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/* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Empresses of Rome, by Joseph McCabe</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: The Empresses of Rome</p> -<p>Author: Joseph McCabe</p> -<p>Release Date: December 15, 2019 [eBook #60933]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPRESSES OF ROME***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff;margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/cu31924028299075"> - https://archive.org/details/cu31924028299075</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<h1>THE EMPRESSES OF ROME</h1> - -<div id="i_frontis" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img src="images/i_000.jpg" width="472" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>CRISPINA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<div class="newpage p4 center wspace vspace"> -<p class="xlarge bold"> -THE<br /> -EMPRESSES OF ROME</p> - -<p class="p2 large"><span class="xxsmall">BY</span><br /> -JOSEPH McCABE<br /> -<span class="xxsmall">AUTHOR OF “THE DECAY OF THE CHURCH OF ROME”</span></p> - -<p class="p2 small">WITH TWENTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS</p> - -<div id="if_i_002" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 6em;"> - <img src="images/i_002.png" width="94" height="118" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="p2 larger">NEW YORK<br /> -HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY<br /> -1911 -</p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">v</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="NOTE">NOTE</h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> period embraced by this work extends to the -fall of the Western Empire, or to the middle of -the fifth century. It was felt that a more extensive -range would involve either an inconveniently large work -or an inadequate treatment. While, therefore, the Empresses -of the East have been included down to the fall -of Rome, it seemed that the collapse of the Empire in -Rome and the West indicated a quite natural term for -the present study. The restriction has enabled the author -to tell all that is known of the Empresses of Rome within -that period, to enlarge the interest of the study by framing -the Imperial characters in occasional sketches of their -surroundings, and to weave the threads of biography into -a continuous story.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> - <tr class="small"> - <td> </td> - <td class="tdr" colspan="2">PAGE</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl larger" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">1</a></td></tr> - <tr class="small"> - <td class="tdr">CHAP.</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">I.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE MAKING OF AN EMPRESS</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">7</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">II.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">23</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">III.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIVES OF CALIGULA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">46</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">IV.</td> - <td class="tdl">VALERIA MESSALINA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">60</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">V.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE MOTHER OF NERO</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">79</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VI.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIVES OF NERO</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">105</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VII.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANSITION</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">122</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">VIII.</td> - <td class="tdl">PLOTINA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">136</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">IX.</td> - <td class="tdl">SABINA, THE WIFE OF HADRIAN</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">149</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">X.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIVES OF THE STOICS</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">163</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XI.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIVES OF THE SYBARITES</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">179</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XII.</td> - <td class="tdl">JULIA DOMNA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">194</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XIII.</td> - <td class="tdl">IN THE DAYS OF ELAGABALUS</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">210</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XIV.</td> - <td class="tdl">ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">222</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XV.</td> - <td class="tdl">ZENOBIA AND VICTORIA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">233</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XVI.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">250</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XVII.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">265</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XVIII.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">286</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XIX.</td> - <td class="tdl">JUSTINA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">306</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XX.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE ROMANCE OF EUDOXIA AND EUDOCIA</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">322</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr top">XXI.</td> - <td class="tdl">THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">340</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl larger" colspan="2">INDEX</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#INDEX">351</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="LIST_OF_ILLUSTRATIONS">LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="loi" summary="List of Illustrations"> - <tr> - <td class="tdl"><span class="smcap">Crispina.</span> Bust in the British Museum<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr w10" colspan="2"><a href="#i_frontis"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr> - <tr class="small"> - <td class="tdr" colspan="3">FACING PAGE</td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Livia as Ceres.</span> Statue in the Louvre</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_20">20</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Julia.</span> Bust in the Museum Chiaramonti</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_29">28</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Agrippina the Elder.</span> Bust in the Museum Chiaramonti</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_46">46</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Messalina.</span> Bust in the Uffizi Palace, Florence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_71">70</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Agrippina the Younger.</span> Bust in Museo Nazionale, Florence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_82">82</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Octavia.</span> Porphyry Bust in the Louvre</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_113">112</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Poppæa.</span> Bust in the Capitoline Museum, Rome<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">Anderson</span>.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_118">118</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Domitia.</span> Bust in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_131">130</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Plotina.</span> Statue in the Louvre<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_143">142</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Sabina.</span> Bust in the British Museum<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_155">154</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Faustina the Elder.</span> Bust in the Louvre<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">A. Giraudon</span>.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_164">164</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Faustina the Younger.</span> Bust (reputed) in the British Museum<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_172">172</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Lucilla.</span> Bust in the National Museum, Rome<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">Anderson</span>.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_184">184</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Julia Domna.</span> Bust in the Vatican Museum<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">Anderson</span>.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_203">202</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Julia Mæsa.</span> Bust in the Capitoline Museum, Rome<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">Anderson</span>.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_214">214</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Julia Mamæa.</span> Bust in the British Museum<br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_226">226</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Marcia Otacilia Severa</span><br />From a photograph by <span class="smcap">W. A. Mansell & Co.</span></td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_237">236</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">x</span></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Zenobia</span><br />Enlarged from coin in the Berlin Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_248">248</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Salonina and Valeria</span><br />Enlarged from coins in the British Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_263">262</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Fausta and Flavia Helena</span><br />Enlarged from coins in the British Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_281">280</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Ælia Flaccilla and Honoria</span><br />Enlarged from coins in the British Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_317">316</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Eudoxia and Pulcheria</span><br />Enlarged from coins in the British Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_330">330</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdl" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Placidia and Euphemia</span><br />Enlarged from coins in the British Museum.</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#ip_342">342</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="THE_EMPRESSES_OF_ROME">THE EMPRESSES OF ROME</h2> -</div> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> story of Imperial Rome has been told frequently -and impressively in our literature, and few chapters -in the long chronicle of man’s deeds and failures -have a more dramatic quality. Seven centuries before our -era opens, when the greater part of Europe is still -hidden under virgin forests or repellent swamps, and the -decaying civilizations of the East cast, as they die, their -seed upon the soil of Greece, we see, in the grey mist of -the legendary period, a meagre people settling on one of -the seven hills by the Tiber. As it grows its enemies are -driven back, and it spreads confidently over the neighbouring -hills and down the connecting valleys. It gradually -extends its rule over other Italian peoples, bracing its arm -and improving its art in the long struggle. It grows conscious -of its larger power, and sends its legions eastward, -over the blue sea, to gather the wealth and culture of Egypt, -Assyria, Persia, and Greece; and westward and northward, -over the white Alps, to sow the seed in Germany, Gaul, -Britain, and Spain. A hundred years before the opening -of the present era the tiny settlement on the Palatine has -become the mistress of the world. Its eagles cross the -waters of the Danube and the Rhine, and glitter in the sun -of Asia and Africa. But, with the wealth of the dying -East, it has inherited the germs of a deadly malady. Rome, -the heart of the giant frame, loses its vigour. The strong<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -bronze limbs look pale and thin; the clear cold brain is -overcast with the fumes of wine and heated with the thrills -of sense; and Rome passes, decrepit and dishonoured, -from the stage on which it has played so useful and fateful -a part.</p> - -<p>The fresh aspect of this familiar story which I propose -to consider is the study of the women who moulded or -marred the succeeding Emperors in their failure to arrest, -if not their guilt in accelerating, the progress of Rome’s -disease. Woman had her part in the making, as well as -the unmaking, of Rome. In the earlier days, when her -work was confined within the walls of the home, no consul -ever guided the momentous fortune of Rome, no soldier -ever bore its eagles to the bounds of the world, but some -woman had taught his lips to frame the syllables of his -national creed. However, long before the commencement -of our era, the thought and the power of the Roman woman -went out into the larger world of public life; and when -the Empire is founded, when the control of the State’s -mighty resources is entrusted to the hands of a single -ruler, the wife of the monarch may share his power, and -assuredly shares his interest for us. Even as mere women -of Rome, as single figures and types rising to the luminous -height of the throne out of the dark and indistinguishable -crowd, they deserve to be passed in review.</p> - -<p>Some such review we have, no doubt, in the two great -works which spread the panorama of Imperial Rome before -the eyes of English readers. In the graceful and restrained -chapters of Merivale we find the earlier Empresses delineated -with no less charm than learning. In the more -genial and voluptuous narrative of Gibbon we may, at -intervals, follow the fortunes and appreciate the character -of the later Empresses. But, no matter how nice a skill -in grouping the historian may have, his stage is too -crowded either for us to pick out the single character with -proper distinctness, or for him to appraise it with entire -accuracy. The fleeting glimpses of the Empresses which -we catch, as the splendid panorama passes before us, must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -be blended in a fuller and steadier picture. The tramp -and shock of armies, the wiles of statesmen, the social -revolutions, which absorb the historian, must fall into the -background, that the single figure may be seen in full -contour. When this is done it will be found that there -are many judgments on the Empresses, both in Merivale -and Gibbon, which the biographer will venture to question.</p> - -<p>For the study of the earlier Empresses the English -reader will find much aid in Mr. Baring-Gould’s “Tragedy -of the Cæsars” (1892). Here again, however, though the -Empresses are drawn with discriminating freshness and -full knowledge, they are constantly merging in the great -crowd of characters. The aim of the present work is to -place them in the full foreground, and to continue the -survey far beyond the limits of Mr. Baring-Gould’s work. -It differs also in this latter respect from Stahr’s brilliant -“Kaiser-Frauen,” which is, in fact, now almost unobtainable; -and especially from V. Silvagni’s recent work, of -unhappy title, “L’Impero e le Donne dei Cesari,” which -merely includes slight and familiar sketches of four Empresses -in a general study of the period.</p> - -<p>The work differs in quite another way from the learned -and entertaining book of the old French writer Roergas de -Serviez, of which an early English translation has recently -been republished under the title “The Roman Empresses, -or the History of the Lives and Secret Intrigues of the -Wives of the Twelve Cæsars”—an improper title, because -the work is far from confined to the wives of the Cæsars. -The work is an industrious compilation of original references -to the Empresses, interwoven with considerable art, -so as to construct harmonious pictures, and adorned with -much charm and piquancy of phrase, if some hollowness -of sentiment. But it is so intent upon entertaining us that -it frequently sacrifices accuracy to that admirable aim. -Serviez has not invented any substantial episode, but he -has encircled the facts with the most charming imaginative -haloes, and where the authorities differ, as they frequently -do, he has not hesitated to grant his verdict to the writer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -who most picturesquely impeaches the virtue of one of -his Empresses. Roergas de Serviez was a gentleman of -Languedoc in the days of the “grand monarque.” His -Empresses and princesses reflect too faithfully the frail -character of the ladies at the Court of Louis XIV. For -him the most reliable writer is the one who betrays least -inclination to seek virtue in courtly ladies.</p> - -<p>It need hardly be said that the present writer is indebted -to these authors, to the learned Tillemont, and to others -who will be named in the course of the work. But this -study is based on a careful examination of all the references -to the Empresses in the Latin and Greek authorities, with -such further aid as is afforded by coins, statues, inscriptions, -and the incidental research of commentators. We -shall consider, as we proceed, the varying authority of -these writers. We shall find in them defects which impose -a heavy responsibility on the writer whose aim it is to -restore those faded and delicate portraits of the Empresses, -over which later artists have spread their sharper and -more crudely coloured figures. One may, however, say -at once that it is not contemplated to urge any very -revolutionary change in the current estimate of the -character of most of them. If a few romantic adventures -must be honestly discarded, we shall find Messalina still -flaunting her vices in the palace, Agrippina still pursuing -her more masculine ambition, Poppæa still representing -the gaily-decked puppet of that luxurious world, and -Zenobia, in glittering helmet, still giving resonant commands -to her troops.</p> - -<p>But it will be well, before we introduce the first, and -one of the best and greatest of the Empresses, to glance -at the development of Roman life which prepared the way -for woman to so exalted a dignity. The condition of -woman in early Rome has often been restored. We see -the female infant, her fate trembling in the hand of man -from the moment when her eyes open to the light, brought -before the despotic father for the decision of her fate. -With a glance at the little white frame he will say whether<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -she shall be cast out, to be gathered by the merchants -in human flesh, or suffered to breed the next generation -of citizens. We follow her through her guarded girlhood, -as she learns to spin and weave, and see her passing -from the tyranny of father to the tyranny of husband -at an age when the modern girl has hardly begun to glance -nervously at marriage as a remote and mystic experience. -We then find her, not indeed so narrowly confined as her -Greek sister, yet little more than the servant of her -husband. Public feeling, it is true, mitigated the harsher -features, and forbade the graver consequences, of this -ancient tradition. For many centuries divorce was unknown -at Rome. Yet woman’s horizon was limited to -her home, while her husband boasted of his share in controlling -the Commonwealth’s increasing life.</p> - -<p>In the second century before Christ we find symptoms -of revolt. The wealthier women of Rome resent the -curtailing of their finery by the Oppian Law, now that -the war is over (195 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>). Old-fashioned Senators are -dismayed to find them holding a public meeting, besetting -all the approaches to the Senate, demanding their votes, -and even invading the houses of the Tribunes and coercing -them to withdraw their opposition. The truth is that -Rome has changed, and the women feel the pervading -change. The passage of the victorious Roman through -the cities of the East had corrupted the patriarchal virtues. -Roman officers could not gaze unmoved on the surviving -memorials of the culture of Athens, or make festival in -the drowsy chambers of Corinthian courtesans or the -licentious groves of Daphne, without altering their ideal -of life. The splendour of Eastern wisdom and vice made -pale the old standard of Roman <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">virtus</i>. The vast wealth -extorted from the subdued provinces swelled the pride of -patrician families until they disdainfully burst the narrow -walls of their fathers’ homes. The hills of Rome began to -shine with marble mansions, framed in shady and spacious -gardens, from which contemptuous patrician eyes looked -down on the sordid and idle crowds in the valleys of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span> -Subura and the Velabrum. Rome aspired to have its art -and its letters.</p> - -<p>Roman women were not content to be secluded from -the new culture, and could not escape the stimulation of -their new world. The Roman husband must be kept -away from the accomplished courtesans of Greece and -the voluptuous sirens of Asia by finding no lesser -attractions in his wife. So the near horizon of woman’s -mind rolled outward. An inscription found at Lanuvium, -where the Empress Livia had a villa, shows that the little -provincial town had a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">curia mulierum</i>, a women’s debating -club. The walls of Pompeii, when the shroud of lava -had been removed from its scorched face, bore election-addresses -signed by women. The world was mirrored -in Rome, and few minds could retain their primitive -simplicity as they contemplated that seductive picture.</p> - -<p>By the beginning of the first century of the older era -the women of Rome had ample opportunity for culture -and for political influence. In the great conflicts of the -time their names are chronicled as the inspirers of many -of the chief actors. They rise and fall with the cause of -the Senate or the cause of the People. They unite culture -with character, public interest with beauty and motherhood. -At last the conflicting parties disappear one by one, -and a young commander, Octavian, the great-nephew of -Julius Cæsar, gathers up the power they relinquish. -A youth of delicate and singularly graceful features, of -refined and thoughtful, rather than assertive, appearance, -he hears that Cæsar has made him heir to his wealth -and his opportunities; he goes boldly to Rome, adroitly -uses its forces to destroy those who had slain Cæsar, -forces Mark Antony to share the rule of the world with -him and Lepidus, and then destroys Lepidus and Mark -Antony. It is at this point, when he returns to Rome -from his last victories, when the whole world wonders -whether he will keep the power he has gathered or meekly -place it in the hands of the Senate, that the story opens.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_I" class="vspace">CHAPTER I<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE MAKING OF AN EMPRESS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap b"><span class="smcap1">On</span> an August morning of the year 29 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span> the -million citizens of Rome lined the route which -was taken by triumphal processions, to greet the -man who brought them the unfamiliar blessing of peace. -From the Triumphal Gate to the Capitol, past the Great -Circus and through the dense quarter of the Velabrum, -with its narrow streets and high tenements, the chattering -crowd was drawn out in two restless lines, on either -side of the road, ready to fling back the resonant “Io -Triumphe” of the bronzed soldiers, bubbling with discussion -of the war-blackened stretch of the past and the -more pleasant prospect of the future. The hedges of -spectators were thicker, and the debate was livelier, under -the cliff of the Palatine Hill and in the Forum, through -which ran the Sacred Way to the white Temple of -Jupiter, towering above them and crowning the Capitol -at the end of the Forum. There the conqueror would -offer sacrifice, before he sank back into the common rank -of citizens of the Republic. Would the young Octavian -really lay down his power, and become a citizen among -many, now that he was master of the Roman world?</p> - -<p>Possibly one woman, who looked out on the seething -Forum and the glistening temple of Jupiter from a -modest mansion on the Palatine Hill, knew the answer -to the eager question. Possibly it was unknown to -Octavian himself, her husband. She heard the blasts of -the leading trumpeters, and saw the sleek white oxen,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span> -with their gilded horns and their green garlands, advance -along the Sacred Way and mount the Capitol. She saw -the people rock and quiver with excitement as painted -scenes of the remote Dalmatian forests, where her -husband’s latest victories had been won, and the gold -and silver of despoiled Egypt, and the very children of -the witch Cleopatra, were driven before the conqueror. -She saw the red-robed lictors slowly pass, their fasces -wreathed in laurel; she saw the band of dancers and -musicians tossing joyful music in his path; and she saw -at last the four white horses drawing a triumphal chariot, -in which her husband and her two children received the -frenzied ovation of the people.</p> - -<p>Octavian was then in his thirty-fourth year. Fifteen -years of struggle had drawn a manly gravity over the -handsome boyish face, though the curly golden hair still -seemed a strange bed for the chaplet of laurel that -crowned it. His full impassive lips, steady watchful eyes, -and broad smooth forehead gave a singular impression -of detachment—as if he were a disinterested spectator of -the day’s events and the whole national drama, instead -of being the central figure. The busts which portray him -about this period seem to me, in profile, to recall David’s -Napoleon, without the slumbering fire and the hard -egoism. Men would remind each other how, when he -was a mere boy, fifteen years before, he had found his -way through a maze of intrigue with remarkable dexterity. -Now, Mark Antony was dead, Brutus and Cassius were -dead, Lepidus was dead, and the followers of Pompey -were scattered. It was natural to assume that dreams of -further power were hidden behind that mask of strong -repose.</p> - -<p>Behind Octavian went the body of Senators, with -purple-striped togas, and silver crescents on their sandals. -The lines of spectators broke into gossiping groups when -the tail of the procession had passed on. The white oxen -fell before the altar of Jupiter. Octavian gave the customary -address to the Senate, and joined Livia in the small<span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span> -mansion on the Palatine. But for many a day afterward -Rome bubbled in praise of him. Not for years had such -combats reddened the sands of the amphitheatre, such -clowns and conjurors and actors filled the stage of the -theatre, such sports fired the 300,000 citizens at the circus. -Never before had the uncouth form of the rhinoceros or -hippopotamus been seen at Rome. Not since the beginning -of the civil wars had so much money flowed through the -shops of the Velabrum and the taverns of the Subura. Such -wealth had been added to the public store by the despoiling -of Egypt that the bankers had to reduce the rate of -interest. To a people grown parasitic the temptation to -make a king was overpowering; and it was easy to point -out, to those who clung to the strict democratic forms, that -Octavian was extraordinarily modest for a man who had -reached so brilliant and resourceful a position. So within -a few months Octavian was Imperator, and Livia became, -in modern phrase, the Empress of Rome.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a></p> - -<p>Livia, unhappily for Rome, gave Octavian no direct -heir to the purple, and we may therefore speak briefly of -her extraction. She came of the Claudii, one of the oldest -and proudest families of the Republic, one that numbered -twenty-eight consuls and five dictators in its line. A -strong, haughty race, more useful than brilliant, religiously -devoted to the old Republic, they had helped much to make -Rome the mistress of the world. Livia’s father, Livius -Drusus Claudianus, had taken arms against Octavian and -Antony, and had killed himself, with Roman dignity, when -Brutus and Cassius fell, and he saw the shadow of -despotism coming over the city.</p> - -<p>Livia was then in her sixteenth year,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> and had early -experience of the storms of Roman political life. Her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -husband, Tiberius Claudius Nero, had been promoted more -than once by Julius Cæsar, but, after the assassination of -Cæsar, he had passed into what he regarded as the more -favourable current. He seems to have steered his course -with some skill until the year 41 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, when, like many -other small schemers, he came under the influence of Mark -Antony’s wife, Fulvia. Antony was caught at the time in -the silken net with which Cleopatra prevented him from -carrying out the ambition of Rome at the expense of her -country. Fulvia, a virile and passionate woman, tried to -draw Antony from her arms by provoking a revolt against -Octavian. She induced her brother-in-law and other -nobles to rebel, and Nero, who was then prefect of a -small town in Campania, joined the movement.</p> - -<p>Octavian swung his legions southward, and scattered -the thin ranks of the insurgents. With her infant—the -future Emperor Tiberius—in her arms the girl-wife fled to -the coast with her husband, and endured all the horrors of -civil warfare. So close were the soldiers of Octavian on -their heels that at one point the cry of the baby nearly -destroyed them. Octavian had little mercy on rebellious -nobles before he married Livia. At last they reached the -coast, where the galleys of Sextus Pompeius hovered to -receive fugitives, and sailed for Sicily. They were cordially -received there by the Pompeians, but went on to -Greece, and were again hunted by the troops. Long afterwards -in Rome they used to tell how the delicate girl, the -descendant of all the Claudii, fled through a burning forest -by night before Roman soldiers, and singed her hair and -garments as she rushed onward with her baby in her arms. -The troubled history of Rome for a hundred years was -stamped on her mind by a personal experience that she -could never forget. With worn feet and aching heart, she -and her husband at last found shelter, until the feud -between Antony and Octavian had been composed.</p> - -<p>From the straits of exile they returned to their pretty -home on the Palatine Hill, and the story of her adventures -ran, and gathered substance, in Roman society. If the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -experts be right in assigning to Livia a small mansion -which has been uncovered on the hill, we find that she was, -in the year 38 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, living only a short distance from the -house of Octavian. Among the palatial buildings which -now whitened the slopes of the Roman hills, Nero’s house—later, -Livia’s house—was poor, but its mural paintings -are amongst the most delicate that have been discovered -under the overlying centuries of mediæval rubbish. A -small portico gave shelter from the summer sun, and the -small, cool atrium (hall) led only to some half dozen modest -rooms. But Livia was happy in her husband, and sober in -her tastes. She was then in her nineteenth year, a young -woman of regular and pleasing, though scarcely beautiful, -features and rounded form, one of those who happily -united the old matronly virtue to the new love of society -and gaiety. All Rome discussed her adventures, and the -generous feeling which her romance engendered made -people give her an exceptional beauty and wit—qualities -which neither her marble image nor her recorded career -permits us to accept in any large measure. There was no -whisper of slander against her until the days of her power. -From this peaceful and happy little world she was now to -be suddenly removed.</p> - -<p>Octavian, who mingled very freely with his fellows, and -often supped with the literary men who were now multiplying -at Rome, heard the gossip about the youthful Livia, -and sought her. He was already married, and a word may -be said about the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">impératrices manquées</i> before we unite him -to Livia.</p> - -<p>In early youth he had been affianced to the girlish -daughter of Publius Servilius Isauricus, but a mere betrothal -had little strength at a time when even the marriage -bond was so frail. When he came to face Mark Antony, -with many grim legions at his command, and a fresh -civil war was threatened, peacemakers suggested that the -storm might be turned from the fields of Italy by a -matrimonial alliance. The soldiers, weary of slaying each -other, acclaimed the proposal. Servilia was sacrificed, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -Octavian was married to the young and hardly marriageable -daughter of Fulvia. As we saw, there was a fresh -rupture with Antony in the year 41, and Octavian sent -back the maiden, as he described her, to her infuriated -mother. Some of our authorities declare that Fulvia had -tried to draw Antony from the arms of Cleopatra by -making love to his handsome rival, but one can only -suppose that Antony would smile if he were told that -his unpleasant spouse—the woman who is said to have -gloated over the bloody head of Cicero, and thrust her -hair-pin through his tongue—was offering her heart to -Octavian. We cannot, therefore, accept the rumour that, -when Octavian sent back her daughter to Fulvia, he -maliciously explained that he was anxious to spare Fulvia -the mortification of thinking that he had preferred the -pretty insipidity of Clodia to her own more assertive -qualities.</p> - -<p>The marriage with Clodia had been frankly political, -and it naturally broke down in the new political dissolution. -The second marriage had the same origin, and the same -welcome termination. He had married Scribonia, a woman -older than himself, during the rupture with Antony, because -her brother was one of the chief members of the Pompeian -faction. The leader of this party, Sextus Pompeius, held -Sicily, and not only welcomed fugitives from Octavian’s -anger, but commanded the sea-route to Rome. Through -his devoted friend Mæcenas, the famous patron of letters, -Octavian proposed a marriage with Scribonia. It would -not be unnatural for a woman in her thirties, who had -already outlived two husbands, eagerly to espouse, and -probably love, so graceful, ambitious, and advancing a -youth as Octavian; but to him the alliance was only one -more move in the great game he was playing. He could -bear the strain of a diplomatic marriage with ease, since -there is no reason to reject the statement of Dio and -Suetonius that he found affection among the wives of his -nobler friends.</p> - -<p>It has been commonly held that Octavian masked a tense<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -and unwavering ambition with an affectation of simple -joviality, and his irregularities have been excused on the -ground that he used them as means to detect political -whispers in Roman society. But this view of Octavian’s -character may be confidently questioned. His tastes, we -shall see, remained extremely simple when he might safely -have indulged any feeling for luxury, when every rival -had been removed. That he was ambitious it would be -foolish to question; but his ambition must not be measured -by his success. There are few other cases in history in -which fortune so wantonly smoothed the path and drew -onward an easy and vacillating ambition. Octavian could -well believe the assurances of the Chaldæan astrologers -that he was born to power.</p> - -<p>With all his simplicity, however, Octavian had some -sense of luxury in love-matters, and his imagination -wandered. Scribonia’s solid virtue was unrelieved by any -of the graces of the new womanhood of Rome, her sparing -charms had already faded under the pitiless sun of Italy, -and she had a sharp tongue. Moreover, his marriage with -her had proved a superfluous sacrifice. Fulvia’s stormy -career had come to a close shortly after the return of her -daughter, and Antony and Octavian had divided the Roman -world between them. Antony married his colleague’s -sister, but the pale virtue of Octavia had no avail against -the burning caresses, if not the calculated patriotism, of -Cleopatra. At the second rupture between Antony and -Octavian she was driven from Antony’s palace at Rome, -where she was patiently enduring his distant infidelity, -and sent back to her brother. In the meantime Octavian -had discovered a pleasanter way of obtaining peace with -the Pompeians than by the endurance of Scribonia’s jarring -laments of his infidelity. He found, or alleged, that Sextus -Pompeius did not curb the pirates of the Mediterranean -as he ought, and he determined to wrest from him the -rich appointments that he held. He was in this mood -when, in the year 38 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, the young Livia came to Rome, -and the exaggerated story of her adventures and her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -beauty began to circulate among the mansions of the -Palatine.</p> - -<p>Some of the authorities describe Octavian as hovering -about her for some time, and say that the splendour with -which he celebrated his <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">barbatoria</i>, or first shave of the -beard, was due to the generosity of his new passion. It -is more probable that he at once informed Nero of his -resolution to marry Livia. Tacitus expressly says that -it is unknown whether Livia consented or not to the -change of husband. Great as was the liberty then enjoyed -by Roman women, they were rarely consulted on such -matters. Scribonia received a letter of divorce, in which -it was suggested that the perversity of her character made -her an unsuitable spouse for so roving a husband. She -had given birth to a daughter a few days before, and we -shall find the later chapters of this chronicle lit up more -than once by the lurid hatred which was begotten of this -despotic dismissal. For the moment I need only point out -that later Roman writers borrowed their estimate of the -character of Livia from Scribonia’s great-grandchild, the -Empress Agrippina, and we must be wary in accepting -their statements. Scribonia herself, who came so near -to being an Empress, we must now dismiss, save that we -shall catch one more glimpse of her when she follows her -dissolute daughter into exile.</p> - -<p>Roman law imposed a fitting delay on the divorced wife -before she could marry again, but Octavian was impatient. -He consulted the sacred augurs, and, if the legend is -correct, the diviners gave admirable proof of their art. -They gravely reported that the omens were auspicious for -an immediate marriage <em>if</em> the petitioner had ground to -believe that it would be fruitful. The verdict entertained -Rome, because Livia was well known to be far advanced in -pregnancy, and Octavian was widely regarded as the father. -Whether that be true or no, Octavian intimated to Nero -that he must divorce Livia, and we cannot think that she -felt much pain at being invited to share the mansion in the -Palatine to which all Roman eyes were now directed. An<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -anecdote of the time lightly illustrates the ease with which -such matrimonial transfers were accomplished at Rome. -Dio says that, during the festive meal, one of those -bejewelled boys who then formed part of a Roman noble’s -household, and whose vicious services were rewarded with -an extraordinary license, said to Livia, as she reclined at -table with Octavian: “What do you here, mistress? Your -husband is yonder.” The pert youngster pointed to Nero -at another table. He had given away the bride, and was -cheerfully taking part in the banquet.</p> - -<p>Livia’s second son, Drusus Nero, was born three months -after her marriage, and was sent by Octavian to Nero’s -house. Nero died soon afterwards, and made Octavian the -guardian of his sons, so that they returned to the care of -their mother. The extreme fondness of Octavian for the -younger boy lends no colour to the rumour that Drusus -was his own son. The probability is that Octavian, in his -impetuous way, married Livia as soon as his fancy rested -on her. The accepted busts of Drusus do not give any -support to the calumny that Octavian was his father. He -loved both the boys, and assisted in educating them, in their -early youth. It is only when his daughter Julia brings -her handsome children into the household that we detect a -beginning of an estrangement between him and his successor, Tiberius.</p> - -<p>The household in which these first seeds of tragedy -slowly germinated was, in the year 38 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, one of great -simplicity and sobriety. They lived in the comparatively -small house in which Octavian had been born, and Livia -adopted his plain ways with ease and dignity. In that age -of deadly luxury, when the veins of Rome were swollen -with the first flush of parasitic wealth, Octavian and Livia -were content with a prudent adaptation of the old Roman -ideal to the new age. The noble guests whom Octavian -brought to his table found that his simple taste shrank, not -only from the peacocks’ brains and nightingales’ tongues -which were served in their own more sumptuous banquets, -but even from the pheasant, the boar, and the other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -ordinary luxuries of a patrician dinner. Rough bread, -cream cheese, fish, and common fruit composed his customary -meal. Often was he seen, as he came home in his -litter from some fatiguing public business, such as the -administration of justice, to munch a little bread and fruit, -like some humble countryman. Of wine he drank little, -and he never adopted the enervating nightly carousal which -was draining away the strength of Rome. While wealthy -senators and knights prolonged the hours of entertainment -after the evening meal, and hired sinuous Syrian dancing -girls and nude bejewelled boys and salacious mimes to fire -the dull eyes of their guests, as they lay back, sated, on -the couches of silk and roses, under fine showers of -perfume from the roof, sipping choice wine cooled with the -snow of the Atlas or the Alps, Octavian withdrew to his -study, after a frugal supper, to write his diary, dictate his -generous correspondence, and enjoy the poets who were -inaugurating the golden age of Latin letters. When there -were guests, he provided fitting dishes and music for them, -but often retired to his study when the meal was over. -After seven hours’ sleep in the most modest of chambers he -was ready to resume his daily round.</p> - -<p>Since Octavian retained these sober habits to the end of -his life, years after they could have had any diplomatic aim, -it is remarkable that so many writers have regarded them -as an artful screen of his ambition. Nor can we think -differently of Livia. If Octavian presents a healthy contrast -to the sordid sensuality of some of his successors, his -wife contrasts no less luminously with later Empresses, and -is no less unjustly accused of cunning. How far she -developed ambition in later years we shall consider later. -In the fullness of his manhood, at least, she was content to -be the wife of Octavian. With her own hands she helped -to spin, weave, and sew his everyday garments. She -carefully reared her two boys, tended the somewhat -delicate health of Octavian, and cultivated that nice degree -of affability which kept her husband affectionate and the -husbands of other noble dames respectful. Dio would have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -us believe that her most useful quality was her willingness -to overlook the genial irregularities of Octavian; but Dio -betrays an excessive eagerness to detect frailties in his -heroes and heroines. We have no serious evidence that -Octavian continued the loose ways of his youth after he -married Livia. The plainest and soundest reading of the -chronicle is that they lived happily, and retained a great -affection for each other, even when fate began to rain its -blows on their ill-starred house.</p> - -<p>But before we reach those tragic days, we have to -consider briefly the years in which Octavian established -his power. His first step after his marriage with Livia -was to destroy the power of the Pompeians. Livia -followed the struggle anxiously from her country villa a -few miles from Rome. Sextus Pompeius was experienced -in naval warfare, and, as repeated messages came of blunder -and defeat on the part of Octavian’s forces, she trembled -with alarm. Her confidence was restored by one of the -abundant miracles of the time. An eagle one day swooped -down on a chicken which had just picked up a sprig of -laurel in the farm-yard. The eagle clumsily dropped the -chicken, with the laurel, near Livia, and so plain an omen -could not be misinterpreted. Rumour soon had it that -the eagle had laid the laurel-bearing chick gently at Livia’s -feet. As in all such cases, the sceptic of a later generation -was silenced with material proof. The chicken became the -mother of a brood which for many years spread the repute -of the village through southern Italy; the sprig of laurel -became a tree, and in time furnished the auspicious twigs -of which the crowns of triumphing generals were woven.</p> - -<p>Whether it was by the will of Jupiter, or by the reinforcement -of a hundred and fifty ships which he received -from Antony, Octavian did eventually win, and, to the -delight of Rome, cleared the route by which the corn-ships -came from Africa. Only two men now remained between -Octavian and supreme power—the two who formed with -him the Triumvirate which ruled the Republic. The first, -Lepidus, was soon convicted of maladministration in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -African province, and was transferred to the innocent -duties of the pontificate, under Octavian’s eyes, at Rome. -Octavian added the province of Africa to his half of the -Roman world, and found himself in command of forty-five -legions and six hundred vessels. Fresh honours were -awarded him by the Senate, in which his devoted friend -Mæcenas, who foresaw the advantage to Rome of his -rule, was working for him.</p> - -<p>Then Octavian entered on his final conflict with Mark -Antony. I have already protested against the plausible -view that Octavian was pursuing a definite ambition under -all his appearance of simplicity. Circumstances conspired -first to give him power, and then to give him the appearance -of a thirst for it. He really did not destroy Antony, -however: Antony destroyed himself. The apology that -has been made for Cleopatra in recent times only enhances -Antony’s guilt. It is said that she used all that elusive -fascination of her person, of which ancient writers find -it difficult to convey an impression, all her wealth and -her wit, only to benumb the hand that Rome stretched -out to seize her beloved land. The theory is not in the -least inconsistent with the facts, and it is more pleasant -to believe that the last representative of the great free -womanhood of ancient Egypt sacrificed her person and her -wealth on the altar of patriotism than that her dalliance -with Antony was but a languorous and selfish indulgence -in an hour of national peril. But if it be true that Cleopatra -was the last Egyptian patriot, Antony was all the more -clearly a traitor to Rome. The quarrel does not concern -us. Octavian induced the Senate to make war on Egypt; -and we can well believe that when, in a herald’s garb, he -read the declaration of war at the door of the temple of -Bellona, the thought of his despised sister added warmth -to his phrases. The pale, patient face and outraged virtue -of Octavia daily branded Antony afresh in the eyes of -Rome.</p> - -<p>Livia and Antonia followed the swift course of the last -struggle from Rome. They heard of the meeting of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -fleets off Actium, the victorious swoop of Octavian, the -flight of Antony and Cleopatra. What followed would -hardly be known to Livia. It is said that Cleopatra -offered to betray Antony to Octavian, and such an offer -is in entire harmony with the patriotic theory of her -conduct. While his able but ill-regulated rival, deserted -by his forces, drew near the edge of the abyss, Octavian -visited Cleopatra in her palace. Her seductive form was -displayed on a silken couch, and from the slit-like eyes the -dangerous fire caressed the young conqueror. Cleopatra -probably relied on Octavian’s weakness, but his sensuous -impulses were held in check by a harder thought. He -felt that he must have this glorious creature to adorn his -triumph at Rome. Cleopatra saw that she had failed, and -she went sadly, with a last dignity, before the throne of -Osiris. Octavian returned to Rome with the immense -treasures of Egypt, to enjoy the triumph I have already -described and to await the purple.</p> - -<p>The domestic life of Livia and Octavian lost none of its -plainness after the attainment of supreme power. Some -time after the Senate had (27 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>) strengthened his position -by inventing for him the title of “Augustus”—a title by -which he is generally, but improperly, described in history -after that date<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a>—he removed from the small house which -his father had left him to a larger mansion, built by the -orator Hortensius, on the Palatine. This was burned -down in the year 6 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, and the citizens built a new -palace for Livia and Octavian by public subscription. At -the Emperor’s command the contribution of each was -limited to one <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">denarius</i>. If we may trust the archæologists, -it was modest in size, but of admirable taste, -especially in the marble lining of its interior. On one -side it looked down, over the steep slope of the hill, on the -colonnaded space, the Forum, in which the life of Rome -centred. On the other side it faced a group of public<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -buildings, raised by Octavian, which impressed the citizens -with his liberality in the public service. The splendid -temple of Apollo, the public library and other buildings, -adorned with the most exquisite works of art that his -provincial expeditions had brought to Rome, stood in fine -contrast to his own plain mansion, of which the proudest -decoration was the faded wreath over the door—the -Victoria Cross of the Roman world—which bore witness -that he had saved the life of a citizen.</p> - -<p>In this modest palace Livia reared her two children in -the finer traditions of the old Republic, while Octavian -made the long journeys into the provinces which filled -many years after his attainment of power. Livia was no -narrow conservative. She took her full share in the decent -distractions of patrician life, and, like many other noble -women of the period, she built temples and other edifices -of more obvious usefulness to the public. A provincial -town took the name Liviada in her honour. We have many -proofs that she was consulted on public affairs by Octavian, -and exercised a discreet and beneficent influence on him. -One of the anecdotes collected by later writers tells that -she one day met a group of naked men on the road. It -is likely that they were innocent workers or soldiers in -the heat, and not the “band of lascivious nobles” which -prurient writers have made them out to be. However, -Octavian impetuously demanded their heads when she -told him, and Livia saved them with the remark that, “in -the eyes of a decent woman they were no more offensive -than a group of statues.” On another occasion she dissuaded -Octavian from executing a young noble for conspiracy. -At her suggestion the noble was brought to the -Emperor’s private room. When, instead of the merited -sentence of death, Cinna received only a kindly admonition, -an offer of Octavian’s friendship, and further promotion, -he was completely disarmed and won. We shall see further -proof that the wise and humane counsels of Livia contributed -not a little to the peace and prosperity which Rome -enjoyed in its golden age.</p> - -<div id="ip_20" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 26em;"> - <img src="images/i_020.jpg" width="403" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>LIVIA AS CERES</p> - -<p>STATUE IN THE LOUVRE</p></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -For it was in truth an age of gold in comparison with -the previous hundred years and the centuries to come. -The flames of civil war had scorched the Republic time -after time. The best soldiers of Rome were dying out; -the best leaders were perishing in an ignoble contest of -ambitions. Corruption spread, like a cancerous growth, -through all ranks of the citizens of Rome, and far into the -provinces. The white-robed (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">candidati</i>) seekers of office in -the city now relied on the purchase of votes by expert and -recognized agents. Hundreds of thousands of the citizens -lived parasitically on the State, or on the wealthy men to -whom they sold their votes, and from whom they had free -food and free entertainments. The loathsome spectacle -was seen of vast crowds of strong idle men, boasting of -their dignity as citizens of Rome, pressing to the appointed -steps for their daily doles of corn. Large numbers of them -could hardly earn an occasional coin to buy a cup of wine, -a game of dice, or a visit to the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">lupanaria</i> in the Subura. -By means of other agents the wealthy refilled their coffers -by extortion in the provinces, and paraded at Rome a -luxury that was often as puerile as it was criminal. Rome, -once so sober and virile, now shone on the face of the -earth like some parasitic flower, of deadly beauty, on the -face of a forest.</p> - -<p>No man, perhaps, could have saved Rome from destruction, -but Octavian did much to clear its veins of the poison, -and its chronicle would have run very differently if he had -not been succeeded by a Caligula, a Claudius, and a Nero. -He chastised injustice in the provinces, purified the administration -of justice at Rome, fought against the growing -practices of artificial sterility and artificial vice, and genially -pressed on the senators his own ideal of sober public -service. From his mansion on the Palatine he looked -down without remorse on the idle chatterers in the Forum, -from whom he had withdrawn the power, of which they -still boasted, of ruling their spreading empire. Nor were -there many, amongst those who looked up to his unpretentious -palace on the edge of the cliff, who did not feel<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -that they had gained by the sale of their tarnished democracy. -There was more than literal truth in Octavian’s -boast that he had found Rome a city of brick, and had left -it a city of marble.</p> - -<p>Yet all the augurs and soothsayers of Rome failed to -see the swift and terrible issue that would come of this -seemingly happy change. Corrupt and repellent as democracy -had become, monarchy was presently to exhibit -spectacles which would surpass all the horrors of its civil -wars, and outshame the sordid reaches of its avarice. The -new race of rulers was to descend so low as to use its -imperial power to shatter what remained of old Roman -virtue, and to embellish vice with its richest awards. -From the sobriety and public spirit of Octavian we pass -quickly to the sombre melancholy of Tiberius, the wanton -brutality of Caligula, the impotent sensuality of Claudius, -the mincing folly of Nero, and the alternating gluttony and -cruelty of Domitian, before we come to the second honest -effort to avert the fate of Rome. From the genial virtue -of Livia we are led to contemplate the dissolute gaieties of -Julia, the cold ambition of Agrippina, the robust vulgarity -of Cæsonia, the infectious vice of Messalina, and the insipid -frippery of Poppæa. Had there been one syllable of truth -in the divine messages which augurs and Chaldæans saw -in every movement of nature, not even the beneficent rule -of Octavian would have lured men to sacrifice even the -effigy of power that remained to them, and that they had -lightly sold for a measure of corn and the bloody orgies of -the amphitheatre.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_II" class="vspace">CHAPTER II<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE END OF THE GOLDEN AGE</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">In</span> tracing the further career of Livia we enter upon -the opening acts of the tragedy of the Cæsars, and -we have to consider carefully if there be any truth -in the charge that Livia herself initiated the long series -of murders that now make a trail of blood over the annals -of Rome. With the coming of the Empire we more rarely -find legion pitted against legion in the horrors of civil -war, but we have nerveless ambition stooping to the -despicable aid of the poisoner, autocracy paralysing the -best of the nobility with its murderous suspicions, and -folly growing more foolish with the increasing splendour -of the imperial house. We already know that the germs -of this disease were found in the quiet home of Livia -and Octavian on the Palatine. Scribonia had received -her letter of divorce a few days after the birth of her -daughter Julia. As Livia bore no direct heir to the -Emperor, while Julia became the mother of many children, -we have at once the promise of a dramatic struggle for the -succession. When we further learn that the strain of -Imperial blood, which takes its rise in Julia, is thickly -tainted with disease, we are prepared for a bloody and -unscrupulous conflict. And when we reflect that on this -unstable pivot the vast Empire will turn for many generations, -we begin to understand the larger tragedy of the -fall of Rome.</p> - -<p>Let us first glance at the interior of the modest household -on the Palatine. Besides Livia and Octavian, with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -whom we are now familiar, there is Octavia, sister of -the Emperor and divorced wife of Mark Antony, a gentle -lady with the matronly virtues of the time when a Roman -could slay his wife or daughter for irregular conduct. -With her were her children, Marcellus and Marcella, of -whom we shall hear much. Then there were Livia’s two -sons—the elder, Tiberius, a tall, silent, moody youth, with -little care to please; the younger, Drusus, a handsome, -buoyant, fair-headed boy, threatening the elder’s birthright. -Octavian closely watched the education of the boys. He -taught them to write on the wax-faced tablets in the fine -script on which he prided himself, kept them beside him -at table, and drove them in his chariot about public -business.</p> - -<p>But the most interesting and fateful figure in the group -was Julia. Octavian had removed her at an early age -from the care of Scribonia, and adopted her in the palace. -She learned to spin and weave, and helped to make the -garments of the family, under the severe eyes of Livia -and Octavia. The Emperor was charmed with the pretty -and lively girl, and would make a second Livia of her. -Knowing well, if only from his own youth, the vice and -folly that abounded in those mansions on the hills of Rome, -and roared in its dimly-lighted valleys by night, he kept -her apart. None of the young fops who drove their -chariots madly out by the Flaminian Gate, and sipped -their wine after supper to the prurient jokes of mimes, -were suffered to approach her. And, not for the first -or last time in history, the veiling of the young eyes had -an effect quite contrary to that intended. A Roman girl -became a woman at fourteen, a mother at fifteen. At -that early age, in the year 25 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, Julia was married to -her cousin Marcellus, who was then seventeen. Marcellus -was so clearly a possible successor to the throne that -courtiers hung about him, and taught him the art of -princely living. The doors of the hidden world were -opened, and the tender eyes of Julia were dazed.</p> - -<p>The authorities are careless in chronology, and we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -may decline to believe that Julia at once entered on the -riotous ways which led her to the abyss. Her marriage -concerns us in a very different respect. All the writers -who adopt the view that Livia was a hard and unscrupulous -woman—a view that Tacitus must have taken -from the memoirs of her rival’s granddaughter, the Empress -Agrippina, which were made public in his time—consider -that this marriage of Julia and Marcellus marks the -beginning of her career of crime. She is supposed to -have been alarmed at the marriage of two direct descendants -of Cæsar, seeing that she herself had no child by -Octavian. Most certainly she was ambitious for her elder -son. The boy whom she had clasped to her breast, when -she fled along the roads of Campania and through the -burning forests of Greece, was now a clever and studious -youth, and she wished Octavian to adopt him. Unfortunately, -Tiberius was of a moody and solitary nature, -and was easily displaced in Octavian’s affection by the -handsome and popular Marcellus and the beautiful and -witty Julia.</p> - -<p>The first cloud appeared in the year 23 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span> Octavian -fell seriously ill, and Livia’s hope of securing the succession -for her son was troubled by two formidable competitors. -One was Marcellus, the other was Octavian’s friend and -ablest general, M. V. Agrippa. He was of poor origin, -but of commanding ability and character, and was suspected -of entertaining a design to restore the Republic. He was -married to Marcella, and had some contempt for the spoiled -boy, her brother Marcellus—a contempt which Marcellus -repaid with petulance and rancour. Octavian recovered, -sent Agrippa on an important errand to the East, and -made Marcellus Ædile of the city. Marcellus was winning, -the eager observers thought, when suddenly he fell seriously -ill and died. The death was so opportune for Tiberius -that we cannot wonder that a faint whisper of poison went -through Rome when his ashes were laid in the lofty marble -tower that Octavian had built in the meadows by the Tiber. -But we need not linger over this first charge against Livia.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -Even Dio, who is no sceptic in regard to rumours which -defame Empresses, hesitates to press on us so airy and -improbable a myth. It was a hot and pestilential summer, -and Marcellus seems to have contracted fever by remaining -too long at his post, before going to Baiæ on the -coast.</p> - -<p>The death of Marcellus, far from promoting the cause -of Tiberius, brought a more formidable obstacle in his -way. Octavian sent for Agrippa, and directed him to -divorce Marcella and wed Julia. The general, who was -in his forty-second year, thought it immaterial which of -the two young princesses shared his bed, and Octavia -consented to the divorce of her daughter—as some conjecture, -to thwart Livia’s design. To the delight of -Octavian the union of robust manhood and amorous young -womanhood was fruitful. During the ten years of their -marriage Julia gave birth to three sons and two daughters. -Happily unconscious of the tragedies which were to close -the careers of these children in his own lifetime, Octavian -welcomed them with great enthusiasm. During his whole -reign he was engaged in a futile effort to induce or compel -the better families of Rome to take a larger share in the -peopling of the Empire. When he penalized celibacy, -they defeated him by contracting marriages with the -intention of seeking an immediate divorce. When he -made adultery a public crime, there were noblewomen—few -in number, it is true; the facts are often exaggerated—who -enrolled themselves on the list of shame, and noblemen -who took on the degrading rank of gladiators, in -order to escape the penalties. He created a guild of -honour for the mothers of at least three children; but the -distinction seemed to the ladies of Rome to be an inadequate -reward for so onerous an accomplishment, and -they scoffed when Livia was enrolled in the guild, though -the only child she had conceived of Octavian had never -seen the light.</p> - -<p>Far greater, however, was the amusement of Rome -when Octavian held up Julia as a model of maternity,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -and ostentatiously fondled her babies in public. A coarse -and witty reply that she is said to have made, when some -one asked her how it was that all her children so closely -resembled her husband, was then circulated in Roman -society, and is preserved in Macrobius.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> Beautiful, lively, -and cultivated, the young girl had exchanged with delight -the dull homeliness of her father’s mansion for the rose-crowned -banquets of her new world. Her marriage with -Agrippa restrained her gaiety for a time, but her husband -was often summoned to distant provinces, and she was -left to her dissolute friends. Octavian was curiously -blind to her conduct, but when Agrippa was compelled -to undertake a lengthy mission in the East, he ordered -Julia to accompany him. The journey would not improbably -foster her vicious tendencies. There is truth -in the old adage that all light came to Europe from the -East, but it is hardly less true that darkness came to -Rome from the East. Julia would not be ignorant how -the ancient Roman puritanism had been corrupted by the -introduction of Eastern habits and types—the poisoner, -the Chaldæan astrologer, the Syrian dancer, the eunuch, -the cultivated Greek slave, the priests of orgiastic Eastern -cults. A mind like hers would seek to penetrate the depths -from which these types had emerged. In Greece she -would find the remains of its perfumed vices lingering -at the foot of its decaying monuments. In Antioch there -would not be wanting freedwomen to gratify her curiosity -in regard to its unnatural excesses and the world-famed -license of its groves. In Judæa she was long and splendidly -entertained at the court of Herod, a monarch with -ten wives and concubines innumerable.</p> - -<p>They returned to Rome in the year 13, and in the -following year Agrippa died of gout, and Julia was -free. One of the most surprising features of her wild -career—one that would make us hesitate to admit -the charges against her, if hesitation were possible—is -that Livia was either ignorant of her more serious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -misdeeds, or unable to convince Octavian of them. Livia -would hardly spare her, as Julia was inflaming Octavian’s -dislike for Tiberius. Refined, sensitive, and studious, -the young man avoided the boisterous amusements in -which other young patricians spent their ample leisure, -and his cold melancholy made him distasteful to them. -One of the Roman writers would have us believe that -Julia made love to him during the life of Agrippa, and -that she incited Octavian against him in revenge for his -rejection of her advances. The story is improbable. We -need only suppose that Julia, in speaking of Tiberius, -used the disdainful language which was common to her -friends. Neither Livia nor Tiberius seems to have -attempted to open the Emperor’s eyes to Julia’s conduct. -Octavian disliked her luxurious ways, but was blind to -her vices, though the names of her lovers were on the -lips of all. One day Octavian scolded her for having a -crowd of fast young nobles about her, and commended -to her the staid example of Livia. She disarmed him -with the laughing reply that, when she was old, her -companions would be as old as those of the Empress. -One writer says that Octavian compelled her to give up -a too sumptuous palace which she occupied. One is -more disposed to believe the story that, when he remonstrated -with her for her luxurious ways, she replied -“My father may forget that he is Cæsar, but I cannot -forget that I am Cæsar’s daughter.”</p> - -<p>In spite of their mutual aversion Octavian now ordered -Tiberius to marry her. He was already married to -Vipsania, the virtuous and affectionate daughter of Agrippa, -and this enforced separation from one whom he loved -with an ardour that was fading from Roman marriage, -and union with one who contrasted with Vipsania as the -wild flaming poppy contrasts with the lily, further soured -and embittered him. We may dismiss in a very few -words his relations with the woman who ought to have -been the second Empress of Rome. After a few years -spent, as a rule, in distant frontier wars, he returned to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -Rome in the year 6 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, to find that his wife had passed -the last bounds of decency and Octavian was as blind -as ever. In intense disgust, and in spite of his mother’s -entreaties, he begged the Emperor’s permission to spend -some years in literary and scientific studies at Rhodes. -Not daring to open the eyes of Octavian to the true -character of his daughter, he had to bow to his anger -and disdain, and seek consolation in the calm mysteries -of the planets and the fine sentiments of Greek tragedians.</p> - -<div id="ip_29" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 26em;"> - <img src="images/i_028.jpg" width="416" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>JULIA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE MUSEUM CHIARAMONTI</p></div></div> - -<p>Julia now cast aside the last traces of restraint. A -half-dozen of the young nobles of Rome are associated -with her in the chronicles, and, gossipy and unreliable as -the records are, in this case the issue of the story disposes -us to believe the charges. Round such a repute as hers -legends were bound to grow, and the conscientious biographer -must be reserved in giving details. Dio tells us, -for instance, that she expected her lovers to put crowns, -for each success she permitted them to attain, at the foot -of the statue of Marsyas—a public statue, at the feet of -which Roman lawyers were wont to place a crown when -they had won a case. However that may be, it is certain -that in the nightly dissipation of Rome, when plebeian -offenders sought the darkness of the Milvian Bridge, or -wantoned in the taverns and brothels of the Subura, -Julia’s party was one of the boldest and most conspicuous. -Not content with the riotous supper, which it was now -the fashion to prolong by lamp-light, in perfumed chambers, -until late hours of the night, Julia and her friends -went out into the streets, and caroused in the very -tribunal in the Forum—the Rostra, a platform decorated -with the prows of captured vessels—from which her -father made known his Imperial decisions.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -The thunder of the Imperial anger scattered this licentious -band some time in the second year before Christ. -In the earlier part of the year Octavian had entertained -Rome with one of the thrilling spectacles which he often -provided. To celebrate the dedication of a new temple -of Mars, which he had built, he had the Flaminian Circus -flooded, gave the people a mock naval battle, and had -thirteen crocodiles slain by the gladiators. Julia had -hoodwinked the Emperor so long that she and her friends -seem to have abandoned all restraint, and their adventures -came to the knowledge of the Emperor.</p> - -<p>The charges against Julia must have been beyond -cavil, since Octavian, who loved her deeply, at once -yielded her to the course of justice. A charge of conspiracy -was made out against her companions. One of -the young nobles killed himself, and the rest were banished. -Julia was convicted of adultery—the evil that her father -had fought for ten years—and from the glitter of Rome -she was roughly conducted to the barren rock-island of -Pandateria (Ponza), in the Gulf of Gæta. In that narrow -and depressing jail, with no female attendants, no wine -and no finery, accompanied only by her unhappy mother, -the fascinating young princess spent five years, looking -with anguish over the blue water toward the faint outline -of the hills of Italy, or southward toward those rose-strewn -waters of Baiæ, where she had dreamed away so -many brilliant summers. Rome, touched with pity for -the stricken woman, implored Octavian to forgive her; -and when he swore that fire and water should meet -before he pardoned her, the people naively flung burning -torches into the Tiber. Hearing, after a few years, that -there was a plot to release her, Octavian had her removed -to a more secure prison in Calabria. There she dragged -out her miserable life until her father died, and Tiberius -came to the throne. When he in turn refused to release -her, she sank slowly into the peace of death.</p> - -<p>There is no charge against Livia in connexion with -this tragic fate of Julia, but another possible rival of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -Tiberius had disappeared during these years, and there -is the usual vague accusation that the Empress assisted -the action of nature. Drusus, her younger son, died in -the year 9 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, and Livia is charged with sacrificing him -to her affection for her elder son. The charge is preposterous. -Drusus had, it is true, been much more -popular than Tiberius at Rome. His genial and engaging -manner gave him a great advantage over the retiring and -almost sullen Tiberius. But the brothers loved each -other deeply, and when Tiberius, who was making a tour -in the north of Gaul, heard that Drusus was dangerously -ill in Germany, he at once rode four hundred miles on -horseback, and held Drusus in his arms in his last hour. -Livia was at Ticinum, in the north of Italy, with Octavian -when the news reached them. That either Livia or -Tiberius—for both are accused—should have in any way -promoted the death of Drusus is a frivolous suggestion. -The epitomist of Livy, Tacitus, and Suetonius, describe -the death as natural. Drusus was thrown and injured by -a frantic horse. The libel that his death was in some -mysterious way accelerated may have been set afoot by -his partisans. It was generally believed that he favoured -a restoration of the Republic, and the corrupt officials -who, at his death, lost their faint hope of returning to -the days of peculation and bribery, may have begun the -charge. No evidence is offered for it. Livia and Octavian -accompanied the remains to Rome with great sorrow. -Seneca says that the Empress was so distressed that she -summoned one of the Stoic philosophers to console her.</p> - -<p>The next charge against Livia requires a more careful -examination. By the beginning of the present era, when -the poor health of Octavian gave occasion for many speculations -as to the succession, there were only two rivals to -the chances of Tiberius. These were the elder sons of Julia, -and Livia must have reflected gloomily on their fortune. -While Tiberius remained in retirement at Rhodes the -young princes were idolized by Octavian and by the people. -Tiberius had proposed to return to Rome after the banishment<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -of Julia, but Octavian peevishly told him to remain -in Greece. Every astrologer in Rome must have read in -the planets that either Caius or Lucius was born to the -purple. They were spoiled by Octavian, enriched with -premature honours, and, glittering in silver trappings, -appeared in the spectacles as “Princes of the youth of -Rome.” Let those youths be removed from the scene by -any accident, and so prurient a city as Rome will be bound -to discover some insidious action on the part of Livia; and -later writers, brooding over a chronicle in which ambition -leads freely to the most brutal murders, will be disposed to -believe her guilty.</p> - -<p>It is somewhat surprising to find more recent writers -caught by the fallacy. We are not puzzled when the -scandal-loving Serviez opens his chapter on Livia with a -glowing enumeration of her virtues, adopts nearly every -libel against her as he proceeds, and closes with a very -dark estimate of her character; but we are entitled to -expect more discrimination in Merivale. Even Mr. Tarver, -in his recent “Tiberius the Tyrant” (1902), does much -injustice to the mother in vindicating the son. He speaks -of her as “hard, avaricious, and a lover of power,” and, -without the least evidence—indeed, against all probability—suggests -that it was Livia who urged Octavian to keep -Tiberius in retirement at Rhodes. He makes Livia hostile -to Tiberius in favour of Julia’s sons, on the ground that she -would find them more pliant than Tiberius. Every other -writer suggests precisely the contrary. They make her -murder Julia’s sons in the interest of Tiberius.</p> - -<p>The death of the younger son, Lucius, is obscure. He -was sent on a mission to Spain in the year 2 <span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span>, and died -at Marseilles on the way. Since the only ground for the -rumour that he was poisoned is the indubitable fact that he -died, we need not delay in considering it. Octavian then -sent the elder brother Caius on a mission into Syria under -the care of his old tutor Lollius. His counsellor unhappily -died in the East, and the young prince was left to the vicious -companions who regarded him as the future dispenser of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -Imperial favours. He fell into Oriental ways, and was at -length (<span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span> 3) treacherously wounded by a Syrian patriot. -Instead of returning to Rome, he remained in the unhealthy -atmosphere of the East, indulged in its habits of languor -and vice, and died eighteen months after the death of his -brother. There is no obscurity about his death. It is -beyond question that he was severely wounded by a Syrian. -But the deaths of the two brothers happened so opportunely -for Tiberius that one cannot wonder at the suspicion, in -certain minds, that Livia had had the youths poisoned. -Nothing more than this vague rumour is given us by Tacitus, -Dio, Suetonius, or Pliny; and it is from a sheer pruriency -of romance that later writers, like Serviez, have accepted -and emphasized the suspicion recorded in the Roman -historians. Not on such slender grounds can we be -asked to sacrifice the conception of Livia’s character -which is forced on us by the plainer facts of her career. -The youths were delicate; Caius, at least, had undermined -his frail constitution by luxury, if not by vice; -and the Roman world harboured death in a hundred -forms.</p> - -<p>If we still hesitate to choose between the artifice of -Livia and the unaided action of natural causes in this -removal of the obstacles to the advancement of Tiberius, -we have only to glance at the fate of the rest of Julia’s -children. The third son, Agrippa, was as robust in body -as his brothers were weak, but he was defective in mind -and devoid of moral control. His boorish conduct as a boy -gave great pain to Livia and Octavia, and his great physical -strength broke out in uncontrollable gusts of passion. In -his adolescence he readily adopted the worst vices that -Rome could teach him, and Octavian was obliged to condemn -him to imprisonment and exile. There remained the -two daughters, Julia and Agrippina. The younger, the -sanest of Julia’s children, lived to intrigue for power, and -greatly to embarrass Livia’s later years; though we shall -find the same tragic fate befalling her after the death of the -Empress, who protected her. The elder, Julia, was banished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -(<span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span> 9) for incest, and, like her mother, lacking the courage -or virtue to end her shame as the nobler Romans did, she -protracted her miserable life for twenty years, her hard lot -only alleviated by the charity of Livia.</p> - -<p>Fate had removed every possible competitor to the -succession of Tiberius. He returned to Rome, and his -judicious and sedulous activity removed the last traces of -the Emperor’s resentment. Peace returned, after many -years of storm, to the mansion on the Palatine. But -Octavian had suffered profoundly from those terrible and -persistent storms. The Rome of his manhood was gone. All -his friends and counsellors had disappeared, and the future -of his people filled him with apprehension. The patrician -stock was decaying from luxury and vice; the ordinary -citizens clamoured for free food and free entertainment with -a blind disregard of the laws of national health. He shrank -from the public gaze, and leaned affectionately on Livia -and Tiberius.</p> - -<p>In the year 14 he remained at Rome in the early heat -of the summer, and became seriously ill. Livia and -Tiberius went down with him to the coast, where he -rallied, and some pleasant days were spent on the island -of Capreæ (Capri), which he had bought. They passed to -the mainland, where Tiberius left them, but he was soon -recalled by a message from his mother that the Emperor -was sinking. On the last morning of his life Octavian -dressed with unaccustomed care, and summoned his friends -to his bedside. Was Rome tranquil on receiving the news -of his dangerous condition? Did they approve of his -conduct and accomplishments? They gave him the assurance -he desired, and were dismissed. Could they have -foreseen the line of rulers who were to stain the purple -robe with blood, and load it with shame, for so many -decades to come, they would have wept. The last moments -were for Livia. He died kissing her, and murmuring: -“Be mindful of our marriage, Livia. Farewell.” So ended, -peacefully, a union that had lasted fifty-two years in a city -where divorce was as lightly esteemed as marriage. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -can be little serious doubt about the character of the first -Empress of Rome.</p> - -<p>Livia probably concealed the death of Octavian until -Tiberius arrived from Dalmatia. A report was given out -that Tiberius arrived in time to receive the last injunctions -of the Emperor. This may be doubted without any serious -reflection on her character; if, indeed, it was she, and not -Tiberius, who spread the report. There were grave fears—well-founded -fears, as we shall see—that a plot, in the -interest of corruption, had been framed to prevent the -succession of Tiberius. In the coolness of the night, so as -to avoid the intense heat of August, they bore the remains -with great pomp to the capital. There, on a bed of ivory -and purple, preceded by wax effigies of Octavian and of -earlier rulers of Rome, the body was carried to the temple -of Julius, where Tiberius read a funeral oration. The -cortège went on to the Field of Mars, by the Tiber, through -lines of black-draped citizens. The pile was fired, and -zealous eyes saw the soul of Octavian mount toward -heaven in the outward form of an eagle.</p> - -<p>Livia, on approved custom, remained by the sacred -ashes for five days, and then returned to face the new life -which opened for her. With the especially wild suggestion -that she had accelerated the death of her husband we may -disdain to concern ourselves. It was owing to her devoted -care that the ailing and delicate Octavian had lived to old -age. But a second libel in connexion with the death of -Octavian must be briefly considered.</p> - -<p>The apprehension, or the secret information, of the -dying Emperor was correct. No sooner was his death -announced than a servant of the imprisoned son of Julia -hurried to the coast, and set sail for the island of Planasia, -with the intention of bringing Agrippa to Rome as a -candidate for the purple. He arrived only to find a bleeding -corpse. The centurion in charge had dispatched -Agrippa as soon as the Emperor’s death was made known -to him.</p> - -<p>Who gave the order for this execution? One cannot<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -call it murder, for Agrippa was unfit to be restored to -society, and any attempt to raise him to the throne would -have been disastrous to Rome. The authorities, as usual, -merely give us the rumours that circulated at the time, -and leave us to choose between Octavian, Livia, and -Tiberius. We can have little difficulty in choosing. It -would be so natural for either Octavian or Tiberius to -crush the conspiracy by executing Agrippa that the introduction -of Livia is superfluous. Most probably Octavian -had left directions with Agrippa’s custodian. There is a -curious story, in several contradictory versions, but credible -in substance, that Octavian in his later years paid a secret -visit to Planasia, to see personally what Agrippa’s real -condition was. Quite the most plausible theory is that, -after personal verification of his madness, Octavian felt it -best for Rome, and not inhuman to Agrippa, to have him -put to death as soon as the question of succession was -opened.</p> - -<p>We come to the last phase of Livia’s career. Tiberius -was now a tall, handsome man, though slightly disfigured, -with long fair hair and features strangely delicate for one -of his exceptional physical strength. A better soldier than -his predecessor, and not an inept statesman, he was well -enough fitted to wield the power which Octavian had -virtually bequeathed to him. But a retiring disposition, -an unhappy youth, and long years of study, had made him -shrink from the society of any but scholars, and he long -hesitated to ascend the throne to which the Senate invited -him. We have not good ground to regard this reluctance -as feigned. At last he consented, and the critics of Livia -would have it that her ambition now passed such bounds -as had been set to it by the ability of Octavian. We may -freely admit that she looked forward to being closely -associated in power with the son whose career she had -followed with such devotion and helpfulness. On the -other hand, we shall see how advantageous to the State -her influence was; the evils that at once begin to darken -the life of Rome when Tiberius rejects her counsels<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> -will plainly show this. Nor is there any evidence that -she sought power from any other motive than the good -of the State. She might take pride in what she did, -and even exaggerate it, but such a pride is not inconsistent -with the view that she was ever gentle, humane, -and generous.</p> - -<p>The first searching test of her character occurs a few -years after the accession of Tiberius. As the news of the -death of Octavian slowly travelled over the Empire, there -were mutinous movements among the legions in many -provinces. In Lower Germany, especially, the troops -considered that their commander, Germanicus, the nephew -of Tiberius, was entitled to the purple, and they asked him to -lead them to Rome. He was a handsome, engaging young -general, of imperial blood, with moderate ability and much -conceit, and had won the regard of the soldiers by visiting -the sick and wounded, advancing their pay out of his own -purse, and other popular acts. He was married to Julia’s -daughter, Agrippina, who lived in camp with him. They -dressed their little son Caius in soldier’s costume, and his -quaint appearance in miniature military boots won for him -the pet-name Caligula (“Little-boots”) by which he is -known to history. The legionaries thought that they had -with them a model Imperial family, and promised to wrest -the throne from Tiberius. Germanicus weakly composed -the mutiny—mainly by forging a letter in the name of -Tiberius and then treacherously executing the leaders—and -endeavoured to cover his blunders by vigorous and rather -aimless attacks upon the Germans. Tiberius recalled him to -Rome to enjoy a “triumph,” and to keep him out of further -mischief.</p> - -<p>Merivale acknowledges that his conquests were -“wholly visionary,” but Germanicus had inherited the -charm and popularity of his father, Drusus, and Rome was -easily won for him. People streamed out from the gates to -meet him, and gazed with awe on his gigantic blue-eyed -captives and on the large highly-coloured paintings of his -victories in Germany. It was a new source of concern for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -Livia and Tiberius, and, to the satisfaction of Livia’s critics, -the danger ended like all the others.</p> - -<p>Germanicus and Agrippina were sent on a mission to -the East. Tiberius seems to have had some disdain for his -spoiled and conceited nephew, and he was well aware of -the interested aims of those who affected to see in him a -restorer of the old republican liberty. He chose an older -statesman, Cn. Calpurnius Piso, to go out as Governor -of Syria, to watch and prudently direct the movements of -Germanicus. With Piso was his wife Plancina, an intimate -friend of Livia. From these Tiberius and Livia shortly -heard exasperating accounts of the progress of Germanicus -and Agrippina. Piso found, on calling at Athens, that -Germanicus had been flattering the Greeks for their -ancient culture, instead of pressing the dominion of Rome. -He made free comments on the young general’s conduct, -pushed past his galleys, as they dallied in Greek waters, -and was hard at work in Syria when Germanicus arrived. -The wives conducted the quarrel with more asperity than -their husbands.</p> - -<p>Rome had now its party of Germanicus and party of -Tiberius, and the news from the East was heatedly discussed. -Germanicus has gone to Egypt, without asking -the Emperor’s permission, and is patronizing the Greek -and Egyptian cults, which Tiberius represses, and going -about in Greek instead of Roman dress. Piso has had a -violent quarrel with Germanicus, and left Syria. And -before they have time to discuss this important intelligence -there comes a report that Germanicus is dangerously ill; -that bones of dead men, half-burnt fragments of sacrificial -victims, leaden tablets with the name of Germanicus -scrawled on them, and other deadly charms, have been -found under the floors and between the walls of his house. -At length the news comes that Germanicus is dead, and -that with his last breath he has urged his friends to avenge -him. Rome goes into mourning. All the shops are closed, -and crowds gather everywhere to discuss this fresh tragedy -of the Imperial house. In the middle of the night a rumour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -spreads that Germanicus is not dead, and people fill the -streets with the glare of their torches, and break into the -temples. But the fatal news is confirmed, and, when at -last Agrippina comes with the golden urn containing his -ashes, such mourning is seen as no living man can -remember.</p> - -<p>People observed that neither Livia nor Tiberius appeared -at the funeral. Livia had no reason to be present, -and Tiberius knew that the demonstration was due largely -to a spirit of hostility to himself. For the rest, it was merely -the feeling of a frivolous people for a handsome and unfortunate -youth. But Livia incurred more serious censure -during the trial of Piso which followed. The ex-governor -of Syria defended himself resolutely for a day or two, and -then, hearing that his wife had deserted him, committed -suicide. The anger of the citizens now turned on the wife, -Plancina. The Empress, with whom she had been in close -communication throughout, begged Tiberius to save her, -and he reluctantly checked the prosecution. Livia was, -of course, accused of sheltering a murderess. It must be -recollected that the accounts of the story are taken in part -from the memoirs of Agrippina’s daughter, and are coloured -with prejudice against Tiberius and his mother. One cannot -see anything more serious than indiscretion in Livia’s -conduct. Her conviction of the innocence of Plancina is -intelligible enough, and one can equally understand how -she would distrust a trial held at Rome in the inflamed -state of public feeling. There is no serious reason to suspect, -in the death of Germanicus, the action of any other -poison than the tainted atmosphere of the East.