. He ac- cordingly appeared, (65,) before a large audience, in the theatre'' of Naples; and even the shock of an earthquake, which rocked the building, did not prevent him from finish- incr his piece. Instead, however, of proceeding directly to Gr'eece, he returned to Rome, and there, declaring that his absence would not be long, he ascended the Capitol to pray to the gods for the success of his journey ; but when he en- tered the temple of Vesta, he was seized with a violent tremor in all hh limbs, (the effect probably of the stings of con- science ;) and he gave up his design for the present, to the great joy of the populace, who feared a scarcity of corn in his absence . to the senate and nobles it was uncertain wheth- er his absence or his presence was the more to be dreaded. To prove to the people that he preferred Rome to all other places, he made tire whole city, as it were, his house, and held his banquets in the public places. Historians have deemed one of these, given by Tigellinus, deserving of memory; [but the details are far too disgusting to be repeated. The in- famy to which Nero reduced himself was of the lowest and vilest kind.] . Rome was at this time visited by a calamity worse than ?ny that had befallen her since she was a city. On the 19th of July, a fire broke out in a part of the circus which was fall of' shops containing inflammable substances. The 100 NERO. [a. d. 65 flames spread rapidly, the wind accelerating their career. It was not till the sixth day, that, by pulling down houses, the course of the conflagration was stopped at the foot of the Esquiline. The loss of lives and property was immense : of the fourteen quarters into which the city wns divided, four only escaped ; three were totally destroyed, and of the other seven but little remained standing. Nero, who was at Antiuni, did not return till he heard that the flames were spreading to his palace; but when he arrived, he was unable to save 't. He threw open his gardens, the Campus Martins, and the monuments of Agrippa to the suff'erers ; he caused supplies of all kinds to be fetched from Antium and other places, and he reduced the price of corn considerably. All he could do, however, would not remove the suspicion that the city had been fired by his own orders. It was said that he longed for an opportunity of rebuilding it with more of regularity and beauty ; and it was asserted that, while the fire wiis raging, he ascended a tower in the gardens of Maecenas in his scenic dress, and, charmed with what he termed *Uhe beauty of the flame," sang to his lyre The Taking of Ilium. lie caused tiie Sibylline books to be con- sulted,''and, in obedience to them, supplications to be made to various deities ; he spared no expense in the rebuildmg ot the city ; and when all would not avail to clear him, he laid the guilt on the innocent. The members of the society named Christians, which had arisen some years before in Judsea, were now numerous at Rome. From causes which we will hereafter assign, they were objects of general aver- sion, and any charge against them was likely to gain credit. Some of them were seized and forced to confess : on their evidence, a great multitude of others were taken and con- demned. They were put to death with torture and insult, some being sewed up in the skins of wild beasts, and then torn to pieces by dogs, some crucified, and others wrapped ni pitch and other inflammable materials, and set on fire to serve for lamps in the night. The scene of their agonies was Ne- ro's gardens; and he, at the same time, to please the populace, gave Circensian games, driving about at Rome in the dress of a charioteer. Still the suflerers, though believed to be guilty of crimes, were pitied, as the victims of the real criminal. The city was rebuilt (at the heavy cost of Italy and the provinces)\vith more of regularity and beauty than it had ever before possessed. Many, however, complained of the width A. D. 66.] CONSPIRACY AGAINST NERO. 101 of the streets, as, when narrow, they had enjoyed more of shade and coolness. But the great object of Nero's ambition was to rebuild his palace on a scale of unexampled magnifi- cence. He had already extended it from the Palatine to the Esquiline ; and it was thence called the Transitory-house : the new one was named the Golden-house, from the quantity of gold and precious stones employed in it. It covered an im- mense extent of ground on the Palatine and Esquiline, con- taining within its bounds woods, plains, viueyards, ponds, with animals both wild and tame, and a great variety of buildings. The numerous dining-rooms were ceiled with ivory plates, which were movable, to shower down flowers, aiid perforated, to sprinkle odors on the guests. The prin- cipal one was round, and made to revolve day and night, in imitation of the world. The baths were supplied with water from the sea and from the river Albula. When the whole was completed, Nero observed that at length he had begun to dwell like a man. Men, however, were grown weary of being the objects of the tyrannic caprice of a profligate youth, and a widely-extended conspiracy to remove him and give the supreme power to C. Piso, a nobleman of many popular qualities, was organized, (66.) Men of all ranks, civil and military, were engaged in it, — senators, knights, tribunes, and centurions, — some, as is usual, on public, some on private grounds. While they were yet undecided where it were best to fall on Nero, a cour- tesan named Epicharis, who had a knowledge (it is not known how obtained) of the plot, wearied of their indecision, attempted to gain over the oflicers of the fleet at Misenum. She made the first trial of an officer named Volusius Proc- ulus, who had been one of the agents in the murder of Agrippina, and who complained of the ill return he had met with, and menaced revenge. She communicated to him the fact of there being a conspiracy, and proposed to him to join in it ; but Proculus, hoping to gain a reward by this new service, went and gave information to Nero. Epicharis was seized ; but as she had mentioned no names, and Proculus had no witnesses, nothing could be made of the matter. She was, however, kept in prison. The conspirators became alarmed ; and, lest they should be betrayed, they resolved to delay acting no longer, but to fall on the tyrant at the Circensian games. The plan ar- ranged was, that Plautius -Lateranus, the consul elect, a man of oTcat couraire and bodilv stren(Tth, should sue to the em- 9* i ft: 102 NERO. [a.d. 66. peror for relief to his family affairs, and in so doing should grasp his knees and throw him down, and that then the ot- ficers should despatch him with their swords. Meantime Piso should be waiting at the adjacent temple of Ceres; and when Nero was no more, the pra^fect Fenius Kutus and others should come and convey him to the camp. Notwithstanding the number and variety of persons en- cracred in the plot, the secret had been kept with wondertul fidelity. Accident, however, revealed it as it was on the very eve of execution. Among the conspirators was a senator named Flavins Scevinus, who, though dissolved m luxury, was one of the most eager. He had insisted on having the hrst part in the assassination, for which purpo6e he had provided a darraer taken from a temple. The night before the attack was to be made, he gave this dagger to one of his treedmen, named Milichus, to grind and sharpen. He at the same tune sealed his will, giving freedom to some, gitts to others ot his slaves. He supped more luxuriously than usual; and, though be affected great cheerfulness, it was manifest from his air that he had something of importance on his mind. He also directed his freedman to prepare bandages for wounds, rhe freedman, who was either already in the secret, or had his su'^picions now excited, consuhed with his wife, and at her impulsion setoff at davlight,and revealed his suspicions to Epnphroditus, one of Nero's freedmen, by whom he was conducted to the emperor. On his information, Scevinus was arrested ; but he gave a plausible explanation ot every thincT but the bandages, which he positively denied. He miaht have escaped, were it not that Milichus's wife s-uggested tha^t Antonius Natalis had conversed a great deal with him in secret of late, and that they were both intimate with Piso. Natalis was then sent for, and, as he and Scevinus did not • aaree in their accounts of the conversation which they had, they were menaced with torture. Natalis's courage gave way; he named Piso and Seneca. Scevinus, either through weakness, or thinking that all was known, named several others, among whom were Annrcus Lucanus, the poet, the . nephew of sl^neca, TuUius Senecio, and Afranius auinc tianbs. These at first denied every thing ; at length, on the nromise of pardon, they discovered some of their nearest fi-iends, Lucan even naming his own mother, Atilla. Nero now called to mind the information of Proculus, and he ordered Epicharis to be put to the torture. But no pain could overcome the constancy of the heroic woman , and . I A. D. 66.] CONSPIRACY AGAINST NERO. 103 next day, as, from her weak state, she was carried in a chair to undergo the torture anew, she contrived to fasten her belt to the arched back of the chair, and thus to strangle herself. When the discovery was first made, some of the bolder spirits urged Piso to hasten to the camp or to ascend the Rostra, and endeavor to excite the soldiers or the people to rise against Nero. But he had not energy for such a course, and he lingered at home till his house was surrounded by the soldiers sent to take him. He then opened his veins, leaving a will filled, for the sake of his wife, a profligate woman, with the grossest adulation of Nero. Lateranus died like a hero, with profound silence; and though the tribune who presided at the execution was one of the conspirators, he never reproached him. But the object of Nero's most deadly enmity was Seneca. All that was against this illustrious mau was, that Natalis said that Piso had one time sent him to Seneca, who was ill, to see how he was, and to complain of his not admitting him, and that Seneca replied that " it was for the good of neither that they should meet frequently, but that his health depended on Piso's safety." The tribune Granius Silvauus (also one of the conspirators) was sent to Seneca, who w^as now at his villa, four miles from Rome, to examine him respecting the conversation with Natalis. He found him at table with his wife, Pompeia Paulina, and two of his friends. Seneca's account agreed with that of Natalis ; his meaning, he said, liad been perfectly innocent. When the tribune made his report to Nero and his privy council, Poppaia and Tigelliuus, he was asked if Seneca meditated a voluntary death. On his reply, that he showed no signs of fear or perturbation, he was ordered to go back and bid him die. Silvanus, it is said, called on Fenius on his way, and asked him if he should obey the orders; but Fenius, with that want of spirit which was the ruin of them all, bade him obey. Silvanus, when he arrived, sent in a centurion with the fatal mandate. Seneca calmly called for his will, but the centurion would not suffer him to have it. He then told his friends that, as he could not express his sense of their merits in the way that he wished, he would leave them the image of his life, to which if they attended, they would obtain the fame of virtue and of constancy in friendship. He checked their tears, showing that nothing had occurred but what was to have been ex- pected. Then, embracing his wife, he began to console and fortify her ; but she declared her resolution to die with hini^ Hi H 11 t ; i \ 104 NERO. [a. d. 66 Not displeased at her generous devotion, and happy that one so dear to him should not remain exposed to injury and mis- fortune, he gave a ready consent, and the veins in the arms of both were opened. As Seneca, on account of his age, bled slowly, he caused those of his legs and thighs to T)e opened also; and as he suffered very much, he persuaded his wife to go into another room; and then, calling for amanuen- ses, he dictated a discourse wiiich was afterwards published. Finding himself going very slowly, he asked his friend, the physician, Statins Annaeus, for the hemlock-juice which he had provided, and took it; but it had no effect. He finally went into a warm bath, sprinkling, as he entered it, the ser- vants who were about him, and saying, " I pour this liquor to Jove the Liberator." The heat caused the blood to flow freely; and his sufferings at length terminated. His body was burnt without any ceremony, according to the directions which he had given when at the height of his prosperity. Paulina did not die at this time ; for Nero, who had no en- mity against her, and wished to avoid the imputation of gratui- tous cruelty, seat orders to have her saved. She survived her husband a few years, her face and skin remaining of a deadly paleness, in consequence of her great loss of blood. The military men did not remain undiscovered. Fenius Rufus died like a coward; the tribunes and centurions, like soldiers. When one of them, named Subrius Flavins, was asked by xXero what caused him to forget his military oath, — " I hated you," said he ; " and there was none of the soldiers more faithful while you deserved to be loved. I began to hate you when you became the murderer of your mother and wife, a chariot-driver, a player, and an incendiary." Nothing in the whole affair cut Nero to the soul like this reply of the gallant soldier. The consul Vestinus was not implicated by any in the conspiracy ; but Nero hated him ; and, as he was sitting at dinner with his friends, some soldiers entered to say that their tribune wanted him. He arose, went into a chamber, had his veins opened, entered a warm bath, and died. Lucan, when or- dered to die, had his veins also opened ; when he felt his ex- tremities growing cold, he called to mind some verses of his Pharsalia which were applicable to his case, and died re- peating them.* Senecio Quinctianus, and Scevinus, and * They are supposed by Lipslus to be iii. 63S— 046, by Vertranius, IX. 806 — 814. Lipsius is in our opinion ricrht. A. D. 67.] DEATH OF POPPiEA. 105 many others, died ; several were banished. Natalis, Milichus, and others, were rewarded ; offerings, thanksgivings, and so forth, were voted in abundance by the senate. This obsequious body, however, sought to avert the dis- grace of the lord of the Roman world appearing on the stage at the approaching Quinquennial games, by offering him the victory of song and the crown of eloquence. But Nero said that there needed not the power nor the influence of the senate; that he feared not his rivals, and relied on the equity of the judges. He therefore saner on the stacre, and when the people pressed him to display all his acquirements, he came forth in the theatre, strictly conforming to all the rules of his art, not sitting down when weary, wiping his face in his robe, neither spitting nor blowing his nose, and finally, with bended knee, and moving his hand, waited in counterfeit terror for the sentence of the judges. At the end of the games, he in a fit of anger gave Poppaea, who was pregnant, a kick in the stomach, which caused her death. Instead of burning her body, as was now the general custom, he had it embalmed with the most costly spices, and deposited in the monument of the Julian family. He him- self pronounced the funeral oration, in which he praised her for her beauty,* and for being the mother of a divine infant. The remainder ot^ the year was marked by the deaths or exile of several illustrious persons, and by a pestilence which carried off great numbers of all ranks and ages. " Of the knights and senators," observes Tacitus, " the deaths were less to be lamented ; they anticipated, as it were, by the com- mon fate, the cruelty of the prince." The first deaths of the succeeding year (67) were those of P. Anteius, whose crime was his wealth and the friend- ship of Agrippina; Ostorius Scapula, who had distinguished himself in Britain; Anna3us Mella, the father of Lucan ; Anicius Cerealis, Rufius Crispinus, and others. They all died in the same manner, by opening their veins. The most remarkable death was that of C. Pcrtronius, a man whose elegance and taste in luxury had reconmiended him to the special favor of Nero, who, regarding him as his * arbiter of elegance,' valued only that of which Petronius approved. The envy of Tigellinus being thus excited, he bribed one of * Poppoea was so solicitous about her beauty, that she used to bathe every day in the milk of 500 she-asses, which she kept for the purpose. Dion, Ixii. 28. N ij fl i,i ;_4^.,fx A jja la, " assem- bly." Church is usually derived from the phrase 6 lov xvolov olxog^ *• the Lord's House, ' which was also employed to designate the be- 1k Ycr5 in Christ. ITS PiiOPAGATION. 119 they had their synagogues or places of worship. On arriving at any town, therefore, Paul, (to take him for an example,) as being a Jew, used to enter the synagogue on the Sabbath day, where, taking advantage of the custom which prevailed in the synagogues, of inviting any persons who seemed inclined to address the congregation,* he undertook to prove to them that Jesus was the long-promised ]M#;siah. If the Jews were convinced and believed, they became the nucleus of a church; if they did not, (as was more generally the case,) the apostle *' turned to the Gentiles," that is, preached the gospel to the heathen, or the followers of the worship of false gods. The church of each town was usually composed of converts from among both Jews and Gentiles, but chiefly of the latter, the Jews being in general the implacable enemies of the religion whicii was to supersede their own, and which disappointed all their lofty anticipations. In the moral as in the natural world, there is no effect without a preceding cause; no change is produced without a due preparation of circumstances. We may therefore in- quire, without presumption, what were the circumstances that favored the rapid progress of the Christian religion. The able historian of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire assigns five causes for this great effect, namely, the zeal of the Christians — the doctrine of a future life — the miraculous powers ascribed to the churcii — the pure and aus- tere morals of the Christians — and the union and discipline of the Christian republic. In his examination of each of these causes and its effects, he exerts all his powers of sneer and irony to throw discredit on the early Christians, to repre- sent them as weak dupes or artful impostors, and their reli- gion as no more divine than those of Greece and Italy. We shall endeavor to examine them in a different spirit. The first of the causes assigned by the historian is doubt- less a true one. Without zeal, no system of philosophy, far less of religion, will ever make rapid progress in the world. The second cause is also true. The doctrine of a future state, as taught by the apostles, had in it a degree of purity, determinateness, and certainty, unattainable by the polytheism of the heathen, and which foimed no part of the law given to the Jews by Moses. But we must not suppose, as the his- * ''And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying : Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on." Acts xiii. 15. I'i 120 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. toriaii would have us, that a future state was not believed generally at that time by the Greeks and Romans. The philosophers and men of education, doubtless, disgusted by the absurd details of the future world, furnished by poets and adopted in the popular creed, and finding no demonstrative arguments for a future existence, had reasoned themselves into skepticism on the Object, and the doctrine therefore had little or no effect on their lives and conduct ; but the vulgar still clung pertinaciously to the faith transmitted to them by their forefathers, and believed the poetic creed of the future world with all its incongruities.* The religious aspect of the Roman world at that time in fact very much resembled that of Catholic Europe at the present day; the popular re- lifjion was a mass of absurdities revoltincr to the understand- ing; the men of education rejected it, and were skeptics or infidels; while the vulgar lay grovelling in idolatry and super- stition. The historian's third cause — the miraculous powers of the church — is the one liable to most dispute. The infidel to- tally denies their reality; the believer is convinced of their truth. On this point no a priori arguments should be ad- mitted ; the inquirer should, for example, give no heed to reasonings from the steadiness and regularity of the course of nature, for we know not what that course is, and whether the effects which, as being unusual, we denominate miracu- lous or wonderful, may not form a part of it, and have been arranged so as to coincide in point of time with the promul- gation of certain moral principles. The whole is in effect a question of evidence, and those who find the proofs' offered for the authenticity of the New Testament convincing, must acknowledge that the promise of divine aid made by Jesus to his disciples was fulfilled, and that the Holy Spirit enabled them to perform many wonderful works. t At the same time, * In Lucian (De Luctu 2) will be found a proof of the tenacity with which the vulgar adhered to the traditional creed. The chief cause of Gibbon's error seems to have been his ignorance of the difference be- tween the religious systems of Greece and Italy. Caesar and Cicero might deride the poetic under-world ; Juvenal might say, (ii. 149,) '* Esse aliquid Manes et subterranea regna, Et contum, et Stygio ranas in gurgite nigras, Atque una transire vadum tot millia cymba, Nee pueri credunt nisi qui nondum cere lavantur." But these are all Grecian, not Roman, ideas on the subject, and the vulgar at Rome might make light of them, and yet believe (as the vul- gar every where do) in a future state. t The most convincing work on the evidences of Christianity, in CAL'SES OF ITS SUCCESS. 121 there are no safe grounds for supposing that this aid was continued beyond the age of the apostles. The Deity does nothing in vain ; and, when once the Christian religion was firmly rooted in the world, supernatural assistance was with- xlrawn. In fact, the accounts of all subsequent miracles ex- hibit the marks of error or imposition. The fourth cause was, beyond all question, a most effica- cious one. The virtues of the early Christhuis (to which we may add the purity of their system of morals) must have shone forth with preeminent lustre amid the moral darkness which then obscured the world. Not that virtue was totally extinct ; for God never suffers it to become so among any people; but from the language used by the apostle Paul, and from the history of the times, and the writings which have come down to us, we may infer that morality was never at a lower ebb than at that period of the Roman empire. There certainly was then no sect nor society which showed the phi- lanthropy and spirit of mutual love displayed by the early Christians. " Behold how these Christians love one another ! " was the language of the admiring heathens. The last cause assigned by the historian — the government of the church — could hardly have had much efficacy in the period of which we now treat. What the original form of church government v/as, is a question which was once agitated with a degree of violence and animosity which testified little for the acquaintance of the combatants with the true nature and spirit of the gospel. It is now, we believe, pretty gen- erally agreed among rational and moderate divines, that nei- ther Christ nor his apostles intended to institute any particu- lar form; leaving it to the members of the church to regulate it according to their ideas of what would best accord with the political constitution under which they lived. And, in fact, if we are to judge by the effects, we might say that forms of ecclesiastical government are indifferent, and that " whate'er is best administered is best; " for equal degrees of piety and holiness seem to be attainable under all. True re- ligion is seated in the heart ; it depends not on outward forms : it is the pride, the ambition, the vanity of man, that • has introduced schism and dissension into the church of Christ. The first churches, as we have seen, were founded by mis- our opinion, is Paley's " Horae Paulinas," the perusal of which we strongly recommend. CONTIN. 11 P 'i 122 THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. sionaries, who travelled from place to place. While they were present with any church, they necessarily exercised an authority over it; but every society requires a permanent government; and, therefore, the churches seem almost im- mediately to have appointed some persons to preside in their assemblies, and to execute other offices of supervision or ministration. Tiie presidents were named Overseers or Elders;"^ they w«re chosen by the members of the church, and confirmed and appointed to their office by the founder, or on« authorized by him.t There is also a class of persons spoken of who were termed Prophets, and seem to have been men endowed with a ready eloquence, able to expound the Scriptures, and to exhort and admonish the congrega- tion.J A third class of officers were named Deacons, i. e. Ministers,^ who attended to the poor, and discharged some other duties. Such seems to have been the external form of the churches during the lifetime of the apostles. Each con- gregation was independent of all others, governed by officers chosen by its members, living in harmony and friendly com- munication with the other churches; those which were more wealthy contributing to the comforts of those, which, like the parent one at Jerusalem, were more exposed to affiiction and poverty. It was not perhaps, in general, till after the death of the apostles, that, the congregations having become very numer- ous, a change was made in their form of government, and the office of Bishop or Overseer was separated from that of Elder, and' restricted to one person in each society. His office was for life; he was the recognized organ and head of the church ; he had the management of its funds, and the appointment to the offices of the ministry. He also ad- ministered the rite of baptism, and he pronounced the blessing over the bread and wine used at the Lord's Supper. The presbyters were his council or assistants ; for he was only regarded as the first among equals. Such, then, was the church of Christ in its early days. It was composed of converts from among the Jews and * 'ETTiaxoTToi and Tiofn^rTfooi. That they were synonymous, is evi- dent from the following passages : Acts xx. 18 and 28; Tit. i. 5 and 7. From the former are derived the modern Vescovo, (Ital.,) Obispo, (Sp.,) Eveque, (Fr.,) Bishop. (Eng.;) from the latter, Prete, (Ital.,) Prare, (Fr..) Priest, (Eng.) t Tit. i. 5. J 1 Cor. xiv. 3 — 5. *§ Jiuxovot THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. 123 Gentiles, chiefly of the middle and lower ranks, for it did not exclude even slaves.* It was, in general, disregarded or despised by the learned and the great, l)y whom it was con- founded with Judaism, which, from its unsocial character, was the object of universal dislike, and was treated as a baneful superstition. That the early Christians were not perfect, is evinced by the Epistles of Paul himself, whicli, at the same time, prove how pure and holy were the precepts delivered to them ; and, if Tacitus and Suetonius speak of the Christians as the worst of men, their friend, the younger Pliny, who, in his otBce of governor of a province, had oc- casion to become acquainted with that persecuted sect, bears testimony to the purity of their morals and the innocence of their lives.t * It must not, however, be inferred, as is sometimes done by the enemies of our religion, that there were hardly any of the better classes among the early converts. The mention in the apostoHc writinors of masters and servants; the directions criven to women not to adorn themselves with gold and silver, pearls and costly array ; the sums raised for the relief of the poorer churches; — all testify the con- trary. St. Paul's remark, that there were not many of the noble or the mighty in the church of Corinth, would seem to prove that there were some; and the injunction to beware of the philosophy of the Greeks, and the Oriental Gnosis, would hardly have been necessary if the Christians were all ignorant and illiterate. t "They affirmed," says Pliny, "that the whole of their fault or error lay in this — that they were wont to meet together on a stated day before it was light, and sing among themselves alternately a hymn to Christ as to God, and bind themselves by an oath, not to the com- mission of any wickedness, but not to be guilty of theft, or robbery, or adultery, never to falsify their word, nor to deny a pledge committed to them when called on to return it." HISTORY or THE ROMAN EMPIRE. PART II. EMPERORS CHOSEN BY THE ARMY. CHAPTER I.* GALBA. OTHO. VITELLIUS. A.U. 821—823. A.D. C8— 70. GALBA. ADOPTION OF PISO. MURDER OF GALBA. OTHO. CIVIL WAR. BATTLE OF BEDRIACUM. DEATH OP OTHO. VITELLIUS. VESPASIAN PROCLAIMED EMPEROR. ADVANCE OF THE FLAVIANS. STORMING OF CREMONA. BURNING OF THE CAPITOL. CAPTURE OF ROME. DEATH OF VITELLIUS. The supreme power in the Roman world had now been held for a century by the family which, in accordance with the Roman practice of adoption, we may regard as, and term, the Julian or Csesarian. It had also been transmitted in lineal succession, except in the case of Claudius, when the guards proved to the senate and the people that the power of giving a master to the Roman world lay with them. We are now to see this power claimed and exercised by the * Authorities: Tacitus, Suetonius, Dion, and Plutarch. 54' A.D. 6S.] CHARACTER OF GALBA. 125 legions, and the pretensions of rival candidates asserted by the arms of their supporters.* Ser. Suljjicius Galha. A.u. S21— 822. A.D. G8— 69. Servius Sulpicius Galba, a member of one of the most ancient and honorable patrician families at Rome, wns now in the seventy-third year of his age. He had borne the high offices of the state, had governed both Africa and Spain, and had displayed military talents in the former province and in Germany, which had procured him the triumphal ornaments. Both as a general and as a governor, he had shown himself to be rigidly severe, and even harsh. He was infected with the usual vice of acre — avarice, and he was entirely under the influence of those by whom he was sur- rounded. The praetorian guards had been induced by their prefect, Nymphidius Sabinus, (the colleague of Tigeliinus,) to aban- don Nero, and declare for Galba, in whose name he prom- ised them the enormous donative of 7,500 denars a man, while the soldiers of the legions he engaged should each receive 1,250 denars. The troops which Nero had col- lected in Italy being thus gained over, the senate followed their example, and the usual titles and power were decreed to Galba. When Galba was certified of the death of Nero, he as- sumed the title of Caesar, and set out for Rome. In that city there had been some disturbance, for Nymphidius had tried to induce the praetorian cohorts to declare for himself; but he had been overpowered and slain. On his route, Gal- ba put to death a consular and a consul elect, without even the form of a trial ; and when, as he drew near to the city, the rowers of the fleet, whom Nero had converted into sol- diers, met him, and, refusing to return to their former con- dition, demanded an eagle and standards, he ordered his horse to charge them; and, not content with the slaughter thus made, he decimated the- remainder. When the praeto- * Hence we term this the period of emperors elected by the army, though such was not strictly the case in all parts of it, as from Nerva to Commodus. 11* n i^gHtHif., 126 GALEA. [a. D. 69. rians demanded the donative promised in his name, he re- plied that it was his way to levy, not to purchase his soldiers. He broke and sent home the German guards of the Cnesars, without giving them any gratu4y. He offended the people, by refusing to punish, at their earnest desire, Tigellinus and some others of the ministers of Nero's cruelty. He, how- ever, put to death Helius, Locusta, and others. It added much to the unpopularity of Galba, that he was almost in a state of pupilage to three persons, namely, T. Vinius, his legate when in Spain, Cornelius Laco, whom he had made prefect of the prtetorians, and his freedman Icelus, to whom he had given the equestrian ring, and the surname of Martianus. These persons had all their own ends in view; and, as they knew that, under any circumstances, the life of the emperor could not be long, they thought only of providing for their future interests. The p'rovinces and the armies in general submitted to the emperor appointed by the senate. It was not so, however, with the legions in the Germanics. Galba had most unwise- ly recalled the noble Vergiiiius under the show of friendship, but in reality out of fear and jealousy, and sent A. Vitellius to command the army of Lower Germany, whose general, Fonteius Capito, had been slain by his legates Cornelius Aquinus and Fabius Valens ; while Hordeonius Flaccus, who commanded the army of Upper Germany, enfeebled by age and the gout, had lost all authority over his troops. °It was with this last army that the disturbance began. On new year's day, (69,) Galba entered on the consulate, with Vinius for his colleague ; and a few days after, word came that the legions of Upper Germany insisted on having another emperor, leaving the choice to the senate and people. This intelligence made Galba hasten the execution of a design he had already formed of adopting some person, as he was himself childless; and he held consultations with his three friends on the subject. They were divided in their sentiments. M. Salvius Otho, from whom, it may be recollected, Nero had taken Poppaea, had early joined Galba, whom he hoped to succeed; there was a great intimacy between him and Vinius, whose daughter, it was believed, he was engaged to marry, and Vinius therefore now strongly urged his claim to the adoption. Laco and Icelus had no particular favorite, but they were resolved to oppose the candidate of Vinius. Galba, partly, as was thought, moved by a regard for the state, which would have been to no pur- A.D. 69.] ADOPTION OF PISO, 127 pose delivered from Nero if transmitted to Otho, and partly, as was supposed, influenced by Laco, fixed on Piso Licinia- nus, a young man of the noblest birth and the strictest morals. Having adopted him with the usual forms, he took him into the camp, and informed the soldiers of what he had done ; but, influenced by his parsimony and his regard for ancient usages, he unfortunately said not a word of a donative, and the troops listened to him with silence and discrust. Otho, who, from the state of his affairs, saw ruin impend- ing over him, now resolved to make a desperate effort, and be emperor or perish. He had for some time been secretly tampering with the soldiery. By meaus of his freedman Onomastus, he gained over two soldiers, who undertook to make trial of the fidelity of their comrades; and, on the fifth day after the adoption of Piso, (Jan. 15,) as Galba was sacrificing at the temple of the Palatine Apollo, Onomastus came to Otho, who was standing by him, and said that the architect and builders were waitinor for him, that beincr the signal agreed on. Otho, pretending tliat he had bought some houses which required to be examined, went away; and, at the golden mile-stone in the Forum, he was met by three-and-twenty soldiers, who saluted him emperor, and, placing him in a sedan, hurried him away to the camp, being joined by about as many more on the way. Galba was still engaged sacrificing, when the report came, first, that some senator, and then that Otho, was carried away to the camp. It was resolved to make trial at once of the fidelity of the cohort which was on guard at the pal- ace, and Piso went and stood on the steps and addressed them. But, though he promised a donative, they did not declare themselves. All the other troops joined the praeto- rians, with the exception of those whom Nero had drafted from the German army to serve in Egypt, and whom Galba had lately treated with much kindness. The populace hastened to the palace with loud and noisy loyalty; and, while Galba was consulting with his friends, word came that Otho was slain in the camp : the senators and knights, then taking courage, vied with the populace in clamorous loyalty, and Galba was put into a chair to pro- ceed to the camp. Just as he was setting out, a guardsman, showing his bloody sword, cried out that he had slain Otho: Galba, ever mindful of discipline, replied, ** Fellow-soldier, who ordered you ? " Piso, who had been sent to the camp, 128 OTHO. [a. d. 69. met the emperor on his way with the assurance that all was lost the soldiers having declared for Otho. While they were deliberating on what were best to be done, the soldiers, horse and foot, rushed into the Forum, and dispersed the senators and the people. At the sight of them, the standard- bearer of the cohort which was with Galba threw down his ensign The aged emperor was flung from his chair at the place called the Lake of Curtius. He desired the soldiers to slay him, if it seemed for the good of the state; and he was instantly despatched. Vinius was the next victim. Piso fled to the temple of Vesta, where ho was concealed by a public slave attached to it; but he was soon discov-ered, draaaed out and slain, and his head brought to Otho. Laco Icefus, and several others, were put to death. 1 he body of Galba after being exposed to the insults of the soldiery and rabble, was indebted for sepulture to his steward, Argius, who interred it in his own garden. M. Salvius Otho. A. u. 822. A. D. 69. The soldiers now did every thing they pleased ; for Otho, even if inclined, had not the pow^r to restrain them; the senate and people rushed into servitude as usua 1 he trib- unitian power,'the name of Augustus and all the other honors, were decreed to Otho; and, as far as Rome was con- cerned his power was supreme. But he had hardly en ered on his new dianity when he received intelligence that the German k.ions, joined by several of the Gallic states, had declared A. Vitdlius emperor, and that two armies, unde his legates, Fabius Valens and Alienus Ca;cina, were in full march for Italy. . , j i j^^io^^ri fr^r The legions of Britain and of Rffit.a had also declared for Vitellius.' Those of Spain at first gave in their ^dh™^? Otho; but they speedily turned to his "val. The troops ot the East and of Africa took the oath to Otho when the^ learned his elevation by the senate. The army of Illyricum also took the engagement to him, and adhered to it. His chief reliance, hov^ever, was on the guards and the other troops which had revolted in his favor agj'"^'.f ""'^'^^^^ ' lucr the time that Otho remained in the city, preparing • A. D. 69.] CIVIL WAR. ]29 for the ^yar, he displayed a degree of prudence and vigor not expected from his general character. He gained popularity by giving up to the public vengeance the infamous Ticrelli- nus, and by bestowing pardon and his confidence on Marius CeJsus a consul elect, who had exhibited the most exempla- ry fide ity toward Galba, and who afterwards proved equally faithful to Otho himself ^ ^ On the eve of the Ides of March, (14th,) Otho, havincr commended the state to the care of the senate, set out tl take the command of his army ; for Valens, at the head of 4U,U0U men, was now approaching Italy by the Cottian Alps while CcBCHia, with 30,000, was entering it by the Pennine Alps and a part of the troops in Cisalpine Gaul had declared for Vitel lus, and seized Milan, Novarra, and some other municipal towns. The whole of Italy to the Po was thus in the hands of the Vitellians. As Otho had the entire com- mand of the sea, he had put troops on board of the fleet from Misenuin and sent them to make a diversion on the southern coast o Gaul; and they had some success against the troops despatched by Valens to oppose them. The Pannonian le- gions were on their march for Italy, and they had sent their cavalry and light troops on before. Five pr^torian cohorts vvith the first legion, and some cavalry, and a band of two thousand gladiators, were despatched from the city under the command of Annius Gallus and Vestricius Spurinna to oc- cupy the banks of the Po ; and Otho himself followed with the remainder of the praetorian cohorts, a body of veteran praetorians, and a large number of the rowers of the fleet CcTcina had crossed the Po, unopposed ; he moved alon^ the stream of that river, and sat down before Placentia, into which Spurinna had thrown himself On the very first day of the siege, the splendid amphitheatre, the largest in Italy which lay without the walls, was burnt, by accident or de- sign. Having failed in all his attempts to storm the town Caecina put his troops over the river, and marched against Cremona. Gallus, who was leading the first legion to the relief of Placentia, being informed by letters from Spurinna of the route taken by Caecina, halted at a village named Bedriacum, between Verona and Cremona. Meantime Mar- tins Macro had suddenly crossed the Po with the gladiators and routed a body of the Vitellian auxiliaries. The Otho- nians were now elate with success, and eager for battle, and they wrote to Otho, accusing their generaFs of treachery in restraining their ardor. The O.thonian generals wished to avoid engaging the vet- a i I I.' I 1,. i %^ M 128 OTHO. [a. d. 69. met the emperor on his way with the assurance that all was lost, the soldiers having declared for Otl.o. While they were deliberating on what were best to be done, the soldiers, horse and foot, rushed into the Forum, and dispersed the senators and the pegple. At the sight of thein, the standard- bearer of the cohort which was with Galba threw down his ensicni The aged emperor was flung from his chair at the place called the Lake of Curtius. He desired the soldiers to slay him, if it seemed for the good of the state; and he was instantly despatched. Vinius was the next victim. Piso fled to the temple of Vesta, where he was concealed by a public slave attached to it; but he was soon discovered, draacred out and slain, and his head brought lo Otho. Laco Icefus, and several others, were put to death. 1 he body of Galba after being exposed to the insults of the soldiery and rabble, was indebted for sepulture to his steward, Argius, who interred it in his own garden. M. Salvius Otho. A. u. 822. A. D. 69. The soldiers now did every thing they pleased ; for Otho, even if inclined, had not the power to restrain them ; the senate and people rushed into servitude as usua The tr.b- unitian power, the name of Augustus and all the other honors, were decreed to Otho; and, as far as Rome was con- cerned his power was supreme. But he had hardly en ered on his new dignity when he received intelligence that the German legion%, joined by several of the Gallic states, had declared A Vitellius emperor, and that two armies, unde his legates, Fabius Valens and Alienus Cajc.na, were in full march for Italy. . , i i j i„^«^ fr^r The legions of Britain and of Ra^tia had also declared for Vitellius. Those of Spain at first gave in their adhesion to Otho; but they speedily turned to his "val. The tfooP^ J the East and of Africa took the oath to O'ho when they learned his elevation by the senate. The army of Illy'cum also took the engagement to him, and adhered to it. H.s chief reliance, hov^ever, was on the guards and the other trooDs which had revolted in his favor against Galba. Unr- i[,g The time that Otho remained in the city, preparing m A. D. 69.] CIVIL WAR. 129 for the war, he displayed a degree of prudence and vigor not expected from his general character. He gained popularity by giving up to the public vengeance the infamous Ticrelli- nus, and by bestowing pardon and his confidence on Marius Celsus a consul elect, who had exhibited the most exempla- ry hdeity toward Galba, and who afterwards proved equally faithful to Otho himself. • f h j On the eve of the Ides of March, (14th,) Otho, havino- commended the state to the care of the senate, set out to I'lifJ^.^ command of his army ; for Valens, at the head of 40,000 men, was now approaching Italy by the Cottian Alps while Ca3cina, with 30,000, was entering it by the Pennine Alps and a part of the troops in Cisalpine Gaul had declared tor Vitellius, and seized Milan, Novarra, and some other municipal towns. The whole of Italy to the Po was thus in the hands of the Vitellians. As Otho had the entire com- mand of the sea, he had put troops on board of the fleet from Misenum, and sent them to make a diversion on the southern coast of Gaul ; and they had some success against the troops despatched by Valens to oppose them. The Pannonian le- gions were on their march for Italy, and they had sent their cavalry and light troops on before. Five praetorian cohorts with the first legion, and some cavalry, and a band of two thousand gladiators, were despatched from the city, under the command of Annius Gallus and Vestricius Spurinna to oc- cupy the banks of the Po ; and Otho himself followed with the remainder of the praetorian cohorts, a body of veteran praetorians, and a large number of the rowers of the fleet. Caecina had crossed the Po, unopposed ; he moved along the stream of that river, and sat down before Placentia, into which Spurinna had thrown himself On the very first day of the siege, the splendid amphitheatre, the largest in Italy which lay without the walls, was burnt, by accident or de- sign. Having failed in all his attempts to storm the town, Caecina put his troops over the river, and marched against Cremona. Gallus, who was leading the first legion to the relief of Placentia, being informed by letters from Spurinna of the route taken by Caecina, halted at a village named Bedriacum, between Verona and Cremona. Meantime Mar- tins Macro had suddenly crossed the Po with the gladiators, and routed a body of the Vitellian auxiliaries. The Otho- nians were now elate with success, and eager for battle, and they wrote to Otho, accusing their generafs of treachery in restraining their ardor. The Qthonian generals wished to avoid engaging the vet- Q I i li !| OTHO. [a. d. 69. 130 erans of Vitellius with their holiday troops, which had never seen any service, and to wait for the arrival of the Pannonian leffions On the other hand, Ca^cina, maddened by the re- pulses which he had received at Placentia, and anxious to brincr matters to a conclusion before the arrival of Valens, was^impatient of delay. He therefore wished to provoke a battle; and, placing the best of his auxiliary troops in am- bush in the woods on each side of the road, at a place called The 'Temple of the Castors, about twelve miles from Ore- mona, he sent a party of horse along the road with directions to fali on the enemy, and then retire and draw them into the ambuscade. The plan, however, was betrayed to the Othonian generals, Suetonius Paulinus and Marius Celsus of whom the former taking the command of the toot, and the latter that of the horse, they made such dispositions as micrht turn the enemy's wile against himself Accordingly, when the Vitellian horse turned and fled, Celsus kept his men in check ; those in the ambush then rising before their time, Celsus gradually fell back till he drew them to where thev found the road occupied by the legionaries, while cohorts were on each side, and the cavalry had now gotten into their rear. Had Paulinus given the word at once, they micrht have been cut to pieces; but he delayed so long, that the'y had time to save themselves in the adjoining vineyards and a little wood, from which they made sallies, and killed some of the most forward of the Othonian horse. The Othonian infantry now pushed forward, and, as Ca3Cina sent his troops out only by smgle cohorts to oppose them the resistance which they experienced was slight; and it was thouaht, on both sides, that, if Paulinus had not sounded a recall, Csecina's army might have been annihilated. Ihe reason which Paulinus assigned for doing so, was his tear lest his wearied men should be attacked by fresh troops from the camp of the Vitellians, in which case he should have no reserve to support them; his arguments, however, did not prove generally satisfactory. r u .u n This check abated very much the confidence of both Cae- cina and his men; it had a similar effect on those of Va- lens, who had now reached Ticinum. 1 hey had lately been very mutinous, and their general had narrowly escaped death at their hands ; and when they heard of the recent disaster of their comrades, they were near breaking out into mutiny aaain. They would brook no delay; they urged on the stalidard-bearers, and they speedily joined the army of Caecina. * A. D. 69.] CIVIL WAR, 131 Otho now advised with his generals whether it would be better to protract the war, or to bring matters to a speedy decision. Suetonius argued strongly in favor of the former course. The Vitellians, he said, were all there; they could calculate on no additions to their force; they would soon be in want of corn ; the summer was coming on, and the Ger- mans, it was well known, could not stand the heat of Italy. On the other hand, Otho had Pannonia, Mojsia, and the East, with their large armies; he had Italy and the city with him, and the name of the senate and people, wiiich was always of importance ; he had plenty of money, and his men were inured to the climate. The line of the Po, as Placen- tia had proved, could be easily defended ; he would speedily be joined by the legions from Illyricum. All therefore con- spired to recommend delay. The opinions of Celsus and Annius Gallus coincided with that of Suetonius. On the other hand, Otho himself was inclined to a speedy decision, and his brother Titianus, to whom he had given the chief command, and the prsetorian prefect, Licinius Proculus, men utterly devoid pf experience, flattered his wishes. The gen- erals ceased to oppose. It was then asked, should the em- peror himself appear in the field or not. Suetonius and Celsus gave no opinion, and the others decided that he should retire to Brescia, [Brixfllum,) and reserve himself for the empire. Nothing could be more pernicious than this course, for he took with him some of the best troops; and, moreover, as the soldiers distrusted their generals, and had confidence in himself alone, it diminished the moral force of the army. Valens and Caecina, who, by means of scouts and desert- ers, knew all that was going on in the enemy's camp, now began to throw a bridge of boats over the Po, as if with the intention of driving off the gladiators. While they were thus engaged, the Othonians advanced four miles from Be- driacum, and encamped, displaying so little skill in the se- lection of the site, that, though it was spring-time, and there was a number of streams all about them, the soldiers actually suffered for want of water. Celsus and Paulinus were gen- erals only in name, and their opinions had never been taken. The troops were then set in motion, to march for the con- fluence of the Po and the Adda, sixteen miles off, in spite of the remonstrances of the generals, Titianus and Proculus, being confirmed by an express from Otho, ordering matters to be brouorht to a decision at once. b !'■ 132 OTHO. [a^d. 69 Caecina wasf viewing the progress of the bridge, when word eame that the enemy was at hand. He harried back to the camp, where he found that Valens bad got the troops under arms. The horse issued forth, and charged the Otho- nians, but were driven back; the legions, favored by the denseness of the trees, which concealed them from view, formed without disorder. The Othonians were advancing withwU any order; the baggage and the followers mingled with the soldiers, along a road with deep ditches on each side. A report being spread that his own troops had re- volted from Vitellius, the Othonians, when they came in view, saluted the Vitellians as friends ; but they were soon made to perceive their error. A severe conflict ensued ; but the Othonians were finally routed and driven to their camp, and the Vitellians took upr their position for the night within a mile of it. The praetorians alone were unbroken in spirit ; they asserted that they were betrayed, not conquered, and insisted on continuing the war. Morning, however, brought cooler thoughts, and a deputation was sent to sue for peace, which was readily granted, and the two armies then united. When the news of the defeat at Bedriacum reached Bres- cia, the troops there, instead of beiihg dejected, sought to in- spirit their emperor to continue the war ; and envoys from the Moesian legions, who were now at Aquileia, assured him of their resolution to adhere to his cause. But Otho had already formed his determination to end the contest for empire by a voluntary death. He addressed those about him in manly terms, declaring that he would not be the cause of ruin to such brave and worthy men. He insisted on their providincT for their own eafety ; and, having distrib- uted money among them,- and burnt all letters reflecting on Vitellius, he retired, in the evening, to his bed-chamber, and taking two daggers, and trying their edge, he placed one under" his pillovv. He passed the night in tranquillity, and at daybreak he thrust the dagger into his bosom. At the groan which he gave, his freedmen and friends came in ; but they found him already dead. The funeral was hurried ; for so he had earnestly desired, lest his head should be cut off and insulted. Some of the soldiers slew themselves at the pyre, and their example was folbwed by many at Bedriacum, Pla- centia, and other places.* * Verginius, at this time, ran the risk of his fife for again refusing the empfre. He had afterwards a narrow escape from the soldiers of A. n. 69.] CHARACTER OF VITELLIUS. 133 A. Vitellius^ A. u, 822—823. A. D. 69—70. The news of the death of Otho reached Rome during the celebration of the Cereal games. The event, joined "with that of Flavins Sabinus, the city prefect, having'^caused the soldiers there to take the oath to Vitellius, being announced in the theatre, the spectators shouted for Viteljfus, aud they then carried the images of Galba, adorned with laurel and flowers, round to the temples. The usual honors and titles were, without hesitation, decreed to Vitellius by the senate, and thanks were voted to the armres of Germany. Aulus Vitellius, who was thus suddenly raised to empire, was the son of L. Vitellius, who, as we have seen above, was one of the basest of flatterers in the times of Caius aiid Claudius. He himself had, in early yotith, been an inmate of the Capra^an sty of Tiberius- he gained the favor of Caius by his fondness for chariot races; that of Claudius bj his love of dice, and that of Nero by adroit flattery of his passion for the stage. He was distinguished above all men for his gluttony, so that Galba, when 'sending liim to Lower Germany, gave as his reason for selecting him, that none are less to be feared than those who think of nothing but eating. Vitellius was collecting reenforcements in Gaul when he heard of the victory at Bedriacum. He was met at Lyons [Lugdunum) by his own generals and by those of the Otho- nians. Of these last, Suetonius and Proculus escaped by ascribing to treachery on their own part the accidents which had favored the Vitellians, Titianus was excused on the ground of natural affection to his brother; and Celsus was even allowed to retain the consulate, to which he had been appointed. The most zealous of the Othonian centurions, however, were put to death — an act which tended greatly to alienate the Illyrian army. On the whole, however, Vi- Vite'Ilius, when at that emperor's own table : " Nee quemquam sfepius quam Verginitim," says Tacitus, " ©mnis seditio infestavit ; monebat admiratio viriet fama, sed oderant nt fastiditL" This excellent maa, however, escaped all dangers, and died, when consul for the third time, in the reign of Nerva, having reached Jiis 83d year. His funeral oration was pronounced by Tacitus. Phny, whose guardian he had Ven, speaks of him (Ep. ii. 1. vi. 10) ia terms of the greatest respect and affection. CONTIK\ 12 I 134 VITELLIUS. [a. D. 69. tellius did not exhibit much of either avarice or cruelty; but his ghittony exceeded all conception, and the wealth of the empire seemed inadequate to the supply of his table. At the same time, all the north of Italy suffered from the license of the soldiery, who, heedless of their officers, committed every species of excess. The spirit of the Othonians, too, was unbroken, and their language was haughty and menacing. The fourteenth legion, which was the most turbulent, was, therefore, ordered 'to return to Britain, whence it had been recalled by Nero, and the prietorians were first separated, and then disbanded. At Ticinum, almost in the presence of Vitellius himself, a tumult took place between the legion- aries and the auxiliaries of his own army. It was appeased with difficulty; and, in consequence of it, the Batavian co- horts were, sent home — a measure productive of future calamity. Vitellius thence proceeded to Cremona, where he was present at a show of gladiators given by Ca^cina. He then feasted his eyes with a view of the battle-field at Bedriacum, where the slain lay still unburied. " At Bologna, he visited another show of gfadiators, given by Valens. He advanced by easy journeys toward Rome,, exhausting the whole coiui- try on his way by requisitions for the numerous train that followed him. At lenrrth, he came in view of Rome, at the hcMd of 60,000 men, attended by a still greater number of c;imp followers. Senators and knights, and crowds of the njost profligate of the populace, poured forth to meet him. lie was about to enter the city as a conqueror in the mili- tnrv habit ; but, at the suggestion of his friends, he as- sumed the magisterial prcrttxta. The eagles of four legions were borne before him; ensigns and standards were around hiin; the troops — foot, horse, and allies— followed^ all in their most splendid array. He thus ascended the Capitol, where he embraced his excellent mother, and saluted her by the title of Augusta. It was remarked, as a matter of ill omen, that Vitellius took the office of chief pontiff on the 18th of July — a day rendered memorable in the annals of Rome by the disasters at the Cremera and the Allia.* He affected a civil deport- ment, refusina the title of Aucrustus^ and attending the meet- * [The former was the destruction of the Fabian family by the Ve- jenies, A. U. C. 279; the latter was the defeat of the Roman army by Brennus and the Gauls, A. U. C. 364. — J. T. S.] A. D. 69.] LUXURIOUS HABITS OF VITELLIUS. 