</p> - -<p>But the interference of Livia annoyed Tiberius, and the -ten years that follow are full of differences between mother -and son. The Emperor’s resentment of his mother’s share -in public affairs had begun with his reign. Livia had -proposed to erect a statue to the memory of Octavian. -Tiberius interfered, and referred her to the Senate for -permission. She then proposed to give a commemoratory -banquet to the Senators and their wives. Tiberius restricted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -her to the wives, and entertained the Senators -himself. He reduced her escort, frowned on the public -honours that were paid to her, and resented her interference -in public affairs. On one occasion her friend -Urgulania was summoned for debt, and, presuming on her -intimacy with the Empress, treated the process with contempt. -Livia asked Tiberius to quash the proceedings, and -he deliberately lingered so much on his way to the Forum -that the case was allowed to proceed.</p> - -<p>These are a few of the stories which illustrate the want -of harmony between them. For this Livia was largely -to blame. It was not unnatural that she, who had been -so often and so profitably consulted by Octavian, should -expect a larger power under the young Emperor, but she -failed to take discreet account of the extreme sensitiveness -of Tiberius. If a story given in Suetonius is correct, she -so far lost her discretion in one of their quarrels as to -produce old letters in which Octavian had made bitter -reflections on the defects of Tiberius. The fault was not -wholly on her side, however. Tiberius was jealous when -he contrasted the honour and respect paid to her with the -general feeling of reserve and distrust toward himself, and -he pleaded the old-fashioned idea of woman’s sphere as a -pretext to restrain her. He grumbled when he one day -found her directing the extinction of a fire, as she had done -more than once in Octavian’s time, and he was seriously -angry when he found that she had placed her name before -his on a public inscription.</p> - -<p>But we may leave these lesser matters and come to the -next tragedy in the Imperial chronicle, the shadow of -which darkened Livia’s closing years. She had retired -from the palace to the house which she had inherited from -her first husband, Tiberius Nero. Here she remained a -saddened and helpless spectator of the coming disaster. -Tiberius, whom she saw only once more before she died, -had become a peevish and gloomy old man. His tall spare -frame was bent, his head bald, his face, which had always -been disfigured with pimples, now hideous with eczema,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -or concealed with bandages. His large melancholy eyes -so startled people that they believed he could see in the -dark. Astrologers and students of the occult gathered -about him in the palace he had built on the Palatine, and -the way lay open for adventurers.</p> - -<p>The two chief aspirants for power were Agrippina, the -widow of Germanicus, and Sejanus, Tiberius’s favourite -general. Julia’s younger daughter seems to have concentrated -in her person all the masculinity of her family. -“Implacable,” as Tacitus says, proud, and ambitious, she -added to the gloom that was deepening on the Palatine. -Merivale calls her the “she-wolf.” It seems probable that -she sought marriage with the aged Tiberius in order to -secure power for herself or her son. The only son of the -Emperor had been poisoned by Sejanus, as we shall see -presently, and her son had a plausible title to inherit the -purple. The authorities tell us that Tiberius one day -found her in tears, and was entreated, when he asked the -reason, to find her a husband. She thought it expedient to -forget the supposed share of Tiberius in the death of her -husband.</p> - -<p>Her innocent manœuvres were met, however, by the -sinister intrigues of Sejanus, one of the most unscrupulous -characters we have yet encountered. Under a cloak of -friendliness he was countering her schemes and ruining -her house. He had seduced her daughter Livilla, the -wife of Tiberius’s son Drusus, and had, with her connivance, -poisoned the young prince, and kept the secret -from the Emperor for many years. It is said that he then -made proposals to Agrippina to unite their ambitions, -and, when these were rejected, he determined to destroy -her and secure the supreme power for himself. He put -his great ability astutely at the service of the Emperor, -and once had the good fortune to save his life, by arching -his herculean body over Tiberius when the roof of a cave -fell on them. It is probable that he inflamed the resentment -of Tiberius against his mother, and then used the -estrangement to increase the unpopularity of the Emperor.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -Scurrilous libels on “the ungrateful son” were current -in Rome. These are sometimes attributed to writers in -the service of Livia, but it would be a natural part of -the scheme of Sejanus to spread them. On one occasion -a noble lady, Appuleia Varilia, was charged by the Senate -with accusing Tiberius and Livia of incest. Tiberius -consulted his mother, and declared to the Senate that -they wished to treat the libel with contemptuous -indifference.</p> - -<p>To Sejanus also we must, on the authority of Tacitus, -attribute a plot against Agrippina, which other writers -assign to Tiberius or to Livia. At a banquet in the palace -it was noticed that Agrippina, pale and sullen, passed -all the dishes untouched. Tiberius at length invited her -to eat a fine apple which he chose. Under the eyes of -all she handed it to a servant to throw away, and Tiberius -not unnaturally complained of her unjust suspicions. -Tacitus, who gives the most credible version of the story, -says that the agents of Sejanus had warned her that she -was to be poisoned at the banquet, so that she would -act in a way that the Emperor would resent.</p> - -<p>Tiberius, weary of the violent passions of the capital, -now lived chiefly in Campania. It is not improbable that -his disfigurement made him sensitive. Rome would not -spare the feelings of so unpopular a ruler. It is not at -all clear that he shrank from his Imperial duties—Suetonius -expressly says that he thought it possible to rule better -from the provinces—or that he wished to indulge in the -wild debauches which some attribute to him. Probably -Sejanus, to secure more power for himself, persuaded him -that he could best discharge his duties from a provincial -seat.</p> - -<p>At this juncture, in the year 29, saddened by the -estrangement from her son, by his helpless surrender to -an unscrupulous adventurer, and by the increasing degeneration -of Rome, Livia died. She had, by sober -living—Pliny adds, by the constant chewing of a sweetmeat -containing a certain medicinal root, and by the use of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -Pucinian wine—attained the great age of eighty-six. She -had seen her husband dispel the long horrors of civil -war, refresh the Empire, and adorn Rome; and she had -felt the gloom and chill of a coming tragedy in her later -years. Few of the Empresses have been so differently -estimated as Livia. Merivale regards her as “a memorable -example of successful artifice, having obtained in succession, -by craft if not by crime, every object she could desire -in the career of female ambition.” He adds: “But she -had long survived every genuine attachment she may at -any time have inspired, nor has a single voice been raised -by posterity to supply the want of honest eulogium in -her own day.”<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> - -<p>The more concentrated research of the biographer has -often to reverse the verdict of the historian, and in this -case it must acquit Livia of either craft or vice. It is a -singular error to say that Livia had no “honest eulogium” -in her own day. The Roman Senate is exposed to the -disdain of historians for its obsequiousness to the reigning -Emperor, yet, at the death of Livia, it sought to honour -her memory in spite of the resentment of Tiberius. The -Emperor had refused to go to Rome, either to see her -before death or to attend her funeral. He gave to Rome -an example of silent indifference. Yet he had to use his -authority to prevent the Senate from decreeing divine -honours to Livia, building an arch to her memory, and -declaring her “mother of her country.” Dio remarks -that the Senators were moved to do these things out of -sincere gratitude and respect. Few of the less wealthy -members of the Senate had not profited by her generosity. -Their children had been educated, and their daughters -had received dowries, from her purse. Her generosity is -recognized by all the authorities. Her humanity is made -plain by the contents of this chapter.</p> - -<p>The adverse estimate of Livia’s character is chiefly -based on the “Annals” of Tacitus, and it has long been -recognized that Tacitus drew his account largely from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -the memoirs of the younger Agrippina, daughter of the -woman who hated Livia. Yet Tacitus adds, when he -has recorded the death of Livia: “From this moment -the government of Tiberius became a sheer oppressive -despotism. While Augusta lived one avenue of escape -remained open, for the Emperor was habitually deferent -toward his mother, and Sejanus dared not thwart her -parental authority; but when this curb was removed, -there was nothing to check their further career.”<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a></p> - -<p>We have seen that Livia had used the same restraining -influence on the impetuosity of Octavian. With her died -the attribute, or the wise policy, of Imperial clemency, only -to be revived by Emperors who adopted that Stoic creed -in which she found consolation after the death of her son. -That she was “hard” and “unscrupulous” is entirely at -variance with the most authenticated facts of her career. -To say that she was “avaricious” is a sheer absurdity. -She maintained her sober personal habits to the end, and -took money only to bestow it on the indigent and worthy, -or expend it in raising public buildings. We may grant -that she had some ambition, but may claim that it was well -for Rome that she had it. She fell into many errors of -judgment in her later years, when Roman life was confused -by such strong undercurrents of intrigue; but these very -errors tend to discredit the notion that she employed a -consummate art and strong intelligence in the furthering -of her own interests. In a word, it is the vices and follies -of later Empresses that have disposed historians to regard -her sober virtues as a mere mask.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span></p> - -<h3>NOTE</h3> - -<blockquote> - -<p>For the guidance of the general reader it is advisable to add a few -words on the Latin authorities, whom we now constantly quote. Tacitus, -the chief source of our knowledge down to the year 70 <span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span>, is not only -weakened as an historian by the very strength of his morality, but he has too -lightly followed the memoirs in which the later Agrippina defamed the rival -Imperial family. Suetonius, who takes us as far as Domitian, is no less -honest, but he has too genial and indulgent a love of anecdotes to discard -any on the mere ground that they are untrue or improbable. Dio Cassius, -who covers the first two centuries, is usually described as malignant; but -one may question if he does more than indulge still further the same amiable -preference of piquancy to truth. The “Historia Augusta,” which is our chief -authority for the greater part of the Empresses and the richest source of -scandal, has been much and profitably discussed since Gibbon placed such -reliance on it. It is now thought by some experts that the original writers -of this series of biographical sketches of the Roman Emperors lived at the -beginning of the third century, and had a comparatively sober standard of -work. Toward the close of the third, or beginning of the fourth, century -the work was written afresh by the group of less scrupulous writers whose -names, or pseudonyms, actually stand at the head of its chapters. But a -still later writer once more recast the work, and lowered its authority. He -wrote frankly from the point of view of the piquant anecdotist, omitting -much that would interest only the prosy student of exact facts, and filling up -the vacant space with such faint legends of Imperial vice or folly as still, in -his time, lingered without the pale of history, or arose in the field of romance. -The question is fully discussed by Otto Schultz, “Leben des Kaisers -Hadrian” (1905), and Professor Kornemann, “Kaiser Hadrian” (1906).</p></blockquote> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_III" class="vspace">CHAPTER III<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIVES OF CALIGULA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> remainder of the reign of Tiberius does not -properly concern us, but a very brief account of -it will serve at once to confirm our estimate of the -influence of Livia, and to prepare us for the almost incredibly -degraded scenes that were witnessed under his -successor. We saw that two persons were intriguing for -the purple mantle which must soon fall from the shoulders -of the aged and unhealthy Emperor. One was a woman -of great ability and masculine courage, who sought the -succession for one of her sons. The other was a strong -soldier and an astute minister, a man of the most unscrupulous -and hypocritical character. The change in -the form of government had already betrayed its evil. The -fate of the vast Empire seemed but a ball tossed from -player to player. But the issue was even worse than the -most sober observer anticipated. Before Tiberius died -both the strong man and the strong woman were to be -destroyed, and the Imperial power was to pass to one -who was grossly unfit to exercise it.</p> - -<div id="ip_46" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 27em;"> - <img src="images/i_046.jpg" width="418" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>AGRIPPINA THE ELDER</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE MUSEUM CHIARAMONTI</p></div></div> - -<p>Less than a year after the ashes of Livia had been laid -in the marble tower by the Tiber, the Senate received a -letter from the court impeaching Agrippina and her two -elder sons. According to Tacitus, it was “commonly -believed” that this letter had been written some time -before, and had been withheld through the influence of -Livia. The only reasonable interpretation that we can -put on this rumour is that people were so convinced of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -the humanity of Livia that they did not think the letter -would have been written or sent if she were still alive. -However that may be, Agrippina and her sons were put -on trial and condemned to exile, in spite of the angry -crowds that gathered about the court-house. Agrippina -passed with dramatic suddenness from her dream of ruling -the world to a dreary exile in Herculaneum, and, after -a time, to the far more terrible prison of Pandateria, where -her mother had spent four years of agony. There, with -all the strength of her proud and ambitious nature, she -awaited the death of Tiberius. But the only messages -which came over the sea to her gradually broke her spirit. -Her sons, Drusus and Nero, had been convicted of unnatural -vice, as well as conspiracy; and although we may -entertain some doubt about the conspiracy, the other -charge is only too credible when we know the habits of -the class to which the youths belonged. Nero was -imprisoned on one of the islands of the Ponza group, -and it was not long before his mother, on the neighbouring -island, heard that he had starved himself, or -been starved, to death. After some time she learned -that Drusus had followed his example, and the despairing -woman refused food in her turn, and went into the -kindlier exile of death. The last of Julia’s children did -not escape the tragic fate which hung over the family. -We have yet to see how the curse falls on the third -generation.</p> - -<p>Sejanus, whose action we may confidently see in the -ruin of Agrippina, now stood near the steps of the throne, -waiting impatiently for the passing of the despised Emperor. -He was betrothed to Livilla, the widow of Tiberius’s only -son Drusus, whom he had poisoned, with Livilla’s assistance. -With a consort of Cæsarean blood he felt that he -could easily fill the place of Tiberius. And in the height -of his corrupt power and criminal hope the vengeance of -the fates fell on him like a stroke of lightning. It is said -that the wife he proposed to divorce disclosed to Tiberius -that Sejanus was the murderer of his only son. Within<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -a few hours he was impeached, condemned, and put to -death. All who had gathered about him in the hope of -his coming power were scattered or destroyed by the frantic -anger of Tiberius. Livilla was urged by her mother to -bury her shame in the grave. She refused, and was -banished. We shall meet her again in the chronicle of -vice and violence.</p> - -<p>After this terrible ordeal Tiberius withdrew to Capreæ, -where he had built a palace. Wandering, some years ago, -among the ruins of what is believed to have been the -palace of Tiberius, I found that the echoes still lingered -there of the dark stories which men told in Rome of his later -years. Men said that he had shut himself in that sea-girt -palace only to indulge, unseen, in the grossest perversions -of a sensual nature, and that a new profession of ministers -to lust, of which a description may be found in Tacitus, -had grown out of his weariness even of unnatural vice. -One does not readily admit such orgies in a man between -his seventy-second and seventy-eighth year, and it seems -to me that one may offer an explanation of the myth, which -will also serve to introduce the third Emperor of Rome -and his wives.</p> - -<p>Suetonius describes Tiberius as surrounded by learned -men and absorbed in obscure problems of astrology, -mythology, and letters. The most resolute adherent of -the more romantic story must have some difficulty in -reconciling this band of prosy pedants with the sensual -orgies which popular rumour located in the lonely palace. -When, however, we learn that two young princes of the -least intellectual and most immoral character formed part -of the household, we see that there may have been two -entirely distinct lives sheltered by the palace at Capreæ. -If we suppose that these young men and their sycophantic -attendants freely indulged in the vices which were then -common to Roman youths, while their elders were intent -on the glorious planets of a Neapolitan sky, we have a -satisfactory explanation of the legend. The horror of -Rome at the Emperor’s bloody avenging of the murder<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -of his son would not dispose people to discriminate -conscientiously.</p> - -<p>One of these princes was Herod Agrippa, son of the -King of Judæa, whom Octavian had brought to Rome for -security. The other, a year younger, was “Caligula,” as -the soldiers had nicknamed the surviving son of Agrippina -and Germanicus. Caius Cæsar—to give him his real name—was -in his nineteenth year when his mother was banished. -Tiberius a few years later took him to Capreæ, where he -would prove an apt pupil to Herod in Oriental ways. The -vein of moral perversity, if not insanity, which we trace -in all the descendants of Julia, is most clearly exhibited in -Caligula, and the tragedy of the Cæsars deepens when, -in the year 37, Tiberius dies, and Caligula is called to the -throne.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">8</a></p> - -<p>He had been married in 33 to Junia Claudilla, daughter -of Junius Silanus, a proconsul of eminent services and -distinguished family. She was happily spared the fate of -sharing the throne with Caligula by dying in childbirth. -What her life in Capreæ must have been is not obscurely -suggested by her early death. No prospect in Europe is -more pleasant than that which unfolds its superb and far-lying -beauty to the spectator on the green summits of -Capri, from which the eye may wander over the broad -blue bay, with its silver fringe of surf, or round the -crescent of evergreen land that begins with Sorrento, and -sweeps majestically, past the foot of Vesuvius, to the -distant haze in which Baiæ once lived. Yet to a refined -and sensitive young woman this splendid palace must -have been a deathly jail. Repelled alike by the purblind -scholars and the licentious princes, the heavy monotony -of learning and vice unrelieved by visits to Rome, she -sank under her burden in three years—just missing by -one year the title of second Empress of Rome. Her father, -a grave and illustrious Senator, endeavoured to check -Caligula’s extravagance in the first year of his reign. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -brutal Emperor bade him “take his greeting to the spirit -of the dead.” With a last sad glance at the future of his -country, Junius Silanus obeyed.</p> - -<p>We are credibly told that Caligula then made love to -Ennia, wife of the Prefect of the Guard. Sejanus had -persuaded Tiberius to form a corps of “Prætorian Guards,” -an Imperial body-guard which was destined to have a -disastrous influence on the future of Rome. The actual -prefect or commander of this regiment, Macro, was the -most powerful person in the suite of Tiberius. With or -without his connivance, his wife yielded to Caligula, on -the condition that he should marry her when he became -Emperor. Macro and Ennia accompanied Caligula when -he bore the will and the ashes of Tiberius to Rome. A -gloom had settled over Italy during the later years of -Tiberius’s reign, and men hailed the young Caligula as -the sun and the blue sky are hailed after days of dark -tempest at sea. Standing by their flower-girt altars, -coming out with torches at night, people greeted him -with frantic epithets of affection. He was their “star,” -their “chicken,” their “dear child,” as he had been to -the soldiers in Germany years before. Not that he was -a handsome youth. His frame was thin and lanky, and -his movements awkward. He was prematurely bald, and -his sunken eyes looked out with a scowl from his pallid -face. But he was the son of Germanicus, the grandson -of Julia. All the follies which the family had perpetrated -were forgotten.</p> - -<p>For a month or two he fulfilled the hope of his people. -The reign of terror was ended at once. He recalled his -sisters from exile, and brought to Rome, with great -respect, the ashes of his mother and brothers. The circus -and the amphitheatre rang once more with the cheers -of the populace. The golden age of Octavian had been -restored, men said. But the emasculated system and feeble -mind of Caligula were unequal to the nervous strain. -Early in his reign Ennia reminded him of his written -promise to marry her, and Macro had an air of patronage<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -in advising him. In a sudden blaze of ferocity he ordered -Ennia and her children to be executed, and graciously -permitted Macro to end his own life. He had found a -wife—his sister Drusilla.</p> - -<p>His incestuous relation with Drusilla was soon the -topic of Rome. It had probably begun before she was -banished, and when he recalled her to his palace, a young -and beautiful girl of about twenty summers, he conceived -a violent passion for her, divorced her from her husband, -and announced that he intended to marry her. The -Emperor was above all laws, he said. Rome laughed the -laughter of fools. He was providing it with stupendous -entertainment. The games of the circus ran for twelve -hours, day after day, and the night was turned into fresh -day with illuminations, banquets, and such pleasures as -they could get with the money he freely distributed. In -the midst of it all he fell ill; not improbably he was -paying with epilepsy the price of his wild excesses. There -was such sorrow in Rome as had rarely been felt at the -illness of its greatest citizens. Men vowed their lives for -the life of the beloved Emperor; and Caligula, when he -recovered, saw that they kept their vows. He was ill for -many weeks, and, when his strength returned, he had lost -the little sanity and sobriety that nature had ever put in -his ill-compacted frame. The rest of his reign was a -nightmare.</p> - -<p>Drusilla died during his illness, or soon after his -recovery. Some writers suggest that her malady was a -feeling of deep shame, but the description which Dio gives -of her does not support this view, nor does the single -virtue of remorse seem to be known among the descendants -of Julia. The grief of Caligula was no less insane than -his passion had been. No illustrious Roman was ever -honoured with such pomp of funeral as this woman, -whose incestuous life he cried over the world. A Senator -saw her soul mount to heaven from the burning pile, -and was rewarded with a million sesterces. The degraded -Senate declared her a goddess, and it was decreed that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -henceforward women should swear by the divinity of -Drusilla. Earth and heaven resounded with his demented -moans; and even before Drusilla was put among the gods -he had married again.</p> - -<p>Livia Orestilla, the second Empress of Rome, is one -of those ladies who are known to us only in the familiar -phrase, that she was a young woman of great beauty -and illustrious family. In her case we need no ampler -portrait, as she was Empress only for a few days. Before -the end of the first year of his reign (37), and in the -midst of his lamentation over Drusilla, Caligula was -invited to the wedding of Calpurnius Piso, a noble of -rank and wealth. Caligula fancied the bride, and at once -made her his Empress. With equal license he divorced -her a few days afterwards, and she learned what it was -to fall from the height of a throne. He forbade her to -have any commerce with the husband of whom he had -robbed her, and then, alleging that his order had been -disregarded, banished both of them to remote and distinct -parts of the Empire.</p> - -<p>The next lady on whom his unbridled imagination rested -was Lollia Paulina. Caligula was probably more attracted -by her wealth than by the remarkable beauty, the high -character, and the distinguished ancestry which the -chronicles ascribe to her. The rich spoils of conquered -provinces had accumulated in her family, and her husband, -the Governor of Macedonia and Achaia, was industriously -adding to their wealth. People told at Rome that she once -went to a marriage-supper in pearls and emeralds that -were valued at fifty million sesterces. Her high virtue -seems to have been consistent with a display that made -her a topic of table-talk, and that brought upon her a -lamentable fate. Caligula, piqued by the stories of her -wealth and beauty, ordered her husband to bring her to -Rome, and she was soon afterwards established in his -palace as the third Empress of Rome. Within a year -Caligula divorced her on the ground that she gave no -promise of perpetuating his line.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span> -It is often said that Caligula had only married her for the -purpose of seizing her fortune, as his prodigal expenditure -was rapidly emptying the treasury. This seems to be an -error, as we shall find her in the next chapter incurring -a miserable fate on account of her immense wealth. The -truth was that Caligula had in the meantime discovered a -lady whose temper wholly suited his own, and of whose -fertility he was actually assured.</p> - -<p>In the spring or early summer of the year 39 we find -him perpetrating one of his stupendous acts of folly at -Baiæ. He was accustomed, in the warmer weather, to -cruise about the coast of Campania with his wife and suite. -He had two great Liburnian galleys built, each with ten -banks of oars, their prows blazing with gold and jewels, -their decks adorned with vines, colonnades, and divers -freaks of irresponsible wealth. As they cruised by the -bay, some one reminded him of an old proverb which -spoke of riding from Baiæ to Puteoli, across an arm of the -bay, as one of the most certain impossibilities. At once -he ordered a bridge to be built across the water and -elaborately decorated. In what was supposed to be the -armour of Alexander the Great, over which was thrown a -mantle of purple silk, the conqueror of impossibilities rode -from Baiæ to Puteoli. On the following day he drove his -chariot across; and far into the night, the hills around -being lit up with immense fires, he carried the debauch -which celebrated his glorious feat. In their intoxication -numbers reeled from the bridge into the scented waters.</p> - -<p>Eager for fresh victories, he transferred his delirious -court to Gaul, and declared that he was proceeding against -the fierce Germans. The tribes were not in revolt, and the -whole expedition was a comedy; some of the Roman writers -say that a few tame captives were conveyed across the -river and hunted, so that the Emperor might truthfully -inform the Senate that he had gained a victory and merited -a triumph. Suetonius even adds that, when he did -eventually return to Rome and celebrate his triumph, a -few slaves were forced to learn a little German and dye<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -their hair, to pose as conquered tribesmen before his -chariot. In the meantime, events which concern us more -closely were happening at Lyons.</p> - -<p>The extravagance of Caligula was rapidly emptying the -treasury. In twelve months he spent 2,700 million sesterces. -His baths were of the most precious ointments; his -banquets were especially designed to waste money—one -alone cost £80,000, in modern coinage—and, when the flow -was not fast enough, he drank pearls dissolved in vinegar, -and had gold fashioned in the shape of food and served to -his guests. He disdainfully swept the palaces of Octavian -and Tiberius, with other mansions, from the Palatine, and -erected a palace of extraordinary proportions and barbaric -splendour. Such habits drew about him a crowd of -ignoble parasites, and one can well believe that he had -discovered a conspiracy against him at Lyons. He had -prostituted the honour of Rome in a manner so childish -and base that few could be unmoved. Observing the -wealth of the Gauls—for Lugdunum (Lyons) was then the -centre of a prosperous and cultivated region—he began to -sell to them the possessions of the Imperial house. He -was present at the auction, and the proceeds were so -satisfactory that he sent to Rome for wagon-loads of -furniture, heirlooms, and curios from the Imperial palaces, -and, as they were offered for sale, pointed out himself the -historical value of each object.</p> - -<p>In his suite was the first husband of his sister Drusilla. -This distinguished noble, Lepidus, may have exchanged -views on the insanity of the Emperor with the disgusted -Gauls. At all events, Caligula sent word to the Senate -that he had discovered a plot against his life, and added -that his sisters, Livilla and Agrippina, had been convicted -of adultery with Lepidus. He put Lepidus to death, and -compelled Agrippina, a proud and spirited young princess, -to carry on foot to Rome the urn containing the ashes of -her alleged lover. We shall see how, on his return to -Rome, Caligula made atonement to vice for this drastic -punishment of adultery. In fact, he already had a mistress<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -in the Court at Lyons, and this lady now displaces Lollia -Paulina, and becomes the fourth Empress of Rome.</p> - -<p>Milonia Cæsonia is one of the oddest figures in the very -varied gallery through which our story conducts us. Julia -and Messalina are imperial in their vices. Cæsonia, whose -vices are so little discussed, stands entirely apart from the -other Empresses—at least of the first century. Wholly -destitute of character or culture, already worn with the -bearing of three children, she seems to have won and -retained the fancy—one cannot call it affection or regard—of -Caligula by a handsome figure, a robust masculinity, and -an entire lack of refinement. He often exhibited her nude -to his friends, and encouraged her to dress as an Amazon -and ride her horse before the army. His disordered mind -puzzled at times over the charm by which she held him. -He would stroke her strong white throat, and murmur -pleasantly that at one word from him the knife of the executioner -would sink into it; and he would sometimes, with -the same brutal humour, threaten to have her tortured, in -order to discover what philtre she secretly administered -to him. She had much tact and no scruples. Their -daughter Drusilla was born on the day of their marriage, -according to Suetonius, or thirty days afterwards, according -to more credible authorities. As the child grew, it showed -the temper of a wild cat. Caligula watched its frenzies -with delight, as it screamed and bit its nurse; there was, -he said, no room for doubt about the paternity.</p> - -<p>With such a spouse, and with his favourite courtesan -Pyrallis, whom also he had established in his new palace, -Caligula indulged his insane impulses without the least -restraint. Within a few months of inflicting so terrible -a punishment on his sister, he was giving imperial lessons -in incest and adultery. So low had much of the Roman -nobility fallen that no sword was drawn on the Emperor, -or employed on its possessor, when he concluded his -banquets with a command of promiscuous intercourse to -the men and women of patrician rank whom he entertained. -Nor were his excesses confined within the walls of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -palace, and known only by uncertain rumour. He -developed a passion for driving chariots, and frequented -the company of grooms and gladiators. Rome genially -applauded, since it implied more and longer shows in -the circus and amphitheatre. The struggles of the -different factions in the races—of whom Caligula supported -the Greens—more than ever enlivened the dull -days of an idle populace. Caligula forced nobles to -exercise the base and dangerous profession of the gladiator, -and to drive chariots before the mob in the circus.</p> - -<p>But the amusement of Rome reached its height when -Caligula, in the year 39, discovered his divinity. Other -Emperors were content to leave it to the flattery of their -people to detect a divinity in them after their very human -careers were over. “I am turning into a god,” said one of -them ironically, as he died. Caligula believed that his -splendour was already divine. Vitellius, a contemptible -courtier, father of the later Emperor, shrewdly borrowed -the idea from Oriental monarchs, and suggested it to -Caligula. Then were witnessed scenes in Rome which -even the wildest extravagances of Nero cannot rival. Its -citizens had, at the peril of their lives, to restrain their -laughter, and bend in respectful worship, when the slim, -ungraceful youth—he was yet only in his twenty-seventh -year—with the weariness of dissipation on his pale face, -trod their streets in the garments of Jove, with a beard of -gold thread, or marched past them with the bow and -quiver and golden halo of Apollo, or dressed to the more -congenial part of Venus. A machine was made by which -he could, in a puerile way, imitate the thunder of the rival -god; and he ordered the heads to be struck off the statues -of the Greek deities and replaced by copies of his own. -A deity must have a cult. Caligula appointed himself -and his horse, for which he provided a marble palace -and an ivory manger, the high priests of his cult. Cæsonia -was associated in the priesthood, and the position of -ordinary priest of the cult was sold to various nobles -at the price of eight million sesterces each. Poor men<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -were forced to ruin themselves and put an end to their -lives; wealthier men meekly posed as the ministers of -a divinity who gorged himself with food and wine at -each meal, and resorted to the vomit that he might return -to the table.</p> - -<p>How long nature would have suffered this madness -to debase the fallen city one cannot tell, but the exhaustion -of the treasury now led Caligula to do things which roused -a few Romans from their lethargy. He repeated in Rome -the auctions he had held at Lyons, and many stories are -told of his brutal irresponsibility. The truth of these -stories is always doubtful, but one may be quoted as -an illustration of the popular feeling. It is said that a -Senator fell asleep during one of the sales. Caligula -malignantly called the auctioneer’s attention to the fact -that the sleeping man was nodding at every bid, and the -Senator awoke to find that he had bought thirteen -gladiators and other property at fabulous prices. Caligula -even stood at his palace door to receive gifts, pleading -that the addition to his family had impoverished him.</p> - -<p>He then discovered a new source of funds in the -execution of the wealthier nobles. Brutal and sanguinary -from the first, his growing madness and his delight in -gladiatorial shows fostered his cruelty. He had an actor -burned alive in the Forum for venturing even to hint, -in an ambiguous phrase, that the Imperial behaviour was -reprehensible. Others he had tortured and executed in -his presence, in order that he might enjoy the sensation -of seeing them suffer. But it was mainly in quest of -money to maintain his terrible expenditure that he stooped -to the lowest excesses. No man of wealth in Rome was -safe. Informers were eager for the fourth part of a victim’s -property, to which they were entitled after a successful -impeachment; Caligula hungered for the remaining three-fourths. -Every ten days he would “clear his accounts,” -as he put it, or doom to death any wealthy Senators whom -he had chosen to put on his list of suspects. He would -return from the court boasting to Cæsonia of the heavy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -work he had done while she slept. A great terror brooded -over the city, and men talked of the Emperor in whispers. -Omens and signs multiplied. The statue of Jupiter -Olympus had been brought to Rome, and one day the -workmen rushed in alarm from the temple in which it -was placed, crying that the marble god had burst into -a fit of laughter.</p> - -<p>On January 24th, in the year 41, this appalling gloom -came to an end, and the third Emperor and fourth Empress -of Rome were justly removed. The long hesitation of the -Romans must not too readily be ascribed to cowardice. -The Prætorian Guards were now encamped at the edge of -the city, and were richly paid for personal loyalty to the -Emperor; so that there was very faint hope of a successful -rising of the citizens. For the greater part these formidable -soldiers were mercenaries, caring nothing for the honour of -Rome, faithful as dogs to the liberal master. It was not -until an officer of this regiment headed a conspiracy that -any action could be taken with a prospect of success. This -officer was a favourite of Caligula, but the Imperial friendship -was expressed in such coarse and stinging epithets -that he was driven to rebel. He and his associates determined -to assassinate Caligula when he attended the Palatine -games in the later part of January. A large wooden theatre -had been erected for the occasion, and Caligula presided -with delight at the repulsive spectacles. Such was the -popular enthusiasm that the conspirators surrounded -Caligula day after day without daring to touch him. His -German guard, insensible to the grievances of the Romans, -would at once and blindly oppose a rising, and the people -seemed to have forgotten his tyranny in the blood-reeking -show he had provided for them.</p> - -<p>They came to the fifth and final day of the games. -Caligula was unwell, and wished to remain in the palace, -but he was persuaded to make an effort to attend the final -performance. Before a vast audience the actors represented -the crucifixion of a band of robbers, and the stage was -washed with blood. The chief actor of the time had a trick<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -of pouring blood from his mouth, and the other actors -clumsily imitated him. When it was over, Caligula, elated -with the wild applause of the citizens, entered the narrow -passage which led from the theatre to his house on the -Palatine. The conspirators seized their last chance, and -fell upon the Emperor with their swords. Within a few -hours Rome so far changed that it was the turn of the -partisans of Caligula to tremble. His body was removed -and stealthily buried by Herod Agrippa.</p> - -<p>Cæsonia seems to have remained in, or preceded Caligula -to, the palace, with her little daughter. There the cries of -the guard and the noisy confusion in the palace would soon -announce the disaster to her. She had no time to escape, -or devise any policy. A centurion rushed to her room -and stabbed her to death. Her infant was roughly seized -by a soldier, and its brain was shattered on the walls of the -palace, where the brief infamies of its father and mother -had degraded the civilization of Rome.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IV" class="vspace">CHAPTER IV<br /> - -<span class="subhead">VALERIA MESSALINA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> fall of Cæsonia was hardly less romantic than -the succession to her position of the woman who is -known to every reader of Roman history, and to -many others, as Messalina. When Caligula entered the -narrow passage leading to the Palatine, after the performance -in the theatre, a few members of his suite walked -before him. One of these was his uncle Claudius, a slow-witted -and despised man, in his fiftieth year, whom Caligula -had rescued from humiliation and put in office. He had -already entered the palace when the raucous cries of the -German guard and the flash of weapons informed him of -the assassination of the Emperor. The guards were cutting -down such of the conspirators as they could reach. In -instinctive terror Claudius hid behind a curtain, nor was he -reassured when he saw the soldiers pass with the heads -of the nobles they had slain. Presently a soldier of the -Prætorian Guard noticed his feet below the curtain, and -drew him out. Claudius fell to the ground in terror, and -implored them to spare his life. The soldiers had recognized -him, however. They put him in a litter, and carried -him on their shoulders to the camp. Citizens whom they -passed in the street pitied the harmless and, as was generally -believed, half-witted prince. At last some one learned, or -divined, the purpose of the guards, and Claudius awoke -from his terror to hear the strange cry of “Salve, Imperator,” -and realized that he was to be made Emperor -of Rome.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -He had been married three years before to Valeria -Messalina, who thus became the fifth Empress. As the -youngest son of Drusus, brother of Tiberius, and Antonia, -daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia, he was the natural -heir to Caligula. The Imperial power was in no sense -hereditary, but the attachment of the Prætorian Guards to -the ruling family, and their irresistible domination over -Rome, for some time ensured a kind of hereditary -succession. There had, however, been no deliberate -proposal to put Claudius on the throne. While the -future of the Empire was being determined by the rough -mercenaries in the Prætorian camp, where Claudius -promised a substantial largess for his elevation, the -Senate was actually discussing the question of restoring -the Republic. Somewhat deformed in person, clumsy in -gait and corpulent, stuttering in speech, deficient at least -in the power of expression, Claudius had always been -regarded as a negligible offshoot of the Julian stock. His -mother had spoken of him as “a little monster,” Octavian -had genially treated him as half-witted, and, when -he arrived at early manhood, Tiberius had refused to give -him any rank or office. Caligula, however, had given him -consular rank, and promoted him in the palace, though he -treated his uncle with the brutal jocularity which his -mental infirmity was held to justify.</p> - -<p>We shall see that this treatment was far from just, for -Claudius had some excellent qualities; but the disdain of -his family threw him upon the society of his servants, and -led him to seek consolation in the pleasures of the table -and the dice-board. He had in early youth been betrothed -to a daughter of Julia. This contract was dissolved when -Julia’s vices were discovered, and he was married to a -young lady of distinguished and wealthy family, Livia -Medullina Camilla. She died on the wedding-day, and he -married Plautia Urgulanilla, a daughter of the Empress -Livia’s intimate friend, Urgulania. Suspecting, after a few -years, that her friendship with his emancipated-slave -friends was warmer than he intended, he divorced her,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -and married Ælia Pætina, who in turn was shortly -divorced.</p> - -<p>In the year 38 he married the notorious Valeria -Messalina, whose name conveys to every student of history -or morals a summary impression of the worst features of -the early Empire. The spirit of our time is so resolutely -bent on visiting the sins of the children on their fathers—so -determined to seek the secret of character in heredity—that -the older biographical practice of drawing out -genealogies cannot be entirely abandoned; though one -may wonder whether the tainted atmosphere of Rome may -not have been more deadly than a tainted stock. It is -enough to say that both her parents were of the Julian -family, and were first cousins of Claudius. Her father, -Valerius Messala Barbatus, was a Senator of distinction. -He is known to us as the Senator who, in the old Roman -spirit, made a futile effort to restrain women from invading -public life and the camp. Her mother has a less reputable -record. We shall see that she eventually falls under a -charge of conspiracy and magic; but we may find that her -more serious offence was an intense hatred of the Empress -Agrippina, who brought the charge against her.</p> - -<p>Messalina, as we may now briefly call her—with a -passing protest against that uncouth expression, “the -Messaline”—was in her sixteenth year at the time of her -marriage. An indulgent imagination will be able to -appreciate the dangerous situation of the young girl. -Entering, in her teens, a world of the most seductive -pleasure and the utmost license, with so responsive and -impulsive a nature as she had, she needed the guidance of -a man whom she could at least respect. Instead of this, -she found herself mated to a man of forty-eight years, -whose full paunch and long thin legs and tremulous head -were the jest of the Palatine, and who spent his hours in -the company of Greek freedmen, or in too prolonged an -enjoyment of rich dishes and costly wines. Claudius, it is -true, adored her, but his adoration only made him the surer -dupe of her craving for indulgence. Her misconduct<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -probably began early. When, after the evening meal, she -left her spouse intoxicated and snoring over the emptied -dishes, when his throat had been tickled with a feather, -so that he might disgorge and return to the Imperial -dainties, the young girl would naturally yield to the -counsels of the unscrupulous courtiers who abounded in -such a palace.</p> - -<p>The path to the abyss was made smoother for her by -her husband’s reliance on his freedmen. In the later years -of the Republic, when the dominion of Rome was extended -over the East, the practice had grown of employing the -more accomplished slaves of Greece and Syria in the -patrician palaces. Equally expert at keeping accounts or -pandering to vice, they won their emancipation and -acquired large fortunes in the service of their new masters. -They were usually regarded with disdain, but, as we saw, -Claudius had been driven to associate familiarly with them, -and they attained great power when he ascended the -throne. Rome now discovered a new evil in the Imperial -rule it had adopted. All who wished to approach the -Emperor with a petition had to flatter or bribe the freedman -Callistus, to whom this part of Claudius’s duties -was entrusted. His steward of finances, Pallas, his -secretary, Narcissus, and his adviser in letters, Polybius, -stood at one or other avenue of the palace, and exacted -toll of all who approached. Offices were distributed -through their avaricious hands, and it was soon noticed -that they built magnificent villas in the neighbourhood of -Rome. Whether the rumour was true or not, it was -believed in Rome that some of the noblest ladies paid -an ignominious price to these men for the favours they -sought, or were surrendered to them by the Empress. -It is at all events clear that Messalina soon came to an -understanding with them. Both they and she needed to -dupe the purblind Emperor, and it was felt that a friendly -co-operation would be better than a precarious contest for -supremacy.</p> - -<p>Before the end of the first year of Claudius’s reign this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -corrupt collusion began to show its influence. Claudius -had begun well. He set to work at once to redress the -injustice and follies of Caligula. A general amnesty was -granted, the courts of justice were purified, the administration -was opened to the abler provincials, and the public -funds were expended on public works of solid usefulness. -How far the freedmen were responsible for these measures -it is difficult to say, but it seems that we must grant -Claudius, not only good will, but some quality of judgment. -At the same time, there is evidence from the first of some -infirmity of mind. His work as a judge seems to have been -more remarkable for industry than enlightenment. On one -occasion an angry knight (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">eques</i>) threw books at him in the -court-house; on another, during a shortage of corn, the -people pelted him with mouldy crusts in the Forum. -Humane he was, apparently, in those early months, but -he does not seem to have shaken off his earlier repute and -exhibited any personal dignity.</p> - -<p>It was not long before even his humanity was warped -by the malignant persuasions of his wife and the corrupt -connivance of his freedmen. In our age of apologists there -has been some effort to relieve the character of Messalina -from its heavy burden of infamy, or at least to discredit the -evidence adduced for it. I have already said enough about -the Roman authorities to justify one in making some reserve -in regard to the details transmitted to us about -Messalina. When we read Tacitus we have to remember -that he had before him the memoirs of her bitter enemy -and successor, Agrippina. When we read Suetonius and -Dio and later writers we must not forget their love of -vivid colours and romantic details. Yet these writers had -in their time official records, and something like public -journals, belonging to the earlier period, which put the -malignant and unscrupulous action of Messalina beyond -question; of the less startling stories of her infidelities we -have proof enough in the remarkable and authentic episode -which will close her career. It cannot reasonably be -doubted that the traditional estimate of the character of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -Messalina is substantially just, though we must use some -discretion in admitting particular statements about her.</p> - -<p>With this reserve we may follow, in fair chronological -order, the career of this young girl of nineteen, who is -dazed by the sudden attainment of Imperial wealth and -power, until, in her twenty-fifth year, her childish efforts -to pierce her bosom with a dagger are ended by the manly -thrust of a soldier’s sword. She had borne a daughter, -Octavia, before the accession of her husband, and she was -far advanced in child-bearing when Caligula was assassinated. -Claudius, unable to believe his good fortune, -expecting daily that some fresh movement would dislodge -him from the throne, kept in the palace with her. A month -after his accession she bore a son, Tiberius Claudius -Germanicus (later known as Britannicus), and Claudius -ventured out, to exhibit his heir to the people and express -his joy. He never entirely lost his fear. Soldiers served -him at table, and all who approached him were searched. -But his clement and comparatively enlightened rule won -him some popularity, his gluttony and weak wit were -genially overlooked, and he gave promise of a prosperous -reign.</p> - -<p>The first indication of the evil of his feeble dependence -on Messalina and the freedmen occurred before the end -of the year 41. Claudius had recalled from exile Caligula’s -sisters, Julia Livilla and Agrippina, and restored their -property. Agrippina, whose character and career will -occupy the next chapter, was in her twenty-fifth year, -Livilla in her twenty-third. Both had the beauty of the -Julian women in its ripest development. Agrippina -quickly realized her situation and discreetly concealed -her ambition, but the younger woman was too proud to -be diplomatic, and she was suspected of an ambition which -she possibly did not entertain. Messalina became jealous, -and denounced her to Claudius for adultery. Claudius -was persuaded that an open trial would entail scandal on -the Imperial family, and the unfortunate woman was exiled -without the chance of defence. She was starved to death<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -in her prison shortly afterwards, and, when the further -course of this story has been read, one will hardly hesitate -to accept the assurance of the chroniclers that this grave -crime was committed by the orders of Messalina.</p> - -<p>That the charge against Livilla was malignant cannot -be doubted when we learn that her lover was said to be -the famous Stoic moralist, Seneca. The disease of Rome -had already evoked a natural remedy. The austere code -of morals which Zeno had formulated some centuries -earlier in the marble colonnade at Athens was now -adopted by the best of the Romans. Pointing to the -enfeeblement and degradation which this epidemic of -Eastern vice and luxury had brought on their city, the -philosophers argued that the curb must be placed once -more on sensual impulse, and the old virility of Rome -restored. Seneca was the most distinguished representative -of this growing school at Rome, and, ambiguous -or even reprehensible as his conduct may seem to us at -a later stage, we should in this case prefer to attribute -his punishment to the known vice of Messalina rather -than to a frailty on his part of which we have no indication. -The wise and just counsel that he gave to Claudius -was probably distasteful to Messalina and the freedmen. -Without trial or defence he was banished to Corsica. It -is sometimes said that, as Seneca nowhere impeaches the -virtue of Messalina, we may distrust the charge of vice -against her which we find in all the later chroniclers; -but Seneca also fails to refer to her greater and quite -indisputable misdeeds, so that the omission has no significance. -Seneca remained in exile six years, and had no -more personal knowledge than Suetonius of the debauches -of Messalina.</p> - -<p>Her first success emboldened the Empress. Within a -few months she selected another lady, Julia, the daughter -of Drusus, and denounced her to Claudius. Such virtue -or discernment as Claudius may have possessed was now -attenuated by the sensual excesses in which his wife and -his ministers encouraged him to indulge, and his humanity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -was contaminated by the passion for gladiatorial displays -which he gradually contracted. We must not too hastily -admit the lowest estimate of his powers. If Octavian -could be so long and so easily duped by Julia, we may -admit that Claudius’s ignorance was consistent with some -measure of good sense, which he still displayed in provincial -administration and the accomplishment of public -works. But from the end of the first year of his reign -he lends himself so basely and ignobly to the schemes -of Messalina that it is impossible to defend him. No -sooner did his wife accuse Julia than she was banished, -without trial, and it is easy to believe that her speedy -death at the hands of the centurion in charge of her was -due to the orders of Messalina. It was said that Julia -had excited the Empress’s suspicions by too tender a -regard for Claudius.</p> - -<p>The more prudent Agrippina now sought the protection -of a husband. She is said to have chosen the future -Emperor, Sulpicius Galba, and urged him to divorce his -ailing wife; but the wife’s mother took her part, and -ended the intrigue by boxing Agrippina’s ears in public. -The wife died soon afterwards, but Galba feared the -resentment of Messalina too much to wed Agrippina. -She then induced Crispus Passienus, a wealthy and distinguished -noble and a famous orator, to divorce his wife -and marry her. She had inherited a moderate fortune -from an earlier husband—the father of her son, the future -Emperor Nero—and the great wealth and distinction of -Passienus put her in a much stronger position. Passienus -died soon afterwards, leaving his fortune to Agrippina -and Nero. How the fortune was used for the advancement -of mother and son, and how Agrippina was -eventually murdered by her son, will be told in the next -chapter. Serviez repeats without hesitation a rumour, -lightly reproduced in one of the chronicles, that she -murdered Passienus to secure the wealth. The charge -is of the most frivolous character. Her husband had -afforded her some protection: a fortune without a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -husband would rather attract than divert the passion -of Messalina.</p> - -<p>The year 42 was marked by a conspiracy that unhappily -disposed Claudius more than ever to confide in -Messalina and the freedmen. The troops in Dalmatia -were to be employed in the dethronement of Claudius. -At the last moment, however, the soldiers were startled -by so many and such undeniable signs of the anger -of the gods that they returned to their loyalty and -slew their officers. The standards could not be dragged -out of the ground—a not unnatural event, one would -think, in a Dalmatian winter—and the wreaths had fallen -from the eagles.</p> - -<p>The plot was reported to the palace, and Messalina -and the freedmen drew up long lists of men whom it was -desirable to remove or despoil. Wealthier men redeemed -their lives by paying considerable sums; others were put -to the torture, or were consigned to prison or the grave. -A story is told in the record of this persecution which -should guard us from admitting the common fallacy that -the older spirit of Rome was quite extinct. A distinguished -patrician heard that his name was on the list -of the condemned. His wife urged him to escape the -ignominy of a public execution by ending his own life, -and, when he hesitated, she buried the dagger in her own -bosom, and then handed it to him with the words, worthy -of a Corneille: “It does not hurt.” Another victim was -Appius Silanus, who had married Messalina’s mother, -Domitia Lepida. The chroniclers say that his crime was -to have rejected the advances which Messalina made to -him. Whatever the motive was, she induced the freedman -Narcissus to tell Claudius that he saw, in a dream, -Silanus thrusting a dagger into the Emperor’s heart. -Claudius nervously consulted his wife, who confessed, -with artistic horror, that the same dream had frequently -tormented her. They had meantime summoned Silanus -to the palace, and, as he entered at that moment, the -Emperor ordered him to be executed at once.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -Such are a few of the dark crimes attributed to Messalina -that we cannot seriously question, and that fully -prepare us to believe the less inhuman misdeeds which it -might otherwise be possible to doubt. In the following -year (<span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span> 43) Claudius went to Britain, leaving his Empress -at Rome. It seems to have been at this time that, unless -we are arbitrarily to set aside one group of charges in -the records and admit another, Messalina indulged in the -practices which have secured for her an unenviable -immortality. The perfectly authentic sequel of the story -will show that she had so extraordinary a disregard for -even the pretence of moral feeling that the statements of -the chroniclers cannot for a moment be set down as improbable. -In a word, Messalina surpassed Caligula both -in her own misconduct and in the propagation of vice. -Envying the trade of the lowest women of Rome, she had -one of the rooms at the palace equipped on the model of -the chambers of the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">meretrices</i> in the tenements of the -Subura, put over the door the name of one of the most -notorious women of that caste, Lycisca, and offered the -lascivious embrace of an Empress to any who cared to pay -the price for which she stipulated. Others place the scene -in an actual brothel. Not content with her own abasement, -she compelled the most distinguished ladies of Rome to -follow her example. She bestowed the honours and offices, -which Claudius left at her disposal, on the husbands who -would complacently witness the defilement of their wives, -and offered the alternative of her deadly lists to those who -refused. Uncertain as we must always be whether these -statements are not mere exaggerations of her conduct in the -popular mind of the time, they are consistent enough with -the accredited facts of her career.</p> - -<p>In the year 44 Claudius returned with joy to what he -still regarded as the chaste and tender arms of his young -Empress. So lively was his esteem of her virtue that he -obtained from the Senate permission for her to ride in -the ceremonious car (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">carpentum</i>), an honour which was -restricted to the priestly rank and rigorously forbidden to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -women. He granted her, also, the signal distinction of -riding in his chariot on the day of his triumphal procession. -The ease with which she duped him led her to fresh -excesses. It is said that when she saw his wine-soaked -body laid to bed at night, she placed one of her maids with -him, and went with the companions of her debauches. If -we may believe a story which has no inherent improbability, -and has some confirmation later, she made the -blind Emperor himself purvey to her vices. She one day -complained to Claudius that the popular actor, Mnester, -would not obey her when she commanded him to leave the -stage and enter her private service. Claudius forced him -to do so; and three years later, when Messalina’s conduct -was exposed, Mnester exhibited to the Emperor the scars -on his body which gave proof of Messalina’s brutal -familiarity. Even when she used the bronze coinage of -Caligula, which had been withdrawn from circulation, to -make a statue to Mnester, Claudius suspected nothing.</p> - -<p>This licentious conduct continued until the year 47. -Messalina was only in her twenty-fifth year when her long -impunity led her to take the step which ruined her. A -bust of her that is preserved at Florence, and a cameo at -Vienna, give a representation of her that we have no -inclination to distrust. The curly golden-yellow hair—Juvenal -tells us its colour—is elaborately dressed over the -low forehead, and the large deep-set eyes are abnormally -close. There is some irregularity in the undeniable beauty -of the face; and the thin lips and small mouth, drooping -weakly at the corners, would irresistibly suggest a record -of adventure, if such a story were not assigned to her in -the chronicles of the time. With that record before us it -is, no doubt, easy for physiognomists to detect a moral -distortion in the features, and to discover unknown, as -well as verify the known, vices of the Empress in the -truthful marble. Yet any thoughtful observer will be -disposed to see in those pitiless lineaments a revelation -of the truth about Messalina and her race. It is a picture -of strength worn to decay by reiterated storms of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -passion, of beauty fading with the disease which foreruns -death.</p> - -<div id="ip_71" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 27em;"> - <img src="images/i_070.jpg" width="426" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>MESSALINA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE UFFIZI PALACE, FLORENCE</p></div></div> - -<p>One last crime must be added to the record of Messalina -before we come to the crowning folly of her career. There -remained one woman in Rome more beautiful than she; -and one distinguished patrician whose virtue rebuked her, -and whose wealth allured her. She resolved to bury the -two under a common ruin.</p> - -<p>Valerius Asiaticus, a patrician of consular rank and -great merit, had withdrawn from Rome to Crete as the -madness of Messalina and the blindness of Claudius -increased. Unhappily for him, he owned the beautiful -and famous garden which Lucullus had laid out on the -summit of the Pincian Hill, and Messalina was now eager -for it. She employed the tutors of her children to declare -to the Emperor that Asiaticus was at the head of an -important faction at Rome, and had gone to fire the Eastern -provinces with his rebellious spirit. The omens which -were reported from the East seemed to Claudius to make -mere human testimony superfluous. The moon had been -darkened by an eclipse, and a new island had risen from -the Ægæan Sea. The Chaldæan sages interpreted these -signs with their customary art, and Asiaticus was brought -to Rome.</p> - -<p>He listened in disdain to the charge of conspiracy -and adultery which the tutors, Sosibius and Suillius, -brought against him, but, when they proceeded to accuse -him of unnatural vice, he broke into an angry denial of the -whole accusation. Messalina was present at the trial—a -wholly irregular proceeding, in Claudius’s chamber—and -saw that the Emperor was moved. She whispered to -Vitellius, the sycophant who had first discovered Caligula’s -divinity and shaded his eyes from the blaze, that Asiaticus -must on no account escape, and left the room. Vitellius, with -ready wit, fell at the feet of the Emperor. He enlarged at -length on the great merits of the accused, and concluded -with an artful plea that Claudius would grant Asiaticus -the favour of being allowed to take his own life, instead<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -of handing him over to the public executioner. Easily -confused by this stratagem, and fancying that he was -showing some clemency, Claudius assented. Asiaticus, -true to the finest traditions of his fathers, returned to his -palace, bathed and supped in perfect tranquillity, and then -opened his veins. Messalina secured the gardens of -Lucullus.</p> - -<p>The lady with whom Asiaticus is said to have offended -was Poppæa Sabina, the only woman in Rome who surpassed -Messalina in beauty. That would be quite enough -to arouse the jealousy of Messalina, but we are told that -she had the still greater mortification of believing that -Poppæa was too intimate with the actor Mnester, whom -the Empress had appropriated. The daughter of Poppæa -will presently come before our eyes in the gallery of -Roman Empresses, and, if we may infer from her conduct -the nature of her mother’s precepts and example, we cannot -set aside the charge as improbable. There is, however, no -need for us to discuss it. No sooner was Asiaticus condemned -than Messalina sent the news to Poppæa, and she -put an end to her own life. Sosibius received a million -sesterces, in the form of a special reward for his service in -instructing the young princes; and other ministers to the -cruelty, avarice, and passion of the Empress were richly -endowed.</p> - -<p>Messalina now ventured upon so flagrant a violation, -not merely of decency, but of the moderate discretion that -had hitherto concealed her conduct from her husband, that -her career of infamy was brought to a violent close. She -had for some time entertained and indulged a passion for -Caius Silius, one of the most handsome men among the -Roman nobility. Tacitus assures us that there was no -secrecy in the amour. She persuaded Silius to divorce his -wife, visited his house with a large retinue, and made him -repeated gifts of slaves and other property belonging to -the Imperial house. An obscure passage in Tacitus seems -to imply that her impatience of all laws led her to form the -design of marrying Silius while married to Claudius, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -the details of what immediately followed have come down -to us in contradictory versions. It is said by some that -Silius proposed to her to remove Claudius and share the -throne with him, and that she hesitated only from fear -that Silius might divorce her as soon as he had secured the -purple. Other writers say that the phœnix appeared in -Egypt, as it had done before the death of Tiberius, and that -the nervous Emperor was further told of a prediction that the -husband of Messalina would die before the end of the year. -In order to cheat this decree of the fates, Suetonius says, -Claudius signed the divorce of Messalina, and went down -to the coast, leaving her free to marry Silius. He intended -to return and recover her as soon as Silius had fulfilled the -prophecy by dying.</p> - -<p>It is clear that a good deal of legend has mingled with -the true account of the events which led to Messalina’s -downfall, and one can merely try to construct a plausible -story out of the discordant versions. Tacitus, the highest -authority, knows nothing of the prophecy, or the divorce -which it is said to have occasioned. His silence is not -conclusive, and the course attributed to Claudius, however -extravagant it may seem, is not inconsistent with his -abnormally timorous nature. On the whole, however, one -is disposed to agree with Merivale, that Claudius heard of -no prophecy, signed no divorce, and knew nothing of the -liaison until a later stage, as Dio implies. But Merivale -is plainly wrong in suggesting that the marriage of -Messalina and Silius is a libellous legend borrowed from -Agrippina’s memoirs. When he submits that such a -marriage could not have taken place without the Emperor’s -knowledge, he forgets that, as all the authorities state or -imply, Claudius had left Rome and gone down to the -coast. The Emperor returned to the city as soon as he -heard of the marriage.</p> - -<p>The real course of events seems to be that Claudius -was vaguely informed of the existence of a conspiracy -against him. He complained bitterly to the Senate, confined -himself for some time to the palace, and then, in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -October, went to Ostia to inspect certain public works -which were in progress there. Delighted at his removal, -Messalina went through the form of marriage—the laxer, -not the more solemn, form (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">confarreatio</i>)—with Silius, and -cast aside the last shade of reserve. Base as her nature -was, she must have been weary of the nightly spectacle -of the repulsive old man sinking back in satiety on his -couch, while slaves tickled his throat with a feather to -induce a vomit. Silius was young, handsome, and not -without wit. A better future seemed to open before her. -Perhaps the slow-witted Emperor would make no struggle -for his throne; perhaps the city and the guards would -gladly sacrifice him for this handsome young Imperial pair. -There is calculation in the carven face of Messalina. But -the news was speeding to Ostia, and the dreadful end -was near.</p> - -<p>Shortly after the marriage came the festival of the -vintage, the Bacchanalia, which was celebrated by the bride -and bridegroom and their friends with the wildest merriment. -That last scene in the licentious career of Messalina -must have made a deep impression on the feeling of Rome, -and it is lit up for ever by one of Tacitus’s most vivid -flashes of description. Messalina had bestowed on Silius -the Imperial palace and its contents, and in the garden of -the palace they paid full honour to the orgiastic cult of -Bacchus. Wine-presses were set up, and the women -of Messalina’s company, their white limbs and bosoms -scantily covered with strips of fawn skin, sang and danced -the Bacchic dance round the large vats of grape-juice. -Messalina, her golden hair flowing loose under her ivy -wreath, shook her thyrsus and led the wild dance. Silius -lay at her feet, crowned with ivy, nodding his head to the air -of the lascivious chorus. Wine flowed freely on that autumn -afternoon, and the gay world and distant Ostia were forgotten; -or so little heeded that when Vettius Valens, one -of Messalina’s discarded lovers, had, in boyish exuberance, -climbed a high tree, and they crowded round and asked -what he saw, he gaily cried: “A hurricane from Ostia.”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -But before the evening was out the hurricane came from -Ostia and scattered the revellers in terror. News was -brought to the garden that Claudius was hurrying to Rome -to avenge his dishonour.</p> - -<p>The freedman Narcissus had disliked the idea of Silius -obtaining power, especially as Messalina had recently -taken the ominous step of securing the execution of his -colleague Polybius. In the suite of Claudius at Ostia -were two female attendants, to describe them courteously, -Calpurnia and Cleopatra, who were taken into counsel by -Narcissus, and learned their parts in his scheme. Calpurnia -flung herself at the feet of the Emperor, crying, -“Messalina is married to Silius.” Cleopatra and Narcissus -were summoned by the Emperor, and they assured him -that his life was in danger, and he must hasten to Rome. -Other advisers, who had been trained to their part by -Narcissus, were drawn into the group, and the dazed and -vacillating Claudius yielded to their guidance. He was -at once placed in his chariot, and Vitellius and Narcissus -rode with him. Claudius feebly discussed the news as -they travelled, and Vitellius, not sure which party would -triumph, remained silent; but the freedman assiduously -fed the slow-kindling anger of the Emperor.</p> - -<p>Silius had fled from the Bacchanalian garden to the -Forum, and tried to conceal his part by a zealous absorption -in business. Messalina saw all the companions of -her revels fly for safety, and leave her to face the storm -alone in the palace-garden. From the disordered relics -of the feast she hurried to her Lucullan gardens on the -Pincian. There her courage seems to have revived, and -she determined to make an effort to disarm her husband. -Directing the head of the Vestal Virgins to follow with -her children, she went out upon the road which entered -Rome from Ostia. The news had now spread over Rome. -With three companions only out of the gay throng of -her followers, and Vibidia, the Vestal Virgin, whose person -was sacred, she braved the pitiless gaze of the citizens, -who had so long seen her chariot flash by in triumph, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -walked on foot to the gate of the city. There her strength -failed, and she was forced to mount the common cart of -a gardener. When they had covered a short distance -from the gates, they saw the Emperor’s chariot approaching, -and she dismounted. Whether from real affection -for her, or from an indolent dislike of trouble, Claudius -hesitated once more when the piteous figure of his young -wife appeared in his path; but Narcissus reminded him -of her marriage, and ordered the charioteer to drive on. -Her last despairing appeal was unheeded. The chariot -galloped on, and left her standing on the road. A little -further on the Vestal Virgin, relying on her high position, -demanded that Claudius should grant his wife an opportunity -of defending herself, and thrust his children before -him. The sight of his beloved Octavia and Britannicus -again moved the wavering Emperor. Narcissus bade the -charioteer drive onward, and Messalina slowly turned to -meet her fate in Rome.</p> - -<p>In order to dispel the last shade of tenderness from -the Emperor’s mind, Narcissus conducted him first to the -house of Silius, and showed him the treasures of the -Imperial palace which Messalina had showered on her -lover. He then led him to the camp of the Prætorian -Guards, and induced him to make a speech to the soldiers. -The feeble spirit of the Emperor was cowed by the full -revelation of Messalina’s perfidy. Now completely docile -to the masterful freedman, he took his place at the tribunal, -and passed sentence of death, which was at once -carried out, on Silius, Mnester, Vettius Valens, and all -Messalina’s accomplices. Mnester vainly stripped off his -robe, to show that he had received from the Empress -rather the imprint of her anger than the embraces of -which he was accused. The Emperor signed the doom -of all, and returned wearily to the palace. Restored by -food and wine, he began to resist the dictation of Narcissus, -and ordered him to inform Messalina that he would -hear her on the morrow. The freedman knew that a -delay would ruin his design. He left the room, and told<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -the guard that the Emperor had commanded the immediate -execution of his wife.</p> - -<p>Messalina had returned to her garden on the Pincian, -where she was joined by her mother. Night had come -on, and they sat in an arbour debating the mad brilliance -of the past and the terrible gloom of the future. Domitia -Lepida felt that there was no hope of recovering the favour -of Claudius, and urged her daughter to end her life as -Roman tradition prescribed. Strong only in her clinging -to life, like most of the other frail women of the Julian -house, Messalina fell at her mother’s feet and sobbed. -Presently the stillness of the deserted garden was broken -by the tramp of soldiers and a summons at the gate. Still -Messalina shrank from the eternal darkness which she -had so suddenly confronted. Only when the officer of -the guard told her the order that Narcissus had given -him, and the freedman who had come with the guard -began insolently to revile her for her crimes, did she take -the dagger from her mother’s hands. In the light of the -single lamp of the arbour the little group looked on with -pity and disdain, as the nerveless hands of Messalina -lacerated her white bosom with futile gashes. Then the -tribune mercifully drove his sword through her heart. -Her children came up, and found their mother’s lifeless -body in a pool of blood.</p> - -<p>This authentic closing of the career of Messalina must -dispose us to think that there may be little or no exaggeration -in the stories that are told of her. Stahr, in his -brilliant apologetic study of the Empresses, ventures to say -that Seneca did not reproduce these stories about Messalina -because he knew that they came from the pen of an -embittered libeller; and it is safe to assume that Tacitus -did derive much of his material from the memoirs of the -woman who had shrunk from the vindictive cruelty of -Messalina, and came in time to replace her. But so much -crime is authoritatively laid to the account of the Empress, -and her last adventure reveals so shameless a disregard of -either law or decency, that not a single detail is incredible<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -or improbable. We shall find such excesses ascribed to -later Emperors, by writers who were not merely recording -rumours that may have gathered volume during decades -of passage from mouth to mouth, that nothing can be -deemed impossible to a Messalina. The humane biographer -can but plead that she entered a world of the most dazzling -allurement of vice and crime with a nature already tainted -and distorted by the sins of her fathers, and that the horror -of that last scene in the gardens of Lucullus may be left -as a merciful shroud over her unhappy memory.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_V" class="vspace">CHAPTER V<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE MOTHER OF NERO</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Tacitus</span> has given us a spirited picture of life in the -Imperial palace during the months which followed -the execution of Messalina. Claudius himself had -sunk into a state of drowsy indifference when the storm -excited by his discovery had spent itself. “Where is the -Empress?” he asked, as he sat at supper the night after -her death, and noticed the empty place on the couch. -Narcissus told him that she was dead, and he asked no -more. But the palace about his slumbering figure soon -began to hum with conflicting intrigues for the succession -to her chamber. Ladies who had visited the Palatine with -nervous prudence while Messalina lived now came to display -their charms, and express their tenderness, to the -doting Emperor. From the sombre night of the tragedy -Rome passed with relief to the light enjoyment of the new -comedy. The freedmen, who surrounded and controlled -Claudius, selected their candidates.</p> - -<p>Claudius had inserted one sentiment of his own in the -speech which Narcissus had induced him to make to the -Prætorian Guards. He had sworn that he would not -marry again. There were ladies in his household, such as -Calpurnia and Cleopatra, who would encourage the resolution; -but the freedmen decided that he was bound to -capitulate under so fair a siege, and it would be better -to have some share in the making of the new Empress. -Each of the Greeks chose a different lady. Narcissus, who -had been promoted to high public service for his zeal,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -favoured the suit of Ælia Pætina, whom Claudius had -lightly divorced twenty-one years before. Callistus took -up the cause of Lollia Paulina, the wealthy and beautiful -woman whom Caligula had torn from her husband and -used so unjustly. The steward, Pallas, was more fortunate -in his choice. He advocated marriage with Agrippina; -and, as the mind of Agrippina coincided more decisively -with that of her champion than seems to have happened -in the case of her rivals, his campaign succeeded. She -discovered a most tender and considerate affection for -her uncle, visited him assiduously, and persuaded him to -betroth his daughter Octavia to her son Lucius Domitius -(later Nero).</p> - -<p>Octavia was already betrothed, and Agrippina is said -to have removed the first obstacle to her designs by a cruel -and unscrupulous act. We are told that she induced, -and it is at least clear that she permitted, the sycophantic -courtier Vitellius, who favoured her suit, to accuse the -young man, to whom Octavia was betrothed, of incest -with his daughter-in-law. Tacitus has so mean an estimate -of the young people and their generation that he does -not regard the charge as a serious libel. He insists, -however, that Agrippina had the case against them forged, -and thus opened her dark Imperial career with a crime.</p> - -<p>We are now approaching the generation in which the -great historian lived, and we are considering the very -woman whose memoirs furnished him with his more -serious charges against her rivals and predecessors. It -may therefore seem strange that, if we are to follow our -authorities with docility, we must ascribe a very vicious -and unscrupulous character to Agrippina herself. We have -rejected the rumour that she poisoned her second husband, -but that is by no means the only charge that is brought -against her before she married Claudius. The authorities -uniformly assert that she had had incestuous relations -with Caligula in her early teens, had been notorious for her -amours during the life of Messalina, and now very flagrantly -placed such honour as she had at the disposal of Claudius.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -These charges we cannot control. We shall find even -more serious accusations against her later, and shall have -to regard them with reserve or frank incredulity. It -was the literary fashion to make a consort of the Cæsars -imperial in her vices. On the whole, however, we are -compelled to think that the eldest daughter of Agrippina -and Germanicus had the taint of her stock. She inherited -the virile ambition of her mother, and she had even less -scruple in pursuing it. The best that can be said for her -is that she aimed rather at making the future of her son -than her own. And when that son proves to be the -Emperor Nero, the murderer of his mother, we are disposed -to read her record with the lenient eye of pity.</p> - -<p>When the elder Agrippina had been banished by -Tiberius, as we saw, in the year 12 <span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span>, her children -were brought up in the house of their grandmother -Antonia. In this plain home of old Roman virtue -Caligula is said to have infected and corrupted all his -sisters. Agrippina left it, in her thirteenth year, to -marry Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus. As the authorities -are sharply divided in regard to his character, we cannot -trace his influence in the development of her character. -He died in the year 40, leaving her with a three-year-old -boy, Lucius Domitius. Agrippina was still a young and -beautiful woman, and is said to have availed herself of -the loose morals of Roman society until, as we saw, the -attitude of Messalina forced her to marry. She was soon -a widow for the second time, with considerable wealth. Her -ambition revived at the death of Messalina, and she paid -the most winning and flagrant attentions to Claudius. We -should go beyond the letter of the chronicles if we suggested -that she bribed Vitellius and Pallas to promote her -suit. It is enough to say that they overcame the reluctance -of Claudius, and they profited materially by her accession -to the throne.</p> - -<p>Claudius professed that he had a scruple about marrying -his niece, and proposed to adopt her as his daughter. -That empty honour was hardly recompense enough for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -the daily contemplation of his senility and sensuality. -Vitellius induced him to submit his delicate feeling to -the Senate and the people, and then artfully represented -to the Senators that, if Claudius married Agrippina, she -might rid them of the hated influence of the freedmen. -Tacitus, whose disdain for the obsequious Senate of the -early Empire always aggravates his comments on their -conduct, describes how they raced each other to the palace -to inform Claudius of their decision, and how the people -not improbably incited by Vitellius, assembled below the -Palatine Hill and clamoured for the marriage. The obtuse -and weak-willed Claudius assented, and a few days later, -in the year 49, Agrippina became the sixth Empress of -Rome. Little did she dream that she was entering upon -the last decade of her eventful life, and that it would close -with the most ghastly horror.</p> - -<p>She was in her thirty-third year, Claudius in his fifty-eighth. -Years of sensual indulgence had not improved -his character or his intelligence, and no one in Rome -can have expected him to live more than the few years -which remained for him. Agrippina was looking to the -time when she would be sole mistress of the Empire. -The fine statue of her which is exhibited in the Lateran -Museum has a moral physiognomy so concordant with -the authentic record of her career that we picture her -to ourselves with confidence. In face and figure she is -all that the word imperial suggests to the imagination. -Haughty, strong, and reposeful in her self-reliance, she -has lost the last shade of apprehension with the passing of -Messalina, and has the majestic air of a mistress of the -world. Her low brow and large, finely-carved oval face -are said by some physiognomists to have every mark -of purity and refinement, but the close observer will discover -in her features only such a refinement of passion -as her ambition would lead us to expect. In a word, it -is the face of a woman who will not stoop to vice or crime -to gratify a sensual impulse, but may have recourse to -either when her ambition lends it a certain expediency.</p> - -<div id="ip_82" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29em;"> - <img src="images/i_082.jpg" width="451" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>AGRIPPINA THE YOUNGER</p> - -<p>BUST, MUS. NAZ., NAPLES</p></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -The career of Agrippina shows that she really was a -moral opportunist of this character. We need not pass -any censure on her ambition. Unhappy would be the -State in which men and women were not at times fired -by the impulse to exert their powers more energetically -than their fellows. But it is impossible to ignore the -persistent and harmonious statements of the Latin historians -in regard to the way in which Agrippina pursued her -ambition. We may overlook the amorous adventures of -her earlier years; we may reject, as a light and implausible -rumour, eagerly caught up by prurient diarists, the charge -that she made any dishonourable advances to Claudius -before her marriage, or to the steward Pallas or her son -Nero at later dates; and we may hesitate to admit that she -was concerned in the murder of Claudius. But we cannot -find any other motive than a not too nice ambition in her -marrying the aged and repulsive Emperor, and we have -strong reason to suspect her of conduct that is little short -of criminal in many of the events that follow.</p> - -<p>The most formidable of her rivals for the throne had -been Lollia Paulina. Beautiful, wealthy, and popular, the -former wife of Caligula seemed to threaten Agrippina’s -security. In their eagerness to avoid the rock of hereditary -power the Romans had steered their vessel into the -Charybdis of intrigue, and any prominent man or woman -was regarded with concern by the one who wore the -purple, or aspired to wear it. Agrippina had a strong and -legitimate hope, but no guarantee, that her son would -succeed. Messalina’s son, young Britannicus, was ailing -and epileptic, and was generally ignored in the speculations -as to the succession. It was, therefore, quite natural that -Roman gossip should accuse Agrippina of destroying -Paulina, and Tacitus is not less generous in recording the -charges against her than in admitting her slanders against -Livia. He affirms positively that it was the Empress who -persuaded Claudius to have Paulina prosecuted on the -charge of consulting oracles and astrologers as to the -duration of his marriage, and that, when her property was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -confiscated and she was sent into exile, Agrippina sent a -soldier to compel her to commit suicide. Dio, as usual, -improves upon the narrative. He describes Agrippina -gloating over the bleeding head of her rival, as Fulvia had -rejoiced over the head of Cicero, and opening the mouth -to see certain peculiarities of the teeth by which it might -be identified.</p> - -<p>The fatal defect of Dio’s more vivid account is that, as -we know from Pliny, the double canine teeth, of which he -speaks, belonged to Agrippina herself, not to Paulina, and -were regarded as a sure presage of good fortune. The -substance of the story, however, we cannot lightly reject. -A beautiful and happy woman was driven to death for no -graver cause than, at the most, an idle patronage of the -Oriental charlatans who then abounded in Rome; and, since -this consultation of oracles was common, there must have -been a special reason for the selection of Paulina. The -motive suggested by Tacitus is only too probable. He -adds that Agrippina also banished a lady named Calpurnia. -If we may identify this lady with the Calpurnia whose -services to Claudius were so amiable as to embolden her -to disclose to him the crimes of his beloved Messalina, she -would hardly remain long in the palace of Agrippina.</p> - -<p>Apart from such episodes as these, in which jealousy -or avarice led her to make an unworthy use of her power, -she ruled judiciously and serviceably. Claudius was in his -sixtieth year. His poor mind was in complete decay, and -it was both fitting and useful that Agrippina should rule -in his name. The coinage of the time bears witness of her -activity. There is, in fact, a living memorial of her rule -in the city of Cologne, which, under the title of Colonia -Agrippina, she established as an outpost of civilization on -the farthest confines of the Empire. She gave dignity and -etiquette to the easy-going court of Claudius, had the right -to enter the precincts of the Capitol and to ride in the -gilded imperial chariot of ceremony, and, when the famous -British prince Caractacus was brought to Rome, her throne -was raised by the side of that of the Emperor. The older<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> -Roman idea of woman’s sphere was now discredited by -the philosophers and contemptuously ignored by the -women themselves, but the citizens moved slowly, and -there was much discontent and consulting of astrologers. -They were expelled from the city, but in the guarded -chambers of patrician families they continued, in imposing -Chaldæan dress, to scan horoscopes and wave preternatural -wands over their symbolical tripods—much as they do in -Bond Street to-day. The more enlightened reader, who -is disposed to regard the superstition with leniency, must -reflect that the prophets might at times, for the vindication -of their art, be tempted to lend a little human aid when -nature tarried in bringing about the deaths which the -planets had so plainly foretold.</p> - -<p>Within the palace the whole care of Agrippina was -centred in the education of her son for the purple. To the -delight of Rome, she recalled the philosopher Seneca from -exile, and gave him charge of her son’s studies. When -the real character of Nero was revealed in later years, it -was said that Seneca had always disliked his task, and had -even predicted that the boy would become a savage monster. -Seneca himself merely says that the boy was spoiled, and -his training thwarted, by his mother. Nero would fly to -Agrippina when Seneca had made some attempt to check -his wayward impulses, and the whole lesson would be -lost in her injudicious caresses. Apart from this not -unnatural weakness, Agrippina made the most commendable -efforts to prepare her son for the throne. The corrupt -tutor whom Messalina had brought to the palace was -dismissed—Dio says that he was executed for attempting -the life of Lucius Domitius—to make way for the most -distinguished moralist of the time, and the military instruction -was entrusted to Burrus, whose integrity we shall -learn presently. Pallas was rewarded with such honours -as no freedmen had ever borne before, and Vitellius was -rescued from some obscure charge of conspiracy and -restored to his rank.</p> - -<p>Agrippina was now in a position of very great wealth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -and power. She drove about Rome in a superb chariot, -flaunted the stored jewels of the Imperial house, and -received presents from the ends of the earth. A white -nightingale, which had cost 6,000 sesterces, and a talking -thrush were amongst the rare presents sent to conciliate -her. The lingering of Claudius must have been irksome -to her, but it was necessary to secure the succession of -her son before the Emperor died. The one apparent -obstacle was the boy Britannicus, who, as the son of -Claudius and Messalina, had a juster title to be chosen. -He was, however, subject to epileptic fits, delicate in -health, and peevish in temper. Agrippina had little difficulty -in thrusting him aside in favour of her own handsome -and engaging boy. The <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">toga virilis</i>, or garment of the -man, was usually donned by the Roman youth in his -seventeenth year, but the age was anticipated in the case -of princes, and Domitius was to receive it at the end of -the year 50. During the year, however, the convulsions -of nature so plainly portended some momentous event, -probably the passage of Claudius to join his divine forerunners, -that Agrippina pressed for the immediate performance -of the rite. Three suns were seen in the sky, an -earthquake shook the solid earth, and birds of evil omen -rested on the temple. Claudius assented, and manhood -and other high distinctions were prematurely conferred -on the future Emperor, whose name was changed to Nero. -He joined the priestly college, received the authority of -a proconsul, marched at the head of the guards, and drew -the attention of all at the games by the insignia of his -manly dignities, while Britannicus sat in the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">prætexta</i> and -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">bulla</i> of the boy. It was Nero who pleaded in the Senate -for distressed cities, Nero who was made prætor when -Claudius was absent from Rome. In the year 52 he was -married to Octavia, and all Rome regarded him as the -virtual heir to the throne.</p> - -<p>There can be no serious doubt that Agrippina had no -affection for Claudius, and must have waited impatiently -for his removal when the succession was secured for her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -son. Certainly Rome held that view, and interpreted the -events of the succeeding years in accordance with it. -We must therefore be prepared to find much libellous -conjecture in the chronicles about this time. Serviez, who -can never resist the fascination of scandal, gives us a -lively picture of Agrippina stooping to any expedient -course of vice or crime in the furtherance of her ambition. -We may have to tell a less romantic story, but it will be -romantic enough.</p> - -<p>It is clear that the Empress now entered into a conflict -with Narcissus, the freedman who had ruined Messalina, -and had then favoured the suit of Ælia Pætina in opposition -to her own. Her critics suggest that she wished to -remove this faithful servant in order to attempt the life of -the Emperor more easily, but the suggestion is superfluous. -Narcissus had found the rival freedman Pallas raised to -such high honours, and felt that his own service in exposing -Messalina had been so soon forgotten, that he clearly -intrigued against Agrippina. Tacitus says that it was -he who spread the rumour, which reached the ears of -Claudius, that Agrippina was too intimate with Pallas. -We are quite unable to examine the truth or untruth of -this charge, and may dismiss it. Agrippina took an early -occasion to attack and discredit the Greek. In the centre -of the Italian hills was a sheet of water, the Fucine Lake, -which had no regular outlet, and often caused disastrous -floods. Claudius ordered that a channel should be made -to conduct its superfluous water to the river, and celebrated -the opening of it, in the year 52, with a naval battle on -the lake. Three thrones were erected: one for the nodding, -heavy-paunched Emperor, who had somehow been squeezed -into glittering armour, one for Agrippina, in her robes of -gold cloth, and one for Nero.</p> - -<p>The play did not run smoothly, and Agrippina did not -spare Narcissus, who controlled it. The great ships drew -up before the Emperor, and the men who were about to -risk or lose their lives to entertain him rang out the -usual salutation. Forgetting that if he returned the salute<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -he absolved them from their dangerous duty, Claudius -hailed them, and they claimed the right to abstain. The -Emperor is described by Suetonius as running alongside the -lake, angrily urging them to fight. The battle proceeded, -but at the close it was found that the water could not -be released, and Narcissus was bitterly assailed. The -performance was repeated later, when the works were -pronounced complete, but a number of people were -drowned, and the quarrel was renewed with spirit. Agrippina -suggested that the funds for the undertaking had been -diverted; Narcissus foiled the attack with a charge of -ambition against the Empress.</p> - -<p>The Emperor was visibly failing, and there was great -excitement at Rome when, at the beginning of the year 54, -nature announced once more that some stirring chapter -was to run from the reel of the fates. The standards and -tents of the soldiers were enveloped in mysterious flames; -a rain of blood, in which a modern naturalist would doubtless -discover an innocent microbe, spread terror over one -part of the Empire, and the birth of a pig with claws like -those of a hawk caused equal consternation in another; -while Rome heard, with reiterated shocks, that the doors -of the temple of Jupiter had been opened by unseen hands, -and a horrible comet, followed by the customary pestilence, -had appeared in its skies. More significant still to prudent -people, perhaps, was the report that Claudius, returning -to dine at the palace after presiding at the trial of an -adultress, gloomily observed that he had been unfortunate -in his marriages; he had punished one unfaithful wife, and -would know how to deal with another.</p> - -<p>In this observation of Claudius we need see no more -than an echo of the whispers of Narcissus, but one can -imagine how Rome must have throbbed with expectation -and abounded in gossip at the beginning of the year 54. -Nor was this faith in natural oracles disappointed. Two -tragedies were added to the sombre chronicle of the city -in that year, and in both of them our Empress is accused -of having acted criminally.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -The first was the condemnation to death of one of the -greatest ladies of Rome, Domitia Lepida, sister-in-law of -the Empress; and in this case there is every reason to -suspect a guilty action on the part of Agrippina. When -Agrippina had been exiled by Caligula, her boy had lived -for a few years with his father’s sister, Domitia Lepida, -the mother of Messalina. Lepida was far more indulgent -even than Agrippina to the pretty and wayward child, -and, when the mother returned to Rome and he was -restored to her, there was an acrimonious struggle between -the two women for his affection. As it became clear that -he would inherit the purple, the struggle became more -passionate. Narcissus saw in it an opportunity to escape -the ruin which would befall him if Agrippina obtained -full power, and, on the ground of his charge of inconstancy -against the Empress, he urged Claudius to make -Lepida guardian of Nero. It is very probable that this -intrigue of Narcissus is the only source of the charge -of license brought against the Empress in her mature -years.</p> - -<p>Angry and anxious, in view of the expected death of -Claudius, she took a bold step, and impeached Lepida -of criminal conduct. How far Lepida was guilty we cannot -say, but as she was charged only with assailing the -Emperor’s marriage with imprecations, and exercising so -little control over her Calabrian slaves as to endanger -the public peace, the prudent reader will acquit Agrippina -of anything more than an exaggeration of the facts. That -exaggeration sufficed, however, to ruin her distinguished -rival. Nero, schooled by his mother, gave witness that -his aunt had tried to alienate his affection; her very -natural comments on the Emperor’s marriage were made -to assume the dark form of magical imprecations; she -was condemned to death.</p> - -<p>But those lively convulsions of nature had portended -something more momentous than the death of a noble -matron, and Rome continued to wait for the great tragedy. -Before long it was announced that Narcissus had retired<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -to Sinuessa for the treatment of his gout.<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> The Emperor -was now entirely surrounded by adherents of Agrippina, -and we can quite understand the conviction of Rome -when Claudius was taken seriously ill at a banquet, and -died within twenty-four hours. Tacitus emphatically -attributes his death to his wife. Suetonius alone says -that, while it was certain that Claudius was poisoned, it -was not certain who was guilty; a feeble reserve, since -Agrippina was so predominantly interested in his death.</p> - -<p>It is not surprising that recent historians have generally -followed Tacitus. Roergas de Serviez, who rarely has -such ample authority for the crimes he loves to attribute, -fastens the murder on Agrippina without the least hesitation. -Merivale sees no ground to question it, though he -points out several inconsistencies in the pages of Tacitus. -Mr. Henderson follows the traditional story in his recent -and discriminating study of the reign of Nero.<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> But Mr. -Baring-Gould insists that the death of Claudius was quite -natural, and any candid student of the evidence must -admit that it is inconclusive.</p> - -<p>The facts are that on October 12th, <span class="smcap smaller">A.D.</span> 54, Claudius -attended a banquet of the priestly college with Agrippina. -After eating some mushrooms (or figs, according to others) -from a dish that was served, he became violently ill and -vomited. He was taken back to the palace, attended by -his (and Agrippina’s) physician, but gradually sank, and -died on the morning of the 13th. The theory of the -opponents of Agrippina is that she employed a notorious -poisoner, Locusta—a Gaulish woman, who was certainly -in Rome at the time, and was afterwards employed by -Nero—to concoct a slow poison (“a drug that would -disturb his mind and inflict a slow death,” says Tacitus). -This is supposed to have been inserted in a fine mushroom -(or fig), which was taken by Claudius when Agrippina<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -had eaten one from the dish to encourage him. He fell -back and began to vomit, and the theory runs that Agrippina, -fearing that he might recover and suspect her, called -in the physician Xenophon, a dependent of hers, who -tickled the Emperor’s throat with a poisoned feather and -made an end of him.</p> - -<p>Mr. Baring-Gould points out that, since Tacitus expressly -describes the poison as “slow,” Agrippina could -hardly be surprised and alarmed when it did not take -immediate effect. He concludes that Claudius contracted -a violent indigestion from eating too many figs. This is -no more convincing than the opposite theory. An attack -of vomiting, whether from a natural cause or as an unintended -effect of poison, might easily alarm Claudius, -who was very suspicious, and so induce Agrippina to act. -An attack of indigestion, on the other hand, would hardly -have so violent and immediate an effect. The circumstance -of tickling his throat with a feather to cause a vomit, and -at the same time introducing poison, is puzzling; but it -was an age of skill in poisoning, and the feat may have -been possible. The question must remain open. The -discrepancies in the narrative are not fatal to it, but the -story itself is no more than a retailing of Roman gossip, -which was at all times more prurient than scrupulous. -The problem really turns on the character of Agrippina, -and this is ambiguous enough to make us hesitate. One -may scan the record of her career with the most penetrating -charity without discovering any plain indication -of high character, while the ruin of Lollia Paulina, Domitia -Lepida, and others, may be confidently traced to her. We -can only conclude that she was quite capable of accelerating -the death of her husband, and would have no light interest -in doing so; but the circumstances of his death are quite -consistent with the kindlier view that it was due to his -own intemperance. We have not yet, however, reached -the close of her career, and it may be felt that her conduct -after the death of Claudius confirms the darker estimate -of her character.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -The malcontents of Rome would be sure to agitate in -favour of Britannicus unless the succession was secured -for Nero before the death of Claudius was known. The -art with which Agrippina averted this danger may excite -our admiration of her virility and astuteness, but must -inevitably lessen our appreciation of her sensibility. She -announced that Claudius was dangerously ill, and called -an assembly of the Senate. Conscious that the servants -of a palace commonly draw their pay from some one -without, she put guards at every approach to the chamber -of the dead man, and devised and carried out a tragi-comedy -of the most extraordinary character. The clothes -were drawn over the lifeless body, bandages and poultices -were ostentatiously applied to it by her servants, and even -the mimes, who had been wont to dance and ring their -bells and crack their jokes before the Emperor, were -brought in to perpetrate their follies in the chamber of -death. In a neighbouring room Agrippina joined her -conjugal sobs with the laments of the youthful Britannicus. -We are asked to believe, and we have little difficulty -in believing, that while she clung in tears to the -weeping youth, she was merely, with cold calculation, -preventing him from leaving the palace, lest he should -fall in the way of the Guards, or some ambitious partisan, -and be proclaimed Emperor.</p> - -<p>By noon the preparations of her agents were completed. -The gates of the palace were thrown open, and Nero was -sent out, under the care of his military tutor Burrus, the -commander of the Guards. A few voices were heard to -mutter the name of Britannicus, but the cry was feeble, -and the response insignificant. The Guards were long -accustomed to see the superiority of Nero over the -sickly young prince, and their support was secured by -a liberal promise of money. They conducted Nero to -the Senate, and bade that helpless body accept him. -The same evening a courier from Agrippina brought -word to Sinuessa that Nero was Emperor. Narcissus -had lost, and his figure passes from the scene—with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -inevitable rumour that he was imprisoned or poisoned -by Agrippina.</p> - -<p>When the Guards came to Nero that night for the -watchword he gave them “The best of mothers,” and -Agrippina looked confidently from her supreme height -into the future. Within five years her son would put her -to death with horrible brutality, and jeer at her naked -body. No one of the hundreds of thousands who hailed -him with the wildest delight, and smiled at his amiable -irregularities, can have foreseen so rapid and portentous -a degradation. He was then a youth of seventeen, strikingly -handsome both in face and figure, with blue-grey -eyes and light curly hair and finely proportioned limbs. -His tutor in arms pronounced him “a young Apollo.” -But his moral and intellectual trainer had failed as signally -as his physical trainer had succeeded. Seneca had vainly -endeavoured to implant in his mind the germs of the -noble Stoic philosophy. Men have disputed from all time -whether it was the teacher or the doctrine that was at -fault, while the eugenic school of our time would relieve -both from censure, and regard Nero’s mind as an incurably -corrupt soil. One may venture to differ from both, -and wonder if circumstances had not the greater share -in his demoralization. However that may be, his accession -to irresponsible power at such an age, in such surroundings -as we shall discover about him, was a tragedy. -His real advisers were young men, slightly older than -himself, and better versed in the ways of luxury and vice; -and the first use he made of his Imperial power was to -toss aside the treatises of the moralists, and give his -whole attention to art, to chariot-racing, and to dissipation. -What sinister use he made of the later hours, or earlier -hours, of the day, and in what melancholy condition his -girl-wife must have been, we shall see in the next chapter. -Here we have to consider only his relations with his -mother.</p> - -<p>For a few years after Nero’s accession his mother -willingly and profitably ruled in his name. It must not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -be imagined that she had, with the astuteness of a Marie -de’ Medici, educated him in an indifference to politics so -that she might indulge her own ambition. The appointment -of Seneca as his tutor is the most creditable, though -unhappily the most futile, act of her career. When, however, -the young Emperor refused to be interested in any -problem graver than the art of driving a chariot or playing -the flute, she undertook his Imperial duties, or continued -to have that share in the ruling of the Empire which she -had had under Claudius. She received embassies, was -surrounded by a special German guard when she went -abroad, and was associated with Nero on the coinage. It -would be difficult to measure with any precision the influence -which she had on Roman affairs during this period, -since Seneca and Burrus had an equal, if not greater, part -in the government; but it may be recalled, with some -honour to her, that the first four years of Nero’s reign were -amongst the happiest and most prosperous that Rome -witnessed during the first century.</p> - -<p>The first thing to trouble her prosperous and happy -use of power was a certain discontent arising from the old -prejudice against women in politics. The Senators were -annoyed because she injudiciously listened to their debates. -They met at this time in the Imperial library, and the -Empress had a door pierced into it from the palace, and -sat listening behind a curtain. The Senators are said to -have punished her indiscretion by making unflattering -remarks in the course of the debates, though it is difficult -to believe that they were still capable of so courageous a -protest. On one occasion an important embassy came to -Rome from Armenia, and Agrippina declared that she -would sit by the side of Nero when he received it. This -seems to have been a startling innovation, and Seneca had -to avert trouble by advising Nero to descend from his -throne, when his mother entered, and lead her affectionately -from the room.</p> - -<p>An incident that shortly occurred gave a nucleus for the -crystallization of this diffused annoyance. A distinguished<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -noble, Junius Silanus, died, and the familiar whisper of -foul play went once more through all classes of the citizens. -His brother Lucius Silanus was the young noble who had -been betrothed to Octavia, and had so cruelly been -separated from her by Agrippina. Was it not natural -that Junius Silanus should wish to avenge his younger -brother, and that Agrippina should detect his plot and -have him removed? Tacitus and Dio fully believed this. -As in so many of these cases, however, the only ground -for the charge, as far as we know, is the fact that Silanus -undoubtedly died, and we will not waste time in discussing -it. The Senator had so little of the conspirator in him -that even Caligula used to call him “the golden sheep.” -But Rome was convinced that the Empress was guilty, and -the story spread, and is fully accepted by Tacitus, that she -meditated a long series of executions of the men who had -opposed her progress, and that Seneca and Burrus had to -restrain her bloody vindictiveness.</p> - -<p>One may decline to accept this charge on such poor -and disputable evidence; but Agrippina now incurred the -anger of her son, and descended rapidly from the height -of her power. The young Emperor had, as I said, used -his Imperial license to ignore his tutors and indulge his -low and sensual tastes. He attracted to his side a band of -the most dissipated youths in the city, and his nightly -exploits were the talk of Rome. One of the less hurtful -of his indulgences was his passion for Acte, a beautiful -freed slave from the Eastern market, whom Dumas has -made familiar. Agrippina resented the liaison—apparently -from a sense of justice to Octavia—and rebuked Nero. He -turned on her with violence the moment she tried to check -his licentious ways, and threatened to discharge her -favourite Pallas. Agrippina was alarmed. She saw a -powerful party, deeply hostile to herself, growing up about -her son, and she felt that the support of Seneca and Burrus -was being withdrawn. She ceased to speak of Acte, and -regarded with silent distress the coarse ways that her son -was exhibiting on the streets every night. A reconciliation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -at this heavy price could not last. Shortly afterwards -Nero sent her some rich jewels and robes from the Imperial -treasures. She chose to regard this as a reminder that -the Imperial wardrobe was no longer at her disposal, and -angrily refused the gifts.</p> - -<p>Pallas was at once impeached for treason. The charge -was so clumsy, and Seneca defended him so ably, that he -had to be acquitted; but Agrippina forgot discretion in -her victory. In the course of a quarrel with Nero, she -threatened to retire to the camp of the Prætorian Guard -with Britannicus and have him proclaimed Emperor. The -only effect of this was to open Nero’s long career of crime. -The few months—we are still at the beginning of the -year 55—of unrestrained license and flattery had destroyed -the little moral restraint that Seneca had taught him, and -he determined to murder Britannicus. In the Roman -prison was the skilled poisoner, Locusta, whom Agrippina -was believed to have employed in the murder of her -husband. Nero ordered her to prepare a deadly poison, -and, when the first preparation failed, he had her brought -to the palace. With blows and oaths he forced her to -prepare a more deadly drug under his eyes, and it was -used the same evening. Britannicus sat with his friends -on one of the couches in the dining-hall at the palace, and -asked for a drink. It was winter-time, and the wine (not -soup, as Serviez says) was heated. He complained that it -was too hot, and the poison was administered with the -cooling water, so that the taster would not need to take -a second sip.</p> - -<p>A great horror fell upon the room as Britannicus, writhing -with pain, sank to the floor. Octavia sat in silent terror -by the side of her husband, who carelessly observed that -Britannicus had one of his usual epileptic fits. Agrippina -openly betrayed her horror and disgust, and from that date -was regarded by her son with bitter hostility. Whether -or no it be true that Nero whitened with chalk the spots -which broke out on the body, the substance of the story -cannot be discredited. It is true that Nero was yet in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -eighteenth year only, but his conduct had been vicious and -unbridled to a criminal extent. Within a very short time -we shall find him sinking to the lowest depths of brutality. -The fact that he is praised in the treatise “On Clemency,” -which Seneca wrote about that time, can only show either -that the too indulgent tutor refused to believe the crime, or -that, as we have too many reasons to know, the distinguished -Stoic came perilously close to that art of casuistry in which -moralists of many schools have been apt to excel.</p> - -<p>In her abhorrence of the foul deed Agrippina drew -closer to the tender and virtuous Octavia, and confronted -Nero with a sternness that had been too long delayed. -The breach between them widened. One day Nero ordered -that two and a half million denarii should be given to his -favourite secretary. Agrippina had the mass of coin brought -under the eyes of the Emperor, to make him realize his -extravagance. He laughingly observed that he did not -think the sum was so small, and ordered it to be doubled. -The more lavishly he squandered, the more carefully -Agrippina saved, until the frivolous or malicious companions -of his revels suggested that she was gathering funds for the -purpose of dethroning him. He at once withdrew the guard -he had given her, and ordered her to leave his palace.</p> - -<p>Agrippina had enjoyed only for one year the power -which she had sought so long. She was yet only in her -fortieth year. The envoys of kings had sued humbly at -her feet, and her litter and guard had flashed through the -streets of Rome with an impression of greatness that no -other woman then known had ever possessed. But the -reins passed from her hands to her brutal son and his -despicable courtiers. From the palace she passed, with a -few devoted followers, to the small mansion of her grandmother -Antonia, and the sycophantic courtiers deserted -her. Graver citizens, watching the rapid degradation of -the Imperial house, followed her with sympathy, but few -dared to visit her in the lonely mansion. Unfortunately, -she quarrelled with one of these few, and came near to -losing her life.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -Her old friend Julia Silana, a woman of great wealth -but very faded beauty, proposed to marry a handsome -young Roman knight. Agrippina imprudently advised -him not to marry a woman of such advanced years and so -adventurous a record. Her words were repeated to Julia, -and friendship was exchanged for the most bitter animosity. -Julia Silana was childless, and it is conjectured that Agrippina -hoped to inherit her wealth if she died unmarried. -Whether she believed this or no, Julia conceived a deep -hatred, and induced two of her clients to accuse Agrippina -of high treason. Nero seems to have been in an uncertain -mood, and an ingenious plot was devised to win him.</p> - -<p>One night when he lay, flushed with wine, after the -banquet, his favourite comedian Paris came to amuse him. -Nero noticed that the man was agitated and less merry -than usual, and asked the reason. Paris, who was acting -in the service of the plotters, confessed with artistic tears -that there was a conspiracy afoot to dethrone his noble -master; that Agrippina was about to marry Rubellius -Plautus, a Senator of Imperial descent, and seize the throne. -The inebriated Emperor at once demanded their heads, but -Seneca and Burrus restrained him, and compelled him to -hear Agrippina on the morrow. In her speech, which -Tacitus has preserved, she refuted and routed her assailants -with such vigour that she was, apparently, reconciled to -Nero and restored to some authority. Julia Silana was -banished, Domitia’s chamberlain (who had instructed the -actor) was executed, and Agrippina’s own followers were -rewarded.</p> - -<p>The two years that followed this reconciliation are -obscure, and we can only dimly conjecture that Agrippina -had some peace and prestige, but no longer shared the -Imperial rule. Then, in the year 58, another and unexpected -woman came into the field, and Agrippina sank rapidly -toward an abyss of tragedy.</p> - -<p>In an earlier chapter we saw that Messalina drove to -death a very wealthy and beautiful Roman lady named -Poppæa Sabina. It was her daughter, who had inherited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -her wealth and her beauty, that now attracted the amorous -regard of the Emperor. She had married one of Nero’s -favourite companions, who babbled in his cups of her -dazzling beauty, and inflamed the desire of Nero. In the -next chapter we shall read of her natural charms, of the -singular art with which she cultivated them and the coquetry -with which she employed them, and of the superb and -fabulous splendour of her equipage. It is enough to say -here that Nero visited her, learned that she was willing to -be an Empress, but not the mistress of an Emperor, and -resolved to make any sacrifice to secure so unique a treasure. -The first victim to be sacrificed to the new passion was -Octavia, and the delicate and timid girl would make little -resistance. But Agrippina had espoused her cause with -a spirit that redeems much of her irregular conduct, and -she now saw that her own interest, as well as that of -Octavia, required that she should oppose Poppæa with all -her strength. In that resolution she wrote her death-sentence, -not ignobly.</p> - -<p>Even if we refuse to admit some of the incredible -statements that are made regarding it in the chronicles, -it is clear that an extraordinary struggle now took place -about the person of the Emperor. The antagonists were -Poppæa and Agrippina. Octavia was one of those frail, -lily-like Roman women who never struggled; Poppæa’s -husband was easily set aside. Poppæa affected coyness, -and refused to have any other than conjugal relations -with Nero, while she employed all her charms to inflame -him. Agrippina fought so desperately that Roman gossip, -and Roman historians, ascribed the most infamous devices -to her. In spite of his expression of doubt, it is plain -that Tacitus shares the popular belief, which he relates, -that Agrippina used to sit with her son in loose robes -when he was heated with wine, and to ride in the same -litter with him. Against this charge, however, Dio defends -her (lxi, 11). He says that one of Nero’s courtesans -resembled his mother, and that a light remark of his on -that circumstance gave birth to the libel. Poppæa would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -not be indisposed to encourage the story. On the other -hand, Mr. Baring-Gould attempts an untenable defence -when he speaks of Agrippina as “the poor old lady.” -She was only in her forty-second year, and was a woman -of great beauty and little scruple.</p> - -<p>Whatever arts Agrippina employed in the struggle, -she rapidly lost ground before so formidable a rival, and -Poppæa incited Nero against her. He harassed her with -lawsuits when she was in Rome, and sent men to insult -her when she withdrew to her villa in the country. Before -long Agrippina became sensible that her struggle for power -had passed into the appalling experience of a struggle for -life against her own son. Nero made several attempts to -poison her, but she was on her guard against this familiar -weapon. It is said that she had an antidote compounded -of walnuts, figs, rue, and salt. Then a freedman in Nero’s -suite suggested a more insidious scheme. Her country -house was in repair, and Anicetus directed the workmen -to saw through the heavy timber over her bed, so that -the room would collapse when she went to rest. Agrippina -was warned, however, and the plot was defeated.</p> - -<p>By the early spring of the year 59 Nero had fallen into -a mood of the most sombre and bitter dejection. Poppæa -continued to taunt him with his dependence on his mother, -and to display her maddening charms just beyond the -range of his eager arms. The better citizens of Rome, -on the other hand, now perceived his horrible design, -and watched the struggle with anxiety. As he sat at -the theatre one day in this mood, his attention was caught -by one of the elaborate mechanical spectacles which were -often put on the stage at the time. A ship sailed into -view of the spectators, fell into pieces, and disgorged a -number of wild beasts upon the stage. Nero asked -Anicetus, who was a skilful mechanic, whether he could -build a ship that would thus fall to pieces on the water -at a given moment. The man promised to do so, and Nero -went down to the coast in more cheerful temper.</p> - -<p>It was the month of March, when wealthy Romans<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -were wont to forsake the city for the marble villas -which shone in the spring sun on the flowered hills about -the northern corner of the Bay of Naples. The season -began with the festival of Minerva on March 19th. With -some surprise and suspicion, Agrippina, who had gone -down to her villa, received an affectionate invitation to -join her son at Baiæ for the celebration; and she heard -from other quarters that he had announced a desire to -be reconciled with her. She went on board the Liburnian -galley which lay off the gardens of her villa at Antium, -and sailed to Baiæ. Nero met her in the Imperial galley, -kissed her affectionately, and invited her to a banquet -which his friend Otho, the husband of Poppæa, would -give that night in honour of their reconciliation. She -consented, but it is clear that she wavered between her -consciousness of the utter unscrupulousness of her son -and the bright vision of a return to happiness which he -held before her.</p> - -<p>When the hour came for going, she was told that her -galley had met with an accident, but that a superb gilded -galley, with sails of silk and a military guard on board, had -been sent as a love-gift from her son in commemoration of -their restored affection. She gazed with suspicion on the -beautiful object, as it lay mirrored in the waters of the little -haven, and decided to go overland, on a litter, to Otho’s -villa. But the amiable behaviour of Nero at the banquet -dispelled the last shade of her suspicion. In the joy which -his caresses and his well-feigned affection gave her, she -did not notice the passing of the hours until midnight, -when she rose to go. The beautiful ship with the gilded -flanks and the silken sails awaited her once more, and this -time she embarked on it. Nero kissed her eyes and her -hands, put his arms about her and pressed her to his -bosom, held her while he gave a last long look into her -eyes, and then—abandoned her to the murderer Anicetus.</p> - -<p>The galley shot out over the smooth scented waters -under a canopy of brilliant stars. Agrippina sat in her -cabin, in the soft spring air, and talked about the happy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -future with her one male attendant, Crepereius Gallus, and -her one maid, Acerronia Pollia. And suddenly, as they -reached the deep water, there was an ugly crack, and the -roof of the cabin fell on them. Gallus was killed outright, -but the two women were saved, as the stout walls failed to -collapse, and there was some misunderstanding among the -crew in the dark. The maid rushed to the deck calling for -aid for the Empress—others say that she represented herself -as the Empress—and was slain. Agrippina listened -with terror to the crash of timber and the rush of armed -men, and realized the treachery of her son. Still she did -not court death. She dropped quietly over the side, and -swam toward the distant shore. Her strength gradually -failed, and she was about to abandon the awful struggle, -when some men who were fishing by night picked her up -and took her ashore.</p> - -<p>Wounded by the falling timbers, exhausted by the -struggle, stricken to the heart by the brutality of her son, -she nevertheless rallied at once, and devised a fresh plan. -She calmly sent a message to Nero that, by the favour of -the gods, she had survived the wreck of the galley which -he had given her, but requested that he would not come to -visit her until her wound was healed. Without a word to -her attendants about the horrible plot, she ordered the -remedies for her condition, and trusted that Nero would -repent. Through the remaining hours of the night she lay -on her couch, with one maid in attendance, her room feebly -lit by a single light. The whole country without was alive -with men. The shore was lit up with their torches, and -they gathered about the house to express their joy that -Agrippina had escaped shipwreck on the very night of so -auspicious a reconciliation. As the first light of dawn -broke on the encircling hills, Anicetus and his men entered -the house with Nero’s reply. She read something of its -tenor in their faces, and said to their leader: “Hast thou -come to visit me? Then tell my son that I have recovered. -Hast thou come to slay me? Then I say it is not my son -who sent thee.” A sailor struck her over the head with a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -stick, and she saw that the end had come. Tearing aside -her loose robe, and baring her white body to the men, she -said sadly: “Strike here, Anicetus, for it was here that -Nero was born.” She fell dead under a shower of blows.</p> - -<p>Nero had heard that his mother had escaped. Dreading -that she might stir into flame the resentment of Rome, he -called a council of his friends. Seneca is said to have been -silent, Burrus indignant. At that moment Agrippina’s -chamberlain entered with her message. In a flash of -cunning Anicetus threw a sword at his feet, and pretended -that he had been sent by Agrippina to kill Nero. The -Emperor accepted the sordid pretext, and, as Burrus -bluntly refused to send his soldiers to execute her, Anicetus -gladly charged himself with the task. He was appointed -admiral of one of the fleets for his services. It is even -recorded, though details like this must always be regarded -with reserve, that when the servants bore their mistress’s -body to the garden, and stripped it for the pile, Nero stood -by and said, jeeringly: “I had no idea she was so handsome.”</p> - -<p>A report was issued, and a formal announcement made -to the Senate, that Agrippina had attempted the Emperor’s -life, and that, when Nero sent men to arrest her, she took -her own life. And the Senate licked the feet of Nero, -decreed games and festivals in gratitude for his preservation, -and led the enthusiasm of the people. So well known -was the murder that an actor referred mockingly to it in -the theatre. “Farewell, my father,” he said, eating a mushroom—“Farewell, -mother,” he added, imitating the action -of a swimmer. The common folk repeated numbers of -these grim jokes. But they enjoyed the games of thanksgiving, -and Senators and nobles took part in them on the -stage and in the arena, and Rome sank swiftly into the -terrible degradation of Nero’s later reign, which will -occupy us in the next chapter.</p> - -<p>It is hardly necessary to add a summary estimate of -Agrippina’s character. In the view of Stahr and Baring-Gould -and a few other recent writers, she was “queenly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -honourable, and pure,” and had only the doubtful vices -of ambition and pride. For Tacitus and the other Latin -writers she was capable of any enormity, and guilty of -most. It will be seen that I hold an intermediate view. -She was a woman of great distinction, ability, and strength. -Had she lived in an age when virtue was not inexpedient, -she would have been an illustrious and virtuous queen. -But she had to struggle to obtain and retain power in an -age when a new and more intellectual moral standard was -replacing an older and more instinctive standard, and, -where it seemed profitable, she availed herself of the moral -scepticism which such a change always engenders. She -was queenly, but she was not entirely honourable, and she -was almost certainly not pure. But she served Rome well, -and left it happy and prosperous; and her unselfish passion -for the advancement of her son, her chivalrous and fatal -defence of his injured wife, and the bravery with which -she met his unspeakable brutality, do much to outweigh -her evil deeds in the scale of Osiris.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VI" class="vspace">CHAPTER VI<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIVES OF NERO</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">Nero</span> was no longer “the young Apollo” of his boyhood. -Unbridled dissipation and precocious crime -had made their impress on body no less than on -mind. He was a little above the average height, but his -prematurely swollen paunch was poorly balanced on his -slender and ungraceful limbs, and his skin was blotched -and repellent. The dull grey eyes betrayed his unceasing -indulgence, and the yellow hair, dressed in stages of short -curls, framed a face that was certainly no longer handsome. -His mind was in unmistakable disorder. Our kindly age -would invoke this mental trouble in extenuation of the -brutal crimes he had committed and the stupendous folly -he is about to perpetrate. Were this a biography of the -Emperors, we might boldly essay to prove rather that the -insanity followed the matricide, but that does not concern -us. He was, as yet, only in his twenty-second year.</p> - -<p>To this precocious monstrosity of vice and crime was -mated one of the gentlest young matrons of the Cæsarean -house, Octavia, the daughter of Claudius and Messalina. -Married at the very early age of thirteen to Nero, her -timid girlish nature was paralyzed by the coarse habits of -her husband, and she merely hovers about the stage, like a -dimly perceptible shadow, during the earlier part of Nero’s -reign. It must have been shortly after their marriage that -Nero disdained her for the beautiful Greek slave, Acte, to -whom he was more constant than to any other living thing, -and who, in return, paid the last tribute to his despised<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -remains. At first one of Nero’s associates screened the entanglement, -but, as we saw, it became known in the palace, -and Agrippina made a fruitless effort to press the rights -of his girl-wife. The injustice was, however, one that -Roman ladies were not unaccustomed to bear. Nero soon -fell into more disreputable ways. Octavia would see him -leave the palace after supper with his wild companions, -and needed little effort of imagination to follow his course -when he returned, in the early morning, with torn garments -and flushed, if not bruised, features and, occasionally, -the painted signs that he had wrenched from shop-doors, -or the cups he had stolen in a raid upon some low tavern.</p> - -<p>He had gathered about him a band of older youths, who -encouraged him in the licentious use of his power, and -endeared themselves to him by the fertility of their imaginations. -Chief among them was Salvius Otho, a young noble -of Etruscan descent, five years older than Nero—the -Emperor Otho of a later date. He had entered the palace -in virtue of an amorous relation with one of Agrippina’s -ladies, and his wide knowledge of adolescent amusements -won him the regard of Nero, whom he led into the wildest -adventures. They would wander at night through the -streets, and revel in the taverns and brothels of the popular -quarters of the city, the mysterious dim-lit valleys on -which patrician maidens looked down from the mansions -on the hills. In those centres of nightly disorder Nero -and his companions were the most daring Mohocks, if we -may use a phrase that belongs to later history. They -violated women and boys, and played the most brutal -pranks upon unarmed folk. One night Nero was severely -thrashed by a Senator, whose wife he had insulted. The -man learned afterwards that it was the Emperor whom he -had beaten, and went to the palace to apologize. Nero -forced him to atone with his life for the injury he had done -to the Imperial dignity. He withdrew the guards from the -Circus, in order that he might enjoy the fights of the rival -factions, and from the Milvian Bridge, at night, so as to -give complete liberty to vice in that nocturnal resort.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span> -The chaste and trembling Octavia, who was still only -in her sixteenth year, shrank from his brutal disdain. It -was enough for her to have the title of Empress, he said -to his mother, when she urged the rights of Octavia. -Presently Nero declared that he would divorce her, and -marry the handsome Greek girl, but Seneca and Burrus -succeeded in preventing him. To check his disorders -entirely they were quite powerless, and they seem to -have thought it better to direct, than to resist, his -vices. Suddenly, however, in the year 58, Nero transferred -his passion to the daughter of Poppæa Sabina, -and began the long, tragic struggle to secure her as his -Empress.</p> - -<p>Poppæa, who will be the next figure in our gallery -of Roman Empresses, and therefore may at once be -introduced, was one of the prettiest, vainest, and most -discussed ladies in Rome. Her mother, with whom we -are already acquainted as one of Messalina’s victims, had -been the daughter of a very wealthy and illustrious -provincial governor, Poppæus Sabinus. Poppæa’s father, -Titus Ollius, had been a friend of Sejanus, and had been -swept away in the flood of Tiberius’s anger. She was, -therefore, of mature years, but she had protected her -charms so industriously that she still had the soft beauty -and the fresh complexion of a girl. She had inherited -also the wealth, the wit, and—it is said—the easy morals -of her mother. The pretence of modesty which she made, -by wearing a veil whenever she went abroad, was redeemed -by the splendour of her establishment and the elaborate -culture of her fair skin and pretty face. The mules which -drew the litter of the veiled lady were shod with gold, -and the traces of their harness were woven from gold -thread. When she moved to her country house, or to -Baiæ, five hundred she-asses ran in the train of her -litter and cars, to provide the milk for her daily bath. If -we may trust the busts to which her name is attached, -she had a childish grace and delicacy of feature, instead -of the tense face of the adventuress; and we know that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -her amber-coloured hair was so much admired that it set, -or revived, a fashion in amber.</p> - -<p>She had married a knight, Rufus Crispinus, by whom -she had had a son. This marriage was ended by divorce, -and she became the wife of Nero’s favourite, Salvius Otho. -It is suggested, and not difficult to believe, that she had -married Otho on account of his intimacy with the Emperor. -He was by no means handsome, though he covered his -baldness with a wig, dressed sumptuously, and had wealth, -wit, and taste for art. From him Nero heard, over their -cups, the piquant story of Poppæa’s beauty and luxury, -and it was not long before Imperial messengers were sent -to her mansion. They were not admitted, and even Nero, -when he sought entrance, was coyly reminded that Poppæa -was married, and was devoted to her husband. After a -stormy siege she gracefully capitulated so far as to receive -innocent visits from Nero, and inflame him to madness -with the display of her cultivated beauty. He spoke -bitterly of his mother as an obstacle in the way of their -marriage. Poppæa twitted him with his dependence on -her, and we have seen the outcome.</p> - -<p>When Agrippina had been removed, Nero proposed -at once to divorce Octavia and wed Poppæa. The silence -of Seneca at all these critical points in the degradation -of Nero is painful to every admirer of the distinguished -moralist. It was the less courtly and less virtuous Burrus -who defended the young Empress. If Nero abandoned -Octavia, he brusquely said, he must also give up her -dowry—the throne—and Burrus was too generally respected -to be flouted. Octavia therefore remained in her lonely -chamber at the palace, a helpless witness of the vices of -her husband.</p> - -<p>For a month or two after the murder of Agrippina he -behaved as one stricken with a wild and haunting remorse. -He went feverishly from place to place, and gathered about -him a band of magicians and charlatans. He feared to go -to Rome until he was assured that Rome was rejoicing -at his escape from his mother’s plot. Few pages in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> -story of that degenerate city are sadder than that which -records the reception, in the month of May, of the Imperial -matricide. The Senators and their families, dressed in their -gayest robes, hurried out along the Appian Way to meet -him, and his route was lined deep with cheering crowds. -He rewarded them royally. Five or six theatres opened -their doors, day after day, to the degraded citizens. New -things—things that had never before been seen in the -whole history of the city—were provided for their entertainment. -Men and women of the highest rank played -the most lascivious parts of the mimes on the public -stage, and drove their chariots in the public circus. Nero -was a champion of the “green” faction, and pitted his -royal skill daily in the circus against the charioteers of -the other factions. He sang in the theatre, and organized -a band of five thousand handsome youths, in splendid -costumes, to lead the applause, and shower upon him his -favourite epithet of “Apollo.” He even ventured to win -praise in the amphitheatre, but the one young lion which -he vanquished had been prudently gorged and stupefied -before he encountered it. He announced that his skill -might be hired for private banquets, and nobles paid him -a million sesterces for his services. Apollo, he reflected, -had no beard in Greek statuary, so he shaved his beard, -and the handful of yellow hair was enclosed in a golden -casket studded with pearls, and carried in solemn procession -to the Capitol. In the mighty rejoicing over this -complete assimilation to Apollo of the tun-bellied, lanky-legged, -half-crazy youth, it is recorded that a noble dame -in her eightieth year danced on the stage in the theatre. -The descendants of the greatest Roman families voluntarily -entered the base ranks of the comedian and the -charioteer.</p> - -<p>Mr. Henderson is reluctant to admit, in his study of -Nero, that he was insane. It would, no doubt, puzzle the -most penetrating psychologist to assign the respective -portions of guilt and of irresponsible disorder in his -conduct; but that there was mental disorder it is at once<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -more natural and more charitable to assume. In any case, -a year or so of this delirious life wore out his robust -frame, and a serious illness suspended for a time the -disgraceful performances. Unfortunately, when he recovered, -he lost the one man who had had some power to -restrain him, and sufficient honesty to use it. Burrus died -in the year 62, and at the same time the slender influence -of Seneca was destroyed. This is no place to discuss the -difficult and delicate problem of Seneca’s conduct in his -association with Nero. Enough to say that he was now -accused of conspiracy, and, although he successfully -defended himself, he ceased to have any power at the -palace.</p> - -<p>It was now possible for Nero to rid himself of the pale -young prude, who shrank in her apartments, and there were -men enough to devise the procedure. Salvius Otho had -already been sent to a remote part of the Empire, and his -place had been taken by a horse-dealer, named Tigellinus, -of little culture and even less character. With this new -favourite Poppæa entered into alliance, and the young -Empress presently found herself accused, with brutal -levity, of adultery with Eucer, an Alexandrian slave and -musician, and of covering her shame by the crime of -abortion. Tigellinus easily obtained witnesses, but most -of Octavia’s servants refused, even under torture, to belie -the virtue of their gentle mistress. The coarseness of -Tigellinus had carried him too far, and public feeling was -strongly aroused in her favour. Nero fell back upon the -ground of her childlessness, of which he could probably -have furnished a simple explanation, and divorced her. In -deference to the sentiment of Rome, he at first gave her the -house of Burrus and the fortune of a noble whom he had -executed. A little later, however, probably under pressure -from Poppæa, he banished her to Campania. He had -married Poppæa a fortnight after the divorce of Octavia.</p> - -<p>But the flagrant outrage quickened the better feeling -that Rome had not yet entirely lost, and Nero was forced -to recall her. To the deep mortification of Poppæa, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -crowds invaded the outer court of the palace, crying the -name of Octavia. They removed the statues of the new -Empress from the temples and public places, and restored -to their positions, and crowned with flowers, the discarded -statues of Octavia. Poppæa angrily pressed Nero to assert -his power, and the resourceful Anicetus, the murderer of -Agrippina, was summoned to Rome. Bolder even than -Tigellinus, he swore that he himself had had commerce -with Octavia, and, after a pretence of trial, she was banished -to Sardinia. Poppæa was not yet content, and Nero next -announced that Octavia had been detected in an attempt -to corrupt the commander of the fleet. She was taken to -the rock-island of Pandateria that had already witnessed -tragedies.</p> - -<p>The good feeling of Rome seems by this time to have -been exhausted, and Octavia was lazily surrendered to -the brutal band who now surrounded Nero. There is -a peculiar melancholy in the closing of that frail and -innocent career. Rough soldiers seize the timid form, -carry her to the bath, bind her limbs, and open her veins. -Timid and shrinking to the end, the young girl—even now -she is only in her twentieth year—starts back with horror -from the great darkness, and piteously implores them to -spare her life. She faints, and the flow of her blood is -arrested. The last pretence of pity is tossed aside, and she -is stifled in the vapour-bath.</p> - -<p>Poppæa, Tacitus says, sent for her head. It is difficult -to decide whether the frequent repetition of this horrible -detail in the chronicles increases or lessens its credulity. -But we can have no hesitation in believing Tacitus when -he says that the Senate ordered services of thanksgiving -in the temples for this fresh preservation of the life of the -Emperor.</p> - -<p>Another Empress had stepped in blood to the throne, -and was in turn to stain it with her blood after a few years -of imperial folly. We have seen what type of woman it -was whom Nero put in the place of Octavia. Wealthy, -coquettish, and beautiful, Poppæa saw in life only a sunny<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -path for the pursuit of butterflies. When she is represented -to us as licentious we must remember that no definite -scandal attaches to her name, and that she is actually -described as “pious” by no less an authority than the -Jewish historian Josephus. In fact this circumstance, and -a peculiar feature of the disposal of her body, which we -will consider, gave birth to a speculation in early times -that she had become a Christian. Serviez finds the story -of her conversion by St. Paul, and subsequent “return to -her abominations,” too piquant to admit of doubt. But the -conversion is even more disputable than the abominations. -It is now much disputed among our leading divines -whether St. Paul ever visited Rome, and there is a -simpler explanation of the phrase used by Josephus. The -Roman governor of Judæa—the biblical Felix, a brother of -Agrippina’s favourite, Pallas—had dealt harshly with the -Jews, and sent some of their priests in chains to Rome. -Josephus and others went to intercede for them, and luckily -met a Jewish comedian who was in the favour of Poppæa -and Nero. The historian was received with distinction at -the palace, and was so successful in his suit that he might -well ascribe piety to Poppæa. We may agree that the -incident probably argues some culture on her part. But -we shall discover her later in conduct that makes it undesirable -to count her as a disciple of St. Paul.</p> - -<p>Before the end of the year Poppæa presented Nero with -a daughter, and a few weeks of wild rejoicing restored her -to general favour, and obliterated the memory of Octavia. -The title of “Augusta” was, in an excess of flattery, -bestowed upon both the mother and the infant. Senators -raced each other to the Imperial villa at Antium, to express -their joy at this substantial promise of a continuance of -the Cæsarean house which had dragged them in the mire. -The whole of Italy was lit up with rejoicing. Poppæa felt -that her position was at last secure. And then, by one -of those dread changes which were almost as common in -the life of Rome as in the tragedies of Greece, and made -men assume that there was a stern and mighty fate behind<span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span> -their puny and indulgent gods, the storm broke over Italy -once more. The child withered and died, and Nero’s mind -fell once more into dark disorder. He glanced round with -insane suspicion for possible aspirants to the throne, and -Poppæa’s remaining son was the first victim. One day -he saw her boy (by her former husband) playing at being -emperor in his games with the other children. In a few -days Poppæa heard that the boy had lost his life while -fishing. Many another execution was ordered with the -same levity.</p> - -<div id="ip_113" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 27em;"> - <img src="images/i_112.jpg" width="430" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>OCTAVIA</p> - -<p>PORPHYRY BUST IN THE LOUVRE</p></div></div> - -<p>As before, these terrible deeds were mingled with the -most splendid and the most licentious entertainments. -Noble dames of the highest rank wrestled and fought in -the amphitheatre before the frivolous crowds; the city -abounded in schools where the nobility learned to ape the -Emperor’s folly, and contribute to the gaiety of Rome with -the flute, the zither, or the dance. Nero conceived a new -idea, and pursued it with zeal. He would contest the -crown with the artists of Greece. Poppæa saw him training -in the palace, lying for hours with heavy plates of lead -on his chest, restricting himself to a diet of leeks and oil. -She saw him exhibit his skill in the theatre, lifting up his -blotched and swollen body, in extraordinary contortions, -on his thin legs, as he strained after the high notes. Woe -to the man who openly laughed, or who excelled him! -One of his masters was put to death because Nero perceived -that he could not equal the man. At last his -training was complete, and Rome sighed with relief as the -thousand carts, drawn by silver-shod mules, and the five -thousand youths of the Augustan band, set out for the -coast. They gratified Naples with a show as they passed -through. For several days Nero kept the amazed citizens -in the theatre, and took his meals in the orchestra, so as -to lose no time. Then came the inevitable epilepsy; and -it was announced that Nero, perceiving the grief of his -subjects at the prospect of his departure, had postponed -the Grecian tour.</p> - -<p>On his return to comparative health, and to Rome, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -once more kept the citizens agog with alternate bursts of -frantic dissipation and sanguinary melancholy. From the -death of her child until her own violent end, two years -later, Poppæa appears very little in the chronicles; but, -as we shall see that, willing or unwilling, she supported -her husband in his bloody crimes, we may assume that -she joined him in his less criminal orgies. One instance -will suffice. He ordered that a banquet should be given -on a raft, on the large sheet of water known as Lake -Agrippa. When the citizens crowded to the shore on the -appointed evening, they found the great raft towed by -vessels plated with ivory and gold, manned by youths -who had won distinction in infamy. Round the shore -taverns, brothels, and dining-rooms had been erected. -And when the night fell, and the beautiful scene was lit -by the light of innumerable torches, the public found that -women of the highest rank were no less accessible to them -than prostitutes in the houses by the lake, and the slave -was at liberty to embrace his mistress under the eye of -her husband. Nero even outdistanced Caligula in the -Imperial teaching of vice. In the garb of a bride, he went -through the religious ceremony of marriage with a man of -base character, named Pythagoras. He had nude children -fastened to stakes, and rushed upon them fittingly clad -in the skin of a wild beast. And round the frontiers of -that vast Empire, which the strength and sobriety of his -ancestors had created, the weary soldiers watched the -barbarians who prepared to invade it.</p> - -<p>It was about this time that the great fire occurred -which turned the laughter of Nero’s subjects into resentment. -For six days and seven nights the flames ate their -way through the blocks of tall tenements, divided only -by narrow streets, in the parching heat of July. Nero was -in the provinces at the time, and from the conflicting -accounts it is impossible to pass an opinion on the rumour -that he had ordered the burning of Rome. Dio gives us -the familiar picture of Nero twanging his zither, and -chanting the “Fall of Troy” from the summit of a high<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> -tower on the hill. Others declare, however, that he at -once ordered the most expedient methods for checking the -conflagration. But it was angrily whispered among the -camps of the homeless that men had been seen throwing -torches upon their houses, and that they were acting under -orders from the palace. Nor were the citizens appeased -when he threw the blame on the obscure and unpopular -devotees who went by the name of Christians, and afforded -them the brutal spectacle of driving round the circus to -the light of burning men and women, whose living bodies -had been wrapped in tow and soaked in wax and tar. Few -believed in their guilt. Even Seneca at length broke his -casuistic or diplomatic reserve, and retired in disgust from -Rome. Nero went down in great dejection to Baiæ, -leaving orders that, in the restoration of the city, a new -palace should be built for him that should transcend -anything within the memory of Rome or of history.</p> - -<p>This “golden house,” which Nero raised round the -more modest palaces of his predecessors, gave a fresh -grievance to discontent. The great and unselfish Octavian -had been satisfied with a small patrician mansion; Tiberius -had built a palace; Caligula had enlarged it; Nero flung -out its wings over a vast space. It seemed that Emperors -squandered the money of the State in proportion to their -uselessness. The colossal edifice and its wonderful park -stretched from the Palatine to the Esquiline, across the -intervening valley, and was surrounded by a triple colonnade -in marble. Citizens huddled in the crowded blocks -of the Subura and the Velabrum, while Nero created a -miniature world within his marble girdle. There was a -great lake, filled with salt water from Ostia, with a small -town on its shore; there were vineyards, cornfields, groves -in which wild beasts ran loose, fountains, and gardens. -The palace itself was of such proportions that a statue -of Nero one hundred and twenty feet high could be -conveniently lodged in its porch. Some of the rooms were -plated with gold and adorned with precious stones. The -supper-room had a ceiling of ivory, with openings through<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -which flowers and costly perfumes might be shed upon -the guests. The Egyptian roses whose beauty withered -in one banquet in this chamber had a value of £35,000 -in our coinage.</p> - -<p>There now dawned on Rome some consciousness of the -price that the Empire was paying for the stupendous folly -it had so long applauded. While the treasury was being -exhausted in entertainments that all could enjoy, the -murmuring was confined to the sober few. From the -moment when this colossal symbol of Nero’s selfishness -towered above the city, the murmurs became audible and -were multiplied. Nero, alarmed at the sullen looks and -the vague reports of plots, went down angrily to the coast. -Then a slave brought a definite accusation of conspiracy -against his master, and the stream of blood began to flow.</p> - -<p>It is an unhappy fact, and one that confirms the darker -view of Poppæa’s character, that almost the only detail -related of her in the chronicles, after the death of her -child, is that she was one of the council of three who -directed this horrible series of executions. Nero would -not trust the ordinary procedure of Roman justice. With -Poppæa and Tigellinus as associate-judges, he himself -examined, or endorsed, every charge that cupidity or -malignity brought to the palace. Rome was reddened -for weeks with torture, murder, and suicide. Students of -the decay of Rome have, perhaps, not sufficiently appreciated -the effect of this periodic effusion of the best blood -in the city. In the earlier wars, both civil and foreign, -the good and the base alike had fallen. In these inquisitions -for conspiracy, which fill Rome with mourning time after -time from the death of Octavian to the accession of Trajan, -it is chiefly the men and women of honour who suffer. -They constitute a natural selection of the cowardly and -the sycophantic.</p> - -<p>The city “teemed with funerals,” in the terse phrase -of Tacitus, and the gatherings of its citizens were black -with mourning. Large numbers of officers and patricians -were executed or driven to suicide, and their children were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> -scourged or banished to the provinces. Seneca paid the -penalty of his tardy outspokenness, and his admirable end -sustains our trust that his character may, in spite of our -unconquerable hesitations, have been not inconsistent with -his high creed. He and his wife, who nobly asked permission -to quit the world with him, had their veins opened, -and Seneca passed into the silence with quiet dignity; -his wife was, to her regret, recalled to life by the soldiers.</p> - -<p>Poppæa did not live to share the punishment which -these crimes brought upon Nero. Her end came more -swiftly and in more terrible form. The carnage had been -interrupted by a fresh outburst of rejoicing. A man -declared to Nero that he knew where the fabulous treasures -of the Carthaginian queen Dido, which Vergil had so -recently sung in the “Æneid,” were buried. A fleet was -sent to Africa to recover them, and from his sombre -brooding Nero passed into a new fit of prodigal entertaining. -He emptied the last depths of his treasury in -spectacles and donations. When the fleet returned at -length without a single cup or coin, his anger stormed -with ungovernable fury, and one day, when Poppæa expostulated -with him, he kicked her in the abdomen. The -outrage proved fatal, as she was pregnant, and Nero’s -light mind turned from rage to the most extravagant -lamentation. Her body was not burned, as was usual -at Rome, but embalmed, and vast quantities of rare perfumes -were sacrificed on the funeral pile. This peculiarity -of her funeral has been thought to strengthen the interesting -legend of her conversion to Christianity. It was more -probably due to Nero’s frenzied desire to give a unique -burial to so unique a goddess, as the Senate declared -her to be. It is unthinkable that Nero should make such -a concession to Christian ideas, even if she had shared -them in any measure, and her life does not dispose us to -claim that honour for her. The legend has no foundation -in history, and the early Church may easily be relieved -of the stain of having counted Poppæa among its adherents.</p> - -<p>It is not our place to pursue the insanity of the Emperor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> -through all the forms it assumed after the death of -Poppæa, but he took a third wife, whom Mr. Baring-Gould -seems to have overlooked, and we must briefly relate the -story of her experience. Immediately after the death of -Poppæa Nero took a consort whom the pen almost shrinks -from describing. It seemed to him that he discovered a -resemblance to his beloved Poppæa in one of his freedmen, -Sporus. The man was entrusted to the surgeons for a loathsome -operation, and then solemnly married to the Emperor. -Dressed in the Empress’s robes and jewels, he travelled in -Nero’s litter, and was publicly kissed and caressed by -him.</p> - -<p>This abominable comedy soon lost its interest, and -Nero decided to marry Octavia’s sister, Antonia. Recollecting -the recent fate of her sister, she boldly refused, and she -was put to death on a charge of aspiring to the throne. -Nero then chose Statilia Messalina, the granddaughter of -a distinguished and wealthy Senator who had been driven -to take his own life under Agrippina. The last part of the -“Annals” of Tacitus, which would cover this date, is missing, -and if we are to believe the less reputable chroniclers, -Messalina had already been familiar with Nero, and had -married, as her third husband, one of his close companions -in debauch, Atticus Vestinus. She is described as beautiful, -witty, wealthy, and lax; but the description is applied -to so large a proportion of the ladies of the time that -it gives little aid to the imagination. From some later -details we shall conclude that she had more culture, and -probably more character, than most of the courtly ladies of -Nero’s time. One is disposed to think that she married -Nero on the maxim, literally interpreted, that it is better to -be married than burned. Her husband was one night -entertaining his friends when soldiers from the palace -entered the room. They took him to his bath, opened his -veins, and let him bleed to death; and Statilia Messalina -became the tenth Empress of Rome.</p> - -<div id="ip_118" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <img src="images/i_118.jpg" width="447" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>POPPÆA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUM, ROME</p></div></div> - -<p>There is every reason to believe that she shrank, with -prudence, from the executions and entertainments which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -again proceeded with ghastly alternation. Her five predecessors -had been murdered; the preceding lady of Nero’s -choice had been murdered; and she had herself been -divorced by murder. Messalina seems to have concentrated -her resources upon remaining alive, until a last and most -just murder should release her from her odious connexion. -Men were wearying even of Nero’s ridiculous performances, -and were stung by his cruelty. He put soldiers amongst -his audience, to note the absent and detect the scoffer, so -that his festivals became an affliction. Men were driven to -the subterfuge of shamming death, and being borne out by -their slaves, to avoid the exacting part of admiring -spectators. Nero swore that he would exterminate the -whole senatorial order; it is the most honourable mention -we find of them in the chronicles for many decades. To -their relief he now announced that he would proceed with -his Greek tour. The silver-shod mules and the gay regiment -of the Augustans were set in motion, Nero’s hair was -permitted to attain an artistic length and negligence, and -the comedy was transferred for a time to the land of -Aristophanes. How he won every prize for which he -competed, how he plundered the temples and the mansions -of the Greeks, how his retinue passed like a flight of -locusts over the helpless province, must be read elsewhere. -After some eighteen months he was recalled to Italy by -grave tidings.</p> - -<p>It has been impossible to refrain from speaking in -accents of disdain of the way in which Rome had silently -witnessed, or joyously acclaimed, the successive follies of -Nero, but, as I have previously noticed, it was in a -peculiarly difficult situation. The Prætorian Guards were -an army of twenty thousand disciplined soldiers, and were -paid for personal service to the ruling house, and blind to -any other interest than their own. They kept an irresistible -check upon every impulse to rebel. That there were such -impulses, and probably some attempt to seduce the Guards, -the unfailing stream of blood at Rome justifies us in believing. -The hope of the Empire was in the more sober and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span> -more industrious provinces, and it was here that the revolt -began. The leader of the troops in Gaul, Vindex, entered -into correspondence with the troops in Spain. The -Spanish commander, Servius Sulpicius Galba, was a -Roman of illustrious family, venerable age, and stern -character. Nero had heard that the purple had been -offered to Galba, and that the legions of Gaul and Spain -were preparing to advance on Italy.</p> - -<p>On his return to Italy, however, Nero hears that the -German legions are advancing against those of Gaul, and -that Galba is hesitating. He gaily resumes his follies, -and is deaf to political exhortations. At last a manifesto -is put into his hands, in which Vindex refers to him as a -“miserable player,” and the insult to his art cuts deeply. -He writes to the Senate to demand redress, and sets out -for Rome. Nothing in the whole of his extraordinary -career is so tragi-comic as this penultimate scene. Clothed -in a mantle of purple embroidered with gold stars, wearing -the Olympian chaplet on his head, he enters Rome as the -god of art. Servants bear before him the 1,800 crowns or -chaplets he has won in Greece; the five thousand Augustans -march behind his chariot. A sacrifice is made to Apollo, -and the games resume their familiar course. Then Nero is -told that, though Vindex has committed suicide, the German -and other legions have joined Galba, and the fire of revolt -is spreading round the Empire. He announces that he -will advance on Gaul. The ladies of his harem, who form -a fair regiment, have their hair cut short, and, with toy -shields and other theatrical properties, masquerade as -Amazons.</p> - -<p>The last scene is brief and inevitable. Galba is -marching on Rome, the Prætorian guards have been -won for him, the nobles find it safe to desert Nero. -The nerveless brute whimpers and weeps in his helplessness. -He will fly to Alexandria, and earn his living -as a musician. The great “golden house” is silent and -deserted. Rome is openly deriding him. His servants -have fled; one has even stolen the box in which he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span> -kept poison for such an emergency. The faithful Acte, -Sporus, and a very few of those who fed on his folly, -remain with him. Messalina has deserted him, and will -appear later as the friend of one of his successors.</p> - -<p>In the great silent house, with its walls of gold and -its ceilings of ivory, he puts off the purple robes and -clothes himself in an old shirt and a ragged cloak. On -a miserable horse he rides with them across the vast -deserted park, and makes for the house of one of his -dependents, a few miles from Rome. There they admit -him by a hole they have made in the wall, give him black -bread and water, and cover him with a blanket. They -discuss the situation, and conclude by offering him a -dagger. He shrinks, like Julia, like Messalina, from the -horrible darkness, and vainly strains his eyes for a ray -of hope. At last they hear the clatter of cavalry on the -road, and Nero feebly points the dagger at his breast, for -a servant to drive home. And when the customary -cremation is over, there are none but Acte and a faithful -old nurse to lay the degraded ashes in the tomb.</p> - -<p>So the tenth Empress of Rome laid down her brief -dignity. Statilia Messalina had had little reason to follow -Nero in his humiliation. Whether the charge of laxity -that is brought against her be true or no, she was a -woman of exceptional intelligence and culture, and had -probably only married Nero out of fear. We meet her -again, at a later stage, in the chronicles. After Galba’s -short hour of supremacy we shall find an equally short -reign of Salvius Otho, the man who once pillaged taverns -with Nero in the Subura. Provincial government had -sobered him, and he wrote affectionate letters to Messalina. -He would, no doubt, have made her Empress once more -if he had lived, but the throne was wrested from him, -and Messalina retired to the calmer world of letters and -rhetoric. Our last glimpse of her discovers her delivering -orations of great eloquence and learning among the -intellectual ladies of Rome.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VII" class="vspace">CHAPTER VII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE EMPRESSES OF THE TRANSITION</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> house of Cæsar had perished with Nero, and -few sober folk can have regretted that it had no -living representative to win the fancy of the -frivolous people or the blind cupidity of the Guards. -There must have been men living in Rome who had -witnessed the whole of that appalling degradation, so -swift it had been. The Cæsars had sunk in little over -forty years from the sobriety of Octavian to the insanity -of Nero; their consorts had fallen from the strong standard -of Livia to the insipidity of Poppæa; the resources of the -Empire had been squandered in spectacles that had left its -people nerveless and debauched; the old Roman ideal of -character had been almost obliterated in the Imperial city. -It was our concern to see what part the Empresses played -in this lamentable history of four decades. It is, on the -whole, one that their biographer must blush to acknowledge. -We must remember, however, that corrupt rulers -would necessarily choose weak or corrupt wives, and we -cannot affect surprise or disappointment when we find -them floating in the swift current.</p> - -<p>We have now to open a new and more attractive -gallery of Imperial portraits, to pass in review the wives -of those great Emperors who restored the high character -of Rome and strengthened anew the fabric of the Empire. -A very brief summary of events will suffice to link the -Cæsars with the Antonines, and introduce to us one or -two curious types of Empresses who dimly figure in the -transition.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span> -For a year after the fall of Statilia Messalina the -throne of the Empress was vacant, and that of the Emperor -had three successive occupants. Galba was a -widower at the time of his elevation to the throne. We saw -in an earlier chapter that Agrippina had wished to marry -him twenty-six years earlier, and he had refused. His -wife, Lepida, was a delicate woman, of high character, -and he refused to divorce her. She had an energetic -champion in her mother, who fought Agrippina sturdily -and, if the story be true, laid fair patrician hands on her. -But Lepida died long before her husband was made Emperor, -and he refused to marry again. His reign was brief. -Tradition has blamed him for an excessive sternness and -parsimony. They were not inopportune vices, but Rome -had been too long habituated to indulgence, and Galba -was too confident. The discontent at Rome was inflamed -by the news of the revolt in the provinces, and within a few -weeks the Guards, to whom he had refused the customary -donation, set up a new Emperor, and put Galba to death.</p> - -<p>The new ruler was no other than the first husband of -Poppæa, the companion of Nero’s revels, Salvius Otho. -Rome acclaimed the choice, and expected that the circus -and theatre were about to reopen their doors. But Otho, -who had matured during his years of office in Spain, -turned from them in disgust. He did, it is true, restore -the statues of Poppæa, and contemplated restoring the -discarded statues of Nero, but the alienation of Roman -feeling from him is a proof that he intended to rule with -sobriety. The same spirit is seen in the fact that he -corresponded affectionately with Statilia Messalina, and -apparently thought of marrying her. But the legions in -the provinces almost immediately rebelled against him, -and, in the midst of the struggle, he committed suicide.</p> - -<p>There had been no Empress of Rome for twelve -months. With the death of Otho, and the accession of -Vitellius, we come to the eleventh Empress, Galeria Fundana, -a very new and incongruous type in the series of -Imperial women.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span> -The name of Vitellius is already familiar to us. His -father was the fulsome courtier who had inspired Caligula -with the idea that he was a god, and who had worn one -of Messalina’s little silk shoes under his tunic. His wife, -Sextilia, was a woman of strict morality and unambitious -temper, but their son, the younger Vitellius, lived in too -tainted an atmosphere to prefer the plainness of his -mother to the craft and greed of his father. He had -learned vice in the band of young men who brought so -evil a fame on Tiberius’s villa at Capri, and had made -his way astutely through the successive reigns of Caligula, -Claudius, and Nero. He had made a considerable fortune -as proconsul of Africa, and had, on his return to Rome, -married Petronia, the daughter of a wealthy consul. She -settled her large fortune on her son, and when Vitellius, -having consumed his own wealth in luxury and riot, went -on to sacrifice his son for the purpose of securing the -fortune held in his name, Petronia angrily remonstrated, -and was divorced.</p> - -<p>He then married Galeria Fundana. She was, says -Tacitus, “a pattern of virtue,” and since this defect—as -Vitellius would find it—was united with plainness of person, -modesty of taste, and dull, if not defective, conversation, -the match was a singularly unhappy one. Vitellius -had so far squandered his money that he was unable to -pay his expenses to Lower Germany when Galba gave -him the command of the troops there. How he obtained -that important appointment is not clear. Some say that -Galba selected him because he was not ambitious; others -that he secured it through the influence of the “blue” faction -at the Circus, of which he was a partisan. He mortgaged -his house, and Sextilia sold her jewels, to obtain funds -for the journey. Fundana and her child were left in a -poor tenement at Rome, little dreaming that they would -be summoned from it to Nero’s “golden house” in a few -weeks.</p> - -<p>It is expressly recorded that Sextilia and Fundana had -no ambition, and dreaded lest Vitellius should aspire to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -reach the dizzy heights which some early prophet had -promised him. They were, therefore, dismayed to hear, -shortly after his arrival on the Rhine, that the troops -were offering to secure the throne for him. His genial -and indulgent treatment of the soldiers was a betrayal of -his trust to the stern Galba, and may have been deliberately -effected to win their support. He became very -popular, and was hailed as a second “Germanicus.” Galba -was presently murdered, and, as the German legions had -had no part in the choice of Otho, they urged Vitellius -to lead them against him. Vitellius wavered for a time -between the safe and considerable means of self-indulgence, -which he had as commander, and the uncertain, but -immeasurably greater, prospect which the throne suggested -to his sensual dreams. The officers conquered -his hesitation, and he set out for Rome in the rear of -the eight legions who had declared for him.</p> - -<p>Sextilia and Fundana seemed to be in peril when the -news came to Rome that Vitellius was marching upon the -city. It is said that Vitellius threatened reprisals if his -family were injured, but there is no indication that Otho -would stoop to take a revenge on women and children. -They saw him march out at the head of his troops to give -battle to Vitellius, and waited anxiously, with all Rome, -to hear the issue of the civil war. And while Senate and -people were enjoying the mummery of the theatre, a horseman -rode in with the news that Otho had taken his own -life, and Vitellius was leading his German troops upon -Rome. Senate and people united at once to receive him, -and sent him the title of Augustus. He politely declined -it for the time, and continued his leisurely march upon the -city. There had been many a triumphant march over the -roads of Italy in the annals of Rome, but never one so -singular as that of the new monarch. “The roads from -sea to sea groaned with the burden of his luxuries,” says -Tacitus; and, if we distrust Tacitus, as an admirer of -Vitellius’s rival and successor, all the Roman writers agree -that his first use of supreme power was to command a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -stupendous ministration to his sensual appetites. He -ordered his legions to move slowly southward, while he, -in their train, exhausted each successive region of its -delicacies, and filled the days and nights with his princely -feasting. His example encouraged his wild German troops, -and their line of march could be traced across Gaul and -Italy by their pillage, cruelty, and debauchery.</p> - -<p>The repeated messages from the provinces filled Rome -with laughter, in spite of its anxiety. People remembered -this princely epicure sheltering, a few months before, in the -poorer quarter of the town and evading the duns. The -modest and virtuous Sextilia and Fundana shrank in pain -from the hollow flattery which was paid them, and followed -the march of the Emperor with disgust. He was approaching -Rome at the head of sixty thousand men. Legions of -tall, fierce, fur-clad Germans, with heavy javelins, were -thundering along the Italian roads and terrifying the -peasantry. In their rear was a vast army of slaves, cooks, -comedians, charioteers, and other ministers to the Imperial -appetite. He had sent for the whole of Nero’s servants -and appointments. It was said that he even intended to -outrage one of the most sacred traditions of the city by -entering it in full armour, at the head of an army with -drawn swords; but the friends who met him at the Milvian -Bridge persuaded him to change his costume, and sheathe -the swords of his soldiers. He entered, in civil toga, at -the head of the terrible Germans, his officers clad in white -as they bore the eagles. After visiting the Capitol, and -addressing the Senate in terms of pleasant submissiveness -to that body and of somewhat nauseating praise of himself, -he settled in Nero’s magnificent palace with Fundana and -her child. His troops, debauched with the license of their -march, scattered in disorder through the city; and Rome -resigned itself to the inauspicious rule of its eighth -Emperor.</p> - -<p>We may dismiss the nine months in which Galeria -Fundana was Empress of Rome in a phrase: she was a -helpless and disgusted spectator of the most imperial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -debauch that Rome had yet witnessed. Dio strangely -accuses her of haughtily complaining of the poverty of the -robes she found in Nero’s golden house, but the testimony -to her modesty is too strong for us to admit this. A more -credible statement in the chroniclers is that she begged to -be allowed to retire to a humble dwelling of her own, and -Vitellius refused. His mother did not long survive her -mortification. One rumour preserved in Suetonius is that -Vitellius had her starved to death, as it was predicted -that she would outlive him; another version says that he -sent her poison, at her own request. Fundana was left -alone to bewail his colossal gluttony. She saw his chief -officers encourage him in his stupefying orgies, while they -enriched themselves; and she had to submit in silence -while his sister-in-law, Triaria, “a woman of masculine -fierceness,” goaded him to continued excesses. During the -few months of his reign he spent 900,000,000 sesterces -(about £7,000,000) in eating, drinking, and entertainment. -He had three meals during the day, and ended with a costly -and drunken supper. His brother one day entertained him -at a banquet, at which two thousand choice fishes and seven -thousand rare birds were served. Vitellius in return gave -a banquet, at which one dish—a compound of the livers of -pheasants, the tongues of flamingoes, the brains of peacocks, -the entrails of lampreys, and the roes of mullets—cost -more than the whole of his brother’s dinner.</p> - -<p>From this loathsome and stupid dream of Imperial -power Vitellius was at length awakened by the echoes of -rebellion in the provinces. After a few futile executions, -and several relapses into his besetting gluttony, he was -forced to set out for the north. He quickly returned, -however, and wandered about Rome in hysterical impotence, -while the followers of Vespasian closed upon the -city. Civil war had broken out, and the Romans gazed with -horror on the sacred Capitol besieged by the German troops -and bursting into flames. At last Vitellius came out with -Fundana and her child, in mourning dress, and announced -that he would resign. The consul refused his sword, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span> -the mournful procession directed its steps towards his -brother’s house. He was persuaded to return to the palace, -but the Vespasianists captured Rome, and he was taken to -Fundana’s house on the Aventine. From this he somehow -wandered back to the palace. “The awful silence terrified -him; he tried the closed doors, and shuddered at the empty -chambers,” says Tacitus. Dazed and incapable of flight, -he hid in the sordid room where the dogs were kept. -Here the soldiers found him, torn and bleeding, and forced -him to walk the streets, while they kept his head erect -with the point of a sword, and the people flung filth and -epithets at him. They then inflicted on him a slow and -painful death, and flung his remains in the Tiber.</p> - -<p>Fundana was spared, and her daughter honourably -given in marriage, by his magnanimous successor. From -the brief and unwelcome splendour of the “golden house” -she passed into private life, and lived only to bemoan -the cruel fate that had lifted her husband to the intoxicating -height of the Roman throne.</p> - -<p>There was no Empress in the reigns of Vespasian and -Titus, but a word may be said of the two remarkable -women who shared their power to some extent. Vespasian, -whose sober and solid administration it would be pleasant -to contrast with the orgiastic reigns of his predecessors, -was a rough soldier, of humble extraction and homely -ways. He had, in the time of Caligula, married the -mistress of a knight, Flavia Domitilla, who remains little -more than a name in the chronicles. He had won distinction -under Narcissus, but the triumph of Agrippina -drove him and Domitilla into exile. Nero employed him -to crush the rebellion in Judæa, and it was during this -campaign that his wife died, leaving him with her two -sons—his successors—Titus and Domitian. He was, therefore, -a widower when the Eastern troops made him -Emperor, but he took into his palace, and treated as -Empress, an emancipated slave of the name of Cænis.