135 ings of the senate as a simple member of their body, and accompanying his friends and soliciting votes for them in their canvass for the consulate. These popular arts, how- ever, did not blind men to his vices. His gluttony passed all bounds of moderation ; he had three or four huge meals every day, for which he prepared himself by emetics; and the lowest cost of each was 400,000 sesterces. One ban- quet, given him by his brother, is said to have comprised, in its bin of fare, 2,000 of the choicest fishes, and 7,000 of the rarest birds. He was also immoderately given to the sports of the circus, theatre, and ampliitheatre ; and he alarmed men's minds by offering public sacrifices to the Manes of Nero, as if he proposed that prince for his example. Like his predecessors, he was governed by a freedman, named Asiaticus, who in cruelty, rapacity, and every other vice, fully equalled those of the courts of Claudius and Nero. The generals Ctecina and Valens, of whom the former was more desirous of power, the latter of money, also acted as they pleased; and, altogether, Tacitus observes, ''no one in that court attempted to distinguish himself by worth or ap- plication to business, the only road to power being to satiate the insatiable appetites of Vitellius, by extravagant banquets, and expense and debauchery of every kind." The historian adds, that, in the few months that he reigned, Vitellius spent nine hundred millions of sesterces. The soldiers, meantime, were held under little restraint ; but their strength was melting away, from their riotous liv- ing, and from the insalubrity of the air and soil about Rome. Tiie strenorth of the legions was also reduced, by the forma- tion of sixteen new pr;etorian and four urban cohorts, into which any legionary who pleased might volunteer. The luxurious enjoyments of Vitellius were soon disturbed by tidings that the legions of the East would not submit to have a head imposed on the empire by those of Germany. There were four legions in Syria, under the command of Licinius Mucianus, the governor of that province; and T. Flavins Vespasianus had, at the head of three other legions, been for the last three years carrying on the war j^gainst the rebellious Jews, which he had now nearly brought to a con- clusion; and Ti. Alexander, the prefect of Egypt, command- ed two other legions. Vespasian had sent his son Titus to Rome, with his adhesion to Galba ; but, hearing on his way of the murder 'of that emperor, Titus had stopped, lest he >'>1 136 VITELLIUS. [a. D. 69. micrht be made a hostage by either of the rival parties. The armies of the East had taken the oath of fidelity to Otho, without making any objection ; but when Vespasian would set them the example of taking it to Vitellius, they listened to him in profound silence. He then began to meditate on his own chances of empire ; both Mucianus and Alexander, he had abundant reason to believe, would aid him in attain- ing it ; the third legion, which was now in Mcesia, had been drawn thither from Syria, and he was certain of its attach- ment to him, and it might be able to gain over the other legions of Illyricum. On the other hand, he reflected on the strength of the German legions, with which he was well acquainted, and their superiority over those of the East, and also on the risk of his being assassinated, like Scribonianus in the time of Claudius. The legates and other officers tried to encourage him, and Mucianus", both in private and public, urged every topic like- ly to prevail with him. His mind was also affected by sun- dry omens and prophecies which he recollected ; and he at length resolved to run the risk, and win the empire, or perish°in the attempt. To make the necessary preparations, he repaired to Csesarea, while iMucianus hastened to Anti- och, the capitals of their respective provinces. It was, however, at Alexandria, that he was first proclaimed empe- ror ; where, on the first of July, Alexander made the legions take the oath of fidelity to Vespasian; and two days later, as he was coming out of his chamber, at Ca^sarea, some sol- diers, who were at hand, saluted him emperor ; the rest then shouted out C^sar, Augustus, and the other imperial titles, and he no longer refused them. Mucianus had, meantime, brought over^he Syrian legions, chiefly by assuring them that ft was the intention of Vitellius to replace them by those of Germany, and remove them to the snows and cold of the north. The neighboring kings, Sohemus, Antiochus, and Agrippa, joined in the league, and a meeting was held at Berytus to deliberate on the best mode of proceeding. It was there resolved that every effort should be made to obtain money and supplies of all kinds; that embassies should be sent to the Parthians and Armenians, to engage them to remain at peace; that Titus should carry on the war in Judaea; and Vespasian himself secure Egypt; while Mucianus should set out, with a part of the army, against Vitellius; and letters be written to all the armies and le- A. D. 69.] TROOPS DECLARE FOR VESPASIAN 137 gates ; and every means be employed to induce the disband- ed praetorian cohorts to resume their arms in the cause of Vespasian. Accordingly, Mucianus set forth at once with a body of light troops, a much larger force following at a slower pace. He ordered the fleet from the Pontus to meet him at Byzan- tium, not being yet determined whether he should march through Moesia, or pass direct from Dyrrhachium to Brundi- sium or Tarentum. His course, however, was decided by the news of what had occurred in the army of Illyricum. For three legions from Mcesia, (one of which was the third,) having reached Aquileia, on their march to join Otho, there learned the death of that prince. While they halted, officers arrived, inviting them to submit to Vitellius; but they tore the banners which were sent to them bearing his name, and seized and divided among them the public money. The third then setting the example, they declared for Vespasian; and they wrote to the Pannonian army, inviting them to join them, under the penalty of being treated as enemies. This army, consisting of two legions, which had fought at Be- driacum, eager to eff'ace the disgrace of defeat, was easily induced, chiefly by means of Antonius Primus, the com- mander of one of the legions, to accept the invitation ; and, the two armies being united, they easily induced that of Dalmatia to join them. The revolt of the Moesian legions was communicated to Vitellius by Aponius Saturninus, the governor of Moesia. He affected to make light of it, but he sent to summon aid from Germany, Spain, and Britain. At length, when the extent of the defection became known, he ordered Caecina and Valens to make ready for war. As Valens was then unwell, Caecina took the sole command, and the German army marched from Rome, but no longer the same, a few weeks' abode there having sufficed to refax its discipline and destroy its energy. The troops were directed to repair to Cremona and Hostilia; Caecina himself proceeded to Ra- venna, to confer with Lucilius Bassus, the commander of the fleet, and thence to Padua, to watch the course of events. The Flavian generals, meantime, held a consultation as to the best mode of proceeding. Some were for merely se- curing the Pannonian Alps, and waiting for reenforcements ; but Antonius Primus declared vehemently in favor of advan- cing into Italy at once, lest the Vitellians should have time 12* 138 VITELLIUS. [a. d. 69. to recover their discipline, and be joined by troops from Gaul, Span-, and Britain. His opinion prevailed Letters were written to Aponius, who had declared for the Havian cause, urging him to come quickly with the Mojsian army. To securl the provinces from the attacks ot the barbarians in the absence of the legions, the princes of the SarmiUian J.zvaes, and Sido and Italicus, the kings of the Suevians, were taken into alliance. The army then descended into the plain of the Po, and the generals again debated what place should be fixed on for the seat of the war. Vespasian had sent orders for the army to halt at A(iuileia, and wait lor Mucianus, as, by his own occupation of Egypt whence It- aly was chiefly supplied with corn, he hoped that want ol food and pay would oblige the Vitellians to submit without the hazard of a battle. Mucianus, also, fearing lest the glory of terminating the conquest should be snatched irom him- self wrote several letters to the same effect. But the army had already determined on the attack of Verona, and had occupied Vicenza ( Vicetla) on its way to that town. Cfficina had taken a strong position neir Ilostilia, a Vero- nese village, having a river in his rear, and marshes on h.s flanks. Though his troops far outnumbered those ot tlie Flavians which as yet consisted of only two legions, and when joined within a few days by Aponius with another le- gion, were yet inferior, — he negotiated instead ot lighting. The Flavians were soon after joined by two other legions, and they then prepared to assault Verona. But a sedition speedily broke out among them. They accused Aponius and Ampins Flavianus, the legate of Pannonia of treachery ; and these officers had to fly for their lives, and the sole com- mand remained with Antonius, who was suspected ot having excited the mutiny with this very view. ,. a , Lucilius Bassus now made an attempt to induce the fleet at Ravenna to declare for Vespasian ; but he was seized by his own men, and sent a prisoner to Iladria. Cicciua, who had made a secret agreement with the Flavian party, at lirs succeeded in inducing his men to declare tor Vespasia.i; but they soon, however, repented, seized him, and put liim in bonds, and marched back to join the legions that were at Cremona. , , ^ Anioniiis, judaincr that Valens, who was an able othcer, and faithful to Vitellius, would soon arrive to take the cotn- niand, resolved to bring matters to a speedy decision, lie therefore quitted Verona, and, advancing toward Cremona, A. D. 69.] ADVANCE OF THE FLAVIANS. 139 encamped at Bedriacum. While the legionaries were forti- fying the camp, he sent the auxiliary cohorts to plunder the lands of Cremona, and he himself, with a body of 4,000 horse, advanced for ei^ht miles alonor the road leadinfj to that city. Toward noon the enemy was announced to be on his march. An othcer named Arrius Varus dashed forward, and charged and drove back, with some slight loss, the Vitellian horse, who were in advance; but, fresh troops coming to their aid, the Flavians were repulsed in their turn. Antonius, however, checked their flight, and routed the Vitellians, who were in pursuit, and drove them back on two of their legions, which had advanced to the fourth mile-stone from Cremona; and, Vipstanus Messala coming up with the McEsic auxiliaries, the Vitellian legions were driven back to the town. In the evening, the whole Flavian army came up on the ffround where the enoracrement had taken place. Seeincr the heaps of slain, they looked on the war as terminated ; and they were proposing to themselves the storm and plunder of Cremona, from which probably neither the arguments nor the authority of Antonius would have withheld them, had not some horsemen, who had been sent forward to reconnoi- tre, reported that the troops from Hostilia had joined, and that the whole strength of the Vitellian army now lay at Cre- mona. This intellifjence rendered them obedient to their general ; and, though night was closing in, Antonius placed them in order of battle on the road itself and the lands on each side of it. The Vitellians, who were now without any general officers, were so confident of their own strength, that they would not remain in the town ; and they set forth with the intention of falling on and routing the Flavians, whom they supposed to be exhausted with cold and want of food. It was about nine o'clock when they suddenly fell in with them, drawn up as we have described. A desultory, irregular conflict was maintained throuorh the niorht. The Vitellians had drawn their artillery all up on the road, whence it was doing great execution, especially a huge halista belonging to the fifteenth legion; when two gallant soldiers of the Flavians, taking up the shields of the Vitellians, that they might not be known, rushed forwards, and, though they lost their lives in the at- tempt, they succeeded in cutting the cords of the engines, and thus rendering them useless. At length the moon rose behind the Flavians, lengthening their shadows, and giving them a clear view of the enemy, who now fought under a 140 VITELLIUS. [a. D. 69. manifest disadvantage. When the sun appeared, the third -jr4»t 144 VITELLIUS. [a. d. 69. defenders made resistance ; most sought to escape in various ways and generally with success. Dom.t.an was concea ed L the keeper of the temple; and next day he got away, d.s- Sised as one of the n.inisters of Isis. Sabmus and the con- fu Att cus were seized and dragged into the presence of V teUius. In vain the powerless emperor wshed to save the forme he was murdered before h.s eyes. Att.cus escaped bv decl'ai^in. that it was he himself that h.d fired the temple. '^The Flavians were keeping the Saturnaha, at Otr.ca u,„, when they heard of the late events at Rome. Cerialis aU- vanced immediately, with a body of a thousand horse, to .ter the city by the Salar.an road, while Antomus led d e remainder of the army along the Flam.tuan I^^^";»'g^» J^"' advanced, when, at a place named the l^^d Rocks j^«« Rubra ) he was informed of the burning of the Capitol and the death of Sabinus. Cer.alis was repulsed, wten he ap- nroached the city and driven back to Fidena; ; and the popu- Ltelated'at^lfi's success of their ,>arty, took up a.ns for Vitellius and demanded to be led to battle He thankea .hem for' their zeal, but he preferred negotiation to arms^ He sent deputies to both Cerialis and Antonms and the Vestal Vir.ins were the bearers of a letter to the latter The holy maidens were treated with all due respect ; but the ","swer returned to Vitellius was, that the murder of Sab - Ts and the burning of the Capitol had put an end to all 'Tntolus'Tavin. made a fruitless effort to induce his troo^to h«lt for one day at the Mu'V- .^ndge they ad- vanced to the assault, in three bodies, along the Tiber and the S darian and Flaminian roads. The V'telbaris oppo-d hmn viaorouslv at all points; success was various, but iortune mostly ored the Flavians. The people looked on as if it had been the sports of the amphitheatre, cheering the vie- ors and requiring those who sought refuge any where to be Eged out\nd slain. They also plundered the dead^ In somf parts of the city there were the flashing of arms and he Lrnds of combat'; while ,n others, the u-^' -"-^^ debauchery was going on, and the baths and the ^^^^^J^^^^^ filled with their daily visitors. It was at the Pr«^ orian camp that the battle raged the loudest. Pride urged the old prte torians to recover their camp; their «"«^e^^°'■,^ 7^„«. J^" ermined to die rather than yield it up. Every kind of en- gine was employed against it ; at length an entrance was forced and all its defenders were slain. win the city was taken, Vitellius had himself conveyed A. D. TO.J MURDER OF VITELLIUS. 145 h^to st. ' ''J'"'" °^ ^''' ''''^^' «" the Aventine, intend- b other h«/""^' ^""."^ *y "'="'^'' ♦" Tarracina, which h.s turnS ,J ?. '""']^'^'^- „But he changed his mind, and re- turned to the palace. He found it deserted ; and as he hSf iftr^'^'^''^' 'r T'' '''"'' '"' i^^ ---'ed cimhe H Pi '"'' ^°M ^"^'"'S "»der the bed and bed- tribune Su'h 7'' ^""'"-^ "l"^ -^"gSed out by a Flavian tribune. His hands were tied behind his back ; a rope was put about his neck; his robe was torn; a s^ord was se under his chin to make him hoi.] up his head ; some reviled him, others pelted him with mud and dirt. He was thus led along the Sacred Way; and, at the Gemonian Stairs, he was tZl2 iTri,:^ ''' "''y -^ ^'- ''-^^^'^ -^y -^d CHAPTER II.* THE FLAVIAN FAMILY. A. u. 823^849. A. D. 70—96. STATE OF AFFAIRS AT ROME. — GERMAN WAR. — CAPTURE AND DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM. — RETURN OF TITUS — VES- PASIAN. —CHARACTER OF HIS GOVERNMENT.— HIS DE^TH -- CHARACTER AND REIGN OF TITUS. — PUBLIC CALAMITIEs" — DEATH OF TITUS.— CHARACTER OF DOMITIAN. — CON^ QUEST OF BRITAIN. — DACIAN WAR. — OTHER WARS. — CRU- ELTY OFDOMITIAN.— HIS DEATH. — LITERATURE OF THIS PERIOD. T. Flavins Sabinus Vespasianus, A. u. 823—832. A. D. 70—79. The death of Vitellius terminated the civil war but it did not yet restore tranquillity to the empire. Rome presented the appearance of a conquered city. The victorious Flavi- ans pursued and slaughtered the Vitellians in all quarters CONTIN. Authorities : Suetonius and Dion 13 s 146 VESPASIAN. [a. D. 69. houses were broken open and robbed, and their owners, if they resisted, were murdered. Complaint and lamentation were heard on all sides. The generals were unable to re- strain their men, and the evil was left to exhaust itselt. 1 he troops were soon, however, led as far as Bovillae and Aricia to oppose L. Vitellius, who was reported to be on his march airainst the city ; but he and his cohorts surrendered at dis- cretion, and he was led to Rome and put to death. 1 he same was the fate of a few more of the friends of Vitellius ; among whom may be mentioned his freedman Asiaticus. Some'^persons were prosecuted and punished for their acts in the time of Nero; among whom it is gratifying to mention the philosopher Egnatius Celer, the friend and prosecutor of Soranus. The senate decreed all the usual imperial honors to Ves- pasian ; the consulship for the ensuing year to him ; to his eldest son, the prsetorship; and the consular authority to Do- mitian. The consular ensigns were decreed to Antonius Pri- mus; the praetorian, to Cornelius Fuscus and Arrius Varus; and the triumphal, to Mucianus, for his success against the Sarmatians. The supreme power lay nominally with Domi- tian; but its reality was in the hands of Antonius, from whom, however, it passed to Mucianus, who speedily arrived. Mucianus acted in all things as if he were a partner of the empire; Domitian also exercised such imperial power that his father, it is said, wrote to him one time, saying, " I thank you, son, for allowing me to reign, and for not having de- posed me." , ^ Vespasian did not arrive at Rome till .toward the end ot the year. As the Roman arms were at this time occupied by two distinct enemies in different parts of the world, the Germans and the Jews, and both wars were concluded in this year, we will here briefly notice them. The ori-fin of the German war was as follows : The Bata- vians, a trfbe of the Chattans, being expelled from their ori- ginal seats, had settled in the north-eastern extremity of Gaul, and in the island formed by the branches of the Rhine. They were in alliance with the Romans, on the usual terms, and therefore supplied them with troops ; their cavalry, from its activity and the skill and boldness with which it was known to cross the deepest and most rapid rivers, was always greatlv prized in the Roman service; and the Batavian co- horts had very much distinguished themselves both in Britain and at Bedriacum. Two brothers, named Julius Paulus and A. D. 69.] INSURRECTION OF CIVILIS. 147 Claudius Civilis, had held of late the chief command of the Batavian troops. The former was put to death by Fonteius Capito, on a false charge of disaffection in the time of Nero, and the latter was sent in chains to Rome. He was acquit- ted by Galba, but he ran fresh danger from Vitellius, as the army was clamorous for his execution. He, however, escaped, and returned to his own country, where, under the pretence of acting for Vespasian, he prepared to cast off the Roman yoke. He first induced the Batavians to refuse the levy or- dered by Vitellius, and then proposed to the Canninifates, a neighboring people, to join the league; he also sent to solicit the Batavian cohorts, that had been sent back from Bedria- cum, and were now at Mentz, [Magotitiacum.) The Cannin- ifates, choosing one of their nobles, named Brinno, for their leader, and having associated with them the trans-Rhenic Frisians, attacked and took the winter camp of two cohorts on the sea-coast. Civilis at first pretended great zeal for the Romans; but, when he found that his designs were seen through, he joined Brinno openly, and their united forces, aided by the treachery of a Tungrian cohort and of the Bata- vian rowers in the ships, succeeded in defeating a body of Roman troops, and capturing their fleet of four-and-twenty vessels. Hordeonius ordered Lupercus, one of his legates, to march against the rebels with two legions, Ubian and Tre- virian auxiliaries, and some Batavian cavalry. Lupercus therefore crossed the river; Civilis gave him battle; in the midst of the engagement, the Batavian horse went over to their countrymen; the auxiliaries fled in confusion, and the legionaries were obliged to take refuge in the Old Camp. Meantime a messenger from Civilis had overtaken the Ba- tavian cohorts that were on their march for Italy. They im- mediately began, as a pretext for defection, to demand a donative, double pay, and other advantages promised by Vi- tellius; and Hordeonius having tried in vain to satisfy them, they set out to join Civilis, Hordeonius then, resolving to have recourse to force, sent orders to Herennius Gallus, who commanded at Bonn, {Banna,) to stop them in front while he himself should press on their rear,- He soon, however, chancred his mind, and sent word to Herennius to let them pass. But the latter yielded to the instances of his men, and led out his forces of 3,000 legionaries, some Belgian cohorts, and a train of camp followers, against the Batavians. The latter, inferior in number, but superior in discipline, drove them back with great slaughter to their camp, and then. 148 VESPASIAN. [a^ D. 69. continuing their route without further molestation, joined Civilis. . . The arrival of these veteran cohorts inspired Civilis with confidence; but, still aware of the power of Rome, he made all his men take the oath of fidelity to Vespasian, He sent to invite the two legions in the Old Camp to do the same ; but, meeting with a scornful refusal, he resolved to attack them without further delay. He had now been joined by some of the Germans, and his army was numerous. On the other hand, the Romans did iK)t exceed 5,000 men, and they had to defend a camp made for two legions. A general assault was at first tried ; and, when it did not succeed, Civilis, aware that the supply of provisions in the camp was very short, re- solved to trust to the surer course of blockade. But vast numbers of Germans having bow flocked to him, to gratify their ardor he tried another assault. It, however, also failed, and he then resumed the blockade. Meantime he ceased not to urge by letters the people of GauUo insurrection ; and disaffection in consequence prevailed extensively throughout that country. Hordeonius, unable to control the mutinous spirit of his troops, gave the command of the force which he sent to raise the sieo-e of the Old Camp to the legate Dillius Vocula. This officer^'advanced as far as Gelduba, and there enc-amped. Meantime, tidings of the battle of Cremona arrived ; and, on the receipt of lelters from Antonius Primus, with an edict of Caecina as consul, Hordeonius made his men take the oath to Vespasian. An envoy was then sent to Civilis, to inform him that he had now no further pretext for war, and to re- quire him to lay down his arms. He, however, refused, and he sent off the veteran cohorts with the Germans to attack the forces at Gelduba, while he himself remained to keep up the blockade of the Old Camp. These troops came so sud- denly on Vocula, that he had not time to draw out his men ; and, the cowardice or defection of some Nervi an cohorts aid- ing 'the enemy, they were on the very point of obtaining a complete victory, when some Gascon cohorts came suddenly up, and fell on their rear. The Batavians, taking them for the entire Roman army, lost courage, and, being now assailed in front and rear, were put to flight with loss. Vocula then marched to the relief of the Old Camp. Civilis gave him battle in front of it ; but a sally of the besieged, and a fall of Civilis himself from his horse, and a report that he was slain or wounded, damped the spirit of his men, and Vocula forced A. D. 70.] INSURRECTION OF CIVILIS. 149 his way into the camp, which he secured with additional works. A convoy, which he sent to fetch corn from Nova- sium, being attacked on its return by Civilis, and forced to take refuge in the camp at Gelduba, he drew a good part of the troops out of the Old Camp, and went with them to their relief. Civilis then renewed the siege of the Old Camp ; and when Vocula went on to Novasium, the Batavian general captured Gelduba, and then came off victorious in a cavalry action near Novasium. Mutiny now prevaded to a great ex- tent in the Roman army. Hordeonius was murdered by his own men, and Vocula had to make liis escape disguised as a slave. The success of Civilis^ and the intelligence of the taking of Rome, and the death of Vitellius, excited the Gauls to think of asserting their Independence. Classicus, the com- mander of the Trevirian cavalry, opened a correspondence with Civilis. Julius Tutor, tli^ prefect of the bank of the Rhine, and Julius Sabinus, a leading man among the Lingo- nians, joined with Classicus, and measures were taken to insure the cooperation of tlieir countrymen. Vocula had information of their plans; but he felt himself too weak to oppose them, and he affected to give credit to their protesta- tions of fidelity. When, however, he marched to the relief of the OJd Camp, Classicus and Tutor, having arranged mat- ters with Civilis, formed their camp apart from that of the legions. Vocula, having vainly essayed to reduce them to obedience, led, as we have seen, his army back to Novasium. The Gauls eucamped two miles off, and (strange and novel event!) Classicus and Tutor succeeded in inducing the Ro- man soldiers to declare against their own country, and aban- don their general. VocuJa was murdered by a deserter from the first legion ; his legates were confined : Classicus entered the camp with imperial ensigns^ and the soldiers took the oath to the empire of the Gauls. The troops in the Old Camp, worn out with famine, now surrendered ; all the win- ter quarters beyond the Rhine, except those at Mentz and Windisch, (Vindonissa,) were burnt; Cologne and other towns submitted to the conquerors; the Gallic nations, how- ever, with the exception of the Trevirians and Lingonians, and a few others, remained faithful to Rome. Sabinus, causing himself to be proclaimed Ceesar, invaded the terri- tory of the Sequanians; but his disorderly levies were totally routed; and he himself, flying to one of his couiitry-secUs, 13* vi 150 VESPASIAN. [a. D. 7(X burned it over his bead, that it might be believed that he had perished, while he reserved himself far better times.* Such was the state of affairs when Cerialis came from Rome to conduct the German war. He fixed his head-quar- ters at Mentz, and the success of his first operations checked the progress of the rebellion. He thence advanced to Treves, where Civilis and Classicus, having in vain solicited him to a-ssume the empire of the Gauls, resolved to give him battle. Earlf in the morning, a sudden attack was made on the Ro- man camp by a combined army of Gauls, Germans, and Ba- tavians. Cerialis, who had lain out of the camp, hastened to it, unarmed as he was, and found his men giving way on all sides. By great personal exertions he restored the battle, and the enemy was at length forced to retire. Civilis then, having received fresh troops from Germany, took his position at the'Oid Camp. Cerialis, who had also been reenibrced by two legions, followed him thither. Civilis gave him battle ; the contest was long doubtful ; at length, the treachery of ;i Batavian, who deserted, and conducted a body of Roman horse into the rear of Civilis's army, decided the fortune of the day. Civilis then retired with Classicus, Tutor, and some of the principal men of the Trevirians, into the Bata- vian island, whither Cerialis, for want of shipping, could not pursue them ; and issuing tlience again, they attacked the Romans in various places, who, in turn, passed over to the island and ravaged it. The approach of winter, during which tl>e toil of carrying on a war amidst bogs and marshes would be intolerable, disposed Cerialis to seek an accommo- dation, to which Civilis, wlw saw that his countrymen were weary of war, was equally well inclined. The two leaders had an interview to arrange the terms. Civilis received a pardon; the confederates were released from all demands of tribute, and only required to supply troops as heretofore. While such was the state of affairs in the west, Titus had txrought the Jewish war to a fortunate conclusion. The Jews, as we have seen, had been for some years under the government of a Roman president. Those selected for that'office, such as Felix and Festus, had been usually tyran- * His place of refuge \vvls a subt(^rraneo«s cavern, wh-^re he remained concealed for nine ye'ars. His wife (who bore him two children in the cavern) and two of his freedmen alone knew of his retreat. He was at length discorered, and led to Rome, where Vespasian, with a harsh- ness unusual to him, caused both him and his wife to be executed. Dion, Ixvi. 16. Plut. Amat. p. 1372. A.D. 63-64.] JEWISH WAR. 151 nic and avaricious men ; and they oppressed the people be- yond measure. On the other hand, the Jews, in reliance on the words of their prophets, looked every day for the appear- ance of their conquering Messiah, who was not merely to deliver them from bondage, but to make them lords and rulers over all nations. They also believed that they were forbidden by their law to submit to the rule of a stranger. From all these causes, insurrections were frequent in Judaia, and they were punished with great severity in the usual Roman manner. Bands of robbers swarmed in the country, among whom were particularly remarkable those called Sica- rians, from the dagger (sica) which they carried concealed in their garments, and with which they used secretly to stab their enemies even in the open day, in the streets, and chiefly at the time of the great festivals. In some points they seem to have resembled the Assassins of a far later period. False prophets were also continually appearing and leading the people into destruction. In the eleventh year of Nero, (6*^,) Gessius Florus was appointed procurator of Judaea. The tyranny which he exercised passed all endurance, and in the second year of his government (04) the whole Jewish nation took up arms aorainst the dominion of Rome. The Roman (jarrison of Je- rusalem was massacred ; on the other hand, great numbers of Jews were slauorhtered at Ca^sarea and Alexandria, and they, in their turn, destroyed Samaria, Askalon, and several other towns. Cestius Gallus, the governor of Syria, seeing that matters had assumed so serious a form, entered the country at the head of a large army, and advanced as far as Jerusalem : but, being foiled in the first attempts which he made on that city, instead of persevering, when, according to the most competent authority, he could have taken the city and prevented all the future calamities, he drew off his army and retired with disorrace. The Jews forthwith beoran to prepare for the war, which they now saw to be inevitable. They appointed military governors for all the provinces, among whom was Josephus, the historian of the war, to whom was given the province of Galilee. When Nero was informed by Cestius of the state of affairs in Judaea, he saw the necessity of committing the conduct of the war to a man of military talent and experience. The person on whom he fixed was Vespasian, who had already distinguished himself both in Germany and Britain. Ves- pasian set forth without delay, proceeding overland to Syria, m ■ti-i 152 VESPASIAN. [a. d. 65-70. while lie sent his son Titus to Egypt, to lead to him two legions from that province. At Antioch he received from Musianus, then president of Syria, one legion ; and, when joined by his son, he found himself at the head of an army of about 60,000 men, including the auxiliary troops of the different Asiatic princes and states. The Roman army rendezvoused at Ptolemai's, (Acre,) whence it advanced into Galilee, (65.) The city of Gadara was taken at the first assault ; and Vespasian then laid siege to Jotopata, the strongest place in the province, and of which Josephus himself conducted the defence. The Jews, favored by the natural strength of the place, made a most gallant resistance ; but, on the forty-seventh day of the siege, a traitor revealed to Vespasian the secret of the actual weakness of the garrison, and showed how the town might be surprised. The city accordincrlv fell, and an indiscriminate massacre was made of all the male inhabitants. Josephus became a prisoner to the Roman general, by whom he was treated with much consideration ; and he thus had the excellent opportunity, of which he avaded himself, for relating the events of the war. Few other places in Galilee offered resistance; the towns on the coast were all in the hands of the Romans; Vespasian had advanced southwards and placed garrisons in Jericho and other towns round Jerusalem, and he was preparing to lay siege to. that city, when he received intelligence of the death of Nero, (OS.) He then put aside all thoughts of the siege for the present, waiting to see what course events would take in Italv, and retired to Caesarea for the winter. In the spring, (69,) he had resumed operations against the Jews, when news came of the battle of Bedriacum, and the elevation of Vitellius to the empire. We have already re- lated what thence resulted, and the consequent suspension of the Jewish war. Vespasian was at Alexandria when he heard of the death of Vitellius, and of himself being declared emperor by the senate. He resolved now to prosecute the Jewish war, and, Titus having left Egypt and proceeded to Caisarea early in the spring, (70,) and being there joined by the remainder of the army destined for the siege of Jerusalem, advanced against the devoted city, at the head of an army composed of four legions, with their due number of cohorts and auxil- iaries. As the festival of the Passover occurred about thi? time, the city was thronged with an immense number oi A. D. 70.] JEWISH WAR. 153 people from all parts of Judaea, and the Jewish nation was thus, as it were, enveloped in the net of destruction. Of no siege, in ancient times, have the events been trans- mitted with the same decree of minuteness as that of Jeru- salem ; for Josephus, the historian of them, was a Jew of noble birth, and he was present in the Roman camp, and on a footing of friendship with Titus. Versed in both the Greek and Hebrew languages, and acquainted, personally, with the principal persons on both sides, he had the oppor- tunity of learning the exact truth of every event ; and his ve- racity has never been called in question. As the destruction of Jerusalem was accurately foretold by the divine Author of our religion, the narrative of the siege possesses additional importance in the eyes of all Christians. The proper place, however, for the detailed narration of it is the History of the Jews ; in the limits to which the present work is neces- sarily restricted, we feel it impossible to give such an ac- count as would content the reasonable curiosity of the reader, and shall therefore only aim at a general view of this ruin of the Jewish nation. The great body of the people of Jerusalem were anxious to submit to the Romans ; and Titus, on his part, would most willintrly have granted them favorable terms. But all the robbers and Sicarians had repaired to the city, and, under the name of Zealots, they seized on the whole power. They were divided into three hostile parties, having but one prin- ciple in common, namely, to oppose the Romans, and to oppress and murder the unhappy people. In their madness, they early destroyed the greater part of the magazines of corn, and famine soon began to spread its ravages. The sufferings of the people were beyond description ; if they remained in the ^ity, they perished of hunger ; if they were caught attempting to escape from it, they were barbarously murdered by the Zealots; if they succeeded in making their escape, they were murdered by the Syrians and Arabians in the Roman army, for the gold, which it was discovered they used to swallow. The siege lasted for nearly seven months. The Romans had to carry each of the three walls, and all the quarters of the city, successively. Titus was anxious to save the mag- nificent temple of the God of Israel ; but one of the Roman soldiers set fire to it, and the stately edifice became a prey to the flames. The Upper City, as it was named, was still defended, but the Romans finally carried it ; and the whole 1J 154 VESPASIAN. [a.d. 70. city, with the exception of three of the towers, left to show its former strength, was demolished. Josephus computes the number of those who perished in the siege and capture of the city at 1,100,000, and those who were made prisoners during the war, at 97,000 persons. Of these, those under seventeen years of age were sold for slaves ; of the rest, some were sent to the provinces to fight with each other, or with wild beasts, for the amusement of the people in the theatres ; the greater part were condemned to work in the quarries of Egypt. On the occasion of the conquest of Jerusalem, Titus was saluted emperor by his army ; and, when he was about to depart from the province, they insisted that he should either remain or take them w^ith him. This, combined with the circumstance of his wearing a diadem, (though according to the established usage,) some time after, wiien consecra- ting the holy calf Apis at ^Memphis in Egypt, gave occasion to a suspicion that he meditated to revolt from his father and establish a kingdom for himself in the East. He there- fore lost no time in repairing to Italy, whither Vespasian had proceeded long before. When he arrived unexpected- ly at Rome, he addressed his father in these words: "I am come, father, I am come," to show the absurdity of the re- ports respecting him. Vespasian, however, knew his noble son too well to have had any suspicion of him. He cele- brated with him a joint triumph for the conquest of Judaea; he made him his colleague in the censorship, the tribunate, and seven consulates, and gave him the command of the praitorian cohorts. He transferred to him most of the busi- ness of the state, authorizing him to write letters and issue edicts in his name. He, in effect, made him his colleague m the empire ; and he never had occasion,, for one moment, to regret liis confidence. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the present ruler of the Roman world, was somewhat past his sixtieth year when called to the empire. He was born near Reate, in the Sabine country, of a family which was merely respectable. He commenced his public life as a tribune in the army in Thrace; he rose to the rank of praetor, and he served as a legate in Germany and Britain, in which last country he distinguished himself greatly as a general, and was honored with the triumphal ensigns; and he afterwards obtained the government of Afri- ca. Finally, as we have seen, he was selected for the con- duct of the Jewish war. In all the offices which he held, a.d. 70-79.] CHARACTER OF VESPASIAN. 155 Vespasian had behaved with justice, honor, and humanity ; and there was, perhaps, no man at the time better calculated for the important post of head of the Roman empire. The first cares of Vespasian were directed to the restora- tion of discipline in the army, and of order in the finances. He discharged a great part of the Viteilian soldiers, and he treated his own with strictness, not giving them even their just rewards for some time, to make them sensible of his authority. In consequence of the wasteful extravagance of Nero, and the late civil wars, the revenues of the state were in such a condition, that Vespasian declared, on his acces- sion, that no less a sum than 40,000,000,000 sesterces were absolutely requisite to carry on the government. He there- fore reestablished all the taxes that Galba had remitted, and imposed new ones; he increased, and in some cases doubled, the tributes of the provinces; he even engaged in various branches of traffic, buying low and selling high. He was accused of selling places and pardons, and of making proc- urators of those known to be most rapacious, that he might condemn them when they were grown rich, " using them," as it was said, " as sponges, wetting them when dry, and squeezing them out when wet." Granting, however, that Vespasian was rapacious of money, it was not to hoard it or to squander it on pleasures. He was liberal both to the public and to all orders of the people. He rebuilt the Capitol, and he collected copies of the brazen tablets (three thousand in number) of the sena- tus-consults and plebiscits, which had been melted in the con- flagration. He built a temple to Peace, one to the emperor Claudius, and an amphitheatre which had been designed by Augustus. He gave large sums to various cities which had suffered from fires or earthquakes. He settled annual pen- sions on those men of consular rank who were in narrow circumstances. He was liberal to poets, rhetoricians, and artists of all kinds. Early in his reign, Vespasian made a diligent examination of the senatorian and equestrian orders. He expelled the more unworthy members of both, and supplied their places with the most respectable of the Italians and the provincials. He seems in this to have been actuated by his military notions of the unity and identity which should pervade the empire; for the superiority of the Roman citizens was thus taken away, the path to all honors now lying equally open to the provincials. It was probably the same-principle that caused him to do- 156 VESPASIAN. [a. d. 70-79. prive Lycia; Cilicia, Thrace, Rhodes, Samos, and other places, of the independence which they had hitherto enjoyed, and reduce them to the form of provinces. Vespasian was never ashamed of the humbleness of his origin, and he laughed at those who attempted to deduce the Flavian family from one of the companions of Hercules. He retained no enmities; he procured a very high match for the daughter of Vitellius, and gave her a dowry and outfit. When warned to beware of Metius Pomposianus, who was said to have an imperial nativity, he made him consul. Even during the civil war, he omitted the practice of searching those who came to salute the emperor. The doors of the palace stood always open, and there was no guard at them. He constantly had the senators and other persons of respecta- bility to dine with him, and he dined with them in return. In his mode of living he was simple and temperate. Vespasian banished the philosophers and the astrologers from Rome. These last were extremely mischievous, med- dlincT in all affairs of state ; and they had been objects of suspicion ever since the time of Augustus. In his proceed- ings acrainst the philosophers, he was actuated by Mucianus, who represented to him that the Stoics were dangerous as republicans, and the Cynics as the enemies of decency and morality. The death of Helvidius Priscus, which is esteemed a stain on the memory of Vespasian, may be ascribed to his Stoicism and republicanism. When the emperor came to Rome, Helvidius addressed him as plain Vespasian ; in his edicts 'as prjetor, he treated him with neglect and disrespect; and in the senate behaved toward him with such insolence, that he quitted the house in tears. Helvidius was relegated, and finally put to death, we know not on what account ; but Vespasian is said to have sent to countermand the order when it was too late. Toward the end of his reign, a conspiracy was formed acrainst him by Ceecina and Marcellus, both of whom stood hTcrh in his friendship, and had received all the honors of ihl state. The plot being discovered, Cscina was seized as he was comina out from dining with the emperor, and put to death by the orders of Titus, lest he should raise a dis- turbance in the night, as he had gained over several of the soldiers. Marcellus, being condemned by the senate, cut his own throat with a razor. . Vespasian was but once married. His wife having died ]on(T before he came to the empire, he lived with Ca^nis, the a. d. 79.} death of VESPASIAN. 157 freed woman of Antonia, whom he treated as a wife, rather than a mistress. He allowed her to make traffic of the offices of the state, by which she amassed large sums of money; and the emperor was suspected of sharing in her gains. This able prince had nearly completed the tenth year of his reign, when he was attacked by a feverish complaint, in Campania. He returned to the city, and thence hastened to his native Sabine land, about Cutilia? and Reate, where he was in the habit of spending the summer, and tried the cold springs of the place, but without effect. He attended to public business to the last : when he felt the approach of death, "An emperor," said he, "should die standing;" and being supported in that posture, he met his fate, in the seventieth year of his age. T. Flavins Sahinus Vespasiamts 11. A. u. 832—834. A. D. 79— 81 . Titus Flavins Vespasianus was born in the year of the death of the emperor Caius. He was brought up at the court of Claudius, as the companion of the young Britanni- cus. When he grew up, he served as a tribune in Germany and Britain, and he afterwards held a high command in the army of Judaea. In person, Titus was rather short, with a projecting stomach. He was eminently skilled in all martial exercises; he had a remarkable memory; could make verses extempore, in either Greek or Latin; and was well skilled in music. He could imitate any hand-writing ; and, as he said himself, wanted only the will, to be the most expert of fororers. Many people feared that Titus might prove a second Nero. He was accused of having put various persons to death in the late reign, and of having taken money from others for his interest with his father. His revels, prolonged till mid- night, gave occasion to suspicions of luxury ; and the crowds of eunuchs, and such like persons about him, excited suspi- cions of a darker hue. People also feared that he would espouse (contrary to Roman usage) the Jewish queen Bere- nice, who had followed him to Rome, and lived with him in the palace, acting as if she were already empress. CONTIN. 14 158 TITUS. [a. d. 80-81. All these fears were, however, agreeably disappointed ; and Titus, when emperor, acted in such a manner as to be justly named the Love and Delight of Mankind. He sent away the fair Jewish queen, though it cost him a severe struggle.* He reduced his train of eunuchs; he retrenched the luxury of his table ; he selected his friends from among the best men of the time. In liberality no one surpassed him ; while preceding princes used to regard the gifts of their predeces- sors as invalid, unless they were given over again by them- selves, Titus, unsolicited, confirmed by one edict all the pre- ceding grants. He could not bear to refuse any one ; and whenlhose about him observed that he promised more than he could perform, he replied, /' No one ought to retire dis- satisfied from the presence of the prince." At dinner, one time, recollecting that he had done nothing for any one that day, he cried, '' Friends, I have lost a day." When he took the office of chief pontiff, he declared that he did it that he might keep his hands free from blood ; and during his reign not a single person was put to death. Though his brother was constantly conspiring against him, he could not be induced to treat him with rigor. When two patricians had been convicted of a conspiracy against him, he contented himself with exhorting them to desist, for that the empire was given by fate. He even despatched couriers to assure the mother of one of them of her son's safety ; and he invited them to dinner, and treated them with the utmost confidence. He constantly said that he would rather die than cause the death of any one.t Titus would never allow any prosecutions on the charge of treason. " /," said he, " cannot be injured or insulted, for I do nothing deserving of reproach, and I care not for those who speak'^falsely ; and as for the departed emperors, if they are in reality demigods, and have power, they will avenge themselves on those who injure them." He was very severe against the informers ; he caused them to be beaten with rods and cudgels, led through the amphitheatre, and then to be sold for slaves, or confined in the most rugged islands. The reign of this excellent prince was marked by a series of public calamities. He had reigned only two months when a tremendous volcanic eruption, the first on record. * " Berenicen statim ab urbe dimisit invitus invitam t " Peritarum se potius quam perditurum." Sueton. A. D. 80-81.] ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS. 159 from Mount Vesuvius, spread dismay through Italy. This mountain had hitherto formed the most beautiful feature in the landscape of Campania, being chid with vines and other agreeable trees and plants. Earthquakes had of late years been of frequent occurrence ; but on the 24th of August the summit of the mountain sent forth a volume of flame, stones, and ashes, which spread devastation far nnd wide. The sky, to the extent of many leagues, was enveloped in the gloom of night ; the fine dust, it was asserted, was wafted even to Egypt and Syria; and at Rome it rendered the sun invisible for many days. Men and beasts, birds and fishes, perished alike. The adjoining towns of Pompeii and Hercul.meum were overwhelmed by the earthquake which attended the irriq)- tion, and their inhabitants destroyed. Among those who lost their lives on this occasion, was Pliny, the great naturalist. He commanded the fleet at Misenum, and, his curiosity lead- ing him to proceed to Stabiae to view this convulsion of nature more closely, he was suffocated by the pestilential air. Titus did ail in his power to alleviate this great calamity. But while, on account of it, he was absent in Campania, (80,) a fire broke out at Rome, which raged for three days and nights, and destroyed the Septa, the baths of Agrippa, the Pantheon, the rebuilt Capitol, and a number of the other public buildings. This was succeeded by a pestilence, probably the consequence of the eruption of Vesuvius, which swept away numbers of people. The emperor undertook to restore the city at his own expense, refusing all the presents that were offered him for that purpose. He built a splendid amphitheatre in the middle of the city, and the baths which bear his name. At the dedication of these works, he gave magnificent games to the people. In the September of the following year, (81,) the reign and life of this excellent prince came to their close. At the termi- nation of one of the public spectacles, he was observed to burst into tears in presence of the people. Some ill omens dis- turbed him, and he set out for the Sabine country. On the first stage, he was attacked by a fever; and, as he was pro- ceeding in his litter, it is said that he looked at the sky and lamented that life should be taken from him undeservedly, as there was but one act he ever did to be repented of* He died at the country-house in which his father had so lately expired. Domitian was suspected, though apparently * What that act was no one knew ; and none of the conjectures are very probable. Ill 1? t^' 160 DOMITIAN. [a. I 81. Without reason, of having caused his death. Titus was only in his forty-first year, and had reigned little more than two years; fortunate perhaps in this, for, as Dion, observes, had he lived longer, his fame might not have been so pure. T. Flavins Sabimts Domitianus. A. u. 834^849. A. D. 81—96. Titus Flavins Sabinus Domitianus was the younger son of Vespasian. He was born in the year 51 ; his youth was not reputable ; and when, after the death of Vitellius, he exercised the supreme power at Rome, he gave free course to his evil propensities. Among other acts, he took Domitia Calvina, the daughter of the celebrated Corbulo, from her husband, iElius Lamia, and made her his own wife. After the return of his father to Rome, he passed his time mostly in seclusion at his residence at the Alban mount, devoting himself to poetry, in which he made no mean progress. When his father died, he had some thoughts of offering a double donative to the soldiers, and claiming the empire ; and, as long as his brother lived, he was conspiring openly or secretly against him. Ere Titus had breathed his last, Domitian caused every one to abandon him, and, mounting his horse, rode to the prsetorian camp, and caused himself to be saluted emperor by the soldiers. Like most bad emperors, Domitian commenced his reign with popular actions; and a portion of his good qualities adhered to him for some time. Such were his liberality (for no man was freer from avarice) and the strictness with which he looked after the administration of justice, both at Rome and in the provinces. His passion for building was extreme ; not content with restoring the Capitol, the Pantheon, and other edifices injured or destroyed by the late conflagration, he built or repaired several others ; and on all, old and new alike, he inscribed his own name, without noticing the original founder. Domitian was of a moody, melancholy temper, and he loved to indulge in solitude. His chief occupation, when thus alone, we are told, was to catch flies, and pierce them with a sharp writing-style ; hence Vibius Crispus, being asked one day if there was any one within with CcEsar, replied, '* No. not so much as a fly." Among the better actions of the A. D. 83-85.] GERMAN WAR. 161 early years of this prince, may be noticed the following • He strictly forbade the abominable practice of making eunuchs, for which lie deserves praise ; though it was said that his motive was not so much a love of justice as a desire to depreciate the memory of his brother, who had a partiality tor these wretched beings. Domitian also at this time pun- ished three Vestals who had broken their vows of chastity • but, instead of burying them alive, he allowed them to choose their mode of death. In the hope of acquiring military glory, he undertook (83) an expedition to Germany, under the pretence of chastising the Chattans. But he merely crossed the Rhine, pillaged the friendly tribes beyond it, and then, without having even seen the face of an enemy, returned to Rome, and celebrated the triumph which the senate had decreed him, dragging as captives slaves that he had purchased and disguised as Ger- mans. While, however, he was thus triumphing for imagi- nary conquests, real -ones had been achieved in Britain by Cn. Julius Agricola, to whom Vespasian had committed the aff*airs of that island, (80.) He had conquered the country as far as the firths of Clyde and Forth, and (85) defeated the Caledonians in a great battle at the foot of the Grampians. Domitian, though inwardly grieved, affected great joy at the success of Agricola; he caused triumphal honors, a statue, and so forth, lo be decreed him by the senate, and gave out that he intended appointing him to the government of Syria; but, when Agricola returned to RonTe, he received him with coldness, and never employed him again.* The country on the left bank of the lower Danube, the modern Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia, was at mis time inhabited by a portion of the Sarmatian or Slavonian race named the Dacians, and remarkable for their valor. The extension of the Roman frontier to the Danube, in the time of Augustus, had caused occasional collisions with this martial race;t but no war of any magnitude occurred till the present reign. The prince of the Dacians at this time, named Decebalus, was one of those energetic char- acters often to be found among barbarous tribes, to whom nature has given all the elements of greatness, but fortune has assigned a narrow and inglorious stage for their exhibi- * See the Life of Agricola, by his son-in-law, Tacitus. t " Occidit Daci Cotisonis agmen." Hor. Carm. iii, 8. 18. M. Antonius asserted that Augustus had promised his daughter Juha in marriage to Cotison. Seut. Oct. 63. 14* n m P 162 DOMITIAN. [a. d. 86-88. T. «.as orobablv the desire of military glory and of t,on It »as proDaDiy ^^ Dom.tian, the P'lvt^setslie ' ha riade Decebalus at this time (86) ::?at "ough the tr;at,es subsistu,g wUh the Romans, and leld h"s nLtial hordes over the Danube. The troops that onpo ed them were routed and cut to p.eces ; the garr.son Td cies were taken, -^^'^P^'^^f ThTd'nrer" en roMhe -nter quartos ote le|.o"s^ The da.^J .eeme^ '" 'rrof ihe w i btT g comm.tted to Agr.coia; and the Tp n?l re LZsome ffom good, others from ev.l n.ot.ves uZd their master to compliance. But h.s jealousy of that Etous man was invincible; and he resolved to superm- " Do,mt-:"prorerd to Tllyria, where he was met by Da- cian de uties'w.th proposals of peace, »" cond,tK>n of a cap - tation tax of two oboles a head bemg paid to Decebalus. The emimor forthwith ordered Cornelius Fuscus, the gov- Jrnor ofTl Wria, to lead h.s army over the Danube, and cha^ tiTthe insolent barbarians. Fuscus passed the river by a bid^eo "boats ; he gained some advantages over the ene.n^ but his army was finally defeated and "."self s ain.| Dom. tian who had returned to Rome, hastened back to the seat of wa but, instead of heading his troops, he stopped in a mwn of McEsia, where he gave himself up to his usual pleas- ure" kavi^the conduct "of the war to his generals, who, though they'met with some reverses, were in general success- ful and Decebalus was reduced to the necessity of suing £ 'peace Domitian refused to grant it; but, shortly after Wrnrsustained a defeat from the Marcomans, whom he Sshed to punish for not having assisted ^.m agams he narlans he sent to offer peace to Decebalus. 1 he Uacian was no ' in a condition to refuse it, but he would seem to ha"e dictated the terms: and in effect an -"-1 ^f '^V^Y- henceforth paid to him by the Roman e«'P«;°;,f^^^^°'^ tian however, triumphed for the Dacians and Marcomans thou.h he paid tribute to the former, and had been defeated '• iinrth! Dacian war, (88,) L. Antonius, who com- • Jornandes De Reb. Goth. 13. t Tac. Agric 41 t Juvenal, Sat. iv. Ill, 112. . § D'o", Ixvii. 7 , ^^J''^''^. II ThprP is .Treat confusion respecting the duration of the IJacian wi Eusebius mak'it end inLyearOO and places thetrmrnph Tf Domitian in the foUowmg year. See TiUemont, H.st. des Enipe- reurs. A. D. 88-94,] VICES OF DOMITIAN. ]63 manded in Upper Germany, having been grossly insulted by the emperor, formed an alliance with the Alemans, and caused himself to be proclaimed emperor. But L. Maximus marched against him, and, the Alemans having been pre- vented from coming to his aid by the rising of the Rhine, he was defeated and slain. Maximus wisely and humanely burned all his papers; but that did not prevent the tyrant from putting many persons to death, as concerned in the revolt. A. war against the Sarmatians, who had cut to pieces a Roman legion, is placed by the chronologists in the year 94. Domitian conducted it in person, after his usual manner; but, instead of triumphing, he contented himself with suspend- ing a laurel crown in the Capitol. This is the last foreign transaction of his reign. After the first three or four years of his reicrn, the evil qualities of Domitian displayed themselves more and more every day. By nature a coward, his fears, increased by his belief in the follies of astrology, rendered him cruel, and the want brought on by his extravagance made him rapa- cious. Informers flourished anew, as in the days of Nero; and the blind Catullus,* Messalinus, Metius Cams, and Be- bius Massa, and others of the like stamp, preycd'continually on the lives and fortunes of all men of rank and worth. Among the victims of the incipient cruelty of Domitian were the following: Metius Pomposianus, on account of his horo- scope, and because he had in his chamber a map of the world, and carried about him speeches of kings and generals out ofLivy, and called his slaves Mago and Hannibal; Sal- vius Coccianus, for celebrating the birthday of his uncle Otho; Sallustius Lucullus, for having given his name to a new kind of lance; the sophist Maternus, for a declamation against tyrants ; iElius Lamia, (whose wife he had taken from him,) for some jokes in the time of Titus. The tyranny of Domitian at length passed all bounds. Tacitus describes the senate-house invested by soldiery consulars slaughtered; women of the highest rank banished the isles filled with exiles, the racks dyed with their blood slaves and freedmen corrupted to give false evidence against their masters; nobility, wealth, honors, above all, virtue, the sure causes of ruin; rewards lavished on informers and ac- cusers; all the vices and all the virtues called into action. f At this time, Helvidius, the son of Helvidius Priscus, was * Juvenal, Sat. iv. 113, seq * Agric. 45. Hist. i. 2, 3, 164 DOMITIAN. [a. d. 84-96. put to death for having made an interlude on the emperor's divorce, of which the characters were Paris and CEnone; and Herennius Senecio; for having written the life of Hel- vidius Priscus. A panegyric on Thrasea and Helvidius was also fatal to its author, Junius Rusticus, a Stoic ; and Her- mogenes of Tarsus, from some supposed allusions in his his- tory, was put to death, and the booksellers that sold it were crucified. After the condemnation of Rusticus, all the phi- losophers were banished from Italy. Like Nero, whom he resembled in some points, Doinitian was capricious in his cruelty. When, at the shows which followed his triumph, a tempest of rain came on, he would not allow any one to quit the place and seek shelter. He himself also remained ; but he had several cloaks, and changed them as they became wet. Many of the spectators died in consequence of colds and fevers. To console them, he in- vited them to a public supper, which lasted all through the night. He gave the senate and knights also a curious supper at the same time. The room in which he received them was made perfectly black; the seats were black; by each stood a monumental pillar with the name of the guest on it, and a sepulchral lamp; naked slaves, blackened to resemble spectres, catne in and danced a horrid measure around them, and then each seated himself at the feet of a guest ; the funeral meats were then brought in black vessels. All sat quaking in silence ; Domitian alone spoke, and his discourse was of'' death. At length he dismissed them; but at the porch, instead of their own attendants, they found strange ones, with chairs and sedans to convey them to their houses. When they were at home, and began to respire freely, word came to each that one was come from the emperor; terror returned, but it was agreeably dispelled by finding that the pillar, which was silver, the supper utensils, of valuable mate- rials, and the slave who had played the ghost, were arrived as presents from the palace. Domitian exhibited, about this time, a specimen of politi- cal economy by no means despicable, were not the evil which he proposed to amend already beyond remedy. Wine prov- ing very plentiful and corn ve^y scarce in Italy, he issued an edict (92) forbidding any new vineyards to be planted in Italy, and ordering one^half of those in the provinces to be cut down. This edict, it may readily be supposed, was but partially carried into effect. The year of Domitian's triumph was also distinguished by A. D. 84-96.] VICES OF DOMITIAN. 165 the death of Cornelia, the eldest of the Vestals, accused of breach of chastity. She was buried alive, in the ancient manner, and underwent her cruel fate with the greatest con- stancy and dignity. She does not appear to have had a fair trial, and many strongly doubted of her guilt.* The emperor, so rigorous in punishing breach of chastity in others, was, as usual, indulgent to himself on this head. His brother Titus had wished him to put away Domitia, and marry his daughter Julia: he refused; yet, when Julia was married to another, he seduced her; and when her father and husband were dead, he cohabited openly with her, and is said to have caused her death, by giving her drugs to pro- cure abortion. f As for Domitia, he divorced her on account of an intrigue with Paris the actor, whom he put to death; but he took her back soon after, pretending a willingness to gratify the desire of the people. Domitian met with the usual fate of tyrants; he perished by a conspiracy. It is said J that he kept under his pillow a list of those whom he intended to put to death, and that one day, as he was sleeping, a favorite little boy, who was in the room, carried it away. Domitia, meeting the child, took it from him, and, to her surprise, found her own 'name in it, along with those of Norbanus and Petronius, the prefects of the pra?torians, Parthenius, the chamberlain, and some others. She immediately informed those concerned, and they re- solved to anticipate the tyrant. * Domitian had lately put to death his cousin Clemens, one of whose freedmen, named Stephanus, who acted as steward to his wife Domitilla, being accused of malversation in his office, engaged in the conspiracy, and, being a strong man, undertook the task of killing the tyrant. It was arranged that the attack should be made on him in his chamber; and Parthenius removed the sword which was usually under his pillow. Stephanus, for some days previously, had his arm bandaored, as if hurt, in order to be able to conceal a daorcrer : and on the 18th of September, (96,) when Domitian, after sitting in judgment, retired to his chamber to repose, before going into the bath, Parthenius presented Stephanus to him as one who could inform him of a conspiracy. While he vvas reading the paper handed to him, Stephanus struck him in * Plin. Ep. iv. 1!- t Suet. Doin. 22. Juvenal, Sat. ii. 32- t Dion (Ixrii.) says that he had heard it. Suetonius does not seem to have known it. We shall find the same told of Commodus. The circumstance is by no means improbable. I i 166 LITERATURE. [a. D. 96. the belly. He called out to a slave to reach him the sword that was under his pillow, but it was gone; others of the conspirators then rushed in, and the tyrant was despatched with seven wounds. He was in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the fifteenth of his reign. The reigns of tlie Flavian family, and of their immediate successors, may be regarded as the last period of Roman literature. It exhibits the decline of taste, though not of genius, as compared with the Augustan age. In its loftiest as m its meanest performances, we discern the influence of a corrupt and degenerate generation ; the noble and virtuous writer describes the ruling vice with horror, while the mer- cenary flatterer portrays it for i\\e gratification of hispatrons. Among the poets, the first place is due to P. Statins Papi- nius, who wrote a poem in twelve books on the mythic wars of Thebes, and commenced another on the life and actions of Achilles. We also possess five books of Silva3, or occa- sional poems by this writer, which are generally (not, how- ever, we should think, as poems) considered to be of more value than his Thebais. C. Valerius Flaccus also selected a mythologic subject. His Argonautics is imperfect; but it exhibits poetic spirit and more originality than might have been expected. C. Silius Italicus, following the example of Ennios and Liican in writing epic history, composed a poem, in eighteen books, on the second Punic war. But nature had refused him inspiration; and polished verse, close imitation of Virgil, and rhetorical expression, occupy the place of poetry in his tedious work. The field of satire, over which Horace had passed with such light-footed gayety, and which Persius had trodden in the dignity of virtue, was now occu- pied by D. Junius Juvenalis, a writer of an ardent rhetorical spirit, who lashes vice with terrific energy, and displays it in the most appalling colors, his pictures being perhaps too true to nature; but his veneration for virtue is sincere, and in- dignation at beholding it oppressed and vice triumphant is his muse. M. Valerius Martialis, a Spaniard by birth, has left fourteen books of terse and pointed epigrams, in which, however, little of the poetic spirit is to be discerned. It was also at this time what C. Cornelius Tacitus wrote his Annals and Histories, which place him on a line with Thucydides for deep insight into human nature and its A. D. 96.] NERVA. 167 springs of action. C. Suetonius Tranquillus was a diligent collector of anecdotes ; his work contains no oricrinal thouom the roofs of the houses; and the peop.e, beincr jomed by the urban cohorts, rallied, and drove them back to the palace, where Connnodus still lay in total ignorance of all that had occurred ; for fear of Oleander had kept all silent. But now Marcia, or, as others said, the emperor's sister Isadilla,* seeing the danger so imminent, rushed into his presence, and informed him of the truth. Without a moment's hesitation, he ordered Oleander and his son to be put to death. The people placed the head of Oleander on a pole, and dragged his body through the streets; and, whe i they had massacred some of his creatures, the tumult ceased 1 he cruelty of Oommodus displayed itself more and more every day, and several men of rank became its victims At the same time, his lust was unbounded; three hundred beautiful women, cyid as many boys, of all ages and coun- tries, hlled his seraglio, and he abstained from no kind of intamy. He delighted also to exhibit proofs of his skill as a marksman, and he assumed the title and attributes of the hero Hercules. For some time, like Nero, he confined his displays to the interior of his residences; but, at length, the senate and people were permitted to witness his skill in the amphitheatre. A gallery ran round it for the safety and convenience of the emperor, from which he discharged his darts and arrows, with unerring aim, at the larger and fiercer animals while he ventured into the arena to destroy the deer and other timid creatures. A hundred lions were at once let loose, and each fell by a single wound; an irritated panther had just seized a man —a dart was fluno- by the em- peror, and the beast fell dead, while the man remained un- injured. With crescent-headed arrows he cut off the heads ot ostriches, as they ran at full speed. But his greatest delight was to combat as a gladiator. He appeared in the character of a Secutor : he caused to be re- corded /3.3 victories which he had gained, and he received each time an imnriense stipend out of the gladiatorial fund. Instead of Hercules, he now styled himself Paulus, after a celebrated Secutor, and caused it to be inscribed on his statues. He also took up his abode in the residence of the^ gladiators. At length, the tyrant met the fate he merited. It was his design to put to death the two consuls elect for the year 193, thi ^T ''^' ^^^^'"'"^ "'''''^'^" ^^^^""- Tillemont and Gibbon unite CONTIN, 17 V . r I 194 PERTINAX. [a.d. 193. and, on new year's day, to proceed from the gladiators' school in his oladiatorial habit, and enter on the consulate. On the preceding day, he comrnun.ca.ed his ^es.gn to Marc.a, who tried in vain to dissuade luni from it. a A- lus Lstus, he prLiorian prefect, and the cha.nberlam. Eclectus, also e^dwUh iL, but to as little purpose. He test .fied rrjuch wrath, and uttered some menaces. Knowing tha the threat^ of the tyrant were the sure precursors of death, they saw their only hopes of safety lay in anticipation; they took their resolution on the moment ; • and when Commodus came from the bath Marcia, as was her usual practice, handed him a bowl, (in which she had now infused a strong poison,) to "Td'^!k't'h? liquor off, and then laid himself down to sleep The attendants were all sent away. The conspira- ors were expecting the effect of the poison, wlien the empe- or be'an to vomit' profusely. Fearing now that the poison would'not take effect, they brought in a vigorous wrestler named Narcissus; and, induced by the promise of a large reward, he laid hold on and strangled the emperor. P. Helvius Pertinax. A. V. 946. A. D. 193. The conspirators had, it is probable, already fixed on the peLn'IvhoLould succeed to the emp re ; and their ch-^^ was om^ calculated to do them credit. It was f. "e'""^ Pe tina. the prefect of the city, a man now advanced n vea who had with an unblemished character though born n a, 'humble rank, passed through all the evil and mill ary crradations of the state. Pertinax was the son of a freed- man who was engaged in the manufacture of charcoal, at Za Pompeia in the Apennines. He commenced life as a manof leCr^; but, find'ing the literary P-fe-.on unprofit- able, he entered the army as a centunon, and his career of ^'it wLTt mght when L.tus and Eclectus proceeded with . . Herod.an tells us of a list of those "^-J-;!*" ^D^^f^'jfirn '^But taken by a ch.ld, and read by Marc.a, as m '^^^ZfJleZlZ^nA^r. stance, if it were true. A, D. 193.] PERTINAX, 195 some soldiers to the house of Pertinax. When informed of their arrival, he ordered them to be brought to his chamber, and then, without rising, told tliem that he liad long expected every night to be his last, and bade them execute their office; for he was certain that Commodus had sent them to put him to death. But they informed liim that the tyrant himself was no more, and that they were come to offer him the em- pire. He hesitated to give credit to them ; but, having sent one on whom he could depend, and ascertained that Com- modus was dead, he consented to accept the proffered dig- nity. Though it was not yet day, they all repaired to the praetorian camp ; and Laetus, having assembled the soldiers, told them that Commodus was suddenly dead of apoplexy, and that he had brought them his successor, a man whose merits were known to them all. Pertinax then addressed them, promising a large donative. By this time, the people (for Lgetus had caused the news of Commodus's death to be spread through the city) had gathered round the camp, and, urged by their shouts and importunity, the soldiers swore fidelity to the emperor, though they feared that he was a man who would renew the strictness of discipline. Before dawn, the senate was summoned to the temple of Concord, whither Pertinax had proceeded from the camp. He told them what had occurred, and, noticing his age and his humble extraction, pointed out divers senators as more worthy of the empire than himself. But they would not listen to his excuses, and they decreed him all the imperial titles. Then, giving a loose to their rage against the fallen tyrant, they termed him parricide, gladiator, the enemy of the gods and of his country, and decreed that his statues should be cast down, his titles be erased, and his body dracrored with the hook through the streets. But Pertinax respected too much the memory of Marcus to suffer the re- mains of his son to be thus treated ; and they were, by his order, placed in the tomb of Hadrian. * Pertinax was cheerfully acknowledged by all the armies. Like Vespasian, he was simple and modest in his dress and mode of life, and he lived on terms of intimacy with the respectable members of the senate. He resigned his private property to his wife and son, but would not suffer the senate to bestow on them any titles. He regulated the finances with the greatest care, remitting oppressive taxes, and can- celling unjust claims. He sold by auction all the late tyrant's instruments of luxury, and obli;red his favorites to t!3 H 196 PERTINAX. [a. D. 193 disgorge a portion of their plunder. He granted the waste lands in Italy and elsewhere for a term of years rent-free to those who would undertake to improve them. The reforming hand of the emperor was extended to all departments oflhe state; and men looked for a return of the age of the Antonines. But the soldiers dreaded the restoration of the ancient discipline; and L«tus, who found that he did not enjoy the power he had expected, secretly fomented their discontent. So early as the 3d of January, they had seized a senator named Triarius Maternus, intend- ing to make him emperor ; but he escaped from them, and fled to'Pertinax for protection. Some time after, while the em- peror was on the sea-coast attending to the supply of corn, they prepared to raise Sosius Falco, then consul, to the empire ; but Pertinax came suddenly to Rome, and, having complained of Falco to the senate, they were about to pro- claim him a public enemy, when the emperor cried that no senator should suffer death while he reigned ; and Falco was thus suffered to escape punishment. Some expressions which Pertinax used on this occasion irritated the soldiers ; and Lretus, to exasperate them still more, put several of them to death, as if by his orders. Ac- cordingly, on the 28th of March, a general mutiny broke out in the camp, and two or three hundred of the most desper- ate proceeded with drawn swords to the palace. No one opposed their entrance. Pertinax, when informed of their approach, advanced to meet them. He addressed them, reminding them of his own innocence and of the obligation of their oath. They were silent for a few moments; at length a Tungrian soldier struck him with his sword, crying, "The soldier's send thee this." They all then fell on him, and, cutting off his head, set it on a lance, and carried it to the 'camp. "^Eclectus, faithful to the last, perished with the emperor; Lsetus had fled in disguise at the approach of the mutineers. ^ The reign of the virtuous Pertinax had lasted only eighty-six days; he was in the sixty-seventh year of his acre. M. DicUus Sei^erus JuUanus. A. u. 946. A. D. 193. The mutineers, on their return to the camp, found there Sulpicianus, the prefect of the city, the late emperor's father- A. D. 193.] JULIANUS. 197 m-Iaw, who had been sent thither to try to appease the mu- tiny. The bloody proof which they bore of the empire's bemg vacant, excited, while it should have extinguished, his ambition, and he forthwith began to treat for the dangerous prize. Immediately some of the soldiers ran, and, ascending the ramparts, cried out aloud, that the empire was for sale and would be given to the highest bidder. The news reached the ears of Didius Julianus, a wealthy and luxurious senator, as he sat at table; and, urged by his wife and daughter, and his parasites, he rose and hastened to the camp. The mili- tary auctioneers stood on the wall, one bidder within, the other without. Sulpicianus had gone as high as 5000 denars a man, when his rival, at one bidding, rose to 6250. This spirited offer carried it ; the soldiers also had a secret dread that Sulpicianus, if emperor, might avenge the death of his son-in-law. The gates were thrown open, and Julian was admitted and saluted emperor; but the soldiers had the gen- erosity to stipulate for the safety of his rival. From the camp, Julian, escorted by the soldiers, proceed- ed to the senate-house. He was there received with affected joy, and the usual titles and honors were decreed him; but the people stood aloof and in silence, and those who were more distant uttered loud curses on him. When Julian came to the palace, the first object that met his eyes was the corpse of his predecessor; he ordered it to be buried, and then, it is said, sat down and passed the greater part of the night at a luxurious banquet, and playing at dice. In the morning, the senate repaired to him with their feigned com- pliments; but the people still were gloomy; and, when he went down to the senate-house, and was about to offer incense to the Janus before the doors, they cried out that he was a parricide, and had stolen the empire. Fie promised them money, but they would have none of it; and at length he or- dered the soldiers to fall on them, and several were killed and wourfded. Still they ceased not to revile him and the sol- diers, and to call on the other armies, especially that of Pescennius Niger, to come to their aid. The principal armies were that of Syria, commanded by Niger; that of Pannonia, under Septimius Severus ; and thnt of Britain, under Clodius Albinus, each composed of three legions, with its suitable number of auxiliaries. C. Pescennius Niger was a native of Aquinum, of a sim- ple equestrian faraiJy. lie entered the army as a centurion, and rose, almost solely bv merit, till he attained the lucrative 17* " ' > .4 198 JULIANUS. [A,r>. 193 government of Syria. As an officer, N.ger was a ngorous Lintainer of discipline; as a governor, he was just, but mHd and indulgent; and he succeeded m ga.mng alike the ^ffecuous of the soldiers and the sub)ects. In h.s private life, he was chaste and temperate. . . .r- vf^ L. Septimiiis Severus was born at Leptis '"Africa He received a learned education, and devoted himself to the bar and M. Aurelius made him advocate of ihe tKC. He acted as civil governor of several provinces, and had, oc- casionally, a military command, but had ^^en little or no actual service. After his consulate, Co'""«°,'^'^«' ^J^T^f the infiuence of I>»tus, gave him the command of the 1 an- ""rClEAIbiiius was also an African. He was born at Adrumetum, of an .honorable family which derived its origin from the Postumi. and Ceionii of Rome He entered the army early, and rose through all the gradations of the service beinJ highly esteemed by M. Aurelius^ He com- minded in Brthynia, at the time of the revolt of Cassius^ and kept his leaions in their duty. Commodus gave him the command in Gaul and in Britain, and designed him for his successor Albinus was a strict and even severe officer. He was fond of agriculture, on which subject be wrote some books. He was charged with private vices, but probably without reason. ^ „ • j »i When the intelligence of the murder of Pertinax, and the sale of the empire to Julian, reached the armies of Syria and Pannonia, their generals saw the prospect of empire open to them as the avengers of the emperor whom they had a^nowledged. Each of them assembled his troops, and expaiated on the atrocity of the deed winch had been pe- peirated at Rome, and each was saluted Augustus by s army and the subjects. But while Niger, seeing all the provinces and allied princes of Asia unanimous in his fa.or and therefore indulging in confidence, remained 'nac 've « Antioch, Severus resolved to push on for the capital and possess himself of that seat of empire. Having secured the adherence of the army of Gaul, he wrote a most friendly letter to Albinus, giving him the title of Cssar, and adopti^ig • See his Life in the Augustan History. " The youth of Severus," savsG^bbon^'' had been trained in the implicit obed.ence of cnmps Tnd Ws rtper years spent in the despotism of m.htary command We haveTotlced some^milar inaccurate assertions m this wr.ter, who is in sfeneral so correct. I A. D. 193.] JULIANUS. 199 him as his son ; by which he made sure of his neutrality, if not of his cooperation. He then advanced by rapid marches for Rome. Day and night he appeared in full armor, and surrounded by a guard of six hundred chosen men, who never laid aside their corselets. Resistance was no where offered ; all hailed him as the avenger of Pertinax. The wretched Julian was filled with dismay when he heard of the approach of the formidable Pannonian army. He made the senate declare Severus a public enemy ; he distributed large sums of money to the praetorians to induce them to prepare to defend him ; but these dissolute troops were vigorous only for evil, and they could not resume the discipline they had lost; the marines summoned from Mise- num were still more inefficient; and an attempt at training elephants for war, in the Oriental manner, only excited de- rision. Julian also caused an intrenchment to be run in front of the city, and he secured the palace with strong doors and bars, as if it could be maintained when all else was lost. He put to death Marcia, Laetus, and all concerned in the murder of Commodus, probably with a view to the favor of the soldiery. Severus, meantime, had reached Ravenna, and secured the fleet. Julian, having made some fruitless attempts on his life, caused the senate to declare him his associate in the empire. But Severus now disdained such divided pow- er ; he had written to the praetorians, assuring safety to all but the actual assassins of Pertinax, and they had accepted the conditions. The consul, Silius Messala, assembled the senate, and it was resolved to put Julian to death, and give the empire to Severus. When those charged with the man- date for his death came to Julian, his only words were, " What evil have I done? Whom have I slain?" He was then killed by a common soldier, after a reign of only sixty- six days. L. Septimius Severus. A. u. 946—964. A. D. 193—211. Severus was met at Interamna ( Terni) in Umbria, sev- enty miles from Rome, by deputies from the senate. He received them with favor, and still continued to advance. ! if 200 SEVERUS AT ROME. [a. D. 193. As he drew nigh to Rome, he commanded the execution of the murderers of Pertinax ; and he sent orders to the remaining prstorians to leave their arms in their camp, and come to meet him, dressed as they were wont when attend- ing the emperors on solemn occasions. They obeyed ; and Severus received them in the plain, before his camp, and addressed them from a tribunal, reproaching them with the murder of Pertinax, and the sale of the empire to Julian. He would spare their lives, he said, but he would leave them nothing save their tunics, and death should be the fate of any of'^them who ever came within a hundred miles of the capital. While he was speaking, his soldiers had impercep- tibly surrounded them; resistance was vain, and they quiet- ly yielded up their swords, and their rich habiliments, and mournfully retired. A detachment had, meantime, taken possession of their camp, to obviate the effects of their despair. Severus entered the city at the head of his army. 1 he senate and people met him with all the marks of joy ard festivity. He ascended the Capitol and worshipped; he tUen visited the other temples, and at length proceeded to the palace. In the morning, he met the senate, to whom he made a speech full of the fairest promises, assuring them that Marcus should be his model, and swearing that he would put no senator to death, unless condemned by themselves — an oath which he kept but indifferently. The usual titles and powers had been already decreed him; among these was the title of Pertinax, of which prince he affected to be the avenger, and the ceremony of whose deification he per- formed with the greatest magnificence and solemnity. He distributed large sums of money among the soldiers and people; he regulated the supply of provisions, and he ex- amined into the conduct of several governors of provinces, and punished those who were proved guilty of oppression or extortion. Severus restored the praetorian guards, on a new model, and raised them to four times their original number. Au- gustus had admitted none but Italians into this body ; the youth of Spain, Noricum, and Macedonia, had gradually been suffered to enlist in it; but Severus threw it open to all, selecting the ablest and most faithful soldiers from the legions, for'the higher pay and more easy life of the guards- men. After a stay of only thirty days in Rome, Severus set ( A. D. 194-196.] PESCENNIUS NIGER. 201 out for the war against Niger, who was master of all Asia, and held the strong city of Byzantium in Europe. The preparations, on both sides, occupied some time; at lengtli, Severus took the field; and, leaving part of his troops to carry on the siege of Byzantium, he sent the main body of his army, under his generals, over the Hellespont, ^mil- ianus, the proconsul of Asia, gave them battle (194) near Cyzicus, but was defeated. He fled to Cyzicus, and thence to another unnamed town, where he was seized and put to death. Niger, in person, afterwards engaged the Severian general, Candidus, between Niciea and Kios. The contest was long and arduous, but victory declared for the European army ; and Niger, leaving troops to guard the passes of Mount Taurus, hastened to Antioch, to raise men and money. The elements, however, favored Severus ; heavy falls of rain and snow destroyed the defences constructed by Niger, and his troops were obliged to abandon the passes, and leave Cilicia open to the enemy. Niger made his final stand at the Cilician Gates, as the pass from Cilicia into Syria, at the head of the Bay of Issus, was named, a place famous for the defeat of Darius by Alex- ander the Great. The troops of Niger were more numerous, but they were mostly raw levies; yet they fought with con- stancy ; but the elements, we are told, again favored the Seve- rians ; a storm of rain and thunder came over the sea, and blew full in the faces of the Nigrians, and they fled, with the loss of 20,000 men. Niger hastened to Antioch ; and thence, on the approach of the enemy, he fled to the Euphrates, in order to seek refuge with the Parthians; but he had hardly quitted the town, when he was seized, and his head was cut off and sent to Severus. This emperor, who had been in none of the preceding actions, now appeared. He put to death all the senators who had borne arms for Niger ; he banished some, and seized the property of others. He put numbers of inferior rank to death ; and he treated severely Antioch and some other towns. He then (195) led his army over the Euphrates; and his gen- erals employed this and a part of the following year in reducing the various tribes and princes of Mesopotamia. While he was thus engaged, (196,) he received the joyful in- telligence of the surrender of Byzantium; which, strong by situation and fortifications, had held out for nearly three years against the valor and skill of the besieging army, and was only subdued, at last, by famine. The mairistrates and ii 111" j1 202 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, [a. D. 197. soldiers were all put to death; the property of the inhabitants was sold; the walls and the public edifices were demolished; Byzantium was deprived of its title of city, and subjected, as a village, to the jurisdiction of Perinthus. It is said that Severus was meditating an invasion of Par- thia; but his thoughts were more fixed on securing the suc- cession to his children, by removing Albinus. Suitably to his character, he resolved to proceed by treachery, rather than by force. He wrote to Albinus, in the most affectionate terms, as to his dearest brother; but the bearers of the letter were instructed to ask a private audience, as having matters of greater importance toconjnmnicate, and then to assassinate him. The suspicions of Albinus, however, being awaked, he put them to the torture, and extracted the truth. He saw that he had no alternative, that he must be emperor or nothing ; and he therefore declared himself Augustus, and passed%vith his army over to Gaul. Severus returned, with all possible speed, from the East, and advanced in person into Gaul against his rival. He crossed the Alps in the depth of winler; and, after some minor engagements, a deci- sive battle was fought on the llHh of February, 197, in the neighborhood of Lyons. The united number of the combat- ants was 150,000 men ; the battle was long and dubious ; the left winff, on each side, was routed; but Severus, who now fought tor the first time, brought up the praetorians to the support of his beaten troops ; and, though he received a wound, and was driven back, he rallied them once more ; and, being supported by the cavalry, under his general, La3tus, he defeated and pursued the enemy to Lyons. The loss, on both sides, was considerable; Albinus slew himself, and' his head was cut off, and brought to his ungenerous enemy, who meanly insulted it ; his wife and children were at first'spared ; but they were soon after put to death, and their bodies cast into the Rhine. The city of Lyons was pillaged and burnt ; the chief sup- porters of Albinus, both men and women, Romans and pro- vincials, were put to death, and their properties confiscated. Having'spent some time in regulating the affairs of Gaul and Britain, Severus returned to Rome, breathing vengeance against' the senate; for he knew that that body was in general more inclined to Albinus than himself, and he had found, amoiur liis rival's papers, the letters of several individual sen- ators' The very day after his arrival, he addressed them, commending the stern policy of Sulla, Marius, and Augustus, A. D. 198-203.] SEVERUS IN ASIA. 203 and blaming the mildness of Pompeius and Caesar, which proved their ruin. He spoke in terms of praise of Commo- dus, saying that the senate had no right to dishonor him, as many of themselves lived worse than he had done. He spoke severely of those who had written letters or sent presents to Albinus. Of these he pardoned five-and-thirty ; but he put to death nine-and-twenty, among whom was Sulpicianus, the father-in-law of Pertinax. These, however, were not the only victims; the whole family of Niger, and several other illustrious persons, perished. The properties of all were confiscated; for avarice, more perhaps than a thirst of blood, impelled Severus to cruelty. After a short stay at Rome, Severus set out again for the East; for the Parthians, taking advantage of his absence, had invaded Mesopotamia, and laid siege to Nisibis. They retired, however, when they heard of his approach ; and Se- verus, having passed the winter in Syria, making preparations for the war, crossed the Tigris the following summer, (19S,) and laid siege to Ctesiphon. The Roman soldiers suffered greatly for want of supplies, and were reduced to feed on roots and herbage, which produced dysenteries; but the em- peror persevered, and the city at length was taken. All the full-grown males were massacred, and the women and chil- dren, to the number of 100,000, were sold for slaves. As want of supplies did not permit the Romans to remain be- yond the Tigris, they returned to Mesopotamia; and, on his way to Syria, (199,) Severus laid siege to the redoubtable Atra, but he was forced to retire, with a great loss both of men and machines. He renewed the attack some time after, (it is uncertain in what year,) but with as little success, be- ing obliged to retire with loss and disgrace from before the impregnable fortress. Severus remained in the East till the year 203. He spent a part of that time in Egypt, where he took great pleasure in examining the pyramids and the other curiosities of that country. He at length returned to Rome, to celebrate the marriaore of his elder son. The family of Severus consisted of his wife and two sons. The empress, named Julia Domna, was a native of Emesa in Syria, whom Severus, who was addicted to astrology, is said to have espoused because she had a royal nativity. She was a woman of great beauty, sense, and spirit, and a culti- vator of literature and philosophy. The elder son was at first named Bassianus; but his father, at the time of the war 204 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. [a. D. 198. against Albinus, created him Caesar, by the name of Aurelius Antoninus;* and he was subsequently nicknamed Caracalla, which to avoid confusion, is the name employed by modern historians. In the year 198, Severus created him Augustus, and made him his associate in the empire. The name of the emperor's younger son was Geta ; and he also was styled Antoninus. The bride selected for Caracalla was Plautilla, the daugh- ter of Plautianus, the pra3torian prefect. This man was a second Sejanus; and it is very remarkable that two emperors of such superior mental powers as Tiberius and Severus should have been so completely under the influence of their ministers. Plautianus, like his master, was an African by birth; he was of mean extraction, and he seems to have early 'attached himself to the fortune of his aspiring coun- tryman, whose favor and confidence he won in an extraor- dinary degree ; and when Severus attained the empire, the power of Plautianus grew to such a height that he, the his- torian observes, was, as it were, emperor, and Severus cap- tain of the guards. Persons like Plautianus, when eleva- ted, rarely bear their faculties meekly. He was therefore proud, cruel, and avaricious; he was the chief cause of so many 'persons of rank and fortune being put to death, in order that he might gain their properties. He seized what- ever took his fancy, whether sacred or profane, and he thus amassed such wealth that it was commonly said he was richer than Severus and his sons. Such was his pride, that no one dared approach him without his permission; and when he appeared in public, criers preceded him, ordering that no one should stop and gaze at him, but turn aside and look down. He would not allow his wife to visit or to receive visits, not even excepting the empress. As his power was so great' he was of course the object of universal adulation. The senators and soldiers swore by his fortune, and his statues were set up in all parts of the empire. He was in effect more dreaded and more honored than the emperor himself. Such power is, however, unstable in its very nature ; and the marriage of his daughter with the son of the emperor * Severus, not content with expressing liis veneration and respect for the memory of M. Aurelius, had the folly to pretend to be his son. '^ What most amazed us," says Dion, (Ixxv. 7,) "was his saymg that he was the son of Marcus and brother of Commodus." A. D. 203-208.J PLAUTIANUS. 205 caused the downfall of Plautianus. The wedding was cele- brated with the utmost magnificence; the dower of the bride, we are told, would have portioned fifty princesses; and, as it was the custom of the East for ladies to be attended by eunuchs, Plautianus [reduced to this condition] not less than one hundred persons of noble birth, many of them fathers of families, in order to place them about his daughter on this occasion. Plautilla was haughty, like himself; faid Cara- calla, who had been forced to marry her, hated father and daughter alike, and resolved on their destruction. He induced one Saturninus and two other centurions to declare that Plautianus had ordered them and seven of their comrades to murder Severus and his son. A written order to this effect was forged and shown to the emperor, who forthwith sum- moned Plautianus to his presence. He came, suspectino- nothing; he was admitted, but his followers were excluded"! Severus, however, addressed him in a mild tone, and asked him why he had meditated killing him. Plautianus was ex- pressing his surprise, and commencing his defence, when Caracalla sprang forward, tore his sword from him, struck him with his fist, and would have slain him with his own hand, but for the interference of his father. He then made some of his attendants despatch him, and sent his head to the empress and Plautilla — a joyful sight to the one, a mourn- ful spectacle to the other. Plautilla and her brother Plau- tius were sent to the isle of Lipara, where they lived in poverty and misery for the remainder of the reign of Severtis ; and their murder was one of the first acts of Caracalla, when emperor. Severus now remained in Italy for a space of four years, actively engaged in the administration of justice, the regula- tion of the finances, and the correction of all kinds of abuses. He conferred the important post of praetorian prefect on Papinian, the most renowned of jurisconsults ; and as it was now a part of this oflicer's duty to try civil causes, Papinian appointed, as his assessors, Paul us andUlpian — names nearly as distinguished as his own. In the year 208, Severus, though far advanced in years, and a martyr to the gout, set out for Britain, where the northern tribes had, for some time, been making their usual incursions into the Roman part of the island. Various mo- tives are assigned for this resolution; the most probable is, that he wished to remove his sons from the luxury of Rome, and to restore the relaxed discipline of the legions. He en- CONTIN. 18 i > 1 206 SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS. [a. D. 211 tered the wild country north of the Roman wall, cut down the woods, and passed the marshes, and succeeded in penetrating to the extremity of the island, though with a loss, it is said, of 50,000 men; for the barbarians, who would never venture to aive him battle, hung on his flanks and rear, formed numerous ambuscades, and cut off all stragglers. In order to check their future incursions, he repaired and strength- ened the mound or wall which Hadrian had constructed from the Eden to the Tyne. ^ • , Severus had associated his second son, Geta, in the empire the year he came to Britain. But the two brothers hated each other mortallv, and Caracalla made little secret of his resolution to reign alone. This abandoned youth, it is said, even attempted to kill his father in the very sight of the Roman lecrions and the barbarian enemies ; for, as the em- peror was^'riding, one day, to receive the arms of the Cale- donians Caracalla drew his sword to stab him in the back: those wiio were about them cried out, and Severus, on turn- ing to Rome ; but they submitted thoucrh with a sigh, to the rule of the pretended son ot ^'Ehaabalus passeil the winter at Nicomedia. While there, he piU to death, with his own hand, Gannys, who had been the chief means of procuring him the empire, but who now wished to make him lead a regnhir and decoroiis hie. bev- eral persons of rank, both at Rome and m the provinces, had already perished by his orders, and men had little hopes of seeincT the public aood promoted by the new einperor As^lon^as the^season permitted, (219,) M^sa, who was impatient to return to Rome, urged her graridson to com- mence his journey. He had some time before sent thither his picture with orders to have it hung up over the statue of Victory in the senate-house. In this, which was a full- length portrait, he appeared habited in the long, loose, Asiatic - So he is more correctly named by the Greek writers; the Latins, name him Heliogabalus. k, D. 219-2*22.] ELAGABALUS. 215 dress, with collars and necklaces, and a tiara set with gold and precious stones on his head ; and in this attire the senate and people beheld him entering the capital, Mjesa having essayed in vain to make him assume the Roman habit. He gave the usual shows and distributions of money to the peo- ple. On the first day of his appearance in the senate, he caused his grandmother to be invited thither, and she took her seat by that of the consuls, and henceforth acted in all respects as one of the members. His mother held a senate of her own, composed of ladies, wlio regulated all matters relating to dress, precedence, and other matters of impor- tance to the sex. The great object of the emperor's life was the exaltation of the god of Emesa. The conical black stone which repre- sented him was brought to Rome, and a stately temple was built on the Palatine to receive it; and the pious emperor proposed to transport thither the Palladium, tlie Ancilia, and all the sacred pledges of the empire, and thus to make it the centre of Roman religion. He also built for his god a tem- ple in the suburbs, whither the sacred stone was conveyed every spring in a magnificent car drawn by six milk-white horses, whose reins the emperor himself held, walking back- wards before them, with his eyes fixed on the image. The people flung flowers and garlands in the way ; the knights and the army joined in the procession, and when it reached the temple, gold and silver cups, garments, and all kinds of animals, except swine, were flung to the people to scramble for. Deeming it necessary that his god should have a wife, the emperor first selected Minerva for his bride, and removed her image to the palace for the wedding; but then, consider- ing that her rough and martial nature would make her an unsuitable mate for the soft, luxurious Syrian god, he gave the preference to the Astarte or Urania of Carthage; and her image, accompanied with much treasure by way of dowry, was brought to Rome and placed in the temple of the sun-god. EJagabalus himself married four different wives, one of whom was a Vestal, which he assured the senate was a most fitting union, as between a priest and a priestess. We dare not sully our pages with the catalogue of his unnatural lusts and other excesses; suffice it to say, that the enormities of Tiberius and Nero were equalled, if not outdone, by this wretched, abandoned youth. The basest and most vicious I'' \ I ■' . i; h u 216 ELAGABALUS. [a. d. 219-22-2. of mankind were promoted to the highest offices, and the revenues of the empire were wasted with reckless prod- igality. The sagacious Ma3sa saw the inevitable consequences of this wanton course, and she resolved to provide for the con- tinuance of her power ; she therefore persuaded Elagabalus to adopt and declare as Caesar his cousin Alexianus, a boy four years younger than himself He yielded to her desire, and adopted him in presence of the senate, giving him the name of Alexander, under the direction, he said, of his god. He at first sought to corrupt his morals and make him like himself; but the disposition of Alexander was naturally good, and his mother, Mama^a, took care to supply him with ex- cellent masters. He then endeavored to have him secretly destroyed, but he could find no agent, and Mjesa discovered and disconcerted all his plans. The soldiers had long been disgusted with the vices and the effeminacy of the^ emperor, and all their hopes were placed on the young Alexander. The rage of Elagabalus against that youth became at length so great that he resolved to annul the adoption ; and he sent orders to the senate and soldiers no longer to give him the title of C-esar. The con- sequence was a mutiny in the camp, and he was obliged to proceed thither, accompanied by Alexander, and agree to dismiss all the companions and agents of his vices, and to promise a reformation of his life. He thus escaped the present danger ; but his violent hatred of Alexander soon in- duced him to make a new effort to destroy him. To ascer- tain the temper of the soldiers, he caused a report to be spread of the death of that prince. A tumult instantly arose, which was only appeased by his appearing in the camp with Alexander; but finding how quickly it then subsided, he thought he might venture on punishing some of the ring- leaders. A tumult instantly broke out. Soaemis and Ma- nifea animated their respective partisans ; but those of the latter proved victorious, and the wretched Elagabalus wa.s dragged from a privy, in which he had concealed himself, and^slain in the arms of his mother, who shared his fate. A stone was fastened to his body, which was flung into the Tiber. Almost all his minions and ministers fell victims to the popular vengeance. A D» 222-232.J ALEXANDER SEVERUS. 217 31. AurcUus Alexander Severus, A. u. 975—988. A. T>. 222—235. Both the senate and the army joyfully concurred in the elevation of Alexander to the empire ; and the former body, lest any competitor should appear, hastened to confer on him all the imperial titles and powers. On account of his youth and his extremely amiable disposition, he was entirely directed by his grandmother and mother ; but, Maesa dying soon after his accession, the sole direction of her son fell to Mamaea. There is some reason to .suppose that this able woman had embraced the Christian religion, now so preva- lent throughout tlie empire ; at ail events, in her guidance of public affairs, she exhibited a spirit of wisdom, justice, and moderation such as had not appeared in any j)receding em- press. Her eiiemies laid to her charge the love of power and the love of money, and blamed her son for deferring too much to her; but their accusations are vague, and no act of cruelty, caused by avarice, stains the annals of this reign. The first care of Mama3a was to form a wise and upright council for her son. Sixteen of the most respectable of the senate, with the learned Ulpian, the prjetorian prefect, at their head, composed this council, and nothing was ever done without their consent and approbation. A general system of reformation was commenced and steadily pursued. All the absurd acts of the late tyrant were reversed. His god was sent back to Emesa ; the statues of the other deities were restored to their temples; the ministers of his vices and pleasures were sold or banished; some of the worst were drowned; the unworthy persons whom he had placed in public situations were dismissed, and men of knowledge and probity put in their places. Mamaea used the utmost care to keep away from her son all those persons by whom his morals might be corrupted ; and, in order to have his time fully occupied, she induced him to devote the greater part of each day to the administration of justice, where none but the wise and good would be his associates. The good seed fortunately fell into a kindly soil. Alexander was naturally disposed to every virtue, and all his efforts were directed to the promotion of the welfare of the empire over which he ruled. The first ten years of the reign of this prince were passed at Rome, and devoted to civil occupations. His daily course CONTIN. 19 B B 5 Hi ".'I (111 ., i ' -, * m 18 M m 218 ALEX A.NDER SEVERUS. [a. D. 222---32. of life has been thus transmitted to us . He usually rose early and entered his private chapel, {larariujn,) in which he had caused to be placed the images of those who had been teachers and benefactors of the human race, among whom he included the divine founder of the Christian reli- rrion. Havincr performed his devotions, he took some kind of exercise, and then applied himself for some hours to put)- lie business with his council. He then read lor some time, his favorite works being the Republics of Plato and Cicero, and the verses of Horace, and the Life of Alexander the Great, whom he greatly admired. Gymnastic exercises, in which he excelled, succeeded. He then was anointed and bathed, and took a light breakfast, usually ot bread, milk, and eaas. In the afternoon, he was attended by his secre- tariesr^'and he heard his letters read, and signed the answers to them. The business of the day being concluded, his friends in general were admitted, and a frugal and simple dinner followed, at which the conversation was mostly oi a serious, instructive nature, or some literary work was read out to the emperor and his guests. The dress of Alexander was plain and simple ; his man- ners were free from all pride and haughtiness; he lived with the senators on a footing of friendly equality, like Augustus, Vespasian, and the wiser and better emperors. He was liberal and generous to all orders of the people and he took an especial pleasure in assisting those persons ot good iami v, who had fallen into poverty without reproach. Among lie virtues of Alexander, was the somewhat rare one, in that age, of chastity. His mother early caused him to espouse a ladv of noble birth, named Meinnia, whom, however, he afterwards divorced, and even banished to Africa, i he ac- counts of this affair differ greatly. According to one, the father of the empress formed a conspiracy against his son-in- law, which being discovered, he was put to death, and his daughter divorced. Others say that, as Alexander showed crreat respect for his father-in-law, Maimea's jealousy was ex- cited, and she caused him to be slain, and his daughter to be divorced or banished. It appears that Alexander soon mar- ried again. ..... We have already observed, that a portion of the civil juris- diction had fallen to the praetorian prelects. I his imposed a necessity that one of them should be a ciydian ; and Mu- maea had,\herefore, caused this dignity to be conlerred on Ulpian From the love of law and order which distinguished A. D. 232.] PERSIAN WAR. 219 this prefect, he naturally sought to bring back discipline in the praetorian camp ; the consequence was, that repeated at- tempts were made on his life, and the emperor, more than once, found it necessary to cast his purple over him, to save him from the fury of the soldiers. At length, (228,) they fell on him in the night ; he escaped from tliem to the palace, but they pursued and slaughtered him, in the presence of the emperor and his mother. Some slight actions on the German and Moorish fron- tiers were the only occupation given to the Roman arms during the early years of tlie reign of Alexander ; but, in the year 232, so powerful an enemy menaced the Oriental prov- inces of the empire, that the presence of the emperor became absolutely requisite in the East. The Parthians, whom we have had such frequent occasion to mention, are said to have been a Scythian {i. e. Turkish) people, of the north of Persia, who, taking advantage of the declining power of the Macedonian kings of Syria, cast off their yoke, (B. C. 250,) and then gradually made themselves masters of the whole of Persia. Their dominion had now lasted for five hundred years, and their power had, from the usual causes, such as family dissensions, contested suc- cessions, and such like, been long on the decline; and in the fourth year of Alexander Severus, (22G,) a native Per- sian, named' Artaxerxes, (Ardshir,) who pretended to be of the ancient royal line, but who is said to have been of hum- ble birth, and a mere soldier of fortune, raised a rebellion against the Parthian king, Artabanus. Fortune favored the rebel, and Artabanus was defeated and slain. Artaxerxes then assumed the tiara, and his line, which existed till the Mohammedan conquest, was named the Sassanian, from the name of his fjither. Affecting to be the descendant of the ancient Achaeme- nians, Artaxerxes sought to restore Persia to its condition under those princes. The Magian or Light religion * re- sumed the rank from which it had fallen under the sway of the Parthians, and flourished in its pristine glory. As the dominions of the house of Cyrus had extended to the coasts of the .^gean sea, Artaxerxes ordered the Romans to quit Asia ; and, when his mandate was unheeded, he led his troops "^ [That is, the system by which the sun, and fire derived from it, were considered, from their briirhtness and purity, the only fit emblems of God ; and, as such emblems, worship was paid every morning at the risintr of the su%. — J. T. S.] m m 4\\ 1 1' I 220 ALEXANDER SEVERUS. [a. d. 232. over the Tigris. But his ill fortune induced him to attack the invincible Atra, and he was forced to retire with loss and diso-race. He then turned his arms against the Medes, and some other of the more northern tribes, and when he had reduced them, he again invaded Mesopotamia, (232.) Alex- ander now resolved to take the command of his troops in person. He left Rome, followed by the tears and prayers of the people, and proceeded through Illyricum to the East. On his march, the strictest discipline was maintained, while every attention was paid to the wants of the soldiers, and care taken, that they should be abundantly supplied with clothes and arms. The emperor himself used the same tare as the men ; and he caused his tent to be thrown open when he was at his meals, that they might perceive his mode of life. Alexander halted at Antioch, to make preparations for the war : meantime, he sent an embassy, with proposals of peace, to Artaxerxes. The Persian, in return, sent four hundred of his most stately men, splendidly clothed and armed, to order the Romans to quit Asia; and, if we can believe Herodian, (for the circumstance is almost incredible,) Alexander was so resfardless of the laws of nations, as to seize and strip them, and send them prisoners to rhrygia. It is also said that, while he was at Antioch, finding that some of the soldiers frequented the Paphian grove of Daphne, he cast them into prison; and that, when a mutiny broke out in the legion to which they belonged, he ascended his tribunal, had the prisoners brought before him, and ad- dressed their comrades, who stood around in arms, dwelling on the necessity of maintaining discipline. But, when his arguments proved of no effect, and they even menaced him with their arms, he cried out, in imitation of CiEsar, ''Q,ui- rites, depart, and lay down your arms." The legion obeyed; and the men, no longer soldiers, took up their abode in the houses of the town, instead of the camp. After a month, the emperor was prevailed on to pardon them, but he pun- ished their tribunes with death; and this legion was hence- forth equally distinguished by valor and fidelity. In imitation of Alexander the Great, the emperor formed six of his legions into a phalanx of thirty thousand men, to whom he gave higher pay. He also had, like that conquer- or, bodies of men distinguished by gold-adorned and silver- adorned shields — Chrysoaspids and Argyroaspids. The details of the war cannot be learned with any cer- A. D. 235.] PERSIAN WAR. 221 tainty. One historian says that Alexander made three di- visions of his army; one of which was to enter Media throucrh Armenia, another Persia at the junction of the Tigris ano Euphrates, while the emperor was in person to fead tht third through Mesopotamia, and all were to join in the en- emy's country; but that, owing to the timidity of Alexander, who loitered on the way, the second division was cut to pieces, and the first nearly all perished while retreating through Armenia in the winter. This account labors unde'i many difficulties; for the emperor certainly triumphed on his return to Rome: and, in his speech to the senate on that occasion, he asserted that, of 700 war elephants, which were in the enemy's array, he had killed 20'.