</p> - -<p>The mistress of Vespasian has the distinction of being -associated—actively and usefully associated—with him in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span> -one of the soundest attempts to restore the decaying -Empire. She had been in the service of Antonia, the -grandmother of Agrippina, and is said to have been the -one who first disclosed to Tiberius the perfidy of Sejanus. -From the first she was a dangerous rival of Domitilla, -and, when his wife died, Vespasian entered into the quasi-matrimonial -relation with her which is known in Roman -law as <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">contubernium</i>. She would probably have been -Empress if the law had permitted him to contract a -solemn marriage with her. She had considerable ability, -but an unhappy reputation for extortion and the sale of -offices. It is not clear, however, that the wealth she -obtained did not contribute to Vespasian’s rehabilitation -of the resources of the Empire. They abandoned and -destroyed the golden house of Nero, the central site of -which is now marked by the Flavian Amphitheatre, or -Coliseum. In their quiet gardens in the Quirinal they -received any citizen who cared to visit them, and maintained -no timorous hedge of soldiers between themselves -and their people. They wished to see money spent on -public purposes, or hoarded for public emergencies, rather -than squandered. “My hand is the base of the statue: -give me the money,” Cænis is said to have told a wealthy -man who proposed to raise a statue to her; but Dio -informs us that this and other stories of Cænis’s avarice -properly belong to Vespasian. She died, however—if the -date assigned in Dio is correct—in the second year of -Vespasian’s reign, and must not be credited with too -large a share in that great purification of Rome and reinvigoration -of its life with healthy provincial blood which -Tacitus regards as the beginning of the recovery of the -Empire.</p> - -<p>Titus, who succeeded his father in the year 79, and -reigned for two years, threatened at one time to give -Rome an even more singular and unwelcome type of -Empress. He had in early youth married Arricidia -Tertulla, who died soon afterwards, and then Marcia -Furnilla, a lady of illustrious family. He left his wife<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -in Rome when he took command under his father in -Judæa, and became infatuated with a brilliant princess -of the Herod family, Berenice. He divorced Furnilla, -and brought Berenice to live with him at Rome. But -the Romans resented the prospect of a Jewish Empress, -and she was forced to return. On his accession to the -throne he made no attempt to enforce her on them. He -reigned alone for two years, “the love and delight of -the human race,” and maintained the sober administration -of his father.</p> - -<p>With the accession of his younger brother, Domitian, -Rome received a new Empress, and, by an unhappy -coincidence, saw the imperial palace return to the evil -ways of the Cæsars. Those of our time who attach -almost the entire importance to stock or birth, and little -to circumstances, in the formation of character, will find -a peculiar problem in Domitian and his wife. The -Emperor was the second son of the “plain Sabine burgher” -and sturdy soldier, Vespasian, and of the lowly provincial -woman, Flavia Domitilla. The Empress, Domitia Longina, -was the daughter of Domitius Corbulo, one of the strongest -and ablest generals that Rome produced in the first -century. Yet of these sound and vigorous stocks came, -in one generation, one of the most morbid of the -Emperors and an Empress who, in some respects, rivalled -Messalina. Rome knew them both, and had no false -hope.</p> - -<p>Domitia—as she is usually called—makes her first -appearance as a young girl of great beauty and promise, -caressed and protected by the wealth and prestige of her -distinguished father, who, it is interesting to note, was a -brother of Caligula’s masculine wife Cæsonia. She was -married to a noble of distinction and character, Lucius -Ælius Lamia Æmilianus, and she seems to have been an -estimable young matron until her father incurred the anger -of Nero and was forced to commit suicide. Procopius and -Josephus, indeed, represent her as virtuous to the end, but -there seems to be little room for doubt that the nearer and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -less indulgent authorities are correct. Her young mind -opened on the sordid scenes of the closing part of Nero’s -reign and the folly of Vitellius. She then met the -fascinating and effeminate Domitian, and very speedily -capitulated to his assaults.</p> - -<div id="ip_131" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 25em;"> - <img src="images/i_130.jpg" width="392" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>DOMITIA</p> - -<p>BUST IN UFFIZI GALLERY, FLORENCE</p></div></div> - -<p>Gibbon speaks of him as “the timid and inhuman -Domitian,” while Dio opens his biographical sketch of the -Emperor with the deliberate epithet, “bold and wrathful.” -We shall find a very natural dread of assassination in -Domitian’s later years, but he was undoubtedly bold and -crafty in the service of Venus, and a stranger to moral -sentiment. His elder brother Titus had developed the -manly qualities of their father on the battlefields of Judæa, -and had proved strong enough to crush his irregular -feelings on his accession to the throne. Domitian had -remained at Rome, discharging only civic duties, and had -become one of the most heartless dandies in the group of -degenerate young patricians. During the civil strife of the -Vitellianists and Vespasianists on the streets of Rome he -had made his escape in the fitting disguise of a priest of -Isis. Titus knew his vicious and luxurious ways, and endeavoured -to check him by offering him his own charming -daughter Julia in marriage; but Domitian was engaged -in fascinating the pretty and accomplished wife of Lamia -Æmilianus, and refused. Titus, on his accession, associated -him in the government, and his first act was to separate -his mistress from her husband, and marry her.</p> - -<p>Domitia’s triumph was quickly tempered with mortification. -Julia married her cousin Sabinus, and, out of -pique or devilry, Domitian now discovered her charm and -seduced her. To such a pair as these the attainment of -supreme power meant an occasion of Imperial license, and -sober Romans saw their community rapidly lose the ground -that had been won in the previous reigns. It was even -rumoured that Domitian had hastened his brother’s death -by putting him in a box of snow during his last illness, -though this remains no more than an idle rumour. At all -events, Domitia soon discovered the despicable character<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -for whom—or for whose prospects—she had abandoned -her saner husband. While the affairs of the Empire needed -his most strenuous attention, he would spend hours catching -flies and spitting them with a bodkin; and from the -spitting of flies he presently passed to the larger sport of -murdering men. He conducted his little frontier-wars from -safe and luxurious quarters, and came home to enjoy a -triumph and erect a colossal bronze memorial of his valour. -He banished eunuchs from Rome, and kept them in his -palace; waged war against vice in all forms, and practised -it in all forms. In the general relaxation of Roman -manners even the Vestal Virgins had been for some -decades permitted an alleviation of their onerous vows. -Domitian posed as a moralist, on no other apparent ground -than that he was closely acquainted with every shade of -immorality, and drastically punished them. He raised -fine public buildings, and depleted the public treasury by -reckless expenditure and incompetent administration; prosecuted -officials for extortion, and put men to death for -their wealth; gave brilliant entertainments, and darkened -the city and the Empire with his sanguinary brooding.</p> - -<p>If we were to accept Josephus’s estimate of the virtue of -Domitia, we should conceive her as living in melancholy -isolation in the gloomy palace, an outraged spectator of -her husband’s relations with Julia. But there is good -evidence that she sought relief with something of the -freedom of a Messalina. An authentic occurrence in the -third year of Domitian’s reign puts her guilt beyond question. -He had the actor Paris murdered in the street, and -divorced Domitia. The people boldly sympathized with -her, and covered with flowers the spot on which Paris had -been killed. The Emperor had a number of them executed, -but public feeling seems to have been expressed so strongly -that he was forced to recall Domitia to the palace, and the -sordid comedy ran on amid the jeers of Rome. A poet -was put to death for making it the theme of his verse; -Domitia’s former husband and others were executed for -their freedom of speech. Then the beautiful and captivating<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -Julia perished miserably in an attempt of Domitian’s -to destroy the too obvious proof of their incest, and he -became more sombre than ever.</p> - -<p>This is not the place to tell the long and dreary story -of the reign of Domitian, of which, for twelve further years, -the Empress remains an inconspicuous, and perhaps a -sobered, spectator. For a few years he maintained his -singular and obscure mixture of good and evil, but the -brighter features of his administration gradually faded, -and a horrible gloom settled on the palace and the city. -Hosts of spies and informers sprang up; large numbers -of nobles, of both sexes, were executed or banished, on -the slightest suspicion, and their wealth divided between -the informers and the Emperor’s shrinking treasury. So -great was his dread of assassination that he lined the -portico at the palace, in which he used to walk, with white -glazed tiles that would reflect the approach of any person -behind him. But an extraordinary incident that Dio relates -will suffice to give some idea of the reign of terror under -which the Empress and all Rome suffered.</p> - -<p>A number of the leading citizens of Rome were summoned -to a banquet at the palace at a late hour of the -night. They were frozen with horror when they found -that the entire dining-room—walls, ceiling, and floor—was -draped in black, and a miniature tombstone, with his -name engraved on it, was placed opposite each guest. As -they gazed, a number of nude boys, whose bodies were -washed with ink, burst into the room and danced amongst -them, and then the dishes of a funeral banquet were served. -The guests sat silent and shivering; the Emperor grimly -discoursed to them of deaths and executions. When the -banquet was over, they were relieved to find themselves -dismissed. They found, however, that their litters had -been sent away, and they were put into strange vehicles, -with strange servants. The gloomy journey ended at their -own houses, and they were beginning to breathe, when -they were thrown into fresh alarm by the news that a -messenger had come from the palace. The messenger to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span> -each guest was one of the dancing boys, now cleaned, -perfumed, and clothed with flowers, bearing the gold and -silver vessels which the guest had used at the banquet. -The boys and the dishes were presented to them with the -Emperor’s greeting.</p> - -<p>Unhappily, Domitian did not confine himself to intimidation. -The heads of the wealthier nobles fell in quick -succession, and, in great secrecy, amid an army of spies, -the Empress and a few others came to an understanding. -The story of the actual fall of the tyrant has clearly -been embroidered with a good deal of unauthentic detail -in popular gossip, but even in its most sober version it does -not lack romance.</p> - -<p>The version which Dio assures us he “had heard” is -one that the conscientious historian must hesitate to accept. -The Emperor, he says, had been informed of the conspiracy, -and had drawn up a list of those who were to be -executed for taking part in it. He put the list under his -pillow, with the sword which he always kept there, and -went to sleep. We have previously seen something of -the bejewelled boys who used to run with great freedom -about the palaces of the Romans of the first century. -Domitian, the great censor of other people’s vices, had a -number of them, and the legend is that one of them, playing -in his bedroom, noticed the parchment under his pillow, -and took it out into the palace. Domitia met the boy, and -idly glanced at the parchment. She saw her own name -at the head of the list of the condemned, and at once -summoned the other conspirators. They entered the -Emperor’s room, snatched the sword from under his pillow, -and despatched him.</p> - -<p>Pretty as the story is, we must prefer the more prosaic -account given us by Suetonius, who lived in the next -generation. Domitia felt that the Emperor had at last -conceived a design on her life, and she sent her steward -to despatch him. He offered Domitian a fictitious report -of a plot, and stabbed him while he read it. Other servants -rushed in at the signal, and completed the assassination.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> -It is the one action that historians have recorded to the -honour of the twelfth Empress of Rome, and we leave -her company with little regret. She was an ordinary -woman of the patrician world at the time—fair, frail, accomplished, -and luxurious. With the death of her husband -she merges in the indistinguishable crowd of selfish and -wayward ladies on whom Juvenal was then beginning to -pour his exaggerated rhetoric.</p> - -<p>It remains to describe very briefly how the sceptre -passes into the nobler hands of the Stoic Emperors and -their wives. The throne was offered to, and accepted by, -M. Cocceius Nerva, an aged noble of known moderation -and long public service. He at once removed all traces -of the hateful reign of his predecessor, and entered upon -a sober and useful administration of the Empire. He was -in the later sixties of his age, and we find no mention of -a wife. But the task of enforcing sobriety on so corrupted -a population was too great for his age and moderate ability. -A conspiracy against him was discovered. He disarmed -the conspirators by inviting them to sit by him in the -theatre, and even putting a sword in their hands and asking -them what they thought of its keenness; but he saw that -a stronger man was needed, and he chose as his colleague -Marcus Ulpius Nerva Trajanus, a Spaniard of great -military ability and commanding personality, who was -then at the head of the troops in Germany. Nerva died -soon afterwards, and, with the accession of Trajan, we -come to the thirteenth Empress of Rome and the commencement -of a new and more splendid chapter in the -story of the Empire.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_VIII" class="vspace">CHAPTER VIII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">PLOTINA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">“If,”</span> says Gibbon, “a man were called to fix the period -in the history of the world, during which the condition -of the human race was most happy and prosperous, -he would, without hesitation, name that which -elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of -Commodus”; and he observes of Antoninus Pius and -Marcus Aurelius that “their united reigns are possibly -the only period of history in which the happiness of a great -people was the sole object of government.”</p> - -<p>This monumental eulogy of the period which we now -approach—a eulogy which the more penetrating study of -Renan and the more recent research of M. Boissier and -Dr. Dill have not materially lessened—will suffice to warn -the inexpert reader against the ancient and popular legend -that Rome continued to sink under the burden of its vices -until it tottered into the tomb of outworn nations. Under -the Empresses whom we have now to consider there was -a great improvement of character and recovery of vigour -in the Roman Empire, but before we pass to that brighter -phase I would enter a brief protest against the general -exaggeration of the darkness of the period we have traversed. -Even under its worst rulers Rome was far from -being wholly corrupt. The vices of a Messalina, the crimes -of an Agrippina, and the follies of a Poppæa, stand out -so prominently in that period only because they were -perpetrated on the height of the throne. Even they were -hardly worse than the crimes and follies of the wives or<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -mistresses of kings in many a less censured period of -history; and, if you care to count them, the lilies were as -numerous as the poppies in this first series of Empresses, -but the lilies drooped earlier, and have been less noticed. -Whenever, in the course of our story, the light has passed -from the throne to the less elevated crowd, we have found -fine character mingled with the corrupt even in the darkest -years of the early Empire. The heads that fell before -the Imperial monsters were as many as the heads that -bowed.</p> - -<p>The truth is that, if we are not misled by the hasty -generalizations and plebeian diatribes which Juvenal, in his -“Satires,” founds upon the dubious bits of gossip that he -picked up on the fringe of Roman society, and against -which historians now warn us, there was much the same -diversity of conduct in the early Empire as in most of the -corresponding periods of luxury. The wealthier women -of Rome assuredly fell far short of the cloistered virtue of -the maid and the matron of Greece; but Greece had only -succeeded in maintaining that standard of domestic virtue -in its wives and daughters by cultivating a high caste of -courtesans for their roaming husbands. It may be admitted, -too, that the Roman woman was morally inferior -to the wife of the Egyptian noble, and to the wife of the -noble or the wealthy merchant of Babylonia. But the -patrician women, even of Cæsarean Rome, will compare -with the women of most of the later civilizations at the -same stage of development; at the stage, that is to say, -when the nation relaxes from the strain of empire-making, -and its veins are flushed with the wealth of its conquests. -I would instance the women of the early Teutonic nations -as soon as they settle on southern Europe; the women of -Italy in the early Middle Ages; the women of England -under the Stuarts and, after a later expansion, under the -Georges; the women of France under Louis XIII and -Louis XIV; the women of Russia in the nineteenth century. -At Rome, in spite of the positive insistence on vice -of Caligula, Messalina, and Nero, in spite of their determined<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span> -effort to weed out the good, we have found virtue and -courage springing up afresh in each generation.</p> - -<p>We now come to a period when, three centuries before -the fall of Rome, the Empire is purged of its exceptional -corruption, and character assumes the normal diversity -that it has in any old and wealthy civilization. The city -of Rome was assuredly vicious and in decay. But the city -was not the Empire, as those rhetoricians forget who talk -of its entire demoralization. Rome had been drenched -with degrading agencies for half a century; but there was -a quite normal amount of stout will and high character in -the provinces, and this is now infused more freely into the -metropolis. It is only by a similar influx of sounder blood -from the provinces that any great city survives the feverish -waste of its tissue. The remedy was retarded in Rome -because the provincials, even of Italy, but especially of -Gaul and Spain, were of alien race. Rome jealously -remembered that it was the conqueror; the rest were the -conquered. Under Vespasian, however, the provincials -were admitted more freely, and with the accession of a -Spaniard, Trajan, the process increased.</p> - -<p>In the remote and primitive settlement which Agrippina -had established on the banks of the Rhine, where the -towers of Cologne Cathedral now keep watch over a -splendid city, there dwelt, in the year 97, the commander -of the forces in Lower Germany, Marcus Ulpius Trajanus, -with his wife and a few female relatives. Trajan was of a -moderate Spanish family, and had, like his father, cut his -own path in the military service of the Empire. He was -unambitious, but popular. A large, handsome man, in his -forty-fifth year, of singularly graceful bearing and serene -features, he charmed everybody by his simplicity and -affability of manner, and liked a good carouse and a rough -soldierly jest. His wife Plotina was a plain, honest matron -of unknown origin. It has been conjectured that she was -related to Pompeius Planta, at one time Governor of -Egypt, but the only ground for the conjecture seems to -be that Planta was a friend of Trajan’s. As she had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -neither beauty of person nor romantic defect of character, -the chroniclers have left her largely to our imagination; -but she was a type of woman whom it is not difficult to -picture—a woman of plain features, level judgment, and of -what is euphemistically called grave but agreeable conversation. -She was by no means brilliant, but her close -friendship for Hadrian suggests that she was not too dull -and prosy, and had pretensions to culture. Her ways were -simple, and her character can be relieved of the one -imputation made against it. She compares well with -Livia, but as a higher <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">bourgeoise</i> compares with a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">grande -dame</i>. In a word, she had none of the autumnal colour, -the beauty of decay, of the Cæsarean women, but she had -the less æsthetic and more useful quality that they lacked, -conscientiousness. To the courtly Pliny (“Panegyr.,” 83) -she is the embodiment of all the virtues.</p> - -<p>With her at Cologne was Trajan’s sister Marciana, a -widow of much the same complexion as Plotina, and -Marciana’s daughter Matidia, who in turn had two daughters, -Sabina and Matidia. We can imagine the agitation of this -tranquil establishment among the forests of Germany when -a courier came from Rome with the news that Trajan was -chosen as colleague of the Emperor. They had left Rome -six years before, in the middle of Domitian’s reign. However, -they seem to have received very sedately the prospect -of a removal from the camp on the Rhine to the Imperial -palace. Although Nerva died in the following January (98), -Trajan remained for the year in Germany, completing his -task of strengthening the frontier against the northern -barbarians. Then the family set out on the long journey -to the capital.</p> - -<p>The fame of Trajan’s simplicity and geniality of manner -had preceded him, but Rome looked with surprise on an -Emperor who could wait a year before occupying the -palace, enter the city on foot, without guards, and talk so -affably with any of his subjects. Nor was Plotina long -before she showed that they had received a new type of -Empress. As she ascended the steps of the palace, she<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -turned round and said to those below: “As I enter here -to-day, I trust I shall leave it when the time comes.” The -refreshing amiability, simplicity, and moderation of the -Imperial couple captivated the Romans, and Trajan responded -to their good will with the most judicious and -untiring exertions in the public service. He trod out at -once the hideous brood of informers, checked corrupt -officials, and appointed the best men to public offices. -Indifferent to the splendour and luxury of even the modest -palace of Vespasian, he spent most of his reign in frontier-wars -or in long journeys for the purpose of bracing the -relaxed frame of the Empire; and he enriched and adorned -Rome as no Emperor had done since Octavian.</p> - -<p>That he was vigorously supported by Plotina is quite -certain, and there is evidence that she was much more than -a sympathetic witness of his labours. It is related by the -Emperor Julian that Trajan often sought the advice of -Plotina, and that it was always sound. At the beginning -of his reign she had occasion to use her influence. Trajan’s -dislike of informers was carried so far that, when a case of -real extortion occurred in the provinces, the injured were -prevented from bringing it to his notice. They appealed -to Plotina, and she put the case judiciously to her husband -and secured relief. In many other ways she gave useful -assistance, so that the Senate offered the title of Augusta -to her and Marciana. They declined, as Trajan had refused -the special title offered to him, but he relented, and they -followed his example.</p> - -<p>The reign of Trajan and Plotina was thus one long -episode of strenuous and enlightened public service, but -before we enter into the particulars of their achievements -it is proper to endeavour to obtain a nearer view of their -personalities. In this the chroniclers give us little assistance, -and the result cannot be very interesting. It is ever -the painful reflection of the biographer that the description -of a sober life—a life which neither sinks to the lower levels -of vice nor soars to some unaccustomed height of virtue—has -little interest for the majority of his readers; and this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -was the life of the Imperial court during the twenty years -of Trajan’s reign. The Emperor himself was no paragon. -Preferring the easy ways of a camp, he drank somewhat -deeply of nights, his jests were apt to be coarse, and he -was popularly accused of the vice which so generally -infected the men of the Empire. Yet he had this distinction -in a long line of Emperors, in the prime of life, that no -woman ever shared, or sullied, his affection for Plotina. -Gibbon has remarked, in extenuation of the conduct of his -successor, that “of the first fifteen Emperors, Claudius was -the only one whose taste in love was entirely correct.” -That would be a high compliment to Messalina, but in -point of fact, as we saw, Claudius was not entitled to that -distinction. The charge against Trajan is vague, and we -must rather award the distinction to him. Merivale somewhat -harshly speaks of him as only maintaining his self-respect -because of the bluntness of his moral sense. If we -put his strong sense of public duty and his fidelity in the -scale against his one certain indulgence, in drink, we shall -hardly agree to that verdict.</p> - -<p>The virtue of Plotina, on the other hand, has been more -seriously assailed by both ancient and recent writers. In -the service of the Emperor was a very handsome and -accomplished youth named Hadrian, an orphan, with great -taste and skill in art and letters. He had been employed -by Trajan at Cologne, both in military service and in filling -up the long nights with an occasional carouse, and, after -their return to Rome, he was a great favourite of the ladies -at the palace. They formed a little circle in which letters -were discussed and literary men were patronized. There -was something of a literary revival; it was the age of -Juvenal, Martial, Quinctilian, Pliny, Suetonius, Celsus, and -Dio Chrysostom. Hadrian was a brilliant student, and he -appreciated this open and easy way to distinction. Trajan -is represented as using the young man for companion, but -not regarding him as fitted for promotion, so that it fell to -Plotina to urge, and ultimately to make, the fortune of -the future Emperor. The magnificent mausoleum which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span> -Hadrian raised in memory of her long testified to his -ardent and grateful attachment.</p> - -<p>There is a good deal of exaggeration in this conception. -We shall see that Trajan promoted Hadrian in such a way -as to mark him in the eyes of all as his successor; and his -chief advisers in this were the statesmen Sura and Attianus. -In any case, there is no proof that Plotina, who must have -been twenty years older than Hadrian, felt more than a -very natural fondness for the gifted and charming youth. -Pliny mentions that her friendship for him gave rise to -gossip, but insists that she was “a most virtuous woman.” -The “Augustan History” leaves her unassailed. Suetonius -has no scandal to record. Dio alone describes their attachment -as “erotic love”; but on an earlier page Dio has -expressly said that her career was stainless. When he has -described her standing at the top of the palace steps, to say -that she trusted to leave that palace just as she entered it, -he adds: “And she so bore herself throughout the whole -reign as to incur no blame.”<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> The remarkable eulogy of -Pliny, the silence of the other authorities, and the conduct -of Trajan, must enable us to choose between these contradictory -statements of Dio, and indeed compel us to reject -this unsubstantial charge against the virtue of Plotina.</p> - -<p>The other ladies of the Imperial household were equally -without reproach, and life at the palace was harmonious -and uneventful. Emperor and Empress moved about -Rome without guards, and entertained, or were entertained -by, their friends in a simple and unceremonious way. But -Trajan had little love for the atmosphere of a palace, and -an outbreak in Dacia, two years after his arrival in Rome, -gave him an excuse to return to the camp. He took -Hadrian with him, and remained in Dacia a year. In the -year 103 he rejoined Plotina at Rome, but the war broke -out afresh shortly afterwards, and it now took him three -years to subdue the province and link it to the Empire by -a great bridge over the Danube. He returned in 107, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -spent seven years in Rome before he set out on his final -journey in the year 114.</p> - -<div id="ip_143" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 28em;"> - <img src="images/i_142.jpg" width="439" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>PLOTINA</p> - -<p>STATUE IN THE LOUVRE</p></div></div> - -<p>The prolonged absence of the Emperor threw a good -deal of responsibility on Plotina, and it would be of great -interest, if it were possible, to trace her share in the vast -work which was done for the city and the Empire at that -time. This, unfortunately, we cannot do. There were able -counsellors left at Rome in Trajan’s absence, and no doubt -most of the work was directly controlled by Trajan during -his stay in Rome from 107 to 114. We know only that he -conferred freely with Plotina, and that he left great power -to her when he went abroad. We can, therefore, only -regard her, in a general way, as contributing to the -prosperity and progress that characterize the reign of her -husband. She kept Rome tranquil and content, and no -doubt followed with close interest the great improvements -which Trajan commanded. The neck of hill which linked -the Capitoline to the Quirinal, in the heart of Rome, was -cut away, and a fine Forum, or broad street with sheltered -colonnade on either side, was constructed on the cleared -ground between the hills. As previous Emperors had -already made slight extensions of the old Forum, the -citizens of Rome now had, in the centre of the city, a -magnificent <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">corso</i> running out toward the great Circus, in -the porticoes of which the packed dwellers of the Subura on -one side, and Velabrum on the other, could lounge and take -the air with comfort. Nor was this a mere meretricious -concession to their entertainment. Trajan was equally -attentive to their education. A beautiful basilica, two public -libraries—one for Greek and one for Roman letters—and -other splendid buildings were raised along the sides of the -new Forum, and statues of marble and bronze were brought -from all parts, even from the palace, to adorn it.</p> - -<p>Other cities of the Empire shared in the generosity -and public spirit of the new reign. Harbours were constructed -for the increase of commerce, fresh roads were -flung across the intervening country, and many towns -were enriched with stimulating public edifices. Nor were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -the social needs of the Empire less regarded than the -material. Previous Emperors had given a scanty practical -expression to the doctrine of the brotherhood of men, -which the Stoic philosophy was disseminating. Trajan -gave a great extension to this new philanthropy, as we -learn from the inscriptions that have been found in the soil -of Italy. It is estimated that 300,000 poor and orphaned -children were fed by charity or Imperial aid in Italy alone. -The lot of the slave was improved, and the school system of -the Empire became better than any that has since appeared -in Europe until the second half of the nineteenth century. -Men were returning to the sobriety of their fathers, and -were tempering it with the new spirit of peace and mercy, -and a regard for culture. Morality improved, and character -became a qualification for office. The one open scandal of -the long reign—an intrigue of the Vestal Virgins with three -young knights—was punished with all the rigour of the old -Roman law.</p> - -<p>We must be content to know that Plotina had her -part in this noble work of restoring the jaded frame of -the Empire, and refrain from attempting to measure her -particular influence. By the year 114 the administration -ran so smoothly, and the Western world was so settled, -that Trajan turned his attention to the East. The Parthians -had been interfering in the affairs of the Ethiopians, who -were vassals of Rome, and Trajan saw in this a pretext -of establishing more strongly, if not enlarging, the eastern -frontier of the Empire. He had never been in the East, -and the deep attraction of its ancient cities and decadent -mysticism gave a cultural interest to his expedition. He -took with him Plotina and Matidia, his niece. Marciana -seems to have died before this time, and Hadrian had -married Sabina, the daughter of Matidia. Hadrian, and -probably his wife, accompanied them.</p> - -<p>The path to the East for the Roman lay through Athens, -where Plotina and her companions would survey the -decaying splendour of the Greek civilization in which -they had long been interested. Envoys from the Parthians<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -met Trajan there, and tried to disarm him, but he dismissed them, -and pushed on to the field in which he trusted -to win fresh laurels. They reached Antioch at the end -of the year, and had, during their stay in that metropolis -of Oriental vice and luxury, a novel experience. A great -earthquake shook the city, and even the house in which -the Emperor lodged. He was forced to make his escape -by the window. The accounts of their later movements -are meagre, and we can only imagine Plotina passing -with wonder through the strange spectacles of western -Asia. During the spring and summer an indecisive -campaign was waged against the Parthians, and Trajan -returned to Antioch for the winter. In the spring of the -year 116 the Emperor set out again for Mesopotamia. He -passed down the Euphrates, took the Parthian capital, -sailed on the Persian Gulf, and even directed a longing -eye over the ocean in the direction of India. The spirit -of Alexander breathed in him as he trod this theatre -of the historic conquerors, but the burden of age and an -increasing infirmity put a reluctant limit to his ambition. -He had, in fact, passed the range of his powers, and -distended too far the frontier of the Empire. In the -following year he became weaker, and the Eastern tribes -advanced with spirit. Leaving the task to his generals, -the Emperor turned towards Italy.</p> - -<p>How far Plotina had accompanied her husband on -these remote journeys we are not informed. It would -not be surprising, or out of harmony with a general custom -of the time, if she covered the whole, or the greater part, -of the territory with him. However that may be, we -find her with Trajan and Hadrian at Antioch once more in -the course of the year 117. Trajan was seriously ill, and -had to abandon all hope of settling the Eastern question. -He maintained the troops at the frontier, left Hadrian at -Antioch as legate of the East, and slowly and sadly moved -towards Europe. His tall frame was bent with age, his -hair was white, his limbs made heavy with dropsy and -numbed with incipient paralysis. When they arrived at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span> -Selinus, a small town on a precipitous rock of the Cilician -coast, only a few hundred miles from Edessa, his illness -increased, and he died, in the month of August, 117, in -the sixty-third year of his age.</p> - -<p>The exact truth about Plotina’s conduct at the time -of Trajan’s death will never be known, but an impartial -analysis of the statements made by the chroniclers cannot -discover any clear ground for dissatisfaction. Dio, whose -authority on this point is claimed to be considerable, since -his father was then governor of the province of Cilicia, -first insinuates a suggestion of poison, in the usual form -of an unsubstantial rumour, and then insists that Plotina -forged a letter in Trajan’s name, nominating Hadrian -his successor in the Imperial power. The writer of the -sketch of Hadrian in the “Historia Augusta,” Spartianus, -carries the legend further. He describes how Plotina put -a confidant in the bed of the dead Emperor, drew the -clothes about him, and directed him to murmur, in a -feeble voice, to the assembled officials that he wished -Hadrian to succeed him. This second version is wholly -negligible. It comes only from an anonymous writer of -the fourth century who excites our distrust at all times -by his extravagant and unsupported statements. The -latest commentators on his work warn us that his aim -is prurient and his method devoid of scruple.</p> - -<p>The authority of Dio, on the other hand, must not be -exaggerated. His father might purvey gossip to him, like -any other Greek or Roman, and his story of the forged -letter—or forged signature to a letter—might easily be -a piece of local gossip. Plotina was evidently anxious -to secure the succession for Hadrian, and one may well -admit that she concealed her husband’s death until Hadrian -arrived at Selinus. That concealment would easily give -rise to conjectures. Serviez naturally forces on his readers -the more romantic version, but more sober writers acquit -Plotina of anything more than a formal use of Trajan’s -name after his death.</p> - -<p>The suggestion of poison is frivolous. Trajan had been<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -ailing for months, and his assiduous travelling in a climate -so different from that to which he had been accustomed all -his life must have worn him out. He arrived in Asia -Minor in the sweltering and dangerous month of August, -and a touch of the enteric fever which so commonly overcame -the European in the insanitary East of the time put -an end to his life. Plotina had for some time urged him to -nominate Hadrian as his successor. We must not hastily -infer from his reluctance that he thought Hadrian unfit to -succeed him. He had just left him in a position of the -gravest responsibility, and must have appreciated what a -great historian calls Hadrian’s “vast and active genius.” -But he may not have deemed it proper for him to dictate -to the Senate how they should exercise their power of -choice. What actually occurred is certainly obscure. A -letter was dispatched to the Senate, after Trajan’s death, -in which Hadrian was nominated, and Dio says that the -signature was put to this letter by Plotina. One would -imagine that such a deception, as Dio represents it to -be, would easily be detected and resented by Hadrian’s -powerful enemies in the Senate. It is probable that, as -Merivale supposes, the letter was really dictated by Trajan, -and the signing of it by Plotina was only formal. We may -admit Dio’s narrative of facts, yet believe that the Empress -was merely carrying out Trajan’s will.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, there is no reason to quarrel with, -or put a base interpretation on, her zeal for the succession -of Hadrian. We shall see how well he maintained the -sound work of Trajan. He was at once summoned to -Selinus, to consult with Plotina and with the elderly -Senator Attianus, who had been his guardian together -with Trajan, and had been as zealous as the Empress -in urging his advancement. They decided that Hadrian -must return to his post at Antioch, and Plotina set out -for Rome with the ashes of her husband in a golden urn. -The last resting-place of Trajan was under the magnificent -column which still bears witness in Rome to his many -victories, and for centuries afterwards the most flattering<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -compliment that the Senators could pay to an Emperor -was to cry that he was “more fortunate than Augustus, -and better than Trajan.”</p> - -<p>Plotina lived at Rome for four years after the death of -her husband. The first year was, as we shall see, one of -great anxiety and trial. There was much discontent at -Hadrian’s accession, and before long his reign was stained -by the execution of four of the most distinguished nobles. -Matidia died in the following year, and it was known to -all Rome that Sabina lived unhappily with Hadrian. It is -said that Plotina continued to have an active share in the -administration of the Empire, though she must now have -been in, or near, her seventh decade of life. Dio places -her death in the year 121. Hadrian was in Gaul at the -time, and the luxuriance of his mourning gave encouragement -to the libellers. He went into deep mourning, -breathed a passionate grief in a beautiful poem, and ordered -the building of a temple for the cult of the divinity which -he conferred on her. In Nîmes, where he was staying at -the time when her death was announced, he raised the -superb mausoleum which kept her name for ages in the -mind of Europe.</p> - -<p>It is both pleasant and legitimate to believe that there -was neither rhetorical display nor the memory of an -irregular love in the princely mourning of Hadrian over -the death of his patroness. Apart from his own indebtedness -to her, the world owed her much. She had been at -least a most worthy and helpful companion of a great -Emperor, a type of womanhood to which the eyes of -Roman matrons might happily be directed. On the day -when her inanimate frame was borne from the palace to -the funeral pile, men could repeat that she had in truth -left that home of temptation as she had entered it. The -saner and sunnier life of the vast Empire was, in part, her -monument.<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">12</a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_IX" class="vspace">CHAPTER IX<br /> - -<span class="subhead">SABINA, THE WIFE OF HADRIAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">We</span> are already familiar with the extraction and the -training of the next Empress of Rome. Sabina -was the elder daughter of Trajan’s niece Matidia, -and came of the sound and sober stock of the Spanish -provincials. We first meet her in the little settlement on -the Rhine, where she lived with her widowed mother and -grandmother, in Trajan’s house, during the reign of Galba -and Nerva. She was in her early teens, a grave and -modest child, easily directed by the three sedate ladies of -the house. Very shortly after the accession of Trajan, a -charming young officer burst into the camp to offer his -congratulations. He had a romantic story to tell, how a -jealous brother-in-law had bribed his servants to break -down the chariot on the way, and he had crossed the great -forests on foot to greet his guardian and cousin. It was -the future Emperor, and her future husband, Hadrian.</p> - -<p>The wicked brother-in-law, Ursus Servianus, presently -arrived, and put before Trajan a proof of his ward’s -enormities in the shape of a list of his debts. But Trajan -was charmed with the handsome and brilliant young -officer, kept him in his suite, and took him to Rome when -he went up to occupy the throne; and we saw that he -became a great favourite of the Imperial ladies. His -father had been a first cousin of Trajan, but Hadrian lost -him at the age of ten, and was committed to the guardianship -of Trajan and Attianus. The finest masters of Rome -directed his studies in letters, art, rhetoric, and philosophy,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> -and he became a most accomplished and learned, as well -as, by hunting and exercise, a graceful and energetic youth. -The “Historia Augusta” expressly says that Trajan “loved -him,” and he advanced quickly, and enjoyed the brilliant -literary society of the palace and the capital. About two -years after their coming to Rome he married Sabina. One -chronicler represents him as spending large sums of money -to win her, and so incurring the annoyance of Trajan; -another states that he turned with disdain from her plain -propriety, and had to be persuaded by Plotina that the -marriage was to his interest. It was, at all events, clearly -a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">mariage de convenance</i>, and was destined to have the -customary sequel.</p> - -<p>Sabina would be in her twelfth or thirteenth year at the -time, and we can imagine the mating of the prim little -maiden with the brilliant scholar and promising officer of -twenty-four. For many years she is no more than the -silent shadow of her husband, and we can only dimly -follow her movements as she accompanies him about the -Empire. Whether she accompanied him on the Dacian -wars between 101 and 106, or, as seems more probable, -remained at Rome to develop a taste for letters in the -palace of Plotina, we cannot confidently say, but it is -recorded that she did lean to culture. Hadrian was back -in 106, high in the favour of Trajan, who gave him the -diamond ring he had received from Nerva. He could both -fight and carouse to the Emperor’s satisfaction. He was -made prætor on his return, and gave brilliant games—at -Trajan’s expense—in which 11,000 beasts were slain. In -quick succession he became legate in Lower Pannonia -and consul. The aged statesman Sura told him that -he was destined for the throne; the rumour went about -Rome, and the nobles, at first disdainful of his provincial -accent and jealous of his progress, began to respect -him. He, and most probably Sabina, accompanied Trajan -on his fatal journey to the East, and we have seen what -happened.</p> - -<p>In the year 117, in about the thirtieth year of her age,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -Sabina found herself Empress of Rome, but the elevation -seems to have brought her little happiness and impelled -her to no exertion. There is little room for doubt that, -either in the camp or in the tainted atmosphere of Rome -or Antioch, Hadrian had contracted the vice which prevailed -among Roman men. There is another reason, however, -why Sabina remains in obscurity in the chronicles. -Hadrian’s biographer, Gregorovius, has relieved him of the -common charge that he relinquished the conquests of -Trajan, and neglected Imperial interests, in a less enlightened -zeal for art and letters. Hadrian had a clear, -commendable, and vast policy. He believed that the -Empire would only be weakened by extension, and that it -was a saner ambition to enrich and uplift the life within its -frontiers than to enlarge them. His life was spent in a -magnificent realization of this design; and it was a design -so far beyond the modest range of Sabina’s political -intelligence that she was forced to remain a spectator of -his work. She seems, very naturally, to have carped at his -one frailty, which so nearly concerned her, and Hadrian -replied peevishly, and merely conveyed her as an uninterested -encumbrance in the remarkable voyages which -fill the twenty years of his reign.</p> - -<p>Hadrian was then in his fortieth year, a tall, very -handsome and athletic man, of brilliant conversation, untiring -energy, and great public spirit. The most artistic -of all Roman Emperors, one of the most artistic and -cultured of monarchs, indeed, he could nevertheless endure -the plain bread-and-cheese of the soldier for weeks together; -and he so much discarded his horse and his -chariot, for their encouragement, that a chronicler describes -him as having covered the entire Empire on foot. -By diplomacy and by bribes, which we may or may not -admire, he secured an almost unbroken peace for the -Empire during two decades; and the works of use or -adornment with which he enriched every province of the -Empire during those twenty years make up an almost -fabulous achievement. Much as we must sympathize with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -the Empress in her resentment of the practice into which -his Greek-Oriental tastes betrayed him, we cannot deny -that Hadrian was a great and beneficent ruler. The -sketch of his life in that prurient work, the “Historia -Augusta”—the <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">chronique scandaleuse</i> of the middle Empire—is -a monumental, if unconscious, panegyric.</p> - -<p>The biographer of the Empresses cannot escape the -conclusion that Sabina was not a fitting mate for so -versatile and constructive a genius. Her superiority in -decency is enormously outweighed by Hadrian’s magnificent -work for the Empire. The natural alienation of the -two in sentiment would not encourage her to co-operate -in his work, in the fashion set by Livia and Plotina, -but one feels that this is not the sole explanation, and -that her mediocre faculty was entirely absorbed in a -small pursuit of culture. It is not impossible that, if -there had been cordial co-operation between them, she -would have saved Hadrian from the only serious stains -on the record of his reign.</p> - -<p>The first of these occurred in the year following his -accession. Bringing to the Imperial task a fresh and -vigorous mind, untainted by mere military ambition—though -he was an excellent soldier—Hadrian glanced -round the Empire, and saw that peace must first be -established on its frontiers. The East was aflame with -revolt, the African and German boundaries were disturbed, -and trouble was announced from Britain. He at once -sacrificed the conquests beyond the Tigris and Euphrates, -appeased the Jews and the other peoples of the East, and -passed to Lower Germany to still the restlessness of the -northern frontier. There had been some discontent among -the older soldiers and statesmen of Rome at his being -forced on them. From Judæa he had imprudently sent -one of Trajan’s most fiery commanders, the Moorish prince -Lusius Quietus, back in some disgrace to the capital, and -this man and others formed a party of opposition. When -they saw that he was sacrificing Trajan’s conquests and -reversing his policy, and especially when he proposed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> -evacuate Dacia also, they entered, it is said, into something -of the nature of a conspiracy.</p> - -<p>How far Hadrian was really responsible for the -execution of the leaders of this party we cannot say, and -his emphatic denial of responsibility is entitled to consideration. -We know that, when the aged statesman -Attianus wrote to urge him that the Roman prefect and -other distinguished malcontents ought to be removed, -he refused to take any action. The Senate now announced -that a plot to assassinate Hadrian had been detected, and -it put to death, without trial, four men of consular rank, -Nigrinus, Palma, Celsus, and Lusius Quietus. A sullen -murmur passed through the city, and Hadrian hastily -composed his affairs on the Danube and went to Rome. -He resolutely denied that he had consented to the executions, -and the question remains open.</p> - -<p>With this public resentment in view, Hadrian at once -lavished the most princely favours on Rome, and swore -that he would never execute a Senator without the consent -of his order. He remitted debts to the treasury to the -extent of £9,000,000, extended the existing charities to -orphans and widows, provided magnificent spectacles for -the people, and made a sacrifice of Attianus, by deposing -him, to the anger of the malcontents. When the Senate -offered him the triumph which had been due to Trajan -for the Eastern victories, he refused it, and placed a wax -image of the dead Emperor in the triumphal chariot. The -citizens of Rome may have been less impressed when -he showed a zeal for public morals, and forbade the mixed -bathing that had hitherto been permitted; but he succeeded, -by two years of untiring public service, in removing -the earlier resentment. That he wished to kill Attianus, -and did actually execute the architect Apollodorus, are -idle legends. Serviez seriously reproduces the story that -the architect had snubbed him—telling him to “go and -paint his pumpkins”—when he had made a suggestion -to him in earlier years, and that Hadrian avenged himself -when he came to the throne. The truth is that the “Historia<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> -Augusta” describes him in consultation with Apollodorus -on some building project ten years later.</p> - -<p>The details of this vast activity of Hadrian’s do not -concern us, as Sabina seems to have taken no part in it. -The busts we have of her seem to show a cold and irresponsive -temper, as if the Empress were contemplating -disdainfully the figure of the beautiful Oriental youth on -whom Hadrian’s affection became concentrated. There is -distinction in the smooth lines of the face and in the lofty -forehead, and there is a proud strength that might very -well make her “morose and harsh,” as Hadrian described -her, when he gave her such palpable cause for resentment. -Her mother died in 119. In a florid oration Hadrian -praised her beauty of person and character, but the death -would not be likely to improve the relations of the Imperial -spouses.</p> - -<p>In the year 120 or 121 Hadrian set out on the first of -the long journeys which fill the rest of his career, and -Sabina made the tour of the world with him. Had their -intercourse been more pleasant, the lot of Sabina during -the next fifteen years would have been one of great fortune. -They passed together over the whole Roman world from -Eboracum (York) to Arabia and Egypt, surveying the -ruined Empires of the past and the young nations of the -future in the light of whatever culture the age afforded; -and so beneficent was their passage that myriads of inscriptions -and coins, bearing such legends as “Golden -Age” and “Restorer of the Earth,” handed on to posterity -the memory of the great works which Hadrian everywhere -inaugurated. Through Gaul—probably through the flourishing -Greek colony of Massilia (Marseilles), the solid and -cultured city of Lugdunum (Lyons), and the little trading -centre, Lutetia, that would one day be brilliant Paris—they -passed on to Germany, and traversed the boundless -forests that hid the soil of a great modern nation. No -glittering pomp of guards surrounded the Emperor. Bareheaded -alike in the snows of Germany and under the -sun of Syria, marching commonly on foot in the dress of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span> -a soldier, and living on soldier’s fare, he restored the rigid -discipline of the legions wherever he went. Bridges, -aqueducts, roads, temples, and colonnaded squares sprang -up in the rear of his march. His staff was a band of -engineers and architects.</p> - -<div id="ip_155" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 31em;"> - <img src="images/i_154.jpg" width="494" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>SABINA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>In this novel and admirable company Sabina made the -round of Gaul and Germany, and crossed over to Britain -in the Imperial galleys. From the little colony of Londinium -(London), which had been destroyed sixty years -before, and was now restored by Hadrian, they passed -along the solid Roman road to Eboracum (York), the last -great station from which civilization looked out on the -turbulent waves of Scottish barbarism. It was then that -Hadrian ordered the building of the great wall, to keep -off the Caledonian marauders, of which the traces still -exist. Sabina may have remained in York while Hadrian -surveyed the rough territory to the north, and it seems -to have been on the Emperor’s return that an episode -occurred which must have greatly embittered her.</p> - -<p>One of Hadrian’s secretaries was the historian Suetonius, -whose work on the Emperors has provided us with much -material. With him and the cultivated commander of the -Prætorian Guards Sabina maintained a close friendship, -and Hadrian made a grievance of it. So closely did he -pry into the affairs of his friends that the rumour was set -about that he had many mistresses among their wives. -It was reported to him that Suetonius and Septicius Clarus -“were behaving with more familiarity than the dignity of -the Imperial house permitted,” as Spartianus puts it, and -they were dismissed. There is no suggestion of grave -irregularity on her part. The idea of divorcing Sabina, -which Hadrian is said to have discussed, is expressly -connected with what he called her “moroseness and -asperity”; and we can well believe that her asperity took -the form of bitter complaints about his own conduct. -Nothing further was done, and, though we may regard -with reserve the statement that Sabina deliberately prevented -herself from having a child, lest she should put a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -new monster on the throne, the Imperial couple continued -their uncongenial companionship.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> Some of the coins -which were struck in commemoration of their passage -ventured to bear the legend, “Concordia Augusta”—struck -in honour of the harmony of the Imperial household.</p> - -<p>From Britain they returned to Gaul, where Hadrian -excited comment by the opulence of his mourning over -the death of Plotina. They then passed to Spain, where -Roman civilization had taken deep root, and on to the -land of the Moors. The colonies which Rome had planted -along the strip of territory descending from the mountains -to the sea had been devastated by the barbarians, and the -frontier had been obliterated. Hadrian drove back the -tribes, restored the towns, and returned, after an absence -of more than a year, to Rome. The city was tranquil, and -the building of the great villa which still, in its ruins, -excites the amazement of the visitor at Tivoli, was proceeding. -After a year or two of peaceful administration, -seeing that the west, north, and south of the Empire were -secure and prospering, Hadrian turned his face towards -the east.</p> - -<p>We need not follow him in this journey to Greece and -Asia Minor, since it is not clear whether Sabina accompanied -him, but it had a sequel of melancholy interest to -the Empress. From the cities of Greece he made his way -along the coast of the Black Sea to the region of the -Parthians, where he again restored peace, and back -through Asia Minor and the islands to Rome. Two or -three years had been occupied in this journey, and -Hadrian had become less Roman in taste than ever. -He came home surrounded by Greeks, and with a great<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -zeal for Greek and Eastern institutions. In particular he -brought in his train a beautiful Bithynian youth whose -name is from that time inseparably connected with his. -Hadrian’s passion for Antinous is the chief stain on his -character, and was probably the chief ground of Sabina’s -resentment. The Emperor had visited Bithynia, and presumably -met the youth there. Every traveller among -rude and healthy nations is aware that such practices are -by no means confined to decadent civilizations, nor does -the student of contemporary morals see in them anything -distinctive of the life of ancient Syria, Greece, or Rome. -Nevertheless, the remarkable beauty of Antinous, which is -familiar to us in many a statue, and the wanton openness -of his association with the Emperor, attracted general -attention and greatly embittered Sabina.</p> - -<p>When, therefore, she set out with Hadrian, at the end -of 128 or the beginning of 129, for a fresh and more extensive -tour in the East, her enjoyment must have been -heavily clouded by the daily and hourly presence of the -Emperor’s companions. The young Adonis was not the -only source of offence in Hadrian’s suite. Closer still to -Hadrian was a young Roman noble of the most effeminate -charm and the most dissolute life. Lucius Ceionius -Commodus was later taken into Imperial partnership by -Hadrian, and, although he did not live to attain supreme -power, his descendants will more than once enter and -disturb our story of the Empresses. Spartianus ascribes -to him a “regal beauty” of face and person, a manner -of great charm, a witty and sparkling conversation, and -an utter depravity of morals. He had won the regard of -Hadrian, not so much by the famous new dish which he -had invented for the epicures of Rome—a boar, ham, -pheasant, and peacock pie—as by the sensuous charm of -his person and the exotic sensuality of his life. He would -lie, washed in exquisite Persian ointments, on a couch -strewn with roses, with a coverlet of lilies drawn over -himself and his companion. Such ways were entirely -foreign to the nature of Hadrian, but his robust vigour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> -was singularly united with a fine artistic sensibility and -a love of the softer east, which led him into many -inconsistencies.</p> - -<p>Sabina had for companion a Greek poetess, Julia -Fadilla, of such virtue and attainments that a statue was -somewhere raised to honour her as a pattern of integrity. -The incongruous party, with its conflicting groups of virtue -and vice—a fitting symbol of the unhappy union of West -and East—crossed the sea to Athens, and then visited -Corinth, Eleusis, and the other surviving cities of Greece. -The frame of that superb civilization still gleamed, almost -intact, on the soil of Hellas, though the soul of Greece had -departed. It was as if one gazed on the smooth white -corpse of a beautiful woman. Groups of sophists still -disputed in the gardens or under the shady colonnades; -but they were puny mimics of Socrates, Zeno, and -Epicurus. Politicians still babbled in the Agora; but -they blessed the hand of Rome that had closed brutally -on the throat of their fair country. The Acropolis still -shone in its panoply of Parian marble, and Hadrian had -restored the harbour and repaired many of the ravages -of time and violence. He regretted the greed of his forerunners, -and sought to restore the ancient spirit. But -the poor revival of art and letters and religion, which he -succeeded in effecting, was only the last flicker of the -vitality of Greece.</p> - -<p>They crossed the sea to Ephesus, which at that time -rivalled Antioch and Alexandria as a metropolis of the -decaying civilizations of the East. Its great Temple of -Diana, a teeming store of art and treasure, drew men -from all parts, while priests of all religions mingled in its -streets with panders to all vices and ministers to every -form of art and luxury. Smyrna, another flourishing city -of Asia Minor, attracted them next, with its magnificent -assemblage of temples, colonnades, baths, and theatres, -and they passed on to Sardis and the other cities of that -fascinating and repellent Greek-Oriental region, where -new mysticism ran like veins of gold in the old volcanic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> -deposits. The winter was spent in the luxury of Ephesus -and Smyrna, and with the spring they traversed the -successive provinces of Asia Minor, admiring and restoring -the remains of Greek and Persian grandeur. Through -Syria, where famous Antioch detained them for a time, -they went on, probably, to the ruined cities of Tyre and -Sidon, and returned to Heliopolis, Damascus, and Palmyra. -In Palestine they found the survivors of the scattered -Jewish nation living in great poverty and dejection among -the ruins of their cities, or still scrutinizing the prophets -and looking for the Messiah in the larger communities on -the coast. On the site of Jerusalem, where a few broken -towers gave a melancholy reminder of their former prosperity, -Hadrian ordered that a new Roman colony should -be established.</p> - -<p>From Judæa they moved to Arabia, and then to Egypt. -Alexandria was then the second city of the world in -importance, the first in interest. All the exhausted streams -of the older civilizations had poured into it. Never before -or since was there so cosmopolitan a population, such a -gathering of old vices and new moralities, dead religions -and fresh religions, cults six thousand years old and the -latest gospels of Judæa and Persia. Its harbour still held -the ships of every port in the Mediterranean, its Serapeum, -Museum, and Cæsareum sheltered the art and culture of -the world, and its deafening streets rang with the tongues -of the world. But the soul of Egypt, too, was dead, and -the Imperial party moved up the Nile to admire the -surviving relics of its past. No doubt priests and learned -men from Alexandria would attend as interpreters. They -wandered in Memphis, which the sand of the desert was -beginning to bury, passed through Heliopolis, and reached -Besa, where they experienced the great sensation of the -tour. The beautiful Bithynian youth was drowned in the -Nile, and Sabina had to regard with disdain the womanly -tears and the extravagant mourning of the Emperor. It -is not clear to this day whether the death was accidental or -voluntary. Hadrian, of course, said that it was accidental;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> -but a rumour lingers in the chronicles that the Emperor, -in his new zeal for Oriental superstition, had learned that -his life was doomed unless some loved being was sacrificed -for him, and Antinous offered himself. Hadrian has taken -the secret with him, but the temples and statues he raised -all over the Empire kept the memory of the pretty youth -fresh for centuries.</p> - -<p>This occurred about the month of October. The dates -of these journeys of Hadrian are much disputed, but a -trivial detail has determined this part of the tour. They -went on to Thebes, and, in accordance with custom, cut -their names and the date in the great statue of Memnon. -They probably pushed on as far as Philæ, to see the -temple of Isis, but we find them back in Syria at the -end of the year, or the beginning of 132, and soon afterwards -in Rome. The great villa had now been completed -at Tivoli, and we must assume that Sabina lived there -during the three or four years that remained for her. -They were years of continued melancholy. Hadrian was -sobered, but soured. The Jews had disturbed his cherished -peace by rebelling, on account of his design to cover the -site of their holy city with a Roman colony, and he had -ruthlessly destroyed what remained of their cities, and -erased the name of Jerusalem by calling the new town -Ælia Capitolina. Illness began to enfeeble his frame, -and he brooded darkly over the question of a successor, -which men were discussing. He passed in heavy dejection -through the lovely gardens and marble temples of his -villa, still mourning the loss of Antinous. An obelisk -has been found there with the inscription that it was -raised to the youth by Hadrian and Sabina—a fiction -that must have angered the Empress, if it were done -before her death. But she did not live to see the darker -gloom of his closing years. She died in, or about, the -year 136, “not without a rumour of poison,” says -Spartianus; the rumour is not worth considering. She -had been entitled “Augusta” by the Senate in 127, but -Hadrian refused her the divine honours which were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -usually bestowed on dead Empresses. They were awarded -by his successor.</p> - -<p>The busts of Sabina which we have suggest just such a -personality as we have gathered from the meagre references -to her in the chronicles. She was a woman of smooth and -regular features and fine person, without beauty or charm. -Her face gives an impression of intellect, virtue, and silent -suffering. She is the kind of woman who would neither -overlook the vice of her husband nor actively resent it, -or assert herself in any way; the kind of woman to -retreat in disdain to her books. That she was “treated -as a slave” by Hadrian, as Aurelius Victor says, we may -decline to believe, and regard the statement as a popular -exaggeration; nor, on the other hand, can we agree with -Gregorovius that a letter in which Hadrian invites his -mother to dine with him on his birthday, and says that -Sabina has gone into the country, shows their “mutual -dislike.” Duruy quotes this very letter in disproof of -the belief that they were estranged, and points out that -it goes on to say that Sabina had “sent her share for the -family dinner.” The French historian believes that the -legend, “Concordia Augusta,” on some of the medals of -the time expressed a fact. We cannot, however, imagine -Sabina resigning herself to her husband’s passion for -youths, and the few authentic details left us about her -relations with Hadrian generally indicate a mutual aversion. -As an Empress, she was a nonentity; as a woman, an -admirable blend of old-world sobriety and new-world -culture.</p> - -<p>Hadrian survived her for two unhappy years. The -whole Empire was covered with monuments of his public -service, the coinage of every province proclaimed his -beneficence, the slave, the widow, and the orphan gratefully -told of his magnanimity. But the illness and depression of -his last year permitted him to commit a crime, and, so -accustomed was the new generation to good conduct in its -rulers, the recollection of his great deeds was almost -obliterated. To the astonishment of all, and the indignation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> -of the thoughtful, Hadrian announced that he had -chosen as Cæsar his dissolute and decadent companion, -Lucius Verus. His brother-in-law Servianus, now an old -man of ninety, and the grandson of Servianus, a youth -of nineteen, seem to have been among the murmurers, and, -on trivial pretexts, they were put to death. These cruel -murders brought a deep shadow over Hadrian’s last year, -but a last opportunity was given him to repair his action. -Lucius Verus, worn and consumptive from debauch, died, -and Hadrian now made choice of the most worthy man in -the Senate, Titus Antoninus; adding, however, in his quaint -way of mingling good and evil, that he must in turn adopt -the son of Lucius Verus and young Marcus Aurelius, a -Sybarite and a Stoic, two antithetic types of Roman life. -He went down to Baiæ, suffering acutely from dropsy. -The pain and weariness were so great that he tried to -secure poison or a sword, but Antoninus prudently -guarded and nursed him. He died in the year 138, “done -to death by physicians,” he ironically said. In his last -days he composed some slight verses, which I may -translate:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Little soul, so tired and still,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Guest of this decaying flesh,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Whither, now, will thy flight be?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Pale and cold and reft of speech,<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Never more to utter joke.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">It was the note of the time-spirit, which was so strangely -incarnated in Hadrian. He united in his person all the -contradictions that were at strife in his era of change—asceticism -and sensuality, public spirit and selfish sensibility, -Stoicism and Cyrenaicism. He needed a stronger -Empress. But the better spirit prevailed in him at the end, -and the Stoics came to the throne.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_X" class="vspace">CHAPTER X<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIVES OF THE STOICS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap b"><span class="smcap1">On</span> the twenty-fifth of February, in the year 138, -Hadrian had summoned the Senators to the palace. -Verus was dead, and the whole world wondered on -whom the erratic fancy of the ailing Emperor would rest -next. Among the Senators was a distinguished, able, and -amiable statesman and commander, Titus Aurelius Fulvus -Boionius Arrius Antoninus, whose great merit had—as the -long series of names implies—been richly rewarded by -older relatives. He had been much consulted by Hadrian -in his last years, and was respected by all. To the great -relief of the Senate the wavering finger of the Emperor fell -on this man, and he was acclaimed Cæsar. He attended -Hadrian devotedly, prolonged the useless life which -lingered between him and the throne, and—it was rumoured—saved -many a noble head from execution in the last -frenzies of Hadrian. Early in July that great traveller set -out on his last journey, and Aurelius Antoninus—a name -to which the Senate soon added the appellation of Pius—ascended -the throne.</p> - -<p>The new Empress of Rome was Annia Galeria Faustina, -a matron in her thirty-fourth year, of an ancient and distinguished -Italian family. It is of some interest to regard -the extraction of Faustina. Through her the Imperial -throne is about to pass once more to one of its most ignoble -occupants, and Rome will sink rapidly from the reign of -Marcus Aurelius to the riot of Commodus. The two -opposing tendencies of Roman life meet in her family, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> -the Stoic succumbs to the Epicurean—or, rather, to the -Sybaritic or Cyrenaic, for the gospel of Epicurus was one -of dignity and sobriety. Rome might have said, in the -later language of Goethe, as he depicted himself passing -through a similar phase:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Zwei Seelen wohnen, ach, in meiner Brust.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p>One soul leaned to sloth, sensual and selfish indulgence: -one, with larger horizon, was for temperance, vigour, and -Imperial duty. The curious feature of this critical stage in -the fortunes of Rome is that the two tendencies are -developed within the same family, and the Stoic yields to -the Sybarite. Annia Galeria Faustina was born of the same -parents as the father of Marcus Aurelius, and was reared -in the same atmosphere of old Roman virtue, or manliness, -as the word signifies. The great-grandfather of Marcus -Aurelius was Annius Verus, a Senator of great merit and -of Spanish extraction. His son Annius Verus was twice -consul, and both his sons in turn—the father and uncle of -Marcus Aurelius—were promoted to the consulate. Everything -we know of the family suggests a fine and sober -patrician type, and confirms the beautiful picture of it given -us by Marcus Aurelius in his “Meditations.”</p> - -<p>The one element of possible weakness in the ancestry of -the Faustinas and of Commodus is in the mother of Annia -Galeria Faustina. Annius Verus had married Rupilia -Faustina. Her family is obscure, and, though one must -hesitate to trace to her this strain of weakness and vice on -such slender grounds, one is disposed to believe that she -was married for her beauty, and brought into that strong -family the tainted germ which ripened in more than one of -her descendants. It may, however, very well be that the -strength of the stock was decaying—Marcus Aurelius himself -was delicate—and its later descendants succumbed to -the evil influences about them. A genealogical table will -show how the fate of Rome hung on this family for more -than a <span class="locked">generation:—</span></p> - -<div id="ip_164" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29em;"> - <img src="images/i_164.jpg" width="456" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>FAUSTINA THE ELDER</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE LOUVRE</p></div></div> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span></p> - -<div class="centergen"> -<pre class="gen"> - Annius Verus (twice consul)<br /> - and Rupilia Faustina<br /> - |<br /> - +--------------------+----------------------------+<br /> - | | |<br /> -Annius Libo Annius Verus (consul) Annia Galeria Faustina<br /> - (consul) (marries Domitia Calvilla) (marries Antoninus Pius)<br /> - | |<br /> - +-----------------+ ------+-------<br /> - | |<br /> -Annia Cornificia Marcus Aurelius Annia Faustina<br /> - (marries Annia Faustina) |<br /> - | |<br /> - +--------------+---------------+<br /> - |<br /> - Commodus<br /> -</pre> -</div> - -<p>Faustina had inherited her mother’s beauty, and was -reared in a very conscientious home. It was the home in -which Marcus Aurelius learned his first lessons in virtue, -as his father died early, and all the chroniclers speak of it -with great respect. We know very little about her, however, -until she becomes Empress, and, as she died three -years afterwards, we have not much concern with her. -She is believed to have married somewhat late for a Roman -girl, in or about her sixteenth year (120). Titus Aurelius -Antoninus was then in his thirty-fourth year, a tall, graceful, -and handsome man, of quiet and captivating manners, -good cultivation, fine character, and a face of great dignity -and sweetness. He was of good family, and was advancing -rapidly in the public service. Shortly after the marriage -he became consul, and he remained in Rome in one or -other civic capacity until 128 or 129. He was very wealthy -and greatly esteemed.</p> - -<p>One of the chroniclers has charged her with light -behaviour, and, as this is the only period in which we can -plausibly entertain it, we may regard the charge for a -moment. The book of Dio’s history for the reign of -Antoninus Pius is lost, so that neither he nor his commentators -throw any light on Faustina. Aurelius Victor -and Eutropius say nothing of her character. The one -hostile witness is “Julius Capitolinus,” the anonymous -writer of the fourth century who provides the sketch of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -life of Antoninus Pius in the “Historia Augusta.” He -says (c. 3): “Many things are said of his wife’s excessive -freedom and looseness of life, which he had painfully to -overlook.” Serviez enlarges on this with his usual license. -But as he makes Faustina the sister of Ælius Verus, and -says that she neglected the education of her children, which -is also untrue, we may ignore him.</p> - -<p>It is now more customary to reject this charge against -the elder Faustina, on the ground that the single witness is -a light anecdotist of the fourth century. Moreover, when -the tutor Fronto wrote a glowing panegyric of Faustina -after her death, Antoninus Pius answered that it was even -more true than eloquent, and swore that he “would rather -live with her at Gyaros [a barren island, to which criminals -were deported] than in a palace without her.” Nevertheless, -we must leave the question open. Antoninus Pius -was not a puritan. When the Emperor Julian introduces -him before the gods, in his charming contest of the -Emperors for the highest praise (“The Cæsars”), he calls -him “a moderate man, not indeed in love-affairs, but in the -administration of the Empire.” Faustina was probably -charming enough to merit his sincere lament. But as -Capitolinus mingles truth and untruth with a very light -hand, and the relevant book of Dio is wanting, we cannot -decide the issue.</p> - -<p>In the year 128 or 129 Antoninus was appointed Proconsul -of Asia, and he and Faustina went to Smyrna. The -elder of their two daughters died about the same time. An -amusing incident in connexion with their arrival is -narrated by Philostratus in his “Lives of the Sophists.” The -Proconsul at once occupied the finest house in Smyrna, -the home of the teacher Polemo, who was absent. Polemo -was the idol of Smyrna, and was proportionately conceited. -He drew youths from all parts to his school, and had won -much favour from Hadrian for the city. He travelled in a -superb Phrygian chariot, and his mules had silver trappings; -and when some grumblers had hinted that he had -diverted to his own pocket some of Hadrian’s subsidies, he<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> -had pompously written to the Emperor: “Polemo has -given me an account of money given by you to him.” This -conceited sophist reached his house in the middle of the -night, and found the Proconsul and Faustina abed there. -He promptly turned them out, and roundly abused them. -Years afterwards, when the genial Antoninus was Emperor, -and Polemo came to the palace, he said laughingly -to an attendant: “See that Polemo has a chamber in the -palace, and that no one turns him out.” Later an actor -came from Smyrna to complain that Polemo, the autocrat, -had turned him out of the theatre. “At what hour?” -asked the Emperor gravely. It was at midday. “That is -nothing; he turned me out at midnight,” said the Emperor.</p> - -<p>The amiability and solid work of Antoninus must have -won Polemo, as Hadrian is reported to have said in his will -that it was he who advised the adoption of Antoninus. But -the East generally so much appreciated the Proconsul that, -when he returned to Rome, he stood very high in the -favour of Hadrian. We again lose sight of Faustina until -he becomes Emperor, and then there are one or two brief -references to her before she dies in 141. At his accession -he refused the greater part of the money (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">aurum coronarium</i>) -which was due to him, by custom, from the provinces, and -drew very liberally on his private fortune for paying the -great expenses entailed. Faustina naturally demurred. -“Foolish woman,” he is said to have answered, “when we -obtained the Empire we lost what we previously possessed.” -The only other reference is contained in a letter -of the younger Faustina to Marcus Aurelius: “In the -defection of Celsus my mother exhorted Antoninus to be -concerned first about his own family.” We know nothing -of this revolt. Apparently Antoninus, like Marcus Aurelius, -was disposed to be dangerously lenient. The final reference -to Faustina is that she died in the third year of his -reign (141), and was deeply mourned by him. Nominated -“Augusta” in life, she was deified at death, and Antoninus -built in her honour the beautiful temple of which traces are -still seen in Rome. He also instituted in her honour a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -fresh charity for orphans, the “Puellæ Faustinianæ,” and -ordered that gold and silver statues of her should be borne -in the processions.</p> - -<p>This sincere tribute of the Emperor tells at least of a -great affection and esteem, but the literary references to -Faustina are too meagre and disputable to bring her clearly -before us. The busts that are believed to represent her -do not, unfortunately, assist us much. In the Capitoline -Museum at Rome is one that may depict her in her -twenties or earlier. It has a round and tranquil face, not -devoid of strength, but more directly suggesting an even -and sober character. Another bust, in the Vatican -Museum, shows the same features at a later age; but a -third, in the same Museum, has not so pleasant an expression. -The oval face is hard and querulous. The loose -lips droop at the ends; the large eyes, prominent cheekbones, -and strong chin have an expression that is very -far from tender or spiritual. The bust that is attributed -to her in the British Museum is between the two. The -elder Faustina remains in obscurity, and we pass to her -more notorious daughter and successor.</p> - -<p>For twenty years after the death of Faustina there -was no Empress of Rome. Antoninus, who was in his -fifty-fifth year, refused to marry again, and took a concubine—an -arrangement recognized in Roman law and -practice, in which marriage had several degrees. It was -an era of general peace and great prosperity. The group -of Stoic lawyers that the Emperor gathered about him -humanely moderated the rigour of the laws, medical -service was supplied to the poor in the towns, the school-system -was further endowed, and works of mercy continued -to multiply. The armies usually rested—and, it -is to be feared, rusted—the treasury was again filled, the -Empire was happy and prosperous. In the year 161 the -cheerful, benevolent Antoninus passed away, and the two -men whom Hadrian had compelled him to adopt came to -their joint reign. With them are introduced two new -Empresses of no little interest.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -The two boys whom Hadrian had lightly designated as -the heirs to the throne after Antoninus were Annius Verus, -or Verissimus, as Hadrian genially called him on account -of his precocious gravity and piety, and Lucius Verus, son -of Hadrian’s dissolute companion. Annius was a great -favourite of the Emperor. He received office in his sixth -year, and donned the philosopher’s cloak in his twelfth. -He was the pet of his grandfather’s palace, but so serious -in his Stoicism that his mother had difficulty in persuading -him to sleep in a bed instead of on the floor. In his sixteenth -year Hadrian gave him the manly toga, and betrothed him -to the daughter of Lucius Verus. In his eighteenth year -he was “terrified” to hear that he had been chosen for the -succession, and must go to live in the palace. Then Hadrian -died, and Antoninus adopted him.</p> - -<p>Gibbon has greatly praised Antoninus for preferring -the welfare of the State to the interest of his family in this -adoption. It is true that, as we know from coins, Antoninus -and Faustina had had two sons, as well as two daughters, -but they must have died before the year 138. Dio expressly -says that Hadrian ordered Antoninus to adopt the two -youths “because he had no male children at the time.” -His boys, like his elder daughter, must have died before -that time; and indeed we have no further mention of them. -But if this particular grace cannot be allowed to Antoninus, -we must admire his careful control of their education and -his discriminating guidance of their fortunes. The best -masters in Rome instructed each of them, and it was -only the deep-rooted difference in their constitutions—the -moral strength of the one and weakness of the other—that -led them to diverge so widely. The vigilant eye of the -Emperor observed the dissimilarity of promise. He left -Lucius Verus out of the way of promotion, and destined -Marcus for the great advancement.</p> - -<p>No sooner was Antoninus on the throne than he -approached Marcus, through Faustina, with a proposal -of marriage with his daughter. She had been promised -by Hadrian to young Lucius Verus, and Marcus was to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> -marry Ceionia. The Emperor proposed to cancel these -contracts, and marry the younger Faustina to the young -Stoic. It would be extremely interesting if we could -penetrate the feelings of the young princess at the time. -The later busts of her suggest a pretty, round-faced girl, -probably in her early teens, with small eyes and a lively -temperament. The grim and austere young scholar would -not attract her, and one can imagine her feelings when he -asked time to consider whether he would accept the hand -of the Emperor’s charming daughter. Marcus philosophically -weighed the proposal in his mind until the time he -asked had expired, and then he consented to betrothal. -He was appointed Cæsar and consul designate, and given -the palace of Tiberius for a dwelling. A bust that we have -of him, in the Capitol Museum, represents him about this -time—a face of singular beauty and refinement framed in -a mass of short curly hair.</p> - -<p>Their marriage—a superb ceremony—did not take place -until about seven years later (145), a circumstance which -we may regard as a further philosophic error. During the -years of waiting, and during most of the reign of Antoninus, -Marcus was absorbed in study. He was penetrated with -the aphorism of Plato, that the State would be happy whose -prince was a philosopher. What the effect was on Faustina -we may be in a better position to say later. Her mother -had died in 141, her womanhood was fully born, and the eye -of her father had an Empire to survey. At the death of -Antoninus the throne was at once offered to Marcus. In -his last moments Antoninus had ordered the golden statue -of Fortune, which he kept in his chamber, to be conveyed -to Marcus. From a sense of duty he, unluckily for Rome, -associated Lucius Verus with him in the Empire. Somewhat -delicate himself, he relied on Verus for such work -abroad as was immediately necessary, and continued to -frequent the schools.</p> - -<p>His peaceful studies were quickly interrupted. Fatal -floods and scarcity of food disturbed the capital; the eastern -frontier was again aflame, and the German frontier was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> -threatened. Marcus sent Verus to take command in the -East, after betrothing him to his daughter Lucilla, held off -the northern barbarians with bribes and diplomacy, and -worked hard for the relief of Rome. For a time his policy -seemed to triumph. The Germans were pacified, and the -eastern peoples repressed. Verus, indeed, advanced no -farther than the voluptuous palaces of Antioch and the -licentious groves of Daphne. Once only during the campaign -did he quit the luxury of Antioch. He heard that -Marcus was coming East with his daughter Lucilla, and -hastened to meet him otherwhere than in garrulous Antioch. -Marcus did not leave Italy, however, and Verus wedded -Lucilla, and returned to his perfumed vices. Happily, there -was in the East a Roman general of the old stamp, Avidius -Cassius, a strong and blunt man, disdainful of luxury. He -lashed the debauched troops into a state of discipline, -pacified the East, and let Verus return to Rome to enjoy his -triumph.</p> - -<p>Here begin the stories that have gathered about the -memory of the younger Faustina, and have persuaded -many a writer that, as one of the authorities says, she -became a second Messalina. If we are to believe the -“Augustan History,” she behaved with the most abominable -license throughout her whole married life. Four Roman -nobles are specifically named as notorious lovers of the -Empress, and she is charged with general license. One -of the four was named Tertullus, and it is said that one -day, when Marcus was in the theatre, an actor made flagrant -reference to this liaison. Asked for the name of a certain -lover, he said three times (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ter</i>), “Tullus, Tullus, Tullus.” -It is added that Marcus—who might very well miss a point -in the theatre, as he read and wrote letters there—was -quite aware of the liaison, because he one day surprised -Faustina at breakfast with Tertullus. The Empress is -further charged with adultery with the voluptuous -colleague of her husband, and with wantoning among -actors, gladiators, sailors, and others of the baser sort.</p> - -<p>The more sober writers on Faustina have generally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> -been unwilling to admit this debauchery. Duruy rejects -the stories altogether, Merivale recommends reserve, and -Renan thinks that “careful research has reduced to very -small proportions the accusations which scandal was -pleased to bring against the wife of Marcus Aurelius.” It -seems to me that we can only come to the same conclusion -as we did in regard to Messalina; we must regard particular -legends with reserve, but must conclude that the -general opinion of Faustina at the time, which the stories -embody, must have had a serious basis. Some of the -stories put on record by Capitolinus in the “Augustan -History” are palpably false. One runs that she confessed -to Marcus her passion for a certain gladiator, and that -Marcus was directed by the Chaldæan sages, whom he -consulted, to kill the man and bathe the Empress in his -blood. Her passion was cured, but her next child was the -brutal Commodus. This story is so gross—I do not -reproduce all the details—that the writer does not insist on -it, but he continues: “Still, as her conduct with the gladiators -is well known, Commodus probably was the son of a -gladiator.” Now the tutor of the princes, Fronto, remarks -in one of his letters, and the surviving busts bear him out, -that Commodus had a striking likeness to Marcus Aurelius. -I may add that Commodus was born in the year of the -Emperor’s accession, when such conduct is incredible.</p> - -<div id="ip_172" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 31em;"> - <img src="images/i_172.jpg" width="496" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>FAUSTINA THE YOUNGER</p> - -<p>BUST (REPUTED) IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>Other parts of the legend are just as vulnerable. Thus -it is said that Faustina poisoned Verus when he boasted -to his wife of his relations with her. He died a very -natural death, as we shall see later. On the other hand, -Dio, who lived shortly afterwards, and had no dislike for -scandal, knows nothing whatever about this looseness on -the part of the Empress, and there is nothing in Eutropius -or Aurelius Victor. The only other writer who, in a -general way, accuses Faustina of dissoluteness is the -Emperor Julian (“Cæsars,” c. 28). We are therefore in a -dilemma, and must not too readily speak of Faustina as -a second Messalina. The quiet assumption of her guilt -in Julian, and the fact that the stories in the “Augustan<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -History” are professedly taken from Marius Maximus, an -historical writer not far removed from her time, imply a -very general belief in her guilt. In one place Capitolinus -says (c. 23) that the Emperor “cleared her by his letters” -of the charge of loose behaviour with actors, and in another -represents him as saying, when he is urged to divorce her -on account of her vices: “If we send away the wife, we -must give up her dowry,” though the Empire could hardly -be called Faustina’s dowry. In a third place, however, -Capitolinus leaves it open whether Marcus “was ignorant -of, or ignored,” his wife’s misconduct. For many writers, -in fact, the attitude of Marcus is decisive. If such things -had been done he must have known, and, with such -knowledge, he could not have spoken so highly of his wife -in his “Meditations,” and would not have dared to set up, -in her memory, an altar on which the maidens of Rome -should offer sacrifice before marriage.