}, and taken 300; ot 1,000 scythed chariots, he had taken 200; and of J20,000 heavy-armed horsemen, he had slain 10,000, beside taking a great number of prisoners. It further appears that, thoulrh Alexander did not remain in the East, the Persian monarch made no further attempts on Mesopotamia for some years. The Germans had taken advantage of the absence of the emperor and the greater part of the troops in the East, to pass the Rhine and ravage Gaul. Alexander, therefore, leaving sufficient garrisons in Syria, led home the lllyrian and other legions; and, having celebrated a triumph for the Persian war at Rome, where he was received witii the most abundant demonstrations of joy, he departed with a larae army for the defence of Gaul. The Germans retired at his approach ; he advanced to the Rhine, and took up his win- ter quarters in the neighborhood of Mentz, with the in- tention of opening the campaign bevond the river in the spring, (235.) The narratives of the events of this reign are so very dis- cordant, that we cannot hope often to arrive at the real truth. In no part are they more at variance than in their account of the circumstances of the emperor's death. We can only collect that, whether from his effi3rts to restore discipline, from the intrigues of Maximin, an ambitious officer who had the charge of disciplining the young troops, or from some other cause, a general discontent prevailed in the army, and that Alexander was assassinated in his tent, either by his own guards or by a party sent for the purpose by Maximin, and that his mother and several of his friends perished with him. The troops forthwith proclaimed Maximin empe- ror ; and the senate and people of Rome, deeply lamenting 19* > ;' "I 'it m. ■ J ; ■ liii is w ^- i. •I 222 ALEXANDER SEVERUS. [a, d. 235. the fate of the virtuous Alexander, were forced to acquiesce in the choice of the army. Alexander had reigned thirteen years. Even the histo- rian least partial to him, acknowledges that toward his sub- jects his conduct was blameless, and that no bloodshed or uniust condemnations stain the annals of his reign. 'nj H IS fault seems to have been a certain degree of etfemmacy and weakness, the consequence, probably, of his Syrian origin, which led to his extreme submission to his mother, against whom the charges of avarice and meanness are not perhaps wholly unfounded.* Dion Cassius, whose history ends with this reign, gives the following view of the numbers and disposition of the le- gions at this^'period.t Of the twenty-five which were formed by Auo-ustus,| only nineteen remained, the rest having been brokerTor distributed through the others; but the emperors, from Nero to Severus, inclusive, had formed thirteen new ones, and the whole now amounted to thirty-two legions. Of these, three were in Britain, one in Upper and two in Lower Germany, one in Italy, one in Spain, one m Numid- ia, one in Arabia, two in Palestine, one m Pha3nicia, two m Syria two in Mesopotamia, two in Cnppadocia, two m Low- er and one in Upper Moisia, two in Dacia, and four m Pan- nonia, one in xNoricum, and one in Ractia. He does not tell us where the two remaining ones were quartered, neither does he give the number of men in a legion at this time ; but it is conjectured to have been five thousand. * The Life of Alexander, by Lampridius, in the Augustan History, is, as Gibbon observes, " the mere idea of a perfect prince an awkward imitation of the Cyropsedia." ^^ , on t Dion, W. 23. t See above, p. 36, if A. D. 235.] THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 223 CHAPTER v.* MAXIMIN, PUPIENUS, BALBINUS, AND GORDI- AN, PHILIP, DECIUS, GALLUS, ^MILIAN, VALERIAN, GALLIENUS. A. u. 988— 102 L A. D. 235—268. THE EMPIRE. MAXIMIN. IIIS TYRANNY. INSURRECTION IN AFRICA. THE GORDIANS. PUPIENUS AND BALBINUS. DEATH OF MAXIMIN. MURDER OF THE EMPERORS. GORDIAN. PERSIAN WAR. MURDER OF C.ORDIAN. PHILIP. SECUI-AR GAMES. DECIUS. DEATH OF PHILIP. THE GOTHS. GOTHIC WAR. DEATH OF DECIUS. GALLUS. .EMILIAN. VALERIAN. THE FRANKS. THE ALEMANS. GOTHIC INVASIONS. PERSIAN WAR. DE- FEAT AND CAPTIVITY OF VALERIAN. GALLIENUS. THE THIRTY TYRANTS. DEATH OF GALLIENUS. C. Julius Vcrus Maximinus. A. u. 988— 99L A. D. 235—238. As we advance through the history of the Roman empire, we find it deteriorating at every step, the traces of civil government becoming continually more and more evanes- cent, and the power of the sword the only title under which obedience could be claimed. The government had, in fact, been a military despotism from the time of Augustus; but that prudent prince., and the best of his successors, had con- cealed the odious truth beneath the forms of law and civil regulations; and perhaps it may be considered that his own reign, and the eighty-four years from Domitian to Commo- dus, are among the periods of the greatest happiness which mankind have enjoyed ; absolute power being wielded by wisdom and goodness. Human nature, however, does not permit such a state to endure ; and the thirteen years of Alexander Severus form but a gleam of sunshine in the po- litical gloom of the succeeding century. Elective monarchy is an evil of the greatest magnitude. * Authorities: Herodiua, the Augustan History, Zosimus, and the Epitoiiiatora. ^^HH> •'I liiiil kit ! I i « i 221 MAXIMIN. [a. d. 235. He who cannot transmit his dominion to his son, will be in general little solicitous about its future condition. Nothing was farther from the intention of the founder of the Roman empire than that such should be its condition ; yet Provi- dence seems to have desicrnedly thwarted all the efforts made to form an hereditary monarchy. The Cccsarian family, and the good emperors, as they are called, were but a series of adoptions: a son sometimes succeeded his father ; but from Augustus till nearly the end of the empire,^ the imperial power never reached the third generation. The fiction of the two Syrian youths having been sons of Caracalla, was the last faint effort made in favor of the hereditary princi- ple : with Maximin commenced a new order ; and every sol- dier might now aspire to empire. Maximin was originally a Thracian peasant, of enormous size and strength; his stature, we are told, exceeded eight feet; his wife's bracelet made him a thumb-ring; he could draw a loaded wagon, break a horse's leg with a kick, and crumble sandstones in his hands; he often, it is added, ate forty pounds of meat in the day, and washed them down with seven gallons of wine. Hence he was named Hercules, Antseus, and xMilo of Croton. He became known to the emperor Severus on the occasion of his celebrating the birthday of his son Geta one time in Thrace. The young barbarian approached him, and, in broken Latin, craved permission to wrestle with some of the strongest of the camp followers; he vanquished sixteen of them, and received as many prizes, and w^as admitted into the service. A cou- ple of days after, Severus, seeing him exulting at his good fortune, spoke to a tribune about him ; and Maximin, per- ceiving that he was the object of the emperor's discourse, began'^to run on foot by his horse; Severus, to try his speed, put his horse to the gallop; but the young soldier kept up with him till the aged emperor was tired. Severus asked him if he felt inclined to wrestle after his running; he replied in the affirmative, and overthrew seven of the strong- est soldiers. He rose rapidly in the service under Severus and his son; he retired to his native village when Macrinus seized the empire; he disdained to serve Elagabalus, but the accession of Alexander induced him to return to Rome. He received the command of a legion, was made a senator, and the emperor even had thoughts of giving his sister m marriage to the sou of the Thracian peasant. The first care of Maximin, when raised to the empire, waa A. D. 235-236.] TYRANNY OF MAXIMIN. 225 to dismiss from their employments all who were in the coun- cd or family of his predecessor; and several were put to death as conspirators. He speedily displayed the native ferocity ot his temper; for when, having completed a bridge of boats over the Rhine, commenced by Alexander, he was preparing to pass over into Germany, a conspiracy, headed by one Magnus, a consular, was discovered, the plan of which was to loose the farther end of the bridge when Maximin had passed over, and thus to leave him in the hands of the Ger- mans; and, meantime, Magnus was to be proclaimed em- peror. On this occasion, he massacred upwards of four thousand persons, without any form of trial whatever ; and he was accused of having invented the conspiracy with this design. A revolt of the Eastern archers,* which occurred a few days after, being quelled, Maximin led his army into Ger- many. As no large force opposed him, he wasted and burned the country through an extent of four hundred miles. Occasional skirmishes took place in the woods and marshes, which gave Maximin opportunities of displaying his personal prowess; and he caused pictures of his victories to be painted, which he sent to Rome, to be placed at the door of the senate-house. Maximin employed the two first years of his reign in wars against the Germans and the Sarmatians. His winter resi- dence was Sirmium in Pannonia, and he never conde- scended to visit Italy. But his absence was no benefit; for Italy, and all parts of the empire, groaned alike beneath his merciless tyranny. The vile race of delators once more came into life ; men of all ranks were dragged from every part of the empire to Pannonia, where some were sewed up in the skins of animals, others were exposed to wild beasts, others beaten to death with clubs, and the properties of all were confiscated. This had been the usual course of the preceding despotism, and the people in general, therefore, took little heed of it ; but Maximin stretched his rapacious hands to the corporate funds of the cities of the empire, which were destined to the support or the amusement of the people; and he seized on the treasures of the temples, and stripped the public edifices of their ornaments. The spirit of disaffection, thus excited, was general, and even his sol- diers were wearied of his severity and cruelty. * It was now the practice to have bodies of archers from the East in the Roman service. c c I i I I u ! '•( I i' t il m ''■ 226 MAXIMIN. [a. d. 236. The whole empire was now, therefore, ripe for revolt; the rapacity of the procurator of Africa caused it to break out in that province, (237.) This officer, who was worthy of his master, had condemned two young men of rank to pay such sums as would have quite ruined them. In despair, they assembled the peasantry on their estates, and, havnig (rained over part of the soldiers, they one night surprised The procurator, and slew him and those who defended him. Knowincr that thev had no safety but in a general revolt, thev resdved to offer the empire to M. Antonius Gordianus, the" governor of the province, an illustrious senator, ot the venerable age of eighty years. They came to him as he was restincT, after giving audience in the morning, and, tiing- incT the puTple of°a standard over him, saluted him Augus- tus Gordian declined the proffered dignity; but, when he reflected that Maximin would never pardon a man who had been proclaimed emperor, he deemed it the safer course to run the hazard of the contest, and he consented to accept the empire, making his son his colleague. He then pro- ceeded to Carthage, whence he wrote to the senate and peo- pie, and his friends at Rome, notifying his elevation to the empire. The intelligence was received with the greatest joy at Rome The°two Gordians were declared Augusti, and Maximin, and his son, whom he had associated with him in the empire, and their friends, public enemies, and rewards were promised to those who would kill them ; but the decree was ordered to be kept secret till all the necessary prepara- tions should have been made. Soon after, it was given out that Maximin was slain. The edicts of the Gordians were then published, their images and letters were carried into the prstorian camp, and forthwith the people rose in tury cast down and broke the images of Maximin, fell on and massacred his officers and the informers ; and many seized this pretext for getting rid of their creditors and their private enemies. Murder and pillage prevailed through the city. The senate, meantime, having advanced too far to recede, wrote a circular to all the governors of provinces, and ap- pointed twenty of their body to put Italy mto a state ot defence. Maximin was preparing to cross the Danube against the Sarmatians when he heard of what had taken place at Rome. His rage and fury passed all bounds. He menaced the whole of the senate with bonds or death, and promised their I: I A, D. 237-238.] DEATH OF MAXIMIN, 227 properties, and those of the Africans, to his soldiers ; but, finding that they did not show all the alacrity he had expect- ed, he began to fear for his power. His spirits, however, soon rose, when tidings came that his rivals were no more: for Capellianus, governor of Mauretania, being ordered by the Gordians to quit that province, marched against Car- thage at the head of a body of legionaries and Moors. The younger Gordian gave him battle, and was defeated and slain, and his father, on hearing the melancholy tidings, strangled himself Capellianus pillaged Carthage and the other towns, and exercised all tlie rights of a conqueror, (237.) When the fatal tidings reached Rome, the consternation was great; but the senate, seeing they could not now re- cede, chose as emperors, in the place of the Gordians, iVI. Clodius Pupienus Maximus and D, Cailius Balbinus, the former to conduct the military, the latter the civil affair^ of the state. To satisfy the people, a grandson of the elder Gordian, a boy of twelve years of age, was associated with them as a Caesar, The new emperors were elected about the beginning of July, and Pupienus forthwith left Rome t(^ oppose Maximin. The remainder of the year was spent on both sides in making preparations for the war, and in the following spring (238) Maximin put his troops in motion for Italy. He passed the Alps unopposed, but found the gates of Aquileia closed against him. His offers of pardon being rejected, he laid siege to the town : it was defended with the obstinacy of despair. Ill success augmented the innate ferocity of Maxi- min ; he put to death several of his officers; these executions irritated the soldiers, who were besides suffering all kinds of privations, and discontent became general. As Maximin was reposing one day at noon in his tent, a party of the Alban soldiers* approached it with the intention of killing him. They were joined by his guards, and, when he awoke and came forth with his son, they would not listen to him, but killed them both on the spot, and cut off their heads. Maximin's principal ministers shared his fate. His reign had lasted only three years. ♦ See above, p. 208, ■;i} !' Il "I i t 228 PUPIENUS, BALBINUS, GORDIAN. [a. D. 238. 31. Clodius Pupknus Maximum, D. CcbUus Balbinus, and M. Antonius Gordianus. A. u. 991—997. A. D. 238—244. The joy at Rome was extreme when the news of the death of Maximin arrived. Pupienus, who was at Ravenna, has- tened to Aquileia, and received the submission of the army. He distributed money to the legions, and then, sending them bick to their usual quarters, returned to Rome ^^'i^h the pr.^torians and a part of the army of the Rhine, in which he could confide. He and his colleagues entered the city in a kind of triumph. The administration of Pupienus and Balbinus was ot the best kind; and the senate and people congratulated them- selves on the choice they had made. But the prcTtorians were far from being contented ; they felt as if robbed ot their right of appointing an emperor ; and they were an- noyed a? the German troops being retained m the city as arcTuincr a distrust of themselves. Unfortunately, too, there prevailed a secret jealousy between the two emperors, and it is probable that ci^ncord would not long have subsisted be- tween them under any circumstances. The praetorians, having to no purpose sought a pretext lor 'rettincr rid of the emperors, at length took advantage of the celebration of the Capitoline games, at which almost every one was present, and the emperors remained nearly alone in the palace. They proceeded thither in fury. Pupienus, when aware of their approach, proposed to send for the Germans ; but Balbinus, fearing that it was meant to employ them ao-ainst himself, refused his consent. Meantime the praetorians arrived, forced the entrance, seized the two aged emperors, tore their garments, treated them with every kind of indignity, and were dragging them to their camp, till, hearin(T that the Germans were coming to their aid, they killed them, and left their bodies lying m the street. 1 hey carried the young Gordian with them to their camp, where they proclaimed him emperor; and the senate, the people, and the provinces, readily acquiesced in his elevation. The youthful emperor was the object of general attection ; the soldiers called him their child, the senate their son, the people their delight. He was of a lively and agreeable tem- per; and he was zealous in the acquisition of knowledge, in A. D. 238-244.] MURDER OF GORDIAN. 229 order that he might not be deceived by those about him. In the first years, however, of his reign, public affairs were in- differently managed. His mother, who was not a Mamaja, allowed her eunuchs and freedmeu to sell all the great offices of the state, (perhaps she shared in their gains,) and in con- sequence many improper appointments were made. But the marriage of the young emperor ("241) brought about a thorough reformation. He espoused the daughter of Misi- theus, a man distinguished in the cultivation of letters, and he made his father-in-law his praetorian prefect, and guided himself by his counsels. Misitheus, wlio was a man of virtue and talent as well as of learnintj, discharged the duties of his office in the ablest manner. A Persian war soon called the emperor to the East, (242.) Sapor, (Shahpoor,) the son and successor of Artaxerxes, had invaded Mesopotamia, taken Nisibis, Carrha?, and other towns, and menaced Antioch. But the able conduct of Misitheus, when the emperor arrived in Syria, speedily as- sured victory to the Roman arms; the towns were all recov- ered, and the Persian monarch was obliged to repass the Tigris. Unfortunately for Gordian and the empire, Misi- theus died in the following year, (243,) to the great regret of the whole army, by whom he was both beloved and feared. The office of praetorian prefect was given to M. Julius Philippus, who is accused, though apparently without reason, of having caused the death of his predecessor. Now, however, having in effect the command of the army, Philip aspired to the empire. He spoke disparagingly of the youth of Gordian; he contrived, by diverting tlie sup- plies, to cause the army to be in want, and then laid the blame on the emperor. At length, (244,) after a victory gained over the Persians on the banks of the Abora, he led the troops into a country where no provisions could be pro- cured ; a mutiny in consequence ensued, in which the em- peror was slain, and Philip was proclaimed in his place. Gordian was only nineteen years of age when he met his untimely fate ; he had reigned five years and eight months. The soldiers raised him a tomb on tiie spot, and the senate placed him among the gods , CONTIN- 20 ■i.i lil lit 3. Ml ;it * ! ^^ I it! 230 PHILIPPUS. [a. d. 244-249. M. Julius PhiUppus, J, u. 997— 100-2. A. D. 244—249. The adventurer who had now attained the imperial purple was an Arab by birth, and it is even pretended a Christian in religion. He probably entereii the Roman service m his youth,''and gradually rose to rank in the army. BeincT anxious to^proceed to Rome, Philip lost no time in conclud^mcr a treaty with Sapor. He then, after a short stay at Antioch, set out ibr Italy. At Rome, he used every means to conciliate the senators by liberality and kindness ; and he never mentioned the late emperor but in terms ot respect To gain the affections of the people, he formed a reservoir to supply with water the part of the city beyond the Tiber. ^ , • .u In the fifth year of his reign, (248,) Rome having then attained her one thousandth year, Philip, in conjunction with his son, now associated with him in the empire cele- brated with great magnificence the secular g-ames. These had been already solemnized by Augustus, by Claudius, by Domitian, and Severus, and Rome now witnessed them for the last time. . . . Philip would appear to have acted unwisely in committing extensive commands to his own relations; for, in Syria, where his brother Priscus, and in IVtesia, where his father- in-law, Severianus, commanded, rival emperors were pro- claimed The Syrian rebel was named Jotapianus ; the Mce-ian was a centurion, named P. Carvilius Marmus. Philip, It is said, in alarm, called on the senate to support him, or to accept his resignation, (249 ;) but while the other senators maintained silence, Deems, a man of rank and talent, reassured him, speaking slightingly of the rebels, and assertincr that they could not stand against him. His pre- diction Voved correct; for they both were shortly after slain. Philip then obliged Decius, much, it is said, against his inclination, to take the command of the Moesian and Pannonian legions. But when Decius reached the army, ihe soldiers insisted on investing him with the P»^[P^^- \*^ fvrote to the emperor, assuring him of his fidelity ; but Philip ivould not trust to his declarations, and, leaving his son at Rome with a part of the praetorians, he put himself at the head of his troops to chastise him. The armies met near A.D. 249-251.] GOTHIC WAR. 231 Verona; Philip was defeated and slain, and when the news reached Rome, the praetorians slew his son and proclaimed Decius. C. Messius Quintus Trajanus Decius, A.u. 1002—1004. A.D. 249—251. Decius was born at Bubalia, a town near Sirmium, in Pannonia. He was either forty-eight or fifty-eight years of age, it is uncertain wliich, when he was proclaimed empe- ror ; and, from the imperfect accounts which we have of his reio-n, he would seem to have been a man of considerable ability. His reign was, however, brief and unquiet. It had hardly commenced, when he had to go in person to quell an insurrection in Gaul, and all the rest of it was occupied in war with the Goths. This people, whose original seats seem to have been the Scandinavian peninsula, had at an early period crossed the Baltic, and settled on its southern coast. They had gradu- ally advanced southwards, and they now had reached the Euxine. In the time of Alexander Severus, they had made inroads into Dacia; and in that of Philip, they ravaged both that province and Moesia. In the first year of Decius, (250,) the Gothic king Cniva passed the Danube at the head of 70,000 warriors, and laid siege to the town of Eustesium, (Novi;) being repelled by the Roman general Gallus, he advanced against Nicopolis, whence he was driven by the emperor or'his son, (it is uncertain which,) with a loss of 30,000 men. Undismayed by his reverses, he crossed Mount Ha3inus, in the hope of surprising Philippopolis; Decius fol- lowed him, but his camp at BeraBa was surprised by the Goths, and his troops were cut to pieces. Philippopolis stood a siege of some duration; but it was taken, and the greater part of its inhabitants were massacred. The Goths now spread their ravages into Macedonia, the governor of which, Philip's brother Priscus, assumed the purple under their protection. It seems most probable that it was the younger Decius who met with these reverses, for the emperor must have been at Rome, as we find that, on his leaving it, (251,) to direct the Gothic war, a person named Julius Valens was declared emperor, to the great joy of the people. He was, HI n w if 232 GALLUS. [a. d. 252. however, killed shortly after. Decius, who was worthy of empire, was, meantime, amidst the cares of war, engaged in the visionary project of restoring the long-departed public virtue which had once ennobled Rome. With this view he proposed to revive the office of censor ; and, the choice of the person being left to the senate, they unanimously voted it (Oct. 27) to P. Licinius Valerianus, as being the man most worthy of it. The decree was transmitted to the em- peror, who was in Thrace ; he read it aloud in a large assembly, and exhorted Valerian, who was present, to accept the protiered dignity. Valerian would fain excuse himself. We know not if the emperor was satisfied with his excuses, but, from the turn which public affairs took, the censorship was never exercised. Decius was successful against the Goths, who offered to surrender their booty and prisoners if allowed to repass the Danube ; but the emperor, who was resolved to strike such a blow as would daunt the barbarians, and make them henceforth respect the Roman arms, refused all terms. The Goths, therefore, gave him battle in a place where a part of their front was covered by a morass. The younger Decius was slain by an arrow in the beginning of the action ; but the emperor, crying out that the loss of one soldier did not signify, led on his troops. In the attempt to cross the morass, they were pierced by the arrows of the enemy, or swallowed up in the mire, and the body of the emperor was never found. C. Vibius Trcbonianus Gallus. A.u. 1005—1006. A. D. 252—253. The senate, it is said, but more probably the army, con- ferred the vacant purple on Gallus, the governor of Moesia. He adopted Hostilianus, the remaining son of Decius, and gave him the title of Augustus ; but this youth dying soon after of the plague, Gallus associated his own son Volusia- nus in the empire. Unable, probably, to resist the victorious Goths, Gallus agreed that they should depart with their booty and prisoners, and even consented to pay them annu- ally a large sum of gold. He then set out for Rome, where he remained for the rest of his reign, ruling with great m'ld- ness and equity. A. D. 253.] iEMILIAN, &:C. 233 The Goths and their allies, heedless of treaties, again (253) poured over the Danube; but iEmilianus, the gov- ernor of Moesia, gave them a signal defeat, and his victo- rious troops forthwith proclaimed him emperor. Without a moment's delay, he put them in motion for Rome. Gallus advanced to engage him ; the troops came in sight of each other at Interamna, {Tc/'ui,) and those of Gallus, seeing themselves the weaker, and gained by the promises of ^Emil- ianus, murdered the emperor and his son, and passed over to the side of the rebel. C Julius jlSmiUanus. iEmilianus is said to have been a Moor by birth. Of his previous history nothing is known. He \\ rote to the senate, to say that they should have the whole civil administration, and that he would be no more than their jreneral : and that assembly readily acquiesced in his elevation. But Valerian had been sent by Gallus to fetch the legions of Gaul and Germany to his aid ; and these troops, as soon as they heard of his death, proclaimed their general emperor. He led them into Italy; and the troops of ^Emilianus, which were encamped at Spoleto, fearing the strength and number of the advancing army, murdered their emperor to obviate a conflict. The reiorn of ^milianus had not lasted four months. P. Licinius Valerianus and P. Licinius Gallienus. A. u. 1006—1013. A. D. 253—260. Valerian is said to have been sixty years of age when thus raised to the empire. Feeling the infirmities of age, or in imitation of the practice of so many preceding emperors, he associated with him his son Gallienus, a young man devoid neither of courage nor ability, but immoderately addicted to pleasure. Had the Roman empire been in the condition in which it was left by Augustus, Valerian might have emulated that emperor, and have displayed his virtues and beneficence in promotiuT the happiness of his subjects. But a great change 20 * D D ■M i! •11 n \ <\ V!» 4 * ■ - f I 234 VALERIAN AND GALLIENUS. [a. D. 253. had taken place in the condition of Rome; her legions no longer inspired their ancient terror ; her northern and east- ern provinces were exposed to the ravages of those who had formerly cowered before her eagles. Valerian could there- fore only exhibit his wisdom in the selection of his generals ; and it is to be observed that his choice never fell on an un- worthy subject. The enemies by whom the empire was assailed at this period, were the Franks, the Alemans, the Goths, and the Persians. As the scanty notices of these times do not enable us to arrange events chronologically, we will give a separate view of the wars, with each of these peoples, during the reigns of Valerian and his son. We have already observed the proneness of the German tribes to form confederations. The Chaucans, Cheruscans, Chattans, and some adjoining states, had lately, it would seem, entered into one of these political unions, under the name of Franks, /. e. Freemen. Their strength and number now causing uneasiness for Gaul, the young emperor, Gallie- nus, was sent to that country; but the chief military com- mand was conferred on Postumius, a man of considerable ability. The arms of the legions were successful in various encounters ; but they were finally unable to prevent the pas- sage of an army of the Franks through Gaul, whence, sur- mounting the barrier of the Pyrenees, they poured down into the now unwarlike Spain. The rich city of Tarragona was taken and sacked ; the whole country was devastated, and the Franks, then seizing the vessels which they found in the ports, embarked to ravage Africa. We know not what was their ultimate fate ; they were probably, however, destroyed in detail by the Roman troops and the provincials. A portion of the great Suevian confederation had formed a new combination, under the name of Alemans, /. r. All- men, on account of the variety of tribes which composed it. Like the Suevians, their forces were cliiefly composed of cavalry, with active footmen mingled with them : * and they always proved a formidable foe. While Galiienus was in Gaul, a body of them entered Italy, penetrated as far as Ra- venna, and their advanced troops came nearly within sight of Rome. The senate drew out the praetorian guards, and added to them a portion of the populace to oppose them ; and the barbarians, finding themselves greatly outnumbered, * The Hamippi of the Greeks. See Hist, of Greece, p. 210. A. D. 258-262.] GOTHIC INVASIONS. 235 hastened to get beyond the Danube with their plunikr. Galiienus, it is said, was so much alarmed at the spirit and energy shown by the senate on this occasion, that he issued an edict interdicting all military employments to the sena- tors, and even prohibiting their access to tlie camps of the legions. It is added that the luxurious nobles viewed this indignity as a favor rather than an insult. Galiienus is also said to have overcome a large army of Alemans in the vicinity of Milan.* He afterwards espoused Pipa, daughter of the king of the Marcomans, (one of the confederates,) to whom he gave a territory in Pannonia, as a means of averting the hostilities of the barbarians. The Goths were now masters of the northern coast of the Euxine ; and, finding their attacks on the northern provinces generally repelled with vigor, they resolved to direct their efforts against more unwarlike districts. Collecting a quan- tity of the vessels used for navigating the Euxine, they em- barked (258) and crossed that sea. They made their first attempt on the frontier town of Pityus, which was long ably defended against them; but they at length succeeded in reducing it! They thence sailed to the wealthy city of Trebizond, {Trapezus ;) and, though it was defended by a numerous garrison, they effected an entrance during the night. The cowardly garrison fled without making any re- sistance ; the inhabitants were massacred in great numbers; the booty and captives were immense, and the victors, having ravaged the province of Pontus, embarked there on board of the ships which they found in the harbors, and returned to their settlement in the Tauric Chersonese. The next expedition of the Goths was directed to the Bosporus, (261.) They took and plundered Chalcedon and Nicomedia, Nicsea, Apama3a, Prusa, and other cities, of Bi- thynia. The accidental swelling of the little river Rhynda- cus saved the town of Cyzicus from pillage. The third expedition of the Goths was on a larger scale, (262.) Their fleet consisted of five hundred vessels of all sfzes They sailed along the Bosporus and Propontis ; took and plundered Cyzicus; passed the Hellespont, and entered the ^^ean. They directed their course to the Piraieus; Athens^'could offer no resistance; the Goths ravaged Greece with impunity, and advanced to the shores of the Adriatic. Galiienus roused himself from his pleasures, and appeared in * Zonaras, xii. He says the Alemans were 300,000, the Romans only 10,000 strong. ')i '. H 536 VALERIAN AND GALLIENUS. [a.D. 259-260. arms. A Herulan chief with his men was induced to enter the Roman service ; the Goths, weakened by this defection, broke up; a part forced their way to the Danube over land; the rest embarked, and, pillaging and burning the temple of Diana at Ephesus on their way, returned to the Euxine. Sapor, of Persia, had been long engaged in war with Chosroes, king of Armenia, a prince of the house of Arsa- ces. Unable to reduce the brave Armenian, he caused him to be assassinated ; and Armenia then received the Persian yoke. Elated with his success. Sapor invaded the Roman ter- ritory, took Nisibis and Carrhae, and spread his ravages over Mesopotamia. Valerian, alarmed for the safety of the East- ern provinces, proceeded thither in person, ('259.) The events of the war which ensued have not reached us. All that we know with certainty is, that Valerian was finally de- feated and made a captive, (200.) The circumstances of his capture were somewhat similar to those of the taking of Crassus. His army, by ignorance or treachery, got into a position where neither discipline nor courage could avail, being without supplies and suffering from disease. The sol- diers clamored for a capitulation; Sapor detained the depu- ties that were sent to him, and led his troops up to the camp ; and Valerian was obliged to consent to a conference, at which he was made a prisoner. Valerian ended his days a captive in Persia. We are told that Sapor treated him with every kind of indignity ; that he led him about in chains clad in his imperial purple; that, when the haughty Persian would mount his horse, the cap- tive emperor was made to go on his hands and knees to serve as his horse-block; and that, when death at length released him from his sufferings, his skin was stripped off, tanned, and stuffed, and placed in one of the most celebrated temples of Persia. The sufferings of Valerian are, however, probably of the same kind with the tortures of Regulus and the iron cage of Baj^azet — gross exaggerations of some degree of ill treatment or of necessary precaution P. Licinius Gallienus. a. u. 1013—1021. A. D. 260—268. The captivity of Valerian was lamented by all but his son, who felt himself relieved by it from the restraint imposed on A.D. 260.] THE THIRTY TYRANTS. 237 him by his ffUher's virtue. He even affected to act the phi- losopher on the occasion, saying, in imitation of Xenophon, ** I knew that my father was mortal;" but he never made any attempt to procure his liberty, and he abandoned him- self without restraint to sensual indulgence. The reign of Gallienus is termed the Time of the Thirty Tyrants. This word seems to have recovered its ancient Grecian sense, and to have merely signified prince, or rather usurper, that is, one who claims the supreme power already held by another. The tyrants of this time were, in general, men of excellent character, who had been placed in the com- mand of armies by Valerian, and were invested with the pur- ple by their soldiers, often against their will. The number of these usurpers, who rose and fell in succession, did not exceed eighteen or nineteen; but some very fanciful analogy led to a comparison of thein with the Thirty of Athens, and in the Augustan History an effort is made, by including women and children, to raise them to that number. The East, lilyricum, Gaul, Greece, and Egypt, were the places in which these tyrants appeared. We will notice them in order. After the defeat of Valerian, Sapor conferred the title of emperor on a person named Cyriades, the son of a citizen of Antioch. This vassal forthwith conducted the Persian troops to the pillage of his native city; and so rapid and so secret was their march, that they surprised the Antiochenes while engaged at the theatre. The massacre and devasta- tion usual in the East ensued. The Persian monarch then poured his troops into Cilicia, took and plundered Tarsus and other towns ; then, crossing Mount Taurus, he laid siege to CtEsarea in Cappadocia, a city with 400,000 inhabitants. It was stoutly defended for some time ; but treachery at length delivered it into the hands of the Persians, and massacre and pillage followed. Sapor now spread his ravages on all sides ; but the Roman troops, having rallied under the command of Ser. Anicius Ballista, who had been pra3torian prefect, checked his career, and, as he was retiring towards his own states, he found himself assailed by an unexpected enemy. Soon after the defeat and capture of Valerian, a train of camels laden with presents entered the camp of Sapor. They were accompanied by a letter from Odenatus, a wealthy citizen of Palmyra, (the ancient Tadmor,) contain- ing an assurance that he had never acted against the Per- sians. Sapor, enraged at such insolence, (as he deemed it,) '4 ^ ill 238 GALLIENUS. [a.d. 261-264. tore the letter, flung the gifts into the river, and declared that he would exterminate tlie insolent writer and his faiinly, unless he came before his throne with liis hands bound behind his back. Odenatus at once resolved to join the Romans; he collected a force chiefly composed of the Bedoweens, or Arabs of the Desert, over whom he had gre;it influence. He hovered about the Persian army, and, attacking it at the passage of the Euphrates, carried off* much treasure, and some of the women of the Great King, who was forced to seek safety in a precipitate retreat. Odenatus made himself master of all Mesopotamia; and he even passed the Tigris, and made an attempt on Ctesiphon, (261.) Gallienus gave him the title of his general of the East, and Odenatus him- self took soon after that of king of Palmyra. The Roman troops in the East, meantime, being resolved not to submit to Gallienus, were deliberating on whom they would bestow the purple. Acting under the advice of Bal- lista, they fixed on the praetorian prelect, M. Fuh ins Macria- nus, a man of great military talents, and, what was perhaps of more importance in their eyes, extremely wealthy. Macria- nus conferred the othce of praBtorian prefect on Ballista, and, leaving with him his younger son and a part of the army to defend the East, he put himself at the head of 43,000 men, and, taking with him his elder son, set out for Europe, (262.) On the borders of lllyricum he was encountered by M'. Acil- ius Aureolus, the governor (or, as some say, the tyrant) of that province; and in the battle which ensued, himself and his son were slain, and his troops surrendered. After the death of Macrianus, Ballista assumed the purple ; but he was slain by order of Odenatus, whom Gallienus, (264,) with the full consent of the senate and people of Rome, had made his associate in the empire, giving him the titles of Caesar, Augustus, and all the other tokens of sovereignty. Tib. Cestius ^Emilianus, who commanded in Egypt, as- sumed the purple in that province, (262,) in consequence, it is said, of a sedition in the most turbulent city of Alexan- dria; but he was defeated the following year, taken prisoner, and sent to Gallienus, who caused him to be stranorled. It was in Gaul that the usurpers had most success. As soon as Gallienus left that country, (260,) the general M. Cassius Latienus Postumus was proclaimed emperor; and his authority appears to have been acknowledged in both Spain and Britain. He is described a^ a man of most noble and upright character; he administered justice impartially, and A. D. 267. J THE THIRTY TYRANTS. 239 he defended the frontier against the Germans with valor and success. Possessed of the affections of the people, he easily maintained himself against all the efforts of Gallienus; but he was slain at last, (267,) in a mutiny of his own soldiers, to whom he had refused the plunder of the city of Mentz, in which a rival emperor had appeared. Postumus had associ- ated with himself in the empire Victorinus, the son of a lady named Aurelia Victoria, who was called the Mother of the Camp, and who had such influence with the troops, (we know not how acquired, but probably by her wealth,) as to be able to give the purple to whom she pleased. Victorinus beincT slain by a man whose wife he had violated, a simple armorer, named Marius, wore the purple for two days, at the end of which he was murdered ; and Victoria then caused a senator named P. Pivesus Tetricus to be proclaimed em- peror, who maintained his power for some years. At the time when Macrianus claimed the empire, P. Vale- rius Valens, the governor of Greece, finding that that usurper, who was resolved on his destruction, had sent L. Calpurnius Piso against him, assumed the purple in his own defence. Piso, being forced to retire into Thessaly, caused himself to be proclaimed emperor there ; but few joined him, and he was slain by a party of soldiers sent against him by Valens, who was himself shortly after put to death by his own troops. Both Valens and Piso were men of high character ; especially the latter, to whom the senate decreed divine honors, and respecting whom Valens himself said that "he would not be able to account to the gods below, for having ordered Piso, though his enemy, to be slain ; a man whose like the Roman republic did not then possess." C. Annius Trebellianus declared himself independent in Isauria and T. Cornelius Celsus was proclaimed emperor in Africa;' but both speedily perished, (265.) Among the ca- lamities of this reign was an insurrection of the slaves m Sicily, similar to those in the time of the republic. While his empire was thus torn asunder, Gallienus thought only of indulgence, and the loss of a province only gave him occasion for a joke. When Egypt revolted, - Well," said he "cannot we do without Egyptian linen?" So, when Gaul was lost, he asked if the republic could not be secure without cloaks from Arras. He was content to retain Italy, satisfied with a nominal sovereignty over the rest of the em- pire • and, whenever this seat of dominion was menaced, he exhibited 'in its defence the vigor and personal courage which he really possessed. 240 GALLIENUS. [a. D. 268 Gaul and Illyricum were the quarters from which Italy had most to apprehend : Gallienus therefore headed his troops against Postumus; and, when D. Lielius Ingenuus revolted, in Pannonia, he marched against him, defeated and slew him, and made the most cruel use of his victory, to deter others, (•2G0.) Q. Nonius Regillianus, who afterwards revolted in the same country, was slain by his own soldiers, (2G3;) but, when Aureolus was induced to assume the purple, ('26?!^,) the Illyrian legions advanced, and made themselves masters of Milan. Grillienus, shaking off sloth, quickly appeared at the head of his troops. The hostile armies encountered on the banks of the Adda, and Aureolus was defeated, wounded, and forced to shut himself up in Milan. During the siege, a con- spiracy was formed against the emperor, by some of the prin- cipal officers of his army ; and one night, as he was sitting at table, a report was spread that Aureolus had made a sally. Gallienus instantly threw himself on horseback, to hasten to the point of danger, and, in the dark, he received a mortal wound from an unknown hand. CHAPTER VI.* CLAUDIUS, AURELIAN, TACITUS, PROBUS, CARUS, CARINUS, AND NUMERIAN. A. u. 1021—1038. A. D. 268—285. CLAUDIUS. INVASIONS OF THE GOTHS. AURELIAN. ALE- MANIC WAR. WAR AGAINST ZENOBIA. TETRICUS. DEATH OF AURELIAN. TACITUS. HIS DEATH. PRO- BUS. HIS MILITARY SUCCESSES. HIS DEATH. CARUS. PERSIAN WAR. HIS DEATH. DEATH OF NUMERIAN. ELECTION OF DIOCLETIAN. BATTLE OF MARGUS. We now enter on a series of emperors of a new order. Born nearly all in humble stations, and natives of the province of Illyricum, they rose, by merit, througli the gradations of military service, attained the empire, in general, without crime, maintained its dignity, and checked or punished the inroads * Authorities : Zosimus, the Augustan History, and Epitomators. A. D. 268,] CHARACTER OF CLAUDIUS. 241 of the barbarians. This series commences with the death of Gallienus, and terminates whh that of Licinius, embra- cing a period of somewhat more than half a century, and marked, as we shall find, by most important changes in the Roman empire. , 31. Aurelius Claudius, A. u. 1021—1023. A. D. 268—270. The murmurs of the soldiers, on the death of Gallienus. were easily stilled by the promise of a donative of twenty pieces of gold a man. To justify themselves in the eyes of the world, the conspirators resolved to bestow the empire on one who should form an advantageous contrast to its late unworthy possessor; and they fixed on M. Aurelius Claudius, who commanded a division of the army at Pavia. The sol- diers, the senate, and the people, alike approved their choice; and Claudius assumed the purple with universal approbation! This excellent man, in whose praise writers of all parties are agreed, was a native of Illyricum, born, apparently, in humble circumstances. His merit raised him through the inferior gradations of the army; he attracted the notice of the emperor Decius, and the discerning Valerian made him general* of the Illyrian frontier, with an assurance of the consulate. Aureolus was soon obliged to surrender, and he was put to death by the soldiers. An army of Alemans, coming per- haps to his aid, was then, it is said, defeated by Claudius, near Verona. After his victory, the emperor proceeded to Rome, where, during the remainder of the year, he devoted his time and thoughts to the reformation of aBuses in the state. Among other just and prudent regulations, he directed that the properties confiscated by Gallienus should be restored to their original owners A woman, it is said, came, on this occasion, to the emperor, and claimed her land, which, she said, had been given to Claudius, the commander of the cav- alry. This officer was the emperor himself; and he replied, that the emperor Claudius must restore what he took when he was a private man, and less bound to obey the laws.f The following year, (269,) the Goths and their allies em- * The term now in use for general was dux^ whence our duke. \ Zonaras, p. 23D. CONTIN. 21 E E 242 CLAUDIUS. [a. d. 269-270 barked, we are told, to the number of 320,000 warriors, with their wives, children, and slaves, in two, or, as some say, six thousand vessels, and directed their course to the Bosporus. Tn passing that narrow channel, the number of their vessels and the rapidity of the current caused them to suffer consider- able loss. Their attempts on Byzantium and Cyzicus having failed, they proceeded along the northern coast of the ^gean, and laid siecre to the cities of Cassandria and Thessalonica. While thus engaged, they learned that the emperor was on his march to oppose them ; and, breaking up, they advanced into the interior, wasting and plundering the country on their way. Near the town of Naissus, in Dardania, they encoun- tered the Roman legions. The battle was long and bloody, and the Romans were, at one time, on the verge of defeat; but the skill of Claudius turned the beam, and the Goths were finally routed, with a loss of 50,000 men. During the remainder of the year, numerous desultory actions occurred, in which the Goths sustained great losses; and, being finally hemmed in on all sides by the Roman troops, they were forced to seek refuge in Mount Ha3mus, and pass the winter amidst its snows. Famine and pestilence alike preyed on them ; and when, on the return of spring, (270,) the emperor took the field against them, they were obliged to surrender at discre- tion. A portion of their youth were enrolled in the imperial troops ; vast numbers both of men and women were reduced to slavery; on some, lands were bestowed in the provinces ; few returned to their seats on the Euxine. The pestilence which had afflicted the Goths proved also fatal to the emperor. He was attacked and carried off by it at Sirmium, in the 57th year of his age. In the presence of his principal officers, he named, it is said, Aurelian, one of his generals, i^ the fittest person to succeed him ; but his brother duintilius, when he heard of his death, assumed the purple at Aquileia, and was acknowledged by the senate. Hearing, however, that Aurelian was on his march against him, he gave up all hopes of success, and, opening his veins, died, after a reign of seventeen days. L. Domitius Aurelianus, A. u. 1023—1028. A. D. 270—275. Aurelian, like his able predecessor, was a man of humble birth. His father is said to have been a small farmer, and A. D. 270.] AURELIAN. 243 his mother a priestess of the Sun, in a village near Sirmium. He entered the army as a common soldier, and rose through the successive gradations of the service to the rank of gen- eral of a frontier. He was adopted in the presence of Va- lerian, (some said at his request,) by Ulpius Crinitus, a sena- tor of the same family with the emperor Trajan, who gave him his daughter in marriage, aud Valerian bestowed on him the office of consul. In the Gothic war, Claudius had committed to him the command of the cavalry. Immediately on his election, Aurelian hastened to Rome, whence he was speedily recalled to Pannonia by the intelli- gence of an irruption of the Goths. A great battle was fought, which was terminated by night without any decisive advantage on either side. Next day the Goths retired over the river, and sent proposals of peace, which was cheerfully accorded ; and for many years no hostilities of any account occurred between the Goths and Romans, But while Aure- lian was thus occupied in Pannonia, the Alemans, with a force of 40,000 horse and 80,000 foot, had passed the Alps and spread their ravages to the Po. Instead of following theui into Italy, Aurelian, learning that they were on their return home with their booty, marched alonor the Danube to intercept their retreat, and, attacking them unawares, he reduced them to such straits that they sent to sue for peace. The emperor received the envoys at the head of his legions, surrounded by his principal officers. After a silence of^some moments, they spoke by their interpreter, saying that it was the desire of peace, and not t!ie fear of war, that had brought them thither. They spoke of the uncertainty of war, and enlarjred on the number of their forces. As a condition of peace, they required the usual presents, and the same ai^nual payments in silver and gold that they had had before the war. Aurelian replied in a long s}>eech, the sum of which was thac nothing short of unconditional surrender would be accepted. The envoys, returning to their country n>en, reported the ill success of their embassy; and forthwith the army turned back and reentered Italy. Aurelian followed, and came up with them at Placentia. The Alemans, who had stationed themselves in the woods, fell suddenly on the legions in the dusk of the evening; and nothing but the firmness and skill of the emperor saved the Romans from a total overthrow. A second battle was fought near Fano in Umbria, on the spot where Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal was defeated and slain, five hundred years before. The Alemans were totally „-;,*— *Mi>—*-» 244 AURELIAN. [a. D- 271 routed, and a concluding victory at Pavia delivered Italy from their ravages. Aurelian pursued the barbarians beyond the Alps, and Then turned to Pannonia, which the Vandals had invaded. He engaged and defeated them, (-271.) They sent to sue for peace, and he referred the matter to his soldiers, who loudly expressed their desire for an accommo- dation. ' The Vandals gave the children of their two kings and of their princrpal nobles for hostages, and Aurelian took two thousand of them into his service. There had been some seditions at Rome during the time of the Alemanic war, and Aurelian,' on his return to the capital, acted with areat severity, and even cruelty, in pun- ishing those engaged in them. He is accused of having put to death senators of high rank, on the slightest evidence, and for the most trilling offences. Aware, too, that neither Alps nor Apennines could now check the barbarians, he resolved to put Rome into a posture to stand a siege ; and he com- menced the erection of massive walls around it, which, when completed by his successors, formed a circuit of twen- ty-one miles, and yielded a striking proof of the declining strength of the empire. Aurelian, victorious acrainst the barbarians, had still two rivals to subdue before he could be regarded as perfect mas- ter of the empire. Tetricus was acknowledged in Gaul Spain, and Britain ; Zenobia, the widow of Odenatus, ruled the East. It is uncertain against which he first turned his arms ; but, as the greater number of writers give the priority to the Syrian war, we will here follow their example. Odenatus and his eldest son, Herod, were treacherously slain by his nephew Ma^onius; but Zenobia, the widow ot the murdered prince, speedily punished the traitor, and then held the government in the name of her remaining sons. This extraordinary woman claimed a descent from the Ptole- mies of Egvpt. In her person she displayed the beauty of the East, beina of a clear dark complexion, with pearly white teeth and brilliant black eyes. Her voice was strong and harmonious ; she spoke the Greek, Syrian, and Egyptian languages, and understood the Latin. She was fond ot study, "but at the same time she loved vigorous exercises; and she accompanied her husband to the chase of the lion the panther, and the other wild beasts of the wood and desert, and by her counsels and her vigor of mind, she greatly contributed to his success in war. to these manly qualities was united a chastity rarely to be found in the East. View- A. D. 271. J ZENOBIA. 245 ing the union of the sexes as the appointed means of con- tinuing the species, Zenobia would admit the embraces of her husband only in order to have off*spring. She was tem- perate and sober, yet, when needful, she could quaff wine with her generals, and even vanquish in the combats of the table the wine-Joving Persians and Armenians. As a sove- reign, Zenobia was severe or clement, as the occasion re- quired ; she was frugal of her treasure beyond what was ordinary with a woman, but when her affairs called for lib- erality, no one dispensed them more freely. After the death of Odenatus, Zenobia styled her three sons Augusti ; but she held the government in her own hands: she bore the title of Queen of the East, wore royal robes and tlie diadem, caused herself to be adored in the Oriental fashion, and put the years of her reign on her coins. She defeated an army sent against her by Gallienus; she made herself mistress of Egypt, and her rule extended northwards as far as the confines of Bithynia. Aurelian, on pa-sing over to Asia, reduced to order the, province of Bithynia. The city of Tyana in Cappadocia resisted him ; but the treachery of one of its inhabitants put it into his hands. He parrloned the people, and he aban- doned the traitor to the just indiu-nation of the soldiers. On the banks of the Orontes, he encountered the troops of the Queen of the East. A cavalry action ensued, and, the Pal- myrenians being greatly superior in that arm, Aurelian em- ployed the stratagem of making his cavalry feign a flight, and then turn and attack the pursuing enemies, when wea- ried and exhausted with the weight of their heavy armor. The defeated Palmyrenians retired to Antioch, which they quitted in the night, and next day it opened its gates to Au- relian. • He advanced then, with little opposition, to Emesa, where he found the Palmyrenian army, 70,000 strong, en- camped in the plain before the city. Zenobia herself was present, but the command was intrusted to her general, Zabdas. In the eno^aorement, the Roman horse, unable to withstand the ponderous charge of the steel-clad Palmyre- nians, turned and fled. While the Palmyrenian cavalry was engaged in the pursuit, their light infantry, being left un- protected, offered little resistance to the legions, and a total rout ensued. Zenobia, seeincr the battle lost, and knowincr that the people of Emesa favored the Romans, abandoned that city, and retired and shut herself up in Palmyra, her capital. 21* 246 AURELIAN. [a.d. 27-2. The city of Tadir.or, or Palmyra, as it was named by the Greeks, seems to have been, fron the earliest t.mes a place of importance .n the trade between the Persian Gulf and the Med.lerranean Sea, being s.tuated in an oas.s of t^he desert abound,n1 mmm wm iUi£»i»«(fe^»s.«B,fc-a*!*as»E h I 250 PROBUS. [a. d. 276 them the engagements contracted by his predecessor. A good nuinber ot^them accepted the terms and retired, and he If^d the legions against the remainder, and speedily reduced them. As these military operations fell in the winter, the emperor's constitution, enervated by age and the relaxnig clime of southern Italy, proved unequal to them. His niind was also harassed by the factions which broke out in the camp, and even reached his tent; and he sank under men- tal and corporeal suffering, at Tyana, on the 22d of Aprd, 276, after a brief reiijn of six months and twenty days. M, Aurdius Probus. A. u. 1029— 10-25. A. D. 276—282. On the death of Tacitus, his brother Florianus claimed the empire as if fallen to him by inheritance, and the legions yielded him their obedience; but the army of the East obliged their general, Probus, to assume the purple, and a civil war commenced. The constitution of the European troops soon, however, began to give way under the heat ot the sun of Asia; sickness spread among them ; desertions be- came numerous; and when, at Tarsus in Cilicia, the army of Probus came to give them battle, they averted the contest by proclaiming Probus, and putting their emperor to death, after a reign of less than three months. Probus "was another of those Illyrians, who, born in an humble station, attained the empire by their m.erit, and hon- ored it by their virtues. He entered the army young, and speedily became distinguished for his courage and his prob- ity. His merit did not escape the discerning eye of Vale- rian, who made him a tribune, though under the usual age; crave him the command of a body of auxiliary troops, and recommended him strongly to Gallienus, by whom, and by the succeeding emperors, he was greatly esteemed, and trusted with important commands. Aurelian rated him very highly, and is even thought to have destined him for his successor. After the death of Florianus, Probus wrote to the senate, apologizing for having accepted the empire from the liands of the soldiery, but assuring them that he would submit himself to their pleasure. A decree was unanimously passed, investing him with all the imperial titles and powers, lu A. D. 277-279.] GERMAN WAR. 251 return, Probus continued to the senate the right of hearing appeals, appointing magistrates, and of giving force to his edicts by their decrees. Tacitus had punished severely some of those concerned in the murder of Aurelian ; Prol)us sought out and punished the remainder, but with less riaor. He exhibited no enmity toward those who had supported Florianus. The Germans had taken advantaore of the interrecruum which succeeded the death of Aurelian, to make a formidable irruption into Gaul, where they made themselves masters of not less than seventy cities, and were in possession of nearly the whole of the country. Probus, however, as soon as his affairs permitted, (277,) entered Gaul at the head of a nunjer- ous and well-appointed army. He gave the Germans several defeats, and forced them to repass the Rhine, with a loss, it is said, of 400,000 men. He pursued them over that river; and nine of their kings were obliged to come in person to sue for peace. The terms which the emperor imposed were, the restoration of all their booty, the annual delivery of a large quantity of corn and cattle, and 16,000 men to recruit the Roman armies. These Probus distributed in parties of fifty and sixty throughout the legions; for it was his wise maxim, that the aid derived from the barbarians should be felt, not seen. He also placed colonies of the Germans, and other tribes, in Britain, and some of the other provinces. He had, further, it is said, conceived the idea of making the conquered Germans renounce the use of arms, and trust for their defence to those of the Romans ; but, on considering the number of troops it would require, he gave it up, con- tentinor himself with makinor them retire behind the Necker and Elbe, with building forts and towns in the country, be- tween "these rivers and the Rhine, and running a wall, two hundred miles in length, from the Rhine to the Danube, as a defence to Italy and the provinces against the Alemans. After the conquest of the Germans, the emperor led his troops into Ra^tia and Illyria, where the terror of his name and his arms daunted the Goths and Sarmatians, and gave security to the provinces. He then (279) passed over to Asia, subdued the brigands of Isauria, expelled them from their f^istnesses in the mountains, in which he settled some of his veterans, under the condition that they should send their sons, when eighteen years of age, to the army, in order that they might not be induced, by the natural advantages of the country, to take to a life of freebooting, and prove as dancrerous as their predecessors. Proceeding through Syria, l»M«MMIW»«l*laW»- f:-^-- -V s.- wm ' 252 PROBUS. [a. d. 279 he entered Egypt, and reduced the people named Blemmy- ans,* who had taken the cities of Coptos and Ptolemais. He concluded a peace with the king of Persia, and, on his return through Thrace, he bestowed lands on a body of 200,000 Bastarnians, and on some of theGepidans, Vandals, and other tribes. He triumphed for the Germans and Blem- myans on his return to Rome. A prince so just and upright, and, at the same time, so warlike as Probus, might have been expected to have no competitors for empire ; yet even he had to take the field against rival emperors. The first of these was Saturninus, whom he himself had made general of the East, a man of both talent and virtue, and for whom he had a most cordial esteem. But the light-minded and turbulent people of Alexandria, on occasion of his entry into their city, saluted him Augustus ; and, though he rejected the title and retired to Palestine, he yet, not reflecting on the generous nature of Probus, deemed that he could no longer live in a private station. He therefore assumed the purple, saying, with tears, to his friends, that the republic had lost a useful man, and that his own ruin, and that of many others, was inevi- table. Probus tried in vain to induce him to trust to his clemency. A part of his troops joined those sent against him by the emperor; he was besieged in the castle of Apa- maea, and taken, and slain. After the defeat of Saturninus, two officers, named Proc- ulus and Bonosus, assumed the purple in Germany. They were both men of ability, and the emperor found it necessary to take the field against them in person. Proculus, being defeated, fled for succor to the Franks, by whom he was be- trayed; and he fell in battle against the imperial troops. Bonosus held out for some time ; but, having received a de- cisive overthrow, he hanged himself. As he had been re- markable for his drinking powers, one who saw him hanging cried, '' There hangs a jar, not a man." Probus treated the families of both with great humanity. Probus, though far less cruel, was as rigid a maintainer of discipline in the army as Aurelian had been. His mode was to keep the legions constantly employed, and thus to obviate the ill effects of idleness. When he commanded in Egypt, he employed his troops in draining marshes, improv- ing the course of the Nile, and raising public edifices. In * This people inhabited the mountains between Upper Egypt and ^e Red Sea. A. D. 282.] CARUS. 253 Gaul and Pannonia, he occupied them in formintr vine- yards. His maxim was, that a soldier should not eat his food idly ; and he even used to express his hopes that the time would come when the republic would have no further need of soldiers. This language naturally produced a good deal of discontent; and when, on his march against the Per- sians, who had broken the peace, (282,) he halted at his native town of Sirmium, and set the soldiers at work to cut a canal, to drain the marshes which incommoded it, they broke out into an open mutiny. Probus fled for safety to an iron tower, whence he was in the habit of surveying the prog- ress of the works; but the furious soldiers forced the tower, and seized and murdered him. They then lamented him, and gave his remains an honorable sepulture. M. Aurelius Cams. A. u. 1035—1036. A. I). 282—283. Notwithstanding their grief and repentance for the mur- der of Probus, the soldiers did not part with their power of choosing an emperor. They conferred the purple on Carus, the pra3torian prefect; and the senate was, as usual, obliged to acquiesce in their decision. Carus was about sixty years of age. The place of his birth is uncertain, but probability is in favor of lllyricum. He stood high in the estimation of the late discerning em- peror, and he was undoubtedly a man of considerable ability. The first care of the new emperor was to punish the au- thors of the death of his predecessor. He then raised his two sons, Carinus and Numerian, (who were both grown up,) to the dignity of Caesars; and, as the barbarians, after the death of Probus, had passed the Rhine and the Lower Danube, he sent Carinus into Gaul, directing him, when he had repelled the invaders, to fix his residence at Rome, and govern there during his absence. He himself, taking Nume- rian with him, marched against the Sarmatians, (283,) whom he defeated with a loss of 16,000 slain and 20,000 prisoners ; and, having thus secured the lllyrian frontier, he led his army over to Asia for the Persian war. When Carus passed the Euphrates, the Persian monarch, Varanes {Bahrain) II., though an able and a valiant prince, being engaged in a civil war, could not collect a force suffi- CONTIN. 22 254 CARINUS AND NUMERIAN. [a. D. 283. cient to oppose to the Romans : he therefore sent to propose terms of peace. It was evening when the ambassadors ar- rived at the Roman camp. Cams was at the time seated on the grass eating his supper, which consisted of a bowl of cold boiled peas and some pieces of salt pork, with a purple woollen robe thrown over his shoulders. He desired them to be brought to him, and when they came he told them that, if their master did not submit, he would in a month's time make Persia as bare of trees and standing corn as his own head was of hair ; and, suiting the action to the word, he pulled off the cap which he wore, and displayed his head totally devoid of hair. He invited them, if hungry, to share his meal; if not, he bade them depart. They withdrew in terror; and Cams forthwith took the field, and recovered the whole of Mesopo- tamia ; he defeated the troops sent against him, and took the cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. He was advancing into the interior of Persia, when, one day as the army was en- camped near the Tigris, there came on a most furious thun- der-storm ; and, immediately after a most awful clap, a cry was raised that the emperor was dead. His tent was found to be in flames; but whether his death was caused by light- ning or by treachery, remained uncertain. M. Aurelius Carinus and M. Aurelius Numerianus, A. u. 1036—1038. A. D. 283—285. The death of Cams appears to have occurred about the end of the year 283. The authority of his sons was readily acknowledged; and Numerian, apprehensive, as it might seem, of the designs of his brother, gave up the Persian war and set out on his return to Europe. Numerian was a prince of an amiable disposition, a lover and cultivator of literature, a poet, it is said, of no mean order, and an eloquent declaimer. He was married to the daughter of Arrius Aper, to whom Carus had given the im- portant post of praetorian prefect ; and as, on account of a weakness in his eyes, Numerian was obliged to remain shut up in his tent, or to travel in a close litter, all public business was transacted in his name by his father-in-law. The army had reached the shores of the Bosporus when a report was spread that the emperor, whom they had not seen for some time, had ceased to exist. The soldiers broke into the im- ^ A. D. 285.] CARINUS. 255 perial tent, and there found only the corpse of Numerian. The concealment of his death and other circumstances caused suspicion to fall on Aper. He was seized and laid in chains; a general assembly of the army was held while the generals and tribunes sat in council to select a successor to Numerian. Their choice fell on Diocletian, the com- mander of the body-guard. The soldiers testified their ap- probation. Diocletian, having ascended the tribunal, made a solemn protestation of his own innocence, and then caused Aper to be led before him. " This man," said he, when he appeared, " is the murderer of Numerian ; " and, without giv- ing him a moment's time fjr defence, he plunged his sword into his bosom. It may cause some surprise that the army should have proceeded to the election of an emperor while Carinus was yet living. We know not what intrigues there may have been on the part of Diocletian ; but the vices of that prince are said to have been such as would fully justify his exclusion. His conduct at Rome had been so vicious, and he put such unworthy persons into office even during his father's life- time, that Cams cried he was no son of his, and proposed to substitute for him in the empire Constantius, the governor of Dalmatia. When the death of his father had removed all restraint, he gave free course to his vicious inclinations, dis- playin'g the luxury of an Elagabalus and the cruelty of a Domitian. The news, however, of the death of his brother, and the elevation of Diocletian, roused him to energy, and he placed himself at the head of his troops. After a succession of engagements, the decisive conflict took place (May, 285) on the plain of Margus, near the Danube in Mcesia. Carinus was betrayed or deserted by his own troops, and he was slain by a tribune whose wife he had seduced. During the long period now elapsed, the aspect of the Ro- man world remained nearly as we have already described it The absence of a respectable middle class of society, abject poverty and enormous wealth standing in striking contrast in the provinces as well as in Italy, unbridled luxury, and the want of all noble and generous feeling, every where met the view. At the same time, foreign trade, of which luxury is the great promoter, was in a most flourishing state, and immense fortunes were acquired by traffic. The silks, the spices, and the precious stones and pearls of India, and \ 256 LITERATURE. the amber of the Baltic, reached Rome in abundance, and were purchased by its luxurious nobles and their ladies at enormous prices. The history of this period has noticed two instances which may give us some idea of the wealth of individuals in those days : the one is that of a Roman nobleman, the emperor Tacitus ; the other that of an Alexandrian mer- chant. The landed and other property of the former pro- duced him an income of two hundred and eighty millions of sesterces, and his ready money at the time of his acces- sion sufficed for the pay of the army. The merchant was Firmus, who assumed the purple in the time of Aurelian. This man had a orreat number of merchantmen on the Red Sea for his trade with India; he carried on a commerce with the interior of Africa ; he contracted with the Blem- myans for the produce of their mines, and he had also com- mercial relations with the Saracens or Bedoween Arabs. He possessed, moreover, extensive manufactories, and it is said that he used to boast that the paper manufactured by him would suffice to maintain an army. The Roman army at this period was evidently on the de- cline in respect to discipline and moral force. The soldiers were now accustomed to luxuries and indulcrences unknown to the troops of the republic or of the early days of the em- pire. Barbarians entered the Roman service in great num- bers ; and we shall ere long find officers of the very highest rank and power bearing German names. The maintenance of good military roads had always been an object of solicitude with the Roman government. We have seen the care of Augustus on this head ; and that wise emperor had also instituted a system of posts for the despatch of letters on public business, and the conveyance of persons employed by the government. This system was now great- ly extended, and post-houses were established at regular dis- tances aloncr all the orreat roads, furnished with horses, mules, and carriages, for the conveyance of goods as well as persons. These beasts and carriages were provided gratis by the in- habitants of the district in which the post-house stood, and the supplying of them was a most onerous burthen. Any one bearing an imperial diploma could demand horses and carriages, and food for himself and attendants without pay- ment. The system was in effect the same as that which prevails at the present day in Turkey, where the sultan's jirmdn corresponds exactly with the imperial diploma. When the emperor was on his way to any part of his do- PHILOSOPIIY. 257 n/mions, his whole court and retinue were maintained at the charge of the inhabitants of the towns where he halted ; and at each he expected to find a palace ready furnished. In like manner, the wants of the troops when on their march were to be supplied ; and when we reflect how frequently they were removed from one frontier to another, and how incessant most of the emperors were in their movements, we may form some conception of the oppression endured by the subjects. Literature partook of the general decline. After the reign of Trajan, we do not meet with a single Latin poet or historian possessing any merit. The Greek l;niguage was not, however, equ dly barren. Plutarch, who wrote on such a variety of subjects in so agreeable a manner, flour- ished under the Antonines. The witty Lucian was his contemporary. History was written by Arrian, Dion Cas- sius, and Herodian, with more or less success. The travels ofPausanias in Greece are of great value to the modern scholar; and the medical writings of Galen, and the works of Ptolemy on astronomy and geography, long exercised a most powerful infliience over the human mind in both Europe and Asia. In poetry the Grecian muse of this period aimed at no higher flight than her Latin sister. The branch of literature (if we may so term it) most culti- vated at this time was philosophy. The Stoic system found many followers ; it numbered among its professors the em- peror Marcus Aurelius, who bequeathed to posterity his Meditations, in ten books; and Arrian, the historian and statesman, published the lessons of his master, Epictetus. But the philosophy which fiir eclipsed all the others, was the New Platonism of Alexandria, of which it is necessary to speak somewhat in detail. In the writings of Plato there is much that has a mystic tone, borrowed perhaps from the Pythagoreans, or derived immediately from the East. In such parts the usual charac- teristics of mysticism appear ; simple truths are enveloped in figurative language, and vain attempts are made at explain- ing things beyond the reach of human knowledge. As such we may mention the Timaeus and similar pieces, which are certainly the least valuable portion of the philosopher's writings. But owing to their obscurity, which gives them a vague air of magnificent profundity, these vtere the very pieces that some most admired ; and their resemblance to 22 * G G 258 PHILOSOPHY. $ the dreamy speculations of the East strongly recommended hem to those whose turn of n.ind led them to myst.c.sm and to the cultivation of occult philosophy. Alexandria was the chief seat of this Platonism, and its professors there ob- ained the name of Eclectics; for, taking their leading principles from the works of Plato, they added siich ot ^hose of the Stoics, the Peripatetics, and of the Oriental plu osophy, as were 'capable of being brought "'to harmony with those of their master. The writings ot Ph.lo the Jew will show how Platonism and the Law of Moses were made **" Toward the close of the second century, this philosophy received a more e.xtended form from \f'''^'»" "^f ,,^";- monius Saccas, a man of great ingenuity and of a ve y imagination. His object was to bring all sects of philoso- phy: and all forms of religion, Christianity '-luded, ."to Le harmonious whole. His ^y^'em differed from that of the Eclectics in this, that, while ^/»// viewed the diffe re" systems as composed of trutii and error, /,. regarded the u as all flowiiur iVom the one source of truth, and therefo e cap ble of beincr reduced to their original unity. He held Urworldto be^m eternal emanation of the Deity ; and he adored and extended the Egyptian and Platonic notion of Demons of different ranks and degrees. The human soul, he Uerted micrht, by means of certain secret rites become Capable of perceivi'ng'and conversing with these intel igences. This art which he termed Tkccrgia, was a kind of inagic, the exercise of which was confined to those of highest order n the sect With this was combined a system of rigid ascet- ism - oined on all who aimed at freeing the -1 ^om the bonds of\he body. Ammonius, who was born » Ch Man represented Christ as having been an «^"'';':'>''^^ '^^"J' ,' and he labored to bring the Christian doctrine into accord- ance with his own peculiar views, by representing such par o?k as resisted his efforts as interpolations made hy .gnor- t disciples. As many of the Christians studied m l»« f oo ; the effect of the New Platonism, as it was "^nied or heir speculations, proved extremely '»i^''''^\^f ZTm\ mlv subsequent errors and superstitions into which they fell, may be traced to that source. The most distinguished of the Nevv Platonists were Porphyry, Plotinus,ProclusS.mplicius and Jamblichi^s. The sect flourished till the tune of the final triumph of Christianity. THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, 259 CHAPTER VII, THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, PERSECUTIONS OF THE CHURCH. CORRUPTION OF RELI- GION. THE EBIONITES. GNOSTIC HERESIES. MONTA- NUS. THE PASCHAL QUESTION. COUNCILS. THi: HIE- RARCHY. PLATONIC PHILOSOPHY, ITS EFFECTS, RITCS AND CERExMONIES. CHRlSTIAxN WRITERS. The Christian reliorion, during the last two centuries, had made rapid progress, and extended itself to Spain, Gaul, Britain, and the most remote parts of the Roman empire ; but it at the same time had to endure external persecution and internal corruption. It also underwent a change in its discipline and government, and thereby lost a portion of its original simplicity. Of these subjects we will now treat. Nothiu'J can be more erroneous than the idea given bv Gibbon and other skeptical writers of the tolerant spirit of * the ancient world. Tliis boasted tolerance merely extended to allowing each people to follow its own national system of religion, and worship its own traditional deities, provided they did not attempt to make proselytes. It was in effect the toleration still to be found in Mohammedan countries; but, with respect to the worship of new or foreign deities by their own citizens, the laws both of Greece and Rome were strict and severe. One of the charges on which the excellent Soc- rates was condemned to death, was that of introducing new deities; and the language of the Roman law was, "Let no one have any separate worship or hold any new gods; nor let any private worship be offered to any strange gods, unless they have been publicly adopted."* We find that this law was acted on in all times of the republic, and that the magis- trates had the power to prevent any foreign mode of worship, drive from the city or otherwise punish its professors and ministers, and seize and destroy their religious books.t The reason of these laws was probably political rather than re- ligious; for all governments have a natural and a just aversion to secret societies, which are so easily and so frequently con- * Cicero, Laws, ii. 8. t Livy, iv. 30 ; xxxix. 16. Val. Max. i. 3. Dion, lii. 36, 260 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. verted to political purposes, and the professors of a religion ditfereiit from that of the state will always form a distinct so- ciety, and, as they increa.A. D. 285.] CHARACTER OF DIOCLETIAN. 287 infy the ricrhts of which Rome had once been so jealous, exhibited more of virtue and of vigor; and nearly all the emperors, for the two last centuries, had been provincials by ori trill. While the civil condition of the empire was thus undergoing inevitable change, its ancient systems of religion were fast receding before that of the gospel, and an expe- rienced eye might easily discern that the final triumph of the hitter was certain. We are now to witness that triumph, to behold, at the same time, the Roman emperors assuming the pomp and parade of the monarchs of the East, the irruptions of the barbarians becoming every day more formidable, and the empire of the West finally sinking beneath ilfeir attacks. Diocletian, into whose hands the empire had now fallen, was another of those able Illyrian peasants whom their own talents and merits had raised to the height of imperial pow- er. He is said to have been the freedman, or the son of a freedman, of a Roman senator named Anulinus. The place of his birth was a small town in Dalmatia.* lie entered the army, and gradually rose to the post of commander of the body-guards, which he held when the votes of his com- panions in arms invested him with the purple. Good sense and prudence were the distinguishing features in the character of the new emperor. His courage was calm and collected, rather than impetuous ; and he never employed force where policy could avail. In this, as in some other points, he re- sembled Augustus ; and the personal courage of both has accordingly been called into question by malignant or super- ficial observers. The empire which Augustus had founded Diocletian remodelled, and his name stands at the head of a new order of thincrs. Diocletian used his victory over Carinus with a modera- tion which had never hitherto been equalled. None of the adherents of his adversary suffered in life, fortune, or honor. Though unversed in letters, and ignorant of the philosophy of the schools, he appreciated the mild philosophy of M. Au- relius, and declared his intention of making him his model in the art of government. In imitation of that emperor, or, more probably, from the suggestion of his own sound judg- ment, he resolved to give himself a partner in the empire. The extensive frontiers of the Roman dominion were now # Its name is supposed to have been Doclia, from a tribe of lllyrians, and his own name was probably Docles, which he Hellenized to Dio- des, and then Latinized to Diocletianus. See Gibbon, cii. xiii. The Gentile name of his patron was apparently Valerius. u I M •I 283 DIOCLETIAN AND MAXIMIAN. [a. D. 286—287. SO constantly and so vigorously assailed by the Persians and Germans, that no single person could attend to their defence, and experience had shown that generals intrusted with the command of large armies, might become the rivals of their sovereigns. The person whom Diocletian fixed on as his colleague was his ancient mate in arms, Maximianus, who, born a peasant in the district of Sirmium, had, like himself, risen solely by merit. A second Marius, Maximian was rude, brutal, and ferocious, a brave soldier, an able officer, but neither a general nor a statesman of any account. For the superior wisdom and knowledge of Diocletian, he had the utmost respect, and he always stood in awe of his (renins. It is remarkable that Diocletian was able to exer- cise as much influence over the rude Maximian, as Aurelius had possessed over the luxurious Verus — a proof, perhaps, of his greater force of mind. Diocletian first conferred on his friend the dignity of a Cffisar, and then raised him to the more elevated rank of an Augustus, (Apr. 1, 28G.) On this occasion, the emperors assumed, the one the surname of Jovius, the other that of Herculius, in allusion to their different characters, and the parts they were to bear in the state. Diocletian retained for himself the administration of the provinces of the East, and fixed on Nicomedia as his place of residence ; to Max- imian he assigned those of the West, and Milan became his imperial abode. In the following year, (287,) Maximian found employment for his arms in suppressing an insurrection of the peasantry of Gaul, who, under the name of Bagauds, a term of dubious origin,* were spreading devastation through the country. It is remarkable that, at all periods of her history, France has presented the spectacle of a rural population reduced to the extreme of misery by the oppression of an aristocracy, or of the government. Predial servitude to a tyrannic nobility was the condition in which the Romans found the Gallic peasantry ; under their own dominion, the same system was continued, and the evil was aggravated by the weight of taxation, and the insolence of a haughty soldiery. The Franks and other German conquerors succeeded to this power, and transmitted it to the feudal lords of the middle ages, with whose descendants it continued to the close of the * It is derived by some from the Celtic Bagad, a tumultuous as- sembly. A. D. 2S9.] THE BAGAUDS. 289 eighteenth century; and, in consequence of the extreme di- vision of landed property which has since taken place, and the high direct taxes imposed on the proprietors, the govern- ment appears likely to become, ere long, the owner of the far greater part of the produce of the soil, and the cultiva- tors to sink gradually to the condition of the serfs, their ancestors. The jarqurrie, or insurrection of the French peasantry, in the fourteenth century, as narrated in the graphic and ani- mated pages of Froissart, will enable us to form a conception of the rising of the Bagauds, in the fourth century. In both cases, the insurgents were unable to make head "^against the fully-armed troops opposed to them ; in both, the v^engeance taken on them was cruel and remorseless. The leaders of the Bagauds, named ^Elianus and Aman- dus, had assumed the imperial ensigns; their coins may still be seen ; but their ambition was short-lived. A more fortu- nate usurper appeared in Britain. The Franks and other German tribes of the north coast having now begun to ad- dict themselves to piracy, a lloman fleet was stationed at Boulogne, (Bommia,) in order to protect the coasts of Gaul and Britain from their ravages. The command of this fleet was given to Carausius, a native of that country, (i. c. a Me- napian,) a man of very low origin, but skilled in navigation, and of approved courage. It was soon discovered tfat the pirates used to pass down the channel unobserved or unmo- lested, but that they were apt to be intercepted on their re- turn, and that a considerable part of the booty gained from them never found its way into the imperial treasury. Max- imian, convinced of the guilt of the admiral, gave orders for his death ; but the fleet was devoted to Carausius, and he passed with it over to Britain, and, having induced the legion and the auxiliaries stationed there to declare for him, he boldly assumed the purple; and the emperors, after some fruitless attempts to reduce him, w^ere obliged (289) to ac- knowledge his rank and title. It soon appeared that even two emperors would not suffice for the defence of the provinces, and Diocletian resolved to associate two other generals in the imperial power. Under the title of Caesars, they were to rank beneath the emperors, but their power was to be absolute in the parts of the empire assigned them. The persons selected were Galerius Max- imianus, a native of Dacia named Armentarius, from his CONTIN. 25 K K i t; \ t I' t * I il. ■ f 'I- t^90 DIOCLETIAN AND MAXIMIAN. [a. D. 296. original employment of a herdsman, and Constantius,* a grand-nephew in the female line of the emperor Claudius. The former was, as might be expected, rude and martial; the latter, though a soldier from his youth, was polished in manners, and mild and amiable in temper. Perhaps it was in imitation of the policy of Augustus, that Diocletian re- quired the Caesars to divorce their wives and marry the daughters of himself and his colleague. He bestowed the hand of his own daughter Valeria on Galerius, and Theo- dora, the stepdaughter of Maximian, became the wife of Constantius. For himself Diocletian reserved Thrace, Egypt, and the Asiatic provinces, while his C^sar Galerius governed those on the Danube ; Maximian held Italy and Africa ; his Ca?sar Constantius had charge of Spain, Gaul, and Britain. The power of Carausius, the ruler of this last-named island, was now at its height; by repressing the incursions of the Caledonians and the Invasions of the Germans, he pre- served internal tranquillity ; his fleets rode triumphant on the ocean, and he still retained Boulogne and its district on the continent. But the loss of a rich province was galling to the pride and the dignity of the empire, and Constantius undertook the task of reducing the British ruler, (292.) By running a mole across the harbor of Boulogne, he obliged that town and a great part of the usurper's fleet to surrender. While he was preparing a fleet for the invasion of the island, he received intelligence of the death of Carausius, who was assassinated (294f by Allectus, his principal minister. The murderer assumed the vacant power and dignity, and more than two years elapsed before Constantius had assembled a fleet and army sufficient to attemi3t the recovery of the island. At length, (296,) he prepared to invade it in three separate places." The first division, under the praetorian prefect As- clepiodotus, put to sea on a stormy day, and by the favor of a fog having escaped the fleet of Allectus, which lay off the Tsle^'of Wight, effected a landing in the West. As soon as his troops had debarked, the prefect set fire to his ship- pincr. Allectus, who had taken his station with a large army at London, to await the arrival of Constantius, hastened to the West; but his troops were few and dispirited, and after a * He is usually named Chlorus, frcfni his pallid hue, as it would appear, though the Panegyrist (v. 19) spe^s of his rubor. Tillemont says that it is only in the later Greek writers that his name Chlorus appears. i-'M A. D. 296.J PERSIAN WAR. 291 brief conflict he was defeated and slain.* Constantius, when he landed, met with no opposition; and this noble island was thus, after a separation of ten years, reunited to the empire. Africa and Egypt gave at this time occupation to the two emperors. In the former, a man named Julian assumed the purple at Carthage, and five confederated Moorisli tribes in- vaded the province. But, on the appearance of Maximian, Julian stabbed himself, and the Moors were easily defeated, and forced to abandon their mountain fastnesses. In Egypt, one Achilleus had assumed the purple at Alexandria, and the Blemmyans were ravaging the valley of the Upper Nile. Diocletian sat down with a large army before Alexandria: he cut off the aqueducts which supplied it with water, and strongly secured his camp against the sallies of the besieged ; and after eight months the rebellious city was obliged to sur- render at discretion. A severe vengeance was taken, and many thousands of the inhabitants were slaughtered ; the cities of Busiris and Coptos were totally destroyed, and all Egypt suffered by sentences of death or exile. To oppose an effectual barrier to the incursions of the Blemmyans, the emperor induced the Nobctre or Nubians to quit their abodes in the deserts, and settle in the country about Syene and the Cataracts, which he resigned to them on the condition of their guarding that frontier of the empire. While he re- mained in Egypt, Diocletian mader many wise laws and regu- lations, calculated to promote the happiness and prosperity of the country. t A war ensued with Persia, on account of Armenia. We have seen that, from the time of Augustus, the Roman em- perors had claimed and exercised the right of bestowing the investiture of that kingdom. After the defeat, however, of Valerian, the Persian monarch, having caused the Armenian king Chosroes to be assassinated, had made himself master of the country. Tiridates, the infant son of the murdered monarch, was saved by his friends, and committed to the care of the Roman emperors. He grew up strong, active, dex- terous in the use of arms, and undauntedly courageous ; and * Compare the invasion of England by William the Norman. t Among others, he directed that a strict search should be made " for all the ancient books which treated of the admirable art of making gold and silver," and committed them to the flames. This is the earliest mention of the vain science of alchemy. See Gibbon, [chap, xiii.] This folly still prevails in the East. See Eraser's Travels in Koordis- tan, &c., for an instance at the present day. 292 DIOCLETIAN AND MAXIMIAN. [a D. 296—297. he won the warm friendship of Liciiiius, the sworn mate and friend of Galerius. At the instance of this last, Diocletian declared Tiridates king of Armenia; and as soon as the new monarch appeared on the frontiers, (286,) the Armenians, weary of the insults and oppression of the Persians, received him \vith transports of joy. The Persian garrisons were speedily driven out of the country; and, as a civil war was raging at the time among the Sassanian princes, Tiridates was Me not only to recover Armenia, but to carry his arms into Assyria. When, however, the civil conflict terminated, and Narses was acknowledged king of Persia, the whole force of the empire was turned against the revolted Armenians, and Tiridates was once more obliged to seek the protection of the Roman emperors. As the language of Narses now became insolent and menacing, and prudence and honor alike demanded the restoration of Tiridates, Diocletian prepared for war, (296.) Fixing his own abode at Antioch, he committed the conduct of the war to Galerius, whom he had summoned for the purpose from the banks of the Danube. Galerius crossed the Euphrates, and entered on the plains of Mesopotamia. After some indecisive fighting, the clouds of Persian cavalry enveloped his army, which was far inferior in number, on the very ground which, more than three centuries before, had wit- nessell the defeat and death of Crassus. The Romans sus- tained a total overthrow; and Galerius, when he reached Antioch, had the mortification to be received with cold aus- terity by Diocletian, whose chariot he had to follow on foot, in his imperial purple, for the length of a mile. A new army, however, was soon formed from the troops of lilyricum and the Gothic auxiliaries; and Galerius, at the head of 25,000 gallant soldiers, was permitted again to try his fortune, (297.) Warned by experience, he now shunned the plains, and advanced through the mountains of Armenia. In person, attended by only two horsemen, he undertook the perilous task of exploring the strength and the dispositions of the hostile force. He then made a sudden attack on the Persian camp ; the rout of the enemy was instantaneous and complete. Narses, who was wounded in the action, fled to Media ; the Persian camp, replete with riches, became the prey of the victors;* the monarch's own harem fell into the * A Roman soldier, it is said, meeting with a leathern bag fall of pearls, threw away the latter, of which he could not conceiye the use. I A. D. 303.] PERSIAN WAR- 293 hands of the Romans; and rude as was the nature of Gale- rius, his treatment of the royal ladies equalled that of Alex- ander the Great, on a similar occasion. Diocletian, when he heard of this great victory, set out from Antioch, and met the now elated Galerius at Nisibis. Here they were soon waited on by Apharban, a person high in the confidence of the Persian monarch, with proposals for a treaty of peace. After an interview with the emperors, the Persian was dis- missed with an assurance that Narses should speedily be informed of the terms on which peace mi^ht be obtained. The secretary, Sicorius Probus, accordingly soon after appeared in the Persian camp, and peace was concluded on the following conditions: All the northern Mesopotamia was to be resigned to the Romans, and the River Aboras* was to form the boundary of the two empires in that country; five provinces beyond the Tigris t were also to be ceded to the Romans; Tiridates was to be restored, and his dominions augmented ; the kinors of Iberia to be nominated by the Roman emperors. The empire was now externally at rest; the revolted prov- inces had been recovered, and the frontiers extended; Dio- cletian, therefore, took the occasion of the commencement of the twentieth year of his reign (303) for celebrating a triumph for the victories obtained by his arms and under his auspices. For this purpose, he repaired to Rome, which he had not yet honored with his presence, and he and Maximian triumphed jointly, (Nov. 20,) for Africa, Egypt, Britain, and other countries, but more especially for Persia. The cere- mony displayed fhe usual pomp and magnificence; one cir- cumstance, unknown at the time, distinguished it from all others — it was the last real triumph that Rome was to witness. The importance of the eternal city had suflfered a serious diminution by the altered circumstances of the empire, which demanded the presence of the sovereigns nearer to the frontiers. The senate lost the consideration which it had heretofore enjoyed ; the once formidable praetorian guards were orreatly reduced in number and influence ; they ceased and kept the bag. Am. Marc. xxii. 4. The same story is told of one of the followers of the first Khalifs ; but the Arab previously tried to chew the pearls, taking them for grains of millet. * This river rose near the Tigris, ran by Singara, and entered the Euphrates at Circesium. t Namely, Zahdicene, Arzincne, Corduene, Moxoene, and Intiline. 294 DIOCLETIAN, MAXIMIAN. [a. D. 304—305. to be the protectors of the imperial person, their phice as such being occupied by two legions of the army of Illyricuni, which were named Jovians and Ilerculians, from the titles of the emperors. The stay of Diocletian, in this his first and last visit to the capital of the empire, did not exceed two months. The freedom and familiarity of the populace was harsh and un- pleasant to his ear, accustomed to the submissive adulation of Greeks and Orientals ; motives of policy may also have concurred to give him a distaste for Rome. He quitted that capital, therefore, in the midst of the winter, and proceeded through lUyricum to the East. The fatigue of the journey and the severity of the weather brouorht on a linirerincr ill- J ^ O 3 3 ness. He was obliged to travel by short stages, and mostly in a close litter, and he did not reach Nicomedia till toward the end of the summer, (304.) His illness liad then become serious; and it was not till the March of the following year (3i)5) that he was able to appear in public. During his long confinement, he had reflected on the incompatibility of the cares of empire with the attention and indulgence which his advanced age and declining health demanded; and he adopted the resolution of resigning his imperial power, and retiring into private life. He communicated his intention toMaxinnan; and, however adverse that restless emperor minht be to parting with his power, he had been too lonor in tiie habit of submitting implicitly to the dictates of his wiser colleague to refiise compliance. On the same day, (May 1,) as had been previously arranixed, both the emperors, the one at Nicomedia, the other at Milan, performed the ceremony of their abdication, and the Cajsars Galerius and Constantius became emperors in their stead.* Diocletian retired to his native province of Dalmatia, where, in the neighborhood of the city of Salona, he built a magnificent palace, and em- ployed his hours in gardening and planting. t Maximian fixed his abode at a villa in Lucania, but we are not informed how he passed his days. The abdication of Diocletian is the earliest instance which * If we may credit the author of the work De Mortlbus Persecuto- rum, Galerius forced Diocletian to resicrn. t Diocletian survived his abdication about eight years. He died in • 313. When urged by the instances of Maximian and Galerius to re- sume his power,, he replied, " I wish you could see the potherbs plant- ed by my own hands at HBalona, ana you would surely never think, that p was sol- emnly initiated in the mysteries of Ekusis. Still he was to outward appearance a Christian, and the empress Eusebia had not probably a shade of doubt respecting the faith of her distinguished protege. In Gaul he appears to have still dissembled, and to have openly assisted at the Christian wor- ship, while in his closet he otfered Ins homage to the Sun and Hermes. When he assumed the imperial dignity, he disdained all further concealment of his sentinvents, and boldly proclaimed himself a votary of the ancient gods. It may be, perhaps, laid down as an axiom in history, that when once a religious or political system has gone out of use among any people, its permanent restoration is an im- possibility. Ttie power of a mon;irch or of a j>olitical party may reestablish it for a time, but wbcii tli€ hand that sus- tained it is gone, it sinks back into its previous state of *■ neglect and impotence. The efforts of Julian to restore paganism, must, therefore, even had his life been prolonged, have proved utterly abortive. The system had long been crumbling to pieces from internal feebleness and decay ; the theism on which it was founded, and of whose various forms its beautiful mythes were merely the expositions,* had long been unknown; and the mystic views of the New Platonists, which Julian had adopted, were totally opposite to its spirit. To this should be added, th:it Christianity, corrupt as it then was, had, by its noble spirit of benevolence and charity, by the sublimity of its original principles, and by the organiza- tion of its hierarchy, a moral power such as the old religion had not possessed at any period of its prevalence. When we view the attempt of Julian in this light, we may feel disposed to pity, while we deride the folly of the imperial fanatic. Julian was by nature just and humane ; he was also a philosopher and statesman enough to know that persecu- tion, if it does not ao the full lencrth of extermination, adds strength, and numbers, and energy, to the persecuted and irritated party. He, therefore, instead of imitating Diocle- tian, proclaiined a general toleration. The pagans were directed to open their temples, and offer victims as hereto- fore ; the contending sects of Christians were commanded to abstain from harassing and tormenting each other. The catholic prelates and clergy, whom the Arian Constantias * See the author's Mythology of ancient Greece and Italy. A. D. 361.] REFORM IN PAGANISftL 341 had banished, were accordingly restored to their sees and churches.* The real object of all this moderation, we are assured by Ammianus, was to incrJIse the mutual animosity of the Christian sects, by giving free course to their contro- versial spirit while depriving them of the power of extermi- nating each other, and thus to prevent their uniting in op- position to his ulterior projects. We can hardly blame Julian for giving- a preference to his fellow-believers in civil and military employments. This mild form of persecution is the fate of religious and political parties in all ages. But even his most partial admirers can- not (Ammianus does not) justify the edict whicli prohibited the Galila3ans, as he affected to style the Christians, from teaching the arts of grammar or rhetoric, /. c. from being schoolmasters. By means of this, he expected that the Christian youth would either frequent the schools of the pagan teachers, and thus probably be converted, or they would abstain from them, and thus grow up in ignorance, and the church, losing the advantages of learning and cul- tivation, sink into contempt. A far more legitimate and laudable mode of warfare was his effort to reform paganism on the model of Christianity, by introducing into it those rules and practices to which the latter seemed to liim in- debted for its success. He thus desired that the priesthood in every city should be composed of persons, without dis- tinction of birth or wealth, eminent for the love of gods and men; that the priest should be undefded in mind and body, his reading be solely of a serious and instructive nature, and the theatre and the tavern be alike unvi-sited by him. He required that hospitals should be erected in each town ; '' for it is shameful to us," said he, *' that no beggar should be found among the Jews, and that the impious Galikeans should support not only their own poor, but ours also, while these last appear destitute of all assistance from ourselves." These were his advice and exhortations to the sacerdotal bodies of the temples of Asia Minor, in which country alone such were to be found. It can be only these, we may ob- serve, that are meant, when the hostility of the priests of the heathen to the Christian religion is noticed. While Julian abode at Constantinople, ambassadors ar- rived from distant countries, even from India and the isle of Serendib or Ceylon, with which the subjects of the empire 29 * See belov, Chapter VI. * JULIAN. [a. d. 362. 342 had naw commercial relations. All was tranquil on the banks of the Rhine and the Danube, and the Persian mon- arch had made proposaljfcf peace. It might therefore have been expected that a philosopher in principle and a devotee in relicrion, such as the emperor was, would have been satis- fied to°apply his whole time aixd thoughts to the promotion of the welfare of his subjects and the extension of his re- ligious creed. But Julian, when in Gaul, had been smit- ten with the passion for military glory; and t^e example of Alexander the Great, which had fasciaated even Juliui. Caesar, uraed him to aspire to the conquest ot the ±.ast He therefore returned a haughty reply to the envoys of Sapor, and, in the end of the spring, {^m,) he passed over to Asia at the head of a formidable army. He made little delay on the road; his piety, however induced him to turn aside and offer his devotions to the Mother of the Gods at Pessinus, the ancient seat of her worship. He arrived, toward the end of the month of June, at Aiitioch, where he resolved to remain till the following spring, when he should be preparetl to open the campaign with vigor in Mesopotamia. -.i i i The people of Antioch received the emperor with loud demonstrations of joy. Julian now divided his thoughts be- tween preparations for war, the administration of justice, and what he regarded as his religious duties. Each day numerous victims were sacrificed to the gods, for which purpose birds of white plumage were brought even Irom considerable distances; for, in the creed of Julian, the god^ derived pleasure, if not nourishment, from the holy steam which ascended from the altars on which the flesh of victims was consumed. He himself frequently slaughtered the sa- cred beasts with his own hands, and besought, in their reek- in^ entrails, to discover future events. Faithtul m the dis- clfarcre of all his religious duties, the pious emperor might be se^en crravely moving along in religious procession amid a crowd of those persons of both sexes who led lives of mtamy in the service of the licentious religions of the East. The grove of Daphne, about five miles Irom Antioch, in which stood a stately temple of Apollo, raised by the kings of Syria, had long been celebrated as the scene ol acts ot licentiousness most alien from the character of Plxebus Apollo, the purest object of Grecian worship, and Daphnic mannrr, had lona been proverbial. But since the triumph of Christianity, tlie sanctity of the temple of Daplme had A. D. 362.J JULIAN AT ANTIOCH. 343 greatly declined ; and on the d;iy of the festival of the god. Julian, who seemed to estimate piety by the number of vic- tims, was mortified to find that the only animal that bled on the altar of the lord of light was a solitary goose, provided at the cost of the sole remaining priest, whose means proba- bly did not reach to the purchase of a swan. The glory of Daphne had indeed departed ; the emperor's own brother, Gallus, had caused the bones of the bishop Babylas, who had died in prison in the time of Decius, to be transported into the sacred precincts, and a stately church to be erected over them; and the grove of Daphne thus, in accordance with the superstition then prevalent, became a favorite burial- place for the Christian inhabitants of Antioch. But Julian resolved to remove the profanation, and restore tlie temple to its pristine sanctity and magnificence. The church of St. Babylas was demolished, and the Christian bodies were re- moved. On this occasion, the body of the saint was con- veyed to Antioch in a lofty car, amid the loud singing of psalms by an immense multitude; and that very night the temple of Daphne was consumed by lightning sent from Heaven at the prayer of the offended saint, according to the Christians of Antioch ; by fire applied to it by themselves in the opinion of the emperor, who in return shut up their prin- cipal church, and seized its wealth. Several of the Christians were tortured, and a presbyter, named Theodoret, was be- headed ; but no persecution, properly speaking, took place. It was different, however, elsewhere; and in Gaz i, Caesarea, and other towns, the now triumphant pagans exercised the most atrocious cruelties on the devoted Christians; and the emperor only gently condemned their excesses. The great mnjority of the people of Antioch were Chris- tians in rites and doctrines; but in practice they were very remote from the standard of gospel perfection, and Antioch had long been noted as the most luxurious and dissipated city of t1ie East. The strict and austere morals of the em- peror were therefore fully as distasteful to the Antiochians as his pagan superstition; and, as they were a witty and in- genious people, thev assailed him with the darts of ridicule. They mocked at his sacerdotal exercises ; they derided his short stature and his efforts to make his shoulders appear broad, and his long strides in walking. But the grand butt of their shafts was his h\xB\\y , populous beard, which, in his character of philosopher, he sedulously nourished. He took his revenge by writing a satire on the Antiochians, which \ 1 344 JULIAN. [a. d. 362. ■0 he named the Beardhater, (Misopogon ;) but he never for- gave them, and he publicly declared his intention not to re- visit their city. At the same time, in order to win the favor of the common people, Julian adopted a very questionable policy. The .har- vest having been deficient, the natural consequences had followed ; corn was at a monopoly-price, and capitalists made it a matter of speculation. To remedy this evil, the emperor, by an edict, fixed a maximum, or highest price, at which corn might be sold; and he poured into the market 422,000 measures of corn drawn from the granaries of other towns, and even from Kgypt. This corn, as might easily have been foreseen, was all bought up by the capitalists; the supply was kept back as before, and the small quantities that were brought into the market were sold underhand at a price beyond the maximum. Julian was perplexed; he would not or could not be made to see the policy of leaving trade to regulate itself; he was persuaded that the scarcity was entirely artificial, and produced by the conduct of the wealthy land-owners ; and on one occasion he arrested and sent to prison the whole senate of Antioch, consisting of two hundred members. They were, however, released in the evening, but cordiality was never restored between them and the emperor ; and, as we have seen, they lampooned and rid- iculed him, and he satirized them in return. Julian, while at Antioch, as a means of mortifying the Christians, whom he hated, resolved on restoring the Jews to their country, and rebuilding the temple of Jehovah, whom he regarded with respect as a national god. He committed the t;rsk to Alypius, an able and learned Antiochian, who had been governor of Britain ; and this ofiicer, being second- ed by the governor of the province, set at once about clear- ing away the ruins on Mount Moriah ; but a tempest and earthquake, and flames which burst from the ground and scorched and burned the workmen, prevented the progress of the work, and the death of the emperor put an end to all thoughts of resuming it. The Christians of the time viewed in this event the direct interference of Heaven ; and many modern, even Protestant, writers take the same view. By so doing, no concession cer- tainly is made to the false miracles of the church of Rome, and we are very far from holding, that Providence might not see fit to interpose in a case of extraordinary importance. But we deny such to have been the case in the present in- A. D. 363.] TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM. 345 stance ; the futility of Julian's efforts against Christianity, and the fate which so soon awaited him, could not be un- known to Omniscience, and a miracle seems therefore to have been superfluous. The present one is, moreover, ex- plicable perhaps by natural causes. We know how prone the ecclesiastical writers were to convert, partly from ignorance, partly from design, natural events into miracles, and also how a tale gains in its progress. Rejecting therefore the storm and earthquake,* and confining ourselves to the fiery explosions to which we have the testimony of Ammianus, it has been supposed, with some degree of probability, that the phenomenon may come under the head of choke-damp, with the cause and effects of which we are now so familiar, and that the workmen may have been injured by the air, which had now been confined for three centuries in the vaults and cavities beneath the site of the temple. Still this explana- tion is not without its difliculties; and, though we ourselves cannot regard the event as supernatural, we leave the reader to form his own judgment, and return to the plain path of history. In the spring of the year 363, Julian departed from Anti- och, and proceeded to Beroea, {Aleppo,) and thence marched to Hierapolis, not far from the banks of the Euphrates, at which town the troops had been ordered to rendezvous. The river was passed without delay; and, as it seems to have been the emperor's design to enter the enemy's country by Nisibis and Armenia, the army advanced to Carrhfe. But, circum- stances having caused him to alter his views, he detached his relative, Procopius, with Sebae^tian, ex-duke of Egypt, and thirty thousand select troops, directing them to join Arsaces, king of Armenia, and, having ravaged the adjacent parts of Media, to be prepared to cooperate with him on the Tigris when he should have reached that river. He him- self, having directed his march, as it were, for that river, suddenly turned to the right, and reached Callinicum on the Euphrates, along which he proceeded till he came to Circesium, the southern limit of the Roman dominion be- yond the river, built at the confluence of the Aboras and the Euphrates. The imperial army, the largest ever led by a Roman emperor against Persia, counted sixty-five thousand men. * Yet, according to Ammianus, (xxiii. 