</p> - -<p>The scale, in truth, is somewhat evenly balanced, yet -one cannot easily conceive that the heavy charges of -Marius Maximus and the deliberate verdict of Julian had -no foundation. Whether from weakness, or from an excess -of casuistry, Marcus Aurelius lacked decision or penetration -in such matters. He married his daughter to a -profligate, whom he afterwards deified, and he committed -the Empire to a son who had given early promise of vice. -His grave and ascetic ways probably repelled the gay and -beautiful woman whom he had diplomatically married, and -she seems to have sought relief. None of the busts, -medallions, or coins, which more or less convey an image -of her to us, suggest character or culture, but rather a -weak control and a sensuous temper. From her Commodus -derived the enfeebled will that put him at the -mercy of his more dissolute courtiers, and the sensuality -that made his short reign an indescribable debauch. Much -as we should like to relieve Marcus Aurelius of the shame -of having begotten such a monster, we must admit his -parentage, and cast what blame there is on the mother.</p> - -<p>In this unsatisfactory haze we must leave the conduct<span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span> -of the Empress during the years in which her husband -wrought for the safety of the Empire, bequeathed his -austere reflections to later ages, or contemplated the -golden images of his teachers in his <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">lararium</i>. The -triumphant return of Verus was quickly followed by years -of gravest anxiety. In the pestilential East the legions -had absorbed the germs of plague, had strewn them along -their route, and had now disseminated them throughout -Rome. Thousands of victims, rich and poor, succumbed -to the subtle malady. Marcus vainly summoned the -ministers of every religion and the medical men of all -schools, and sacrificed those obscure Christians on whom -popular anger was ever ready to visit a calamity. His -trouble increased when it was announced that the fierce -Marcomanni of the north had burst into the Empire, and -were driving the Romans before them. With great energy -he mustered the demoralized legions in the north, and -set out with Verus against the enemy. In the middle -of the war (168) Verus, who had repeatedly tried to return -to the comfort of the capital, died. He had an apoplectic -fit on the journey, and we may ignore the various suggestions -that either Lucilla, or Faustina, or Marcus put -an end to his useless career.</p> - -<p>Marcus continued for several years the task of settling -the frontier tribes. It seems that Faustina went with him -on these arduous campaigns, though whether we may -see in the circumstance any merit on her part, or a device -of the Emperor to control her conduct, it is impossible -to say. She at least earned a title—“Mother of the -Camps” and “Mother of the Legions”—which is found -on few coins of the Empresses. It is probable that her -disorders belonged to an earlier date, before and in the -early part of the Emperor’s reign. It is chiefly at Gaeta, -the pretty bay on the coast where many Romans had -villas, that Capitolinus places her familiarity with gladiators -and sailors. Possibly the sobriety of her later years was -accepted by her husband as an expiation, and held to -justify his eulogy of her.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> -Those later years were full of trouble and anxiety. -Not only did two of their children die, and their daughter -Lucilla become the widow of a notorious profligate, but -the gods seemed to have entered upon a contest with the -virtue of Marcus Aurelius. A great earthquake shook -the East, the plague left a blackened trail over the Empire -and infested the camps, and other disasters were crowded -into a few years. The treasury ran short, and Marcus -was obliged to put up the Imperial treasures at auction -to obtain funds for carrying on the war. His one consolation -was that the Eastern frontier was tranquil, yet -in the year 175 a messenger came to announce that his -great general, Avidius Cassius, was in revolt, and claimed -the Empire.</p> - -<p>Verus, who must have felt the scorn of the stronger -man, had warned Marcus years before that Cassius was -dangerous, but the actual revolt is persistently connected -in the chronicles with Faustina. Cassius had ambition, -and had only been prevented by his father in earlier years -from rising against Antoninus Pius. In 174 or 175, it is -said by Dio, he received a message from Faustina, proposing -that, in the event of Marcus dying, he should -marry her, and occupy the throne. Shortly after this a -false message reached him that Marcus was dead, and he -at once announced to the legions that he assumed the -Empire. The message was quickly contradicted, but -Cassius thought it too late to retire, and he prepared -for a struggle. Marcus sadly moved towards the East. -Before he had gone far, however, he learned that the -soldiers, who hated Cassius for his rigour, had put him -to death.</p> - -<p>The position of Faustina is once more in grave -ambiguity. The writer on Cassius in the “Historia -Augusta” gives the rumour implicating her, but rejects -it. Unfortunately, his rejection is in this case no more -weighty than his acceptance in others. He admits that -his source, Marius Maximus, believes Faustina guilty, -and ascribes it to “a wish to defame” the Empress.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> -Except that the hatred of Commodus at Rome may have -for some time been extended to the woman who had borne -him, there is no clear reason why Maximus should -calumniate Faustina. Dio, who lives very close to the -time, gives it as a positive fact that Faustina secretly -urged Cassius to marry her, and occupy the throne, if -Marcus died. We may concur in the verdict of most of -the writers on the matter. Marcus was ailing, delicate, -and overburdened with work. It seemed to Faustina -that he would not live long, and, as Commodus was a -callow and unpromising youth, and by no means sure -of succession, she sought an arrangement by which she -should remain on the throne if her husband died.</p> - -<p>It is not generally felt that there was anything gravely -reprehensible in this, but a secret negotiation of such a -character does not present her to us in an attractive light. -Her subsequent zeal for the punishment of Cassius and -his friends is equally unpleasant, even if we recall that -she had no intention of raising him against the Emperor -while he lived. Several letters which passed between -Marcus and Faustina have been preserved in the “Historia -Augusta,” from Marius Maximus, and there seems to be -little ground to doubt their genuineness. They suggest -that Marcus was in the habit of consulting with Faustina -on matters of grave importance. “Come up to the Alban -Mount,” he writes her, after telling of the sedition, “and -by the favour of the gods, we will discuss the affair in -safety.” Faustina replies:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“I will set out to-morrow for the Alban Mount, as you -command, but I at once implore you, if you love your -children, to visit these rebels with the utmost severity. -The soldiers and their leaders have fallen into evil ways, -and they will crush us if we do not coerce them.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>In another letter she presses him again:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“My mother Faustina urged your father [by adoption] -Pius, at the time of the secession of Celsus, to feel first -for his own family.... You see how young Commodus is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span> -and our son-in-law Pompeianus is older and is abroad. -Do not spare men who have not spared you, and would not -spare me and the children if they won.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>A later letter of Marcus tells that he has read her -exhortation in his villa at Formiæ (on the Gulf of Gaeta). -By that time he has heard that Cassius is dead, and he will -hear of no further revenge on his family. He will spare -his wife and children, and beg the Senate to be moderate -in punishing the accomplices, because “there is nothing -that so much commends the Emperor of Rome to the -nations as clemency.” We know, in fact, that he treated -the family of Cassius with great generosity.</p> - -<p>The Emperor and Empress then went to the East to -complete the work of pacification. In the course of the -voyage, in a little village at the foot of Mount Taurus, -Faustina met her end in the year 175. As a matter of -course she was placed among the gods, but Marcus was -not content with the customary honouring of her memory. -He gave the village the name of Faustinopolis, founded a -fresh charity with the title of “Puellæ Faustinianæ,” and -built a beautiful temple at Rome, which, when he died a -few years later, was dedicated in their joint names by the -Senate. As if to obliterate all the rumours about her infidelity, -he went on to ask extraordinary honours for her of -the Senate. He set up a special altar, with a silver statue -of her, in the temple of Venus, and directed that maidens -about to marry should offer sacrifice on it; and he had a -golden statue of her placed on her seat in the theatre -whenever he attended its performances.</p> - -<p>Dio gives two versions of the death of Faustina which -were current in his time. Some said that she died of gout, -from which she suffered; others held that she put an end to -her life in fear lest her complicity with Cassius should be -discovered by Marcus in the East. The second theory is -superfluous. The natural cause of death seems adequate -enough, nor would she be in any serious danger if Marcus -heard that Cassius had made her the pretext of his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -rebellion. Her chief misdeeds were to live after her. -Frivolous, and probably licentious, in her early married life, -she seems to have settled in sober ways when she became -Empress, but we find no influence of hers in the ordering -of affairs. Had she only reared healthy children to succeed -her husband, she might have contributed worthily to the -mighty task of supporting the shaken Empire. Instead, -she gave to the Empire Lucilla and Commodus, her two -surviving children, and it fell into a fresh degradation.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XI" class="vspace">CHAPTER XI<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIVES OF THE SYBARITES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap al"><span class="smcap1">As</span> Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus had been equal -in Imperial power, and both were married, we have -one more Empress to regard before we pass on to -the wives of Commodus; and the account we have already -given of Verus will justify us in relegating her to this -distinct chapter. Verus had married Lucilla, the eldest -daughter of Marcus and Faustina; but the ambiguous -repute of her mother will warn us not to expect a painful -spectacle of vice in alliance with lofty virtue. Lucilla -carries a step further the unhappy disposition which we -have suspected in her grandmother, and more palpably -detected in her mother. By her union with Lucius Verus -vice was once more decked with the Imperial purple and -justified in the eyes of Rome. We may briefly consider -Lucilla as Empress before we follow her lamentable career -under the reign of her brother.</p> - -<p>Lucilla was born in the first year of the married life of -Marcus and Faustina. Marcus was then a pale and thin-blooded -scholar, Faustina in the full warmth and sensuousness -of young womanhood, and it was not unnatural that -the child should inherit the temper of her mother without -the spiritual restraint of her sire. She was educated with -the greatest care, and was betrothed to Verus in her -sixteenth year. Presumably by the will of her father, and -certainly with the full assent of Verus, she remained two -further years in the palace, while Verus wore out his -strength in the dissipations of Antioch. Marcus heard of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -his conduct, and sent out Lucilla to marry him; as if a -union with a young woman of seventeen or eighteen would -be apt to have a sobering influence on a man of Verus’s -habits and parentage. Verus met her at Ephesus, married -her there with great pomp, and returned with her to his -pleasures at Antioch.</p> - -<p>They came to Rome at the peace of 166, and Marcus -could not fail to learn in full the character of the man to -whom he had entrusted his daughter and half his power. -The villa which Verus occupied in the Clodian Way was -the most notorious house of debauch in Rome. It swarmed -with the dancing-girls, boys, Eastern slaves, musicians, -conjurors, etc., that Verus had brought from the East. -One room was fitted up as a popular tavern, and we must -leave under the veil of a dead language the abominations -that were perpetrated there. One can only repeat such -comparatively decent details as that Verus would have -gladiators to fight in his house during dinner, and prolong -the carouse until his slaves had to bear away his stupefied -form on his couch; or that, on other occasions, he would -emulate the early feats of Nero, and revel at nights in the -wine-shops and brothels of the popular quarter. One night -he gave a superbly furnished banquet, and at the close, in -a drunken fit, presented to his guests the costly plate, and -even the litters, with silver-harnessed mules, in which they -were taken home.</p> - -<p>Marcus made several futile attempts to brace him by -a campaign in the north, and must have been sincerely -relieved when he at last paid, by a premature death, the price -of his excesses. Lucilla had then been Empress for eleven -years. As she is barely noticed in the chronicles, we are -left to imagine the effect on her of living through her early -womanhood in such a palace as that of Verus. Probably -disgust saved her very largely from the taint. Verus’s -sister Fabia lived with them, and was generally believed to -be intimate with her brother. She at least usurped the -place of Lucilla in authority, and the Empress must have -been as much relieved as her father when Verus died. He<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> -was rumoured to have been poisoned by Lucilla because -of his relations with Fabia; by Faustina, for betraying his -relations with her; and by Marcus, to rid the Empire of -his sottishness. But an apoplectic fit would be so natural -a crown to such a career that we can dispense with so -much poison.</p> - -<p>Lucilla was then married by Marcus to an elderly and -worthy Senator, Claudius Pompeianus. She and her -mother strongly resented the marriage, and demanded a -younger and more attractive husband; but the Emperor -was unusually firm. Unhappily, his firmness was misplaced, -for the austerity or age of Pompeianus effected -what the profligacy of Verus had failed to do, and Lucilla -fell into vicious ways. We may conjecture that this did -not happen until after her father’s death. Marcus had -returned to the war against the Marcomanni, and, after -three years of great exertion and sacrifice, was within sight -of victory when death carried him off. He had not married -again, in spite of Fabia’s efforts to win him. In the fashion -approved even by philosophers, he took a concubine to his -bed, and virtuously refused to put a stepmother over his -children. At his death a new Empress comes upon the -scene, and, as Lucilla still retained her Imperial dignities -and privileges, we shall have to consider them in an unamiable -conjunction.</p> - -<p>The last and most fatal blunder of Marcus Aurelius was -to leave the Empire in the very uncertain hands of his son -Commodus. War had drained the treasury; plague, famine, -and sloth had thinned and weakened the population; vice -had again been enthroned for all to admire and imitate; -the lusty barbarians were thundering at its gates. A new -Vespasian or Trajan was needed to restore its vigour, if -such a restoration were possible. Yet Marcus persuaded -himself that the pretty youth, with bright eyes and curly -golden hair, who played at soldiering in his suite in -Germany, could bear this enormous burden. Herodian, -whose history of the Emperors now opens for us, tells us -that Marcus was really concerned on the matter as he lay<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -in his last illness. There were disquieting stories about -the character of Commodus. It was said that in his twelfth -year he had, at Centumcellæ (Civita Vecchia), ordered the -bath-attendant to be thrown into the furnace because the -water was not hot enough. On another occasion Marcus -had driven away certain corrupting attendants, but had -recalled them at the petulant tears of his son. They were -with him in Pannonia. We may at least assume that even -the fond eye of a father must have discerned the weakness -of character which, in the course of a year or two, would -let Commodus sink to indescribable depths. Marcus, -however, trustful to the end in the sublime truths of his -philosophy, was content to summon Commodus to his -tent, make a pretty speech to him in the presence of -his counsellors, and hand over to him the reins of government.</p> - -<p>For a time Commodus remained in the camp, and let -the elders govern. Before long the lighter courtiers hint -that it is more comfortable in Rome, and he talks of going. -The elders frown, and Pompeianus lectures him. He bows -submissively, but it is not long before he decides to go. -Numbers of officers discover a similar call to the capital, -and a gay cavalcade sets out. Rome is enchanted, and -goes out miles along the road to meet Commodus, and -strews flowers and laurel in his path, and enthuses over -his handsome face and the curly hair that shines like gold -in the sun. It was the coming of Caligula and Nero over -again. The Roman people—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">quantum mutatus ab illo!</i>—had -come to appreciate a pretty face, and a prospect of endless -games, immeasurably more than the security of the -frontier.</p> - -<p>When Commodus had set out with his father for -Germany, he had been married—“hastily married,” the -chronicle says—to a lady as young and thoughtless as -himself. Crispina was a very beautiful girl, and of distinguished -family. Her father, Bruttius Præsens, was a -Senator of great merit. It seems that she accompanied -Commodus to the camp, and returned with him to Rome.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> -In his train were the evil counsellors whom Marcus had -banished and recalled. Their hour had come.</p> - -<p>For three years Commodus enjoyed the pleasures which -they provided or invented for him, and left the administration -in the capable hands of his father’s servants. Possibly -this was the highest virtue Marcus had expected of him. -But the ambition of his confidants steadily grew, and a -bitter feud in the palace now came to a head and gave -them an opportunity. Crispina and Lucilla were violently -opposed to each other. The Imperial title of Lucilla paled -beside that of the wife of the ruling Emperor. The fire -which had been borne before her when she went abroad -now passed to Crispina, and she had to yield precedence -in the palace and the theatre. Crispina, on the other hand, -resented the familiarity of Commodus with his sister, and -would hardly be ignorant of the interpretation that was -generally put on it. The adherents of the palace were -thus divided into two parties, and the Empresses fought -for the monopoly of Commodus’s favour. At last Lucilla -despaired of gaining her end through Commodus, and -resolved to have him murdered.</p> - -<p>There is no room for doubt that the daughter of -Faustina and Marcus Aurelius was an abandoned woman. -Dio declares that she was “no better than Commodus.” -We may trust that this is an exaggeration, but the other -authorities speak of the looseness of her conduct, and -are emphatically agreed that she inspired the plot to -murder her brother. No one doubts that her purpose -was to recover supreme power. The inferences and impressions -we draw from Imperial portraits are not very -substantial, but it is interesting that the statue of Lucilla, -which we have, suggests just the type of woman that -the historians represent her to have been. It is the figure -of a full-bodied woman, of strong and imperious temper, -sensual to the limit of grossness. In her the beauty of -her mother, instead of being enhanced by the purity of her -father, is blighted by a general expression of coarseness -and self-assertion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> -Her criminal design was gradually imparted to her -lovers. Among these was a young noble named Quadratus, -whom she soon fired with a sense of her grievances, -and a conspiracy was framed. The actual assassination -was undertaken by her stepson, Claudius Pompeianus. -Herodian says that his name was Quintianus, and he may -have had this name in addition. Dio gives a confused and -contradictory account—he describes Pompeianus as married -to Lucilla’s daughter, whereas Lucilla was married to his -father, and he says that she was intimate with him, yet -hated him and wished to destroy him—but, as he lived -in Rome at the time, we must accept the substance of -his story. The young Senator Pompeianus was an intimate -friend of Commodus, and only an infatuation for Lucilla -could have drawn him into the plot. He spoiled it, and -ruined the conspirators, by his melodramatic display. As -Commodus entered the amphitheatre, he rushed upon -him with a drawn sword. But he announced his purpose -by crying out: “The Senate sends thee this sword,” and -the guards arrested him.</p> - -<p>The plot gave Commodus an opportunity to make a -bloody clearance of those who hampered his plans, and -caused him to regard the Senate with dark suspicion. -The male conspirators were executed, and Lucilla was -banished to Capreæ. But Crispina had no triumph by -the removal of her rival. She had herself been tainted in -that atmosphere of vice, and was detected in one of her -liaisons by Commodus. She was banished to Capreæ, and -there both she and Lucilla were put to death.</p> - -<div id="ip_184" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img src="images/i_184.jpg" width="471" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>LUCILLA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM, ROME</p></div></div> - -<p>The conspiracy took place in the year 182, the third -year of Commodus’s reign. The remaining ten years of -his life it would be more agreeable to leave in the untranslatable -language of the chroniclers, but he virtually -shared his throne with a woman of a singular and interesting -type, and we must include her in the gallery -of wives of the Emperors. Among the property of the -wealthy young conspirator, Quadratus, which was at once -confiscated, was a very handsome and engaging concubine<span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span> -of the name of Marcia. The <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">concubinatus</i> was, as I have -said, a legal and recognized union in Rome, and we must -not regard these women, who enter our chronicle in that -capacity, in quite the same light as the mistresses of later -Christian princes. They were sometimes of moderately -good family, though they seem generally to have belonged -to the class of emancipated slaves, and were included in the -man’s property. Marcia was of the latter class. Probably -an orphan at an early age, she was brought up by a -eunuch, and sold by him to Quadratus. At the dispersal -of his property, or even during his life, she attracted the -notice of Commodus, and was transferred to the populous -harem of his three hundred concubines.</p> - -<p>A few years later (185) an event occurred that greatly -increased her growing power over the Emperor. The chief -favourite of Commodus was a low-born and despicable -courtier named Perennis, who encouraged the Emperor to -pursue his morbid sensual impulses, while he himself -accumulated wealth and power. He flattered and indulged -every fancy of his besotted master, and controlled all the -resources of the State in his own interest. He was commander -of the guards, and seems to have at length conceived -an ambition to displace Commodus. One day, when Commodus -presided at the games, which he very liberally -provided, before an immense crowd, a mild-looking man—said -to be a philosopher—rushed into the centre of the -stage and roared out a warning to the Emperor that -Perennis was acquiring wealth and aiming at the throne. -The prefect had him burned alive, and escaped the Emperor’s -suspicion; but the end was nearer than he expected. -A regiment of fifteen hundred men from the legions of -Britain marched into Rome, demanded the head of Perennis, -and forced Commodus to recognize and punish the faults of -his minister.</p> - -<p>From that time Marcia occupies the place of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">prima inter -pares</i> in the harem of Commodus. A good deal of research -has been expended on this leading concubine of the -Emperor, because there was a tradition in early Christian<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> -literature that she favoured and protected, if she did not -herself belong to, the new religion.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> It was said that she -sent the eunuch, who had reared her, to liberate the -repressed Christians of Sardinia, and the peace which they -enjoyed at Rome during the reign of Commodus is attributed -to her influence. But if Marcia had ever belonged -to the austere sect of the early Christians, we must, for its -credit, entirely dissociate her from it in her Imperial days. -She seems to have been to the brutal Commodus what -Cæsonia had been to the equally licentious Caligula. She -dressed willingly as an Amazon, and is actually represented -on the coins, with Commodus, in the helmet of a female -warrior. If we may put any trust in that meagre portrait -of her, she seems to have been of much the same type as -Cæsonia: a handsome, strong, vulgar woman, owing her -influence to her masculine robustness.</p> - -<p>For seven years she occupied, without a quarrel, the -chief place in a palace in which all the orgies of Caligula, -Nero, and Verus were concentrated. At her persuasion -Commodus changed the name of Rome to “the Colony -of Commodus.” One might almost suspect her of genial -irony in thus removing the venerable name from the Imperial -city during the years when it was degraded by -Commodus. Evil as the practices of Caligula and Nero had -been, they were surpassed by the insanities and obscenities -of the son of Marcus Aurelius. We must leave the veil -over the life that was witnessed in the palace during those -ten years; but the crimes of Commodus were not confined -to the wild indulgence of his unbridled appetites. The -company of gladiators and the daily pleasure of killing -degraded him to the character of a mere butcher. He -forced the priests of orgiastic Eastern cults to perform on -themselves the mutilations which their ritual described; -he beat them with the emblem of Anubis which he carried -in their processions. On one occasion he had all the -citizens of Rome with some infirmity of the feet gathered -in one place, and more or less dressed as dragons. Then<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> -the Roman Hercules—as Commodus loved to be called—fell -upon them with a club, and killed numbers of them. -This and other stories of his indescribable lust and cruelty -are told by an historian who saw Commodus daily.</p> - -<p>In the year 189 Marcia obtained even greater power -over her insane lover. The place of Perennis had been -at once occupied by another of the Emperor’s despicable -courtiers, Cleander, a Phrygian slave who had risen, by -base means, to be the first minister of the Empire. Like -his predecessor, he encouraged Commodus to wallow in his -vices, while he took advantage of his insanity to enrich -himself. The highest positions in the State were sold by -him, and men could even purchase from him the right to -take vengeance on their enemies, or the privilege not to -be executed for their wealth. The treasury was again -diminishing, and noble blood poured out freely to refresh -it. A great pestilence swept over Italy, exacting thousands -of victims daily in Rome alone. A terrible famine succeeded -it. The people, observing that the avaricious -minister was endeavouring to make a corner in corn, now -broke into rebellion and pressed to the palace of the -Emperor.</p> - -<p>Commodus was enjoying himself at the beautiful palace -of the Quintilians in the suburbs, which he had obtained -by murder, when the crowd surged up to the gates. -Cleander turned the cavalry upon the people, but the -infantry sided with them, and they returned in a storm -of anger to the palace. None of his ministers dare -approach the room in which Commodus wantoned with -his companions, but his sister Fadilla and Marcia broke -in with the news that his life was in danger. Some -writers say that it was Fadilla who informed him, some -that it was Marcia. We may suppose that both of them -endeavoured to awake him. The voluptuous coward at -once sacrificed Cleander to the crowd, and returned to -his vices.</p> - -<p>Marcia had now the leading influence over Commodus, -and Rome sank lower and lower. The butcheries of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> -amphitheatre were his chief concern. He consorted daily -with the gladiators, killed vast numbers of beasts in the -arena, and even fought with men who had meekly to -submit to be slain by him. Numbers of distinguished or -wealthy Romans were put to death on the most frivolous -pretexts, yet the Senators were compelled to view and -applaud his daily slaughters with such cries as: “Thou -conquerest the world, O brave Amazonian.” Dio, who -sat among the Senators, tells us that one day Commodus -made a grotesque attempt to intimidate them. He had -just killed an ostrich, and came toward them with the -head in one hand and the bloody sword in the other. -He grinned and wagged his head, without saying a word, -as he approached them, as if intimating that it would -be their turn next. Dio says that his appearance was -so ludicrous that he had hastily to pluck a leaf of laurel, -and chew it, to prevent him from laughing. We nearly -missed the writing of one of the most valuable histories -of the period.</p> - -<p>The “Golden Age,” as the Senate was compelled to -describe this appalling decade, came to a close through a -fresh excess on the part of Commodus Pius, as he was -now styled. They had reached the last day of the year -192, and were preparing for the great festivities of the -morrow. Commodus informed Marcia that he would -spend the night in the house of the gladiators, and issue -from it on the morrow at their head. He ordered his -chamberlain Eclectus and his commander of the guard -Lætus to make the necessary preparation. Marcia and -the officers were horrified at his proposal, and besought -him to abandon it. After reading the disgusting details -of his career in the “Historia Augusta”—even if we -make allowance for exaggeration—one has some difficulty -in realizing their indignation. Apparently, however, this -proposal to identify himself so intimately with the degraded -caste of public gladiators was regarded by them -as something of an entirely different nature from the filth -and obscenity of his practices in the palace, and they<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -boldly opposed him. He angrily shook them off, and put -their names on his condemned list. The “Augustan -History,” recalling a story we have heard before, introduces -an element of romance into the adventure. It -makes Commodus tie the tablet to his bed, and go to -sleep, when the tablet is playfully removed by one of his -jewel-decked boys, and delivered accidentally into the -hands of Marcia.</p> - -<p>It is better to follow the version of Dio, who was in -Rome at the time. The two officers and Marcia, realizing -that they had incurred his anger, discussed the matter, -and decided to assassinate him. Marcia was directed to -poison him. She put the poison in the meat he ate, but -its effect was spoiled by the quantity of wine he had -drunk, and it caused him to vomit. He became suspicious -and threatening, and went to the bath. They then hastily -took into their confidence his powerful and athletic bath-attendant, -Narcissus, and he entered and strangled the -Emperor.</p> - -<p>One reads with something like amazement that the -successful conspirators, instead of gladly announcing that -they had rid Rome of such a brute and tyrant, deliberated -anxiously how they should proceed. So blind was the -attachment of the troops to their paymaster, and of the -common citizens to any generous provider of games, that -they concealed the deed. Commodus had himself fought -735 times in the public amphitheatre, and on those performances -alone had spent 200,000,000 drachmas. The -temper of the demoralized people and soldiers was uncertain, -and they decided to put the Empire at once in -the hands of a strong soldier.</p> - -<p>In the romantic story of the accession of the various -Empresses of Rome there are few cases so dramatic as -that which introduces the next Empress in the series. -There was living in Rome at the time an experienced -commander, in his sixtieth year, of the name of Pertinax. -His father had kept a kind of tavern in a village of -Liguria. The son had obtained some education, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span> -rapidly climbed the ladder of promotion. He had married -Flavia Titiana, the accomplished daughter of a very -wealthy and distinguished Senator. Himself enamoured -of Cornificia, the sister of Marcus Aurelius, he had overlooked -the vivacity of his wife, and she had at one time -attracted comment by her open regard for a musician. At -the time of the murder of Commodus, Pertinax was -Prefect of Rome. He retired to bed on that last night -of the year 192 with no suspicion of the great events -that were happening in the Domus Vectiliana, to which, -it seems, Commodus had gone.</p> - -<p>In the middle of the night he was awakened with the -message that the captain of the Prætorian Guards wished -to see him. He calmly said that he had for some time -expected to be executed by Commodus, and he continued -to lie, in quiet dignity, when Lætus entered to tell him -that they offered him the Empire. He begged Lætus to -abandon his unseemly joke, and carry out his orders. He -was at last convinced that Commodus was dead, and, -through the darkness of the stormy winter night, they -made their way to the camp. They announced to the -guards that Commodus had died of apoplexy, and that -Pertinax was submitted to be chosen by them as Emperor. -The soldiers listened with no enthusiasm. Under the -license of the reign of Commodus they had been permitted -to take the most extraordinary liberties, and they dreaded -the accession of a commander. The news had, however, -spread by this time through the city. People crowded -into the torch-lit streets, and poured out toward the -camp, hailing the name of Pertinax and execrating that -of Commodus. A promise of 3,000 denarii to each man -overcame the last opposition of the Guards, and they -coldly consented to the choice. In the Senate, too, there -was hesitation. “We see behind you,” said the consul -Falco, “the ministers of Commodus’s crimes, Lætus and -Marcia.” Pertinax himself, indeed, was still very reluctant; -but the Senate urged the Imperial power upon him, -and the new year dawned at Rome upon a people angrily<span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span> -scattering the statues and memorials of Commodus, and -expressing a wild rejoicing over the advent of its new -ruler.</p> - -<p>Titiana never bore the title of Augusta, and we may -dismiss very briefly her few months of residence in the -palace. The Senate offered the title of Augusta to Titiana, -and that of Cæsar to their son, but Pertinax refused both. -“Let the boy earn it,” he said of his son; and Dio says -that he kept the title from his wife, either because of the -insecurity of his position, or “because he would not let his -lascivious consort stain the name of Augusta.” Titiana -was evidently not the kind of woman to co-operate with -Pertinax in his reforms, and she probably shared the disdain -with which her friends regarded his ways. Although -he at once began to undo the evil wrought by Commodus—to -banish the informers, regulate the taxes, and purify the -administration of justice—he alienated the Romans by -passing to an extreme of sobriety. The palace he purified -in very summary fashion. He had the whole apparatus -of Commodus’s luxury sold by auction, and Rome looked -on with delight as the three hundred pretty boys and three -hundred choice concubines, the gold and silver plate, the -precious vases and silks and chariots and wonderful -machines of the Sybarite were exposed to their view. -But Pertinax carried his economy too far. Patricians -told with contempt that he would put half a lettuce on -the Imperial board, and would make a hare last three -days; the people missed the unceasing stimulation of -the amphitheatre; the soldiers chafed at the discipline he -sought to enforce. Within three months of his remarkable -accession to power Pertinax was assassinated by the -Guards, and Titiana fell back into the obscurity from -which she had momentarily emerged.</p> - -<p>Another Empress of a day, and one that came to the -throne under no less romantic circumstances, claims our -attention for a moment before we pass on to a more -imposing figure.</p> - -<p>It was on the 28th of March, 193, that the soldiers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> -brutally assassinated Pertinax. On the rumour of trouble -Pertinax had sent his father-in-law, Sulpicianus, to secure -tranquillity in the camp. As he lingered there the soldiers -returned with the dripping head of the Emperor, and he -recognized that the throne was vacant. With a callousness -that is almost incredible, but is fully attested, he at once -made an offer of money to the soldiers for the Imperial -power. It occurred to some of the soldiers that a higher -bid might be secured, and they announced from the rampart -of their camp, in which they had enclosed themselves, -that the throne was, virtually, on sale. In particular, -they sent word to one of the wealthiest citizens, Didius -Julianus, and invited him to make an offer. Whether or -no it be true that he yielded to the vanity of his wife -and daughter—he does not seem to have needed pressure—Julianus -went to the camp, and made a higher offer -than that of Sulpicianus.</p> - -<p>It was the early evening, and a crowd had gathered -to witness the appalling spectacle of the sale of the Empire. -Julianus pointed out that his rival was the father-in-law of -the man they had killed, and might be expected to have some -design of revenge. The soldiers admitted Julianus by a -ladder, and the two Senators made bids against each other, -the soldiers on the wall announcing their offers. At length -Julianus made an offer equal to more than £200 to each -soldier, and he was greeted as Emperor. Under the close -guard of the soldiers he was conducted, amid an angry -people, to the Senate, and forced upon the Senators. They -then concluded their bargain by conducting him to the -palace, and the vain old man had time to reflect on the -extraordinary situation he had suddenly reached. His -wife, Manlia Scantilla, and daughter, Didia Clara, joined -him “in fear and concern” (the “Historia Augusta” says), -and he finished the day with a prolonged entertainment.</p> - -<p>His wife and daughter were decorated with the title of -Augusta on the morrow, but they soon found that Julianus -had squandered his comfortable wealth on a dangerous -bauble. Not only did the Roman people jeer at him<span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span> -whenever he appeared, but the news soon came that the -distant legions were aflame with anger, and were about -to march on Rome to wrest the Empire from him. Presently -he heard that the commander of the troops in -Pannonia had begun his march at the head of a formidable -army. Julianus first had him declared a public enemy, and -sent men to assassinate him; then he offered to share the -Empire with him. Severus and his hardened troops passed -relentlessly over the Alps, and proceeded along the plains -of Italy. Julianus stung the demoralized soldiers who had -sold him the Empire into some pretence of resistance, -threw up earthworks in the suburbs, endeavoured to train -his elephants for the fight, and, as a last resort, fortified -the palace. But his effeminate troops quailed before the -seasoned legions from Germany, and, when Severus reached -Rome, Julianus found himself deserted. The Senate decreed -his death, and he was beheaded in the palace which -he had enjoyed, at the price of his fortune and his life, for -sixty-six days. And the two broken-hearted Augustæ -laid down their dignity, and bore the body of Didius -Julianus to the tomb of his ancestors.</p> - -<p>Marcia, too, had ended her semi-imperial career with a -violent death. After the assassination of Commodus she -had married the chamberlain Eclectus, with whom she had -long been intimate. Eclectus became the chamberlain of -Pertinax, and perished, not ignobly, with his master. -Marcia did not long survive her husband, however. -Julianus had promised the soldiers that he would avenge -the murder of Commodus, and he sought the remaining -members of the conspiracy, Lætus, Narcissus, and Marcia, -and put them to death.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XII" class="vspace">CHAPTER XII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">JULIA DOMNA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">With</span> the accession of Septimius Severus to the -throne, we find ourselves confronting one of the -most dominant personalities in the long line of -Roman Empresses—a woman of the standard of Livia, -Agrippina, and Plotina—and passing again into one of the -brighter periods of the life of the Empire. The degradation -of Commodus’s reign will disappear like a mist on a -summer morn; the jaded frame of the Empire will seem -to recover all its vigour in a few years. These periods -of rapid recovery are not sufficiently appreciated by the -rhetorical censors of the morals of Rome, whose investigations -are almost entirely confined to the reigns of -Caligula, Nero, Commodus, Caracalla, and Elagabalus; as -if it were just to define the climate of a region by its worst -days only. Let a strong man rise to power, let an imperial -encouragement be given to virtue and manliness, and even -the city of Rome takes on a normal moral aspect. The -throne is but an electric point, and, according as it is positive -or negative, it draws into the light of history either the -good or the bad elements of Rome. Both are there all the -time. And if the good rulers had made as drastic a purge -of evil types, as evil rulers made of good types, when they -came to power, the Empire might not have provided so -much material to the censors of extinct civilizations.</p> - -<p>The Empresses whom we have hitherto considered -were, with a few exceptions, the daughters of Roman -patricians, or of distinguished provincials who had lived in -Rome for a generation or two. In Julia Domna, the wife<span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span> -of Severus, we have for the first time a woman of the East -on the throne; and, as her family will for some time -deeply influence the fortunes of the Empire, it will be -interesting to glance at her origin.</p> - -<p>On the bank of the Orontes in Syria, at the large village -or small town of Emesa (now Hems), there was in the -second century a very ancient and prosperous religious -centre. At some early date in the history of the land a -mysterious stone had been cast on the country from the -home of the gods—a meteorite, modern science would call -it—and it had been set up as a symbol of the Regenerating -God (Elagabal, which the Greeks improperly turned into -Heliogabalus, or Sun-god). A fine temple was in time -built to shelter it, pilgrims sought it from the whole -country, and the richest gifts were made to the god and -his living representatives. About the middle of the second -century the priest in charge was a certain Bassianus, who -had two handsome and very clever daughters. The planets -which presided at the birth of the elder promised her, -according to the astrologers, a throne; and, as there was -a camp of Roman soldiers near Emesa, and the temple -was a great attraction to the soldiers in their exile, the -pretty Syrian girl and her horoscope came to be known -very far away. In the year 186 or 187 an offer of marriage -came to the priest’s daughter from one of the highest -officials, the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">legatus</i>, of the rich province of Lower Gaul, -and she crossed sea and land to accept it. Within six -years this officer, Septimius Severus, was Emperor of -Rome, and Julia Domna was Empress.</p> - -<p>Some doubt has been thrown on this pretty story, and -Serviez, whose chapter on Julia Domna is a piece of irresponsible -fiction, describes her as coming to Rome, on her -own account, in search of adventure. But we have abundant -evidence that Severus was a most enthusiastic -astrologer, and there is nothing improbable in the story. -Severus was of the province of Roman Africa, of humble -family, and, like so many energetic men in the days of -Antoninus and Marcus, had earned promotion from office<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> -to office. He had first married a certain Paccia Marciana -at Rome. He was then made Prætor, had a military -command in Spain and Gaul, spent some years in study -at Athens, and became Legate of the Lugdunian province. -At Lyons he lost his first wife, and sought a second. Hearing -that there was a maid in Syria with a royal horoscope, -he sent for her, and married her at Lyons. A child was born -the first year, and, although Bassianus (more popularly, -Caracalla) is described by Eutropius and Aurelius Victor -as her stepson, he was undoubtedly her first child. Geta, -his brother and co-Emperor, was born two years later.</p> - -<p>By that time they were living in Rome, where Severus -was Consul. Commodus, whose follies excited his ambition -no less than his disdain, gave him the command in Lower -Germany. Immediately afterwards Commodus was assassinated, -and about three months later came the news of the -murder of Pertinax. It was easy to inflame the troops -with anger on this occasion, and, as Severus offered a more -than usually heavy bribe, he was acclaimed Emperor, and, -as we saw, led the legions upon Rome. We do not know -whether Julia had remained at Rome, or accompanied him, -but she would be present when Rome greeted its new -ruler. He rode in full armour, in the centre of a picked -body of six hundred men. When, however, he saw that -Rome had entirely deserted Julianus, he entered the city in -civic costume, on foot. Flowers and laurel and gay hangings -decorated all the houses, and the early summer sun -shone on the white-robed masses of the citizens. Another -splendid, but less joyous, spectacle was offered on the -morrow, when a wax image of Pertinax was honoured with -an Imperial funeral. Then he set about the stern business -of securing his Empire. He had no title to it but his sword, -and there were two other able generals—Albinus in Britain -and Niger in Syria—urging the same title on their own -behalf.</p> - -<p>We do not know whether Julia accompanied Severus -during the long civil war that followed. Some of the -authorities represent her as egging on her husband to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> -destruction of his rivals. The advice would not be unnatural, -but it would be so superfluous that we disregard -the statement. With a craft that has not won him the -regard of historians, Severus held Albinus in Britain with -the empty title of Cæsar, while he proceeded to crush -Niger in the East. As there are coins of the year 196 which -entitle Julia “Mother of the Camps,”<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> she probably accompanied -Severus to the East, but we need not pursue the -long campaign. Severus committed the work to his -generals, and kept watch over Rome and the West. Several -years were absorbed in pacifying the East, and he then -turned toward Britain. Acting under the strain of African -barbarism which undoubtedly existed in the nature of -Severus, he sent men with a treacherous commission to -murder Albinus, and the discovery of the plot brought the -British legions thundering over Gaul. The rivals met -decisively at Lyons, and a titanic conflict ended with the -triumph of Severus.</p> - -<p>Rome had followed the even struggle with suspense, -and some had ventured to take sides. The omens were -ambiguous. A strange light—the aurora—flickered in the -northern sky, and a rain mixed with silver—Dio soberly -assures us that he plated several bronze coins with it—fell -upon the city. Human judgment had been as uncertain as -that of the gods, and many of the Romans had espoused -the “white” (Albinus) or the “black” (Niger) cause, -instead of that of the “grey,” to put it in the language of -the hour. For Severus to have abstained entirely from -punishing those who had supported his rivals, after the -years of anxiety they had caused him, is too much to -expect; but it must be admitted that his vengeance was -cruel, and that his plea of the security of the State was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> -little more than a cloak for a very human resentment, The -“Historia Augusta” gives a ghastly list of forty-one Senators -whom he put to death, and crowds of lesser folk suffered -from his vindictiveness. From Syria to Gaul he marked -the progress of his triumph with a trail of human blood.</p> - -<p>Of the attitude of Julia in regard to these executions we -have no knowledge. Severus was a cruel and passionate -African, and we have no reason to think that any one -impelled him to commit these deeds. His whole behaviour -in the hour of triumph was injudicious and unworthy. He -made a most unpleasant speech to the Senate in praise of -Commodus, and directed that the highest honours should -be paid to his memory. It may be that the consciousness -of his lowly origin—which his sister tactlessly irritated by -coming to Rome, and displaying her rural innocence to the -amusement of the nobles—made him more suspicious of the -patrician order than he need have been. Albinus, however, -had come of a most ancient and honourable, if somewhat -decayed, stock, and his finer blood may have influenced the -Senate.</p> - -<p>Leaving Rome under a painful impression of his harsh -use of power, he set out for the East, where the Parthians -were again in arms. Julia accompanied him on this campaign, -but it is of little interest. The Parthians retired -before his advance, and he pursued them down the -Euphrates, and for a time held Babylon and several of the -ancient cities of the East. Foiled, and incurring heavy -losses, in the siege of Hatra, he retired sullenly from -Mesopotamia, and sought consolation in a pleasant tour -through Palestine and Egypt. They returned to Rome, -about the beginning of the third century, for their first long -stay in the capital.</p> - -<p>The remarkable number of inscriptions that still survive -in the most distant parts of the Empire bear witness that -Julia was already regarded as an active Empress, not -merely as the companion of Severus. Probably she comes -next to Livia—some would place her before Livia—in the -general recognition of her political existence. But on her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> -return to Rome she found a bitter opponent in the person -of Severus’s chief minister, and for a time she confined -herself to personal concerns. This minister, Plautianus, -was a fellow-townsman, possibly a relative, of the Emperor, -and enjoyed and abused his entire confidence. He was -promoted to the command of the Prætorian Guards, whom -Severus, after punishing them for the murder of Pertinax, -had reorganized and enormously increased. Finding himself -at the head of fifty thousand picked men, and entrusted, -during the long absence of the Emperor, with the supreme -affairs of State, Plautianus indulged his vanity in the -strangest excesses. When his superb chariot drove through -Rome, runners were sent ahead to warn the common folk -that they must turn away, and not gaze on his august -person; and there were more statues of him in Rome than -of the Emperor. He even had a hundred Romans, of -all ages, including many of noble birth, emasculated, in -order that his daughter might be attended with all the -splendour and security of an Oriental harem. Severus -begged the hand of this privileged maiden for his elder -son. Bassianus was then (203) in his sixteenth year, and -had just been nominated Cæsar by his father. Plautianus -consented, and a princely wedding took place. People -remarked, as the rich gifts were borne through the Forum -to the palace, that the Prefect of the Guards had been able -to give his daughter a dowry that would have sufficed for -the daughters of fifty kings.</p> - -<p>Two circumstances conspired to wreck this auspicious -marriage. Bassianus disliked Plautilla, Julia hated her -conceited and overbearing father. A third circumstance, -in the opinion of Rome, was that Bassianus was already -too intimate with a fiery little Syrian cousin, then living at -the palace, of whom we shall see much in the next chapter. -At length Plautianus brought a formal charge against the -Empress, and there was agitation in the palace. The -charge seems to have been one of adultery, and, though -it was not established, some of the later historians declare -that she owed her escape only to the fondness of Severus.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span> -Aurelius Victor (“De Cæsaribus,” xx) says that “his wife’s -infamies robbed Severus of the height of his glory”; and -he charges her with, to the Emperor’s knowledge, loose ways -and treason. Lampridius (“Historia Augusta,” “Severus,” -c. 18) affirms that she was “notorious for her adulteries -and guilty of conspiracy.” Eutropius and Herodian join -with them in bringing an even graver charge against her -later. Dio, however, who was on the spot, brings no -charge against her character, and many hold that his -silence is more instructive than the chatter of later -compilers. We may add that Severus was very eager to -stamp out adultery, and, although his efforts were -frustrated by the unwillingness of the citizens to use his -law—Dio, when he was consul, found three thousand charges -lying unheeded in the offices—his known temper must be -taken into account. On the other hand, Dio wrote his -history in the reign of a member of Julia’s family, and may -have omitted much out of discretion.</p> - -<p>The evidence is, as usual, perplexing, and there is no -need to press for a verdict. The Oriental religion, to -which Julia adhered, was not one to lay bonds upon the -passion of love, and the removal from the guarded seclusion -of the East to the free life of the West would not engender -scruples. The charge, in fact, was not admitted by Severus -to be proved, though noble dames were tortured to wring -evidence from them. After this scorching ordeal, however, -Julia moderated her open hostility to Plautianus, -and sought consolation in a close application to letters -and philosophy. Her sister, Julia Mæsa, had by this -time come from Emesa to join her in the palace, and -had brought two married daughters, of whom we shall -hear more.<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> With these, and the literary men of Rome, -she formed an intellectual circle, and withdrew from politics.</p> - -<p>But there can be little doubt that Julia encouraged her<span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span> -son’s dislike of Plautilla. Herodian declares that the -young wife was “a most shameless creature.” We may -refuse to accept this description of the unhappy young -princess, and see in it only an echo of the attack upon -her. Bullied and threatened by Bassianus, she at last -returned in tears to her father’s mansion, and the Prefect -renewed his attacks with great warmth. Severus refused -to hear complaints against him, until his brother Geta -suggested to him, on his death-bed, that Plautianus was -acquiring his enormous wealth with a view to seizing the -throne. From that hour Severus behaved more coldly to -his minister, and Julia’s party took courage. At length -Bassianus persuaded his father that the minister was -plotting. If we may believe the romantic version, Plautianus -sent a man to assassinate Severus and his sons. -The man betrayed him at the palace, and was directed -by Bassianus to return and pretend to bring the Prefect -to see the dead bodies. At all events, Plautianus came -in haste to the palace, was alarmed to see the gates close -behind him, and was led to the presence of the Emperor -and Bassianus. Shortly afterwards, the head of Plautianus -was tossed on to the street from the roof of the palace. -Dio adds that a man plucked a handful of hair from the -bleeding head, and rushed with it to Julia and Plautilla, -crying: “Behold your Plautianus!” The unhappy girl was -banished to Lipara, and was executed there by Bassianus -after the death of his father.</p> - -<p>It was perhaps inevitable that a series of executions -should follow the fall of the favourite, but in a short time -the life of the palace fell into a quiet routine. Severus, -a big, powerful man, with a crown of grey hair above -his venerable features, set an example of sobriety and -industry. He was generally at work before dawn, and -would return to work after a frugal midday-meal with -his boys. They were years of peace and prosperity, and -he made admirable use of the opportunity to restore the -decaying buildings and institutions of the Empire, and to -replenish the treasury. He regretted his lack of culture,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> -and listened with deference to the learned discussions in -which his wife and her relatives engaged. His one accomplishment -in the way of science was a thorough command -of the mysteries of astrology, as the golden stars -with which he decorated the ceilings of his palace informed -the visitor.</p> - -<p>Julia joined with him in the work of restoration. We -know that at Rome she rebuilt the temple of Vesta, and -the numerous provincial inscriptions suggest a much wider -interest. Under her lead the women of Rome were encouraged -to look beyond their homes. Sabina had erected, -or dedicated, a meeting-hall for women in the Forum of -Trajan, but it had fallen into decay. Julia restored this -early “women’s club,” and no doubt introduced into it -the enthusiasm for letters and philosophy which she still -had. Her “circle,” as Philostratus calls it, probably included -the historian Dio, who was still at Rome, and the -poet Appian, who had some years before described her -as “the great Domna.” Philostratus himself, a Greek -writer and rhetorician, one of the most learned men of the -time, was closely associated with her. It was at her request -that he wrote his famous “Life of Apollonius of Tyana.” -In his “Lives of the Sophists” (Philiscus) he speaks of -her as “Julia the Philosopher,” and in one of his letters -(lxxiii) he refers with high appreciation to her learning.</p> - -<p>Julia was then in the prime of her life, and in her -happiest days. The bust of her that quickly catches the -eye in the Vatican Museum—the largest surviving portrait-bust -of the period—will hardly be deemed to possess the -beauty with which the historians invest her. The thick -lips and large nose, which betray her ancestry, do not -compare well with the features of other Empresses. But -the grave, strong, thoughtful face and large eyes, which -we may imagine instinct with Syrian fire, are undeniably -handsome. Her sister, Julia Mæsa, was with her—a -woman of similar strength, moderation, and judgment. -But the younger generation in the palace gave them concern. -The young men, Bassianus and Geta, were loose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -and luxurious in their ways; and one of the daughters of -Mæsa, Julia Soæmias, was a fit companion for Bassianus. -Severus, noting the advance of his gout, looked with grave -eyes on the soft habits and the constant quarrels of the -sons whom he wished to leave partners in the Empire.</p> - -<div id="ip_203" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29em;"> - <img src="images/i_202.jpg" width="464" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>JULIA DOMNA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE VATICAN MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>An irruption of the Caledonians in the north of Britain -led him to think that a campaign under his eyes would -alter the evil ways of his sons, and he set out for the -West. Julia accompanied them, but we can hardly suppose -that she ventured further north than Eboracum (York). -The mist-wrapped hills and watery lowlands beyond were -to the Roman a shuddering wilderness, fit only for the -breeding of savages who were as amphibious as rats. -Dio unflatteringly describes the north Britons and Scots -of the time as “inhabiting wild, waterless mountains and -desolate, swampy plains,” and “dwelling in tents, without -coats or shoes, possessing their wives and rearing their -offspring in common.” We may find some consolation in -the assurance of Lampridius that Britain (south of this -region) was “the greatest glory of the Empire.” Even -the Scots, however, had their glories. When Severus -returned to York, after having pushed to the extreme -north of Caledonia, and lost 50,000 men without bringing -the elusive enemy to battle, he brought with him envoys -of the Caledonians to discuss the terms of peace. Among -them was the wife of the chief “Argentocoxus”—should -it be Macdermott?—with whom the philosophic Empress -held converse through an interpreter. Julia insinuated that -their matrimonial arrangements were not all that could be -desired. “We satisfy the needs of nature in a much better -way than you Roman women,” said the hardy Scot. “We -have dealings openly with the best of our men, whereas -you let yourselves be debauched in secret by the vilest.” -Eugenics is an ancient practice, if a modern theory.</p> - -<p>Severus was borne back, weary and dispirited, on his -litter to York. Bassianus, impatient to reach the throne -that he would soon disgrace, had attempted his father’s -life, and fully exhibited the brutality of his character. Yet<span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span> -Severus, who had often censured Marcus Aurelius for -entrusting the Empire to Commodus, listened in turn to -the fond pleading of his parental feeling, and designated -his sons as his successors. He died at York in February, -211, and a hasty settlement was made of affairs in Britain -that they might return at once to the capital. They -placed the ashes of the Emperor in an alabaster urn, and -set out with it for Rome.</p> - -<p>From that day the life of Julia Domna was one of -anxiety, and we may trust that it was one of pain. Even -on the journey homeward her sons were ostentatiously -armed against each other’s designs. Bassianus—or Antoninus, -as he had now been named—was a strong, brutal, -and imperious youth, as eager to murder his brother as -he had been to shorten his father’s life. Geta was brighter, -gentler, and more cultivated, and the affection of the -legions for him kept Antoninus in check while they were -with the army. When they arrived in Rome, their first -business was the funeral of Severus. His pale wax image -was laid on a lofty ivory couch, and the black-robed -Senators and white-clad matrons watched it for seven days. -Then it was borne to the old Forum, where the chorus of -sons and women of the nobility sang the old funeral -chants, and on to the great wooden tower, stuffed with -spices and inflammable matter, in the Field of Mars; -where, from the midst of the flaming pile, the released -eagle symbolized the passage of the soul of Severus to -the home of the gods.</p> - -<p>The quarrel between Antoninus and Geta at once broke -out with greater menace than ever. They kept their -separate apartments rigidly guarded in the palace, and -a troop of soldiers and athletes watched day and night -over the person of the younger Emperor. Some one suggested -that the Empire should be divided, as it was later, -and that Geta should take the Asiatic half. Herodian -says—though one reads with suspicion his full reports of -speeches that were made a century before—that Julia -opposed this plan passionately. They must divide their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> -mother, she declared, before they should divide the Empire. -The gloom grew deeper over the palace, and the inevitable -end did not tarry long. Antoninus one day professed that -he wished to be reconciled, and invited Geta to meet him -in his mother’s room. As soon as Geta entered, the -officers whom Antoninus had at hand drew their swords. -Geta flew to his mother’s bosom, and she put her arms -about him; but they killed him in her embrace, and even -cut the arm in which she clasped him. Once more the -channels ran with the best blood of Rome, as Antoninus -turned vindictively upon the supporters of his brother. -Even ancient nobles who had survived several of these -massacres, such as Claudius Pompeianus, the second husband -of Marcus Aurelius’s daughter, now came to a violent -end. The aged sister of Marcus Aurelius, Cornificia, was -put to death for weeping at the news of the brutal crime. -Dio assures us that no less than 20,000 men and women, -including some of the finest of the time, were put to death -in that awful carnage. Surely one of the chief causes of -the deterioration of Rome—these repeated purges of its -best elements—has been overlooked in the endless speculations -about its fall!</p> - -<p>The “Historia Augusta” tells us that Julia herself was -discovered in tears by Antoninus, and only escaped death -because the Emperor feared a rebellion if he killed her. -Curiously enough, the same historian, and several others, -go on to give us a far different and less honourable -account of her conduct after the death of Geta. In the -general horror with which his abominable deeds were -contemplated, Antoninus had the astuteness to purchase -the favour of the army. He bestowed an extraordinary -donation on the Guards, and entered upon a systematic -policy of enriching and indulging the troops. From the -pale faces of the citizens of Rome he retired to the military -quarters on the Danube, and endeavoured by a year of -hard hunting and carousing to banish the ghosts which, -he confessed, haunted him. Inscriptions have been found -in Germany which suggest that his mother was with him.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> -However that may be, she joined him when he crossed -the Hellespont to Asia—and was nearly drowned in the -passage—and began to take a most important part in the -administration. With the Senate, over whom he had set -in authority a Spanish juggler, he was too disdainful to -deal, except on the most important subjects. His chief -aim was to wring money out of Rome and the provinces, -and spend it on the troops. He “plundered the whole -earth,” says Dio. He wore the long rough cloak of a -Goth—from which he was given the nickname of “Caracalla” -(the name of the garment)—and ate the rough food -of a soldier on campaign; though he gave himself wildly -to the luxurious life of the cities of Asia Minor.</p> - -<p>Julia settled in Nicomedia, where she spent a good part -of 214 and 215, and then in Antioch. Caracalla never -married again; indeed, there can be little doubt that -venereal disease was the chief cause of his madness and -brutality during these years. As a boy, “reared by a -Christian nurse,” says Tertullian, he had been most gentle -and humane. Julia, therefore, was still Empress, and she -undertook the greater part of Caracalla’s work. All letters -from Rome were forwarded to her, and she dealt with -them all, except a few that had to be submitted to the -Emperor. The inscriptions cut in honour of her during -these years were remarkably numerous, and from them -and the coins we learn how great were her authority and -influence. Her official title grew until it at length became: -“Julia Pia Felix Augusta, Mater Augusti et Castrorum -et Senatus et Patriæ.” All the several epithets that were -ever bestowed on other Empresses were gathered together -in her name.</p> - -<p>This intimate association with so foul an Emperor as -Caracalla lent colour to the current belief that she was -linked with him in another capacity than that of mother. -Herodian (iiii), Eutropius (viii), and Aurelius Victor -(“Epitome,” xxi), give the charge as an undoubted fact. -Spartianus (“Historia Augusta,” “Caracalla,” x) gives a -circumstantial story of the mother leading the son astray,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> -and Aurelius Victor gives the same anecdote in his “De -Cæsaribus,” xxi. She is said to have presented herself to -Caracalla in what Serviez calls “an exceedingly magnificent -and becoming dress”—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">se maxima corporis parte denudasset</i>, -is the text—and yielded with ease. The anecdote -is too common a sample of the salacious gossip of the time -to be taken seriously, but the substantial charge is not -so easily set aside. Dio, it is true, does not give it. When -he speaks (c. 10) of Caracalla having “possessed the -rascality [πανοῦργον] of his mother,” he does not indeed -pay a tribute to her character, but the word he employs -seems to indicate craft, perhaps unscrupulous craft, rather -than lasciviousness.</p> - -<p>But even Dio relates an adventure which fairly shows -that this grave charge against Julia was widely credited -in his day. In the year 216, during his tour in the East, -Caracalla announced that he would honour Alexandria -with a visit. Unsparing as the Alexandrians had been in -their witticisms on the ugly, bald, and prematurely old young -man, with all his brutality and folly, they had no suspicion -of his real intention, and they prepared to receive him -with great honour. Once inside their gates, however, he -savagely precipitated his troops on the unarmed citizens -and for several days directed the carnage and pillage from -the temple of Serapis. This savage onslaught is said by -Dio to have been a punishment for the jibes of the Alexandrians, -and we know from Herodian that one of their -most deadly shafts was to speak of him and his mother as -Œdipus and Jocaste.</p> - -<p>It cannot therefore be said that Dio is unaware of the -current belief, nor can we follow Miss Wilkins when she -suggests that the “elderly Empress” was incapable of such -conduct. Julia had been married only twenty-nine years -before, and may very well be presumed to have been in -her early forties in the year 216. She was in “the full -flush of life,” as Dio expressly says, and is not known to -have embraced any system of ethics or religion which -would lay a stigma on incest. But the general moderation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -of her career and the repellent character of Caracalla, -unrelieved by a single grace of person or disposition, must -weigh heavily in the scale against the gossip of Rome.</p> - -<p>We know, at least, that she endeavoured to curb the -wild excesses that were bringing a doom on her son and -endangering the stability of the Empire. When he debased -the coinage, and despoiled his subjects, she remonstrated, -but he laughingly drew his sword and said: “Courage, -mother, while we have this, money will not fail us.” “In -such things,” says Dio, “he paid no heed to his mother, -who gave him much excellent advice.” She continued to -act as the first minister of her son, while he wandered -from region to region in search of adventure. One of his -exploits will suffice to illustrate his peculiar method of -winning glory. From Egypt he advanced against the -Parthians. He sent a flattering letter to the Parthian -king, submitting that the two great Empires ought amicably -to divide the world, and asking for the hand of his -daughter. His persistent lying disarmed even the crafty -Parthians, and he was admitted into their kingdom with -a body of troops. He at once flung his troops upon -the vast unarmed multitude that came out to greet him, -mingled their blood with the flowers they had strewn -in his path, and sacked a large part of Medea and Parthia.</p> - -<p>But the end of his infamous life was rapidly approaching. -He had written to Rome, some time previously, to -direct that the Chaldæans should be consulted as to the -name of his successor, so that he might slay the man -named. The minister to whom he wrote had some grievance -against one of the officials in the East, Opilius -Macrinus, and he wrote to inform Caracalla that Macrinus -was designated by an African soothsayer. The more -romantic historians say that this letter reached Caracalla -just as he was engaged in directing a race, and that he -gave it, unopened, to Macrinus himself to deal with. More -plausible is the story related by Dio. The letter went, -as all letters went, to the Empress at Antioch, and a delay -was caused. Macrinus had, in the meantime, learned from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span> -Rome the danger that threatened him, and he set energetically -to work. A discontented soldier in Caracalla’s body-guard -was secured, and on the 8th of March, 217, he ended -that Emperor’s infamies with the thrust of a dagger. It -was a timely release for Rome. It was discovered after -his death that he had bought great quantities of poison in -Asia.</p> - -<p>Julia indulged in an unusual display of violence when -the news reached her at Antioch. She mourned little -over the removal of her son, says Dio, as she “had hated -him when he was alive”; but the prospect of laying down -her Imperial power, and retiring into private life, in the -prime of her womanhood, filled her with anger. She -learned that, after a brief hesitation, Macrinus had promised -the usual bribe to the troops, and obtained the Empire. -Rumour quickly recognized in him the assassin of Caracalla, -and Julia made the most violent attacks on him. -Meantime, he had written to assure her that he would -recognize her Imperial status, and not remove her guard -of honour. He feared the attachment of the soldiers to -Caracalla, and disavowed his share in the assassination. -Julia perceived his weakness, and, abandoning her first -resolve to take her life by refusing food, she entertained -a hope of unseating the upstart. But the soldiers, -however much attached to Caracalla, had little idea of -putting a Semiramis on the throne of Rome. Her plan -miscarried, and Macrinus heard of her invectives. He -ordered her to leave Antioch, and go where she willed. -Her sister and nieces returned to the paternal temple -at Emesa, where we shall soon rejoin them, but Julia, -failing entirely to foresee the extraordinary adventure by -which they would shortly return to power, racked with -the pain of a cancer, which she had aggravated by a blow -on the breast in her first anger, decided to leave the -world. She refused food, and died in May or June, 217. -Her remains were afterwards buried with great pomp at -Rome, and her name was added to the quaint list of the -Imperial gods and goddesses.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIII" class="vspace">CHAPTER XIII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">IN THE DAYS OF ELAGABALUS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> fates were now preparing as strange a revolution, -and bringing upon the Imperial stage as grotesque -a figure, as any that have yet come under our -notice. Three women—the sister and the nieces of Julia -Domna—are the engineers of this revolution, and, clothed -with the Imperial dignity, control the fortunes of Rome -in the extraordinary period that followed it. But before -we introduce the tragi-comic figure of Elagabalus, we must -clear the stage of the temporary Emperor and his faint -shadow of an Empress.</p> - -<p>Opilius Macrinus was a weak, vain, and unimpressive -old man. Accident had put the Empire within his reach. -He timidly grasped it because no other offered to do so, -and held it until another desired it. He was in his fifty-third -year, a man of obscure African origin, an adventurer -in the public service. He was married to Nonia Celsa, -of whom we know only that her qualities were not -generally believed to include the possession of virtue. -Their son Diadumenianus was a tall and handsome youth, -with black eyes and curly yellow hair. When his father -made him Cæsar, and he donned a purple robe, the -spectators are said to have melted with affection. He -lived long enough to show, by urging his parents to deal -more drastically with rebels, that his heart was not so -tender as his pretty looks had suggested.</p> - -<p>“How happy and fortunate we are,” Macrinus wrote -to his family, when his accession was secured. In little<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> -more than a year he would be flying over the hills of -Asia Minor, and he and his handsome boy would be cruelly -put to death. He set out at once, with great display, -against the unruly Parthians. But he soon purchased -an ignoble peace from them, and repaired to the banquets -and pleasures of Antioch. Anxious as he was about his -position, he made the fatal error of keeping the troops -in camp, and there soon passed from legion to legion an -ominous murmur. The soldiers contrasted his luxury with -Caracalla’s sharing of their march and their cheese, and -chafed under the discipline he rightly sought to enforce. -The rumour spread, too, that Macrinus had given offence -to the Senate; and that a mule had borne a mule at Rome, -and a sow had given birth to a little pig with two heads and -eight feet. The apparition of a comet and an eclipse of the -sun made it yet more certain that something was going -to happen, and confirmed those who were preparing the -event. In the month of May Macrinus heard that a boy -of fourteen, supported by three women and a eunuch, had -claimed the throne, and seduced some troops. He sent a -general, with a moderate force, to bring him the boy’s head. -In a week or two a messenger returned with a head—his -general’s head. He roused himself from the drowsy luxury -of Antioch, and set out with his army.</p> - -<p>The three women were, as I have said, Julia Mæsa, -sister of Julia Domna, and her daughters, Soæmias and -Mamæa. At the death of Julia Domna they had retired -to the ancestral home at Emesa, in Syria, but with a very -considerable fortune, which Mæsa had gathered at the -court of Severus and Caracalla. The two daughters seem -to have lost their husbands, though each had a son. -Soæmias had a child of fourteen years, named Varius -Avitus Bassianus, a strikingly pretty boy.<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> His cousin<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> -Alexianus was three or four years younger. Avitus was -therefore clothed with the dignity of priest of the temple, -which seems to have been hereditary, and the little group -resumed the life they had quitted, twenty years before, to -dwell in the Imperial court. Mæsa, and probably Soæmias, -found this rustic tranquillity unendurable, and followed -political events with interest. The one retained dreams -of Imperial power, the other of Imperial indulgence. Their -chief servant was a clever eunuch, Gannys by name, who -is strangely described by Dio as “practically living with -Soæmias.” A geographical accident brought their vague -dreams to a practical issue.</p> - -<p>Near the little town of Emesa was a camp of the Roman -soldiers. Cosmopolitan as they now were in race and -religion, and fretting at their detention in the dull countryside, -the soldiers took a close interest in the temple of -the strange god. The great wealth and fame of the shrine, -the peculiar nature of its deity and its ritual, often attracted -them, and the knowledge that these rich and handsome -women of the priestly family had been so closely connected -with their popular Caracalla increased the interest. But -the chief feature that drew their attention was the beauty -of the young high-priest. The soft and feminine delicacy -of his form and features was enhanced by a long robe of -Imperial purple, fringed with gold, and a crown that flashed -back the rays of the Syrian sun from its precious gems. -The romance was not lessened when they reflected that -the great Severus had often fondled this boy in his arms, -and that he might have inherited the throne. The women, -or their servants, now doubled the interest of the soldiers -by insinuating a whisper that he was the son of their -Caracalla, and when Mæsa’s gold began to pass freely -into their purses, they contrived to see a resemblance -to the dark and repellent features of the late Emperor in -the girlish beauty of the boy. Soæmias had no difficulty -in paying the poor price of her reputation for a return to -court. Lampridius bluntly calls her a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">meretrix</i>.</p> - -<p>On the night of May 15th, 218, the three women and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span> -the two boys were transferred to the camp. Mæsa’s -fortune went with them, as the price of Empire, and on -the following day the soldiers announced that Bassianus, -as he was now called, was Emperor. The camp was -fortified, and in a few days Macrinus’s general, Julianus, -appeared before it with his troops. Their companions -in the camp exhibited the young son of Caracalla on the -rampart, and, as they exhibited also the bags of Mæsa’s -gold, they convinced and seduced the assailants. Julianus’s -head was cut off, and sent to Antioch. Macrinus now -marched against them, and the two armies met in the intervening -country on June 8th. The softened troops wavered -on both sides, and it looked as if Macrinus might win, when -Mæsa and Soæmias sprang from their chariots in the -rear of the army, rushed into the ranks, and spurred their -flagging followers on to victory. Macrinus fled, in an -ignominious disguise, across the hills and valleys of Asia -Minor, and within a few weeks Nonia Celsa learned that -she had lost her throne, her husband, and her boy. The -Emperor of Rome was the pretty boy-priest of Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>Imperial power, however, meant to the Syrian youth -an unrestrained indulgence of his sensual dreams, not a -grave concern with the affairs of a mighty people. He -dallied in the East, and willingly left his duties to his -grandmother, while he devoted himself entirely to his -rights. He gathered about him the ignoble company of -ministers to lust which the cities of Asia Minor were at -all times ready to supply, and there was no depth or -eccentricity of vice in Antioch or Nicomedia which he -did not explore. Before the end of that year the boy’s -nature was completely perverted, and the last trace of -masculinity eliminated from it. Mæsa was alarmed, for -the cities of the East were wont to talk freely of the vices -they implanted or cultivated in their visitors, and the -sentiment of Rome could not be ignored. But Bassianus -laughed at her timidity, and lingered throughout the -following winter in the voluptuous chambers of Nicomedia. -As to this Roman Senate, of which she spoke, he sent the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> -grey-beards a painting of himself in his flowing sacerdotal -robes and womanly jewels, to be placed over the altar -of Victory in their meeting-place.</p> - -<p>In the following spring he condescended to visit the -capital of his Empire. Rome had received many a strange -procession during the centuries of its Imperial expansion, -but no spectacle had aroused so much curiosity as the -arrival of the young monarch on whose picture the -Senators had gazed with bewilderment. The original was -even more extraordinary than the portrayal. For the entry -into Rome the young priest-Emperor stained his cheeks -with vermilion, and artfully enhanced the brilliance of his -eyes, like a Syrian courtesan or an actress. He wore his -loose robes of purple silk trimmed with gold, his delicate -arms were encircled with costly bracelets and his white -neck with a string of pearls, and a tiara of successive -crowns, flashing with jewels, surmounted his strange figure. -And, as the alternative and real power in administration, -the Romans regarded with anxiety the two women who -rode with him—the grave and dignified Mæsa, and the -richly sensuous and evil-famed Soæmias. There is in -the Vatican Museum a statue of the mother of Elagabalus -as she appeared at this time. She has chosen to be -portrayed in the costume, or lack of costume, of Venus; -and the voluptuous body and soft round limbs, the low -forehead, thick lips, and large nose, combined with the hard -and shameless expression, reconcile us to the coarsest -epithets the historians have attached to her memory.</p> - -<div id="ip_214" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img src="images/i_214.jpg" width="469" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>JULIA MÆSA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE CAPITOLINE MUSEUM, ROME</p></div></div> - -<p>To the horror of the Senate this woman was at once -associated with him in a character that no Empress, or -no woman, had ever assumed in the long history of Rome. -At his first visit to the Senate the Emperor demanded -that she should be invited to sit by his side and listen to -their deliberations. Even Livia had been content to listen -behind the decent shade of a curtain. Soæmias, however, -had not the wit or seriousness to interfere in any way. -She was appointed president of the Senaculum, or “Little -Senate,” of women, which Sabina had founded, and Julia restored,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> -in the Forum of Trajan; and she found an easier and -more congenial occupation in controlling the grave deliberations -of the matrons of Rome on questions of etiquette, -precedence, costume, and jewellery. It was left to Mæsa -to wield the political power, and she did so with sobriety -and judgment. Unhappily, the Emperor was more willing -to listen to the easier counsels of his mother than to Mæsa, -and he began at once to entertain or disgust Rome with -the appalling license which makes his short reign an indescribable -nightmare.</p> - -<p>He had brought from Emesa the celestial stone, the -emblem of Ela-gabal, to which all his prosperity was -due, and his first care was to provide the god with a -worthy home. A magnificent temple was raised to it, -and the stone, encrusted with gems, was borne to it on -a chariot drawn by six white horses, the Emperor walking -backwards before it in an ecstasy of adoration. In the -temple a number of altars were set up, and rivers of -blood—even the blood of children—were poured out on -them; while the Emperor and his family croned the barbaric -chants of primitive Syria, and the highest dignitaries of -Rome stood in silent respect. As the earlier officials were -soon replaced by men of infamy, chosen, very frequently, -on a qualification that one may not describe, we need pay -little attention to their feelings. If we suppose that the -Emperor, or Elagabalus, as he now called himself, was -aware that the conical stone was really a phallic emblem, -we may find a clue to some of the stranger vagaries of -his erotomania.</p> - -<p>Rome had long been accustomed to the barbarism of -the more ancient Oriental cults, and had indeed taken a -willing part in the orgiastic processions of the mysterious -Mother of the Gods, whenever their rulers permitted -them. But the security of the Empire seemed to them -in danger when Elagabalus went on to place every other -idol in a position of subordinate respect in the temple of -his fetich. Jupiter, Juno, Venus, and Mars, were not at -that time favoured very widely with a literal belief; nor<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -were the Romans concerned when he stole the Astarte -of the Carthaginians, and married her, in a magnificent -festival, to his lonely deity. The temples and cults of -Rome were like the temples and cults of modern Japan. -They contributed to the gaiety of life. But if there was -little sincere polytheism at Rome—the educated world -was divided between an Epicurean Agnosticism and an -eclectic Monotheism—there was much superstition, and few -could regard without concern a desecration of the ancient -Palladium, or statue in the temple of Vesta, to which the -fortune of the city was peculiarly attached, and other -ancient emblems. Elagabalus despotically overrode their -feelings. He broke forcibly into the home of the Vestal -Virgins, and bore away the sacred Palladium; since we -may regard the later boast of the Virgins, that they cheated -him with a substituted statue, as insincere.</p> - -<p>Of the Empresses whom he made by marriage we -have little knowledge. In less than three years he married, -and unmarried, either four or five women. The first was -Julia Cornelia Paula, a woman of very distinguished -family and, if we may trust the bust in the Louvre, a -woman of dignity, refinement, and some strength of -character. We may see the action of Mæsa in the choice. -A few months later he divorced her and, to the horror -of Rome, married one of the Vestal Virgins. Possibly the -beauty of Julia Aquilia Severa had caught his fancy when -he broke into their sacred enclosure. The Senators were -deeply concerned at this sacrilege, for the fate of Rome -was still closely connected with the integrity of the noble -virgins who tended the undying fire before the altar of -Vesta. Elagabalus, who, it was generally known, had no -hope of progeny, brazenly argued with the Senate that -he was consulting the future of the State, since a union -of priest and priestess gave promise of a family of divine -children. In any case, he said, he was a maker, not an -observer, of laws; and he established Severa in his palace. -The coins give her the title of Augusta.</p> - -<p>His roving eye soon afterwards was attracted by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span> -charms of Annia Faustina, the great-granddaughter of -Marcus Aurelius. The portrait-bust of her in the Capitol -Museum has a round full face of great beauty and an -expression of sweetness and modesty. She seems to -have escaped the taint of the Faustinæ. She was married -to Pomponius Bassus, and Elagabalus released her by the -familiar device of executing her husband, and transferred -her, leaving no time for mourning, to the palace. Her -beauty seems to have been too tempered with refinement -to engage his affections long. She was dismissed, and -replaced by some unknown victim. Then Elagabalus -returned to his priestess of Vesta. In all, he seems to -have married four women in three years, not counting -Severa, whose marriage Dio does not seem to regard as -valid.</p> - -<p>Severa was the chief associate of his life in the palace, -and it is quite impossible to convey an impression of the -sordid scenes into which she had passed from the austere -sanctuary of Vesta. Twelve condensed pages of the -“Historia Augusta” are occupied with his enormities, and -at the close of what is probably the most appalling picture -of unrestrained license in any literature—even if we admit -exaggeration—Lampridius assures us that he has, from a -feeling of modesty, omitted the worst details. It would -seem that the human imagination, in its most diseased -condition, could devise nothing lower. We do not know -whether Severa was an Octavia or a Poppæa, but the circumstance -that she consented to live is grave enough. In -that vast colony of vice, to which a system of pandars, -spread over the Empire, dispatched every man who had -some special physical or moral feature to fit him for the -orgies, no decent woman would have clung to mortality. -A Cæsonia or a Marcia might laugh when Elagabalus -returned at night, dressed as a common female tavern-keeper, -from the low wine-shops in which he had been -rioting—might even smile when she saw Elagabalus’s -“husband,” a burly slave, beating and bruising him for his -infidelity, or when she heard at night the rattle of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -golden rings and the shameful appeal of the new Messalina -behind his curtain—but Severa was of noble birth, the -daughter of a man who had twice been consul.