1,) a shock of an earthquake was felt at Constantinople at this very time. R R } it 346 JULIAN. [a. d. 363 It was composed of the veteran troops of the East and the West, of Scythian (i. c. Sarmatian) auxiliaries, and of bodies of the Saracens or Bedovveen light horse, who had joined the emperor since his passage of the Euphrates. Parallel to the march of the army, a fleet moved along the river, com- posed of fifty war-galleys, an equal number adapted for the formation of bridges, and one thousand vessels of various kinds, carrying provisions, arms, and warlike machines. On leaving Circesium, the army entered the hostile territory, and moved southwards along the Euphrates. It marched in three parallel columns : the infantry, which formed the strength of the army, led by the emperor in person, occu- pied the centre ; Nevitta, at the head of some legions, moved along the bank of the river on the right; while the cavalry, under an officer of high rank in the East, named ArinthiEus, and the Persian prince Hormisdas, {Hoormuz,)* was placed on the left, where the assaults of the enemy were most to be apprehended ; and the charge of the rear-guard was com- mitted to Dagalaiphus, Victor, and Secundinus, duke of Osrhoene. The whole line of march extended nearly ten miles in breadth. The country over which the army passed was a level, sandy plain, in which were only to be seen the wild ass and antelope, the ostrich and the bustard. It was destitute of trees, and its only plants were wormwood and aromatic reeds and shrubs. On the evening of the sixth day, the army reached Anatha, (Annah,) a town situated on an island of the Euphrates, the people of which at first prepared to resist ; but they yielded to tlie instances of Prince Hor- misdas^ and opened their gates. The next town to which the army came stood also in an island : it was named Thilu- tha, and was so strong that the emperor judged it prudent to be content with the promise of the inhabitants to surrender when he should have conquered the interior country. The people of the next town made a similar promise ; the re- maining towns on the route were found deserted, and were pillaged and burnt; and at length the army, in about fifteen days after its departure from Circesium, arrived at Mace- practa, the frontier town of the ancient Assyria. During the latt* days of the march, the Persian Surena, and Rho- * Hormisdas was a member ot" the royal family of Persia, who made his escape from prison in the troubles which occurred durinir the minor- ity of Sapor. He sought refuge at the court of Constantius, and rose to high rank in the Roman army. He was a Christian. A. D. 363] PERSIAN WAR. 347 dosaces, the emir of the tribe of Gassan, {As3a7iitcBurn,) had been hovering about the army with their light cavalry; and on one occasion Hormisdas narrowly escaped becoming their captive. The army now entered Assyria, and, having surmounted the impediments caused by the numerous canals with which that province was intersected, arrived at a strong city named Perisabor, (Anbar,) situated close to the Euphrates. The garrison having despised the summons to surrender, the town was invested. A breach was soon effected in a tower at one of the angles of the wall, and the garrison, abandon- ing the town, retired into the citadel which overhung the river. The Romans entered and burned the town, and then erected their machines against the citadel. The garrison made a gallant defence till they saw a Idclcjwiis, or moving toiver, advancing against the walls. They then demanded a conference with Hormisdas, and, the governor being let down from the walls for the purpose, the terms of surrender were arranged. The inhabitants, two thousand five hundred in number, (for the greater part had made their escape over the river,) were allowed to retire, and the fort was then reduced to ashes. Quitting the banks, of the Euphrates, the emperor now directed his course toward those of the Tigris. When the army had marched about fourteen miles, they found the land covered with water, the natives having opened the sluices by which they were used to turn the waters over their fields. The canals were also full, and it was found necessary to halt a day in order to construct bridges of skin-bags, and leathern boats, and of the palm-trees which grew so abundantly in that region. The difiiculties of the route being thus sur- mounted, the army reached a large town named Maogamal- ca, distant only eleven miles from the suburbs of Ctesiphon. As this strong fortress could not be safely left in their rear, an immediate siege was resolved on. The emperor himself advanced on foot with a few of his guards to reconnoitre the site of the town, when suddenly they were fallen on by ten Persians who had stolen out by a postern gate, and had crept round through the adjacent hillocks. Two of them singled out the emperor, and attacked him sword in hand ; but he received their strokes on his shield, and ran one of them through, and the other was slain by the guards who came to his relief. The next day, the canal which lay between the army and the town was passed* by means of bridges,, and a ! i1 / I \ \ 348 JULIAN. [a. d. 363. camp was formed, secured by a double rampart, against the attacks of the Surena, and his numerous cavalry. At the same time, the Roman horse, under the command of Victor, was directed to scour the country as far as the suburbs of Ctesiphon. The siege was then commenced in form. The garrison defended themselves gallantly, but they were not aware of their walls, while openly assailed by rams and other engines, being secretly undermined ; and, while they were exerting all th°eir power against the enemy, whom they saw, fifteen hundred Roman soldiers emerged from the floor of one of the temples, and, slaughtering all whom they met, opened the gates to their companions. A general massacre ensued; rage and lust burst all restraints; neither age nor sex was spared, and the governor* and eighty of his guards, and some of the women, seem alone to have been spared. The town was razed, and, it being ascertained that a pa^ty of the enemy had concealed themselves in the artificial cav- erns, which were numerous in those parts, with the intention of falling on the rear of the army as it was departing, fires of straw and wood were made at the mouths of the caverns, and they were thus either smothered, or forced to come out and be slain. The march being resumed, the army came to a paradise, or royal park walled in, and abundantly stocked with lions, bears, and other kinds of Oriental game. The walls were instantly broken down, and the soldiers amused themselves with slaughtering the savage denizens. At length the Roman army beheld the walls and towers of Ctesiphon crowning the opposite bank of the Tigris, while its suburb of Cbchet lay not far from their camp. To form the siege of the latter while it could be so easily suc- cored from The city on the opposite side of the river, seemed a needless and a tedious task ; and to pass the army over for the attack on the capital, the fleet from the Euphrates would be requisite. The Nahar-maica, or royal canal, which poured the waters of that river into the Tigris, was at hand, but it discharged itself below Coche, while the army was encamped above that city. Julian, however, was aware that Trajan and Severus had opened a new course for that canal, which had been afterwards dammed up, and efTaced by the Persians; and among the prisoners there chanced to be an old man * His name was NabdaU's; he was burnt alive a few days afler for havincr used insultinfr language to Trince Hormisdas. i Formerly called Seleucia. A. D. 363.] PERSIAN WAR. 349 who recollected and pointed out its situation. The array was immediately set to work, and the Roman fleet speedily rode on the Tigris. The broad Nahar-malca was passed by a bridge of boats, and the army, approaching Coche, en- camped at a stately palace adorned with paintings of the royal hunts, and surrounded with rich and well-planted fields. It was at this spot that Julian resolved to attempt the pas- sage of the Tigris. The difficulties he knew to be great; the stream is rapid, the banks are high; they were occupied by a strong force of cavalry, infantry, and elephants, and the city of Ctesiphon, with its numerous population and garri- son, was at hand. But Julian relied on fortune, who so long had stood his friend; and, having previously caused some of the strongest of the vessels that carried the provisions and machines to be unladen, and eighty soldiers to embark in each of them, he summoned his generals to council, and in- formed them of his intention of attempting the passage that very night. They all remonstrated against it, but in vain; and Victor, to whom the task was committed, prepared to obey. As soon as the word was given, five of the vessels started, and, running down with the current, made for the opposite shore. When they reached it, the enemy attacked them, and set them on fire. Julian, on beholding the flame, though aware of the truth, cried out that it was the appoint- ed signal, and that the landing had been effected. Instantly every vessel pushed off* and swept down the stream with such speed, that they arrived in time to save both the men and the vessels. Many soldiers, in their ardor, trusted themselves on their broad shield to the current ; the banks were speed- ily won, and the troops formed. They were joined by the emperor, and, after a contest of about twelve hours' duration, the Persians fled to Ctesiphon, which the Romans might have entered pell-mell with them but for the caution of Vic- tor, who feared that they might be overwhelmed by the mul- titude of the people. The loss of the Persians was said to be two thousand five hundred, that of the Romans, only seventy men. The emperor distributed civic, naval, and castrensic crowns to those who had most distino^uished them- selves; and he prepared to offer numerous victims to Mars the Avenger.* But of ten oxen of eminent beauty selected for this purpose, nine fell to the ground in melancholy mood * Perhaps because Augustus had built a temple to this god after the recovery of the standards from the Parthians. See above, p. 10, CONTIN. 30 %\ y % 350 JULIAN. [a. d. 363. before they approached the altars, and the tenth burst his bonds and escaped; and when he was caught and slain, the signs in his entrails were of ill omen. At the sight, Julian, in'' indignation, took Jove to witness that he would never again sacrifice to Mars.* It might have been expected that the siege of Ctesiphon, a city which had thrice surrendered to the Roman arms, would now be commenced without delay. But in the coun- cil which was held in the presence of the emperor, to delib- erate oil the question, it was unanimously agreed that it would be highly imprudent to undertake it ; and Julian him- self fully concurred in the opinion of the council. Intelli- gence also arrived, that, on account of the treacherous con- duct of the king of Armenia, and the dissension of the Ro- man generals, there was now no chance of his being joined by the troops sent from Carrhai. To retreat might be dis- graceful; but prudence counselled that a minister, whom Sapor had secretly sent to Prince Ilormisdas, to propose terms of peace, should be admitted to an audience. Unhap- pily, Julian recollected that his Macedonian model had always rejected the propositions of Darius; and Ilormisdas was ordered to dismiss the envoy before the soldiers should know of his arrival. Julian also resolved, like Alexander, to advance and pursue his rival; and he was encouraged in this design by the arrival of a Persian nobleman, who, with a train o^f his followers, came, pretending to seek refuge and protection from the cruelty of Sapor ; and describing the discontent of the people, and the weakness of the govern- ment, offered to be the guide of the Romans. As it would be necessary to quit the banks of the Tigris, and the ships and stores, if left behind, must inevitably fall into the hands of the enemy, Julian issued orders for the whole to be burnt, except twelve of the smaller ones, which should be conveyed with the army, for the construction of bridges. The discon- tent and fears of the troops, however, caused an attempt to be made, when too late, to extinguish the flames ; and men, judging by the event, have condemned the conduct of the emperor, whose real error was of a very different kind. Quitting, therefore, the banks of the Tigris, the Roman army entered on the fertile country to the east of that river. At first, supplies were had in plenty ; but, as they advanced, they found the villages deserted, and the grass and standing • Probably in imitation of Augustus. See History of Rome, p. 467. A. D. 363.] PERSIAN WAR. 351 corn in flames. They were frequently obliged to encamp till the flames had subsided on the ground over which they were to march: the Persian cavalry now began to show itself more boldly ; and the treacherous guide, having obtained his object, disappeared. Any farther advance was now hope- less; the only question was, what line of retreat should be adopted. The soldiers were clamorous for returning by the route by which they had come; but the emperor and their officers proved to them that the wasted state of the country, the inundation of the river, (now swollen by the melting of the snows in the mountains,) and the quantity of mosquitoes and other insects, from which they had .already suffered most severely, would render a retreat by that route nearly imprac- ticable. It was therefore resolved to turn northwards, and endeavor to gain the trans-Tigrian Roman province of Cor- duene. As soon as the retreat commenced, the Persians, who had hitherto only shown themselves in small parties, appeared in greater force, and the Romans had to win their way by force of hand. The country still was burnt, and the towns were every where deserted. In the district named Maranga, a general attack was made by the Persian army ; but they were finally repelled with loss, after the action had lasted from daybreak to sunset. A truce was then made for three days, in order that the wounded on both sides might be tended ; but on the part of the Romans there was hardly any food for man or beast, and the superior officers had to share their own private stores with the common men. On this, as on all occasions, the emperor set a noble exam- ple. He used only such food as a common soldier would have actually disdained, and he caused the provisions of his household to be distributed among the troops. The uneasi- ness of his mind caused his sleep to be broken, and he used to read and write in his tent when thus awaked. As he was thus engaged one night, he beheld the Genius of the Steite, who had appeared to him in Gaul, the night before he was declared emperor, retreating from the tent with a dejected air, his head and cornucopise shrouded in a vei/. He rose from his humble couch, and made deprecatory offerings to the ffods, committinor all to their will : as he looked out, he beheld a meteor flaming across the sky, and he shuddered when he thouofht it micrht be the menacing star of Mars. Before daylight, he summoned the Tuscan haruspices to his tent, to explain the meaning of the sign. They counselled 3:2 JULIAN. [a. d. 363. him not to give battle that day, or, at all events, not to move from where he was for at least some hours ; but he took no heed of their warnings, and at daybreak (June 26) the army set forward. The Persians hovered around, as usual. Julian was ri- ding unarmed out before his troops to reconnoitre, when he heard that the rear was attacked. Snatching up a shield, he was hastening to its support; but he was recalled by intelli- gence that the troops in advance, whom he had'just quitted, were also attacked : he was riding back, when a furious charge was made by the Persians on the centre of the left, which was yielding to the pressure of their heavy-armed cavalry and elephants. He flew to their aid; at that very moment, the Roman light troops drove off the enemy; and, stretching out his hands, he was urging on his men to follow up their success, and was giving them an example himself, when a spear grazed his arm, and, entering his side, pierced the lower part of his liver. He attempted to pull it out ; but the sharp steel cut his fingers deeply, and he fell from his horse. He was taken up by those about him, and conveyed away, and committed to the care of the surgeons. When the pain was a little assuaged, he called for his horse and arms, that he might return to the aid of his troops ; but he soon per- ceived that his strength did not correspond with his will. Meantime, the action was maintained vigorously on both sides; and the Persians were finally repulsed, with a loss of fifty men of rank, and a great number of the common sol- diers. The Romans had to lament the death of Anatolius, the master of the offices ; and the aged prefect Sallust nar- rowly escaped the same fate. Julian, aware that he was dying, addressed those who were mourning around him. He expressed his satisfaction that it had pleased the gods, who had often given an early death as their best boon, to withdraw him from the danger of corrup- tion ; he reflected with pleasure on the innocence of his past life, and declared that he had always endeavored to promote the welfare of the people, which he regarded as the true end of government. He had, therefore, sought to maintain peace, and repress license; and, though it was foretold to him that he would perish by steel, he did not shrink from exposing himself to danger. He was grateful, he said, to the Supreme Being that he had not fallen by a conspiracy, or been taken off by a lingering disease, but was thus removed in the midst A. D. 363.] DEATH OF JULIAN. 353 of his glorious career. He would say nothing on the choice of his successor, lest he might chance to pass over a worthy person, or, by naming some one of whom the army miaht not approve, expose him to danger. When he had conclu- ded, he distributed his private property among his friends. He rebuked those present for their tears, sa'ying it was a mean thing to mourn for a prince who was about "to be uni- ted to the stars. When they had ceased, he conversed with the phdosophers, Maximus and Priscus, on the nature of the soul, till his wound beginning to bleed afresh, he called for a draught of cold water; and, when he had drunk it, he breathed his last, about midnight, in the thirty-second year of his age. We have devoted so much space to the actions of this emperor, that any remarks on his character may appear su- perfluous. Yet there is in it so much to interest, that we cannot refrain from keeping it in view a little louirer, and pointing out his virtues as well as his faults, — vices" he had none, — more especially as he has been so hardly treated by those injudicious writers, who think themselves bound to portray the enemy of their fiith as a perfect monster. The time, however, is arrived in which a better knowledge of the gospel has removed such narrow prejudice; and the virtues of Julian and the crimes of Constantine may be recognized without Christianity being supposed to sustain an injury. In person, Julian was of middle height, broad-shouldered, and well-built. His nose was straight, his eyes bright ; his shaggy beard was peaked, his hair was soft and fine. "^Ue was able to endure great bodily fatigue, and he never shrank from toil or danger. He practised, without effort, the four cardi- nal virtues, and their attendant moral qualities. His chastity was conspicuous; he had never known a woman when he married, and after the death of his wife he thought no more of the sex. In his German and his Persian wars, he dis- played the talents of an able general, and he was both loved and feared by his soldiers. Julian was learned, and at the same time himself an elegant writer. His principal faults were vanity and superstition. He was too fond of talking, and took too much pleasure in light conversation and buf- foonery ; he was negligent of his person and dress to a de- gree that indicated an originally feeble mind. It is mel- ancholy to read of his superstitious regard to portents; his fancied intercourse with the fabled gods of Greece, and his extreme love for pouring forth the blood of victims in their 30 s s I :i •HI I i 354 JOVIAN. [a- d- 363. honor • His enmity to the Christians was unjust and little- minded ; but their revenge has been ample. Julian was not "great man, but he was better qualified to rule than most pr.nces ; and, though we may not adm.re, we must esteem his character. Jovian. A. u. 1 1 10—1 117. A. D. 363—364. The mornin.^ after the death of Julian, a general assem- bly of' the officers of the army was held for the purpose of choosinc an emperor; for, as the house of Constantine was now extinct, no one could justly put forth any other cla.m than that of merit. They were split into two parties; Ar.n- thsus, Victor, and the remaining courtiers of Constantius, looked out for one of their own party «^om they might pro- pose ■ while Nevitta, Dagalaiphus, and the Gallic officers souaiU a candidate of their own side. Both, however, agreed in The person of the prefect Sallust ; but he declined the honor, pleading his age and his infirmities. An officer of rank Uien proposed that they should, for the present, only think of extricating the army from the instant perils, and that when they reached Mesopotamia, they might choose an emperor at their leisure. But, while they were deliberating, some persons saluted as emperor Jovianus, the commander of the Domestics, or body-guard. He was immediately in- vested witii the royal robes, and he rode through the troops, who readily acknowledged his authority. , , . ,k„ Jovianus, whom the caprice of fortmie thus elevated to the purple, was distinguished more by his f.ther's merit than his own He was the son of Count Varronianus, who, after hav-- ina lona served with reputation, was now living in dignified refirem^nt. Jovian was tall and comely in person, of a gay and cheerful temper, a lover of wine and women, fond o literature, at the same time a good soldier, and even a zeal- ous Christian. , . . i • „„^ As soon as Jovian was proclaimed, victims were slam, and mHrissine parsimonia pecudes mactans, ut ffistimaretiir s. revertisset TvJZ b'ovesVd "futures: Marci illius eimUis Ca^sans in quem ,d accepimus dictum: ol X.v.ol Jo.; 3Juoy.o^ to, Ku.aao^- Av av viH.:ay,g, K^ing «.ToAci«e^«." Ammianus, xxv. 4. A. D. 363.] PERSIAN WAR. 355 their entrails inspected. The augurs having pronounced that it would be the utter ruin of the army to remain where it was, the march was instantly resumed. The Persians, imboldened by the intelligence of the death of Julian, con- veyed to them by deserters, pressed on with redoubled vigor ; but, in spite of their incessant attacks, the Romans succeed- ed in reaching Sumere, (Samara,) on the Tigris, about one hundred miles above Ctesiphon. Marching up the stream, they encamped next night in a valley, at a place named Carche, and on the first of July, they arrived at the town of Dura, where they were detained for four days, by the perse- vering energy of the enemy. The impatient soldiers insisted on passing the river at that place : and, Jovian and his officers having remonstrated with them to no purpose, a body of five hundred Gauls and Sarnmtians were directed to try if they could swim across the stream. They made the attempt at night, and easily succeeded, and the impatience of the sol- diers could only be restrained by the promise of the engineers that they would construct bridges of inflated skins. Should the Romans succeed in passing the river, or jn reaching the frontiers of Corduene, which were only a hun- dred miles distant, they would be out of danger, and might continue the war with advantage. Sapor, therefore, re- solved not to let slip the occasion of concluding a treaty, while they were in his power. He accordingly despatched the Surena and another nobleman to the Roman camp, to signify that, on certain conditions, their sovereign, out of his clemency, would permit the emperor and the remnant of his army to depart in safety. Sallust and Arintha^us were sent to the Persian monarch, by whom they were artfully detained for four entire days, during which the army suffered severely from the want of food. The terms which Sapor in- sisted on, were the absolute cession of the five provinces be- yond the Tigris, and the surrender of the cities of Nisibis, Singara, and the Moors' Camp, (Castra Mauroruin.) He also required that no aid should be given to the king of Ar- menia, at any future time, against the Persians. To these severe and humiliating conditions Jovian acceded, only stipulating that the inhabitants of Nisibis and Singara should be permitted to depart with their movable property. A peace was then concluded for thirty years, and hostages of rank were exchanored on both sides. This was the most inglorious treaty ever concluded by Rome, for it was the first by which she had abandoned terri- 356 JOVIAN. [a. d. 363. tory. The conquests of Trajan had, it is true, been aban- doned by Hadrian and Aurelian, but these were voluntary cessions, dictated by political wisdom ; the treaty of Dura was a plain confession of inferiority, a barter of territory for life and liberty. Arnmianus, who was present, speaks of it with the grief and indignation of a gallant soldier ; and he maintains that, in the four days that were spent in negotia- tion, the army might have reached Corduene, though it was a hundred miles distant. But he seems to have forgotten that the incessant attacks of the Persians had already forced the army to halt at Dura; and he does not explain how an army of 60,000 men could have marched one hundred miles in four days, without provisions, and continually assailed by an active and persevering foe. Eutropius, who was also present, is, perhaps, more correct in saying that the peace, though inglorious, was necessary. But the original error may be charged on Julian, who should have repassed the Ti- ^is when he found himself unable to undertake the siege of Ctesiphon ; and perhaps it was death alone that saved him from the disgrace of concluding the treaty of Dura. The Roman soldiers hastened to pass to the farther bank of the river. Some crossed on inflated skins, leading their horses by the bridle: others got over in the boats which had been brought with the army. Some of the more impatient, who had not waited for the signal for the passage, were drowned, in their attempts to swim across; or, if they reached the other side, were slain or carried away for slaves, by the Saracens. When the whole army had effected its passage, the march was directed for the Roman territory. The ruins of the once impregnable Atra were passed, and, after a march of seventy miles, which occupied six days, over an arid plain, which only produced bitter plants and brackish water, the army reached the castle of Ur, where it was met by a small convoy of provisions, sent from the army of Pro- copius and Sebastian. The troops made a halt there for a few days, of which the emperor took the advantage for send- ing appointments to offices of trust and importance to those whom he thought best calculated to support his interests in the West. When the supply of provisions was exhausted, the army renewed its march ; and the famine which it expe- rienced was so great, that a modiiis (201bs.) of meal, when- ever it chanced to be found, was sold for iQw pieces of gold. At the town of Thilsaphata, the emperor was met by Sebas- tian EpJ Procopius, and their principal officers; and tho A. D. 363.] CHRISTIANITY REESTABLISHED. 357 army finally encamped under the walls of Nisibis, which city shame prevented Jovian from entering, though earnestly entreated by the people. The following day, Bineses, a Persian nobleman, wife was one of the hostages sent with the army, called on the empe- ror to fulfil his promise, and surrender the town. Jovian having acceded to his demand, he enter^, and displayed the banner of Persia from the citadel. Nothing could exceed the grief and indignation of the Nisibenes. They implored the emperor not to force them to migrate, affirming that, even unaided, they were aWe to maintain their town against all the power of Persia. But Jovian, alleging a regard for his oath, was deaf to their entreaties ; and at length, exasperated at an advocate named Silvanus, who cried out, when he saw a crown presented to him by the citizens, '* May you be thus crowned, O emperor, by the remaining cities!" he issued orders for those to depart within three days who were not willing to be subjects of the king of Persia, The grief and lamentation were naturally great, and the loss of property was considerable, owintr to the want of beasts of burden to convey it away. A new quarter was built at Amida for the reception of the exiles, which city, in consequence, resumed its former importance, Singara and the Moors' Camp were surrendered in like manner, and Jovian then led his troops to Antioch. The remains of the late emperor were com- mitted to the charge of Procopius, to be conveyed to Tarsus. The attachment of Jovian to the Christian faith was well known. On the march to Antioch, the Labarum was again displayed. By a circular epistle, addressed to the governors of the provinces, he declared the Christian faith to be the religion of the empire ; all the edicts of Julian against it were abolished, and the church was restored to its posses- sions and immunities. The prelates thronged to the court of the Christian emperor ; and the venerable Athanasius, although seventy years of age, undertook, at that advanced season of the year, a journey from Alexandria to Antioch, in order to confirm him in the path of orthodoxy. By a *vise and humane edict, Jovian calmed the fears of his pagan subjects, proclaiming universal toleration, except for the practisers of magic arts. Impatient to reach the capital, Jovian remained only six weeks at Antioch. He first marched to Tarsus, \diere he made a brief halt, and gave directions relating to the tomb of Julian. At Tyana in Cappadocia, he was met by !■ 358 VALENTINIAN, VALIIN** [a. D. 364. deputies, sent ta assure him of the obedience of the armies and people of the West. On the 1st of January, 364, he assumed the consulate at Ancyra, with his infant son for his colle^ae, whose crying, and reluctance to be carried in the curule chair, were regarded as ominous. He thence pro- ceeded toward the capital ; but, having supped heartily one night, (Feb. 17,) wten he halted at Dadastana^ a little town on'^the frontiers of Bithynia, he was found dead in his bed the following morning. Various causes were assigned far his death ; but the most probable one was his having lain in a recently plastered room, in which there was a large fixe o' charcoal. He was in the 33d year of his age, and he had not reigned quite eight montlis. CHAPTER v.* VALENTINIAN, VALENS, GRATIAN, VALEN- TINIAN II., AND THEODOSIUS. ^,u. lin_-1148. A.D. 304—395. * RLEVATION OF VALENTINIAN AND OF VALENS. PROCOPIUS. GERMAN W.ARS. RECOVERY OF BRITAIN. REBELLION IN AFRICA. QUADAN WAR. D.EATH OF VAL'KNTINIAN. HIS CHARACTER. GRATIAN. THE GOTHS. THE HUNS. 1HE GOTHIC WAR. BATTLE QF HADRIANOPLE, AND DEATH O.F VALENS. RAVAGES OF THE GOTHS. THEO- DOSIUS. SETTLEMENTS' OF THE GOTHS. MAXIMUS. DEATH OF (JRATIAN.. DEFEAT OF MAXIMUS. MASSACRE AT THESSALONICA. CLEMENCY OF THEODOSIUS. DEATH O*" VALENTINIAN II. DEFRAT AND DEATH OF EUGENIUS. DEATH AND CHARACTER OF THEODOSIUS. STA.TE OF THE EMPIRE. Vcdentiman and Valens. A. u. 1117—1128. A. D. 364—375. The death of the emperor Jovian did not prevent the advance of the army; and while it was on its march for Nicsea, the crenerals and civil officers met in frequent delib- "^ Authorities : Aj^iiiiaraus, Zosim^s, the EpitDmatoi^&, and Ecclesl astical Historians. A. D. 364.] CHARACTER OF VALENTINIAN. 359 eration on the choice of an emperor. All the suffrages were united in favor of the prefect Sallust; but he again refused the imperial dignity, both for himself or for his son, alleg- ing the age of the one and the inexperience of the other. Various persons were named and rejected : at length all united in approbation of Valentinian, who was then at An- cyra, in command of the second school of the Scutarians; and an invitation was sent to him to repair to Nicaea, where the solemn election was to be held. Valentinian was a Pannonian by birth, son of Count Gra- tian, a distinguished ofiicer. He had himself served with great credit, and was now in the forty-third year of his age. In person he was tall and handsome. He was chaste and temperate in his habits; his mind had been little cultivated, and he was unacquainted with the Greek language, and with literature in general. He was a Christian in religion, and he had offended the emperor Julian by the public expression of his contempt for the rites of paganism. Every prudent measure was adopted by the friends of Valentinian to prevent the appearance of a competitor for the empire. No time, it might therefore be supposed, would have been lost in causing him to be acknowledged ; yet it was not till the second day after his arrival at Nicaea that he let him- self be seen; the first happening to be the Bissextile, a day noted as unlucky in the annals of Rome. On the evening of that day, at the suggestion of Sallust, it was forbidden, on pain of death, for any man of high rank to appear the next morning in public. At daybreak, the impatient troops all assembled without the city ; Valentinian advanced, and, having ascended a lofty tribunal, was unanimously saluted emperor. He was then arrayed in the imperial habit, and was proceeding to address the assembled troops, when a general cry arose for him to name a colleague ; for late events had made even the meanest perceive the danger of an un- settled succession. The tumult increased, and menaced to become serious, when the emperor, by his authority, stilled the clamor, and, addressing them, declared that he felt as well as they the necessity of an associate in the toils of govern- ment, but that the choice required time and deliberation He assured them that he would make the choice with all con- venient speed, and in conclusion promised them the usual donative. Their clamors were converted into acclamations, and the emperor was conducted to the palace, surrounded by eagles and banners, and guarded by all the troops. I H I O 60 VALENTINIAN, VALENS. [a. D. 365. The word was given to march for Nicomedia. Meantime Valentinian called a council of his principal officers to delib- erate on the choice of a colleague, though he had probably already, in his own mind, fixed on the person/ All were silent but the free-spoken Dagalaiphus, who said, " If you love your own family, most excellent emperor, you have a brother ; if the state, seek whom you may invest with the purple.'' Valentinian was offended, but he concealed his feelings. The army marched for the Bosporus, and, soon after their arrival at Constantinople, (Mar. 28,) the emperor assembled them in a plain near the city, and presented to them his brother Valens, as his colleague in the empire. In this choice, he proved that natural affection was stronger in his breast than regard for the public happiness ; for Valens, though in his thirty-sixth year, had never borne any employ- ment, or showed any distinguished talent. As none, however, ventured to dissent, the choice seemed to be made with the general approbation. A general reformation of the administration of the empire was effected in the course of the year. Most of the officers of the palace and governors of provinces appointed by Julian, were dismissed; but the whole proceeding was regulated by equity. In the spring of the following year, (365,) the two emperors quitted the capital of the East, and at the palace of Mediana, three miles from Naissus, they made a formal division of the empire, and parted — never again to meet. Valentinian, reserving to himself the West, committed the East, including Greece and the country south of the Lower Danube, to the rule of his brother. The able crenerals and great officers were also divided between them ; to the inex- perienced Valens were assigned the services of Sallust, Vic- tor, Arinthceus, and Lupicinus; among those whom Valen- tinian retained for himself, was the intrepid Dagalaiphus. Valens had soon to contend for his empire. Procopius, after the funeral of the emperor Julian, had retired to his estates in Cappadocia, where he lived in peace, till an officer and soldiers appeared, sent by the new emperors to arrest him. He made his escape to the sea-coast, and sought refuge among the barbarians of the country of Bosporus: but, after some time, weary of the hardships and privation? he endured, he came secretly to Bithynia, and sheltered himself there in various retreats. He at length ventured into the capital, where two of his friends, a senator and a eunuch, afforded him concealment. lie there observed the discontent of the A. D. 365.] PROCOPIUS. 361 people, who despised Valens, and detested his father-in-law, Petronius, a cruel, hardhearted man, who seemed to have no other desire than that of stripping every man of his prop- . erty, claiming with this view the payment of debts due to the state, even so far back as the reign of Aurelian. Imbold- ened by this aspect of affairs, Procopius resolved to acquire the empire, or perish in the attempt. The conjuncture was favorable; for. Sapor having resumed hostilities, Valens had passed over to Asia to take the field against him. While he was in Bithynia, he learned that the Goths were preparing to invade Thrace, which was now unguarded. He therefore sent back some of his troops; and, as they had to pass through Constantinople, Procopius seized the occasion of attempting to gain over two Gallic cohorts, which had halted in that city. His promises and the memory of Julian prevailed with them. At the dawn of day, Procopius appeared in their quarters, like one risen from the dead, and, having renewed his promises, was saluted emperor. They escorted him thenc6 to the tribunal. The people at first were silent and indifferent; but, a few hired voices having set the exam- ple, they joined in the acclamation of emperor. Procopius then took possession of the palace ; he displaced the officers of Valens, and secured the gates of the city and the entrance of the port. Numbers flocked to his standard ; the troops, as they arrived from Asia, were seduced ; those on the northern frontier were induced to declare for him, and the Gothic princes to promise a large body of auxiliaries. Faustina, the widow of Constantius, joined his party, and he carried about with him her daughter Constantia, a child only five years old. He thus endeavored to make his cause appear to be that of the house of Constantine against the upstart Pannonians. When Valens heard of the events at Constantinople, he gave way to the most abject despair, and even meditated re- signing the purple, till he was brought back to nobler thoughts by the remonstrances of his officers. He then sent the Jovian and Herculian legions against the usurper, who was now at Nicaia. Procopius met them on the banks of the Sangarius; and, when the troops were on the point of eno-a- ging, he advanced alone into the midst, and, addressing the opposite legions, induced them to declare for him. Valens, nevertheless, advanced to Nicomedia, havincr sent one of his generals to invest Nica^a ; and he himself soon after laid siege to Chalcedon. But the besieojers were beaten off at Nicaea, and Valens, whose army was in want of provisions, and who CONTIN. 31 TT i : 362 VALENTINIAN, VALENS. [a. D. 366. feared to be attacked in the rear by the garrison of Nicaea, retired with all speed to Ancyra, leaving Procopius master of Bithynia. At Ancyra, he was joined by Lupicinus, with a strong body of troops from Syria. He then gave the com- mand'^ to Arinthaeus, who advanced against the rebels that were at Dadastana, under the command of one Hyperectri- ses, a man of low rank, whom Procopius had raised out of friendship. Arintha3us, when he beheld him, called out to the soldiers to bind their commander and deliver him up ; and such was his ascendency over their minds that they obeyed his mandate. Procopius, however, made himself master of Cyzicus on the Hellespont. He then unwisely suffered his soldiers to plunder the house of Arbetio,* who was living in retirement; and, instead of advancing at once into Asia, where the people would probably have declared for him, he thought only of collecting money for carrying on the war. In the spring, (S66,) Valens advanced into Galatia, and, as Procopius carried the infant daughter of Constantius with him to the field, he invited the offended Arbetio to repair to his camp; and this aged general of Constantine's, taking off his helmet, and displaying his hoary locks, advanced toward the troops of Procopius, and, addressing the soldiers as his children and the sharers of his former toils, implored them to follow himself, who was, as it were, their parent, rather than that profligate adventurer and common robber. Many were thus induced to desert; and, when Procopius gave battle to the imperial troops at Nacolia in Phrygia, Agilo, an officer of rank, and several of his men, went over to the emperor in the heat of the action. Procopius, seeing all lost, fled on foot to the moutitains, with two companions, by whom he was treacherously seized next day, and delivered bound to the emperor. His head was instantly struck off; the two traitors shared his fate. Judicial inquiries ensued; the rack was in constant use; the executioner was incessantly em- ployed: neither age, sex, nor rank, was spared, and the re- sults of the victory of Nacolia were more direful than the most terrible civil war. As nothing of very great importance, in a political sense, occurred for'some vears in the East, we will devote our pages henceforth to the actions of Valentinian. The absence of the Roman armies and the intelligence of the death of Julian having inspirited the Alemans, they * See above, p. 326. A. D. 366—368.] ALEMANNIC WAR. 363 passed the Rhine in the beginning of January, 366, and proceeded to ravage Gaul in their usual manner. The Counts Charietto and Severian were defeated and slain by them. But Jovinus, the master of the cavalry, having taken the command of the army destined to act against them, surprised and cut to pieces two of their divisions, and, en- gaging the third in the vicinity of Chiilons, {Catalauni y) de- feated them after a well-contested action, with a loss of 6,000 slain and 4,000 wounded, that of the Romans being only twelve hundred men. For this victory, Jovinus was, on his return to Paris, justly honored with the consulate. Some time after, (368,) an Alemannic chief, named Rau- do, surprised the city of Mentz, {Moguntiaiutn^) on the day of one of the Christian festivals, and carried away a great num- ber of the inhabitants. Valentinian, resolved to take ven- geance on the whole nation, ordered Count Sebastian to invade their country from the south, with the armies of Italy and Illyricum, while he himself and his son Gratianus should cross the Rhine at the head of the troops of Gaul. They passed the river without opposition ; as they advanced, no enemy appeared; the deserted villages were burnt, and the cultivated lands laid waste. At length they learned that the enemy had occupied a lofty mountain, the north side of which alone was of easy ascent. Valentinian, having posted Count Sebastian at that side to intercept the fugitives, gave the signal to advance; and the Roman soldiers, in spite of all impediments, won their way up the steep sides of the mour^in. When they had attained the summit, they charged the enemies vigorously, and drove them down the northern side, where they were intercepted and slaughtered by Count Sebastian. Valentinian and his son then returned to Treves for the winter, and celebrated their victory by magnificent triumphal games. Instead of again invading Germany, the prudent emperor resolved to provide for the defence of Gaul ; and he caused a chain of forts and castles to be constructed, chiefly along the left bank of the Rhine, from its source to the ocean. The Germans made various attempts to interrupt the works, especially those on the right bank of the river, and sometimes with success; but the em- peror completed his design, and secured the tranquillity of Gaul for the remainder of his reign. The coasts of Gaul and Britain were now infested by the invasions of the pirates of the North, who, united under the name of Saxons, (that of the people of the neck of the Cim- 4 % I 'ii the same river, and by the same person, and in the same manner, a.^ it would appear. The Gothic general in the former he calls (Edoth'Hjs ; the same with the Odothaeus of Claudian (De iv. Cons. Hon. ij'2i)) in the second. We cannot, by the way, agree with Gibbon that this v.:.>! Aletheus. . ^ One of the most improbable circumst.inces in the narrative is, * i <; the Goths should not have discerned the Roman shinpin_< , for L.ie Danube is nowhere tjo wide to be seen across. A. D. 383.] CHARACTER OF GRATIAN. 379 his father had surrounded him.* In the acts of the early years of his reign, though he was the ostensible agent, thej/ were the secret directors; and the youth, whose chief virtue was ductility to good, obtained the fame due to higher qual- ities. But when death or other causes had removed these able and virtuous advisers, the amiable but indolent prince fell under the guidance of men of a ditferent character, to whom he intrusted the affairs of the state, while he devoted him- self to the delightsof the chase, in which he bent the bow and flung the dart with the skill of a Commodus. The offices and advantages of the court and the provinces were set to sale, and the minds of the subjects were thus alienated; but this would have signified little had Gratian been careful to retain the attachment of the soldiers, which his conduct, when directed by worthy advisers, had won. This, how- ever, he lost by his own imprudence. He had placed a body of Alans among his guards, and, charmed with their dexterity in the use of his favorite weapons, he committed to them exclusively the defence of his person. He used even to ap- pear in public in their peculiar national dress, to the grief and indignation of the legionary soldiers, even the Germans viewing with horror the Scythian costume. While such was the temper of the troops, a revolt broke out in the army of Britain, (3S:J,) and a person named Max- imus was there proclaimed emperor. This man, who was a native of Spain, and the fellow-soldier of Theodosius, was re- siding in Britain, but without civil or military rank of any importance. His abilities and his virtues are recognized, but whence his influence arose we are uninformed ; and if we may credit his own positive assertion, his dignity was forced on him. He plainly saw that he could not recede; and, as the British youth crowded to his standard, he passed over to Gaul at the head of a large army.t The troops of Gaul all declared for him, and Gratian fled from Paris to Lyons with only three hundred horse. The gates of all the towns on his way were closed against him, and the treacher- * Ausonius, *the poet (more properly versifier) of Bordeaux, was one of his tutors. Gratian honored him with the consulate in 379. We cannot see why Gibbon should call Ausonius " a professed pagan." t A large emigration of Britons to Armorica is placed in this time, to which belongs the legend of St. Ursula and her virgins. Tliese are said to have been 11,000 noble and G0,000 plebeian maidens, the des- tined brides of the emigrants, who, mistaking their way, went up the Rhine, and were massacred at Cologne by the Huns — who were not there. ! p t ' ill i > ir 4 i[ i \i\ ' H M •« III i. M II • 4 380 THEODOSIUS, ETC. [a. d. 383-387. OQs governor of Lyons amused him with promises till those sent in pursuit of him arrived, and he was slain as he rose from supper, (Aug. 25.) His brother Valentinian applied, but in vain, for his body. Mellobaudes, the Frank king and Roman general, shared the fate of his master ; but Maxnnus, who was now acknowledged by the whole West, could boast that no other blood was shed except in the field. TheodosiuSj Valentinian 11., and Maximus, A. u. 1136—1141. A. D. 383—388. The late revolution had been so sudden that Theodosius had been, perhaps, uninformed of it until it was accomplished ; and, ere he could determine how to act, he was waited on by an embassy from the usurper, headed by his chamberlain, a man advanced in years, and, as the historian observes, to the praise of Maximus, not a eunuch. The envoy justified the conduct of his master, asserting his ignorance of the murder of Gratian : he then proceeded to give Theodosius the op- tion of peace or war. Gratitude and honor urged the em- peror to avenge the fate of his benefactor ; but prudence sug- gested that the issue of a contest with the troops of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, was doubtful, and that the barbarians, who hovered on the frontiers, would be ready to pour into the empire when its forces should have been wasted in civil conflict. He, therefore, lent a favorable ear to the pro- posals of Maximus, and acknowledged him as a colleague, carefully, however, stipulating for the security of Valen- tinian in his share of the empire. The images of the three imperial colleagues were, according to usage, exhibited to the people. The empire now remained at rest for a space of four years; but at length (387) its repose was disturbed by the ambition of Maximus; for, not content with his own ample portion, this fortunate rebel cast an eye of cupidity on the dominions of Valentinian, where many were disaffected on account of religion. Having extorted' large sums of money from his subjects, he took a great number of barbarians into pay ; and, when an ambassador from Valentinian came to his court, he persuaded him to accept the services of a part of his troops for an imminent Pannoniau war. The envoy himself was their guide through the passes of the Alps; Maximus A. D. 387.] FLIGHT OF VALENTLMAN. 381 secretly followed at the head of a larger body, and a precipi- tate flight from Milan to Aquileia alone assured the safety of Valentinian and his mother. Not deeming themselves se- cure even in that strong city, they embarkelin a vessel, and, sailing round the Grecian peninsula, landed at Thessaloni- ca,* whither Theodosius hastened to visit them. He delib- erated whh his council as to What were best to be done; the same reasons as before urged him to pause before he should engage in a civil war ; and the injuries of Valentinian might possibly have gone unrevenged, had they not found an advo- cate in the beauty of his sister Galla. By the directions of her mother, this princess cast herself at the feet of Theodo- sius, and with tears implored his aid. Few liearts are proof against the tears of be luty — that of Theodosius, at least, was not ; his empress was dead, and his aid was assured if the lovely supplicant would consent to share the throne of the East. The condition was accepted, the nuptials were cele- brated, and the royal bridegroom then prepared to take tlie field. Large bodies of Huns and Alans crowded to the standard of Theodosius, who found Maximus encamped near Siscia, on the banks of the Save. The light cavalry of the barbarians flung themselves into that deep and rapid river the moment they reached it, and routed the troops which guarded the opposite bank. Next morning, a general action ensued, which terminated in the submission of the surviving troops of Maximus, who fled to Aquileia, whither he was rapidly followed by Theodosius. The gates were burst open ; the unfortunate Maximus was dragged into the pres- ence of the victor, who, having reproached him with his misdeeds, delivered him to the vengeance of the soldiers, by whom his head was struck off. His son Victor, whom' he had given the rank of Caesar, and left behind him in Gaul, was put to death by Count Arbogast, one of Theodosius's generals, by the order of that emperor; and the whole of the West was thus subjected to the rule of Valentinian. The generous Theodosius compensated those who had suffered by the oppression of Maximus, and he assigned an income to the mother of that ill-fated prince, and provided for the edu- cation of his daughters. Gibbon's account of their voyage is more suited to epic poetry than to history. II 4 I III 111 < t 1 1 'I; ■■I HI ■ . l! r \ l\ i 4- ) •-S ' ' > I 'ii 1 382 THEODOSIUS, ETC. [a. d. 390. Thcodosius and Valcntinian IT. A. u. 1141—1145. A. D. 388— 392. Theodosius, after his victory, remained three years in Italy to regulate the affairs of the West for his juvenile col- league. In the spring of the year 389, he made a triumphal entrance into the ancient capital of the empire; but his usual abode was the palace of Milan. While Theodosius was residing in Italy, (390,) an unhappy event occurred, which casts almost the only shade over his fair fame. In the city of Thessalonica, an eminent charioteer of the circus conceived an impure affection for a beautiful boy, one of the slaves of Botheric, the commander of the gar- rison : to punish his insolence, Botheric cast him into prison. On the day of the games, the people, with whom he was a great favorite, enraged at his absence, rose in insurrection, and, as the garrison was then very small, they massacred Botheric and his principal officers, and dragged their bodies about the streets. Theodosius, who was of a choleric temper, was filled with fury when he heard of this atrocious deed. His first resolution was to take a bloody revenge ; the efforts of the bishops then led him to thoughts of clemency ; but the arguments of his minister Rufinus induced him, finally, to expedite an order for military execution. He then attempted to recall the order, but it was too late. The people of Thes- salonica were, in the name of the emperor, invited to the games of the circus. Their love of amusement overcoming their fear of punishment, they hastened to it in crowds; when the place was full, the soldiers, who were posted for the pur- pose, received the signal, anJ an indiscriminate massacre en- sued. The lowest computation gives the number of those slain as seven thousand. The archbishop of Milan at this time was the intrepid Am- brose. When he heard of the bloody deed, he retired to the country, whence he wrote to the emperor to say that he had been warned in a vision not to offer the oblation in his name or presence, and advising him not to think of receiving the Eucharist with his blood-stained hands. Theodosius ac- knowledged and bewailed his offence, and after some time proceeded to the cathedral to perform his devotions; but Ambrose met him at the porch, opposed his entrance, and insisted on the necessity of a public penance. Theodosius A. D. 390.] ARBOGAST. 333 Submitted; and the lord of the Roman world, laying aside his imperial habit, appeared in the posture of a suppliant in the midst of the church of Milan, with tears soliciting the pardon of his sin. After a penance of eight months, he was restored to the communion of the fliithful. To the cruelty of Theodosius on this occasion may be op- posed his clemency, some time before, to the people of Anti- och. This lively, licentious people, beino- galled by an in- crease of taxation, (387,) flung down, dragged thromrh the streets, and broke, the images of Theodosius and his family. Ihe governor of the province sent to court information of this act of treason; the Antiochenes despatched envoys to testify their repentance. After a space of twenty-four days, two officers of high rank arrived to decl:ire the will of the emperor. Antioch was to be degraded from its rank, and made a village, under the jurisdiction of Laodicea: all its places of amusement were to be shut up, the distribution of corn to be stopped, and the guilty to be inquired after and punished. A tribunal was erected in the market-place, the most wealthy citizens were laid in chains, and their houses exposed to sale, when monks and hermits descended in crowds from the mountains, and, at their intercession, one of the officers agreed to return to court, and learn the present disposition of the emperor. The anger of the generous Theodosius had subsided ere he arrived, and a full and free pardon was readily accorded to the repentant city. Valentinian, after the death of his mother and the departure of Theodosius, fixed his abode in Gaul. His troops were commanded by Count Arbogast, a Frank by birth, who had held a high rank in the service of Gratian, after whose death he had passed to that of Theodosius. Aware of the weak- ness of his young sovereign, the ambitious barbarian raised his thoughts to empire. He corrupted the troops, he gave the chief commands to his countrymen, he surrounded the prince with his creatures, and Valentinian found himself little better than a prisoner in the palace of Vienne. He sent to inform Theodosius of his situation ; but, impatient of delay, he summoned Arbogast to his presence, and deliv- ered him a paper containing his dismissal from his posts. *' You have not given me my authority, and you cannot take it away," was the reply of the general ; and he tore the pa- per, and cast it on the ground. Valentinian snatched a sword from one of the guards, but he was prevented from using it. ' I ^ l\ !l , ■ I ♦ I: I ij }. 384 THEODOsius. [a. d. 392—394. A few days after, he was privately strangled, and ajeport was spread that he had died by his own hand, (May 15, 392.) Theodosius, A. u. 1145—1148. A. D. 392—395. Arbogast, deeming it more prudent to reign under the name of another than to assume the purple himself, selected for his imperial puppet a rhetorician named Eugenius, who had been his secretary, and whom he had raised to the rank of master of the offices. An embassy was despatched to Theodosius to lament the unfortunate accident of the death of Valentinian, and to pray him to acquiesce in the choice of the armies and people of the West. Theodosius acted with his usual caution ; he dismissed the ambassadors with presents, and with an ambiguous answer ; but he was secretly swayed by the tears of his wife, and resolved to avenge the death of her brother. After devoting two years to his prepa- rations for this hazardous war, he at length (394) put him- self at the head of his troops, and directed his march for Italy. Arbogast, taking warning by the errors of Maximus, contracted hil line of defence, and, abandoning the northern provinces, and leaving unguarded the. passes of the Julian Alps, encamped his troops under the walls of Aquileia. Theodosius, on emerging from the mountains, made a furious assault on the fortified camp of the enemy, in which ten thou- sand of his Gothic troops perished. At nightfall he retired, baffled, to the adjacent hills, where he passed a sleepless night, while the camp of the enemy rang with rejoicings. Arbogast, having secretly sent a large body of troops to get in the rear of the emperor, prepared to assail him in the morning, (Sept. 6.) But the leaders of these troops assured Theodo- sius of their allegiance ; and in the engagement a sudden tempest from the Alps blew full in the faces of the troops of the enemy; and, their superstition leading them to view in it the hand of Heaven, they flung down their arms and submit- ted. Eugenius was taken and put to death ; Arbogast, after wandering some days through the mountains, perished by his own hand. Theodosius survived his victory only five months. Though he was not more than fifty years of age, indulgence had un- A. D. 395.] CHARACTER OF THEODOSIUS. 