</p> - -<p>One of the unpardonable sins of Rome was that it -hesitated so long to assassinate some of its rulers. The -very excesses of Elagabalus protected him for a long -time, as he urged the people to share or imitate his -pleasures. No screen was drawn about his vices. He -would discuss them with the Senate, or collect all the -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">meretrices</i> of Rome in a hall, and address them on those -various schemes of vice which we find to-day depicted -on the walls of the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">lupanar</i> in Pompeii. He would invite -the common folk to come and drink with him at the palace, -where they might see the furniture of solid silver, the beds -loaded with roses and hyacinths, the swimming-baths of -perfume, the gold dust strewn in the colonnades, the paths -paved with porphyry. He provided for them the spectacle -of naval battles in lakes of wine, and a mountain of snow, -brought from the remote mountains, in the middle of -summer. But his chief device for cajoling the citizens -was to distribute tickets, as for a lottery, and see them -press for the sight of the gifts corresponding to their -numbers. You might get ten eggs or ten ostriches, ten -flies or ten camels, ten toy balloons or ten pounds of gold; -and the mania grew until your chance lay between a dead -dog, a slave, a richly caparisoned horse, a chariot, or a -hundred pounds of gold. At times he would invite a -crowd to dinner, and smother them, with fatal effect to -some, under a thick shower of flowers; or seat them on -inflated bags, which slaves would deflate in the middle -of the banquet; or have them borne away intoxicated at -the end, to find themselves in the morning sleeping with -bears or lions.</p> - -<p>The frivolous Romans were so much entertained by -these vagaries that they overlooked his personal luxury, -and made no inquiry into the state of the treasury. No -dinner could be placed before him that had not cost thirty -pounds of silver. Robed in a tunic of pure gold or pure<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> -Chinese silk, sitting under perfumed lamps, amid masses -of the choicest blooms, he picked delicately at the tongues -of larks and peacocks, the brains of thrushes, the eggs of -pheasants, the heads of parrots, or the heels of camels. -He fed his horses with choice grapes and his lions with -pheasants. His chariots were of gold only, studded with -gems, and they were drawn through the streets by strings -of nude women, or by stags. Delicate in every detail, -he had cords of silk and swords of gold prepared for -inflicting death on himself in case of need. He little knew -that he would die in the latrine of the soldiers’ camp.</p> - -<p>Soæmias seems to have enjoyed this orgiastic life, but -the more prudent Mæsa was concerned. Finding that -remonstrances were quite useless, she cunningly persuaded -Elagabalus to associate his cousin with him in the government. -Alexander—as Alexianus had now been named—was -three or four years younger than the Emperor, and did -not share his disease. His mother, Mamæa, inherited the -prudence and sobriety of Mæsa, and guarded her boy from -the contamination with the utmost care. His excellent -disposition ensured the success of their plan, and Elagabalus -began to perceive that the younger boy was winning a -dangerous popularity. It is said that a judicious distribution -of money by Mamæa fostered the growing esteem for -him, especially among the soldiers.</p> - -<p>From suspicion Elagabalus passed to hatred, and from -hatred to a design on his cousin’s life. Mamæa secured -the favour of the guards with great adroitness, and watched -the actions of Elagabalus. He first, in order to test public -feeling, sent word to the Senate and the camp that he had -withdrawn the title of Cæsar from his cousin; and he -directed that the boy should be put to death if this -announcement created no disorder. In the anxious hour -that followed, Alexander waited in a room of the palace -with his trembling mother and Mæsa; Elagabalus went -down to the gardens to supervise the preparations for a -chariot-race, and await impatiently the news that his cousin -was dead. Presently a tumultuous crowd of the guards<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> -rushed across the city, and burst into the gardens of the -palace. Elagabalus fled to his room, and covered himself -with a curtain; and the soldiers conveyed the two women -and the boy in triumph to the camp, many of them remaining -in the garden to threaten Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>Soæmias, seeing the Empire slip from her, awoke to -energetic action. She hastened on foot to the camp, and -pleaded passionately for her son. They did not wish to -take his life, the guards said, but must have a security -for the life of Alexander and a promise of reform. They -returned to the gardens, and the young autocrat, in his -purple silks and jewelled shoes, had to plead with the -rough soldiers to spare the favourite ministers of his -vices. He had filled the highest posts with men whose -only qualifications were such that we cannot describe -them, and his army of attendants were the scum of the -Empire. The guards forced him to dismiss the most -obnoxious, preached him an inglorious sermon on his -infamies, and directed their officers to watch over the life -of Alexander.</p> - -<p>The swords of gold and the cords of variegated silk -were not employed, but Elagabalus could never forgive -the degradation he had experienced. He made several -attempts to remove the obstacles to his design: sent the -Senate from Rome, and removed or executed several of -the soldiers. Mamæa watched him assiduously, and Mæsa -easily penetrated his secrets. Not a particle of food or -drink from the Imperial kitchen was allowed to pass the -lips of Alexander. Rome knew that the end was near. It -was only a few years since Bassianus and Geta had disgraced -the palace with a similar quarrel. Mæsa attempted -in vain to conciliate them. On January 1st, 222, they were -both to receive the consular dignity from the Senate. -She had to threaten Elagabalus with a fresh mutiny of the -guards before he would go.</p> - -<p>Some ten weeks later the feud came to a crisis. Elagabalus, -to test the soldiers, sets afoot a rumour that -Alexander is dead. The guards, believing the rumour,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> -withdraw their contingent from the palace, and shut themselves -in the camp. Elagabalus takes his cousin in his -golden chariot to the camp, to show that the rumour is -false, and loses control of himself when the guards burst -into exclamations of joy at the sight of Alexander. Mamæa -and Soæmias come upon the scene, and an angry altercation -follows, each mother making a wild appeal to the -soldiers. Either there is a division of feeling among the -soldiers, or some of Elagabalus’s ministers are present, -for swords are drawn and are soon at work. Elagabalus -and Soæmias, the Sybarites, rush into the latrine of the -camp for safety, and are slain there by the guards. Their -bodies are disdainfully thrown out to the mob, who have -gathered outside. The effeminate frame of the young -Emperor, with its soft limbs and large pendent breasts, -and the voluptuous body of his mother, are dragged through -the streets, and, as the opening of the sewer is too narrow -to receive them, they are thrown into the Tiber. And the -cry of “Ave, Imperator!” rings in the ears of Mamæa and -her boy.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIV" class="vspace">CHAPTER XIV<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ANOTHER SYRIAN EMPRESS</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">To</span> the thoughtful Roman the name of Syria must have -suggested an abyss of corruption, and the extension -of the Empire over that swarm of Asiatic peoples -to whom the name was vaguely applied must have seemed -an infelicitous triumph. From the cities of nearer Asia, in -which the senile energies of the older civilizations seemed -incapable of rising above the ministry to vice, luxury, and -folly, had come the larger part of the taint that had infected -the blood of Rome. It is therefore singular to observe -that, of the five women whom Syria placed on, or above, -the Roman throne in the third century, four were distinguished -for sobriety of judgment and concern for the -common weal. The family from which the first four of -these women sprang is variously described as “humble” -and “noble.” We may reconcile the epithets by a conjecture -that the family which controlled the wealthy shrine -of Emesa descended from some branch of the fallen nobility -of the East. Both Soæmias and Mamæa had married -Syrians, and we may assume that Mamæa had done the -same. In those circumstances, the public spirit with which -Julia Domna, Julia Mæsa, and Julia Mamæa used the great -influence they had is not a little remarkable.</p> - -<p>Of the three—to whom we must presently add a fourth -remarkable woman of the East—Mamæa had the greatest -power, and made the best use of it. She is not blameless, -as we shall see; but even if it be true, as is commonly said, -that she was unduly covetous of money and power, we<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> -must at least admit that she employed them solely to restore -peace and prosperity to the Empire, and prolong the reign -of a high-principled ruler.</p> - -<p>Mamæa entered upon her work with all the shrewdness -which we have already recognized in her. Instead of -claiming the right, which Soæmias had enjoyed, to sit in -the Senate and sign its decrees, she preserved a discreet -silence when the Senate abolished the innovation, and -poured out their long-repressed annoyance on the memory -of its author. The Senators ostentatiously enjoyed their -shadow of power: Mamæa quietly possessed the substance. -She provided the finest preceptors for the education of -her son Alexander, who was in his fourteenth year, and -selected sixteen of the most distinguished Senators and -lawyers as a Council of State. With these she worked -energetically and harmoniously for the renovation of the -Empire. The palace was purged of the quaint and the -loathsome officers that she found in it, Rome was relieved -of Ela-gabal and his ghastly ritual, competent officials were -substituted for the ministers to the lust of the late Emperor, -and the heavier taxes of the previous two reigns were -remitted or lessened. In this work, which extends over -the thirteen years of the reign of Alexander Severus, Mæsa -had little part. She died soon after the beginning of this -happier era, and Mamæa alone guided the willing hands -of her son. It is remarked by all the authorities that -Alexander was singularly subservient to his mother.</p> - -<p>Troops and Senate had been happily united in the -elevation of Alexander, and all the epithets of Imperial -dignity were at once conferred on him. The title of -Severus he accepted from the soldiers, but he declined -the name of Antoninus, which the Senate pressed on him, -since that revered name had been so impiously disgraced -by his predecessors. He spontaneously discarded the -womanly silks and jewels of his cousin, covered the rough -shirts of Severus with the Roman toga, and gave equal -attention to manly exercises, the lessons of his tutors, and -the wise counsels of his mother. He thus grew into a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> -handsome and virile youth, with the piercing black eyes -of his race, but with a moderation of temper that delighted -his Stoic teachers. When we read the account of his career -in the “Historia Augusta”—an account that might have -been written by a Xenophon or a Fénelon for the edification -of a young prince—we are tempted to feel that, either -the gossipy Lampridius had for the moment a more serious -object than the entertainment of Rome, or Alexander -Severus was more virtuous than the circumstances required.</p> - -<p>Mamæa is described by the same writer as “holy, but -avaricious.” Avarice was a not inopportune vice. Elagabalus -had squandered the treasury on his follies; the -troops, encouraged by him and by Caracalla, were becoming -more and more exacting; while Mamæa had, by lightening -the taxes, spared the Empire a substantial share of its -contribution. In these circumstances it was prudent to -cultivate a close concern about money, and no single writer -ventures to say that the Empress—the Senate had at once -entitled her Augusta—spent much on her personal service -or pleasure. It is said that her zeal for the accumulation -of money was carried to a stage of offensiveness. But it -was necessary for her murderers to detect or invent some -vice in extenuation of their foul deed, and the position in -which the charge is found in the historians reveals that it -came from that tainted source. “Avarice” means little -more than that she would not yield to the improper -demands of a demoralized army.</p> - -<p>When we reflect that both her parents were Syrians, -we notice with some surprise that the portrait-bust of -Mamæa has a singularly Roman face; and in her strength, -solidity, and sobriety she recalls the old Roman type rather -than accords with the general conception of a Syrian -woman. She had the defect of her type, and an incident -that occurred early in her reign is regarded as a grave -betrayal of it. It is not at all clear, however, that Mamæa -acted with the “jealous cruelty” which Gibbon sees in her -conduct. For the wife of her son she had chosen Sallustia<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -Barbia Orbiana—we find the name on coins, though the -historians do not give it—daughter of the Senator -Sallustius Macrinus. Alexander, not an exacting husband, -seems to have lived happily with his bride, and her father -was promoted to the rank of Cæsar. Before long, however, -we find Macrinus executed on a charge of treason, and his -daughter banished to Africa.</p> - -<p>Gibbon believes, on the authority of Dio, that this was -entirely due to Mamæa’s unwillingness to share the power -and the affection of her son with another woman. The -word of an historian and a member of the Senate, whom -we may almost describe as an eye-witness, must assuredly -have weight, yet we cannot ignore the assertion of the -other authorities that Macrinus was betrayed into acts -which easily bore the construction of treason. We may -recall Merivale’s just warning, on another occasion, that -a contemporary Roman writer is particularly apt to reproduce -the unsubstantial gossip of his day. Herodian, -who nevertheless believes that Macrinus had no treasonable -intention, says that Mamæa was so cruel to Orbiana that -the girl went in tears to her father, and he repaired to the -Prætorian camp with bitter complaints against Mamæa. -Such a course very strongly suggests a treasonable design. -The troops, chafing under the rule of Mamæa and her son, -whom they eventually murdered, were notoriously discontented; -and flying to the camp was commonly the first -overt act in a plot to displace the ruling Emperor. When -we further find that Lampridius (“Historia Augusta”) says, -on the authority of Dexippus, an Athenian writer of the -succeeding generation, that Macrinus was expressly attempting -to replace Alexander, we must at least suspend -our censures. We know nothing of the character of -Macrinus and his daughter, and are therefore unable to -say how far Mamæa’s interpretation of their conduct may -have been influenced by her feelings, and how far her -harsh treatment of Orbiana may have been justified.</p> - -<p>The charge against her is further weakened by a -circumstance that Gibbon has overlooked. Lampridius<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -says that Alexander married Memnia, the daughter of the -ex-consul Sulpicius, and speaks incidentally of “his boys.” -It seems, then, that the jealousy of Mamæa did not prevent -Alexander from marrying again, and that Memnia must -have shared the palace with the Empress-mother for a -number of years. Of her character we know nothing, -except that, together with Mamæa, she remonstrated with -Alexander on account of his excessive affability with his -subjects. No guards, it seems, barred the entrance of the -palace against them. The austere character of the life -which adorned it was the only test of the integrity of those -who approached him. After a day of exertion he would -spend the evening in the refining enjoyment of letters or -the exercise of his musical skill. He sang and played well, -but guarded his Imperial dignity by admitting none to hear -him except his young sons. Actors and gladiators he -avoided, nor would he spend much in exhibiting their -skill to the public. His one luxury was a remarkable -collection of birds, which included 20,000 doves; his one -weakness a delight in the puny and almost bloodless -combats of partridges, kittens, or pups. His baths were of -cold water, and his table was regulated by the most minute -directions, admitting even the slight luxury of a goose only -on festive occasions. When a string of costly pearls was -presented to Memnia, he ordered that they should be sold, -and, when no purchaser could be found in Rome, he hung -them upon the statue of Venus in the temple.</p> - -<div id="ip_226" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 32em;"> - <img src="images/i_226.jpg" width="503" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>JULIA MAMÆA</p> - -<p>BUST IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>From such details as these we may construct a picture -of the quiet and temperate life of Alexander’s palace, and -we shall be disposed to think lightly of the quarrels which -are said to have disturbed the relations of mother and son. -We can hardly believe that one so frugal as Alexander -would profess much indignation at his mother’s assiduous -nursing of the treasury, nor can we suppose that Mamæa -greatly resented the young monarch’s accessibility to his -subjects. Their frugality, indeed, must not be exaggerated, -as they were generous in gifts. Instead of sending men to -extort their incomes from the provinces in which they took<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> -office, Alexander provided them, when they left Rome, -with an outfit so complete as to include a concubine. His -deference to his mother may, in fact, be said to be the only -consistent charge against him. The Emperor Julian (“The -Cæsars”) insinuates that he showed a mediocrity of intelligence -in allowing his mother to accumulate money, instead -of prudently spending it. In a sense Julian was right; -though it was not weakness of intelligence, but severity of -principle, that restrained Alexander and Mamæa from this -prudent expenditure. Had they lavished their funds upon -the troops, the history of Rome during the next ten years -might have run differently.</p> - -<p>From an early period in the reign of Alexander the -attitude of the troops cast a shadow over the palace and -the Empire. Five successive Emperors, besides earlier -ones, had received the purple from the hands of the troops, -and had been compelled either to refrain from pressing the -necessary discipline upon them, or to compensate the -rigours of discipline with excessive rewards. The soldiers -became conscious of their power, and sufficiently demoralized -to abuse it. Less exercise and more pay led to a -lamentable enervation; and the filling of the ranks from -the more distant peoples, who had not contributed to the -making of the Empire and were insensible to its prestige, -dissolved in the legions the old spirit of nationality. From -the lonely forests, the frozen hills, or the blistering deserts -of the frontiers, they sought ever to be withdrawn to the -comforts and pleasures of the cities. And when they found -that a fresh effort was being made to restrict their indulgences -and restore the earlier discipline, when they reflected -that it was only the feeble hands of a woman and a youth -that would enforce this austerity, they broke into sullen -murmurs of discontent.</p> - -<p>The most dangerous part of the army was the extensive -regiment of Prætorian Guards, which, from its camp at the -walls, overshadowed Rome with its power. Over these -men Mamæa had placed a civilian, the distinguished jurist -Domitius Ulpianus. It was natural that Ulpian should<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> -wish to extend to the guards the valuable reforms which -he was introducing into every department of the State; -equally natural that the soldiers should chafe under his -discipline. The citizens took the part of Ulpian and -Mamæa, who protected him, and the irritation at last -erupted in a bloody struggle, in which the populace fought -for three days against the soldiers in the streets of Rome. -The quarrel was arrested, but some time afterwards—not -in the fight, as Gibbon says—the angry guards put an end -to the reforms of Ulpian. The statesman fled before them -into the palace, and sought the protection of the Emperor; -but the insolent guards penetrated the sanctuary of the -royal house with drawn swords, and murdered, in -Alexander’s presence, the most eminent and enlightened of -his counsellors. The provincial troops were giving little -less concern. We take our leave at this stage of the -historian Dio. His work closes with a mournful lament -of the condition of the army, and a just presentiment of -impending calamity. He too had endeavoured to enforce -discipline on the legions, and had found the authority of -the Emperor insufficient to protect him from their murderous -resentment.</p> - -<p>As if this lamentable situation had been communicated -to the countless peoples who pressed eagerly against the -barriers of the Empire, we find a new boldness arising -amongst them, and a serious beginning of those raids which -will at last put the mighty power under the heel of the -barbarian. The tragedy of the fall of Rome reaches a more -certain stage. It is a singular and melancholy reflection -that Rome suffered most under its most virtuous rulers. -During the reign of Marcus Aurelius the gods had seemed -to make a war upon virtue. The new Stoic and his virtuous -mother were destined to see the enemies gathering fiercely -about their enfeebled frontiers, and to perish tragically in -a futile effort to repel them.</p> - -<p>The gravest trouble arose in the East. The ancient -kingdom of Persia revived, and its vigorous rulers determined -to regain the provinces which Greece and Rome had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span> -shorn from their once vast empire. Alexander, and probably -Mamæa, went to the East. If we may believe the -panegyrist of Alexander in the “Historia Augusta,” he displayed -an admirable firmness in enforcing discipline upon -the troops when he arrived at Antioch. Gathering their -sullen and spoiled officers from the haunts of Antioch and -the licentious groves of the suburb of Daphne, he punished -a number of them severely, boldly confronted the drawn -swords of their demoralized followers, and set the legions -in motion against the Persians. But the plan of the -campaign was injudicious, and the execution weak. The -Romans suffered a heavy reverse, and, before they could -recover and check the advancing spirit of the Persians, -Alexander was recalled to Europe with the news that the -Germanic tribes were bursting through the northern -frontier.</p> - -<p>From the sunny lands of their native East the Emperor -and his mother passed, in the year 234, to the banks of the -Rhine. They had passed through Rome, where the citizens -were easily persuaded to celebrate his triumph over the -Persians. From the Capitol they had carried the young -Emperor on their shoulders to his palace, his chariot with -its four elephants walking behind them, and a great wave -of enthusiasm went with him as he started for Gaul. He -was now in his twenty-sixth year, and Mamæa must have -felt that he was at the beginning of a glorious career. -They little suspected that they were going to meet their -deaths at the hands of their own troops.</p> - -<p>One of the commanders on the Rhine was a gigantic -and powerful barbarian, half Goth and half Alan, of the -name of Maximinus. More than eight feet in height, with -a thumb so large that he wore his wife’s bracelet on it as a -ring, the giant had made his way in the army by sheer -strength. A man who could eat forty pounds of meat in a -day, drink a proportionate quantity of wine, and fell you -with a finger, had the respect of the barbarian soldiers. -Elagabalus had repelled him, when he sought office, with -salacious questions about his strength; Alexander had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> -eagerly welcomed him, and put him in command of the -younger troops. But Alexander had afterwards refused -him an honour, which Mamæa desired to confer on him, -and he probably heard this. He had given his son a good -Roman education, and Mamæa thought that the young -man was a suitable match for her daughter Theoclea. -Alexander protested that his sister would find the father-in-law -too boorish, and the young Maximinus, now a tall, -handsome, cultivated, and dissolute noble, married a granddaughter -of Antoninus Pius, Junia Fadilla.</p> - -<p>Whether this affront was remembered, or whether -Maximinus acted from mere ambition, we cannot say. He -began, in any case, to spread discontent in the army. -When Alexander practically bought peace from the barbarians, -instead of conducting a vigorous campaign against -them, the whispers were changed into open murmuring. -These effeminate Syrians, it was said, were unable to -endure the sturdy North, and were eager to return to the -East. The Emperor was a maudlin youth, who could not -act without his mother’s permission. He had abandoned -the war against Persia in order to return to her side, and -he was again sacrificing the honour of Rome out of regard -for her comfort. Her palace at Rome was full of hoarded -treasure, while the hard-worked soldiers were insufficiently -paid. These complaints circulated freely in the camp -during the long German winter. A lavish distribution of -money might have defeated the plot of Maximinus, and a -speedy retirement to Rome would certainly have saved the -lives of the Emperor and Empress. But they remained in -camp until the middle of March, 235, and then the end -came.</p> - -<p>They were at, or in the neighbourhood of, the small -frontier town which is now known as Mainz. One morning, -when Maximinus rode out to control the exercises, he -was greeted with the name of Emperor. He feigned surprise -and reluctance, but the soldiers—probably in pursuance -of an arranged plan—drew their swords, and threatened -to kill him if he did not take the power from the hands of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span> -the effeminate Syrians. He consented, promised a liberal -donation in honour of his accession, and said that all -punishments that had been inflicted on the soldiers would -be remitted. He then led them toward the tent of Alexander. -The young Emperor came out to meet them, and -made an appeal that seems to have divided the followers of -the usurper, as they went away to their tents. At night, -however, the guards at the Imperial tent announced that -the mutinous troops were gathering about it. Alexander -rushed out, and called upon the loyal soldiers to defend -him, making a tardy promise of money and concessions. -Many of them came to his side, but at last the massive -figure of Maximinus was seen to approach at the head of -a strong body of troops. For the last time the soldiers -were urged to choose between the strong, generous man -and the avaricious woman and her child. Alexander saw -the faithful few pass sullenly to the side of Maximinus, and -he returned to his tent. It is said that the last moments -were spent in a violent quarrel between mother and son -about the responsibility for the disaster. There was little -time for it. The soldiers of Maximinus entered at once, -and slew Mamæa, Alexander, and their few remaining -friends.</p> - -<p>A popular and spirited work of the fourth century -described “the deaths of the persecutors,” or the terrible -fate which befell every Emperor who persecuted the -Christians. No fate in the terrible series of Imperial -calamities was so tragic as that of Alexander, though he -had favoured the Christians, and had cherished a bust of -Christ among those of the heroes and sages in his <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">lararium</i>. -No other Empress in the long line of murdered women so -little deserved a violent death as Julia Mamæa. During -the fourteen years of her son’s reign she had solely studied -the welfare of the Empire. The one charge that her -murderers could bring against her was that she had -hoarded money instead of spending it on, or giving it to, -the troops. On public buildings, public works, and civic -administration she had spent freely; she, or Alexander,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> -had even expended large sums in providing surer sustenance -and more effective transport for the troops themselves. -The charge is little, if at all, more than a cowardly subterfuge. -But it needed half-a-dozen strong and unselfish -generals to restore the efficiency and docility of the legions, -and they were not to be found. We pass into a period of -anarchy, in which Emperors and Empresses rise and wither -like mushrooms, and Rome stumbles blindly onward towards -its doom. In that period of confusion, when every -section of the army makes its Emperor, only two dominant -personalities are found, and they are two Empresses of -barbaric origin.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XV" class="vspace">CHAPTER XV<br /> - -<span class="subhead">ZENOBIA AND VICTORIA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> Emperor Alexander Severus and his mother were -murdered in the year 235. We may convey a just -impression of the period that followed this odious -crime by the brief observation that in forty years nearly -forty Emperors appeared on the darkened stage of the -Roman Empire, and that nearly every one of them perished -at the hands of Roman soldiers. The anarchy was arrested -for a time when, in the year 270, the energetic Aurelian -came to the throne. People and Senate greeted the strong -man with genuine enthusiasm, and among the cries of joy -or hope with which the Senators hailed him we find this -singular aspiration: “Thou wilt deliver us from Zenobia -and Vitruvia.” It is a piquant contrast with the disdain -that their fathers had had for women—a confession that -their vast Empire was now dominated by two women, -without male consorts. But for the timely appearance -of Aurelian there was a prospect that they would divide -the rule of the world between them. One was a Syrian, -the other a Gallic, queen; but each of them bore the title -of Augusta, and they are the next commanding personalities -to engage our interest.</p> - -<p>Many years were to elapse between the death of -Mamæa and the appearance of these two remarkable -women, but we need do no more than glance at the many -Empresses of an hour whose names are hardly discernible -in that turbulent era. The huge barbarian who had purchased -the throne by a brutal murder did not long enjoy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> -it. The Empire heard with horror and disdain that this -Thracian shepherd had seized the mantle of Antoninus -and Marcus. The people of Rome, in particular, recollected -with alarm the contempt they had shown him in -his earlier years, and offered prayer in the temples that -the gods might divert his steps from the south of Italy. -He met their disdain with vindictiveness, and ruthlessly -executed those who remembered his humble origin, or -whose wealth could add to his revenue. His Empress, -Paulina, vainly endeavoured to restrain his bloody hand, -and succeeded only in drawing it upon herself.<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> At length -his exactions struck a spark of rebellion in Africa, and a -new Emperor was appointed.</p> - -<p>The African Proconsul, Gordianus, was an excellent -Epicurean of the fine old Roman type. He had wealth, -culture, character, and taste. After filling the highest -offices at Rome with grace and applause, he was now -quietly discharging the duties of Proconsul, and relieving -the long hours of leisure with a tranquil enjoyment of -letters, at the little town of Thysdrus, about a hundred -and fifty miles to the south of Carthage. With him in -Africa was his son Gordianus, an epicure rather than an -Epicurean, who solaced his exile from Rome with the -engaging company of twenty-two ladies. Their respective -pleasures were violently interrupted in the beginning of -the year 238. The father, a white-haired old man, with -broad red face, was resting in his house after his judicial -labours, when a band of men, with blood-smeared swords, -burst into the luxurious villa, told him that they had -rebelled against the tyrant, and peremptorily informed him -that he was Emperor. His objections were unheeded, -and he set out, with misgiving, for Carthage. But the -pride of the Carthaginians was quickly chilled by the -news that Maximinus’s commander in Africa was advancing -against their city. An armed force was hastily equipped, -sent out under the lead of the younger Gordian, and cut<span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span> -to pieces. The younger Emperor had died on the field: -the white-haired old man hanged himself.</p> - -<p>Rome, meantime, had recognized the rule of the -Gordians, and was now throbbing with a just apprehension -of the vengeance of Maximinus. The certainty of punishment -inspired it with a measure of courage, and two new -Emperors were created—a vigorous son of the people, -Pupienus Maximus, and a perfumed representative of the -nobles, Balbinus. The choice did not please the people, -who beset the Senate with sticks and stones, so a handsome -boy, such as Rome loved, was associated with them. -He was a Gordianus, the fourteen-year-old son of the elder -Gordian’s daughter. The city rang with preparations for -war, and in the early summer Maximus led out his weak -and apprehensive force. The terrible Maximinus and his -legions had crossed the Alps, and were descending on the -plains of Italy. Luckily for Rome, they met a desperate -resistance at Aquileia. Protected by strong and well-equipped -fortifications, with ample provisions, the inhabitants -repelled the fiercest attacks of Maximinus, -and jeered at him and his dissolute son from the walls. -When the thongs of their slinging-machines wore out, -the women of Aquileia gave their long tresses to the -soldiers to weave into cords. Maximinus vented his -temper on his own troops, and one morning the besieged -were delighted to see the soldiers advancing with the -grisly heads of Maximinus and his son on the tips of -their spears.</p> - -<p>Maximus returned to gladden Rome with the news, -but it was decreed that six Emperors were to die that -year. The soldiers, who had had another fight with the -Romans during the war, were sullen and treacherous. -Balbinus they hated for his effeminacy, Maximus for his -rigour. The returning troops brought grievances of their -own, and it was only the loyalty of the German soldiers -that held the guards off the palace. Then there came a -day when the delight of the games drew most of the -soldiers away, and the guards marched upon the palace.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> -Maximus hastily ordered the loyal troops to be summoned: -Balbinus cancelled the order. Their relations had been -strained for some time, and each looked upon this sudden -onslaught as a device of the other. The German troops -arrived at last, to find the palace empty, and learn that -the three Emperors were in the hands of the guards. -They started at once for the camp, and found the bleeding -remains of Maximus and Balbinus on the street. With -them another ephemeral Empress passes dimly before us. -The coins seem to indicate that Maximus was the husband -of Quintia Crispilla at the time of his death.</p> - -<p>The youthful Gordian had been taken to the camp, and -Rome was forced to acknowledge him as sole Emperor. -Intoxicated, as so many had been, by the sudden obtaining -of so vast a power, he seemed at first inclined to the model -of Caligula. His uncle’s concubines and his mother’s eunuchs -were in a fair way to rule the ruler. But a wise tutor, -Timesitheus, obtained a better influence over him, and he -soberly chose his daughter, Furia Sabina Tranquillina, as -his Empress. The whole prospect of the Empire changed -with his marriage, in 241 or 242, but the evil genius of -Rome intervened once more. The Persians had again -crossed the eastern frontier, and the Emperor and his -father-in-law went to Asia to take command. The war was -proceeding with success, when Timesitheus contracted a -mysterious illness and died. Gordian gave his command -to a dashing cavalry leader named Philip—the man who, -we have strong reason to think, had poisoned Timesitheus. -Philip was a handsome Arab, whose father had led a band -of robbers in the desert. But the son was astute, and -Gordian suspected nothing. Before many months the -camps were simmering with discontent. Pay was reduced, -and the troops were reluctantly informed by Philip that it -was the command of the Emperor. Regiments found -themselves quartered in districts where it was impossible -to obtain sufficient food, and Philip begged them to regard -the youth and military inexperience of Gordian. The plot -culminated in the early spring of 244. Gordian was slain,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span> -and the son of the Arab pillager of caravans received the -purple from the soldiers.</p> - -<div id="ip_237" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 30em;"> - <img src="images/i_236.jpg" width="479" height="600" alt="" /> - <div class="caption">MARCIA OTACILIA SEVERA</div></div> - -<p>The new Empress of Rome, Marcia Otacilia Severa, -attracts our attention for a moment on account of the claim -of the early Christian writers that she belonged to the new -religion. The claim must have had some foundation, but -the story on which it is generally based is regarded with -reserve by historians. St. Chrysostom and others declare -that, when Philip and Otacilia passed from the Euphrates, -where Gordian had been murdered, to Antioch, they went -to the Christian church for service on Easter-eve; and that -the bishop refused to admit them in any other character -than that of penitents expiating a foul crime. Duruy -ridicules the idea that a bishop would have dared so to -address an Emperor in public before the middle of the -third century, and it is certainly difficult to believe. -Indeed, historians generally suspect that, as the story -itself implies, Otacilia supported her husband in his -criminal ambition, and are reluctant to regard her as a -Christian. Her nationality is unknown, and she hardly -emerges from the obscurity in which the scanty chronicles -have left the reign of her husband.</p> - -<p>Let us hasten through the pages of ghastly adventure, -and come to more interesting women. In the year 249 the -troops in Mœsia pressed the purple on one of the ablest -Roman generals, Decius, and Philip was slain in the -contest that followed. Otacilia fled with her son to the -Prætorian camp, but the guards killed the boy in her arms, -and sent her back sadly into the common ranks from which -she had so unhappily risen. The wife of Decius, Herennia -Etruscilla, who is known to us only from coins and an -inscription, had little better fortune, since Decius perished -in a war with the Goths two years later (251). His son and -successor, Hostilianus, died in the following year, not -without a suspicion of crime. The colleague of Decius and -successor of his son, Gallus, was murdered in 253, together -with his son Volusianus, with whom he had shared the -Empire; and the rival and successor of Gallus was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span> -assassinated within four months. Then Valerianus, an -aged and distinguished Senator, came to the throne, and -we begin to have less fleeting glimpses of the ladies of the -court, and to make acquaintance with the two remarkable -women who will especially occupy us.</p> - -<p>The elder Valerian does not long remain on the stage. -The weakness into which the Empire had fallen was soon -observed by its enemies on every side, and the frontier -provinces were being devastated. Investing his elder son, -Gallienus, with the purple, Valerian went to the East to -oppose the Persian monarch, Sapor, who threatened the -whole of Roman Asia, and after a time fell, with his army, -into the hands of the enemy. Whether or no it be true -that the proud Persian used to step on the person of the -aged Emperor to mount his horse, it is at least certain that -Valerian died among the Persians after some years of -ignominious captivity, and his skin, stuffed and padded to -the proportions of a man, was long exhibited as the most -glorious of Sapor’s many trophies. There are later writers -who assert that his second wife, the Empress Mariniana, -was captured with him, and brutally treated until she died, -but the authority is slender. Cohen, the great authority -on Roman coins, warns us that, though there are coins -of a certain Mariniana, who seems to have been a lady of -Valerian’s court, it is not certain that she was his wife.</p> - -<p>So feeble did the Empire now become that its enemies -made the most extensive and destructive inroads. The -Persians advanced so far as to sack Antioch, the Franks -overran Spain and reached Africa, the Alemanni spread -terror in the north of Italy and even threatened Rome, and -the Goths poured over Greece and Asia Minor. Gallienus -received the news of each successive disaster with an -insipid joke. Glittering with the jewels which encrusted -his belt, his dress, and even his shoes, his hair powdered -with gold dust, he dined from dishes of solid gold, in the -company of his concubines, while his father suffered in -captivity, and his subjects groaned under the hardship of -invasion, famine, pestilence, and earthquake. His Empress,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span> -Cornelia Salonina, seems to have disdained his cowardly -luxury, and she was replaced in his affection, though not -in her position, by a charming barbarian. Attalus, King -of the Marcomanni, had a beautiful daughter named Pipa -or Pipara, whose attractiveness was brought to the notice -of Gallienus. He frivolously submitted to the Senate that, -since Rome had so many enemies, it were wise to disarm -some of them; and he asked Attalus for the hand of his -daughter. The shrewd barbarian stipulated for a large -part of Pannonia, and in return for that valuable slice of -the Empire permitted his pretty daughter to be the concubine -of the Roman Emperor. She never appears on the -coinage, while Salonina—whose grave, intellectual features -suggest that she found solace in culture—remains Augusta -to the end. Serviez finds an admirable trait of Salonina’s -character in the punishment of a man who had sold her -some false jewels. He was sentenced to the lions; but -when the terrible gates were opened, a harmless fowl -flew out upon him, and he was discharged with the fright. -The Roman historian, however, ascribes the trick expressly -to Gallienus.<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">19</a></p> - -<p>In the eight years of Gallienus’s complete control of the -Empire (260–268) it was distracted and worn with misery -and anarchy. The “Historia Augusta” estimates that -“thirty tyrants” arose in that short period to dispute the -power of the corrupt Gallienus; Gibbon reduces the number -to nineteen; Duruy counts twenty-eight claimants to -the throne. There was, in any case, a period of profound -demoralization, and as nearly all these generals met with -a violent death, involved many others in their fall, and very -frequently led their troops in civil warfare, the drain on the -impoverished system was disastrous. It is amongst these -“thirty tyrants” that we find Zenobia and Victoria.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> -Zenobia was the wife of Odenathus, the ruling man -in the independent town of Palmyra. The town, which -had become an important commercial centre, lay on the -edge of the Syrian desert, and had long maintained a -position of neutrality between the Romans on the west -and the Parthians to the east. It had the title of a Roman -colony, and Odenathus cannot have been more than its -leading citizen and, perhaps, head of its Senate. To this -little State came the news that the Roman Emperor was -detained in ignominy by the King of Persia. Odenathus -sent to Sapor a most polite suggestion that his conduct -was improper, and gilded his remonstrance with a caravan -of valuable presents. The presents were disdainfully -thrown into the Euphrates, and the blustering Sapor -threatened to punish his insolence. With great boldness -the leading citizen of Palmyra formed an irregular army -out of the neighbouring villages and the Arabs, with a few -Roman troops, and inflicted a substantial reverse on the -Persian troops. Gallienus gracefully acknowledged his -service, and extended the Imperial title to him and his -wife Zenobia, who became the representatives of Roman -power in the East.</p> - -<p>Zenobia was, says Trebellius Pollio in the “Historia -Augusta,” “one of the most noble of all the women of the -East, and also one of the most beautiful.” Her nobility -rests upon her claim that she descended from Cleopatra, -a point that we are unable to examine. The portrait-bust -of her in the Vatican does not so much suggest exceptional -beauty as exceptional power. It is a face of extraordinary -strength and peculiar features. We can very well imagine -her, as she is described for us, riding out on horseback before -the assembled troops, her piercing black eyes aflame with -spirit, a military helmet on her head, and a purple robe, -embroidered with gems, so attached to her person as to -leave naked the fine arm with which she emphasized her -orders. She maintained a court of Persian magnificence, -but was far removed from Persian insolence. She did not -disdain to drink with her officers, and even to endeavour<span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span> -to surpass them in drinking. Yet it is uniformly stated -that this remarkable independence of Syrian ideas as to a -woman’s position was united with a chastity of the most -sensitive and peculiarly scrupulous character. When we -add that she was a woman of exceptional culture, spoke -Latin, Greek, and Egyptian, had so complete a command -of the history of the East that she wrote a book on it, -and enjoyed the daily companionship of the philosopher -Longinus, who was tutor to her sons, we seem to have -exhausted possible merit, and ventured into the province of -legend. But we have still to say that her military and -political ability was no less than her beauty, her culture, -or her virtue. We shall see later that the finest Emperor -of the age, Aurelian, spoke with extraordinary appreciation -of her skill in warfare and in polity.</p> - -<p>Even as the wife of Odenathus, Zenobia was not inactive. -She is said to have urged his bold attack on Persia, -and she shared the longest marches of the soldiers when -the campaign began. But she was soon the sole ruler of -the East, in the interest, at first, of Rome. During the -Persian war Odenathus quarrelled with a relative and -officer, named Mæonius, and was only prevented by the -intercession of his son, Herodes, from putting him to -death. Herodes was the son of Odenathus by a former -wife, and would be the natural heir to his dignity. The -two sons whom Zenobia had borne him, Timolaus and -Herennianus, were mere boys, but Zenobia had an older -son, Vaballath, by a former husband. We can understand -that there would be some jealousy in the family, now that -the Roman purple and a practical sovereignty of the East -were conferred on the “king of Palmyra.” Zenobia could -not but dislike and despise Herodes. He adopted the -voluptuous ways of the East, and received from his father, -as an immediate share of his heritage, the jewels, silks, and -fair ladies which he had detached from the baggage of -Sapor when that monarch retired before him.</p> - -<p>Yet there is no ground for the assertion that Zenobia -was privy to the conspiracy which removed Odenathus and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span> -Herodes. Mæonius was consulting his own ambition, as -well as appeasing his hatred, in having them assassinated. -For a moment Zenobia was in a position of some anxiety, -but she acted with vigour. She thrust her son Vaballath—the -“Historia Augusta” at first says her two younger sons, -but afterwards corrects this—before the Palmyreans as the -most worthy heir of the power of Odenathus, and Mæonius -passes into a significant obscurity. Vaballath was declared -Augustus, and Zenobia became “Queen of the East,” as -she liked to call herself. The two younger boys were -entitled Cæsars. Within a short time it was felt at Rome -that a new and rival power had arisen in the East.</p> - -<p>The voluptuous Gallienus could at times start from his -rose-strewn couches and the arms of his mistresses, and -conduct an energetic raid upon the opponents of his -Empire. The victories of Odenathus seem to have inspired -one of these fits of vigour. The legions in Gaul had cast -off their allegiance to their degraded ruler, put his son -Saloninus to death, and chosen as Emperor their able -and upright commander, Cassianus Postumus. Gallienus -marched against him, pressed him hard for a time, and -then returned to Rome to enjoy a magnificent triumph. -One hundred white oxen, with gilded horns, two hundred -white lambs, several hundred lions, tigers, bears, and other -animals, and twelve hundred gladiators, in superb costumes, -preceded his car. The more serious Romans looked on in -disdain. Some of the mimes, or comedians, dressed as -Persians, and went about in the procession, staring in each -other’s faces, and saying that they were “looking for the -Emperor’s father.” Gallienus had them burned alive.</p> - -<p>But the chief interest of this dash into Gaul is that it -first brings to our notice the famous Gallic princess -Vitruvia or Victoria.<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> We find her supporting Postumus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> -against Gallienus. When he is hard pressed, she persuades -him to associate her son, Victorinus, with him in the -Empire, and presently she herself becomes Augusta and -“Mother of the Camp”—a proof that she accompanied the -army. Victorinus is said by one of the contemporary -writers to have been more manly than Trajan, more clement -than Antonine, graver than Nerva, and a better financier -than Vespasian; but this paragon of excellence had the one -serious defect that he could not withhold his covetous eyes -from the prettier wives of his officers. The responsibility -of power sobered him for a time, but before long he led -astray the wife of one of his officers, and was assassinated. -At his mother’s suggestion he, with his dying voice, named -his young son his successor, but the angry soldiers -murdered the boy.</p> - -<p>Victoria now put forward as candidate one of the -soldiers themselves, a brawny officer named Marius, who -had at one time been armourer or smith to the camp. He -was accepted, but a slight that he was imprudent enough -to put upon one of his old associates led to his receiving -in his own breast one of the swords he had himself forged, -after enjoying the delirious dignity of the purple for two -days. The “thirty tyrants” were playing their parts with -great rapidity. Tetricus, the commander of the troops and -a Senator, was next put forward by Victoria, and he left -her in control of the affairs of Gaul while he led the army -into Spain. Victoria’s power was not of long duration, -and the references to her in the chronicles are too meagre -to enable us to picture her remarkable personality. For -many years her power in Gaul was so great that her fame -ran through the Empire, and Zenobia, as she afterwards -told Aurelian, had the design of communicating with her -and proposing to divide the Roman world between them. -Her end is obscure. When Tetricus returned from Spain, -he is said to have resented her domination and put her to -death; though it is elsewhere said that her death was due -to natural causes. She did not live to witness or share the -humiliation of Tetricus a few years later.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> -We return to Zenobia, who had in the meantime become -an independent sovereign. Gallienus had taken alarm at -the growth of her power, and sent his general Heraclian -with secret instructions to dislodge her. Zenobia divined -the real intention of Heraclian and his troops, treated -him as an invader, and destroyed his force. An invitation -was then received, or obtained, from Egypt, and Zenobia -sent 70,000 men to expel the troops of Gallienus from -what she regarded as the kingdom of her fathers. Egypt -was added to her dominions. Rome was now fully -alarmed at the success of the two barbaric women, while -every other province of the Empire was overrun by -invaders or detached by locally-chosen Emperors. One -of these rivals at length drew Gallienus from his palace -once more, and gave an opportunity to remove his insolent -weakness from the throne. The Emperor was besieging -the pretender to the throne in Milan, when some of the -leading officers conspired to assassinate him. He was -drawn from his tent one night in March (268) by a false -alarm that the besieged had made a sally, and, devoid -alike of guards and armour, he was soon stricken with a -mortal wound. Salonina is said by some to have perished -with him, but of this there is no evidence.</p> - -<p>His successor, Claudius, an experienced soldier of -obscure descent but great personal merit, decided to leave -Zenobia and Victoria in possession of their power until -he had rid the Empire of the formidable Goths. They -were said to have an army of 320,000 men, and the -whole of Greece and the north of Asia Minor had been -plundered by them. The instruments of Roman comfort -or luxury that they took back into the bleak forests of -the north seemed to be drawing an inexhaustible stream -of marauders upon the debilitated south. Two years were -occupied by Claudius in destroying their power, and he -had just cleansed the Roman territory of their presence -when he died of the pestilence, in the spring of 270. The -obscure brother of so virtuous and valorous a ruler was -deemed a worthy successor to the purple, but the army<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span> -made choice of a strong and capable commander, Aurelian, -and, after two or three weeks’ timid enjoyment of his power, -Quintilius opened his veins and gracefully yielded the -throne.</p> - -<p>The new Emperor was the bold and sturdy son of a -provincial peasant, who had cut his way to the position of -commander. Marriage with the daughter of a wealthy -noble had further improved his position, and his temperance, -zeal for discipline, skill, and bravery had made him a most -effective leader. His first care was to complete the victory -over the Goths, who were again advancing. After an -exhausting struggle he entered into friendly alliance with -them, drove back the other barbaric tribes who threatened -or ignored the northern frontier of the Empire, and then -turned his eyes toward the East. Gibbon makes him first -apply himself to the restoration of Gaul, but the historians -Vopiscus and Zosimus expressly say that he dealt first -with the Queen of the East.</p> - -<p>Zenobia had now, in 272, enjoyed her remarkable power -for about four years, and seemed, owing to the preoccupation -of Rome with the northern barbarians, to have -established a solid and durable kingdom. Parthia and -Persia respected her southern boundaries; Egypt peacefully -acknowledged her rule; and even the cities of Asia Minor -were beginning to bow to her title. But Palmyra was not -a Rome, and provided too slender a base for so vast a -dominion. As Aurelian and his formidable legions marched -across Asia Minor, the cities returned at once to the -Roman allegiance, and Zenobia prepared for a severe -struggle. She led her army out in person from Antioch, -and met the Romans near the river Orontes. Modern -historians usually follow the account of the battle which -describes Aurelian as stealing a victory by stratagem. He -is said to have noticed the weight of Zenobia’s heavily-armoured -cavalry, drawn them into a wild gallop by a -feigned retreat, and then wheeled his troops, when they -showed signs of fatigue, and scattered them. But the -“Historia Augusta,” the nearest authority, tells us that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span> -Aurelian’s troops were really routed at first, and then -recovered—owing to a miraculous apparition—and won.</p> - -<p>Zenobia retired to Antioch. Her general, Zabda, deluded -the inhabitants with a false report of victory, and -trailed through the streets a captive whom he had dressed -as Aurelian. But the Emperor was advancing, and they -fled during the night to Emesa, where they were still -able to put 70,000 men in the path of Aurelian. The -second battle proved as disastrous to Zenobia as the first, -and it was decided to retire at once on Palmyra. For a -long time the city held Aurelian at bay, and he magnanimously -allowed that its successful resistance was due to -the sagacity of Zenobia. In the midst of the long siege -he wrote to a friend at Rome:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“I hear that it is said that I do not the work of a -man in triumphing over Zenobia. Those who blame me -have no idea what kind of a woman she is—how prudent -in counsel, how assiduous in arrangement, how severe -with the troops, how liberal when it is expedient, how -stern when there is need for sternness. I may venture to -say that it was due to her that Odenathus put Sapor to -flight, and advanced as far as Ctesiphon. I can assure -you that she was held in such terror in the East and in -Egypt that the Arabs, the Saracens, and the Armenians -were afraid to move.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>So difficult and protracted did the siege prove that -Aurelian at length wrote to her, offering to spare her -life if she would surrender. The answer seems to have -been preserved in one of those libraries of valuable documents -at Rome, from which the writers of the “Historia -Augusta” obtained their material, as they tell us. It ran:</p> - -<blockquote> - -<p>“Zenobia, Queen of the East, to Aurelius Augustus. -No one has ever yet made by letter such a request as you -make. In matters of war you must obtain what you want -by deeds. You ask me to surrender, as if you were -unaware that Cleopatra preferred to die rather than lose -her dignity. We are expecting auxiliaries from Persia, -and the Saracens and Armenians are with us. The robbers -of Syria beat your army, Aurelian. What will happen to -you when our reinforcements come? You will assuredly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span> -have to lay aside the pride with which, as if you were a -universal conqueror, you call on me to surrender.”</p></blockquote> - -<p>The expectation of reinforcements was sincere, but was -destined to be disappointed. Day after day Zenobia and -her officers looked out over the desert from their invincible -walls, and descried no sign of the deliverers. Persia was -distracted by the death of Sapor; the Armenians and the -Saracens had been seduced from her by Aurelian. Food -began to fail, and the iron legions clung tenaciously to the -little strip of country and intercepted whatever aid came to -her. Zenobia resolved to go to Persia herself in quest of -aid. Under cover of the night she stole out of the town, -and fled toward Persia on a dromedary.</p> - -<p>Within a few days the anxious Palmyreans again saw -their Queen—a captive in the hands of the Roman soldiers. -It is probable that she had been betrayed. Aurelian, at all -events, heard of her flight, and sent a company of horse in -pursuit. They reached the banks of the Euphrates just as -Zenobia and her attendants had entered a boat, and brought -her back to the camp. She was one hour too late to save her -liberty, or sacrifice her life. Palmyra sadly opened its gates, -and Aurelian transferred its priceless treasures and rare -curiosities to his wagons. Its chief officers and Zenobia -he led away to Emesa, and put them on trial for rebellion.</p> - -<p>The reader of Gibbon will expect that we have now -reached a point where the virility of Zenobia faints and the -eternal feminine reveals itself. Gibbon records, indeed, the -bold answer which Zenobia made to Aurelian’s complaint -of her infidelity to Rome; but he goes on to say that, as the -fierce demands of the soldiers for her death fell on her -ears, she tremblingly pleaded for life, and, with a cowardice -that her sex only could palliate, insisted that Longinus and -the others had seduced her from her duty. Happily, we -have a clear right to quarrel with the procedure of the -great historian at this point. There are two versions of -the behaviour of Zenobia: that of the Latin historians, -Trebellius Pollio and Vopiscus in the “Historia Augusta,”<span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span> -and that of the Greek historian Zosimus. The Latin -writers, who lived at Rome in the generation after Zenobia, -make her reply boldly to Aurelian, and do not say a word -about her casting the blame on others. The Greek writer, -a much later compiler, represents her as, in the words of -Gibbon, “ignominiously purchasing life by the sacrifice of -her fame and her friends.” Gibbon affects to reconcile the -two by making the woman’s weakness follow upon the -momentary show of courage.</p> - -<p>To this method of reconciling contradictory and unequal -authorities we may justly demur. The much later version -of Zosimus is not only less entitled in itself to acceptance, -but it is seriously enfeebled when he goes on to make the -wildly erroneous statement that Zenobia died on the way -to Rome, and her companions were sunk in the Bosphorus. -We have every right to follow the Latin historians. -Zenobia was brought before Aurelian, and the soldiers -fiercely demanded that she should be put to death. Exasperated -as the Emperor was, he refused to slay a woman, -and asked her why she had dared to resist the majesty of -Rome. “In you,” she replied, “I recognize an Imperial -majesty, because you have vanquished me, but I saw none in -Gallienus.” Her life was spared. What Roman general -could have resisted the wish to grace his triumph at Rome -with a greater than Cleopatra? The troops, with their -vast treasures and their captives, moved slowly homeward, -after executing Longinus and some others.</p> - -<div id="ip_248" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 15em;"> - <img src="images/i_248.jpg" width="239" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>ZENOBIA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM THE COIN IN THE BERLIN MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>In the triumph which Aurelian had so splendidly earned, -and no less splendidly celebrated, we catch our last certain -glimpse of the Queen of the East, one of the most notable -women of all time. Along the flower-strewn lane between -the dense walls of citizens passes one of the longest and -grandest processions that ever led a victor to the Capitol. -An immense number of tamed elephants, lions, tigers, -leopards, bears, and other beasts move slowly and sullenly -along, and eight hundred pairs of gladiators give promise -of the impending spectacles. Then there are cars heavily -laden with the gold, silver, and jewels of Palmyra, the rare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> -presents of Persia, the purples of India, and the silks of -China. Then there is the long and extraordinary train of -captives, representing the nineteen nations which Aurelian -has subdued, even women who have been taken, in male -costume, in the sternest battles. At last the melancholy -line is closed by the lithe bronzed figure, with brilliant -black eyes and teeth like pearls, of the woman whose -beauty, genius, and daring have been on the lips of Rome -for several years. Clothed for the last time in the heavily-jewelled -robes of a queen—she had complained that she -was not strong enough to walk under the load of jewels—she -drags along the golden chains which bind her hands -and feet, and a slave sustains the weight of the gold band -round her throat. Beside her, in scarlet cloak and Gallic -trousers, is Tetricus, Victoria’s last Emperor in Gaul. The -whole Empire is again subject to Rome. And before the -car of the conqueror three empty chariots are driven: one -is the gold and silver car of Odenathus, one, of gold studded -with gems, is a present from Persia, and the third is the car -which Zenobia had made for her triumphant entry into -Rome. Never had Emperor looked from his car on so -superb a triumph. In less than a year Aurelian would be -assassinated.</p> - -<p>The last phase of Zenobia’s life is not quite clear. -Zosimus is certainly wrong in his reproduction of a -story that she died, or took her life, before she reached -Rome. Still later and equally negligible writers ventured -to say that she became a Christian, and even that Aurelian -married one of her daughters. The “Historia Augusta,” -which we may follow, as it was written in Rome a -generation later, tells us that Aurelian gave her a villa -near Hadrian’s palace at Tivoli, where she spent the rest -of her life in the education of her children and the prosy -duties of a Roman matron, and, we may conjecture, in -looking back with sad but proud recollection on the -stirring romance of her career. Bishop Eusebius observes -briefly in his “Chronicle” that she lived to a great age, -and was held in the greatest regard at Rome.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVI" class="vspace">CHAPTER XVI<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIFE AND DAUGHTER OF DIOCLETIAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap al"><span class="smcap1">Although</span> we have already indicated the fate of -Aurelian, we have not yet referred to the woman -who shared his Imperial title and his great renown. -Her personality is, in fact, entirely unknown; even her -name is preserved for us only on the coinage. We may -fairly conjecture that she disliked the plebeian ways of her -husband, and discharged the duties of a consort without -enthusiasm. Daughter of a wealthy and prominent noble, -Ulpius Crinitus, she had conferred a useful distinction -on the ambitious peasant at a time when he was making -his way in the Imperial service, and it is conjectured, on -somewhat slender grounds, that she accompanied him on -his campaigns. But his life at the palace was short and -inglorious. He disliked its pomp and luxury, and found -his chief delight in pitting his comedians against each -other in eating-contests. He pampered the common citizens -by increasing their free ration of bread, and adding -pork to it. When he went on to meditate a free distribution -of wine, one of his ministers sarcastically suggested -that he might add geese and chickens. When the -Empress, Ulpia Severina, thought it fitting that she should -wear silk mantles, her husband forbade her to indulge -in that rare and costly product of a precarious commerce -with China.</p> - -<p>Aurelian was, in fact, essentially a soldier. His manner, -and even the reforms which he endeavoured to make, -caused grave dissatisfaction at Rome, and a conspiracy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span> -against him was discovered within a few months of the -magnificent triumph he had enjoyed. He crushed it with -a fierceness that almost obliterated the memory of his -great services, and then returned to Asia to meet the -Persians. On his march he was assassinated, in the beginning -of the year 275, and the great promise of his -reign was unfulfilled. Ulpia Severina seems to have died -before him, as the historian speaks only of a daughter -who survived him.</p> - -<p>Once more we pass swiftly over a number of turbulent -years until we come to an Empress of whom we have -a comparatively ample knowledge. It is generally admitted, -though not entirely beyond doubt, that the throne -remained vacant for the greater part of the year 275. -The “Historia Augusta,” at least, which was written in -the next generation, describes a situation in remarkable -contrast to the earlier haste in appointing Emperors. -We are asked to believe that the Senate and the army -spent many months in a most edifying encounter, each -endeavouring to induce the other to choose a ruler. At -length the Senators chose one of their number, the aged -and upright Tacitus, who set out to take command of the -troops in Asia. Within a few weeks, worn by the unwonted -fatigue and pained by the unruly behaviour of -the soldiers, he passed away. Some of the historians -declare that he died of actual violence. There is no -trace of an Empress. We read that Tacitus, like Aurelian, -forbade his wife to wear sumptuous clothing, but this -was probably in earlier days. The absence of coins leads -us to think that she had died.</p> - -<p>He was succeeded by a young and vigorous officer, -of peasant extraction, named Probus, under whom the -Empire recovered much of its strength. For six years he -laboured successfully to restore the prestige of Rome, -but his severity led at length to assassination. During -a mutiny of the soldiers, in the year 282, “a thousand -swords were plunged at once into the bosom of the unfortunate -Probus,” as Gibbon too floridly expresses it.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span> -From the absence of coins we may almost gather that -his wife had died before his accession. Carus, who -succeeded him, was an aged general of sixty years. He -died after a year of strenuous warfare, and left the -Empire to his sons Carinus and Numerianus. The -younger Emperor was dispatched to the East, and Carinus -virtually reigned alone.</p> - -<p>Even the experience of our own time has so frequently -taught us to expect a mediocre or effeminate issue from -a distinguished and virile stock that we do not wonder -at this happening constantly in the history of Rome. We -need not refer it to the mystery of heredity. The vigorous -sire had developed and enhanced his strength in the laborious -climb to the heights of his chosen world. The son, -finding the paths to the summit smoothed, and an engaging -luxury at his command without exertion, allows it to -degenerate. The finest steel and the purest gold yield and -crumble in a corroding atmosphere. We cannot, therefore, -affect astonishment at the almost invariable failure of the -Roman practice of eagerly welcoming a son to the place -of his gifted father.</p> - -<p>The reign of Carinus affords one of the worst illustrations -of the evil. Indolent, insolent, and luxurious, he -saw in his Imperial power an opulent ministry to his -depraved tastes. He did indeed provide Rome with the -most splendid entertainments. The amphitheatre rang -once more with the coarse applause of the ninety thousand -spectators of its bloody contests; the Circus was transformed -into a forest, in which the strange or beautiful -beasts of remote lands lived under the eyes of three -hundred thousand Romans. But this indulgence of the -people’s appetites was held to excuse an unbridled ministry -to those of the prince. The whisper went once more -through the fetid depths of Roman life that there were -rich awards for the ingenious and industrious pandar to -a sated voluptuary, and the palace exhibited again the -loathsome spectacles that had long been expelled from it.</p> - -<p>They have little interest for us, as although Carinus<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> -made and unmade nine Empresses in little over a year, -they are lost in the riot of the time. One poor name, -that of Magnia Urbica, has survived on a few coins. She -is given by Serviez as the wife of Carus, because she is -represented with two children on one of the coins. Cohen -points out, however, that the group does not properly -consist of a mother and two children, and he concludes -that she was one of the nine wives of Carinus. In the -number of his consorts Carinus surpassed the high record -of Imperial license, and he was not less original in the -grounds for his divorces. Sterility has often been pleaded -by monarchs as a fit reason for repudiating their wives; -it was reserved to Carinus to dismiss them the moment -they gave proof of fertility. So the women of Rome -succeeded each other rapidly in the dissolute palace, where -the Emperor, surrounded by his courtesans, glittering down -to his shoes with diamonds and emeralds, sat on rose-strewn -couches to his costly banquets.</p> - -<p>The new pestilence was blown out of the Imperial -city by a storm from the East. The younger Emperor, -Numerianus, was a gentle, cultured, and delicate youth. -As he led the troops home from the East, he sheltered -his eyes from the burning sun by keeping to his tent -or his closed litter. At length his complete seclusion -gave rise to suspicion, and the soldiers broke into his -tent, only to find a mouldering body. The ambition of -Aper, his father-in-law, who commanded the guards, -fastened the guilt upon him, and a general assembly of -the soldiers appointed one of their abler officers, Diocletian, -to judge him. Diocletian, possibly with reason, preferred -to execute rather than to try Aper, and he was at once -saluted as Emperor by the troops. The son of two slaves, -he had educated himself and pushed his way to the highest -offices and commands; and he now composedly donned -the purple mantle which the soldiers offered him, and -led the legions toward Rome. Carinus marched out -against him, but was assassinated by an officer whose wife -he had appropriated, and a new chapter opened in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> -annals of Rome. A strong man and judicious statesman -had come to the throne, and he would occupy it for twenty -years.</p> - -<p>From our point of view it is disappointing that the -wife of Diocletian does not come to our notice until his -reign is nearly over. Her very name was disputed for -ages; even now her personality is only faintly illumined -by the adventures of her later years. Her daughter is -a more commanding figure, and other Imperial ladies stand -out in the chronicle of the times. Some of these, such -as the mother and wife of Constantine, we reserve for the -next chapter; and we may compress into a few lines the -story of the twenty years’ reign of Diocletian.</p> - -<p>A year after his accession, which took place in the year -285, Diocletian chose a colleague to share the control of -the vast Empire. This friend and partner, Maximian, was -the son of peasants, rough, ignorant, and unscrupulous, -but an effective commander. He was entrusted with the -care of the West, Diocletian passed to the East, and several -years were profitably spent in restoring the crumbling -frontiers. The task proved so formidable that, in 292, they -chose two officers for the inferior dignity of “Cæsars”—a -title which implied that they would probably one day be -Augusti, and should meantime wear the purple, but have -no power to make laws or control finance. Of the two, -Galerius again was a child of the soil, while Constantius -was the son of a provincial noble; and they were compelled -to dismiss their humbler wives, and wed the daughters of -the Emperors. Four courts were thus set up within the -Empire, while Rome found itself coldly neglected, its palace -deserted, and its Senate impotent.</p> - -<p>To the court of Galerius we shall return presently, -while we leave the affairs of Constantius and his wife to -the next chapter. The court and the Empress of Maximian -need not detain us. He chose Milan as his seat, and began -to adorn the northern town with the marble edifices that -befitted its new dignity. His wife was a very attractive -Syrian woman, Galeria Valeria Eutropia. Her name has<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> -led some to conjecture that she was related to the father -of Constantius, Eutropius, one of the chief nobles of -Dardania, though the connexion is feeble. She seems, in -any case, to have regarded her uncultivated husband with -disdain, and sought more genial company. Her son -Maxentius is said by some to have been the issue of a -liaison with a compatriot, while others declare that he was -a boy substituted for the daughter she bore, because -Maximian desired a son. We may leave these disputable -scandals and come to the court of Diocletian.</p> - -<p>The son of a Roman slave had created a glittering -court at Nicomedia. His palace, round which the city -quickly grew in size and magnificence, was adorned and -served with an Oriental pomp. The successive approaches -to the chamber of the Emperor were guarded by splendid -officials, and when the suppliant or ambassador penetrated -at length to the inner apartment, he found the stately -Diocletian in purple and gold robes, his brow encircled -by a glistening diadem, and was compelled to prostrate -himself before the divine majesty. It was not, however, -the vanity or folly of a Caligula, but a calculated policy, -that had prompted Diocletian to clothe himself with this -Olympic dignity. Earlier Emperors, of the same mean -extraction, had refused to put a barrier of royal ceremony -between themselves and their subjects or soldiers, and -had invariably fallen by the hand of the assassin. Diocletian -was too shrewd, too much attached to life, and too sensible -of his beneficent use of power, to incur the risk. He had -restored Egypt to obedience, humiliated the Persians, and -devoted an even greater ability to the reform of the -administration. Co-operating with his vigorous colleague -in the West, he had brought peace and prosperity back to -the Empire.</p> - -<p>In the settled years of his reign we begin again to -recognize the various personalities of the court. The -Empress herself is more or less involved in a piquant -obscurity. Until the end of the seventeenth century her -name was unknown, and a great deal of romantic legend was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span> -reproduced in regard to her. Cardinal Baronius found in -“Acts of St. Susanna” that her name was St. Serena, a martyr -for the Christian faith. Other “Acts” of the martyrs -furnished a St. Eleuthera and a St. Alexandra as consorts -of Diocletian. He seemed to have been an Imperial Bluebeard. -But in 1679 the manuscript was found of an early -Christian work, “On the Deaths of the Persecutors,” and -the earlier writings were proved, in the words of the -learned Franciscan, Father Pagi, to be fictitious and full of -untruths. The many saintly martyrs gave way to an -Empress Prisca, who broke down lamentably at the first -test of her faith. It is very curious that we have no coins -whatever of Prisca, though she must have lived through -the whole reign of Diocletian. This, and the fact that she -left him many years before his death, suggest either that -she was not married to him at all or that he had little -regard for her. She was, in any case, a woman of weak -and retiring character, and is mentioned only in association -with her daughter.</p> - -<p>Valeria was a beautiful, attractive, and spirited young -woman, with a good deal of the strength, and not a -little of the ambition, of her father. She was married -to Galerius, the Cæsar whom Diocletian had chosen, and -remained with him by the side of the Emperor. Galerius -was, as I said, of peasant origin, and never laid aside -the uncultivated roughness of his class. Diocletian had, -by diligent education, erased the traces of his own lowly -origin, but his peasant colleagues had gone straight from -the soil to the camp, and the work of a soldier had not -given them the least inclination to seek culture. The -character of Galerius has been painted in the most lurid -colours on account of his persecution of the Christians, but -it is significant that both Valeria and Prisca clung to his -court when Diocletian retired. His mother, Romula, and -other rustic relatives were attracted to his court. There -was, it is clear, a most incongruous group of personalities -about the court of Diocletian, and in the nineteenth year -of his reign they were shaken by a severe storm. The<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> -great and final struggle began between the old faith and -the new, and Prisca and Valeria favoured the latter.</p> - -<p>Christianity had not been persecuted for half a century, -and had made great progress. The cult of the old gods -was palpably insincere, and half-a-dozen Asiatic creeds -were steadily supplanting it. On the streets of Nicomedia, -as on the streets of Rome or any other large city, one -might meet any day the white-robed shaven priests of Isis, -the painted and effeminate ministers of Cybele, the Persian -representatives of the popular cult of Mithra, and—until -they were expelled by Diocletian—the black-garbed clergy -of the Manichæans and the Christians. The Christians -were now advancing. There had been some slight and -irregular repression of them from time to time since the -days of Nero, but more than forty years of toleration, and -the knowledge that their adherents were now occupying -high places in the camp and the court, and that even the -wives of the Emperor and the Cæsar favoured them, gave -them strong confidence. One of their churches occupied -a central and commanding position in Nicomedia. Four -influential officers of the court attended it, and it seems -that Valeria and Prisca were, if not Christians, openly -disposed to the new religion. All we know in that regard -is that they were “compelled” to sacrifice when the persecution -began.</p> - -<p>Persecution on account of religion, as such, was not -natural to the cosmopolitan builders of the Pantheon, and -Diocletian was a broad-minded statesman, so that the -origin of the persecution is not so clear as it was once -held to be. The literary remains which we have to use -have to be handled with caution. The “Historia Augusta” -has ended with Carinus, and we shall greatly miss its -minute and gossipy descriptions. Zosimus, a pagan writing -in a Christian age, has an appearance of sullen reticence -at times and a perceptible bias. Aurelius Victor and -Eutropius are scanty, and the immediate Christian writers -are used very cautiously by modern historians. Bishop -Eusebius says frankly, in his “Life of Constantine,” that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span> -he will write only what tends to edify, and the little work -“On the Deaths of the Persecutors” is obviously imaginative -in many pages and inaccurate in others. Experts -still differ as to whether it comes from the pen of the -brilliant Christian rhetorician Lactantius, but all warn us -to take account of its strong feeling. Our authorities, in -a word, now belong to two antagonistic and bitterly hostile -creeds, and, as all subsequent historians favour one side -or the other, we have to proceed with caution. I have -endeavoured, in the remaining chapters, to make my -way between them with more than ordinary care and -independence.</p> - -<p>A few incautious hints given in Lactantius throw -a faint light on the origin of the great persecution. The -writer of the treatise has himself a very positive theory. -The root of the evil was, he says, Romula, the peasant-mother -of the Cæsar. Fanatically attached to the gods of -her native mountains, she inspired her son with a hatred -of Christianity, and Galerius bullied the older Emperor -into issuing the Edict of Persecution. We feel that the -policy of Diocletian would hardly yield to the prejudice -of a superstitious woman. There is more enlightenment -in the incidental statements that Romula was stung by -the disdain of Christian officers in the palace, and that -Diocletian was greatly annoyed at seeing Christian soldiers -disturb the harmony, if not the efficacy, of his sacrificial -ceremonies by making the sign of the cross. Galerius -may have been moved by the growing reluctance of -Christians to bear arms, and the very pronounced rejection -by some of the arms they bore. There is no need to trust -the imaginary conversation which Lactantius puts in the -mouths of Diocletian and Galerius. They agreed that the -zeal of the Christians was impertinent or dangerous, and, -in the month of February (303), a troop of soldiers was -sent to raze to the ground their large and commanding -church. On the following day Diocletian published an -Edict forbidding the cult under grave penalties. When -the Imperial decree was torn down by a zealous Christian,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span> -and this act of treason was openly applauded by his -fellows, Diocletian was embittered, and blood began to -flow. During the next fortnight the Emperor’s quarters -in the palace were twice found to be in flames. Diocletian -was convinced that the fire was kindled by Christian -officers, and gave a full sanction to the work of repressing -them.</p> - -<p>Prisca and Valeria were not among the heroines of the -persecution. Lactantius destroys all the myths of martyred -Empresses by telling us that they consented to burn a few -grains of incense in honour of Jupiter, and impotently -witnessed the dark roll of the wave of persecution through -the provinces. He does not even say that they joined, -or rejoined, the Church when the persecution was over, -and we lose sight of them for a few years. Probably they -went with Diocletian to Rome for his triumph in November, -and returned with him to Nicomedia in the summer of 304. -He was confined to the palace by a serious illness during -the following winter, and as soon as he recovered he -abdicated the throne. It is untrue that the threats of -Galerius forced him to do this. He had expressed the -intention years before.</p> - -<p>On a wide plain near Nicomedia the army assembled on -May 1st, 305, for the unexampled ceremony of the abdication -of an Emperor. A little hill in the centre was surmounted -by a lofty throne and a statue of Jupiter, and the -ageing Emperor—he was in his fifty-ninth year—surrendered -the power he had wielded so well for more than -twenty years. By a previous arrangement, Maximian was -abdicating on the same day at Milan. The two Cæsars -became Augusti, and two new Cæsars were appointed. In -their selection we recognize the partial and unskilful hand -of Galerius. He handed his own Cæsarean dignity to a -rustic nephew, Daza—“who had just left his herds in the -forest,” Lactantius scornfully says—and sent a loyal and -undistinguished friend to receive that of Maximian in Italy. -From that selfish act would develop one of the greatest -civil wars since the founding of the Empire. In the ranks<span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span> -of the officers by the platform was the tall, handsome, -gifted, and disappointed young man who would one day -be known as Constantine the Great.</p> - -<p>Diocletian retired to Salona, in his native province of -Dalmatia, and built, close to the town, what was for the -age a magnificent palace. Valeria remained in the palace -of Galerius, and it seems that Prisca stayed with her, as we -shall presently find her sharing the hard lot of her daughter. -Why the mother, at least, chose to remain in Nicomedia is -left to our imaginations. The religion they had favoured -was cruelly suppressed, and, if we are to believe Lactantius, -their virtue must have been outraged by the unbridled -license of the new Emperor. He is described as an ogre, -dragging the noblest women of Nicomedia from their -husbands, feeding his bears on innocent citizens, and -“never taking a meal without a taste of human blood.” -Yet Valeria clung to her husband even through the painful -and repulsive illness which ended his life; and her name -was given by him to a part of his Empire. The picture is -evidently overdrawn, yet life in the palace, with Galerius -and his boorish relatives, cannot have been very congenial, -and the temper of Galerius would be soured by the events -that followed.</p> - -<p>The first mishap was the flight of Constantine. He had -been living for some years at the court of Diocletian, and -was deeply disappointed and rightly indignant at the choice -of the new Cæsars. By birth and ability he had the -clearest title to the purple. He was now a tall and manly -young officer, handsome, popular, and successful, and -anxious to join his father Constantius in Gaul. There is -little doubt that he fled during the night, though the -romantic story told by Lactantius is now generally regarded -as a clumsy piece of fiction. It describes Galerius -as failing to take the youth’s life by engaging him in -dangerous contests, and at length devising an ingenious -scheme. He one night gives Constantine permission to -depart after he has seen him in the morning, and warns -him that he will be put to death if he is still in Nicomedia<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span> -at noon. Then the ogre gives orders that he is not to be -awakened before noon on the morrow; but the young hero -steals all the horses in the stables—there were probably -hundreds—cripples all other horses along his route, and -flies to his father. The only authentic point is that -Constantine fled. He would wade back through a sea of -blood. Within a few months his father was dead, Constantine -was chosen by the army to succeed him, and -Galerius was forced to recognize him as Cæsar.</p> - -<p>Galerius gave the title of Augustus, which Constantius -had left vacant at his death, to his loyal Severus, but he -was soon informed that the troops, the people, and the -Senate had chosen another Emperor at Rome. A brief -outline of the stirring events that followed will suffice here. -The new Emperor was Maxentius, son of the retired -Maximian. The father issued from his retreat to join in -the fray, and Galerius was bound to support Severus. -Diocletian looked on quietly from his gardens at Salona. -When Maximian urged him to return to power, he said -that if Maximian could see the vegetables he was growing -he would not make such a request. Briefly, Severus was -treacherously taken by Maximian, and induced to ease the -complication by taking his life. Maximian, Galerius, and -Diocletian met at Carnuntum, on the Danube, and it was -settled that Galerius and Licinius (one of his officers) should -be recognized as Emperors, and Constantine and Maximin -(Daza) as Cæsars. Maxentius was disregarded, and Maximian -was persuaded to retire once more. How the restless -and ambitious old man then clung to Constantine, and -attempted to murder and displace him, we shall see later.</p> - -<p>The expedition of Galerius into Italy proved disastrous, -as he returned in bad health and temper to his dominions. -He died in 311, of an unpleasant disease, of which the -morbid reader may find a luxurious description in Lactantius. -Valeria remained with him to the end, and then a new and -more romantic chapter opened for her and her mother. The -two Emperors of the East made rival offers of their hospitality; -for Maximin had exacted an equal dignity with Licinius.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> -Valeria was at that time in her early thirties, and her -mourning garments did not detract from her ripe beauty -of face and figure. She is represented as weighing the -respective immoralities of the two Eastern Emperors, and -considering to which of the two it would be the less -dangerous to entrust her virtue. Lactantius does not tell -us why she was forced to choose at all; why she and her -mother did not retire to the luxurious and unsullied palace -of Diocletian. The end of his life was approaching, it is -true, but the palace would still shelter them. On the other -hand, Maximin and Licinius are both very thickly tarred -with the brush of Lactantius. We shall see something of -the conduct of Licinius later. As to Maximin, if one half -of what Lactantius and Eusebius say is true, he must have -been known over the whole Empire as an erotic maniac. -He may not have been this romantic combination of Nero, -Elagabalus, and Carinus, but we know from other writers -that he was much more vicious than Licinius. When, -therefore, we find Valeria choosing to live in his palace, we -cannot repress a suspicion that the beautiful widow was -not quite so unworldly as she is represented to have been.