385 st'aid'ifoiiur""^ '^^ '"""""^^ '' ''' ''"^ --^' ^-- The character of the great Theodosius is one which it is gratifymg to contemplate. Culled from a private station to empire, he was still the same in principle and conduct an^ the surest evidence of native greatness of soul he re named unc anged by prosperity. hI was an affectiona e ar ^ S I i rSn" . '^ ^ir'% ' ''''' P^^^"^' ^ ^— - -^ steadv f il l' 1 "^"^^' '"^ ^^''^'^^^ companion, and a steady friend. As a sovereign, ho was a lover of justice a wise ari^ benevolent legislator, an able and succe^sf^rgl- erai. His defects were too slavish a submission to some in- olerant ecclesiastics, which led to the enactment of per- secuting laws against heretics and pagans; a violence of temper which we have seen exemplifio:;! in the massacre at Thessalonica; a love of indolence, and an over-fondness for he pleasures of the table, which brought him to a prema- ture death, to the great calamity of the Empire. The reign of Theodosius forms an epoch in the history of the Roman empire. He was the last who ruled over the whole empire ; and it was in his time that the ancient system of religion under which Rome had risen, flourished, and commenced, at least, her decline, was finally and permanent- ly suppressed. His reign was also the last in which Rome appeared with any remnant of her original dignity on the scene of the world. It will surely not be accounted impiety or superstition, if we say that the eloquent appeals and lam- entations of the advocates for the old religion were not with- out foundation ; and that, in the order of Providence, Rome's greatness was indissolubly united with her pontifices, aucrurs and vestals. Such seems undeniably to have been the fact • the cause is probably inscrutable.* • . ' RnVp^l!!f ^''*^'''', iias said, only ten lines before, that the decline of Rome began under the ancent system of religion. If so, there was of course, no connection between the maintenance of that svste mind the greatness of Rome. Every reader of Roman history must surety perceive that her own moral degradation, and the adance of other nations were the causes of her decline. Our author loses, in this n' stance, his usual acuteness, or he would see that his remark imnlies a KTa'stto^ll"^''^^^ l;^""-^'^" morality-a tendencvhe Could be jh^last^to allow. See his own words on the last page of this work. CONTIN. 33 yv yy 1 -If ■III if n. 'S H ' n i t • ,1 ♦1 II f^ '-%» I 386 THEODOSIUS. [a. d. 395. If we credit the complaints of contemporary writers, lux- urv was continually on the increase, and manners became more depraved every day. These staten.ents are, however, to be received with caution ; and how either luxury or de- nravitv could exceed that under the successors of Augustus, ft is not easy to d.scern. Property had, of late years, been somewhat more secure from the rapacity "^ ^^e court, and the terrors of the barbarians were as yet too remote to produce that recklessness which consumes to-day what it is not certain of possessing to-morrow. The censurers, in fact, a^e either splenetic pagans, eager to cast a slur o« the new faith, or San asfetic^, wlio viewed all indulgence with a jaun- diced eye. We ^re very far from saying that the morals of this period were pure, or at all comparable with tho.e of rnodem Europe ; we only doubt if they were worse than thoseof the times of Tiberius and Nero. ,v,nf thp A strikincr proof, however, was given at this time, that the thew and sinew of the Roman soldier were "O longer what they had been in the days, of the republic^ rhe infantry craved and obtained permission to lay aside their helmets and corselets, as oppressing them with their extreme weighty Even future misfortunes could not induce them to resume these arms ; and this, among other causes, contributed to the speedy downfall of the empire. ^ Literature continued to share in the general decl ne Fo- etrv miaht be regarded as extinct; history has only to pre- seift the name of Amm.anus Marcellinus, who, however amoncr the historians of the empire, stands next in rank to Tacitus, though at a very long interval. The Sophists ha is, those to whom the manner was every thing, the mat te of comparatively little importance, were the class of 1. erary men held in most esteem. Orations, panegyrics, publ c or private epistles, in which the absence of fruit is sought to be concealed by the abundance of foliage and flowers form the store of these men's compositions. The -o^t distinguished among them was Libanius of Antioch, the friend of bo^h Julian and Theodosius, a large portion of ^^hose writings still exist. Julian himself occupies no mean place among the Sophists. His letters, from his station in society, are lar more important and interesting than those of Libanius. THE CHHISTIAN CHURCH. 387 CHAPTER VL THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. BUPPRESSION OF PAGANISM. RELIGION OF THE FOURTH CEN- TURY. STATE OF MORALS. THE DONATISTS. THE ARIANS. OTHER HERETICS. ECCLESIASTICAL CONSTITU- TION. FATHERS OF THE CHURCH. THE MANICH^ANS. As the reign of Theodosius was the period of the com- plete fall of paganism, and final triumph of the Christian faith, we will here interrupt our narrative of political events, and briefly relate the victories of the church over heathen- ism and heresy, and portray its external and internal con- dition. When Constantine embraced the Christian religion, he left the ancient system of the Roman state undisturbed: toward the end of his reign, however, he issued edicts for the demolition of heathen temples, and prohibited sacrifices. Constantius was more hostile to heathenism than his father had been; and he executed the laws aorainst it with crreat severity, even punishing capitally those guilty of the crime of offering sacrifice to idols. The absurd and fruitless efforts of Julian in its favor have been related, and the humane and enlightened toleration of Jovian and Valentinian has been praised. But Theodosius (much less Gratian) had not strength or enlargement of mind to resist or refute the argu- ments of the advocates of intolerance, and in their time the veneration of the tutelar deities of ancient Rome was treated as a crime. The preservation of a pure monotheism being the main object of the law of Moses, its prohibitions against idolatry are numerous and severe ; but the Christian religion, relyinor on its internal worth and its utter incompatibility with idol- atry, is less emphatic on that subject. The habit, however, of confounding it with the Mosaic law had become so stronor^ and the opinion of the gods of the heathen being evil spirits, and not mere creatures of imagination, so prevalent,* that the worship of them was held to be the highest insult to the * [This idea was not confined to those times. Modern theologians have held it. Thus does Prideaux, in his valuable *' Connection of Old and New Testaments."— J. T. S.] s H .a! •t u H ;s-l ! '-Hi f li * < t, f 388 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. majesty of the Creator ; and the sovereign who suffered im- pious rites to be performed, was regarded as participating in the guilt. Yielding to these considerations, Gratian, on his accession, refused to receive the insignia of a Pontifex Maxi- mus, which even the most zealous of his predecessors had not rejected ; and he seized on the sacerdotal revenues for the uses of the church or state, and abolished all the* honors and immunities of the heathen priesthoods. The image and altar of Victory, which were placed in the senate-house, had been removed' by Constantine and restored by Julian. As the majority of the senate still adhered to the old religion of the state, the tolerant Valentinian had suffered it to remam undisturbed; but his more zealous son ordered it to be aaain removed. A deputation of the senate, sent on this oc- casion, was refused an audience by the emperor. The year after his death, another deputation waited on his brother Valentinian : it was headed by Symmachus, the prefect of the city, a pontiff and augur, a man of noble birth, and of distinguished eloquence and unstained virtue. He was op- posed by Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, and the prayer of the Roman senate was rejected. When Theodosius was at Rome,* he called on the senate to choose between the two reli(Tions; and the majority of that body, warned by the fate of Symmachus, who had recently been sent into exile, voted in accordance with the wishes of the emperor. Pretended conversions became numerous, the temples were deserted and the churches filled with worshippers, and the religion under which Rome had flourished for twelve centuries ceased forever. Respect probably for the dignity of the city caused the temples to be spared and left to the operation of natural decay; but in the provinces no such delicacy was observed, and many Christian prelates, such as Martin of Tours, Marcellus of Apamea, and Theophilus of Alexandria, headed holy crusades for the destruction of the abodes of the idols ; and many a stately edifice, the pride of architecture, was thus consigned to untimely ruin. A few escaped de- struction by being converted into Christian churches. In effect, the fate of the temples seems in general to have de- pended on the good sense or fanaticism of the bishop of the diocese in which they stood. The edicts which Theodosius put forth against sacrifices and other heathen rites having been frequently eluded, he at * Most probably after his victory over Maximus, though both Zosi mus and Prudentius place it after that over Eugenius. RELIGION OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. 389 length (392) published one which breathes the very spirit of intolerance,* By this he forbids all persons, no matter what their rank, to offer any sacrifice whatever, or even to suspend garlands, burn incense or place lights before the domestic deities of Roman religion, the. Genius, the Lar, and the Penates. The penalty was the forfeiture of the' house or estate in which the rites had been performed, or, if these were the property of another person, a fine of twenty-five pounds weight of gold. Prohibited thus in either its public or private exercise, heathenism gradually died away. Its last lingermg footprints appeared in remote villages ;t and in the reign of the grandson of Theodosius, it even was doubted (but without reason) if there were any longer any pao-ans in existence. ^ Thus have we witnessed the final triumph of the church over its open and declared enemy. Before we enter on the history of its civil wars, we will take a view of its own nature and character. The Christianity of the days of Constantine and his suc- cessors is most certainly not that of the gospel. In effect, with the exception of transubstantiation and image worship) (from neither of which it was far distant,) and a few other points of minor importance, it differed little from the system which our ancestors flung off at the time of the Reformation. The church of Rome is, in fact, very unjustly treated, when she is charged with being the author of the tenets and prac- tices which were transmitted to her from the fourth century. Her guilt or error was that of retention, not of invention. The learned author whom we have taken for our principal guide in this part of our work, presents the following brief vievv of the state of religion at this tiine.| " The fundamental principles of the Christian doctrine were preserved hitherto incorrupt and entire in most churches, though it must be confessed that tiiey were often explained and defended in a manner that discovered the greatest igno- rance, and an utter confusion of ideas. The disputes carried on in the council of Nice concerning the three persons in the Godhead, afford a remarkable instance of this, particu- * Yet Theodosius was not of an intolerant temper. He bestowed the consulate on Symmachus, and he was on terms of personal friend- ship with the Sophist Libanius. t Hence the heathens were called Pagans, (Pagani.) or villao-ers, <7, pa fro. ° t Mosheim, Ecclesiastical Hi.story, Cent. iv. Part ii. chap. 3. :1 ) . i1 \\\ 'H- 1 ♦• 390 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. larly in the language and explanations of those who approved the decisions of that council. So little light, precision, and order, reigned in their discourses, that they appeared to sub- stitute three gods in the place of one. '' Nor did the evil end here; for those vain fictions, which an attachment to the Platonic philosophy and to popular opinions had engaged the greatest part of the Christian doc- tors to adopt before the time of Constantine, were now con- firmed, enlarged, and embellished in various ways. Hence arose that extravagant veneration for departed saints, and those absurd notions of a cerium fire destined to purify sepa- rate souls, that now prevailed, and of which the public marks were every where to be seen. Hence, also, the celibacy of priests, the worship of images and relics, which, in process of time, almost utterly destroyed the Christian religion, or at least eclipsed its lustre, and corrupted its essence in the most deplorable manner. ** An enormous train of different superstitions were gradu- ally substituted in the place of genuine religion and true pie'ty- This odious revolution proceeded from a variety of causes. A ridiculous precipitation in receiving new opin- ions, a preposterous desire of imitating the pagan rites, and of blending them with the Christian worship, and that idle propensity 'which the generality of mankind have toward a gaudy and ostentatious religion, all contributed to establish the reign of superstition upon the ruins of Christianity. Ac- cordingly, frequent pilgrimages were undertaken to Pales- tine, and to the tombs of the martyrs, as if there alone the sacred principles of virtue, and the certain hope of salvation, were to be acquired. The reins being once let loose to superstition, which knows no bounds, absurd notions and idle ceremonies multiplied every day. Quantities of dust and earth, brought from Palestine and other places remark- able for their supposed sanctity, were handed about as the most powerful remedies against the violence of wicked spirits, and were sold and bought every where at enormous prices. The public processions and supplications, by which the pagans endeavored to appease their gods, were now adopted int'o the Christian worship, and celebrated with great pomp and magnificence in several places. The virtues that had formerly" been ascribed to the heathen temples, to their lus- trations, to the statues of their gods and heroes, were now attributed to Christian churches, to water consecrated by certain forms of prayer, and to the images of holy men; and RELIGION OF THE FOURTH CENTURY. 391 the same privileges that the former enjoyed under the dark- ness of paganism, were conferred upon the latter under the light of the gospel, or rather under that cloud of supersti- tion that was obscuring its glory. It is true that as yet im- ages \yere not very common, nor were there any statues at all ; but it is at the same time as undoubtedly certain, as it is ex- travagant and monstrous, that the worship of the martyrs was modelled according to the religious services that were paid to the gods before the coming of Christ." Thus doth this learned and candid historian express him- self; and we must remind the reader that it is not of the tenth or twelfth century, as might perhaps be supposed, that he is writing, but of the fourth, the period of the Nicene council, the age of Athanasius, Gregory Nazianzen, Basil the Great, Ambrose, Augustine, Jerome, and others, vvho are regarded as the great Fathers of the Church. All these superstitions are to be found in their writings, and mostly mentioned in terms of approbation. The great parent of the external corruption of the pure and simple faith of the gospel seems, as we have already ob- served, to have been the law of Moses; for this law, which was at the same time a system of religious and of civil polity, was, in accordance with the desicrns of Providence and the state of the world at the time, so framed as to bear a certain detrree of resemblance to the civil and reliijfious institutions of the neighboring nations. Hence it had its priesthood, its sacrifices, its splendid ceremonies and ritual observances. When, therefore, the Christians, from the natural love of parade and magnificence, or with the specious view of gain- in^r over the heathen, wished to introduce rites and ceremo- nies into the church, they found them ready to their hand in the law of the Israelites; and, when once the practice had begun, the step was easy to the introduction of various tenets and practices of heathenism, for which the Mosaic law fur- nished no precedent. The Mosaic religion, for example, had no mysteries, and no mythology and worship of heroes; yet the Christianity of the fourth century had both. We have already shown how the simple rites of baptism and the Eucharist were converted into mysteries. The notion of their importance became every day more and more deep and solemn; they were termed aicful and tremendous mysteries, by the greatest of the Fathers ; and such were the miraculous powers ascribed to the elements of the Eucharist, that St. Ambrose; in a pub- t i i. ' t-3 HI !•; I' J :i •; m ;il 392 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. lie discourse, affirmed that his own brother, happening to have them about his person, was by their efficacy saved in a shipwreck. Christianity obtained its heroes and mythology in the fol- lowing manner: The memory of the Martyrs, (i.-e. wit- nesses,) or those who had testified their faith in Christ by sealing it with their blood, and, in a less degree, that of the Confessors, who had shown their willingness to do the same, was naturally held in reverence and respect by the members of the church. The principle of human nature from which pilgrimage arises caused the pious to resort to the places where their remains were deposited ; these places were soon regarded as being possessed of superior sanctity, which could only arise from the mortal relics of the holy men which lay there; andthe sanctity, being inherent in these remains, would of course accompany them, if transferred. Hence arose the translation of the bodies of the apostles, and other holy men, from the humble tombs in which they had hitherto reposed, to capital cities and other places, to give holiness to stately churches which were to be erected in their honor. Every, even the smallest, fragment of the body of a saint, every thing, in short, that had touched that hallowed frame when ani- mated, was held to possess virtue; and wonderful tales were told each day of the miracles performed by them. As it might seem absurd that the earthly portions of the holy men should possess such power, and their spiritual have no influ- ence in the lower world, a kind of ubiquity was ascribed to their glorified spirits, and it was believed that they could hear prayer and give aid to the supplicant. False miracles, false relics, even false saints, were rapidly manufactured,* and the church had soon a mythology which far exceeded in copiousness that of ancient Greece. t A maxim of the most pernicious nature now greatly prevailed in the church, namely, " That it was an act of virtue to deceive and lie, * "Certain tombs were falsely given out for the sepulchres of saints and confessors ; the list of the saints was augmented with fictitious names, and robbers were converted into martyrs. Some buried the bones of dead men in certain retired places, and then affirmed that they were divinely admonished by a dream, that the body of some friend of God lay there," &c. »fcc. Mosheim, ut supra. t "The sublime and simple theology of the primitive Christians," says Gibbon, " was gradually corrupted ; and the monarchy of heaven, already clouded by metaphysical subtilties, was degraded by the intro- duction of a popular mythology which tended to restore the reign of polytheism.'' RELIGION OF THE FOURTH CENTLRY. 393 when by such means the interests of the church might be promoted." This had, no doubt, been of long standing, for pious fraud and pious fiction early began, but it was now at its acme ; and even the greatest of the Fathers are charged with acting on this maxim,* and thus transforming Chris- tianity into polytheism and idolatry. f " If, in the beginning of the fifth century," says Gibbon, whom we may here safely quote, " Tertullian or Lactantius had been suddenly raised from the dead to assist at the festi- val of some popular saint or martyr, they would have gazed with astonishment and indignation on the profane spectacle which had succeeded to the pure and spiritual worship of a Christian congregation. As soon as the doors of the church were thrown open, they must have been otTended by the smoke of incense, the perfume of flowers, and the glare of lamps and tapers, which dilfused at noon-day a gaudy, super- fluous, and, in their opinion, a sacrilegious light. If they approached the balustrade of the altar, they made their way through the prostrate crowd, consisting for the most part of strangers and pilgrims, who resorted to the city on the vigils of the feast, and who already felt the strong intoxication of fanaticism, and perhaps of wine. Their devout kisses were imprinted on the walls and pavement of the sacred edifice, and their fervent prayers were directed, whatever might be the language of their church, to the bones, the blood, or the ashes of the saint, which were usually concealed by a linen or silken veil from the eyes of the vulgar. The Christians frequented the tombs of the martyrs in the hope of obtaining from their powerful intercession every sort of spiritual, but more especially of temporal blessings. They implored the preservation of their health or the cure of their infirmities, the fruitfulness of their barren wives, or the safety and hap- piness of their children. Whenever they undertook any dis- tant or dangerous journey, they requested that the holy mar- tyrs would be their guides and protectors on the road; and if they returned without having experienced any misfortune, they again hastened to the tombs of the martyrs to celebrate with grateful thanksgivings their obligations to the memory and relics of those heavenly patrons. The walls were hung round with symbols of the favors which they had received; eyes and hands, and feet of gold and silver; and edifying pictures, which could not long escape the abuses of indis- * Mosheim, ut supra j Paragraph xvi. X X \ I li m ' n li I I i i it 'ill 3 r.- i 394 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. creet or idolatrous devotion; representing the image, the at- tributes, and the miracles of the tutelar saint. The same uniform original spirit of superstition might suggest, in the most distant ages and countries, the same methods of deceiv- incr the creduTity and of affecting the senses of mankmd ; but it must ingenuously be confessed that the ministers ot the Catholic church imitated the profane model which the> were impatient to destroy. The most respectable bishops had persuaded themselves that the ignorant rustics would more cheerfully renounce the superstitions of paganism if they found some resemblance, some compensation, in the bosom of Christianity. The religion of Constantine achieved in less than a century the final conquest of the Roman em- pire, but the victors themselves were insensibly subdued by the arts of their vanquished rivals." Nothing is more characteristic of the corruption which Christianity had undergone than the high honor in which the various classes of ascetics were held. These useless or pernicious beings now actually swarmed throughout the East- ern empire, and'were gradually spreading themselves into the West. We have shown how asceticism has been derived from the sultry regions of Asia, and how it originates in the Gnos- tic principles. It had long been insinuating itself into the church; but, after the establishment of Christianity, it burst forth like a torrent, spreading from Egypt over Syria, Mesc>- potamia, and the other provinces, at such a rate, that, "in a short time," observes Mosheim, " the East was filled with a lazy set of mortals, who, abandoning all human connections, advantages, pleasures, and concerns, wore out a languishing and miserable life amidst the hardships of want and various kinds of suffering, in order to arrive at a more close and rap- turous communion with God and angels." Of these fanatics there were two classes, the Coenobites and the Eremites, a branch of which last were the Anacho- rites.* The former, as their name denotes, lived together in a fixed habitation under an ahhot, a word signifying fa- ther. The founder of this order was a man named Antony, who drew together a number of the Eremites of Egypt, and gave them fixed rules of conduct. There is a life of this hero of the monastic orders, which has been written by the * 7<:ono^iuy.ol, livers-in-common; 'Eor^iuTixi, dwellers-of-the-dcscrt, nQriiio:.) whence our word Hermit; i-/r«;t'D.()^Ta;, rettrers. The gen- eral term was 3Iora/o'i, solitaries, whence our Monk. STATE OF MORALS. 395 great Athanasius.* The Eremites, on the contrary, dwelt solitary in caves or in wretched cottages of the desert; while the Anachorites, rejecting even this fliint semblance of hu- manity, lived like the beasts of the field, wandering without certain abode, lying down wherever night overtook them, and feeding on the spontaneous produce of the earth, shun- ning the sight and the society of all human beings. The most distinguished of the Eremites was Paul, a recluse of the Thebais, a kind of semi-savage, whose life and acts St. Jerome did not think it beneath him to record as an ensam- ple of true Christian holiness and perfection. Beside the above-mentioned classes of ascetics, we read of an order named in Egypt Sarabaites, who travelled about from place to place, working fictitious miracles, selling false relics, and performing various other frauds to deceive the credulous multitude. These, like the corresponding Mohammedan dervishes, were mostly notorious profligates : heavy com- plaints are made also of the Coenobites; but the hermits were in general mere fanatics or spiritual madmen. The hope of acquiring heaven by virginity and mortifica- tion was not confined to the male sex; woman, with the en- thusiasm and the devotional tendency peculiar to her, rushed eagerly toward the crown of glory. Nunneries became nu- merous, and were thronged with inmates. Nature, however, not unfrequently asserted her rights, and the complaints and admonitions of the most celebrated Fathers assure us that the unnatural state of vowed celibacy was productive of the same evils and scandals in ancient as in modern times. The state of morals among Christians in general was, according to the testimony of the contemporary Fathers and other writers, extremely low. " When," says the writer already quoted, " we cast an eye toward the lives and morals of Christians at this time, we find, as formerly, a mixture of good and evil, some eminent for their piety, others infiimous for their crimes. The number, however, of immoral and unworthy Christians began so to increase, that the examples of real piety and virtue became extremely rare. When the terrors of persecution were totally dispelled ; when the church, secured from the efforts of its enemies, enjoyed the sweets of prosperity and peace; when the major part of bish- ops exhibited to their flock the contagious examples of arro- gance, luxury, effeminacy, animosity, and strife, with other * The next place in fame to St. Antony is occupied by St. Pacho- mius. 1 ii! M t ■ ■ V ■hi » ♦■ li\ 1 hi f * 1 it rl 396 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. vices too numerous to mention ; when the inferior rulers and doctors of the church fell into a slothful and opprobrious negligence of the duties of their respective stations, and em'ployed in vain wranglings and idle disputes that zeal and attention which were due to the culture of piety and to the instruction of their people; and when (to complete the enor- mity of this horrid detail) multitudes were drawn into the profession of Christianity, not by the power of conviction aud argument, but by the prospect of gain or by the fear of punishment, — then it was indeed no wonder that the church was contaminated with shoals of profligate Christians, and that the virtuous few were, in a manner, oppressed and over- whelmed by the superior numbers of the wicked and licen- tious. It is true that the same rigorous penance which had taken place before Constantine the Great, continued now in full force against flagrant transgressors ; but when the reign of corruption becomes universal, the vigor of the law yields to its sway, and a weak execution defeats the purposes of the most salutary discipline. Such was now unhappily the case : the age was sinking daily from one period of corruption to anoth'er, the great and the powerful sinned with impunity, and the obscure and indigent alone felt the severity of the laws." ^ , When such was the state of morals, it is natural to be sup- posed that heresy and schism should prevail, and the unity of the church be torn by feud and faction. We shall there- fore proceed to enumerate the principal sects and heresies of the fourth century. j r t^ The first of these was the Donatists, so named from Uo- natus, one of their most active partisans. It was a sect, not a heresy, for the orthodoxy of its members never was ques- tioned 'it oriainated in the following circumstance: On the death of the bishop of Carthage in 311, the clergy and people of that city chose the archdeacon Ca^cdianus for his successor, and he was consecrated by the bishops of Af- rica Minor, without waiting for those of Numidia. These last, hio-hly offended, summoned Caecilianus before them; his disappointed competitors were active in their hostility, and a wealthy lady, named Lucilla, whom he had reprimand- ed for her superstitious practices, with all a woman's appe- tite for venaeance, lavished her money on the Numidians, to keep up their zeal. CfEcilianus having refused to submit to their jurisdiction, they declared him unworthy of his dignity, and appointed in his stead his deacon Majorinus ; and the THE DONATISTS. 397 church of Carthage had thus two rival bishops. The rea- sons given for the sentence against Ca?cilianus were, that Felix of Aptungus, by whom he was consecrated, was a Tra- ditor, and that he himself, when a deacon, had shown, in the time of the late persecution, great cruelty toward the martyrs and confessors, actually leaving them to perish for want of food in their prisons. • The Donatists having appealed to Constantine, that em- peror (313) directed the bishop of Rome, aided by three Gallic prelates, to examine the cause. The decision was in favor of CaBcilianus, who was acquitted of the charges brought against him, asalso was Felix of Aptungus, whose cause was examined by the proconsul of Africa. The Don- atists were dissatisfied; and the emperor ordered (314) a greater number of prelates to meet at Aries, and examine the cause anew. The result of this inquiry also was adverse to them; they then appealed to the emperor in person, who examined the cause at Milan, (316,) and confirmed the pre- ceding sentences. They acted after this with so much inso- lence, that Constantine lost patience, and deprived them of their churches, banished their bishops, and even put some of their more refractory prelates to death. As the Donatists were numerous and powerful, tumults ensued, which Constantine sought in vain to allay. The savage and ferocious populace, which sided vvith them, un- der the name of Circumcellions, massacred, ravaged, and plundered their opponents all through the province; and matters were approaching to a civil war, when -Constantine abrogated the laws made against the Donatists. The empe- ror Constans endeavored to heal the schism ; but the Dona- tists would listen to no terms, and the Circumcellions even ventured to give battle to the imperial troops. They were, however, defeated ; and a persecution ensued, which lasted till the accession of Julian, when the Donatists aorain raised their heads. Their numbers were so great that they counted no less than four hundred bishops of their party ; but they split into two factions. The eloquent Augustine, bishop of Hippo, wrote, preached, and spoke against them ; and this sect, the off*spring of episcopal arrogance, gradually died away. The era of the establishment of Christianity [as the state religion] witnessed another schism in the church, of far greater and more lasting importance than that caused by the CONTJN. 34 ii ';ii 1 l?| m i ■ i :] ill n ;.;« 398 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Donatists. This was the celebrated Arian controversy, of which we will now briefly trace the history. The language of the New Testament, respecting the dig- nity of Chnst, is lofty, but, at the same time, involved in a certain degree of obscurity, if we may venture so to express ourselves, which, acting on the natural diversity of human minds, h^s, in all ages, caused a difference of opinion to exist on this mysterious subject.* It would probably have been better if the church had been content on this, as on other high matters, to confine itself strictly to Scripture lan- guage, alid not to have attempted to be " wise beyond what is wl-itten." On this, however, as lying without our prov- ince, we venture not to speak decidedly; our task is simply to state facts and. opinions. That the Christians of the first century worshipped Christ, is a fact not to be disputed ; the testimony of Pliny i^ con- clusive on the subject. They believed firmly in his divinity, but they did not anxiously seek to fathom the mystery which enveloped it. Yet there were those, as we have seen, when treating of the Gnostic sects, who speculated on this lofty subject"; and in the church itself, Praxeas and others ad- vanced some very hazardous conjectures. As the fondness for Platonism advanced, that portion of the Christian doc- trine which seemed most akin to the airy speculations of the Athenian sage, drew more and more the attention of learned Christians ; °and, about the middle of the third century, Sa- bellius, a bishop or presbyter of Cyrene in Africa, advanced a theory which drew to him a considerable number of fol- lowers.' He maintained that a certain energy proceeded from the Father, and united itself to the Son, the man Jesus, and he regarded the Holy Spirit as in the same way a portion of the Father. Hence the Sabellians are called Patripassians. The opinions of Sabellius were, however, refuted by Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria. Beryllus, bishop of Bozrah in Arabia, taught that Christ did not exist before Mary, but that, at the time of his birth, a spirit, issuing from God himself, and therefore a portion of * No one, surely, will deny the sense, the learning, or the honesty, of those who have held opinions different from the one generally re- ceived on this subject. If any one text more than another would seem to make in favor of Arianism, it is Phil. ii. G— 9 ; yet Dr. Lardner, in his Letter on the Logos, declares that it was this very text that made hira a Socinian ! THE ARIANS. 399 the Divine Being, was united to him. Beryllus was refuted by Origen, and he acknowledged and recanted his error. Paul, the celebrated bishop of Samosata, a man whom looseness of morals, and pride and arrogance, fostered by wealth, had rendered generally odious, was degraded from his episcopal dignity by a council in the year ''269, on ac- count of his heretical opinions on this subject. He appears to have held that the Son and Holy Ghost exist in God as reason and activity exist in man ; that Christ was born a mere man, but that the reason or wisdom of the Father de- scended on him, and abode with him while on earth, and that hence he might, though improperly, be called God. It will be observed that the substance of these heresies of the second and third centuries, was the confounding of the Son and Holy Ghost with the Father. The church, on the other hand, had frequently decided that there was a real dif- ference, and that three distinct persons existed in the Deitv, but without making any exact definition of the nature of their relation; and the utmost liberty of sentiment and ex- pression was allowed respecting it. Yet the most prevalent opinion in Egypt and the adjacent countries, was that of Origen, who held that the Son was in God, as reason is in man, and that the Holy Ghost was simply the divine energy — a notion not very far removed from Sabellianism. In the year 319, in an assembly of the clergy of Alexan- dria, the bishop Alexander took occasion to communicate to them his sentiments on this head ; and he asserted that the Son was not only of the same eminence and dignity, but of the same essence with the Father. One of the presbyters, named Arius, treated this opinion as false, and as little re- moved from Sabellianism. He was thlin led to state his own opinions, which tended to the opposite extreme ; for he held that the Son had been created by the Father before all things, but that time had elapsed before his creation ; that he was created out of nothinor : that he was the instrument by whom the Father gave existence to the universe; he was superior, therefore, to all other beings, but inferior, both in nature and dignity, to the Father. These opinions, when promulgated, found numerous favorers in Egypt and else- where ; but Alexander caused them to be condemned in two councils which he summoned, and their author to be excom- municated. Arius withdrew to Palestine, whence he wrote numerous letters to eminent men, and drew many of them over to his sentiments. The cyDutroversy was maintained 1 4.1 I I k\ ♦•I 'f'l t 1:1 I 1 4 H\ 'I 400 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. with great heat ; and the emperor Constantine, who at first treated it as trifling and unimportant, and wrote to the par- ties enjoining peace, was at length induced to summon a general council for its decision. This council, the first of those named CEcumenical or General, met at Nicaca in Bithynia, in the year 325. Three hundred and eighteen bishops, it is said, appeared in it, and the emperor in person was present at their deliberations. They commenced with personal altercation, and presented the emperor with libels or written accusations against each other, which Constantine, however, burned, exhorting them to peace and unity. Of the proceedings of this council we have only very imperfect accounts; but its decision was acrainst the Arians. It was determined that the Son was consubstantial (ouoovaio;) with the Father, as it is expressed in the Nicene creed. The council further terminated the dispute about the time of keeping Easter, regulated some points of discipline, and then separated. It had been very near comincr to a resolution of imposing on the clergy the yoke of ceHbacy, such progress had that unnatural tenet of the Gnostics made in the church. Persecution w^as of course employed against the defeated party, and Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia, and others, were banished ; but an Arian, who had been commended to the emperor by his sister when on her death bed, found means to convince him that the decision of the council was unjust, and Arius, Eusebius, and others, were recalled from exile Athanasius, the successor of Alexander, however, refused to restore Arius to his rank and office in the church, for which he was himself deposed, by a council holden at Tyre in 335, and banished to Gaul. ' But the pedple of Alexandria refused to admit Arius ; and he died the following year at Constanti- nople, of a bowel complaint, as it would appear, which some suspect was brought on by poison administered by his ene- mies, who affected to view in it a judgment of Heaven. The moral character of Arius, it may be here observed, was with- out stain ; and of his religious sincerity there seems to be lit- tle ground of doubt. Of the sons of Constantine, two were orthodox; but Con- stantius, into whose hands the entire empire finally fell, was strongly attached to the Arian system. Persecution and se- duction were employed against the Homoousians ; frequent synods were convened ; so that, as Ammianus observes, " by the troops of bishops who^vvere hurrying backwards and THE ARIANS. 401 forwards on the beasts devoted to the public service, to the synods, as they call them, in order to draw the whole sect to heir own opinions, the entire posting establishment was well nghrumed;" and Athanasius expressed his fears that the clergy would thereby draw on them the derision and con- tempt of unbehev^ers. At length, a general council of the East was held at Seleucia in Isauria, (359,) and one of the west, at Kimini {Arimmwn) in Italy, (360.) The former separated vvithout coming to any decided conclusion; the iattervvhich sat seven months, was, by proper management, brought to sanction a creed sufficiently Arian for the empe^ ror s purpose, and " the whole world groaned," says Jerome and wondered to find itself Arian." Julian was indifferent' Jovian and Valentmian were orthodox but tolerant Valens was an Arian and a persecutor. Theodosius was rio-idly orthodox ; and the second general council which he as'sem- bled at Constantinople (381) condemned the Arians anew, intolerant edicts were forthwith issued against them : thev were deprived of their churches, banished, and otherwise persecuted. 1 heir sect gradually declined in the East • it had never flourished in the West; but the Goths and other barbarians, who had been converted by Arians, carried their religious system with them when they became conquerors • and It was not till the close of the sixth century that Arian' ism became extinct in Spain. The Arians shared the general fate of all who, on points beyond human comprehension, venture tot exercise the pow- ers of their mmd ; they at length came to hold different shades ot opmion, and thus became subdivided into sects. Their varieties may, however, be reduced to three : — 1. The prim- itive and proper Arians, wiio held simply that the Son was created out of nothing. 2. The Semi-Arians, who asserted that the Son was of similar essence (6uoioo6(7w;) with the Father, but by a peculiar privilege, not bv nature. This was the doctrine favored by Constantius, and'it was the prevalent sentiment in the council of Seleucia. 3. The Aetians, or Eunomians, so named from their chiefs, Aetius and Euno- mius, who may be regarded as pure Arians, for they held that the Son was unlike (ui'ofwio;) the Father, and oUnothcr essence, {heQo{,GLog.) Of the Acacians, Eusebians, and other minor divisions, we will not speak. The Arian controversy gave rise to other heresies. Apol- linaris, bishop of Laodicea, in his zeal for the divinity of Cnrist, went near to denying his humanity. He held tha( 34 Y Y in m 402 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. , u 1 r ri^rict h-M] onlv had a sensitive soul, and that ; .: Sr'^natu^ as'u^ldt h.™ the office of the ration^ oulvvheace it seemed to follow that h.s d-- - -" - his human nature suffered on the cross. This opm.on we X perceive, was mdebted for Us or.gm to the author's Plat- ''"Marcellus bishop of Ancyra, regarded the Son and Holy Ghost as en anatioifs of the divine nature, wh.ch, after per- fo mi^™ ' the funcfons appointed to them, were to retur.j m.o he ubstance of the Father. Hence .t pla.n y fo^^o-^^i^^' there could not be three d.stmct persons •" J'^^"" Pholinus bishop of Sirmium, the disciple ot Marcelius, taucJit tha^'jesus Ls born of the Holy Ghost and te Virgin Marv that the Word, i. e. a divine emana .on or ray, de- Iclnliedon him, and that hence he was called the Son of God and even God ; that the Holy Ghost was only a virtue pro ceedtr^on, the Deity. These opinions were condemned Ty both onhodox and Anans, and Photinus was degraded from his dignity. , r ^u^ „pp Macedomus, a Semi-Arian, being deposed f^""' tj^ see of Constantinople in 360, by the influence f h« E^^J' nns taught openly an opinion which he had hitherto held in sec;er namcMy, that the Holy Ghost is a d.vme energy dif- fused 'th r.l/ he universe, and not a person dist.nc from the Faher^nd Son. The second general council was isembtd at Constantinople in 3Sl, chiefly on account of th s he esy. It completed'what that of Niciea had left im- oerfect eJiablishincr he doctrine of three persons in one God which is till generally received. It also condemned and SematLedfll hereLs hitherto ^t^ownan^ it assigned the first rank after the bishop of Rome to the bishop oi ''"suS'll^e'the principal heresies which divided the church • ,hp fonrth century They all arose from the vain attempt o"f renlerin. c a^^^d definite that which had been left ob- : u^e and"nysterious; and they were -.abated to^o^en by f.rPP nnd crueltv rather than by reason and charity, i ne h^rvts "rSi, a century of V-cution as soon as th church obtained temporal power, it abused '» - /j^ ^^urch men are nothing more than men. He who has power vviii take deli "ht in fts exercise; and when he can silence an op- notnt by fo ce, he will be willing to avoid the more tediou CO rse of reasoning, or the nobler one of tolerance. n this condemnation the"orthodox and the Anans are alike in- eluded. FATHERS OF THE CHURCH. 403 In consequence of its establishment as the religion of the state, the church underwent a change in its constitution. The emperor assumed the entire control of its external administration. He alone had the power of convenino- a General Council; he appointed judges to decide religious controversies ; he took cognizance of all civil causes between members of the hierarchy, regulated disputes between the bishops and people, and exercised a general superintendence over the church. The bishops, on tlieir part, had made a mo- nopoly of the internal administration: people and presbyters alike were excluded from their original share, and of the an- cient government of the church there now remained nothing more than the shadow. The government of the church was modelled after that of the state. The prelates of the four principal cities of the empire answered to the four pra3torian prefects, and seem, even in this century, to have been termed Patriarchs. The Exarchs, corresponding with civil officers of the same title, had the inspection of several provinces. The Metropolitans had the government of one province; the Archbishops were over certain districts ; the Bishops were next in rank; the inferior clergy, headed by Arch-presbyters and Arch-deacons, completed the sacred edifice. The bishop of Rome, chiefly in consequence of his supe- rior wealth and magnificence, and the civil dignity of his see, enjoyed a certain preeminence in rank, but nothing more. He had no power of making laws for the church, or of appointing bishops to their sees ; and the other prelates strenuously maintained their equality with him, as deriving their authority from the same divine source. The fourth century and the early part of the fifth were the golden age of the literature of the early church. The most distinguished of the Fathers then flourished, and a large proportion of their works have come down to modern times. We will here enumerate some of the principal. Athanasius, the secretary and the successor of Alexander in the see of Alexandria, was, throughout the whole of his life, the invincible opponent of Arianism. In his opposition to that heresy, he braved the resentment of emperors; and he was five times expelled fi-om his episcopal throne, and passed twenty years of his life in exile. His energy was in- domitable; his sincetity was beyond question; his talents qualified him to rule an empire. As a writer and a speaker, , he was clear, forcible, and persuasive ; but his style was un- i .'I < i ^i 404 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. polished, and his learning was inferior to that of some of his '^G^TrjTanld Nazianzen from the town of Nazianzes in Cappa^^^^^ his father was b.shop was a man of great pity, and considerable learnmg and eloquei^^^^^^^^ also was an mveterate foe of Arianism ; and Cheodos us, when m his zeal for orthodoxy, he obliged the Arian pre ate of Constantinople to resign his dignuy, ^/^^^ f ^^f^^ J^ force of arms on the archiepiscopal throne. But he pious prelate finally experienced the -g/^^^^.^^.^f /^^ ^^^ae „ bishops and he resigned his see, and retired to a solitude ^n his naUVe province, where he passed the remaining years ot t Hfe in fhe cultivation of poetry and the e-cise of dev^ tion ; for his heart was naturally tender, and his genius '^Th'e -rival of Gregory in genius and in eloquence was^^^^ early friend, companion, and countryman, Basil, surnamea h 'Great, archbis'hop of C.sarea. But Basil -i a Pride^^^^ character from which Gregory was free; jjj^^f^^^^^^ tian knowledge of the great promoter of Oriental mona^ ticism may not unreasonably be called in question Basil .ndGr^Jry Nazianzen may be termed the great Christian siis s° In their works, as in those of Libanius^the anxiety as to form and manner, in preference to matter and import ^y^e discerned; the ^'^^.-^^y f rf'^''^ to or despised by them, and the glitter of false eloquence assumes its place in their writings. Gregory bishop of Nyssa, the brother of St. Basil was alHo aSr of some eminence. His oration on the life of GrecorJ the Wonder-worker, proves him, however, to have ^Ti:eS^,tiSU^cSS^a, was the author of various works It s to his Ecclesiastical History that we are chiefly Tdebted for our acquaintance with the early fortunes of the church and his Life of Constantine is a principal source of fur knovrd.e of the events of that emperor's reign. Bu the credit of "this prelate as an historian is greatly dumnished bv the rule which^e declares he had laid down for his guid- ance namely, to relate nothing to the disadvantage of those Xm he celebrates, of which proceeding we have noticed * The account of Athanasius given by Gibbon (^hap- xxi.) is m the historian's best manner, and does him credit. It shows that even m a bishop he could spy desert/ FATHERS OF THE CHURCH. 405 an instance in his suppression of the murder of Crispus. He justifies this conduct by the specious, but untrue, pretext that this course is the more edifying one ; it being more edi- fying and profitable, for example, to blazon forth ^he virtues • of the early Christians, than to narrate their dissensions and portray their wickedness and apostasies. History would thus become mere panegyric, and be of little more use than romance. Happily the prelate did not always adhere to his own rule ; and he occasionally lets us see that all was not purity and perfection in the church. These were the principal fathers of this century who used the Greek language. The following wrote in Latin : Lactantius, named the Christian Cicero from the elegance of his rich and copious style, is supposed to have been an African. His principal work, the Divine Institutes, is a refutation of paganism. His own notions of Christianity seem to have been of a more philosophic cast than those of most of his contemporaries. Like the apologists in general, his arguments often are weak, and his conclusions not justi- fied by his premises. Ambrose, a native of Gaul, the Becket of antiquity, was the civil governor of Liguria. When, on the occasion of a dispute between the orthodox and the Arians for the vacant see of Milan, (374,) he addressed the people in the cathedral in order to appease the commotion, he was greeted with the unanimous cry, '' We will have Ambrose for our bishop." Ambrose, who was thirty-four years old, had not yet been baptized ; his religious instruction had necessarily been ex- tremely slight, and, in his desire to escape the elevation, for which he deemed himself unfit, he publicly committed some acts of gross injustice and immorality. But the people cried, ''Thy offence be upon our heads;" they drew him from a concealment which he had sought, and conducted him in triumph to Milan. He was thus forced to yield, and on the eighth day after his baptism, he was consecrated. He im- mediately made over the whole of his property to the church or the poor; and spiritual ambition took entire possession of his soul. In the cause of orthodoxy, he resisted Justina, the Arian mother of Valentinian H. ; in the cause of the authority of the church, he humbled even the great Theodo- sius. As a writer, Ambrose is entitled to but moderate praise. His works discover a fondness for the prevalent su- perstitions of the age, and he lays claim to the power of per- forming miracles. He was an able statesman, a bold, am- bitious prelate, but a man of unbleujished private life. if IH Bil |i ii 1 406 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. Augustine, bishop af Hippo Regius in Africa, was a man of considerable mental power. He was engaged in con- tinual controversy with the Donatists and other heretics. His writings are numerous , his most remarkable work is his Confessions, the earliest piece of autobiography that we possess. Augustine entered more deeply into the abstruse questions of grac^, free will, and original sin, than the lea- thers in general. He is regarded^ as the chief author ot the opinions known by the name of Calvinism. Jerome, a native of lUyricum, had conceived such a pas- sion for a monastic life, that he left his own country and shut himself up in a convent at Bethlehem, where he de- voted all his days to devotion, study, and composition. He applied himself to the Hebrew language, and translated the Old Testament into Latin; and as a translator and critic he ranks far above his contemporaries. He also engaged warm- ly in controversy, and earned the fame of being the most foul-mouthed of all the Fathers. On heretics and reformers alike the vials of his wrath were poured forth; the opposers of mortification, celibacy, pilgrimage, saint-worship, and other superstitions which he chose to admire and recommend, however exemplary their lives, received no better treatment than the obstinate'heretic or sinner, from this most choleric of saints. Even age brousrht no cooling to his fervent spirit ; and his very latest writings are as fierce and fiery as those composed in his prime of life. Such were the principal Fathers of the fourth century ; and, viewing their writings, and those of their predecessors and'successors, we think that any person of candor will agree with us in saying, that neither in critical skill, in learn- ing, in judgment, or in correct morality, can they stand a comparison\vith the Protestant divines of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, or even with the Gallican divines of the same period. In gaudy, glittering, theatric eloquence, a Basil, a Gregory, a Chrysostom, may claim the precedence ; but vvhat wo'rk can the ancient church produce to be placed alongside of the Ecclesiastical Polity of Hooker? or where can 'we find in it reasoning equal to that of Chillingvvorth and Barrow? The Fathers maybe read with profit, but cannot be safely taken as guides, unless we are willing to end in submission to the church of Rome. The Christian religion is contained in the New Testament alone, and is theu'te to be derived, by the application of the principles of sound criticism in a spirit actuated by the sincere love of truth. THE MANICH^ANS. 407 We will conclude this chapter by an account of the Mani- ch«an heresy. This heresy, which arose in the middle of the third centu- ry, may be regarded as the last and most permanent form of Gnosticism. Its founder, from whom it derived its name, was Manes, a Persian by birth, and one of the sacerdotal caste of the Magians, who embraced Christianity, and en- deavored to amalgamate it with his original faith. Of the history of his life little is known with certainty. He is said to have been put to death by the Persian king Varanes I. As the foundation of his system, Manes laid down the two principles of Light and Darkness, with their respective chiefs (the Ormuzd and Ahriman of Persian theology) and their countless myriads of subordinate spirits. The prince of Darkness was long ignorant of the existence of the realm of light ; but when he accidentally discovered it, he invaded it. The armies of Light, headed by the First Man, opposed him, but could not prevent his seizing a large portion of it, and mingling it with matter. The Living Spirit, the second leader of the troops of Light, had more success; yet still much of the pure element remained immersed in matter. From the mixture the prince of Darkness formed the parents of the human race, who had therefore a material body, in which were two souls, one sensitive and lustfiil, the other rational and immortal, as beinjr produced of Lio-ht. The Living Spirit then created the earth out of matter, as a habitation for the human race, in order to their gradual puri- fication from the influence of corrupt matter ; and to aid them in their efforts, God produced, from his own substance, two beings, named Christ and Holy Ghost, the former of whom, (the Persian Mithras,) a splendid substance, subsist- ing in and by himself, filled with life and infinite in wisdom, resided in the sun; while the latter, also luminous and ani- mated, pervaded the atmosphere of the earth, illumining the minds of men, giving fertility to the soil, and drawing out from it the particles of celestial heat, and restoring them to their native recrion. The Supreme Deity sent a succession of angels and holy men to admonish and exhort the souls imprisoned in matter. At length, he directed Christ to quit his abode in the sun, and, taking on him the semblance of a body, to appear on earth. Christ obeyed the mandate, performed miracles, and gave precepts to man ; but the prince of Darkness stirred up the Jews against him, and, in appearance, he suffered death i 1 i »i1 it 1% 11 408 THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. on the cross. He reascended to the sun, having appointed apostles to propagate his religion, and promised a Paraclete or Comforter, who would add what was needful to his doc- trine, and dispel all error from the minds of his servants. This'rrreat Paraclete was Manes; and those who obeyed the laws of Christ as enlarged by him, would gradually be freed from the influence of matter, but not wholly in this life ; tor, after death, they must first proceed to the moon, which is composed of purifying water, after an abode in which of tit- teen days, they were to ascend to the sun, whose /re would remove all remaining stains. The souls oi the wicked were, after death, to migrate into the bodies of animals and other natures, till thev should have expiated their guilt. 1 he world was finally to be consumed with fire, and the prince and powers of Darkness be compelled to return to and abide forever in their original gloom and misery. The moral system of Manes was severe and rigorous m the extreme; but, aware that celibacy, long fasting, and mortification, were not suited to mankind in general, he made a distinction similar to one already noticed,* dividing his followers into the Elect and the Hearers, from the former of whom alone obedience was exacted to his ascetic system. Manes rejected all the books of both the Old and the New Testament, except St. Paul's Epistles, which, however, he reo-arded as greatly interpolated and corrupted. He gave his disciples a gospel of his own, named Ertang, dictated to him, as he said, by God himself. The Manich^ean assem- blies had always a president, who represented Jesus Christ, twelve rulers or masters, and seventy-two bishops, to corre- spond with the apostles and disciples; under the bishops were presbyters and deacons, all selected from the body of the Elect ; and the hierarchy was thus completed. The Manichiean system long continued to flourish. It spread itself over both the empires. We believe there is little doubt, that those who, under the names of Albigenses, Paulicians, Cathari, and other denominations, were so cru- elly persecuted by the church of Rom.e in the middle ages, were the descendants of the Manichseans. There is reason to suppose that the mistresses and the loves of the trouba- dours of the South of France were not earthly ; that the conventional language, retained by the Soofees in Persia, had been carried by the Manichaeans to Spain and France; * See above, p. 283. A. D. 395.] HONORIUS. 