</p> - -<p>She had not been long in her new home when certain -officers came to tell her that Maximin loved her, and was -prepared to divorce his wife and wed her. When she -refused, the baffled passion turned to rage, and mother and -daughter were expelled from the palace. When we learn, -from a later passage, that Valeria refused to yield her right -to the property of Galerius, the episode seems more human. -A story of adultery was invented, a Jew—the villain of -early Christian literature—was suborned to give false -evidence, and several of Valeria’s friends were implicated. -A number of ladies of high rank were publicly executed, -and the Empresses, spoiled of their goods, were driven -from province to province, until they found themselves -lodged in a mean village on the edge of the Syrian desert. -Valeria contrived to acquaint her father with their situation, -but the rough Maximin rejected his feeble entreaties. They -seem to have spent the winter (312–13) in this miserable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> -exile. The only comfort was that they had with them -Candidian, a natural son of Galerius, whom Valeria had -adopted, and Severian, the son of Severus.</p> - -<div id="ip_263" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 16em;"> - <div class="caption"><p>SALONINA</p></div> - <img src="images/i_262.jpg" width="253" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>VALERIA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>In the early spring the little group were inspirited by -the news that the tyrant had fallen in a struggle with -Licinius, who was now sole Emperor in the East. What -follows, in the narrative of Lactantius, is even more obscure, -and suggests still more strongly that much is concealed -from us. Candidian went openly to the court of Licinius, -and was cordially received and promoted. The other -young man followed. Licinius was naturally hostile to -all who had taken the side of Maximin, but he could hardly -be angry with these poor victims of Maximin’s rage. -Valeria, however, went in disguise to Nicæa, where the -court was, to follow the fortunes of her adopted son.</p> - -<p>Suddenly something happened which brought upon -them all the sword of the executioner. What it was we -can only conjecture. A writer like Lactantius is so -accustomed to regard a savage outbreak on the part of one -of the last pagan Emperors as a natural event that he -disdains to enlighten us. A part of the story has been -concealed, and it would not be fantastic to suppose that -the spirited, young, and ambitious Valeria meditated an -intrigue for the advancement of Candidian to the throne. -It is plain that Licinius suspected this. The royal birth -and manly bearing of the youth might suffice to draw such -a suspicion on him, but do not plausibly explain the treatment -of the Empresses. Nor is there any apparent reason -for her disguise. She was willing, Lactantius says, to -cede her rights to Licinius, and the sentence unjustly -passed on her by Maximin would have no weight with -him.</p> - -<p>Whatever the cause of the trouble was, Valeria learned -one day that Candidian and Severian were arrested, and -they were presently executed. She fled to the remote -Syrian village, but she was so plainly implicated, in some -way, that she dare not remain there. Dressing in the -rough robes of the common people, the aged mother and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> -her brilliant daughter set out on a painful and aimless -journey. Either a sentence of death had been passed on -them, or they had ground to apprehend one; for their -flight would certainly elicit it. Lactantius says that they -wandered in this disguise for fifteen months, but it is -difficult to believe that they could so long evade the -Imperial troops who hunted them.<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> At length they were -recognized and arrested in Thessalonica, and the tragedy -of their unfortunate and, so far as we know, innocent lives -was brought to a close. Under the eyes of the assembled -citizens the wife and daughter of the great Emperor were -beheaded, and their remains were contemptuously flung -into the sea.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVII" class="vspace">CHAPTER XVII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE FIRST CHRISTIAN EMPRESSES</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> fourfold power which Diocletian had prudently -set up ensured for the Empire twenty years of -uneventful prosperity. The two Emperors and -their Cæsars guarded and repaired the frontiers, at which -the strong young nations of the hills and the forests were -now gathering in ominous numbers, while the body of the -Empire tranquilly pursued its sluggish and debilitated life. -But no sooner had the balanced mind and the firm hand of -Diocletian relinquished their control than the system -revealed its weakness. The multiplication of dignities led -to a multiplication of aspirants; the distribution of power -inflamed the ambition of the stronger and less scrupulous. -In one year eight generals claimed and bore the title of -Augustus, and our stage is crowded with Empresses. -Most of them, however, are so poorly outlined in the -records of the time that we may neglect these faint conjugal -shadows of inconspicuous rulers, and select for consideration -the three or four more prominent consorts of the -Emperors.</p> - -<p>Possibly the most widely known of all the Roman -Empresses, more familiar even than the very different -figure of Messalina, is Helena, the mother of Constantine. -The first Christian Empress, the generous supporter of -the early Church, the first royal woman to find a place in -the list of the canonized, we turn to her with eagerness to -discover the contrast with her pagan predecessors. She -does not bear the Imperial title, and does not properly fall<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> -within our range, until she is advanced in years, but we -cannot understand her character unless we glance first at -her earlier years.</p> - -<p>In one of his more important sermons (“De Obitu -Theodosii,” § 42) St. Ambrose observes that she “is said -to have been a maid at an inn,” and he so clearly accepts -the statement that historians, sacred and profane, have not -hesitated to follow him. The claim of another Roman -writer, that Constantine had illumined Britain “by -originating there,” gave rise at one time to a theory that -she was British, and our learned commentators furnished -so august a lady with a royal pedigree. The phrase is, -however, generally understood to refer to the beginning -of Constantine’s Imperial career, and the native town of -Helena is sought either in Dacia or in Nicomedia. Since -Constantine gave her name to Drepanum, in Nicomedia, -we may presume that her first humble home was in that -town, and that she moved from there to Naissos, in -Dacia, where the birth of Constantine is usually placed.</p> - -<p>A <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">stabulum</i> was, in the language of the time, one of the -meaner inns in the towns through which the Roman roads -ran. A <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">stabularia</i>—the epithet used by St. Ambrose—was -a woman or girl connected with the inn; and those -temporary resting-places for soldiers or merchants on their -journeys were so easy in their ways that the word was -sometimes used in an unpleasant sense. We may follow -the early tradition that Helena was the daughter of a man -who kept one of these inns, possibly a quite respectable -establishment, at Drepanum, on the way to the city of -Nicomedia, which Diocletian had made his capital. Here, -in or about the year 273, the young Roman officer Constantius—later, -for some obscure reason, called Constantius the -Pale (Chlorus)—saw and fell in love with Helena. The -road that ran through Drepanum was much used by the -troops, and the encounter is placed at the time when -Aurelian was conducting his campaign against Zenobia. -Constantius, an excellent officer and the son of a provincial -noble of some distinction, would then (273) be in his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span> -twenty-third year. Helena, who was over eighty at her -death in 328, must have been two or three years older.</p> - -<p>Historians have left us a lengthy and learned debate on -the question whether she was the wife or the concubine of -Constantius, and the grouping of the combatants is singular. -In the Migne edition of the works of the Fathers we find a -note appended to the passage of St. Ambrose, which I have -quoted, in which the Benedictine commentators observe -that “all the writers on Roman affairs declare that Helena -was the concubine, not the wife, of Constantius,” and they -adopt that view. Yet the critical Gibbon defends “the -legality of her marriage” with a rare and edifying chivalry, -and Mr. Firth, in his recent biography of Constantine, -asserts that it is “beyond question.” With such weighty -encouragement ecclesiastical writers have confidently -deserted the Benedictines and followed Gibbon. Let us -first hear the authorities, and we may not find the problem -insoluble.</p> - -<p>Bishop Eusebius, the chaplain of the Imperial family, as -one may term him, would not mention such a circumstance -in his “Life of Constantine,” even if he knew it to be true; -but it is not quite accurate to say peremptorily that the -bishop <em>never</em> mentions it. In the second book of his -“Chronicle” (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ad annum</i> 310) we read that Constantine was -“the son of Constantius by his concubine Helena.” We -have no means of determining if these words were written -by Eusebius or added by St. Jerome.<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> Even in the latter -case it is a weighty testimony.</p> - -<p>Another Christian historian of Jerome’s time, Orosius—who -does not follow Zosimus, as Gibbon says, but precedes -him—makes the same statement (c. xxv), and it is later -repeated in the “Chronicle” of Cassiodorus. A writer -of the generation after Constantine, commonly known as -“Anonymus Valesii,” says (c. ii) that Constantine was -“born of Helena, a very common [<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">vilissima</i>] woman, in -the town of Naissus.” Zosimus, a century later, and a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span> -pagan critic of Constantine, says (ii. 8) that he was -“born of a woman who was not respectable σεμνή -and not legally married to Constantius,” and he later -observes that Maxentius resented the raising to the throne -of a man whose mother was “not a matron.” Finally, the -early mediæval monk, Zonaras, says (“Annals,” xiii. i): -“Some say that she was lawfully married to Constantius -and divorced ... others that she was not a legitimate wife -but a paramour.” The grave and weighty Eutropius, -writing in the generation after Constantine, says that -he was born of “a somewhat ambiguous [<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">obscuriori</i>] -marriage.”</p> - -<p>The Benedictines had an ample authority, both Christian -and pagan, for their view, and only one argument is -advanced in disproof of it by modern writers. Several -of the historians tell us that, when Constantius was made -Cæsar, he was compelled by the Emperor to “divorce” -Helena, and, it is said, divorce implies marriage. The -argument is hardly conclusive. When Eusebius (or -Jerome) tells us that the Cæsars were compelled to dismiss -their “wives,” he adds, on the same page, that -Helena was not a wife, but a concubine. He means -merely that Constantius was forced to dismiss Helena -and wed the daughter of Maximian, and does not imply -that any legal form of divorce was employed. It is quite -open to us to interpret the other authority, Aurelius -Victor, in the same way; and Zonaras, the only other writer -who could be quoted, expressly leaves it open whether -Helena was married or not. In any case, the single -authority of Aurelius Victor cannot outweigh the others, -and even his words do not necessarily imply a legal divorce -on the part of both Cæsars.</p> - -<p>But there is another aspect of the question, which is -usually overlooked. Could there be a valid marriage -between Helena and Constantius in Roman law? When -we regard the subject from this point of view, we see -that Constantius could not possibly have married Helena -before the birth of Constantine, and, unless her legal<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span> -condition was subsequently altered by a special enactment, -their union could never become a valid marriage. As I -have earlier observed, the strict and ancient forms of -Roman marriage had fallen very generally out of use -under the Emperors. They had had the effect of putting -the wife under the despotic power of the husband, and -Roman feeling in regard to the position of woman had -entirely changed. Looser forms of marriage, which evaded -the older tyranny of the husband, were generally employed -and legally recognized. If a man and woman lived together -uninterruptedly for twelve months—without three nights’ -interruption—their union might become a valid marriage. -Below this was the legally recognized concubine. The -ease with which Christian writers admitted that Helena -was a concubine is due to the fact that the Church, as -well as the law, permitted a concubine, if a man had no -wife. As late as the year 400, the important provincial -Council of Toledo decided that such a man and his concubine -were to be admitted to communion. St. Augustine, -we shall see, went even further. Below these, again, -were the ordinary paramours, the mistresses of a month -or the playthings of an hour, which Stoic and Christian -equally condemned.</p> - -<p>The real question we have to decide is, therefore, -whether the long association of Constantius and Helena -could ever be recognized as a valid marriage in Roman -law. That they went through any form of marriage in -273 could only occur to a writer who knows nothing of -Roman law or practice. A young officer, taking a girl -from a tavern in a small provincial town on his route, -would not dream of any such ceremony; and no ceremony -would have been valid in Roman law. Whatever the -legal condition of Constantius was, Helena was, to Roman -law, a barbarian, or <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">peregrina</i>, and could not contract a -valid marriage.<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">23</a> We need little acquaintance with Roman<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span> -life to imagine what happened. Constantius felt for the -young woman he found at the country inn a more tender -sentiment than that usually entertained by the young -centurion or tribune on travel, and he took her to live -with him. I do not see how this relation ever could -become a valid marriage, nor is there any clear proof -that they were ever <em>legally</em> divorced. At the most, it -remains “a questionable marriage,” as Eutropius calls it, -and it began as a free union.</p> - -<p>From Nicomedia Constantius’s troop seems to have -passed, possibly after sharing Aurelian’s triumph at Rome, -to Thrace, where Constantine is said to have been born -in the year 274. Helena narrowly missed the dignity of -Empress a few years later, as Carus had some disposition -to leave the purple to Constantius. The mother of Constantius -had been a niece of the Emperor Claudius, and -his father was one of the chief nobles of Dardania. But -the accession of Carinus dispelled this hope, and Helena -followed her husband from province to province, and -grade to grade, until, in 292, he was selected for the lofty -position of Cæsar of the West. But with the purple came -a command that he must dismiss his concubine, and marry -the stepdaughter of Maximian, Flavia Maximiana Theodora. -From that date until the year of her son’s brilliant triumph -Helena passes into complete obscurity.</p> - -<p>Meantime other Empresses occupy the pages of the -historian. Theodora, of whom we have just spoken, is -one of those Empresses whose propriety of conduct and -mediocrity of person have not attracted the lamp of the -historian. She was the daughter of Eutropia, the Syrian -wife of Maximian, by a former husband. Three boys and -three girls came of her union with Constantius, and she -seems to have been a worthy consort of that judicious<span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span> -and happy ruler. The full Imperial title passed to them -when Maximian abdicated in 305, and the handsome and -spirited Constantine joined them at Gessoriacum (Boulogne), -after his romantic flight from Nicomedia, in that or the -following year. They crossed to Britain, and suppressed -a rebellion that was in progress. But Constantius died -at Eboracum (York) in the summer of 306, and the unambitious -Theodora passes from our sight.</p> - -<p>Constantius had, with a last display of prudence, -preferred his eldest son to the legitimate children of his -wife, and probably little money needed to be distributed -among the legions to ensure that they should recognize -his superiority. Constantine was then in his early manhood, -a commanding and graceful figure, in the finest -phase of his character, and the troops followed him with -alacrity from the cold mists of north Britain to more -genial and more cultivated Gaul. From Gaul the young -Cæsar watched with close interest the quarrels in which -his colleagues prepared to devour each other. In February -of 307 he heard that Severus had opened his veins, and -left the purple in the hands of the crafty Maximian and -his son Maxentius. Within a few weeks Maximian was in -Gaul, seeking an alliance with Constantine. He brought -with him his pretty and charming daughter, Fausta, and -presently she was married at Arles, with great pomp, to -Constantine, the stepson of her half-sister. The old man -returned to his intrigues in Italy, from which he was -shortly ejected by his son: Galerius expelled him from -Illyricum, where he had taken shelter; and he returned -to the court of his son-in-law in Gaul.</p> - -<p>The portrait-bust of Maximian might be confused with -that of a modern pugilist, but he had, in addition to -strength and ambition, a restless disposition to intrigue. -To rust in a court full of women—for we may confidently -place in the court of Constantine his wife, mother, stepmother, -mother-in-law, and three young half-sisters, if not -also his concubine—was to him an intolerable experience, -and he took the first opportunity of enlivening his surroundings.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span> -An inroad of the barbarians in the north -drew away the young Emperor with much of his army, -and Maximian rebelled. He gave out a report that -Constantine was dead, emptied the treasury into the -hands of the soldiers, and assumed the purple mantle -once more. But Constantine returned with the stride of -a giant, and Maximian shut himself in Marseilles, which -was presently surrendered. The aged intriguer returned -to the palace, tried to corrupt the loyalty of his daughter, -and brought upon himself the punishment of his crimes.</p> - -<p>It is a peculiarity of the time that, the more remote an -historian is from an event, the more he knows about it. -Eutropius and Zosimus merely know that Fausta revealed -her father’s plots to her husband; Zonaras, of the twelfth -century, is able to tell us the whole story. Maximian, he -says, persuaded his daughter to have the guards removed -from the Imperial chamber at night. Then, telling the -night-attendants that he wished to relate to Constantine -a remarkable dream he had had, he entered the chamber -and plunged his dagger into the sleeping figure on the -bed. Rushing out to announce the fall of the tyrant, -however, he found himself in face of Constantine, Fausta, -and the guards. Fausta had been true to her husband, -and it was “a vile eunuch” that Maximian had slain in -the Emperor’s bed. Whatever truth there may be in -this romance, we may accept the statement that Fausta -betrayed his plots, and Maximian came to the end of his -career. Zosimus sends him into exile, and makes him -die a natural death at Tarsus. Lactantius, with a stronger -sense of propriety, tells us that he strangled himself, and it -is the general belief that Constantine did not permit him -to leave Gaul alive.</p> - -<p>Galerius died in the following year (311), leaving the -Eastern Empire to Licinius and Maximin, while Maxentius -ruled in Italy and Africa. Four Empresses now lived in -the court of Constantine, but before we seek to penetrate -the mystery of their relations to each other, we must -briefly accompany Constantine in his rise to the position<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> -of supreme monarch. Maxentius, who had expelled his -father from Italy, now affected a filial anger against his -destroyer, and, after some exasperated correspondence, sent -toward Gaul an army of nearly 200,000 men. Constantine -boldly led 40,000 of his soldiers across the Alps, wore -down the strength of his opponent in successive encounters, -and, within a few months, exhibited the grisly head -of Maxentius to the astonished and delighted Romans. -He was now master of the Western Empire. Devoting two -months to the settlement of Roman affairs, he returned to -Milan to meet his Eastern colleague Licinius. His half-sister -Constantia was married there to Licinius, who -returned to Asia with his bride, to crush Maximin, and to -perpetrate the melancholy tragedies over which we shuddered -in the last chapter. Anastasia, the second daughter -of Constantius, was married to the Senator Bassianus. -Constantine made him Cæsar, but put no troops at his -command—he had just suppressed the Prætorian Guards -at Rome—and refused to grant him the authority that had -hitherto been associated with the title of Cæsar. Bassianus -corresponded angrily with Licinius, and before the end -of 315 the Emperors of the East and West were in arms -against each other.</p> - -<p>It would be interesting to know what share the daughters -of Constantius had in promoting these disorders. -The correspondence of Bassianus and Licinius suggests a -correspondence of their wives, and, when Bassianus was -deposed and disgraced, we may assume that Constantia -was not insensible of the misfortune of her younger sister. -The superior age and ability of Constantine would hardly -reconcile the legitimate children of Constantius to their -position of dependence. Constantia is sometimes represented -as a pious peacemaker, but we do not find her in -that character until her husband’s power is irremediably -broken, after the second war with Constantine. She fled -in great haste with her husband after the first defeat, and -returned with him to Nicomedia, to rule his reduced -dominions.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span> -The court-life of the West flowed with uneventful -smoothness in the eight years between the first and second -war with Licinius. The only break in the monotony is -the birth of three sons and three daughters in quick succession. -Zosimus emphatically asserts that these were not -the children of Fausta, but of a concubine, whom Constantine -put to death on a charge of adultery. We are -naturally disposed to regard this as a piece of reprehensible -malice on the part of the pagan writer, but even the most -cautious judgment will find ground for reflection in the -circumstance that Fausta had borne no children whatever -for the first nine years of her marriage, and then children -begin to appear with astonishing rapidity. We know that -Constantine had had a concubine, named Minervina, before -he married Fausta. Her son Crispus lived at the court. -It would not be entirely surprising if Minervina had -returned to the court, to rear the Imperial dynasty which -Fausta failed to provide, and was eventually destroyed in -one of Constantine’s bursts of temper.<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">24</a></p> - -<p>In the Eastern court the young Empress had, if we -trust the authorities, a more adventurous career. Constantia -cannot have been more than seventeen or eighteen -at the time of her marriage, but she was a woman of spirit -and ability, as well as virtue and beauty. It is said that -she, with the whole court, became a Christian after Constantine’s -victory over Maxentius, but the story of the -miraculous sign in the heavens—a story that is not found -in any form until thirty years afterwards—is now rejected, -and the conversion of Constantine is spread over many -years. At Nicomedia, however, where Constantia occupied -the magnificent palace built by Diocletian, she met the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span> -accomplished and courtly Eusebius, and induced Licinius -to allow him the position of Bishop of Nicomedia. Two -things, it is said, then transpired in the character of -Licinius to excite her disgust. He not only persecuted the -Christians, but made equal war upon virtue. In brief, he, -like all the other persecutors, is depicted by the flowing -pen of Lactantius as an erotic ogre. His eye falls on a -Christian maiden, of dazzling beauty and virtue, in the -suite of Constantia, and he sends an officer to corrupt -her. She tells Constantia, who dresses her as a young -military officer, and sends her, with a splendid equipage, -to take an imaginary Imperial commission to a remote -region. In the distant city of Amasia she is embarrassed -by her masculine hosts, and confides in the bishop. -Finally, a letter of hers to Constantia is intercepted, and -she escapes by a very timely death from the embraces or -the tortures of Licinius.</p> - -<p>Of these wicked ways, and of her husband’s hostility -to the Christians, Constantia is said to have kept her -brother well informed, and, when Licinius committed the -greater enormity of refusing to surrender fugitive offenders -to the vengeance of Constantine, the legions were once -more led toward the Bosphorus. Several disastrous battles -crippled the power of Licinius, and he retired sullenly to -Nicomedia. Whether at his request or no, Constantia -interceded for him, and Constantine swore to respect his -life. In assigning the blame for the war we may, perhaps, -hesitate between the contradictory charges of the opposing -schools of historians, though modern writers usually follow -the neutral and sober Eutropius, and ascribe it to the -ambition of Constantine. But there is a sharper indictment -of Constantine’s conduct after the war. Licinius, -in surrendering, had relied on the oath of the conqueror. -He had been stripped of the purple, and exiled to Thessalonica, -but he was put to death there shortly afterwards. -Zosimus and Eutropius say that this was done “in spite -of the oath,” and the statement of Constantine’s more -resolute admirers, that Licinius was discovered in treasonable<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span> -intrigue, has not carried much conviction with later -historians.</p> - -<p>Constantia passed, with her daughter Helena and her -boy Licinius, to the court of her brother, who was now -(324) master of the whole Empire. The remark of Zosimus, -that Constantine degenerated into the most wilful license -after his attainment of supreme power—a remark feebly -supported by the assurance of the cautious Eutropius that -“prosperity somewhat altered his character”—contrasts -quaintly with the circumstance that he now became the -Imperial patron of the Christian religion. Here, again, we -hesitate between conflicting accounts, or rival romances. -According to the mediæval Christian writer Zonaras, who -supplies a remarkable amount of detail that was unknown -to contemporary historians, the conversion of Constantine -had a picturesque origin. On his return to Rome, after -crushing Licinius, he was afflicted with a painful eruption, -and his pagan physicians prescribed a bath in the warm -blood of children. “At once,” says the lively writer, -“children were collected from the whole Empire,” and -dispatched to the palace. The lamentations of the mothers -fell on the ear of Constantine, touched his heart, and he -left paganism in disgust for Christianity.</p> - -<p>The pagan Greek, Zosimus, who at least faithfully -reproduces the pagan gossip of his time—as, on this point, -we know from Sozomen—gives us the legend of <em>his</em> school. -After committing certain murders, which will occupy us -presently, Constantine applied to the priests of the temple -of Jupiter for purification. The priests sternly replied -that their lustral water had no power to obliterate the -trace of such a crime, and Constantine turned in despair -to an Egyptian who was known to “the women-folk” of -the palace. The Christian priest, as he seems to have -been, declared that his religion contained the desired -remedy, and Constantine embraced it.</p> - -<p>It will be seen that we now pursue our biographic way -amid a forest of legends. Happily, we may reject both -these stories as, at least, anachronisms. Constantine was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span> -already a Christian in 324. He had abolished the decrees -of persecution in the year 313, and had taken a keen -interest in Church matters for some years. The whole -court gradually accepted the new faith. Helena, Eusebius -tells us, and Fausta for some time opposed the change -of religion, but Helena at least was converted. Eutropia -appears in the East a few years later as a zealous opponent -of paganism. From their several and ample purses the -money poured into the lean coffers of the Church, and -the conversion of the Empire proceeded rapidly. Villages -that embraced Christianity were raised to the dignity of -cities; nobles and officers were encouraged by promotion; -and ordinary citizens were rewarded with a baptismal -robe and a piece of gold.</p> - -<p>It is not for us to inquire into the obscure question of -Constantine’s real attitude. Professor Bury and other -eminent authorities believe that his creed was a liberal, -or vague, one until his death. Years afterwards we find -him building pagan temples at Constantinople, and he did -not disdain the Imperial title of Sovereign Pontiff of the -old religion. On the other hand, the details collected by -Mr. Firth show a very real interest in the Church. He -opened the great Council of Nicæa in the year 325, and -reverently kissed the wounds of those who had suffered -in the persecution. Yet even amid this evidence of orthodoxy -the hesitating student will find trace of his liberality. -In the letter which he sent to the Catholic bishops he -complained that the subject of their vehement quarrel with -the Arians was “quite insignificant, and entirely disproportionate -to such a quarrel.” The question at issue was -the divinity of Christ. His experience at the Council -would give him a larger sense of its importance.</p> - -<p>From the benedictions of the prelates and the embraces -of the martyrs Constantine returned to Europe, and, -within a year, apparently, his court was rent by a tragedy -that has left an irremovable cloud on his memory. He -had gone to Rome, with the court, to celebrate the twentieth -anniversary of his accession. The city exulted in the rare<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> -indulgence of his presence, and the games and festivities -warmed it with its old enthusiasm. The Empire was -united and at peace, and the growing brood of children -gave promise of an unending dynasty. Crispus, Constantine’s -eldest son, was now a popular and promising -commander, clothed in the mantle of a Cæsar. Two of -the sons of Fausta, or her substitute, were Cæsars. Then -there was the twelve-year-old son of Constantia. Over -these watched the aged Helena and Eutropia, and the -mothers and aunts of the younger children.</p> - -<p>In the middle of the festivity Rome was startled to -hear that Crispus had been arrested, by his father’s -command, and exiled to Pola, in Istria. From that remote -and solitary region the report at length came that he had -been put to death. Every eye was turned on the palace, -and before long—most of the historians say—the gay -figure of the beautiful young Empress disappeared, and -the report spread that she had been brutally suffocated -in the steam of a dense vapour-bath. The horror was -increased, and the prospect of a humane interpretation -lessened, when it was learned that the innocent child -of Constantia also had been put to death. Such is the -grave and mysterious tragedy of Constantine’s mature -years. As Fausta has been heavily indicted by those who -have sought to defend her husband, and Helena impeached -by his accusers, we may glance at the evidence on which -one’s verdict must be based.</p> - -<p>There are partisan historians who would cast doubt -on the whole story; there are more serious historians, -such as Gibbon (who again gallantly opposes the critics), -who say that Fausta, at least, was not slain; and the rest -are divided in opinion as to whether it was a just execution -or a ghastly crime. The first two opinions are now -untenable. There is no serious dispute that Crispus and -Licinius were put to death. That Fausta was killed is -now equally established. Gibbon relied upon a certain -anonymous writer to show that Fausta was living long afterwards, -but it has been shown that the writer is not speaking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span> -of Fausta and Constantine. Moreover, Dr. Seeck, in a -special study of the evidence (“Die Verwandtenmorde -Constantins des Grossen,” <cite>Zeitschrift für Wiss. Theol.</cite>, -Bd. 33), has shown that the coins of Fausta and Crispus, -unlike those of the other members of the Imperial family, -end before the year 330. Dr. Görres, who held Gibbon’s -view, consents that this proof is decisive. The only serious -question is that of motive or justification.</p> - -<p>Let us glance at the authorities, in the order of their -nearness to the event. Bishop Eusebius is naturally -silent; he professes to give only the things that edify in -the life of Constantine, and is writing almost in his son’s -court. Eutropius, the soundest and most impartial writer -of the next generation, says (x. 6) that the character of -Constantine “was somewhat changed with prosperity,” -and that “following the exigencies of the situation -[<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">necessitudines rerum</i>], he put to death, first his excellent -son and the son of his sister, a boy of promising character, -then his wife and a number of friends.” St. Jerome, in -his Latin version of the “Chronicle” of Eusebius, writes, -at the year 329, that “Crispus, the son of Constantine, -and Licinius the younger, the son of Constantia, are most -cruelly put to death in the ninth year of his reign,” and -three years later we read: “Constantine put to death -his wife Fausta.”<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> Dr. Seeck believes that we have here -only an echo of Eutropius, but Jerome would hardly add -“most cruelly” on so cautious a narrative. Aurelius -Victor, a contemporary of Eutropius, says that Crispus -“was put to death by his father for some unknown reason,” -and Orosius, the Christian historian, merely observes -that Constantine put Crispus and Licinius to death.</p> - -<p>From these earlier writers we learn only that the deaths -were cruel, and the motive unknown, but later writers -have successively built up a story that has provoked endless<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> -discussion. Sidonius Apollinaris, the most cultivated and -liberal Christian writer of the fifth century, says, with the -confidence of a parenthesis (Ep. v), that Crispus was -poisoned, and Fausta killed in a vapour-bath; and that -a couplet was fixed on the palace-gate recalling the crimes -of Nero. The epitomist of Aurelius Victor declares that -Crispus was put to death at the instigation of Fausta, -and Fausta was “thereupon” killed in a vapour-bath, as -Helena bitterly reproached Constantine for the death of -Crispus. Zosimus (ii. 29) says: “With no regard for the -law of nature he put to death his son Crispus, on the -ground that he was suspected of intimacy with Fausta,” -and, when Helena heavily reproached him, he, “as if to -console her,” suffocated Fausta in an overheated bath. -Philostorgius, a Christian writer of the same (fifth) century, -declares that Fausta was put to death because she was -caught in adultery with a groom. The story culminates in -the twelfth-century annalist Zonaras. After telling his -incredible legend about Constantine and the babies, he -represents Fausta in the character of Potiphar’s wife. She -conceived a passion for the handsome Cæsar, was repelled -by him, and then denounced him to Constantine as having -offered violence to her. Crispus was put to death. Then -Constantine learned in some way—Helena is left to the -imagination—that he had been deceived, and he angrily -killed Fausta in a vapour-bath.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable how many grave writers have favoured -this legend of the mediæval writer,<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> yet, besides its obvious -growth through the centuries, it has the fatal weakness -of throwing no light whatever on the murder of Licinius, -the son of Constantine’s most cherished sister. We are -reduced to conjecture in face of this mysterious and -terrible tragedy. That the youths met with some violent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span> -death at the hands of the Emperor, that Helena bitterly -remonstrated with him, and that the savage suffocation -of Fausta followed this remonstrance, seems to be clear. -We may further conclude with some confidence, from the -persistent rumour of amorous relations, that this charge -was allowed to reach the outside world in extenuation of -the murders. But it is suspected by many historians, and -seems to be suggested by the obscure language of Eutropius, -that the real motive was political.</p> - -<div id="ip_281" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 17em;"> - <div class="caption"><p>FAUSTA</p></div> - <img src="images/i_280.jpg" width="271" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>FLAVIA HELENA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>Crispus was in great favour with both the people and -the troops, and had distinguished himself in the war with -Licinius. If anything happened to Constantine, who was -in his fifty-second year, Crispus had a clear prospect of -the throne. It would not be unnatural for Fausta to -resent this, and one is tempted to see, either an effect -of her importunity or a proof of Constantine’s jealousy -of his son, in the fact that Constantine took away the -province of Gaul from Crispus, without compensation, in -323, and gave it to the eldest of his legitimate sons. -From that time Crispus was retained in idleness, and -probably discontent, under the eye of his father. He -would be a natural focus for all the dissatisfaction in the -Empire, and the Romans, and pagans generally, regarded -Constantine and his family with anger and disdain on -account of their abandonment of the old religion. By -the year 326 Constantine was in a state of extraordinary -nervousness and suspicion. Before going to Rome he -issued an edict in which he revealed his frame of mind -to the whole Empire. At Rome he flouted the most -cherished customs of the city, and may well have incurred -fresh murmurs. Something occurred that brought his -suspicion of Crispus—who may not have become a Christian—to -an acute stage, and he condemned him to exile -and death. This theory is also the only one to explain, -with any plausibility, the execution of young Licinius. -He was the only other rival of Constantine’s legitimate -sons. It is impossible for us to say whether Crispus had -incurred any guilt or no, but the silence of the earlier<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> -writers and panegyrists is a grave circumstance. If there -had been plausible evidence of conspiracy they would -not have remained silent. In any case, the sentence on -Crispus was harsh and unjustifiable, and the execution of a -twelve-year-old boy was a piece of brutality that only -the worse Emperors would have perpetrated.</p> - -<p>The murder of Fausta is even more perplexing. Even -if the late and negligible stories of Philostorgius and -Zonaras were true, she was not executed, but brutally -murdered. The only firm point in the conflicting evidence -is the persistent association of her death with the anger -of Helena. We have no evidence of any value in regard -to her relation to Crispus; but the words of Zosimus, -which are not inconsistent with the earlier writers, enable -us to extend the above theory to her. Constantine, -on this view, put Crispus and Licinius to death because -they were possible nuclei of the conspiracy which he -believed to pervade the Empire. Adopting a familiar -device, however, he concealed his motive under a charge -of amorous irregularity, or too great a familiarity with the -Empress. Helena, who was greatly attached to Crispus, -seems to have insisted that, if there was any guilt, both -were guilty, and Constantine savagely completed his -work by murdering his wife. The Christian historians -describe Fausta as opposing Constantine’s progress in -his new faith, and, as we have no evidence that Crispus -had embraced it, one may not implausibly wonder whether -the two did not attract the favour of the pagan Romans, -to the extreme anger of the Emperor. No charge against -Fausta was made public. During the lifetime of Constantine’s -eldest son, Julian described her, in one of his -orations, as not only one of the most beautiful, but one of -the most virtuous and noble ladies of her time. Even if we -make allowance for the licensed flattery of a panegyrist, -the description would be too glaringly inconsistent with -any Imperial theory of her infidelity. She was probably -in her thirty-fourth or thirty-fifth year at the time when -she met her appalling death.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span> -Constantine hastened to remove the gloomy, stricken -court from the disdainful eyes of Rome. The pagans -pointed with fierce scorn to these fruits of the new religion, -as they expressed it. One day it was found that -some one had fastened a Latin couplet—written, the pagans -of a later day boasted, by the hand of the Emperor’s -chief counsellor, Ablabius—on the gate of the palace:</p> - -<div class="poem-container"> -<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> -<span class="i0">Say ye the Golden Age of Saturn breaks again?<br /></span> -<span class="i0">Of Nero’s bloody hue these jewels are.<br /></span> -</div></div> -</div> - -<p class="in0">Either at once, or in the course of the next year, the -court broke up. Constantine went to direct the building -of the new capital of the West, which was to bear his -name. Later pagans said that he fled from the theatre -of his crimes and the scorn of Rome, but the ample lines -of Constantinople had been traced long before, and the -site had been chosen for its strategical importance. Helena -sought the land in which Christ had lived and died, and her -pious munificence won for her the halo of sanctity. The -legend of her finding the cross does not appear until -seventy years afterwards, and Eusebius tells us that it -was Constantine, not she, who found the sepulchre and -built a church over it. But Helena, who had now great -wealth, covered the land with churches, and returned -with a great repute for piety. She died soon after her -return—in 328, Tillemont thinks—having passed her -eightieth year.</p> - -<p>Europia also went on a pilgrimage to Palestine, and -seems to have settled in the East. We find her a few -years later urging Constantine to scatter the pagans who -are defiling some sacred spot with their impure ceremonies. -Theodora seems to have died, at some unknown -date, before the year of the murders. Constantia died -in, or about, the year 329. Her Arian friend Eusebius -had been banished, at the triumph of the Athanasians, -but she obtained his recall, and adhered to his Unitarian -creed. In her last hours she succeeded in recommending<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> -an Arian priest to Constantine, and prolonged the religious -struggle. We pass to a new generation of Empresses, -and may dismiss briefly the ten years which remain of -Constantine’s rule and introduce us to the events of the -next chapter.</p> - -<p>In the month of May of the year 330, the new city -of Constantinople was solemnly dedicated. The curious -reader will find in Gibbon a splendid restoration of its -princely proportions, its stores of art gathered from all -parts of the Empire, its superb palace, its great hippodrome, -its churches and temples, its spacious fora, and -its lofty column of porphyry, surmounted by a gigantic -statue, in which the head of Constantine replaced that of -Apollo, and the various attributes of the god he still -admired were hesitatingly redeemed by emblems of the -jealous God of his new faith. The enormous sums absorbed -in the building of the new city were regarded by -the pagans as one of the causes of the decay of the -Empire, and the bitter strife of Arians and Athanasians, -which distracted it, irritated their resentment. But their -day was closing. The arguments with which they clung -to a Jupiter and a Venus in whom they no longer believed -were hollow; the rewards of conversion were -great. The grey gods saw their crowds of worshippers -becoming thinner and less joyous. The Empire lifted the -humble cross into the sunlight from Persia to Britain.</p> - -<p>The last decade of Constantine’s life was inglorious. -We might distrust the partial and severe accusations of -Zosimus, but the substance of his charge is found in the -other authorities. His vast and hurried enterprise in -building forced him to lay heavy burdens on his enfeebled -Empire, and we have the authority of Ammianus Marcellinus -that he “encouraged those about him to open -devouring jaws” in a lamentable degree. Conversion -was the first right to favour and wealth. The later -Emperor Julian, we are not surprised to find, pours -acrid satire on him. In the treatise (“Cæsares”) in which -he introduces the Emperors of Rome to the Olympic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> -court, he makes Constantine turn to the goddess Luxury, -as the one congenial deity, and she introduces him only -to her sister Prodigality. He ridicules Constantine’s -womanly finery in dress and jewels, his elaborate crown -of false hair, his complete lapse into effeminate ways. -Aurelius Victor gives us the proverbial judgment of the -next generation on Constantine: in his first decade he -was admirable, in his second decade thievish, in his third -decade a squanderer. He made the final blunder of—without -naming a successor—dividing the Empire among -his sons and nephews, of gravely unequal character, and -died in 337, leaving them and their supporters to engage -in a murderous struggle for supremacy.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XVIII" class="vspace">CHAPTER XVIII<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE WIVES OF CONSTANTIUS AND JULIAN</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">When</span> the announcement of Constantine’s death had -been borne by swift couriers to the distant provinces, -and the body, in its golden coffin, had -been transferred to Constantinople, there was a nervous -rush of aspiring Emperors and Empresses to the capital. -The unification of the Empire under Constantine had cost -the State some hundred and fifty thousand of its finest -soldiers, who perished in civil warfare while powerful -nations pressed against its yielding frontiers. In his later -years he had so distributed these provinces, whose unity -had been so dearly purchased, among his sons and nephews, -worthy and unworthy, that dismemberment was certain to -follow his death. His eldest son, Constantine, now in his -twenty-first year, ruled Gaul and Britain; Constantius, -the second son, a youth of twenty, was the Cæsar of the -East; the third son, Constans, aged seventeen, held sway -over Italy and Africa. His nephew Delmatius, also entitled -Cæsar, controlled Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece, and the -younger nephew Hannibalian bore the ornate title of King -of Kings in Pontus and Cappadocia. The two brothers of -Constantine, and the husbands of his two sisters, were not -left without a share of the Imperial provision.</p> - -<p>The race to Constantinople after the death of the -Emperor may be imagined, but the suddenness and horror -of the consequent tragedy must have sobered even the most -frivolous. Constantius, the second son, was the first to -arrive, and to him the conduct of the impressive funeral -was entrusted. The members of the family gathered round<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span> -the marble palace from all quarters of the Empire, and the -shade of Constantine continued for some months to rule -the State, until their conflicting claims should be adjusted. -Julius Constantius and Delmatius, the legitimate heirs of -Constantius Chlorus, who had been thrust aside thirty -years before by the vigorous son of Minervina, were now -men in the prime of life. The younger son of the latter, -Hannibalian, the “King of Kings,” strutted in a scarlet and -gold mantle, and had married the fiery and ambitious young -daughter of the late Emperor, Constantina. Anastasia, -Constantine’s sister, brought her husband, the “Patrician” -Optatus. The partition of power seemed a formidable -task. But in the weeks that succeeded Constantine’s death -a new and sinister power arose, and its secret designs prepared -a ghastly simplification of the problem.</p> - -<p>Constantius became insensibly the central figure of the -drama. A callous youth, with little strength of character, -he was selected by the eunuchs and corrupt officers of -Constantine’s court as a likely instrument of their plans. -It was agreed that the interests of these officers and of the -sons of Constantine would be best served by a removal of -all the other competitors, and a diabolical plot was devised. -The details are given at length only by the Christian -historian Philostorgius, of the next century, and are regarded -with reserve; but an Arian writer would hardly -inculpate an Arian bishop and an Arian monarch without -some just ground. His story is that Constantine left a -will in which he declared that he had been poisoned by his -two half-brothers. The will was given to Bishop Eusebius. -When the brothers were eager to see the will of Constantine, -Eusebius is said to have discovered a fine piece of casuistry. -He put the will in the hands of the dead Emperor, and -covered it with his robes, so that he might, without injury -to his delicate conscience, assure the brothers that Constantine -had indeed shown him a will, but he had returned -it into his hands. The will—or a will—was now produced, -and the people and army were assured by their dead ruler -that he had been poisoned by his family.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span> -The story is regarded with suspicion by most historians. -For the reason I have given, and because it is the only -plausible explanation of what followed, it seems probable -that such a will was produced and published by Constantius. -It was probably forged by the palace officials. Whether -they and the sons of Constantine used this device or no, -they somehow directed the tempestuous anger of the troops -upon the older princes and their families, and extinguished -their claims in a brutal massacre. Julian casts the blame on -Constantius, admitting that he acted under compulsion, and -the other fourth-century writers do not differ. Constantius -“permitted,” rather than “commanded.” The corrupt -power behind the throne directed the murders, and the sons -of Constantine purchased a larger dominion by the blood of -their uncles and cousins. The two uncles, seven cousins, -and other distinguished men, were included in the bloody -list. Then the three Imperial youths divided the Empire -between them, and departed to their provinces.</p> - -<p>The wives of the eldest and the youngest of the brothers -are unknown to us, and the first wife of Constantius is so -little known that we may pass rapidly over a number of -years. The Imperial sisters of Constantine—except Constantia, -whom we have considered—enter little in the -history of the time. Anastasia disappears after the murder -of her husband. Eutropia will presently mingle her blood -with that of her insurgent son on the soil of Italy. Constantina, -the daughter of Constantine who had married -Hannibalian, and who already bore the title of Augusta, -retired into a long widowhood, from which we shall find -her emerging later in a monstrous character.</p> - -<p>Constantius had been married to his cousin Galla in -336. She seems to have been the daughter of Julius -Constantius, since Julian says that her father and brother -were included in the massacre. Her personality is never -outlined for us in the historical writings of the time, and -we are left to imagine her shuddering or languishing in -the arms that were stained with the blood of her family. -She died some time before 350, as Magnentius offered his<span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span> -daughter to Constantius in that year. We have, therefore, -no Empress who can engage our attention until 353, and -may be content with a slight summary of the events which -lead on to the appearance of Eusebia and the reappearance -of the repulsive Constantina.</p> - -<p>Three years after the partition of the Empire Constantine -and Constans quarrelled about their territory. -The elder brother led his troops into the dominion of -Constans, and was slain; and his provinces were added -to those of Constans. The character of the youngest son -of Constantine was gross and intolerable. He revived -the lowest vice of his pagan predecessors, and his open -parade of the handsome barbarian youths whom he bought, -or attracted to his frivolous court, disgusted his officers. -In the beginning of the year 350 they rebelled against -him. A banquet was given at Augustodunum (Autun) to -the notables of the town and the officers of the camp, -and at a late hour, when the abundant wine had warmed -the hearts and obscured the judgment of the diners, the -commander of two of the chief legions, Magnentius, was -brought before them in a purple robe. Constans awoke -from his vices to find that he had lost the throne and the -army, and fled toward Spain. He was overtaken and -slain. Some blood-curse seemed to hang over the house -of Constantine. Constantius, who had been long occupied -in resisting the Persians, now wheeled round his troops, -and faced the usurper.</p> - -<p>In the long struggle that followed there were two -incidents of interest for us. Constantina, the Imperial -widow, was living in restless impotence at the time. -Between the rebellious provinces of the West and the loyal -provinces of the East was the intermediate district between -the Danube and the Greek sea. Constantina, it is said, -instigated the commander of the troops in these regions, -Vetranio, to assume the purple. What we shall see of her -character presently will dispose us to believe that she -meditated a return to power through Vetranio, but Constantius -astutely disarmed and exiled him, and accepted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span> -her explanation that she had acted with the pure aim of -resisting the advance of the Western usurper. Constantine’s -sister Eutropia also appears in the struggle. Her -son Nepotian assumed the purple at Rome, and led out -a motley army to attack Magnentius. They were quickly -annihilated, and mother and son—two of the few remaining -members of Constantine’s family—were slain.</p> - -<p>The interest of the student of the time is divided -between the clash of armies and the not wholly bloodless -conflicts of theologies. We are concerned with neither, -and need only observe that Constantius defeated Magnentius, -after a long and costly struggle—in one battle -54,000 Roman soldiers perished in civil warfare—and reunited -the Empire under his sole dominion. The young -Empress of the defeated Magnentius retired into widowhood, -and will be restored to us in the next chapter. In -the meantime Constantina has returned to the field, and -her Imperial adventures call for our notice.</p> - -<p>Two children, the sons of Julius Constantius, had survived -the massacre at Constantinople. Gallus was in his -twelfth year, Julian in his sixth. They were hidden until -the fury of the soldiers had abated, and then their tender -age induced the murderers to overlook them. The jealous -eye of Constantius fell on them when they approached -manhood, and they were confined in a fortress, or ancient -palace, in Cappadocia. In the solitude of Macellum no -company was offered them but that of slaves and soldiers. -Julian, in whose mind the seeds of an elevated philosophy -had taken root, resisted the pressing temptations, and -devoted the long days to culture; but Gallus, a sensual -and ill-balanced youth, adopted the coarse distractions -of his spacious jail. After six years (in 351) they were -not only set at liberty, but Gallus was amazed to find -himself clothed with the dignity of Cæsar and married -to the Emperor’s sister Constantina. Constantius was -compelled to leave the East in order to face Magnentius, -and he needed a Cæsar to rule in his name.</p> - -<p>The three years’ rule of Gallus and Constantina was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> -an Imperial scandal. Unscrupulous and unbridled, the -daughter of Constantine lives in the literature of the time -as a monstrous perversion of womanhood. With her -begins the historical work (as we have it) of Ammianus -Marcellinus, a retired general, one of the most scrupulous -and ample chroniclers of his time. He bursts at once into -a vivid denunciation of her vices. She was “a mortal -Megæra,” an ogre, swollen with pride and thirsting for -human blood. It is unfortunate that Ammianus gives us -no personal description of the women of his time. His -work contains charming vignettes of the Emperors and -princes, but he seems never to have looked on the face -or figure of their wives. Gallus, he tells us, was a superb -youth in figure and stature, his handsome features crowned -with soft golden hair, and bearing a look of dignity and -authority, in spite of his vices. The strain of cruelty and -coarseness in him was provoked to excesses by his wife. -When his savage conduct had exasperated his subjects -he used to send his spies, in the disguise of beggars, to -gather the secret whispers of discontent; and he even -stooped to the practice of wandering himself, in disguise, -from tavern to tavern on the well-lit streets of Antioch -to discover his critics. Antioch had been noted for centuries -for its freedom of speech, and the prisons and -torture-chambers of Gallus were busy.</p> - -<p>Constantina not only encouraged this criminal conduct, -but enlarged on it. A woman of vicious character came -one day to disclose some plot, or pretended plot, to her. -She rewarded her heavily, and sent the harlot out into the -city in the royal chariot, to encourage others. An Alexandrian -noble distinguished himself by resisting the guilty -passion of his mother-in-law. The woman presented -Constantina with a pearl necklace, and the noble was put -to death. We need not prolong the disgusting narrative. -Flavia Julia Constantina, a beautiful and able woman, -who can scarcely have passed her thirtieth year, was one -of the worst Empresses in the Imperial gallery. One can -but suggest, in some attenuation of her guilt, that the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> -murder of her husband by her brother when she was a -young girl in her early teens, and the fourteen years of -young widowhood that followed, had provoked the worst -elements of her nature.</p> - -<p>As long as Constantius was occupied with the struggle -against Magnentius, he overlooked the excesses of his Cæsar -and his sister in the East. His opponent, Magnentius, was -not so compliant, though he wasted no legions in an effort -to dethrone him. He sent a soldier to assassinate Gallus -and seduce the troops. As the man resided, however, in a -tavern near Antioch, he became less cautious over his cups, -and boasted to his associates of his mission. The old -woman who kept the tavern seemed too far removed from -politics to be taken into account, but she promptly denounced -her guest at the palace, and he was put to death. -Then Magnentius fell, and committed suicide, and Constantius -turned to consider the scandalous conduct of his -viceroy and his sister.</p> - -<p>Constantius proceeded, as he usually did whenever it -was possible, by craft instead of force. The Prefect of the -East had been slain by the people of Antioch, with the -guilty connivance of Gallus, and a new Prefect, named -Domitian, was sent to Antioch, together with the Prefect -of the Palace, Montius. Domitian had orders to secure, -by the most tactful and seductive means, that Gallus should -visit Italy, and walk into the pit dug for him. He was, -however, a sturdy officer, more sensible of the just substance -than the form of his instructions. Gallus and -Constantina were at once insulted because, on the day of -his arrival, he drove insolently past the gate of the palace, -and went straight to his villa. They then condescended to -invite him to the palace. In the presence of the hated -rulers he laid aside all pretence of diplomacy, and roughly -ordered the Cæsar to proceed at once to Italy, or incur -the just resentment of the Emperor. Gallus, stung by his -insolence, at once gave the Prefect into the custody of the -soldiers. Montius, who was present, and who also had -lost all feeling for diplomacy in the passionate encounter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> -remonstrated with Gallus, adding the taunt that a man who -had no power to dismiss one of his magistrates had no -right to imprison a Prefect of the East. We are assured -by Philostorgius that Constantina flew at the official, -dragged him from the tribunal, and pushed him into the -hands of the guard. We may prefer the more sober version -of Ammianus. Gallus impetuously called upon the troops -and the people of Antioch to defend their ruler, and they -responded with surprising alacrity. The distinguished -officers of Constantius were bound hand and foot, dragged -through the streets until the last spark of life was extinct, -and then flung into the river.</p> - -<p>Still Constantius hesitated to enter upon a civil war -with the East, and the unscrupulous cunning which dictated -his policy discovered an alternative procedure. First, the -commander of the cavalry in the East was summoned to -Milan, that the danger of a rising might be lessened. -Then, a series of letters, couched in the most friendly and -mendacious terms, were sent to the Cæsar. Constantius -was eager to see his beloved sister once more, and to confer -with his Cæsar. For some time they resisted the invitation, -but at length Constantina, less apprehensive of personal -injury, set out for Italy. She died on the journey, at -Cœnum in Bithynia, of fever, and her remains were buried -at Rome. She was still in her early thirties at the time of -her death. The single deed that is recorded in praise of -her is that she and Gallus planted a Christian church in the -dissolute grove of Daphne, and drew the austerity of the -new faith upon that region of sensuous superstition and -sensual license. Her share in that act of piety may be -put in the scale against her avarice, cruelty, selfishness, and -unbridled temper.</p> - -<p>The fate of her husband may be briefly recorded. Lured -at length by the deceitful professions of Constantius, he -set out for Milan with his princely retinue. As soon as -he reached Europe, the retinue was brushed aside, and he -discovered himself a captive. When the little party arrived -in Pannonia, he was stripped of the purple, and conducted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span> -to the remote prison at Pola, where Crispus had been -executed. There he was “tried” by a eunuch of Constantius’s -court, and within a few days a breathless courtier—he -had ridden several horses to death—rushed into the -presence of Constantius with the shoes of the slain Cæsar. -The Empire was reunited under Constantius, at a cost of -the deaths of twenty princes and princesses of his house -and their dependents, and fifty thousand soldiers; and the -eunuchs and courtiers filled the palace at Milan with the -incense they offered to the young conqueror.</p> - -<p>Constantius had, meantime, married again, and a more -worthy and commanding Empress engages our attention. -Toward the close of his struggle with Magnentius, in the -year 352 or the beginning of 353, the Emperor married a -Macedonian lady, Aurelia Eusebia, of remarkable beauty, -no little ability, and dignified personality. Her father and -brothers had had consular rank in their province; her -mother had been distinguished for the propriety of her -conduct and the careful rearing of her children after the -death of her husband. The language in which the Emperor -Julian describes her is enhanced by gratitude, and enjoys -the license of a panegyric; some would say that it is -warmed by a more tender sentiment. But Ammianus, who -also knew her, pronounces that the beauty of her character -was not less splendid than that of her form, and, beyond a -peevish complaint of a later writer that she did not confine -herself to the proper and restricted sphere of a woman, she -maintains her high repute among the conflicting writers of -the time. The one grave imputation, which Ammianus -seems to find quite consistent with his superlative praise -of her, we will consider later.</p> - -<p>We find Eusebia established in the court at Milan at -the time when the heads of the last of Constantius’s -rivals are falling. When Gallus has disappeared, he -proudly takes the title of “Lord of the World,” and -endeavours to live up to it, amid his company of eunuchs -and fawning attendants. In the hands of those astute and -concordant schemers the weak and vain monarch was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> -easily persuaded to arrive at decisions which he attributed -to his own judgment, and it is, perhaps, the most indulgent -plea that we can make for him that he was governed by -a power so subtle and insinuating that he never perceived -it. The high merit of a scrupulous chastity is claimed for -him; but the monastic writer Zonaras somewhat detracts -from this by affirming that his coldness deprived him of -a dynasty and forced his beautiful and accomplished wife -into a fatal decline. His piety, at least, might be praised; -but it rested on a basis of Arian creed and is exposed -to the scorn of the orthodox, who called him Antichrist.</p> - -<p>We may concur in the strictures of Zonaras so far as -to admit that Eusebia cannot have been happy in his -court. The eunuch Eusebius, who had tried and executed -Gallus, was the most powerful man in the Empire. -Ammianus observes, with heavy irony, that Constantius -was believed to be not without influence with his emasculated -chamberlain. A hierarchy of lesser, but hardly less -corrupt, officials led up to this favoured minister, and -Ammianus, from personal acquaintance with the court, -assures us that their rapacity and unscrupulousness grew -with the power of Constantius. A Persian officer, Mercurius, -had the nickname of “The Count of Dreams,” from -the skill with which he could make the most innocent -fancies of the night bear a treasonable complexion, and -bring destruction and spoliation on the dreamer. Paulus, -who had risen from the lowly position of table-steward, -was called “The Chain,” because of the art with which -he could involve a man in a charge of plotting. Torture -and confiscation became common experiences once more, -and men began to shrink from even the most innocent -conversation.</p> - -<p>This unpleasant tenor of the Imperial life at Milan -was relieved by the great controversy of the Arians and -Athanasians, which was brought to Italy for decision. -How Constantius and his officers induced the Latin -bishops to condemn Athanasius, in 355, by “stroking their -bellies instead of laying the rod on their backs,” to use<span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span> -the vigorous phrase of St. Hilary, does not concern us, -but it is interesting to see how Eusebia came in contact -with the prelates. When the Roman bishop, Liberius, -bravely—for a time—incurred exile rather than condemn -Athanasius, Eusebia sent him a sum of money. He -returned it with the suggestion that her husband might -find it useful for his troops or his Arian bishops. A new -power, besides that of eunuchs, was rising. Suidas preserves -a story that may be given here, though it may or -may not refer to this Council. As the bishops, he says, -came to the town where the court was, for the purpose -of holding a Council, they called to salute the Empress. -Leontius, Bishop of Tripoli, refused to visit her, and she -sent word that, if he would call, she would give him the -funds to build a large church. The saintly prelate replied -that he would condescend to visit her if he were assured -that she would receive him with fitting respect—if, he -explained, she would rise from her throne at his entrance, -bend for his benediction, and remain standing, while he -sat, until he permitted her to resume her seat.</p> - -<p>In the same year (355), however, a more pleasant -diversion alleviated the weariness of Eusebia, and another -Empress is introduced to our notice. We have already -said that the unhappy Gallus had for companion in his -Cappadocian jail a young half-brother of the name of -Julian. Imbibing his early culture at the alternate hands -of Bishop Eusebius and the philosophical eunuch Mardonius, -Julian had come to prefer the Greek culture of the -latter to the theological lore of the prelate. He had come -out untainted from the lonely fortress at Macellum, and -had passed to Constantinople and then to Nicomedia. -There the distinguished pagan Libanius attracted his allegiance, -and from the three years in which he studied at -Nicomedia his mind was wholly given to the older culture, -however much he might be compelled to dissemble his -aversion for the new religion. After the execution of -Gallus he was brought to Milan. With growing apprehension -he awaited the decision of “the eunuch, chamberlain,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> -and cook” who, he says, directed the bloody counsels of -Constantius. But he found an unexpected and powerful -friend in the Empress.</p> - -<p>It seems clear that Eusebia first espoused his cause in -a pure feeling of humanity. The officials had impeached -the innocent youth of twenty-three or twenty-four, chiefly -on the ground of having visited Gallus, and his life was -gravely threatened. Eusebia threw all her influence in -the scale against the malignant officials, and, though they -prevented Constantius from hearing him, she saved his -life. He was housed in the suburbs of Milan, and was -taken one day to see Eusebia. “I seemed to see, as in a -temple, the image of the goddess of wisdom,” he afterwards -wrote in his “Letter to the Athenians.” The splendid -figure of the beautiful Empress can easily be imagined -to have made a remarkable impression on the bookish -youth. Eusebia was differently, but favourably, impressed. -Julian was a well-made youth, of moderate stature and -broad shoulders. He had the soft curly hair of his brother, -a straight nose, large mouth, and brilliant eyes. The -humane feeling of the Empress assumed a more tender and -personal complexion, and she set to work to make Julian’s -fortune.</p> - -<p>He was sent for a time to Como, and, as her influence -prevailed, recalled to Milan, and permitted to reply to his -accusers before the Emperor. He was then permitted to -retire to his mother’s small estate in Bithynia, but Eusebia -induced Constantius to impose on him the pleasant sentence -of an exile to Athens. From the beloved schools of Athens -he was, after a few months, recalled to Milan, to hear -the astounding news that he was to receive the purple robe -of Cæsar and the hand of the Emperor’s sister Helena. -He shrank in tears from the political world that opened to -him, but Eusebia tactfully overcame his opposition and -guided his conduct. Her eunuchs ran continually between -the palace and his lodging. The beard and cloak of the -philosopher were laid aside, and Julian blushed to find -himself accoutred in the splendid trappings of a commander.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span> -The jeers and intrigues of the court were at -length silenced, and, on November 6th, 355, he stood on a -lofty platform before the troops while Constantius invested -him with the purple and exhorted him to sustain the -honour of Rome. The marriage with Helena followed, -and in December Julian and his bride, with a valuable -collection of books as the gift of Eusebia, set out for -Gaul.</p> - -<p>Julian never saw Eusebia again, and cannot have had -the least correspondence with her. Even in Milan he -had, on reflection, torn up a letter in which he modestly -wished his patroness the reward of a succession of children. -On his side there was nothing but a pure feeling of -gratitude and reverence. She was, says Zosimus, “a woman -of erudition and prudence above her sex”; a shining -example of spiritual and bodily beauty, according to -Ammianus. She had most probably saved his life, and -most certainly made his fortune. But it is believed by -many writers that Eusebia’s feeling for Julian was of a less -ethereal nature. Gaetano Negri, whose life of Julian is -one of the most distinguished biographies of a Roman -Emperor, justly repudiates the suggestion of improper -feeling on her part, and it is a superfluous inference. But -one may, without casting the least reflection on her virtue, -hesitate to think that the only link between them was -a sympathy of culture. Such sympathy we may well -assume between a cultivated Greek lady and an ardent -Hellenist, but so cold and spiritual a relation may very -naturally and pardonably have been strengthened by a -warmer feeling. Julian had no sensuous attractiveness for -a beautiful woman. But his manly person and character, -his vast superiority to the crowd of ignoble parasites she -daily encountered, and to her weak and mediocre husband, -must have excited an admiration less purely intellectual -than an appreciation of his learning.</p> - -<p>The person of Flavia Julia Helena remains faint and -elusive in the ample chronicle of the time. She was much -older than Julian, who was in his twenty-fifth year, while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span> -Helena cannot have been less than thirty.<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">27</a> She had not -been previously married, Ammianus says, and the long -maidenhood would not tend to make her attractive. The -marriage was arranged by Eusebia in the political interest -of Julian, and it probably retained the chill that a <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">mariage -de convenance</i>, with such disparity of age, would naturally -bear. In Julian’s abundant, and largely autobiographical, -writings she is barely mentioned. It was the marriage of -an old maid—for the Roman world—with an austere, -if conscientious, philosopher. The gradual discovery of -Julian’s secret loyalty to the old gods would not make -their relations more cordial.</p> - -<p>We may, therefore, regret that the single line of inquiry -which we pursue will compel us to leave almost unnoticed -the brilliant episode of the reign of Julian. The more -liberal taste of our time has removed the violent and -conflicting colours which the partisan writers of the fourth -century laid upon the portrait of Julian. To Gregory -of Nazianzum he was a faint impersonation of Antichrist; -to the pagan writers a modest incorporation of Apollo. -In modern history he is a most conscientious thinker, -a humane and unselfish ruler, a very capable commander, -a conceited and unattractive personality. His character, -in spite of the shade that clings to it as a trace of the -enforced dissimulation of his early years, is great: his -ability and achievements are just entitled to be called -brilliant.</p> - -<p>Helena and Eusebia appear little in the years that -follow, and we must narrate the necessary events very -briefly. The frame of mind in which Constantius sent -Julian to Gaul as Cæsar is not at all clear. The frontier -was obliterated; the barbarians overrunning the country -in formidable strength; the military force inadequate, except -with fine control. Some writers are disposed to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> -think that Constantius was sending his cousin to death. -At all events, the faith of Eusebia, that her young and -shrinking scholar would surmount these difficulties, was -great; and it was rewarded. Julian at once discovered a -bravery that none had suspected. He cut his way through -a region occupied by the barbarians, surveyed the devastated -frontier, and passed the first year of his inexperience with -only one small disaster. The difficulty of his task seemed -greater when, in the winter, he was besieged in Sens, and -the commander of the troops in the neighbourhood refused -to go to his relief. In the trouble that followed Eusebia -obtained for him the full command of the troops, which had -been withheld from him, and from that moment he entered -on a career of victory.</p> - -<p>It is probable that Helena did not share his peril in -this winter (356–7). We find her at Rome in April, with -Eusebia and Constantius, and a curious story of their -relations is put before us. Constantius in that month -bestowed his first and only visit upon the ancient capital -of the Empire. Sitting in a chariot that glittered with -gold and gems, preceded by officers whose spears bore -silken dragons, so fashioned as to hiss in the breeze, on -their golden and bejewelled tips, followed by his legions in -battle-array, their breastplates and shields gleaming in the -sun, the Emperor passed with affected indifference between -the dense lines of spectators and the great monuments of -Rome; though both the vast crowds and the ancient structures, -shining with a beauty that his decaying Empire -could no longer produce, wrung from him in private an -expression of astonishment. Eusebia had invited Helena -to join them in this visit to Rome.</p> - -<p>At a later point in his narrative Ammianus makes a -reference to this visit that has perplexed every thoughtful -reader. When he comes to record the death of Helena, he -says that it was due to a poisonous drug administered to -her by Eusebia, during the visit to Rome, to prevent her -from having children, and that in the previous year, when -she was pregnant, Eusebia sent a midwife to destroy the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span> -child under pretence of attending her. It does not seem -to occur to Gibbon and other historians, who adopt this -story, that it suggests in Eusebia a character in complete -contradiction to that ascribed to her by Ammianus himself -and every other Roman writer. A jealousy of Helena, -whether on account of her own childlessness or on account -of Julian, that could force her to such a malignant course, -is utterly inconsistent with the description we have quoted -of her. The story is peremptorily rejected by Miss Gardner -and Signor Negri, and its discord with all that we know of -Eusebia is noticed by most writers.</p> - -<p>One is tempted to inquire if it may not be an interpolation, -but the text of Ammianus lends no support whatever -to the idea. We can only suppose that Ammianus incorporated -a piece of idle gossip, and was inattentive to its -inconsistency with his high moral praise of Eusebia. Many -legends, we shall see, sprang up after the death of Helena. -Some of them assail Julian, and are easily traced to -their source. It is possible that the courtiers who opposed -Eusebia, and doubtless misrepresented her zeal -for Julian, started the rumour, and Ammianus heard it in -Italy years afterwards. It is a mere feather in the scale -against the authorities for the high character of the -Empress.</p> - -<p>From Rome Constantius was summoned to repel fresh -invasions in the East, and Helena returned to Gaul. She -remains unnoticed until the spring of the year 360, and we -will not follow Julian through the brilliant campaigns in -which he reduced the most powerful tribes of the barbarians, -and restored peace and prosperity to his stricken -province. But while Julian succeeded in the West, the -campaign of the troops of Constantius in the East won -for the Emperor few laurels, and entailed grave disasters. -The intriguers now doubled their charges against Julian, -and plausibly suggested that he would be prompted to -claim a higher title than that of Cæsar. It was decided -to reduce his power by removing a number of his finest -legions to the East.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span> -Julian was in winter quarters at Paris—as Lutetia was -beginning to be called—when the grave summons reached -him. The island on the Seine, which now bears the -Cathedral, had from early times offered a secure settlement, -and, as the province became more settled, the adjoining -slope, where the Latin Quarter of a later age began, was -occupied with a palace, an amphitheatre, and a few of the -customary institutions of a Roman town. Julian loved the -little settlement on the broad silvery river, surrounded by -dense forests, and he was spending the winter there, attending -with equal judgment and humanity to the civil welfare -of his province, when the officers of Constantius arrived. -He has described at length the painful perplexity into which -he was thrown. Not only would the sacrifice of four of -his best legions seriously impair his strength, but they were -local troops and had enlisted only for local service. He -decided to obey, and ordered the troops to prepare for -departure. An angry murmur arose from the camps, as -the men reflected on the fate that might befall their families -in the ill-protected country. Julian provided that their -wives and children should accompany them, and they -gathered at Paris for the dismissal. In affecting language -the Cæsar conveyed to them his thanks and his admonitions, -entertained their officers at a banquet, and retired -to his palace.</p> - -<p>The sincerity of Julian has been made the theme of -an acrid discussion between his violent critics and his -resolute admirers. But we may, without serious reflection -on his character, doubt whether he entirely wished the -troops to go. Such an order, from such a source, would -plausibly relieve a Cæsar from obedience. Only excessive -virtue or uncertain prospect of the issue would counsel -a man to obey it. Both feelings were at work in Julian’s -mind, and there is not ground to accuse his later account -of hypocrisy. But we may surmise that, at the time, his -decision was accompanied by unsanctioned hopes and -dreams of a more satisfactory issue. In those days of -anxious deliberation his imagination, however he might<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> -curb it, must have depicted for him the revival of culture, -the arrest of superstition, the purification of the -court and Empire, that would follow his elevation to the -throne.</p> - -<p>He retired to his palace, where, as he incidentally -observes somewhere, Helena lived with him. But shortly -after midnight a great tumult arose from the direction -of the camp, and from the windows one could see the -troops, the light of their torches gleaming on their drawn -swords, coming toward the palace. The doors were at -once closed, and Julian refused to show himself, but the -cry of “Imperator” easily penetrated to his ears. On -the following morning they broke into the palace, and -forcibly conducted Julian to the camp. He resisted, -threatened, and supplicated, but the troops were consulting -their own interest, now gravely threatened by -their revolt, and there was no other course possible but -to consent. He was raised up on a shield, and the legions -broke into a frenzy of delight at their escape from exile. -A diadem only was needed to complete his new dignity, -and Helena, who was present, seems to have offered a -pearl necklace of hers. Julian refused to wear the feminine -adornment, and an officer provided a rich golden collar, -studded with gems, for the coronation.</p> - -<p>With the struggle that followed, and the dramatic -chapter that opened in the annals of Rome, we have no -concern. Both our Empresses die before a decisive stage -is reached. The date of the death of Eusebia is not -known. It was some time between the beginning of 359 -and the middle of 360, as Constantius married again -toward the end of 360. She is said to have died of an -inflammation of the womb, brought on by taking drugs -for procuring fertility. That such drugs were familiar at -the time, and that the Empress would naturally try their -effect, we readily admit, but we need not entirely overlook -the statement of Zonaras that the conduct of her -husband and the unhappiness of her circumstances brought -the beautiful Greek into a decline. Had she shared the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span> -throne with Julian, and adopted his views, the story of -Europe might have run differently.<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">28</a></p> - -<p>That Helena was won to the views of Julian is -improbable. She would, no doubt, discover soon after -her marriage that he secretly cherished the cult of the -old gods. From his first month in Gaul he had, with -one assistant, set up a private shrine to them. There -are coins that bear the names of Julian and Helena and -the figures of Isis and Serapis, but they yield no inference. -Nor can we learn the attitude of Helena in the struggle -between her husband and her brother. The complete -silence of Julian suggests that she remained moodily -silent or hostile. Several months were spent in negotiation -with Constantius. In December Julian celebrated, -at Vienne, the fifth anniversary of his promotion, and wore -the splendid diadem of an Emperor as he presided at the -games and exercises. In the midst of the festivities Helena -died. Zonaras, who also gives a ridiculous rumour that -she had been divorced by Julian, says that she died in -childbirth. We are tempted to think that the painful -development of her unprosperous marriage weighed -heavily on her, and her pregnancy had a premature and -fatal delivery. Her remains were conveyed to Rome, and -laid by those of her sister Constantina. We need not -notice the charge of one of Constantius’s officers that -Julian had poisoned her, and paid the guilty physician -with his mother’s jewels. Julian, honestly, professes no -grief at her death, and he never married again.</p> - -<p>A third Empress makes a brief appearance at the -time when Helena passes away. Passing from his long -campaign on the Danube to the stricken regions of the -East, Constantius had, toward the close of 360, married for -the third time, at Antioch. Maxima Faustina, his third -Empress, had little time to make an impression on history, -if she were capable of it. As Constantius at length set<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span> -out from Antioch, in the autumn of 361, to crush the -mutiny in the West, as he affected to regard it, he contracted -a fever, and died before he reached the European -frontier. Faustina was left with the unborn wife of -the future Emperor Gratian, and will come to our notice -again. The Roman Empire was once more united under -a strong, upright, and accomplished ruler. But Julian -was now wedded to his ideals, and, as no woman shared -his ascetic life and arduous labours, we must pass over -the reforms, the campaigns, and the religious struggles -of the next two years.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XIX" class="vspace">CHAPTER XIX<br /> - -<span class="subhead">JUSTINA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> splendour of Julian’s reign was soon overcast. -In the summer of 363, as he was skilfully extricating -his troops from a dangerous position in Persia, he -was pierced with a javelin, and he expired, with dignity -and serenity, amongst his saddened supporters. Amid -the noisy intrigue for the succession that followed, the -name of Jovian, a popular and handsome officer of no -distinction, obtained the loudest support, and the mantle -of the brilliant young Emperor was conferred on him. -How he secured the retreat of his troops by humiliating -concessions to the Persians, and the Roman soldiers and -Roman settlers sadly evacuated the provinces on which -the blood of their fathers had been freely spent, and the -emblem of the cross was borne again at the head of the -legions, need not be told here. Not only is the wife of -Jovian, Charito, no more than a name to us, but Jovian -himself died before he reached the luxury of the capital. -His brief enjoyment of power had been adorned by neither -courage nor temperance. Charito sank back into obscurity, -with her infant son, and was years afterwards laid by the -side of her husband in the Church of the Apostles at -Byzantium.</p> - -<p>The next reign will introduce us to the stronger and -more prominent personality of the Empress Justina and -other Empresses of some interest. The hum of intrigue -had arisen again in the camp, and the struggle of Christian -and pagan was resumed. The choice of the army at length<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span> -fell once more on an officer whose chief distinction was -that he had a large and handsome person, and had had -an energetic father. Valentinian had been an officer in -Julian’s guards, and had one day, as he attended the -Emperor at sacrifice, cuffed the priest for dropping some -of the lustral water on his coat. Julian banished him -for this violent desecration of his cult, but, though the -more lively writers of the time promptly dispatch him -to remote and contradictory regions, even Tillemont doubts -if the sentence was carried out. It is probable that Julian -had merely dismissed him from the body-guard, as we -find him in the army at the time of Julian’s death. With -two other officers he was sent by Jovian to secure the -allegiance of the troops in the West. One legion, devoted -to the memory of Julian, rebelled, and Valentinian had -to fly for his life. He returned to the East, and resumed -his post in the army, as it trailed some miles in the rear -of the retreating Emperor. And in the middle of February -(364) he was amazed to learn that Jovian had died, after -a too liberal supper, and he himself was called to the -throne. He was compelled by the troops to share the -power with his brother Valens, and, leaving the shorn -Eastern provinces under the care of Valens, he went on to -Milan to take possession of the Western throne.</p> - -<p>Valeria Severa,<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> the first wife of Valentinian, is one -of those shadowy Empresses whose form can hardly be -discerned in the records of the time. She had borne -him a son, the future Emperor Gratian, five years before, -but she does not seem to have secured his affection, and -we shall find her retiring in disgrace as soon as the -beautiful Justina appears at court. Albia Dominica, the -wife of Valens, is not more interesting, but an Empress -whom we have dismissed in a former chapter at once -reappears at Constantinople in opposition to her.</p> - -<p>Before they separated Valens and Valentinian had fallen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> -ill together, and, under the pretence that Julian’s friends -had attempted to poison them, they turned with some -vindictiveness upon the pagan officials. The aged and -respected Sallust firmly controlled the inquiry, and no -blood was shed; but large numbers of Julian’s officials -were displaced—in many cases quite rightly, as Julian’s -zeal for paganism had had the same evil effect in encouraging -hypocrisy as the zeal of other Emperors for -Christianity—and driven into sullen discontent. Further, -Dominica’s father, Petronius, a deformed and repulsive -person, had risen to power with his daughter, and was -grinding the faces of the citizens of the East with the -most extortionate demands. A spark soon fell on this -inflammable world. Procopius, a relative of Julian’s, had -published a very hazy claim to the Empire after Julian’s -death. He had hastily withdrawn and disowned it, but -Valens sent men to apprehend him. Ingeniously escaping -the soldiers, he fled to Constantinople, and seems there to -have fallen into the hands of abler intriguers. Two legions -were bought for him, and they made him Emperor. There -was no purple mantle to be obtained, so they clothed him -in a stagy tunic bespangled with gold, put purple shoes -on his feet and a piece of purple cloth in his hand, and -conducted him, amid the amazed and derisive spectators, -to the Senate and the Palace.</p> - -<p>His force grew so quickly that the weak and nervous -Emperor of the East was disposed to yield him the throne, -but his older officers urged him to resist. In the short -struggle that followed we meet again the third wife, and -widow, of Constantius. Faustina had been <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">enceinte</i> at the -death of her husband, and she was living at Constantinople, -with her four-year-old daughter, when Procopius made -his romantic attempt on the throne. With some shrewdness -he withdrew her from her retirement, and associated -her with him in his claim. The legitimate dynasty seemed -to be wresting the throne from usurpers when the widow -and daughter of the son of Constantine appeared at the -head of the troops. Even when they marched out to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span> -meet the forces of Valens, Faustina, in a litter, accompanied -them. But the new hope of Faustina died away as quickly -as it had been born. The soldiers were persuaded to -return to their allegiance, and the power of Procopius -swiftly melted away. Faustina sank again into obscurity, -and the adventurous career of Constantia was postponed -for some years.