409 that in Italy, this language, which had hitherto been con- fined to religion, was, by Fredeiick H. and his friends, ex- tended to politics, and made the bond of union of the Ghibellines; and that it is only by a knowledge of it, that the writings of Dante, Petrarca, Boccaccio, and the other writers of that age, can be understood.* In fine, it might appear that Manichasism eventually led to the Reformation. CHAPTER VJI.f HONORIUS, VALENTINIAN III., ETC. A. u. 1148—1229. A. D. 395—476. DIVISION OF THE EMPIRE. RUFINUS. THE GOTHS IN GREECE. GILDO. INVASION OF ITALY BY ALARIC. BY RADAGAISUS. MURDER OF STILICHO. CLAUDIAN. ALARIC'S SECOND INVASION. SACK OF ROME. DEATH OF ALARIC. BARBARIANS IN THE EMPIRE. VALENTIN- IAN III. BONIFACE AND .ETIUS. GENSERIC. HIS CON- QUEST OF AFRICA. ATTILA. THEODORIC. BATTLE OF CHALONS. ATTILA's INVASION OF ITALY. xMURDER OF ^TIUS AND OF VALENTINIAN. MAXIMUS. SACK OF ROME BY GENSERIC. AVITUS. MAJORIAN. SEVE- RUS. ANTHEMIUS. NEPOS AND GLYCERIUS. ROMULUS AUGUSTUS. END OF THE EMPIRE. CONCLUSION. Honorius, A. u. 1148—1176. A. D. 395—423. With Theodosius the unity of the Roman empire termi- nated ; it never again obeyed a single ruler, and henceforth the empires of the East and the West are as distinct as any independent kingdoms of ancient or modern times. As the history of that of the East, during the remaining period of our narrative, presents no events of much political impor- * The proofs will be found in the various works of Signer Rossetti, the learned and sagacious expounder of Dante. t Authorities : Zosimus, Claudian, Jornandes, the Ecclesiastical Historians, and the Chroniclers. CONTIN. 35 Z Z .» [>! 4 410 HONORIUS. [a. d. 395. tance, we will confine ourselves to that of the West, and rapidly relate its fall. Theodosius had two sons : to the elder, named Arcadius, a youth of eighteen years of age, who had been left behind in Constantinople, was assigned the empire of the East ; to the younger, Honorius, a boy of eleven years, that ot the West.* The care of both the emperors and their dominions was committed by Theodosius, on his death bed, to Stilicho, a man of great talent, civil and military, and of incorrupt in- tegrity, to whom he had given his niece and adopted daugh- ter Serena in marriage, and had raised him to the high rank of master of both the cavalry and infantry of the empire. After the decease of Theodosius, Stilicho remained in Italy with the young Honorius. The chief minister of Ar- cadius was Rufinus, the prefect of the East, a native of Gaul, who, having devoted himself to the practice of the law at Constantinople, by his talents and by his profound hypoc- risy gained the favor of the late emperor, who had gradually raised him to his present dignity. As soon as death had relieved him from the restraint which his knowledge of the latent vigor of Theodosius's character imposed, Rufinus flung off the mask, and gave free course to his cruelty and his avarice. In the gratification of this last ignoble passion, he passed all bounds. Justice was sold, offices were sold, oppressive taxes were imposed, testaments were extorted or forged, ruinous fines were exacted, properties were confis- cated on the slightest pretexts. The wealth thus acquired was retained by the most rigid parsimony, and Rufinus was consequently the object of hatred to many, and of sincere attachment to no one. The ambitious prefect hoped to unite his only daughter to his vouthful sovereicrn ; but he seems not to have reflected J ^ 11*1 on the secret machinations of a despotic court; and whue he was absent on a journey of vengeance to Antioch, where, without even a shadow of proof, he judicially murdered the count of the East, a secret conspiracy ni the palace, headed by the chamberlain Eutropius, undermined his power. Dis- coverino- that their youncr monarch had no affection for his destined bride, the confederates planned to substitute for her the fair Eudoxia, the orphan daughter of Bauto, a Frank general in the imperial service. They inflamed the imagina- * The province of Illjricum was divided between the two empires. A. D. 395.] RUFINUS. 411 tion of the emperor by their commendations of her charms; the view of her picture confirmed the impression, and when, on the day fixed for the royal nuptials, after the return of Rufinus, (April 27,) the bearers of the diadem, robes, and ornaments, of the future empress, issued from the palace, they entered not the mansion of the prefect, but the house in which Eudoxia was dwellinor, and conducted the dauorhter of Bauto to the imperial residence. The sense and spirit exhibited by the new empress soon filled Rufinus with alarm; and it is not unlikely that, in the rage of disappointed ambi- tion, and the dread of a hostile faction, he may, as he is charged, have resolved to aim at the empire, and with this view have secretly encouraged the Goths and Huns to renew their ravagres. But Rufinus had a foe to encounter more formidable than the eunuchs of the palace. He had long since drawn on himself the enmity of Stilicho; and that general, who had already divided between the royal brothers the jewels and other private property of their deceased father, now pre- pared to apportion between the two empires the troops which had been assembled under the imperial standard for the late war. Under the pretext of the ravages of the Goths, he marched in person at the head of the troops that were to return to the East ; and he had reached Thessalonica when he received an order from Arcadius, dictated by the fears of Rufinus, to send on the troops, but to advance no farther himself. He obeyed, committing to the soldiers the execution of the designs which he had formed against Rufi- nus. The army, led by Gainas, a Goth, marched for the capital; not a soldier divulged the secret of Stilicho; Rufi- nus was led to hope that they would aid his ambition, and he freely distributed to them a portion of his hoarded treasures. When they were within a mile of the city, (Nov. 27,) he and the emperor advanced to salute them. As he was passing along the ranks, the wings gradually closed and surrounded him : Gainas then gave the signal ; a soldier plunged his sword into his breast, and he fell dead at the feet of the em- peror. His lifeless body was abandoned to the rage of the populace, who treated it with every species of horrid indig- nity. His wife and daughter found sanctuary in a church, and they ended their days in a convent at Jerusalem.* * The power now fell into the hands of the eunuch Eutropius, whom Claudian, the panegyrist of Stilicho, lashes in so fearful a manner. Of the poet's satiric powers, the following is a specimen : — H -•t i ! ' I H ri ^1 U' i fi 412 HONORIUS. [a. d. 396-398. The Goths, under the guidance of an intrepid young prince named Alaric, after ravaging the northern provinces, had advanced into Greece, (396.) They no where encoun- tered opposition ; from Mount Olympus to the extremities of Taenaron and Malea, they ravaged the country and pillaged the towns. At length (397) Stilicho debarked an array on the isthmus of Corinth, and advanced into Arcadia, to engage the invaders. By skilful movements he forced them to re- tire to Mount Pholoe, and, having diverted the course of the only stream that supplied them, and drawn a line of posts round them, he withdrew to share in the pleasures of the staore and dance in the cities of Greece. The soldiers, not being controlled by the presence of their general, quitted the works, and spread themselves over the country. Alaric, watching his opportunity, marched out with his booty and captives, crossed the Corinthian Gulf, and was master of Epirus before Stilicho knew of his escape. The Gothic prince had meantime been secretly negotiating a treaty with the ministers of Arcadius; and just at this conjuncture he was appointed to the military command of eastern Illyricum, and Stilicho received orders to depart from the dominions of the emperor of the East. The attention of Stilicho was next directed to Africa, w^here Gildo, the brother of the unfortunate Firmus, ruled in nearly total independence; for, after the suppression of that rebel, the government of Africa had been conferred on Gildo, who had risen to the rank of count in the service of Rome. At a distance from the seat of empire, and there- fore secure from punishment, he indulged all his passions without restraint, and the unhappy country groaned beneath his tyranny. Persons of wealth were poisoned in order to obtain their properties ; the fairest matrons and maidens, after being Ibrced to submit to the embraces of the tyrant, were abandoned to his swarthy Moorish and Gaetulian guards. Asperius nihil est humili, cum surgit in altum ; Cuncta ferit dum cuncta timet ; dessevit in omnes, Ut se posse putent ; nee bellua tetrior ulla Quam servi rabies in libera terga furentis. Agnoscit gemitus, et pcenjE parcere nescit Quam subiit, dominique memor quern verberat odit. Adde quod eunuchus nulla pietate movetur, Nee generi natisve cavet, Clementia cunctis In similes, animosque ligant consortia damni. Iste nee eunachis placidus, sed pejus in aurum iKstuat ; hoc uno fruitur succisa libido. In Eutrop. I. 181, seg. A. D. 398.] GILDO. 413 His excesses were unnoticed by Theodosius, who resided at a distance; but he saw that from Stilicho he had no favor to expect, and he therefore craftily tendered his allecriance to the throne of Arcadius. The ministers of that pHuce, re- gardless of faith or honor, grasped at the delusive offer, and signified to Stilicho their right to Africa. Their claim was met by a decided negative. Stilicho instantly accused the Alrican as a rebel to the senate, and that body declared him the enemy of the republic. The prudent Symmachus sua- gested the danger of the corn-ships being kept back and the city being thus exposed to famine; but Stilicho had already provided for this case, and abundant supplies of corn from Gaul were poured into the granaries of Rome. The command of the force destined for the reduction of the Moorish tyrant was committed to his own brother Mas- cezel, whom he had forced to fly for his life, and whose innocent children he had murdered. The army of Mascezel consisted of only five thousand Gallic veterans; but these were deemed sufficient to overcome the naked and disorderly barbarians, who, to the number, it is said, of seventy thou-' sand, marched under the banners of Gildo. Shortly after his landing, (898,) Mascezel gave the signal for engagement. He himself advanced before his troops with offers "of par- don; one of the enemy's standard-bearers met him and Mascezel, on his refusal to yield, struck off his arm with his sword. The standard fell to the ground ; the supposed vol- untary act was imitated by all the other standard-bearers • the cohorts proclaimed the name of Honorius; the barba- rians dispersed and returned to their homes ; and the victory was thus gained without the slightest effusion of blood. Gildo fled to the sea-shore, and, throwing himself into a small vessel, made sail for the East; but the wind drove him into the port of Tabraca, where he was seized by the inhab- itants and cast into prison, and he terminated his existence by his own hand. Mascezel, on his return, was received at court with great favor; but, shortly after, as he was ridina with Stdicho over a bridge, his horse threw him into the river; and the attendants, observing that Stilicho smiled gave him no aid, and he was drowned.* The guilt of his death was accordingly charged on the envy of Stilicho. .. *u?1 ^'^bo^ '^ softens," as he terms it, the narrative of Zosimus, "which, m Its crude simplicity," he says, "is almost incredible." Zosimus Simply says (v. ii.) that the guards, on a given signal, pushed him into the river, and that Stilicho lauo-hed. fe » i 35* ;1 M Ni M' - •■ : i, u; 414 HONORIUS. [400-403, The young emperor, now in his fourteenth year, was uni- ted in marriage at this time with his cousin Maria, the daucrhter of Stilicho; but the consummation was deferred; and'ten years after Maria died a virgin. Honorius, who was utterly devoid of talent or energy, passed his days m feeding poultry; and Stilicho, while he lived, was in reality the mon- arch of the West. . This able man had soon again to measure arms with the ambitious Alaric. The Gothic prince, in addition to his rank of master of Illyricum, was now, by the unanimous suffrages of his countrymen, king of the Visigoths. For some years he acted a dubious part between the emperors ot the East and the West; but he finally (400) resolved on the invasion and plunder of Italy. By arts or by arms he was for three years withheld from treading its plains; but at lenath (402) the court of Milan was alarmed by intelligence of The approach of the Goths. The council of the young emperor proposed an instant flight to Gaul. Stilicho, alone undismayed, pledged himself, if the court would only remain tranquil during his absence, to return, within a limited time, at the head of'a powerful army. He accordingly crossed the Alps in the depth of winter, collected the troops of Gaul and Britain, and took into pay a large body of Alemannic cav- alry. But, while he was thus engaged, the Goths had ad- vanced to Milan; and Honorius had fled and shut himself up in the town of Asta (Asti) in Liguria, where he was closely besieged by the Gothic monarch. Stilicho hastened to his' relief; by skilful manoeuvres he cut off the supplies of the barbarians, and he gradually drew round them a line of fortifications. . During these operations, the festival of Easter arrived, (403.) While the Goths were devoutly celebrating it, their camp at Pollentia (twenty-five miles south-east of Turin) was assailed by the imperial cavalry. Alaric speedily drew out and formed his men ; the battle was maintained through- out the day with mutual valor; but in the evening the Goths retired. Their camp was forced; the booty and captives were all recovered ; and the wife of Alaric remained a- pris- oner in the hands of the victors. Alaric was, however, pre- paring, at the head of his remaining troops, to cross the Apennines and push on for Rome; but his councd of war- riors forced him to listen to the offers of Stilicho, and con- clude a treaty for the evacuation of Italy. He repassed the Po, with the secret design of seizing the city of Verona, A. D. 404-406.] INVASION OF ITALY. 415 advancing rapidly into Germany, passing the Rhine, and invading the defenceless provinces of Gaul. But Stilicho, who had a secret intelligence with some of the Gothic chiefs, learned his design, and, at a short distance from Verona, the Goths were assailed on all sides by the imperial troops. Their loss was considerable; Alaric himself owed his safety to the swiftness of his horse. He then assembled his remaining forces amid the adjacent rocks, where he pre- pared to stand a siege ; but hunger and desertion soon forced him to accept another treaty ; and Italy was at length de- livered from the Goths, though hut for a time. In the following year, (404,) Honorius visited the ancient capital of the empire. He entered it in triumphal pomp, Stilicho seated in his chariot by his side. His abode in the capital is distinguished by an edict abolishing the combats of gladiators ; for, as these inhuman contests were going on one day in the amphitheatre, an Asiatic monk, named Telemachus, urged by a generous impulse, sprang into the arena to separate the combatants. The enraged spectators overwhelmed him with a shower of stones ; and he perished a martyr in the sacred cause of humanity. When the rage of the people subsided, they were filled with penitence; a ready obedience was yielded to the edict is- sued on the occasion by the emperor, and the barbarous and inhuman gladiatorial combats ceased forever. As invasions of the barbarians were now matter of con- stant apprehension, and neither Rome nor Milan was con- sidered to be sufficiently secure for the imperial residence, Honorius fixed his abode at Ravenna. This city, situated on the Adriatic, was strongly fortified ; and its only approach on the land side was by a causeway leading through a deep morass.* Strong thus by nature and art, Ravenna hence- forth continued, for more than three centuries, to be the seat of government in Italy. The apprehensions of the emperor and his court were not unfounded ; for, within two years after the departure of Al- aric, a numerous host of Germans poured into Italy, (406.) This host, which is stated at 200,000 lighting men, accom- panied by their wives, children, and slaves, was composed of adventurers from most of the German and Sarmatian tribes. The leader-in-chief was named Radagaisus. The task of * Owinor to the recession of the waters of the Mediterranean, Ra- venna is now four miles from the sea. im t ' ti Mi: "''*l 'H '{• h. 416 HONORIUS. [a. d. 407-408. e Po Ld the Apennn.es, and laid siege to the c.ty of Flor- fiof occnm d by th^host of Radaga.sas. Fam.ne soon In eadTtsCa.es among the men and horses; the.r fur.oa ■^ i.An the^lines of circumvallation were repelled; and Tvtre at iS. obliged to surrender at d.scret.on. Sa^Tsus was bel>eaded by order of St^cho ; the common barbarians were sold for slaves. u„., „f naHntraisus The principal nations composing the host of ^^^^S'^'^^' were th'e Suevians, Burgund.ans, Sandals and An a, d only a portion of their immense force had entered Italy, i" the folowin-. -- --uyt. He ; >.I '^°"«'^^«='0'- '» "'e ."ind of the feeble emperor, on 1 If i",."' ^"'"l" "''' ^'''''=''" ''»'! '"'^""ed designs "e me' ac!'."'„ '";.'"•• '^' "'^^'°°^'^'' ^^'"<^''' "" —"of tiHo S ir \T' ^•«'»'^'"^-«ome devoted, others hos- tile to Stilicho -Hononus, at the instigation of Olympius uar,r lie "'T'f^ 'J r'^'^'"^ "^^'^ '" "-^ ^"f--' rian troops (those most devoted to the general) lay and hence proceeded to Pavia, to the camp of the Rouiaii r'oo,^, tie enemies of Stilicho and the barbarians. By the arts of Oljmpius, these troops had been prepared to enact the part enmeror fhe "' '"S'^'"' 'i^ten.ng'to an address from'^.he empe or, they rose and massacred all the friends of Stilicho mc udmg the Ing est officers of the empire. Honorius, w ,o ror !!^,7h "« P.rJ*^'^*^'^ "''''''"'' ^^«^ fi'l^d with ter- bee;. Hn T '"'"^ persuaded to approve of what had been done, and commend the actors. Stilicho, on hearinc, of the massacre at Pavia, held a council of the leaders of the auxiliaries ; they were unanimous in urgino- him to ven- geance, but he hesitated to involve the empire in a civil war ihl' ^^"/ft''"'' '^'""^ '" '^'^g"^' ■■'' his irresolution, and in he night his camp was assailed by the troops of a Gothic leader named Sarus who was one of the band of his enemies " f i ""?"!'■?. g""*'^ ''-^'^ cut to pieces, and he him- self escaped with difficulty. He retired to Ravenna, and took sanctuary in a church ; by artifice and perjury the bishop was induced to yield him up, and he was beheaded as soon as he had passed the sacred threshold, (Aua. 23 ) His son was s ortly after put to death; his' daughter i-henilLura! who, ike her sister, was the emperor's virgin wife, was dil ard'murderer""' "" ''^'""'' ' '^^ ^''"'"^ ^^'^^ '-'"--^ ,h.'^'"°!T,'''T "'''°}''^f '" "'e fate of the great Stilicho was the poet Claudian, the last ancient poet in whose verses the AAA i'ii « , * n 418 HONORIUS. [a. d. 408. Latin lanauage appears with any lustre. Claudian was born at Alexandria in Egypt. The Latin, therefore was not his mother tongue ; yet he made it the graceful and elegant v-e- hide of such poetry as had not been equalled, except by Statius, since the Augustan age. Panegyric and satire were the principal themes of his muse. He may be called the poet laureate of Stilicho, whose victories he celebrates, and whose enemies he overwhelms with invective. His diction is harmonious, though not perfectly pure; his descriptions are rich and luxuriant; he possessed the rare talent ot ele- vating the mean and diversifying the similar without offend- incT the good sense or taste of the reader. In a word, Clau- dian closes with dignity the band of Latin poets.* While, by the base arts of courtiers, Italy was thus de- prived of her only stay, Alaric lay encamped on her confines. As if to aid him in his projects, the fanatic Olympius caused an edict to be issued excluding all those who did not hold the orthodox creed from civil and military employment ; and on one day the wives and children of the barbarians in the Roman service (a body of 30,000 men) were massacred m the towns of Italy, in which they were dwelling as hostages These troops vowed a heavy revenge; and Alaric, certain of their cooperation, hesitated not to enter Italy as the avenger of the death of Stdicho, and of his own wrongs. Stdicho had perished in the month of August, and in the following October, Alaric passed the Alps, the Po, the Apennines; and Rome for the first time since the days of Hannibal, saw a foreicru enemy before her gates. The Gothic forces closely blockaded all the approaches, and stopped the navigation of the Tiber. Famine and pestilence soon began to spread their ravages through the crowded population. At length, two senators were sent as envoys to the Gothic camp. When led before Alaric, they spoke of the dignity and nuniber of the Roman people, and bade him to prepare for battle if he would not grant reasonable terms. " The thicker the hay, the easier it is mowed," replied the Goth, with a laugh. He then demanded, as a ransom, all the gold, silver, and precious movables in the city, and all the barbarian slaves. He final- * Gibbon (chap, xxx.) draws the character of this poet with tolerable accuracy. He evidently admired him. We cannot, however, con- cede that in Claudian " it would not be easy to produce a passage that deserves the epithet of sublime or pathetic ; to select a verse that melts the heart or enlarges the imagination." Of the last, at least, there are many. A.D. 409.] ATTALUS MADE EMPEROR. 419 ly consented to take 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 of silver 3,000 of pepper, 4,000 robes of silk, and 3,000 pieces of scarlet cloth ; and, on the delivery of these articles, Alaric led his troops into Tuscany for the winter. His army, auo-- mented by the barbarians who had been in the Roman ser- vice, and by 40,000 slaves, counted, at the least, 100 000 fighting men, (409.) The early part of the year was spent in fruitless negotia- tions for peace. Olympius was in his turn undermined by the intrigues of the palace, and forced to seek his safety in flight. A brave barbarian officer, named Gennerid, was placed at the head of the army, and 10,000 Huns were taken into pay. But the intrigues of the palace still prevailed, and an oath was extorted from the principal officers of the state and army, never, under any circumstances, to consent to a peace with the insolent invader of Italy. AH hopes of accom- modation being thus cut off, Alaric led his troops once more toward Rome. By making himself master of the port of Ostia,* where the corn for the supply of the city was ware- housed, he speedily put an end to all thoughts of resistance; and the senate, at his dictation, invested with the purple At- tains, the prefect of the city. The new emperor bestowed on his benefactor the rank of commander-in-chief of the armies of the West, which he had sought in vain from the ministers of Honorius, and made Adolphus, (Athaulf)) the Gothic monarch's brother-in-law, count of the domestics, with the custody of the royal person. Milan cheerfully ac- knowledged the new emperor, whom Alaric conducted in triumph almost to the gates of Ravenna, where an embassy from Honorius, offering to divide the empire with him, en- tered the camp. Attains insisted on his resignation ; and so desperate in reality did the affairs of Hononus now seem, that Jovius, his principal minister, and Valens, his general, two of the envoys, went over to the side of his rival. Honorius was in despair, preparing to fly to the Eastern court, when a body of four thousand veterans landed in Ra- venna. As these sufficed for its defence, he now felt some- what reassured, and he was soon further cheered by the arrival of a large sum of money, sent by Count Heraclian, who had defeated the troops sent to Africa by Attains, and distressed the Romans by preventing the exportation of corn and oil, Alaric, wearied with the insolence and imprudence * See above, p. 80. i il t'! '.'it ^ M ^I'i- 420 HONORios. [a.d. 4V0-412. of the emperor of his own creation, and acted on by the arts of the treacherous Jovius, at length pubhcly stripped h.m of his diadem and purple, which he sent to Honornis as a pledge of amity. He then advanced to w.thm three "ule of Ravenna, in the full expectation that a peace would novv be concluded; but Sarus the Goth, at the head otj-^e hun- dred men, sallied from one of the gates, and cut to p.eces a d vis>on of his troops ; and a herald soon after appeared o declare that the eniperor would never enter into Ir.endsh.p with the invader of Italy. ,,„r.na n,e Gothic monarch, bent on vengeance, led h s troops once more to Rome. Tte senate prepared to make a des- nerate resistance ; but treachery rendered the.r plans unava.l- ?nTrt Midnight, (Aug. 24, 410,) the Salar.an gate was "ently opened.'and the Goths were admUted ; and Rome for the fir^st fm'e s„.ce the days of Camillus, (a space of e.gh^ centuries,) became the prey of a fore.gn enemy. Al he horrors and atrocities consequent on the capture of a large town by storm, were felt by the unhappy c.ty ; but the ev.is 'Ze multigated, ■„ many iLtances. by the Chr^t.an feelmg of the Arian Goths ; and it is acknowledged that Rome suffered far less at their hands, than it did afterwards in the ieth century, from the Catholic troops of the orthodox en. peror Charles V. Numbers were, of course, reduced from affluence or comfort to slavery or poverty, and the provinces of Afr'ca and the East were' filled with fugitives from the ancient capital of the empire. Alaric remained only six days m Rome ; he then led his troops southwards, captured Nola and other towns, and. on commg to the Straits of Rhegium, prepared to pass over and make The conquest of Sicily prelusive to that o Africa Bu a storm shattered his transports, and a premature death ter ^ ia ed his visions of dominion. To form a grave for he mighty Alaric, the course of the Busentinus, a small iver whih washes 'the walls of Consentia, -s diverted and lus corpse, royally arrayed, was deposited in .ts_bed^ 1 he stream was then restored to its origmal channel; and, that he secret of the resting-place of Alaric might never be known, H massacre was made of all the prisoners who had hppn encraored in the work. , TheVofal dignity, after the death of Alanc, was conferred on Adolphus. This pnnce, who was of a pr.u^ent and mod- erate temper, effected a treaty with the court of Ravenna, and tieTsigoths at length (412) evacuated Italy, after a A. D. 413.] BARBARIANS IN SPAIN. 4^1 possession of four years. But they never again returned to their former seats; Adolphus, in the character of a Roman general, led his troops against the invaders and the usurpers of southern Gaul ; and his authority was speedily acknowl- edged from the Mediterranean to the Ocean. A marriage into the royal house of Theodosius also contributed to give him consequence. Placidia, the daughter of that monarch by Galla, had been detained in the Gothic camp since the period of the first siege of Rome by Alaric; and, though the court of Honorius rejected with disdain Adolphus's propo- sals of marriage, and insisted on her restitution, the princess herself was less haughty, and she readily gave her hand to the brave and handsome monarch of the Goths. Count Heraclian, who had been loyal to Honorius when his cause seemed nearly hopeless, became a rebel when Italy was delivered of the Goths. He assumed the purple, (413,) and, embarking a numerous army in a large fleet, sailed from Africa, and entered the Tiber. But, as he was on the road to Rome, he was met and defeated by one of the imperial gen- erals, and he fled back to Africa in a single ship. He sought refuge in the temple of Memory, at Carthage, whence he vvas taken and beheaded. It would be tedious were we to relate the actions and deaths of Constantine, of Maximus, Jovinus, Sebastian, and others, who at this period aimed at empire in Gaul and Spain, and perished in the attempt. We therefore pass them over in silence, and proceed to relate the conquest of Spain by the Goths. The fruitful and wealthy provinces of Spain had, in conse- quence of its position, been strangers to war for the last four centuries, with the exception of the irruption of xhe Germans in the time of Gallienus; it v/as now to suffer in common with the rest of the empire. The barbarians who had passed the Rhine in 406, had reached the foot of the Pyrenees, and the barbarian mercenaries, called Honorians, to whom the usurper Constantine had committed the passes of those mountains, turning traitors to their trust, admitted the con- federate Germans and Alans into the heart of Spain, (409.) Rapine and devastation traversed the land from the Pyrenees to the Straits of Gades ; and when Spain had thus been ex- hausted of its strength and wealth, the conquerors set down, resolved to occupy it permanently. The Suevians and Van- dals settled in the north; the Alans spread over the central region from sea to sea; a branch of the Vandals took posses- CONTIN. 36 \\\ > r ■■i 4-22 vALE-NTiNiAN in. [a. d. 414-423. sion of Bstica. They were not, however, suffered to remain bnrundisturbed. Adolphus, covetous of -''t-y f»-;. readilv accepted the task of recovering Spam for the empire H: a his Goths through the Pyrenees, (414,) and surprised the city of Barcelona. His career of victory however, was cut sSrt ere long (Aug. 415) by the <^^f^^f^l\^'^lZl ind Sinaaric a brother of Sarus, was placed on the vacant 'hrone Tl^ six children of Adolphus by a former marriage veTe put to death, and Placid.a was treated as a slave by I! t nint. But he also perished by assassination on the seventh day of his reign, and the choice of the nation gave r hrone'to a chief named Wall.a. Within the space of four years this valiant warrior restored Spam to tl^ empire and he then (419) repassed tlie Pyrenees, and ftxed his royal residence at Toulouse, ruling the country from the Loire to '" When'ThetotCwere thus established in the south and west of France, the Burgundians obtained permanent posses- sion of the Upper GernTany, and their name remains in its modern appellat'^on. The Lower Germany was at the same dme occuLd by the Franks. Armor.ca, or the north-west nor ion of Gaul, a'nd the island of Britain being left to their Ln resources, 'assumed an attitude «' ''^'^Pf"'';-^;^ . ^„„. In this condition of his empire, that most feeble and con temptible of princes, Hononus, emperor of 'he West d.ed (4-23) of dropsy, after an inglorious reign of twenty-eight years. Valeniinian HI. ^ jj 1 17— 61208. A. D. 423—455. TTonorius died childless ; but the western branch of the line of Theodosiu did not expire with him. Placidia, whom we haveten treated with such indignity after the death of her husband had been redeemed for «iOO,000 measures of wheat ; and her brother had obliged her to give her hand to a brave Tnd tolS S-ral, nam°ed Constantius, by whonr^sh^ hau two children a daughter named Honoria, and a son V aien tbian At her impulsion, Constantius claimed and obtained I. .i.le of Augustus and a share in the empire ; but he died r.S a?'e^ aSby'the intrigues of a steward arul a nur.e enmity was excited between the emperor and his sister lo whom he had been hitherto most fondly attached. As the A. D. 425-428.] COUNT BONIFACE. 423 Gothic soldiers took the part of their queen, and the city of Ravenna was filled with tumult, Placidia was induced to re- tire from the scene. She went to the court of Byzantium, where she was most kindly received by the reigning empe- ror, Theodosius II. ; and when, a few months after, intelli- gence arrived of the death of Ilonorius, the Eastern monarch prepared to assert by arms the claim of her son to the vacant throne, which had been occupied by John, the Primicerius, or principal secretary of the late emperor. It was some time before the troops of the East were in readiness to attempt the conquest of Italy. At length (42">) they set forth ; Aquileia was surprised, and one of the Eastern commanders, who had been made a prisoner and carried into Ravenna, having contrived to gain over the garrison, the usurper was seized and beheaded. Though Theodosius might have asserted his claim to the whole empire, he con- tented himself with the addition of western lilyricum to his dominions, and he caused his young cousin, Valentinian, to be invested with the monarchy of the West. A marriage, which afterwards took place, was agreed on, Valentinian be- ing to espouse, when of suitable age, Eudoxia, the daughter of Theodosius. As the young monarch was now ordy six years old, the government of himself and his empire naturally fell into the hands of his mother, and she retained her power for a space of five-and-twenty years. The armies of the West were commanded by two able men, Boniface and /Etius. The former, who held the government of Africa, had been at all times attached to the cause of Pla- cidia; the latter, who was of barbaric origin, had joined the late usurper, and had even brought a force of 00,000 Huns as far as the confines of Italy, to his aid, when lie heard of his fate. Having negotiated a treaty for the retreat of the bar- barians, he entered the service of Valentinian; and he soon gained great influence over the mind of Placidia. This in- fluence he employed for the destruction of his rival. He se- cretly persuaded Placidia to recall Boniface from his govern- ment, and he at the same time advised Boniface to refuse obe- dience, assuring him that his death was intended. Boniface fell into the trap laid for him. He armed in his defence, and repelled the first attacks made on him ; but feeling that he could not long resist single-handed, he sent to propose an al- liance to the king of the Vandals, (428.) When the Goths recovered Spain for Honorius, the Sue- vians and Vandals still remained unsubdued in Gallicia. t s i| 424 vALENTiNiAN III. [a. d. 429-439. Dissension soon broke out between them; the Vandals pre- vailed ; but, on the approach of an imperial army, they broke up, and marched for Baetica, and, having there defeated a superior force of Romans and GothS, they became masters of the entire province, which has derived from them its name of x\ndalusia. The king of the Vandals at this time was named Uen- seric. He°is described as of middle stature, slow of speech, a contemner of luxury, prone to anger, covetous of gam, skilled in raining nations and in sowing dissensions among his enemie°s. In° the May of 429, he embarked his troops in vessels furnished by "'Boniface and the Spaniards, and crossed the Straits of Gades. His whole force, composed of Vandals, Alans, Goths, and others, did not exceed 50,000 men ; but he easily induced the Moors to unite with him, and the persecuted Donatists regarded as a deliverer the Christian, though not orthodox, Genseric. Boniface, when too late, saw tlie error he had committed ; the letters of iEtius being shown and compared, in an interview between him and an'envoy sent from court, he discovered the fraud of which he had been the victim, and he resolved to re- turn to his allegiance ; and when Genseric refused to evac- uate the country, he led out his troops and gave him battle. But he met with a total defeat, (430;) the whole country, far and wide, was now exposed to the ravages of the Van- dals and the cities of Carthage, Cirta, and Hippo Regius, alone remained to the empire. In this last, the modern Bona Count Boniface shut himself up, and held it for four- teen months acrainst the Vandals. At length, (431,) being reenforced by" troops from the East, he marched out and crave them battle, but again met with a total defeat. Giving now all up for lost, he got on shipboard, and sailed for Ita y. Placidia received him with favor, and raised him to high rank ; but iEtius, who was in Gaul, soon appeared with a body of barbarians. The quarrel between the rivals was decided by arms (432 •) victory declared for Boniface, but he received a mortal vvound in the conflict, ^tius was proclaimed a rebel • he sought refuge with the Huns, and the empire thus remained without a general. Nevertheless, the progress of Gen'^eric, retarded by other means, was slow. Cirta and Carthacre still held out ; and it was not till the tenth year al- ter hislanding in Africa, (439,) that the latter was taken, and that by surprise, not force. ., ^ j i .u iEtius did not long remain in exile. Supported by the A. D. 439.] ATTILA. 425 arms of 60,000 Huns, he was soon able to dictate his own terms to the empress Placidia, and, with the title of Patrician and the command of the entire army, he in effect governed the empire, which he alone was able to preserve from ruin. He still kept up an intercourse with the Huns; he was on terms of friendship with their king, in whose camp his son was educated ; he employed Huns in the defence of Gaul, and he placed colonies of Alans in the territories of Valens and Orleans. The monarch of the Huns at this time was the mighty Attila. His power was obeyed from the banks of the Rhine to far beyond the Volga ; the Scandinavian peninsula is said to have yielded him tribute ; his possessions extended south- wards fifteen days' journey below the Danube ; the empire of the East, which he had ravaged to the very gates of Constan- tinople, paid him an annual subsidy ; and all the influence of JEtius had been unable to preserve that of the West from a similar degradation. Genseric, menaced by both empires, had sought the alliance of the potent monarch of the Huns ; and it was at his insti- gation that Attila had invaded the Eastern empire, and thus obliged an expedition destined for Africa to be recalled. The same artful prince was the cause of the Hunnish hordes being poured into the Western empire. The occasion was as follows : The successor of Wallia on the throne of the Visigoths was Theodoric, the son of the great Alaric, a prince of°con- siderable ability and vigor. Ambitious to extend his domin- ions, he laid siege to the city of Aries; but ^tius hastened to its defence, and the Goths were forced to retire with loss. Shortly after. Count Litorius, a Roman general, advanced at the head of an army of Huns to the very gates of Toulouse ; but his rashness brought on him a total defeat and personal captivity, ^tius soon appeared with a powerful force ; an in- stant engagement was expected, but the generals on both sides were prudent, and a treaty of amity was concluded, (439.) Theodoric thenceforth devoted himself to the promotion of the welfare of his subjects, and he became universally loved and respected. He had six sons and two daughters; the two latter were married, the one to the son of the king of the Suevians in Spain, the other to Hunneric, the eldest" son of Genseric. But, high as she stood in birth and alliance, the Gothic princess was doomed to be the victim of tvrannv. 36 B B B % 4 i .1111 426 VALENTINIAN III. [a. D. 451. Genseric, suspecting that she had conspired to poison him cut off her nose and ears, and sent her back thus mutilated to her father. Theodoric resolved to avenge her injuries ; the Romans agreed to supply him with ships, arms, and money, and he was preparing for the invasion of Alrica, when Genseric once more called on Attila for aid, and the Btorm was again diverted. It is also said that Attila was incited to arms by a Koman lady of royal descent. Honoria, the sister of Valentinian, had had an intrigue with her chamberlain Eugenius. When tlie consequences of her frailty became apparent, her mother sent her away to Constantinople, and caused her to be im- mured in a nunnery. Hating a life of celibacy and restraint, Honoria despatched a trusty eunuch to Attda, with a ring as the pledge of her affection. Attila accepted the gift, and he sent to demand the princess and a share of the empire. His demand was of course refused; and Honoria was sent back to Italy, where the ceremony of her marriage with some ob- scure person having been performed, she was shut up in prison for the rest of her days. Uraed by the various claimants for his aid, Attila moved from his royal village in the plains of Hungary, (451.) Di- visions of all his subject nations marched beneath his banner He crossed the Rhine at its confluence with the Neckar, and poured his hordes over the plains of Belgium and France. The celestial aid of saints or the strength of fortifications preserved Troyes and Paris, but other towns and cities were taken and plundered without mercy, and the Hunnish mon- arch at lencTth pitched his tents beneath the walls of Orleans, which Sanaiban, king of the Alans, had engaged to betray. But the plot was discovered, the attacks of the Huns were repelled, and at the sight of the banners of ^tius and 1 he- odoric, who were marching to its relief, the prudent Hun drew off his troops, and retired to the plains of Champagne, which were better adapted for the operations of cavalry. ^tius aided by the eloquence of the senator Avitus, had succeeded in inducing Theodoric, whose first plan had been to await the invaders within his own territories, to share m the common defence of Gaul. The Burgundians, the Salian Franks, the Saxons, Alans, Armoricans, and others, had also been prevailed on to aid the common cause ; and at the head of a host composed of such various materials, iEtius and Theodoric prepared to engage the host of Attda. A. D. 451-452.] ATTILA IN ITALY. 427 The armies encountered on the plains of Chalons. Attila, with his Huns, occupied the centre of his line; the Rugians, Herulans, Franks, Burgundians, and others, were ranged on each side of them ; the right wing was formed by the Gepi- dans, the left by the Ostrogoths. On the side of the allies, Sangiban and his Alans were placed in the centre, where they might be watched. JEtius commanded on the left, Theodoric on the riorht. The battle was lonoj, obstinate, and bloody. The Huns easily pierced through the yielding centre, and then directed their whole force acjainst the Visi- goths ; and Theodoric, as he was cheering his men, fell by the javelin of an Ostrogothic chief But his son Torris- mond, who was stationed on an adjacent eminence, when he saw the Visigoths yielding, hastened to restore the battle, and Attila was forced to retreat. The approach of lil^ht saved his troops from a total defeat ; they secured themselves within their wagon-fence, and Attila caused a pile to be made of saddles and horse-furniture, determined to fire it, and rush into the flames if his camp should be forced. But the dread of the valor inspired by despair withheld the allies from the attack ; and ^Etius also feared the power of the Goths, if the Huns should be destroyed. He therefore pre- vailed on Torrismond to be content with the vengeance al- ready exacted for the fate of his father, and return to Tou- louse to secure his throne. The allies broke up and retired, and Attila was allowed to repass the Rhine unmolested. The policy of iEtius, in thus dismissing the Huns, was fatal to the empire. In the following spring, (452,) Attila again claimed the princess Honoria and her treasures, and, meetinor again with a refusal, he advanced and laid siege to Aquileia. After a siege of three months, this important city was carried by assault. All the cities north of the Po surrendered or were taken. ^Etius in vain sought to retard the myriads of the barbarians; the timid Valentinian fled to Rome, and an embassy composed of Leo, the bishop of that city, and two eminent senators, was sent to deprecate the wrath of Attila, who now lay encamped on the shores of the Lake Benacus. Attila was superstitious; when he was re- minded that Alaric had not long survived the taking of Rome, he secretly shuddered at the omen ; and he consent- ed, on receiving an immense sum under the name of (he dower of the princess Honoria, to evacuate Italy. He re- tired threatening dreadful vengeance if the princess were not if i! ' 428 vALENTiNiAN III. [a. D- 453-455. delivered to his ambassador ; but in the following year, (453,) S-n7drunk too freely on the night of h.s addmg anoth^^^^ maiden to his harem, he burst a vessel m his lungs, and was "ffocated in his own blood. His funeral was celebrated with magnificence, after the usage of his nation. His mighty empire fell to pieces, and the Huns ceased to be ^TaSmian, worthless and dissolute, instead of viewing in ^iTthe saviour of his empire, feared -d h.e him w^^^^^ all the rancor of a petty mind The son of ^^^^ 7? f trothed to the emperor's daughter ; and when, ^ne day (451 ) in the palace his father was urging the immediate ^^^IJ^^g^j Valentinian drew his sword for the hrst time ^l^^^^f^^^^^ plonged it into the general's bosom ; the eunuchs and others fined to follow ^is example, and^tius expired pierced bv a hundred wounds. His principal friends were sum- m'oned separately to the palace before the eveny ou d be known, and all were murdered. The loss of ^tms was universally deplored, and the contempt in -^^^h em peror had been held was converted into f,^horrence. 1 know not your motives and provocations," said a Roman vvhom he asked to approve the deed; ''I only know U a^ you have acted like a man who cuts off his right hand with ^'The'feeble emperor did not long survive his able general. Amoncr his other vices, Valentinian was addicted to gaming. He won, one dav, a large sum of money from a wealthy sen- Ir m^med Petronius Maximus, on whose cjaste and e^u- tiful wife he had long cast an eye of lust. As Maximus had not the money about^him, the emperor exacted his ring from him by way of security; and he forthwith sent it to his wife, ukh an order in her husband's name, to wait on the empress EuL^^^^^^ lady, on arriving at the palace, was led into a pnva e apartment ; Valentinian soon entered, and extorted by^ force th^e favors which she would not yield to solicitation. He tears and her reproaches when she reached home ex- ?ited Maximus to vengeance. Two of the guards who had been a tacked to ^tius readily consented to be his mstru- ments and as Valentinian was viewing some military sports m "rField of Mars, they rushed on him, and stabbed Inm none of those present offering to resist them, (March lb, 455.) A. D. 455.] MAXIMUS. 42Q Maximus, Avitus, Majorian, Severus, Anthcjnius, Ohjbrms, Glycerins, Nejpos, Augustulus. " A. u. 1208—1229. A. D. 455—47(3. The revenge of Maximus may have been stimulated by ambition, for he became the successor of the destroyer of his honor : but the happiness, of which he had enjoyed a large portion vvlieii in a private station, departed tlie moment he mounted a throne, and he was heard to exclaim, in reference to a well-known story, '^ O fortunate Damocles ! thy reign began and ended with the same dinner." * Maximus married his son to the daughter of the late em- peror, and, as his wife died opportunely, he forced the re- luctant empress Eudoxia to give her hand to himself. In an unguarded hour he revealed to her the secret of his share in the death of her former husband ; and Eudoxia, who had loved Valentinian, worthless and faithless as he was, resolved to avenge him. She sent a secret invitation to Genseric, and ere long a fleet bearing a numerous army of Vandals and Moors entered the Tiber. Maximus hastened to fly from the city ; but the moment he appeared in the streets, he was assailed by a shower of stones; a soldier gave him his first wound, and his mangled body was flung into the Tiber, (June 12.) His reign had not lasted quite two months. As Genseric was approaching the city, he was met by a procession of the clergy headed by the bishop Leo. The bold and eloquent prelate, who had turned away the wrath of Attila, was able also to mitigate the ferocity of Genseric, who promised to spare the people and the buildings of Rome! But this promise was little more than illusory. Rome was delivered to pillage for a space of fourteen days: churches, temples, and private houses, were plundered alike, and thou- sands of captives, among whom were the empress Eudoxia and her two daughters, were embarked for Africa. This calamity gave occasion to a noble display of genuine Chris- tian feeling in Deogratias, bishop of Carthage. He con- * [Damocles, having declared Dionysius of Sicily the happiest man on earth, was, by him, induced to try the happiness of royalty. No sooner had he mounted the throne, than he saw a sword hang-ing by a smgle hair just over his head: he was glad to yield his place imme- diately. — ^ J. T. S.] I '{ lit :L^'diii£k 434 FALL or THE EMPIRE. If which he reigned for a space of eighteen years, when his do- minion was overthrown by the Ostrogoths. The empire of the West was now at an end. The parts of which it had been composed were never again united ; they each formed a separate and independent state. In all, the govern- ment and the lands were held by the German conquerors. We will briefly notice these new states. After the defeat and death of Odoacer, the Ostrogoths re- tained possession of Italy for a term of seventy-five years, when (568) their power was overthrown by the Langobards, or Lombards, whose dominion lasted for two centuries. The Vandals retained possession of Africa till about the middle of the sixth century, when they were conquered by the crreat Belisarius, the general of Justinian, emperor of the East^l Africa remained part of the Eastern empire till it was conquered by the Arabs in the following century. The Visigoths obtained possession of the entire Spanish peninsula, which they retained till the period of the invasion of the Arabs. Their dominions in the south of France were all, excepting a small portion, reduced by Clovis, the first king of the Franks. • o •. The BurcTundians and Alemans had founded states in Swit- zerland, the east of France, and along the Rhine; but, like the Goths, they were successively reduced, and obliged to ac- knowledge the dominion of Clovis the Frank. Nearly the whole of France obeyed this able prince ; but at his death (511) his dominions were divided among his four sons. In the reign of Valentinian III. the Roman troops had been withdrawn from Britain. The unwarlike inhabitants, unable to defend themselves against the savage Caledonians, called to their aid (449) the Saxon chiefs Hengist and Horsa. Their allies became their enemies, and in a short time the greater part of the island was conquered by the Saxons and their kindred tribes. We thus have witnessed the rise and progress, the decline and fall of that mighty empire, which, commencing in a vil- lage on the banks of the Tiber, finally made the Ocean and the Euphrates its boundaries. Its fall was in the order of Nature, which has set limits to all things human ; but it is not unworthy of remark that, at the time when the Roman repub- FALL OF THE EMPIRE. 435 lie was at the very height of its power, the Tuscan augurs ventured to foretell the period of Roman dominion. Accord- ing to the rules of their art, they inferred that the twelve vul- tures seen by Romulus, denoted the twelve centuries of rule assigned to his city by the decrees of Heaven. The accom- plishment of that prophecy is a curious fact ; but history con- tains many such coincidences. The rise of Rome is one of the most extraordinary phenomena in the annals of the world; its fall was an ordinary event, and contains nothing to exche surprise. The Roman empire, as left by Augustus" embraced the whole civilization of the West, while on all its confines dwelt poor but brave and energetic nations, eager, when an occasion should offer, to rush in and seize its wealth. ]t was only therefore by the conservation of the military spirit, by which it had been acquired, that it could be retained ; but we have seen how early and how totally this spirit became ex- tinct. When the nobles and men of property were immersed in luxury and sensual indulgence; when the country was de- populated or filled only with slaves, the cities thronged with an idle, beggarly, turbulent population, vigorous only for evil; when the provincials were so beaten to the earth by excessive taxation, that the rule of barbarian conquerors was looked to as an alleviation; when the noble, elevating, soul-expanding religion of the gospel had been degraded by Oriental ascet- icism into a slavish, enervating superstition; when, finally, the defence of the empire against the barbarians was intrusted to the barbarians themselves, — its fall was assured. A new order of things was to arise out of the union of German energy with Roman civilization, from which, after a series of many centuries, were to result the social institutions of modern Eu- rope, the colonization of the most distant regions of the earth, and the mighty political events which yet lie hidden in the womb of Time. 11 til i «s APPENDIX. A. Page 1. — Authorities. Dion Cassias wrote the h.story of ^^^^^.^rnler lrfa1""of tt Dion is a contemporary ^"^''"'•''/•,„,„„.,„„ of Augustus and Tiberius, Velle,us Pater- us ..s^l>e con e.n^ extends from the (see above, p. "^') "J^g^j^the death of Livia Augusta, A O. 29. Virialh.an war B. C. H«, to «« °^ ,p ■ ^oth inclusive. His Tacitus Uved m the Pe"OVrora/*."° t° "^*J , ^f Augustus to that An„aU,m.xteenbok^^^^^^^^^^ ^eja:;;:; tb^lev^thtrth-'e tenth and P^n ;f the e ev^^^^^^^ and the end of the s'Xteenth, are los Jh^ SJ^^^^^^P ^f Oomitian, has r^;e^S.^Thf/eX\u/rc:2;ence between Ceriahs and has left minute biographies of the CaBsars irora Domitian, inclusive. Cassius to whom, as an his- Herod,an was the contemporary of Dion Casius ^^_^ ^,^^^ ^^ torian, he is m^^^ i"f^"°^(.3'an Gibbon calls him "an elegant ' gele^mds^f ro^"S ^S'-usta^nLens.s than of Thucyd '''i.. Augustan History consists of aperies of U^^^^^ and tyrant's or -P^rants to empire f'-^J^^^^^^ns, iEUus Lamprid- The authors are ^Ims Spart-a""'' J"''"°^ F writers, none of them ius,TrebeUius P.""'"' -f./'^^^^eTa^n some ptsl on account of the possess any merit; but they ■"'^y <;';', ■, ,,^ i.^ve preserved, fetters and other ong.nal documents wh.ehtley » v P.^ ^^^.^ ^.^ Ammianus Marcellmus, a art«5 of Franconia and Westphalia. , »* • ^ xu *^"tl,J'(t.e. All-men.) Along the Rhine, from the Mam to the '"* W«n5 Under this general name are included the Quadans, Marcoma^s, and other natt^ns. The proper Suev.ans seem to have inhabited the modern Suabia. \ t„ ii„i,«m;n anH Marcomans, (i. c. March-men, or Borderers.) In Bohemia, and """tadans'. Along the Danube, from the Gran into Austria and Mo- ravia. TB£ SNO* • » CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE OF CONTEMPORARY HISTORY, Note. — It would be impossible to present the reader, in this table, with a complete view of the contemporary history of all nations. The fulfilment of that design, though highly useful, would of itself occupy a volume. The reader may be referred to a work in which it has been carried out, through the whole range of ancient history, entitled, "Comparative View of An- cient History, and Explanation of Chronological Eras," by the editor of this volume. What can be here done will be merely to present a view of the principal events which transpired in the most renowned among the nations of antiquity, at about the same time that the most marked events took place in the history of Greece. The details may be filled up by reference to the work already mentioned. It is most important, in the study of individual histories, that a knowledge should be constantly pres- ent of the contemporary events transpiring in other nations, or members of the great human family. Olym- piads. Years B.C. Events of Greece. Events of Rome. Eventa of other Nations. 1104 1132 1000 j 884 776 775 753 743) to [ 724) Dorian migration. Supposed age of ) Homer &l Hesiod. Lycurgus in Sparta. Olympiads first reckoned. Judges among Jews. Shepherd kings expelled * j from Egypt. Solomon. — Sesostris in 1,1* 6, 5 Rome founded. Romulus king. Egypt. 9,1) First Messenian ) war ) 13, 4 J * See " Comparative View," &c., as abov«, title *' Olympiads," page 88, and note to page 115. 490 Olym- piads. ,1> 14,3 23,3 27 43,3 46,2 54,4 67,3 72,2 80,2 81,4 87, Ij 03,4) 94,1 97,2 102,1 102,2 105, 4 j 110, 2 * 110,4 112,1 114,3 118,1 124,4 128.4 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE. Yean B.C. \ ,3> 144 138,2 152,4 158,2 179, 1 182,4 721 685- to I 671: 605 594 560 509 490 438 452 431 to 404 403 390 371 370 356 to < 338( 336 < 331 ; 321 307' 280 264 to 201 226 Events of Greece. SecondMesaenian war Solon, archon of Athens Events of Rome. Numa Pompiiius. Tarquinius Priscus. Events of other Nations. Peisistratus Servius Tullius. Contests with Per- sia commence 145,3 , 197 168 146 63 48 M Internal dissen- sions. Peloponnesian war. Thirty Tyrants in Athens Boeotian war...." Battle of Leuctra. Return of Messe- nians Sacred wars, end- ing in battle oi" Cheronea Alexander the Great subdues Persia Division of his empire Demetrius Polior- cetes takes Ath- ens Kings expelled. Contests between Plebeians and Pa- tricians. The Romans send toGreeceforlawsj whence 12 tables framed. IncursionofGauls. Contentions between Patricians and Plebeians. Achcpan league Internal sions . dissen- Cieomenes in Sparta Battle of Cyno- scephaliB Battle of Pydna... Battle of Corinth, and fall of Greece Israel subverted by As- syria. Seventy years' captiv- ity of Jews begins. Babylon falls before Cyrus. Ezra renews ancient system of polity among the Jews. Palestine under Persia till the time of Alexander the Great j thence under his Successors in Syria. Power extended. Pyrrhus of Epirus \ contends with > Rome ) Punic wars. Roman • power greatly extended. Rome interferes in ■\ the affairs of > Greece ) Romans masters of Greece Batilfl of Pharsalia. Ptolemy of Egypt con- quers Palestine. Parthia rises, under Arsaces. Jews subject to Syria. Jews under Macca- bees throw off Syri- an yoke. Carthage falls. Jerusalem opened to Pompey. ^ ■«Nf«wai«*»^«*^»*- 'J . V f! r I^TtH^^^^v^^^^'^. -t. TTTTt^ i;^3T^ T^v ■■■ •r-i,'''i;^'iiSrr»i^^^'^^ *^;f*^?^* J » ^- COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES ill iin 010655670 O C( ^^4-ff+#rr r .iiniiniiii.i J.