</p> - -<p>Dominica returned to her position in the enervated -and luxurious court, and the rest of her life offers little -interest. The ecclesiastical historians describe her as -egging her husband to persecute the Trinitarians, but -we must read the charge with discretion. There is little -positive trace of persecution. One day eighty Trinitarian -priests came to plead their cause at the court, and Valens -is said to have ordered them back to their ship. At some -distance from port the vessel was found to be aflame, -and the priests were burnt to death. The orthodox writers -declare that the vessel was purposely fired, at the command -of Valens, but it is impossible to adjust the conflicting -statements of the rival schools of theology. Valens was -an ardent Arian, but he upheld the principle of religious -toleration, and confined theologians to the use of theological -weapons. The only occasion on which he is known to -have ordered or countenanced violent persecution was -in the suppression of magic. In some obscure chamber -of the capital a group of men resorted to this dark means -of discovering who would be the successor of Valens. -Some say that a ring dangling from a mystic tripod -spelt out the name on painted letters; some that grains -of corn were placed on letters of the alphabet, and, when -a cock was admitted to peck them, the order of the letters -which it first attacked was noticed. In either case, the -result was to give the letters Th E O D. It would be -a remarkable forecast, if the story did not belong to a -generation after the accession of Theodosius. However, -the attempt became known, and a searching inquiry and -savage persecution followed. The despicable trade of the -informer was encouraged, whole libraries of valuable books<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span> -were destroyed, and numbers of innocent philosophers -and matrons were included in the bloody lists of the -condemned.</p> - -<p>The name of Dominica occurs only in one authentic -connexion during the reign of Valens. The Emperor -passed the winter of 372–3 at Cæsarea in Cappadocia, -where he encountered the stern and uncompromising -champion of orthodoxy, St. Basil. Strong no less in his -personal haughtiness—St. Jerome calls it pride—than in -his glowing zeal for his Church, Basil emphatically refused -to obey him, and was threatened with banishment. At -once Dominica and her boy fell ill. Besides two daughters, -she had had a son in 366, and this boy fell into a dangerous -illness. It is said that Dominica learned in a dream that -the illness was a divine punishment, but it is not impossible -that her waking intelligence could arrive at that conclusion. -Basil was summoned to the palace once more. -Theodoret would have it that the bishop courteously -breathed on the boy, and declared that he would recover -if he received Trinitarian baptism. The earlier -ecclesiastical writers, however, ascribe to him a firmer -attitude. He asked Valens if the boy would receive -orthodox baptism, and was told that he would not. “Let -him meet whatever fate God wills then,” said the bishop, -quitting the palace. The boy was baptized by the Arians, -and died during the following night. A power even -greater than that of eunuchs, and more imperious than that -of Emperors, was rapidly growing. When, some days -later, one of the favourites of Valens, who had risen from -the kitchen, attempted to intervene in a discussion between -the bishop and the Emperor, Basil curtly told him to confine -himself to sauces and not interfere in Church matters.</p> - -<p>Five or six years later Valens perished in the war -with the Goths, and Dominica passed to the fitting obscurity -of private life. The one indication of spirit that is recorded -of her is that, when the victorious Goths pressed on to -Constantinople and invested it, she paid the citizens out of -the public treasury to arm themselves against the barbarians.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> -We turn from her vague and retiring personality -to the more interesting figure of Justina, who had some -years before begun to share the throne of Valentinian.</p> - -<p>Valentinian was as fierce and choleric as his brother -was timid. A tall and powerful man, with stern blue -eyes, a brilliant complexion, and light hair, he enlisted -and encouraged his native cruelty in the service of what -he regarded as the interest of the State. The pagans he -refused to persecute, and he did much to promote the -higher culture of Rome, which was so closely connected -with the pagan beliefs. But, like his brother, he fell with -truculence upon all who could be brought under a comprehensive -charge of magic and divination, and the blood -of Italy flowed very freely. His hard, covetous, and -brutal officers enriched themselves in the work of torture, -spoliation, and execution, and—though the statement recalls -rather the savagery of Nero or Domitian—we are -assured by the contemporary Ammianus that he kept two -monstrous bears in cages near his chamber, and fed them -on human victims. The slightest offence might incur -sentence of death. “You had better change his head,” -he is said to have ordered, in brutal playfulness, when -some official desired to change to another province.</p> - -<p>It is, perhaps, a circumstance of credit to Severa that -she failed to retain the affection of Valentinian, though a -less flattering reason is assigned by some of the authorities. -The truth is that, since Valentinian is described as most -chaste and most Christian, the accession of Justina to his -palace has caused the ecclesiastical historians no little -perplexity. The Church was peremptorily opposed to -divorce, and regarded as adultery a second marriage -contracted while the first wife lived. Baronius conveniently -removes Severa by death, but Ammianus -informs us that Severa was living long afterwards at the -court of her son,<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">30</a> and the Alexandrian Chronicle expressly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> -says that Gratian recalled his mother to court. Tillemont -acknowledges this, and can only blush for the guilty -connivance of the clergy of the period.</p> - -<p>If we could believe the ecclesiastical historian Socrates, -Valentinian avoided the sin of divorce and adultery by -promulgating a decree to the effect that it was lawful to -have two wives, and promptly marrying Justina in addition -to Severa. Of such a law, however, we have no trace, -and most writers follow the alternative theory of the -authorities.</p> - -<p>Aviana Justina was the widow of the usurper Magnentius, -who had so dramatically stolen the throne of -the worthless Constans, and had been crushed by Constantius -in the year 353. She was a woman of great -beauty, the daughter of a high provincial official, a spirited -and ambitious young woman. She would be in her later -twenties, at least, in 368, when she entered the suite of -Severa in some capacity. She was soon associated so -intimately with the Empress that they bathed together, and -Severa made the fatal mistake of describing what Socrates -curiously calls her “virginal beauty” to the sensual -Valentinian. Before long it was announced that Severa -was divorced, and Justina occupied her bed. A late -authority throws a thin mantle over the action of -Valentinian. Severa, he says, used her Imperial position -to compel a lady of Milan to sell her an estate at a most -inadequate price, and Valentinian was unable to endure -her avarice. The vague description we have of Justina’s -dazzling beauty will, perhaps, suffice.</p> - -<p>This remarkable conduct on the part of Valentinian -and Justina is put in the year 368.<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">31</a> The succeeding -years of war and religious controversy throw no light on -the character of Justina, and we need not describe them.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span> -Valentinian died in 375. Some delegates of the barbarians -had come, with deep humility, to implore his clemency for -their invasion of his dominions, and Valentinian burst into -one of his appalling storms of rage. So violent was his -fury in addressing them that he burst a blood-vessel, and -left the Western Empire to his son Gratian. Gratian had -married in the previous year. His Empress was the -daughter of Faustina, who had been borne in her mother’s -arms at the head of the troops of Procopius. In crossing -the provinces to meet Gratian, Constantia had had a -singular adventure. While she was dining at an inn, some -twenty-six miles from Sirmium, the tribes broke across the -Danube and occupied the village. There was just time for -the Governor of Illyrium to snatch up the thirteen-year-old -princess and make a dash for Sirmium. She married -Gratian in 374, and became Empress of the West in the -following year. But Flavia Maxima Constantia has left -only the faint impress of her early adventures on the -chronicles of the time, and the few years of her Imperial -life have no interest for us. The next mention of her is -that she died some time before her husband, who was -assassinated in 383. He had married again, but his widow, -Læta, is a mere name in history. Theodosius gave a -comfortable income to Læta and her mother Pissamena, -and they were distinguished for their charity in the later -misfortunes of Rome.</p> - -<p>When Valentinian had died in a fit of rage at Bregetio, -Justina and her four-year-old boy, Valentinian the younger, -were in the town of Murocincta, a hundred miles away. -Justina hastened to the camp, and it was presently announced -that the army had decided to associate the boy -with Gratian in the rule of the West. Gratian, the most -temperate and promising of the Emperors of the period, -published his consent. A refusal to acknowledge the boy, -and an attempt to punish the intrigue by which Justina -retained her power, would have involved a civil war, -and the whole of his forces were now needed to stem the -flood of barbarism that surged against the northern frontier<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span> -of the Empire. The last days of Rome were fast approaching. -From the remote deserts of Asia a fierce and -numerous people, the Huns, had entered Europe, and were -sweeping the Goths and other Teutonic tribes southward. -Gratian appointed an Emperor of the East, whom we -shall meet presently, in the place of Valens, and spent -his strength in heroic efforts to defend the threatened -frontier.</p> - -<p>Justina returned with the boy-Emperor to Milan. As -long as Gratian lived, Justina was restricted to the life -of the palace, but in 383 the throne was usurped by -Maximus, and Gratian was murdered by one of his -emissaries. Gibbon generously traces the general dissatisfaction -out of which this revolt emerged to a -deterioration of the character of Gratian. This deterioration -cannot be questioned, but one particular outcome of -it, the active persecution of the pagans, was probably -his most fatal error. Milan was now dominated by the -imperious and zealous St. Ambrose, and the two young -Emperors were expressly under his control. At the -suggestion of Ambrose, Gratian abandoned Valentinian’s -policy of toleration. He rejected the title of Pontifex -Maximus, ordered the removal of the statue of Victory -from the Roman Senate, and confiscated the estates of -the temples. He even admitted the abusive epithet -“pagans” (or “villagers”), which the more forward -Christians were beginning to use, in his official decrees.<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">32</a> -This must have inflamed the general discontent, and the -army of Maximus marched peacefully over Gaul, and -occupied the Empire as far as the Alps. The Emperor -of the East, Theodosius, consented that Britain, Gaul, -and Spain should remain under the rule of Maximus, -and Justina continued to rule the curtailed dominions of -her son.</p> - -<p>It was now discovered that Justina was an Arian.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span> -Whether she had concealed her beliefs during the life -of Valentinian, or had been recently won to the sect, it -is impossible to say; but Ambrose now found that he -had a stubborn opponent of his religious ambition. The -trouble culminated in 385, when scenes were witnessed -that effectively impress on us the change that had come -over the Roman Empire. Justina ordered that one of -the Christian churches of the city should be put at the -disposal of the Arian clergy. Ambrose sternly refused, -and, when he was summoned to the palace, and a sentence -of banishment was apprehended, the people flocked to -the palace and intimidated the Empress and her counsellors. -A little later, the Gothic (Arian) soldiers were -sent to occupy the church, and orders were given that it -should be prepared for the Empress’s devotions. A renewal -of the riot, and the showering of the vilest epithets upon -the person of the Empress, forced her to retire once more. -In the following year, 386, she passed sentence of exile -on the bishop, and her spirit was expended in a final -struggle. For the first time in the history of Rome—a -true index of its profound demoralization—the troops were -prevented by the people from carrying out an Imperial -decree. Ambrose was guarded day and night by thousands -of his followers. The chief church and the episcopal house -were fortified as if for a siege, and the troops of “Jezebel” -had to stand inactive before a mob of citizens. On the -advice of Theodosius, Justina refrained from any further -attempt. Indeed, her attention was soon violently withdrawn -to a very different danger.</p> - -<p>The ambition of Maximus had once more outrun its -bounds, and he coveted the remaining provinces of Valentinian. -Justina’s conduct betrays that her ability was -inferior to her spirit. Duped by the treacherous diplomacy -of Maximus, she was suddenly informed that the hostile -forces of Maximus were close to Milan, and she fled hastily -to the coast. At Aquileia she and her son took ship for -the East. The soldiers of Maximus followed them on swift -galleys, but they rounded the south of Greece in safety,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span> -and landed at Thessalonica. Her task now was to induce -Theodosius to espouse their cause, and it proved to be one -of nearer proportion to her talent.</p> - -<p>Her pressing appeals to Theodosius for aid were parried -or unheeded for some time. If we may believe Theodoret, -the only reply which she received was a painful assurance -that the heresy she entertained, and in which she was -educating her son, was a sufficient cause of all the evils -that had come upon them. She was directed to await a -visit from Theodosius at Thessalonica, and the visit was -much delayed. Historians usually depict the Emperor as -held in suspense by a painful dilemma. Not only would -it be a serious thing for the Empire, surrounded as it was -with peril, to engage the forces of the East and the West in -an exhausting civil war, but Theodosius would, in such a -war, be attacking an orthodox Catholic in the interest of -a fanatical Arian and enemy of the Church; and Theodosius -was a most zealous Trinitarian. The difficulty must have -occurred to him, and it would not be fantastical to assume -that there had been some correspondence between the -prelates of the East and the prelates of the West, to ensure -that the point did not escape him.</p> - -<p>The pagan Zosimus has a different theory of the delay -of Theodosius. The character of that Emperor was, he -says, a singular union of contradictions. He could blaze -with the fury of a Valentinian, or bend his head meekly for -the blessing of a bishop; he could lead the troops through -a campaign with the most signal dexterity, energy, and -success, and then relax into the most ignoble indolence; -he could embrace the rigour of a soldier’s life without -the least effort to soften it, and then resign himself to the -most voluptuous day-dreams in his Imperial palace. Justina, -Zosimus says, was so unfortunate as to need his aid during -one of his periods of luxury and “insane pursuit of -pleasure.” He resented the effort to awaken him from it. -His deep indebtedness to Gratian, however, who had conferred -the Empire on him, at length forced him to cross -the Greek sea, and visit Justina at Thessalonica. From the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span> -time of that visit his pulse was quickened, and he began -a vigorous preparation for war with Maximus. Justina -had with her at Thessalonica, not only the insipid boy -Valentinian, but a pretty young daughter, Galla, and -Theodosius had fallen in love with her. Justina promptly -perceived, and artfully used, her opportunity, and it was -arranged that the pretty princess should be his reward -for restoring the Western Empire to Valentinian and his -mother.</p> - -<div id="ip_317" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 16em;"> - <div class="caption"><p>AELIA FLACCILLA</p></div> - <img src="images/i_316.jpg" width="256" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>HONORIA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>Theodosius, who is incomparably the leading ruler of -the fourth century, had come from the same part of Spain -as Trajan, to whom some of the writers of the time -compare him—with no little flattery. His father, Count -Theodosius, had been an able commander and a just -administrator, but had been unjustly disgraced and executed -owing to some obscure jealousy. Later writers, thinking -of the magical Th E O D of Antioch, believed that his -name led to his undoing. The younger Theodosius, a -cultivated and skilful officer, retired to his estates in Spain, -from which he was drawn by Gratian, and presently -clothed with the purple. He had, in 376 or 377, married a -Spanish lady, Ælia Flaccilla, who is believed, on slender -grounds, to have been the daughter of the consul Antonius. -Their son Arcadius, the future Emperor, was born during -the retirement in Spain. A daughter, Pulcheria, was born -in Spain, while Theodosius was on campaign. Then -Flaccilla found herself transferred from the quiet Spanish -estate to the pomp of Constantinople, and the second son, -Honorius, was born in the purple.</p> - -<p>Although Flaccilla is canonized in the Greek Church, -it does not appear that she had a marked individuality. -She is one of the crowd of fourth-century Empresses who -live in the chronicles only as generous benefactors of the -Church. Theodosius was the first Emperor to persecute -his pagan subjects on the ground of religion, and his -successive decrees quickly changed the religious aspect of -the East. His modern biographers, Ifland and Güldenpenning -(“Der Kaiser Theodosius”), lay much of the blame<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> -for these violent measures on Flaccilla, but they point out -that the coercive legislation begins just after Theodosius -came under the influence of Bishop Acholius during a -severe illness, and that his efforts to crush paganism by -violence relaxed with his advance in age and experience. -All that we learn of Flaccilla is that she was generous to -the Church and the poor, and that she occasionally curbed -the fiery and vindictive temper of Theodosius. She seems -to have died in the year 385, and the Greek ritual celebrates -her memory on September 14th.</p> - -<p>Theodosius was, therefore, a middle-aged widower—his -biographers put his birth in 346—when, in the autumn of -387, Justina presented her daughter Galla to him. Dr. -Ifland admits that the young girl probably turned the -hesitating scale of his judgment. He returned to Constantinople, -and made energetic preparations for war. A -two months’ campaign in the following summer (388) -completely destroyed the forces of Maximus, and the full -Empire of the West was restored to Valentinian. But -Justina had little personal profit by the victory. Zosimus -tells us that she “supplied the deficiencies of her son as -well as a woman can” after the return to Milan, while -Sozomen declared that she died before the return. The -point is obscure, but the evidence suggests, on the whole, -that she returned to Milan. It was, however, to a different -Milan from that she had quitted. Theodosius accompanied -them, and the strong, earnest character of Ambrose made -a deep impression on him. Valentinian was “converted” -to the true creed, and the policy of persecution was introduced -into the Western world. Justina must have remained -a powerless and embittered spectator of the ascendancy of -Ambrose. So great did it become that the coldest decisions -of the Emperor were reversed by him, and his transgressions -were ignominiously punished. The news came -to Milan that the monks and populace of a small town in -Persia had burned the synagogue of the Jews, and that the -prefect had ordered them to rebuild the synagogue and -restore its property. Theodosius confirmed the just<span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span> -sentence, but Ambrose assailed him so strongly, in letter -and sermon, that he was obliged to give complete immunity -to the offenders; and the wave of violence—the -burning of temples and synagogues, and the despoiling -and slaying of unbelievers and heretics of all shades—continued -to roll destructively over the East. The more -impressive incident of Theodosius, the greatest ruler of -his time, standing in the humble attitude of a penitent -in the church at Milan is well known. The people of -Thessalonica, stung by the heavy taxation which the extravagant -rule of Theodosius imposed on the East, and the -quartering of barbaric troops on them, took some occasion -to riot, and slew the representatives of the Emperor. In -a fit of passion Theodosius turned his troops upon the -defenceless people, whom he had treacherously invited to -the Circus, and a horrible and unexampled massacre was -perpetrated. Ambrose nobly insisted that the Emperor -must expiate his crime like the humblest member of his -flock. The world was entering upon a new era.</p> - -<p>How much of these proceedings Justina lived to see it -is impossible to determine. She died some time between -388 and 391; the obscurity of her death is a sufficient proof -of her powerlessness in her last years. Valentinian, whose -weakness was hardly compensated by the propriety of his -conduct and his docility to St. Ambrose, was instructed in -the elements of government by the older Emperor, who -remained three years in Italy, to the lasting grief of its -pagan citizens. He visited Rome, where the majority of -the leading citizens still clung to an idealized version of the -old cult, and appealed to the Senate to abandon the dying -gods. No answer was made to his appeal, and he resorted -to the growing practice of coercive legislation. In 391 he -returned to Constantinople.</p> - -<p>Galla had married Theodosius soon after the destruction -of Maximus. The Chronicle of Marcellinus puts the -marriage in 386; Zosimus, more plausibly, implies that -it took place in 387 or 388. From a curious statement in -the Chronicle of Marcellinus it seems that she was sent to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span> -live in the palace at Constantinople while Theodosius -remained in Italy. The statement is that the elder son of -the Emperor, Arcadius, a boy of thirteen years, drove her -out of the palace. Commentators are loath to believe that -so young a prince could do this, but it is not in the least -impossible, and the authority is respectable. We shall -see that Arcadius was a peevish and worthless prince, -indolently guided by eunuchs and servants, and capable -of very cruel decisions. Theodosius had departed from -the finer Imperial tradition of appointing a grave and -distinguished scholar as the tutor of his sons, and had -committed them to the care of a Roman deacon, Arsenius, -who had a repute for piety. We can hardly regard the -authority of a late Greek writer (Metaphrastes) as weighty -enough to commend the statement that Arcadius set his -servants to take the life of Arsenius for whipping him, -but the unhappy events of the next chapter will show that -the only result of this kind of education was to leave the -character unformed, and throw the stress on external -observances.</p> - -<p>In 391 Theodosius returned to Constantinople, and -Galla entered upon her brief Imperial career. Whether -or no we accept the biased picture which Zosimus offers -us of the Eastern court, it is clear that it sustained a soft -and excessive luxury at the cost of the enfeebled Empire. -Large numbers of eunuchs found employment, and, with -the genius of their class, intrigued for favour in the sleeping -quarters, and in the service of the Empress and the Imperial -children. The kitchen employed a regiment of ministers -to the heavy and voluptuous table; the circus and theatre -supported vast numbers of mimes, dancers, and charioteers. -Besides this large army of ministers to the Imperial -pleasure, a second army of idle and avaricious place-seekers -beset the palace, and extorted a generous revenue from -the offices which were created for them in the army and -the administration. It is even said that such offices were -openly sold in the public places and in the palace of -Constantinople. Strenuous as Theodosius was in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span> -field, he was not strong enough to sustain the burden of -peace, and he unconsciously prepared the Empire for the -avalanche that was soon to be cast upon it.</p> - -<p>But the drowsy indulgence of Theodosius was soon -startled once more by a call to arms from the West. In -the spring of 392 Valentinian was slain, or in despair slew -himself, and a Frankish commander had put his purple -robe upon the shoulders of a Roman rhetorician. The -young Emperor had been so overshadowed by the power -of his general that he had attempted to dismiss him, and -had then been found dead with a cord round his neck. -Theodosius again hesitated to exchange the softness of -his palace for the rigours of a campaign. Galla “filled the -palace with her lamentations,” but Theodosius sent away -the ambassadors of the usurper with pleasant words and -presents, and continued for nearly two years to resist the -appeals of his young Empress. It was not until the -summer of 394 that he led out his legions for the punishment -of the murderer, as Argobastes was believed to be. -Galla did not live to see her brother avenged. She died -in childbirth just as the army was about to start, and -Theodosius is said to have mourned for her one day and -then started for Italy.</p> - -<p>The issue does not now concern us. We pass on to a -fresh generation, a new and more interesting group of -Empresses and princesses. Suffice it to say that, partly -by valour, partly by accident and treachery, the forces of -Argobastes were destroyed, and the empurpled rhetorician -was slain. The younger son of the Emperor, Honorius, -was summoned from the East, and placed upon the throne -of the West. Arcadius remained in feeble charge of the -throne of Constantinople. And within a few months -the powerful Emperor sank into the grave, and the -Empire entered upon the unhappy reigns of Arcadius and -Honorius.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XX" class="vspace">CHAPTER XX<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE ROMANCE OF EUDOXIA AND EUDOCIA</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">With</span> the Imperial ladies of the courts of Arcadius -and Honorius we enter upon the final act in the -tragedy of the fall of Rome. The sun is sinking -rapidly to the Western horizon; the long shadows trail -across the record of events; the chill of evening contracts -the life of the historic Empire. The only aspect of that -tragedy that concerns us is a consideration of the part -that women played in the gradual enfeeblement of the -Roman Empire. While taking full account of the various -causes assigned by historians, it may be said that the -fall of Rome was due to a coincidence. The invasion of -Europe by the fierce Huns had pressed the Germanic -tribes against the Roman frontier just at the time when -the Empire was particularly feeble. That it was inwardly -outworn and doomed—that the organization of a State -has an appointed term of decay, like the frame of an -individual—may be confidently challenged. Egypt maintained -its vigour for close on 8,000 years; Babylon for -nearly 6,000.</p> - -<p>The only question we may touch here is whether the -personality of the later Empresses counted for anything, -either for good or evil, in this enfeeblement of the Empire; -and the answer is clear that, with one or two exceptions, -they counted for neither. They had no deep or large -influence on the life of the Empire, even through their -husbands. The Roman ideal of womanhood was changing -once more. As in the early days, they were diverted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> -from interest in public affairs, except in so far as the -cause of the Church called for their interference. We must -not conceive them as powerless witnesses of the gradual -dissolution of the Empire. No one, man or woman, saw -that the Empire was dissolving, or dreamed of its fall, -until it lay in ruins under the feet of the northern tribes. -None reflected that, since Constantine had assumed the -purple, thirteen Emperors out of twenty had been either -executed or murdered; that the blood of able officers or -servants had generally been mingled with that of the -fallen ruler; and that hundreds of thousands of soldiers -had been wasted in civil war. None reflected that, while -they were distracted with religious quarrels, a formidable -avalanche was gathering on the hills; or that, while the -courts absorbed enormous sums in Oriental display, the -fiscal machinery of the State was running down. In any -case, it was no longer the place of women to notice -these things. Their duties were to rear the Imperial -family, wear pretty robes of cloth of gold, and build -churches. The age of Livia, Agrippina, or Plotina, was -over.</p> - -<p>These reflections will be enforced by the lives of the -interesting Empresses whom we have next to consider. -The new Emperors were unmarried youths at the time -when their father died. Arcadius, a little, dark, unpleasant-looking -youth, whose laziness appeared in his dull, lustre-less -eyes, was in his eighteenth year. Honorius was a boy -of eleven, and as, during a reign of twenty-eight years, -he never rose above the character or intelligence of a boy, -and his two Empresses were timid young girls, we must -dismiss them in a page; though that page must contain -an event that sent a thrill of excitement through civilization—the -fall of the city of Rome. So little had our Imperial -characters to do with it that a later age amused itself by -saying that, when Honorius was told that “Rome was -taken,” he wept for the supposed loss of his favourite -fowl, which bore that name.</p> - -<p>The real master of the Western world, over which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> -young Honorius had nominal sway, was a powerful and -gifted commander, Stilicho, of Vandal extraction. He had -married Serena, the beautiful niece of Theodosius, and -he led the armies and governed the Western Empire until -his death. In 398, in his thirteenth year, Honorius was -directed to wed Maria, the elder daughter of Stilicho. It -was said that Theodosius had desired the union. Serena, -at all events, desired it, and, although her daughter -was yet immature, the wedding took place at Milan in -398. All that we have to say of her is that she died some -time within the next ten years—probably, as Tillemont -calculates, in the year 404. Her body was embalmed -and buried in a Christian church at Rome, where the -poor crumbling frame, laden with gold, was discovered -in 1544.</p> - -<p>In the year 408 Honorius married his deceased wife’s -sister, Thermantia. Tillemont very properly laments that -he finds no record of any protest on the part of the -Bishop of Rome—who probably celebrated it—against this -irregular marriage, but the modern reader will be more -seriously concerned to hear the argument with which -Serena urged it upon her reluctant husband. Maria, she -said, had died a virgin. Before entrusting her immature -child to the bed of Honorius, she had had some obscure -operation performed on her, which would guard her -virginity. Certainly, Maria had had no children. Thermantia -was equally unprepared for marriage, Zosimus says, -and the operation was repeated. It was a superfluous -sacrifice to the ambition of Serena, because Stilicho fell, in -a palace intrigue, a few months later, and the little maid -was restored to her mother.</p> - -<p>Such was the short and melancholy story of the -Empresses Maria and Æmilia Materna Thermantia, as -an inscription calls the younger. Their monument was -terrible. Within a few months the avalanche of the Gothic -army descended from the Alps and devastated Italy; and -Serena was, with the consent of her cousin Placidia, the -Emperor’s sister, strangled by the Senate on the light, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> -probably false, charge of communicating with the enemy. -Zosimus, at least, says that she was innocent; but he is -not surprised at her fate, as she had one day appropriated -a jewelled ornament from the statue of one of his goddesses. -Within two years Rome was sacked by the Goths, and -Placidia was carried off by them.</p> - -<p>We turn to the East, to follow the less tragic, but hardly -less interesting, fortunes of Eudoxia and Eudocia. In the -East, as in the West, Theodosius had left a powerful -minister to guide the hands of his young and unpromising -son. But the eastern minister, Rufinus, had not the manly -qualities of Stilicho. He had entered the palace by craft, -not by military exploits, and had easily dissembled his -vices from the too indulgent eye of Theodosius. When -that Emperor died, he cast aside the cloak, and pursued -his native avarice, and exercised his cruelty, without -restraint. By fines, taxes, despoilments, and the unscrupulous -ruin of his opponents, the hated Gaul amassed -wealth and power, and ruled like an autocrat. He had a -daughter of marriageable age, and Arcadius seemed to listen -in compliant mood when he proposed that she should -become his Empress. The task of destroying an opponent -took him for a time to Antioch, and he returned to hear -that the Emperor was preparing for marriage. He awaited -the appointed day with eagerness. At length the hymeneal -procession set out from the palace, and the people gathered -to witness its passage to the house of Rufinus, a superb -villa in one of the suburbs. To the intense surprise of all, -it stopped at a house in the city, and the blushing and -beautiful daughter of a Frankish chief was announced to -be the choice of the Emperor.</p> - -<p>While Rufinus was pursuing his vengeance at Antioch, -the eunuchs of the palace had conspired to defeat his -plan and undermine his power. The chief of them was -Eutropius, a slave by birth, castrated immediately after -birth that he might bring a bigger price, and rising in time -from the occupation of hair-dresser to the daughter of -General Arintheus to the position of high chamberlain at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span> -the palace. Such were the rulers of Emperors in the -fourth century. Eutropius knew that Arcadius had no -attraction to the daughter of Rufinus, and chafed under the -authority of her burly father. He cast about for a prettier -companion, and soon had the affection of Arcadius safely -engaged. The temporary absence of Rufinus gave them an -opportunity, and Constantinople was enlivened by the rare -spectacle of an Imperial marriage, and the still rarer -spectacle of the defeat of Rufinus.</p> - -<p>Eudoxia—such is the Greek name under which the new -Empress is presented to us—was the beautiful daughter of -Bauto, chief of the Franks. Historians, politely accepting -the assurance of some of the writers of the time, say that -she was being “educated” at Constantinople, her father -having died in the service of the Eastern army. It is, -perhaps, a pity to disturb the plausible phrase, but the -duty of a biographer is stern. The house in the city from -which she was taken to wed the Emperor was occupied by -two young men of wealth. They were the sons of the -commander Promotus, who had been one of the first -victims of Rufinus. One of these young men, Zosimus -says, “had a beautiful maid” in the house. We will not -inquire too closely. The stern ideals of the Germanic -tribes had relaxed as they came into closer contact with -civilization, and it became common for them to lend or sell -their daughters to the Romans. We remember the adventure -of Pipera a century before. Eutropius submitted an -adequate picture of the girl to Arcadius, whose pulse was -quickened, and the son of Promotus easily parted with his -tender pupil when he learned that it was for the purpose -of discomfiting the destroyer of his father.</p> - -<p>Eudoxia had no less spirit than beauty of person, and -she would watch with interest the duel between the wily -eunuch and the powerful Gaul. Arcadius, “whose feeble -and stupid goodness,” says Tillemont candidly, “brought -frightful evils on Church and State,” was a pawn in the -game. But the big, wealthy, powerful Gaul now found -a sterner opponent in Stilicho, of the Western Empire, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span> -within a year his head was separated from his body, and -his wife and daughter were permitted to remain alive at -Jerusalem. Eutropius and Eudoxia now “led Arcadius -like a dumb beast,” in the words of Zosimus, and sucked -the resources of the Empire. The people of Constantinople -gained nothing by the revolution. They had carried in -triumph the grisly, extortionate hand of Rufinus through -the streets of the city, but the supple hand of the eunuch -proved as formidable. He surrounded himself with spies -and informers, filled the prisons with men whose property -he desired for himself or his friends, scattered statues of -himself through the city, and assumed every title of honour -short of that of Augustus. He would press his deformed -person and painted face into the armour of a man, to -review the troops, and would harangue the Senate with a -feeble imitation of the authority of a statesman. While -his exactions and the luxury of the court enfeebled the -Empire of the East, he alienated the power of the West, and -had Stilicho branded as a public enemy. And the Goths -and Huns crept nearer.</p> - -<p>Arcadius, lazily riding in his gold-plated chariot, studded -with large gems, in robes of silk embroidered with golden -dragons, or playing the monarch on a throne of solid gold, -with a crowd of adoring eunuchs before him, had no more -appreciation than a peasant of a Cappadocian village of the -true situation of the Empire. Eudoxia, beautiful, haughty, -spoiled, revelling in the luxury of the palace, generous -to the Church and the poor, floated soothingly with the -stream. She lived the languid life of an Oriental princess, -within the confines of the palace, and was rarely seen even -by the greater part of the palace servants. The only -occasion when the populace saw her quit the marble city, -which the palace of Constantine had become, was when, -in 398, she walked humbly, with downcast eyes, but -clothed in purple silk, with a glittering diadem on her -head, by the side of St. Chrysostom, as he transferred -certain relics of the saints. Chrysostom would find her in -a different temper in a few years.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> -The arrogance of Eutropius at last passed all bounds, -and he ventured in the year 400 to threaten to expel -Eudoxia from the palace. Whether she knew it or no, -the time was ripe for the destruction of the repulsive -minister. The people groaned under his terrible exactions, -his infamous legislation, and his bloody tyranny; the -leaders of the troops were prepared to sacrifice him. -Eudoxia took her baby girls, Pulcheria and Arcadia, in her -arms, and fled in tears to the Emperor. Arcadius, “becoming -an Emperor for a moment,” says Philostorgius, -signed the sentence of his favourite, and the eunuch soon -found people and soldiers pressing, like wolves, for his -destruction. He took refuge in a church, where Chrysostom -protected him from the fiery crowd, but quitted it after -a time, apparently on the oath of either Eudoxia or Arcadius -that his life would be spared. He was exiled, recalled, -tried, and—oath or no oath—put to death by the public -executioner.</p> - -<p>Eudoxia’s title of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">nobilissima</i> (“most noble”) had been -elevated to that of <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Augusta</i> at the beginning of the year -400, and her second daughter was born in April of the same -year.<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">33</a> She was now complete mistress of Arcadius and -the Empire, and she published her dignity with such extravagance -that the Western court sent an angry protest -that, in causing her statues to be borne through the provinces, -she had exceeded the privileges of her sex. In the following -year she completed her ascendancy by giving birth -to a boy, Theodosius II, and seemed to have a prospect -of a long and luxurious, if useless, reign. But she had -meantime quarrelled with Chrysostom, and she was to -pass through a period of humiliation to a premature grave.</p> - -<p>In 398 Eutropius had transferred the austere and eloquent -Chrysostom from his presbytery in Antioch to the archiepiscopal -palace at Constantinople. The stern monk—as -John of the Golden Mouth always remained at heart—was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span> -horrified from the first at the vice and luxury of the -Christians of the Imperial city, and even of their clergy, -but he allowed two years to elapse before he began his -fiery campaign against the sins of the laity.<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> He applied -himself first to the reform of the priests and the control of -the monks. With that we have no concern.<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">35</a> It is enough -to say that the clergy bitterly resented his reforms, and -were ready to co-operate with Eudoxia in an effort to get -rid of him. In 400 he began to attack the easy ways of the -laity more sternly, and it is probable that some feeling was -created between him and the Empress over the massacre -of the Gothic Arian soldiers, which took place in that year. -Their commander Gainas had rebelled, and Arcadius had -virtually surrendered to him. He marched his troops to -the city, obtained the use of a church for them, and allowed -them to roam about, to the irritation of the people; until -at last the people rose and slew seven thousand of the -heretics.</p> - -<p>It seems that Eudoxia was alienated from Chrysostom, -who had resented the grant of a church, from that time. -When, in the following year, St. Porphyry of Gaza came to -the capital to obtain an Imperial order to destroy the pagan -temples of his town, Chrysostom declined to introduce him -at court, and referred him to the eunuch Amantius. The -sequel is not without interest in a study of the Empress. -The holy man was presented to Eudoxia, and promised -that she should bear a boy if she would secure the -destruction of paganism in Gaza. She promised to do so, -but Arcadius, who seems to have resented religious wrangles, -refused to grant permission. Then the boy was born, and -Eudoxia felt an obligation to secure Porphyry’s request. -She instructed him to draw up a formal petition, and present -it to the baby-Cæsar as he was carried from the baptismal -font. The noble who carried the baby was then instructed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> -how he was to behave, and a little comedy was arranged. -Porphyry presented his paper to the infant Cæsar. The -noble read a little of it to the baby in a low voice, so that -Arcadius should not hear, and then bobbed the child’s head -as a sign of assent. Arcadius wearily overlooked the trick, -eight beautiful temples were burned at Gaza, and Eudoxia -supplied the funds for building a large church on their -ruins. Tillemont, whose admiring course through the -fourth century is much tempered by groans, complains that -“this kind of piety favours only the demons.”</p> - -<p>Chrysostom then went on to denounce, in unmeasured -language, the vicious and luxurious ways of the wealthy -women, especially widows, of his church. He had diverted -the coins of the laity from the army of monks, deprived the -clergy of their mistresses, and declared that the great -majority of the bishops of his province were hopelessly -corrupt. With the aid of his rival, the Bishop of Alexandria, -they conspired against him, and they reached the ear of -the Empress through the courtly and comfortable bishop, -Severian. The other ear of the Empress was now assailed -by the wealthy widows who smarted under the preacher’s -fierce lash. Such fine ladies as Marsa and Castricia would -not be likely to sit under the Socialistic oratory of the -archbishop, but shorthand (<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">notatio</i>) was as commonly used -in those days as in our own, and he could thus irritate the -eye of the rich as well as gladden the ear of the poor. -They brooded darkly over his impersonal strictures, and -no doubt detected occasional references to the luxurious -Empress in them. In fine, Archbishop Theophilus was -summoned from Alexandria; the bishops of the province -eagerly drew up and passed a lengthy indictment of their -superior; and, before the orthodox population could gather -what was happening, their orator was on the way to exile.</p> - -<div id="ip_330" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 17em;"> - <div class="caption"><p>EUDOXIA</p></div> - <img src="images/i_330.jpg" width="259" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>PULCHERIA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>But the triumph of Eudoxia was as brief as that of -Justina. The people rose in fury, and, after the slaughter -of seven thousand trained soldiers, made a light matter of -the monks and sailors of Theophilus. When, in addition, -an earthquake shook the province, Eudoxia prudently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> -yielded to the human pressure, under the decent pretext -of obeying the divine will. Chrysostom returned to his -church, and the sight of the gay fleet that set out to meet -him, the flaring illumination of the shores, the frenzied -rejoicing of the returning procession, must have filled the -palace on the heights with bitterness. Such a truce could -be observed with cold discretion by neither party, and it -was not long before the struggle was renewed.</p> - -<p>In honour of the birth of the third daughter of the -Empress, Marina, a silver statue of her was erected, on -a column of porphyry, at the door of the Senate. The -Prefect of the city commemorated the event with games or -other rejoicings in the square before the statue, and they -were naturally accompanied by profane, if not licentious, -gaiety. Straight opposite, across the square, was the door -of Chrysostom’s church, and the devout regarded this -demonstration as an outrage on religion. Chrysostom’s -sermons become more explicit. In a later age a sermon -was published under his name, in which the people—or the -readers—were reminded of the infamous Herodias clamouring -for the head of John. The sermon is generally regarded -as spurious, but we have the weighty authority of Socrates -for the fact that the extempore preacher did utter the fatal -name of Herodias. The conflict ended with the exile of the -archbishop (June 404), but on the following night his -church was found to be in flames, and the fire spread to, -and almost destroyed, the Senate-house, a building adorned -with the most exquisite marbles and works of art.</p> - -<p>The condition of Constantinople, the anxiety of Eudoxia, -during the following months, may be imagined. It is -enough to know that Eudoxia met a painful death, through -miscarriage, in the month of September of the same year -(404). I will not reproduce the horrible details that a more -orthodox age discovered in connexion with her death.<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> If<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span> -Chrysostom spoke from “a bitter disillusion,” as Dr. Puech -holds, Eudoxia had not less cause to be embittered. Even -her religious zeal had led her into the most painful -experiences. For the State, in which she had high power, -she did nothing. The vultures gathered on the hills, while -the court absorbed its little soul in voluptuous pomp, and -the people fought each other over creeds. We may dissent -from the hard verdict of Gibbon, that Eudoxia indulged her -passions while the Empire decayed, and we must regard as -too frivolous for consideration the suspicion of unchastity -which he reproduces; but we must grant that, where -Eudoxia’s action was not selfish, it was generally useless, -and frequently mischievous.</p> - -<p>We have carried the slender story of the Empresses in -the West as far as the year 410, and we shall find no other -Empress there until 421. We may, therefore, continue the -record of the East, and consider the romantic story of -Eudocia, before we proceed to the last scene in the Empire -of the West.</p> - -<p>After an ignoble reign of thirteen years the elder son of -Theodosius died in his bed in the year 408. His only son, -Theodosius II, was clothed with the purple, in his sixth -year, and a prudent and experienced minister controlled -the State for the next seven years. In 415 Pulcheria, the -elder sister of Theodosius, was named Augusta, and -gradually assumed the guardianship of her brother and -the control of the State. She was as yet only in her -sixteenth year, and Theodosius was only two years younger, -but her cold, decisive temper compensated in some measure -for the strength which Theodosius wholly lacked, and she -held the reins of the Empire. Deeply religious, she took -herself, and induced her younger sisters to take, a vow of -chastity, which was written in gold and diamonds on the -wall of the public church. The palace offered the singular -spectacle of a nunnery within a luxurious court. Only -pious eunuchs and women were allowed to approach the -Imperial virgins, in whose sober apartments no music was -ever heard save that of the psalm and sacred song; while<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span> -the weakly youth was educated in the pomp that befits a -king, as well as the propriety that adorns a Christian. He -learned both lessons with success; but we cannot avoid a -suspicion that less earnest and assiduous efforts were made -to fit him for the task of taking in his own hands the levers -of the heavy machinery of the State. It is proper to add, -however, that, partly from circumstances, partly from the -prudence and care of Pulcheria, that machinery ran with -unaccustomed ease, and the Empire enjoyed a span of peace -and prosperity.</p> - -<p>At length the anxious question of the Imperial marriage -arose, and the virginal Pulcheria confronted it with her -usual coolness and decision. The task was simplified, in -a sense, by Theodosius. He declared that he would marry -only a young lady of exceptional bodily charm, and would -pay no attention to wealth or dignity. It may have -occurred to Pulcheria that an Empress thus elevated would -be less likely to dispute her power than some woman -who had been born into the world of large action. She -began her search, with the aid of Paulinus, a youth who -had been educated with Theodosius and was his intimate -friend.</p> - -<p>One day, at this period, a young Athenian girl was -brought into her presence with a petition. She was of -the fairest Athenian type; a supple and graceful young -woman, with skin of a snowy complexion, large intelligent -eyes, and a beautiful head of golden hair. Further, -she pleaded her cause, in perfect Greek, with a surprising -restraint, eloquence, and art. She was Athenais, the -daughter of an Athenian teacher. He had cultivated her -mind and her beauty with all the resources of his art, -and had, at his death, left her only a hundred pieces of -gold, on the pretext that she was wealthy enough in her -advantages. She begged her brothers to share the inheritance -more justly, but they refused. She had therefore -come with a relative to the house of an aunt at -Constantinople, and asked for a just distribution of her -father’s money. Pulcheria’s interest was, not in the case,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> -but in the girl. She took the aunt aside, and prudently -inquired if the girl was a maid and a Christian. Athenais -was declared to be a virgin, though a pagan; but the -defect was one that could easily be removed.</p> - -<p>Pulcheria joyfully told her brother that she had found -the beauty he desired, and described her. They arranged -a second visit, during which Theodosius and Paulinus -should inspect the maiden from behind a curtain. In a -short time Athenais had changed her name into Ælia -Eudocia, changed her religion into that of Christ, and -changed her condition into that of wife of the Emperor. -She was married on June 7th, 421, in, it is believed, the -twentieth year of her age. There was consternation in -the home she had quitted at Athens, and her brothers hid -themselves in the provinces. Eudocia had them sought -and conducted to Constantinople. There they learned to -their surprise that she thought herself indebted to their -conduct for her fortune, and they were richly rewarded.</p> - -<p>From these pleasant girlish traits we pass to the inevitable -struggle with Pulcheria. Theodosius remained -an Imperial nonentity. He could hunt, paint, and carve, -but public business so bored him that he signed documents -without reading them. One day Pulcheria put a -parchment before him, and he, as usual, blindly appended -his name. Shortly afterwards he summoned Eudocia, -and was told that she was now the slave of Pulcheria, -and awaited <em>her</em> orders. The document he had signed -was a deed of sale of his wife, but it does not appear -that the little stratagem made much impression on him. -Pulcheria still held the reins. Eudocia had her first -child at the end of 422, and was, in the following January, -entitled Augusta. The court had a visit, too, from the -Empress of the West, Galla Placidia, and her daughter, and -large matters were discussed. In 433 we may, perhaps, -trace some influence of Eudocia on legislation. An edict -imposing the death-sentence on the remaining pagans -may be confidently ascribed to Pulcheria; but an edict -reforming and enlarging the higher schools of Constantinople<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span> -seems rather to remind us of the Athenian -scholar’s daughter. She occupied much of her leisure -in writing historical and religious poetry, and the little -that survives of it has been recently edited by Ludwich. -It is correct in form and devoid of inspiration.</p> - -<p>The years passed tranquilly until 437, when we begin -to suspect that there is friction with Pulcheria. Few -things had happened, beyond the echo of the stormy -movements of the West, and the disquieting advance of -the Huns, to disturb the life of the court. One year (434) -had, indeed, brought a strange thrill into the Imperial -nunnery. A princess of the Western Empire, Honoria, -came to Constantinople, <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">enceinte</i> by her own steward. -But the hard lot of Honoria, and the romantic devices -by which she sought to enliven it, will occupy us later. -Pulcheria promptly enclosed the fiery young princess -in a convent, and the scandal would be mentioned only -in whispers. Three years later (437) the Western -Emperor, Valentinian III, came to Constantinople, and -led away Eudocia’s beautiful daughter, Licinia Eudoxia, -to share his trembling throne. The next detail is that, in -439, Eudocia made a lengthy pilgrimage to Palestine, and -there can be little doubt that her absence from the palace -for a year—which is unconvincingly connected by Gibbon -with the marriage of her daughter, two years before—was -due, in part or entirely, to some quarrel with either -Theodosius or Pulcheria, most probably the latter.</p> - -<p>At Antioch, on the journey, Eudocia enjoyed the -prestige of her solitary and independent dignity. From a -golden throne she delivered a studied oration to the -Senate, and the tumultuous applause and voting of statues -to her must have greatly increased her self-consciousness. -The shower of gold she rained upon the churches and -monasteries of Palestine, and indeed all along her route, -elicited a no less stimulating demonstration. She returned -to Constantinople, apparently about the end of 439, with -a larger sense of her importance, and with such priceless -relics as the arm of St. Stephen and the authentic picture<span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span> -of Mary which Luke the Physician had painted. It is only -at a much later date that Greek writers add to her luggage -a phial of the Virgin’s milk, some underclothing of the -infant Christ, and similar treasures.</p> - -<p>The pilgrimage was the turning-point in the career of -Eudocia. So far her life had been one of splendid and -powerless prestige; it now rapidly darkens with intrigue, -is overshadowed by tragedy and suspicion, and soon ends -in a virtual exile. We are sufficiently acquainted with the -writers of the time to expect that they will throw very -little light on this fresh Imperial tragedy, but, using the -later and less weighty Greek writers with discretion, we -may obtain a fairly confident idea of its main features. -Two facts are related by writers of the time, and are -beyond question. In the year following Eudocia’s return, -her friend, and the intimate friend of the Emperor, the -charming and accomplished Paulinus, was exiled and put -to death without public trial. The second fact is that, -a few years later, Eudocia left the palace for ever, to -spend the remainder of her life at Jerusalem.</p> - -<p>The later Byzantine writers give a rounded story of -these events, and, on the whole, one is disposed to think -that in this case they are revealing the suppressed truth. -Theophanes (in his “Chronographia”) says that a eunuch -named Chrysaphius rose into favour, and urged Eudocia -to secure the dismissal of Pulcheria. They persuade -Theodosius that, since Pulcheria has taken a vow of -virginity, her proper place is among the deaconesses of -the Church, and Archbishop Flavian is instructed to take -her away. Flavian, however, prefers to have her in the -palace, and he directs her simply to live apart for a time -and wait. Then, in 440, occurs the execution—one may -almost say murder—of Paulinus. These later Greek -writers all give a romantic story in connexion with it. As -Theodosius and Eudocia go to church on Epiphany -morning, a peasant presents the Emperor with a remarkably -large apple. He gives it to Eudocia, who privately sends -it to Paulinus. Unluckily, Paulinus in turn presents it to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span> -the Emperor, who sternly asks Eudocia what she has done -with it. She declares, and repeats with a most solemn oath, -that she has eaten it. Paulinus is at once sent away, -and decapitated. A much nearer and more weighty -authority, John Malala, confirms, in substance, this story -of the apple, and says that Paulinus was suspected of -intimacy with the Empress. There is no serious reason -to doubt it, nor is any other reason suggested for the -murder of Paulinus; but whether Eudocia was guilty, or -the suspicion was inspired by the servants of Pulcheria, -we are unable to determine.</p> - -<p>The eunuch then, says Theophanes, presses Eudocia to -attack Flavian and Pulcheria. He reminds her of “all the -bitter things she had endured from Pulcheria,” and covers -the human motive with a pretence of religious zeal. We -know, at least, that Eudocia embraced the Eutychian -heresy, which Chrysaphius had adopted, and that a Church-council -was summoned in 441 that put an end to Flavian. -The intrigue, however, runs on in obscurity until Eudocia -suddenly asks permission to retire to Jerusalem. Theodosius -could not divorce her, but we can easily believe -that, as these writers say, he treated her with such severity, -repeatedly reminding her of Paulinus, that she was driven -into exile. Pulcheria returned to the palace, and resumed -her control of the Emperor and the Empire.</p> - -<p>Gibbon scouts these “Greek fictions,” but, not only -has he not taken sufficient account of John Malala, whose -authority he recognizes, but a detail he adds from the -still more authoritative Chronicle of Marcellinus (which is -almost contemporary) gives a very serious confirmation. -In the suite of Eudocia, when she set out for Palestine, -were a priest named Severus and a deacon named John, -favourites of hers. They had not long left Constantinople -when an officer named Saturninus, of the faction opposed -to Eudocia, came upon them with an order to put Severus -and John to death. It appears that they too were executed -for supposed intimacy with the Empress. Eudocia lost her -self-control at this brutal outrage, and bade her servants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> -make an end of Saturninus. When Theodosius heard, he -stripped Eudocia of her Imperial prerogatives, and left her -in the position of an ordinary citizen. These authentic -statements of Marcellinus strongly confirm the story, and -it is clear that the Byzantine court was stained by a sordid -quarrel and several brutal murders.</p> - -<p>The romance of Eudocia’s career was not yet over. -Marcellinus sends her to Jerusalem in 444: the later -writers in 442. However that may be, in the year 445 -we find her again embarking on an unhappy adventure. -The monks of Palestine were infected with the Eutychian -heresy, and they welcomed so powerful a patroness. -With the aid of her servants they ousted the orthodox -bishop of Jerusalem, and a vigorous monk was put in -his place. The monk-bishop, with his militant army of -ten thousand monkish followers, held Jerusalem for twenty -months, in spite of the Imperial troops, drove all the -orthodox bishops out of Palestine, and slew and cast to -the dogs a number of their followers. In this quaint -company the delicate Greek Empress continued to build -churches and monasteries for three years, but when she -hears at length of the misfortunes of her daughter, which -the Bishop of Rome, as well as the courts of Ravenna -and Constantinople, ascribe to her heresy, she sends to -consult the famous hermit of the pillar, Simeon Stylites. -Simeon recommends her to confer with a certain saintly -monk of the desert. The monk will neither leave his -desert for her, nor permit a woman to enter it. She -therefore builds a tower on the hill some miles away, -and in that safe and public elevation the monk enlightens -her out of her heresy.</p> - -<p>Eudocia brought her adventurous career to a close in -460, protesting with her last breath that she was innocent -of the charge of unchastity. Pulcheria continued to rule -the Eastern Empire in the name of Theodosius until he -died, in the year 450, inglorious and unhonoured. It was -now seen that the prosperity of the Empire in her earlier -years was a hollow truce of circumstances. When the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span> -fierce and rapacious Huns approached it, in 446 and 447, -the Eastern Empire tremblingly purchased peace by the -most ignominious concessions. When Theodosius died, -she assumed sole control of the Empire, and the head -of the eunuch Chrysaphius was at once removed from -his shoulders. But the pressure of her people forced -her to marry, and an aged Senator, Marcian, engaged -to share her throne without sharing her virginal bed. -To his more vigorous hands the affairs of State now -passed, and Pulcheria maintained her virtue and piety -to the end. But we must now leave the Oriental pomp, -the emasculated frame, and the splendid piety of the -Byzantine court, to conclude our story in the West.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CHAPTER_XXI" class="vspace">CHAPTER XXI<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE LAST EMPRESSES OF THE WEST</span></h2> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap1">The</span> course of our inquiry has led us through five -centuries of change. We have passed from the -sober and virile integrity of the first Imperial pair, -the golden age of Roman life and letters, to the successive -depths of the Cæsars. We have then seen the decrepit -and corrupt city refreshed with an inflow of sound provincial -blood, the enervated patrician families replaced on -the throne by vigorous soldiers, and a new period of -sobriety and prosperity open under the Stoics, to sink -again under the burden of vice and luxury. Diocletian -restores its strength, and then a singular and momentous -change comes over the face of the Empire. The white -homes of the gods perish or decay, the gay processions -no longer enliven the streets, the cross of Christ heads -the legions and towers austerely above the public buildings -and monuments. The ante-chambers of the Emperors are -filled with Christian bishops, and the rulers of the world -bend meekly before the ragged figures of monks and -tremble at the threats of lowly priests.</p> - -<p>We return to the Western world to find another and -a greater change. Rome has fallen, the frontiers are -obliterated, the provinces, even to Africa, are cowering -under the armies of the barbarians. Poverty, misery, -and violence are scattered over the Empire, as if the -departing gods had sown its fields with salt or with -dragons’ teeth as they retired to Olympus. Civilization, -law, culture, art, seem to be doomed, and the end of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span> -world is confidently expected. But amid the crumbling -frame of the vast Empire a few shades of Emperors and -Empresses linger for a generation, and we may glance -briefly at their sobered features and adventurous experiences.</p> - -<p>The chief figure of interest is Ælia Galla Placidia, the -sister of Honorius, whom we found visiting Constantinople -in 423. Her adventures began when the Goths invested -Rome in 408. She is then mentioned as concurring with -the Senate in the pitiful execution of her cousin, the -widow of Stilicho. Placidia was then in her eighteenth -year. Bearing a heavy ransom, the Gothic army went -away to harass her useless and trembling brother at -Ravenna, and Placidia thought fit to remain at Rome. -It still contained wealth enough to capitulate to barbarians -on fair terms. But the Goths returned in 410. Rome -was awakened in the dead of night by the blare of their -trumpets, and looked out to find palaces in flames, the -streets filled with the terrible Goths, and the work of -looting already begun. After six days of pillage they -retreated northward, taking Placidia with them. We -cannot follow her closely in that extraordinary march. -She was treated as a princess, however, and two years -later was sought in marriage by the new king of the -Goths, Ataulph. Ataulph was a barbarian only in name; -a large, handsome man, princely, intelligent, and amiable. -He aspired to be a Roman Emperor. Honorius weakly -resented the proposal, and demanded that he should -prove the friendship he offered to Rome by returning -Placidia. For two years she had wandered over Italy in -the Gothic army.</p> - -<p>It appears that Placidia was attracted to the graceful -and courtly Goth, and they were married at Narbonne—the -Goths having now returned to Gaul—in 414. When -she reflected on the splendour of the wedding gifts, she -may have thought that even an alliance with a Roman -prince could not be more magnificent. Fifty beautiful -youths, clothed in silk, brought to her one hundred dishes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span> -laden with the gold and jewels which the Goths had -brought from Rome. But Ataulph was assassinated in -the following year, and Placidia sank again to the -position of captive. She had to walk twelve miles on -foot, amid a crowd of captives, before the victorious -barbarian who had slain her husband. Within another -year her persecutor was slain, and his more humane -successor restored her—or sold her—to the court at -Ravenna.</p> - -<p>The Roman commander Constantius, into whose hands -she was committed, at once claimed her in marriage. -Honorius had promised that he should marry her if, by -whatever means, he recovered her from the Goths. Placidia -shrank resentfully from his embraces, and found his coarse, -large, surly person a poor exchange for her handsome -Gothic husband. The wedding took place, however, in -417, and Placidia settled down to the prosy duties of a -matron, giving birth, in succession, to the princess Honoria -and the future Emperor Valentinian III. In 421 her -husband compelled the weak-minded Honorius to clothe -him with the purple. Placidia received the title of Augusta, -and a better prospect seemed to open before her. But -Constantius died within a few months, and it was not -long before she fell into a violent quarrel with Honorius. -The cause of the quarrel is, as usual, obscure. Some -of the later writers suggest that Honorius became -enamoured of his sister in her young widowhood. We -know only that the palace at Ravenna was filled with -bitter recriminations, its courts were stained with the blood -of their followers, and Placidia fled to Constantinople with -her children.</p> - -<div id="ip_342" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 16em;"> - <div class="caption"><p>PLACIDIA</p></div> - <img src="images/i_342.jpg" width="251" height="500" alt="" /> - <div class="caption"><p>ENPHEMIA</p> - -<p>ENLARGED FROM COINS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM</p></div></div> - -<p>Honorius died a few months later (August 423), and -Placidia, confirmed in her title of Augusta by Theodosius, -was sent in the following year to claim the throne for -Theodosius, at the head of a considerable force. A secretary -had usurped the vacant throne during her absence. It -was the spring of 425 before they set out from Thessalonica -for Italy; Placidia was with the cavalry, which reached<span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span> -and took Aquileia with great speed. There, after a short -time, she received the captive usurper. His hand was -cut off in the public Circus, he was placed on an ass and -conducted round the town, amid the jeers of the crowd -and the actors of the Circus, and was finally beheaded. -They then proceeded to Ravenna. Valentinian, a boy of -six years, was created Emperor of the West, and Placidia -settled down to a long period of government in his name.</p> - -<p>As the legislation which followed, bearing the name -of Valentinian but breathing the spirit of Placidia, was -mainly of an ecclesiastical character, we will not linger -over it. She fell ruthlessly upon Pagans, Jews, Pelagians, -Manichæans, and every other class who were obnoxious -to her clergy. As in the case of most of the later -Empresses, her piety so impressed the writers of the -time that her personality is almost entirely hidden from us. -Apart from her decrees of religious coercion, we know -her only as experiencing, not doing, things. Procopius, -not a biased historian, severely complains that she reared -her son in a luxurious softness that led inevitably to his -later vices and his violent death; and it is frequently -suspected that she had no eagerness to see him fitly -educated in the duties of a prince. Cassiodorus pronounces -that she conducted the affairs of the State with wavering -and incompetent counsel, just at the time when Rome -most urgently needed a firm and enlightened ruler. -Tillemont, after praising her piety, admits sadly that she -brought great evils upon her afflicted Empire.</p> - -<p>Though Rome had been looted by the Goths at their -leisure, and barbaric armies commanded every province, -the cause of the Empire was not yet lost. A judicious -policy might have utilized the mutual hatreds of the -various tribes, and have put the able commanders, who -were still in the service of Rome, at the head of formidable -armies. But the weakness and obtuseness of Placidia -led, on the contrary, to the loss of her finest general, -her last free province, and a large proportion of her -troops. Listening injudiciously to the malignant persuasions<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span> -of one general, Ætius, she commanded the other, -Count Boniface, to relinquish his post in Africa, under -the impression that he meditated treachery. Ætius at -the same time warned Boniface that the recall was due -to suspicion, and the gallant officer was driven into rebellion. -He invited the Vandals to Africa, and soon -twenty thousand of the tall, fair-haired northerners, with -a vast crowd of dependents and followers, spread over -the province. Placidia discovered too late the deceit of -Ætius. She was induced to send a friendly ambassador -to Boniface, and the fraud was at once detected. But -the Vandals could not be dislodged. Boniface was slain -(432) in his struggle with them, Ætius was driven to the -camp of the Huns, and Africa, the granary of Rome, was -irretrievably lost.</p> - -<p>The next blow that threatened the distracted Empire -was an invasion of the Huns. Placidia cannot be held -responsible for the subsequent calamities, for Ætius, -strong in his alliance with the Huns, had forced his way -back into power, and was the real governor of the Empire. -But the formidable task he undertook was made more -difficult by a romantic and unhappy occurrence within -Placidia’s domestic circle. We have already spoken of -her daughter Honoria, who came in disgrace to Constantinople -in 434. The great distinction of the Constantinopolitan -court, the possession of three royal virgins, seems -to have excited the pious jealousy of Placidia, and she -apparently designed that her court should not lack its -Vestal Virgin. We are not told that any vow was imposed -on the young Honoria, but she was reared with the -discipline of a conventual novice, and given to understand -that the exalted state of virginity was assigned to -her. In 433 the title of Augusta was bestowed on her, -in some compensation of her sacrifice. But the daughter -of Constantius had thicker blood in her veins than the -daughters of Arcadius, and the claustral regime—the -restriction of attendance to eunuchs and women—does -not seem to have been rigorously enforced at Ravenna.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> -In 434 the seventeen-year-old princess was discovered -to be in a painful condition, and was dispatched to -Constantinople, and incarcerated in a nunnery by the -indignant Pulcheria.</p> - -<p>But the young girl had a spirit beyond her years. -She had heard of the formidable nation of the Huns, -which awaited, in the neighbourhood of the Danube and -the Volga, its turn to fill the Imperial stage; she had -heard that the young and powerful Attila had recently -acceded to the throne of that nation. In some way she -secured a messenger who took from her a letter and a -ring to Attila, offering him her heart and her dowry if -he would release her. The girlish freak was destined to -have terrible consequences for the Empire. The lady -herself we may dismiss in a word. She seems to have -been kept in close confinement in the East until about -450, sending fruitless messages, from time to time, to her -romantic lover. Attila had sufficient occupation during -those fifteen years, and was content to put her name on -the lengthy list of his wives. When, in 450, he formally -demanded her person, he was assured that she was -married. It is not impossible that she was released on -condition that she accepted a husband chosen for her. -But her end is obscure, and one is disposed to doubt if -she would ever have resumed her liberty without joining -the victorious Hun.</p> - -<p>Placidia died in the year 450, leaving the astute Ætius -to avert the oncoming disaster by an alliance with the -Ostrogoths against the Huns. For a quarter of a century -she had had supreme power over the Western Empire. -It is, perhaps, only an indication of mediocrity on her -part that she could not avert the blows that fell upon it -during that period, but it was a calamity for Rome. -Her memory survived, in a singular way, for more than -a thousand years. The pagan habit of cremating the -bodies of Emperors and Empresses had been replaced by -the Egyptian process of embalming, and Placidia had -built a chapel at Ravenna for the reception of her body.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span> -There it sat, in a chair of cedar-wood, until the year -1577, when some children, thrusting a lighted taper into the -tomb to see it better, set it aflame and reduced it to ashes.</p> - -<p>Meantime, another Empress of the West had appeared. -In 437 Valentinian had married Licinia Eudoxia, the -fourteen-year-old daughter of Eudocia, at Constantinople, -and brought her to Italy. He had parted with a large -slice of his Empire to Pulcheria and Theodosius for the -honour, and is said to have held it lightly. The sequel -will dispose us to believe his irregularities. A youth of -eighteen at the time, frivolous, luxurious, and light-headed, -he was content to enjoy the palace, and leave his mother, -and then Ætius, to discharge his duties. Eudoxia could -but idly follow the momentous movements of the nations, -and appreciate the defeat of the Huns in the terrible battle -of Chalons in 451; or shudder when, in the following year, -Attila marched to the gates of Rome, demanding half the -Empire as the dowry of his distant bride, Honoria; or -when, in 453, the profligate Valentinian plunged his sword -in the breast of his great minister Ætius. A grave personal -tragedy was upon her.</p> - -<p>The court resided generally at Rome, where Valentinian -enjoyed the larger and faster amusements of a metropolis. -Here, in the year 455, he was stabbed by his soldiers, and -a romantic story is told in connexion with his death. The -story is rejected by a recent historical writer, Mr. Hodgkin -(“Italy and her Invaders”), but Professor Bury has shown -that it is probably true in substance. The full story, to -which fictitious details may have been added before it -reached Procopius, is that Valentinian, gambling heavily -with the distinguished Senator Petronius Maximus, obtained -his ring as a security for the money he had won. Maximus -had a beautiful wife whom the Emperor desired, and he -sent the ring to her with a summons to the palace. The -unsuspecting lady was conducted to Valentinian’s apartments, -and outraged by him. For this crime, and in virtue -of the general discontent, Maximus had him slain and -occupied his throne.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span> -Maximus was a wealthy Roman, of illustrious family, -and peaceful and luxurious ways, so that we have little -reason to doubt that an outrage on his wife inspired him -with the thought of assassination. The further course of -events adds authority to the narrative. His wife died very -closely after the death of Valentinian, and he invited or -compelled Eudoxia to marry him. In the obscurity and -uncertainty of the records we are unable to understand the -consent of Eudoxia, even under pressure. Some of the -later Greeks affirm that he violated her. It is certain, at -least, that she married him within a month or two of her -husband’s tragic death, and almost immediately afterwards -sought to destroy him. Our authorities, late and uncertain -as they are, do not lack plausibility when they affirm that -he one day confessed that, out of love for her, he had directed -the assassination of her husband. Rome had returned -to evil days, and tragedy was brooding over its very -ruins.</p> - -<p>In a fit of repulsion Eudoxia secretly invited the Vandals -to cross the Mediterranean and avenge her. Historians -too lightly admit, in extenuation of her criminal act, that -she had no hope of help from the East. The aged and -upright Marcian was, it is true, intent upon the internal -prosperity of his Empire, but it is extremely doubtful, as -the sequel will show, whether the deposition of Maximus -would have offered much difficulty, and Eudoxia was the -niece of Pulcheria. Her vindictive act hastened the end -of the Empire. Genseric speedily landed his fierce troops -on Italian soil, and the Romans at once slew the sullen -or remorseful Maximus and cast his mangled body in the -Tiber. The further adventures of Eudoxia, interesting as -they must have been, are compressed in a few lines. After -fourteen days’ pillage, the Vandals retreated once more -from the stricken city of Octavian, laden with gold, silver, -women, and all kinds of valuables. Genseric compelled -Eudoxia and her two young daughters to accompany him. -They were detained at Carthage for seven years. The -Eastern court repeatedly asked for their release, but it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span> -was refused until, in 462, the elder daughter, Eudocia, -was married to Genseric’s son. Eudoxia and the second -daughter, Placidia, were then sent to Constantinople. Years -afterwards—in one of the legends—we catch a last glimpse -of Eudoxia, the last prominent Empress of the West. She -is standing before the column of Simeon Stylites, asking -him to come and live somewhere on her ample estate. -Eudocia lived for sixteen years at Carthage, then escaped -to the East, and ended her life in Palestine. Placidia we -shall meet again for a moment.</p> - -<p>We turn back to the shrinking Empire of the West, to -dismiss the last four Imperial shadows that flit about its -ruins. The vacant throne was occupied by the commander -of the Roman forces in Gaul, Avitus. He had married, -since we know that Sidonius Apollinaris was married to -his daughter Papianilla, but his wife was dead, and we need -only say that, after he had enjoyed the Imperial banquets -for a few months, he was degraded to the rank of a -bishopric by the commander of the barbaric troops, with -the consent of the disgusted Romans, and he died soon -afterwards. He was followed by a worthy and able officer, -whose rule might have illumined a more propitious age; -but we find no Empress in association with him, and must -pass over the four years of his earnest effort to redeem the -Empire. After his death Libius Severus had a nominal -and obscure reign of four years (461–5), and again we find -no Empress in the scanty records.</p> - -<p>The throne remained vacant for nearly two years, -during which the Vandals harassed the miserable remnant -of the great Empire. At length the chief commander in -Italy, Ricimer, sought the aid of the Eastern Empire, and -the alliance was sealed by the Eastern court sending one -of its wealthiest and, by birth, most illustrious nobles, -Anthemius, to occupy the throne. His Empress was -Euphemia, daughter of the Emperor Marcian by his first -wife. But her name, and the names of her father and -her children, are all that we find recorded concerning -her, and we need not dwell on the failures and quarrels,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span> -or the last faint flicker of Roman paganism, which -characterized his inauspicious reign. Within four years -he quarrelled with Ricimer, and his life was trodden out -on the streets of Rome.</p> - -<p>For a few months Placidia, the daughter of Eudoxia, -then occupies the throne. At Constantinople, to which -she went with her mother from her Vandal captivity, -she married the wealthy noble Olybrius. He had fled -from Rome when it was looted by the Vandals, and had -little mind to exchange the safe luxury of Constantinople -for its uneasy throne when Ricimer offered it to him. It is -said that Placidia impelled him. It was a fatal adventure. -They entered Rome in the train of Ricimer’s troops, but -Olybrius succumbed to that atmosphere of death in a few -months, and we have not time to discern the features -of Eudoxia’s daughter before she sinks into the large -category of obscure Imperial widows. His successor, -Glycerius, a puppet of the chief commander, seems to have -had no wife. A competitor appeared immediately, and he -exchanged the uncertain sceptre of the Western Empire -for the solid crozier of a bishop.</p> - -<p>One faint and shadowy Empress crosses the scene -before the curtain falls. Once more the Eastern court had -provided Italy—which was now the Western Roman Empire—with -a ruler. Julius Nepos set up his court at Ravenna, -and had for Empress a niece of Verina, the Empress of -the East. But the barbarian leaders of the barbarian army—the -only army that remained in the service of Rome—resented -the Eastern intruder, and marched on Ravenna. -Nepos fled ignominiously; and one reads with interest, -though not without reserve, that he was put to death -by his predecessor, Bishop Glycerius. The fate of his -wife is unknown, and the last Empress of the Western -provinces entirely escapes our search.</p> - -<p>The tattered purple was offered to the commander -Orestes. He refused it, and allowed them to place it on -the shoulders of his young son (476). The name of this -pretty and innocuous boy united, as if in mockery, the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span> -names of Romulus and Augustus. To later times his -pathetic figure is known as Augustulus. His father was -slain by the troops immediately afterwards, because he -refused to distribute one-third of the soil of Italy between -them. The Empire was now a mere phrase; Rome a -plaything of the barbarians whom it had cowed for five -or six hundred years. Odoacer, the latest leader of the -troops, bade the child put off his purple mantle and begone, -and some time afterwards—so low had Rome fallen that -the year of this impressive consummation cannot accurately -be determined—forced the Senate to abolish the Imperial -succession in the West. Italy became the kingdom of a -barbarian. Britain, Gaul, Germany, and Spain were turned -into the battle-grounds of those fierce tribes who, after the -violence and darkness of the Middle Ages, would in their -turn scatter the seed of civilization over the earth. The -gallery of Western Empresses was closed by the irrevocable -hand of fate, and the long, quaint gallery of the Byzantine -Empresses was thrown open.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="footnotes"> -<h2 class="nobreak p1" id="FOOTNOTES">FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> The title “Empress” was unknown to the Romans. “Imperator” was -a name of military command. The special use of it in connexion with -Octavian and his successors was that it was given for life. The more novel -title “Augustus” was extended to Livia, who later became “Augusta.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> Pliny places her birth in the year 54 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, but Dio says 57 <span class="smcap smaller">B.C.</span>, and this -date is confirmed by Tacitus.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> Improperly, because it is not a distinctive name, but common to the -emperors. Livia and Octavia received the title of “Augusta” a few years -later, yet even Livia is rarely known by it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> “Non nisi plena nave tollo vectorem.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor">5</a> Writers often convey the impression that Julia indulged even her -most vicious inclinations in the Rostra, but Dio merely speaks of “revelling” -and “carousing”: ὥστε καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ καὶ ἐπ’ αὐτοῦ γε τοῦ βήματος -κωμάζειν νύκτως καὶ συμπίνειν. The emptying of a cup of Falernian wine in -the Rostra, on some occasion of especial devilry or intoxication, may be -all that is meant.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor">6</a> Vol. V, p. 353.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> “Annals,” v. 3.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> An apology should be made for retaining the nickname of the third -Emperor, but it seems to be ineradicably fixed in history.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="fnanchor">9</a> Tacitus, who is followed by Merivale and other historians, makes -Claudius also retire to Sinuessa. This is probably an error, as the Emperor -fell ill and died at Rome.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> “The Life and Principate of the Emperor Nero,” 1903.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="fnanchor">11</a> καὶ οὕτω γε ἑαυτὴν διὰ πάσης τῆς ἀρχῆς διήγαγεν ὥστε μηδεμίαν ἐπηγορίαν -σχεῖν: lxviii, 5.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="fnanchor">12</a> Duruy quotes Aurelius Victor (“Epitome,” xiv) as saying: “It is impossible -to say how much Plotina enhanced the glory of Trajan.” The passage -is really found in c. xxxix of the “Epitome.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="fnanchor">13</a> Gregorovius points out that the incident may have occurred at Rome, -and that we have no positive proof that Sabina accompanied him on this -journey. But the narrative of Spartianus seems to imply that she was in -Britain, and we shall see that she accompanied him on his longer journey -to the East. Duruy and other writers hold that the officers were dismissed -for lack, not excess, of respect for Sabina, but the word “familiarius,” -coupled with a threat of divorce, seems to demand the interpretation I have -put on it.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="fnanchor">14</a> See Dr. Bassani’s little work, “Commodo e Marcia.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="fnanchor">15</a> The references on coins and inscriptions to Julia Domna have been -industriously collected by Mary Gilmore Wilkins, <cite>American Journal of -Archæology</cite>, 2nd series, vol. vi. They do not add materially to our knowledge -of her, but are so abundant that they show her to have been an Empress -of exceptional prominence and influence. She became Augusta in the first -year.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> I conclude that they had already come to Rome because Elagabalus, the -son of Soæmias, was given serious consideration in his later claim that he was -the son of Bassianus. He was born in 204, and, unless his mother had been -in the palace before that date, the claim could not have been made.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="fnanchor">17</a> It is difficult to imagine Elagabalus beginning his appalling career at -such an age, and Gibbon, calculating from the age given to Alexander Severus -in the “Historia Augusta” at the time of his death, changes the age to seventeen. -But the “Historia Augusta” is very commonly wrong in the ages it -ascribes to Emperors at their death. Professor Bury admits that Gibbon is -probably wrong, and we may follow Herodian.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="fnanchor">18</a> Ammianus Marcellinus tells us the one fact, Zosimus the other. -Neither mentions her name, but we learn it from coins.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="fnanchor">19</a> Some writers have conjectured, from the fact that the legend “In Pace” -occurs on the coins of Salonina after her death, that she became a Christian. -The phrase is not found otherwise except on Christian monuments. Duruy -does not admit the inference, and points out that she built a temple to the -goddess of the seasons.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="fnanchor">20</a> Her name is variously given as Vitruvia, Victoria, or Victorina. Since it -appears as Vitruvia where the “Augustan History” copies from the Acts of -the Senate, and no Roman would corrupt Victoria into Vitruvia, I take it that -it was originally Vitruvia, and was Latinized, or changed by her when she -became Empress, into Victoria.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="fnanchor">21</a> It has been suggested that the fifteen months of Lactantius may date -from their expulsion from the court of Maximin. This is hardly possible. -Galerius died in May, 311, and Valeria was still in mourning for him, and -pleaded his recent death, when Maximin sought to wed her. Maximin died -in April, 313, so that the deaths of Prisca and Valeria cannot have been -earlier than the summer of that year.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="fnanchor">22</a> The Greek original of the “Chronicle” is lost, and Jerome informs us -that he has added many details in the Latin version which we now have.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="fnanchor">23</a> One of the most authoritative works on Roman institutions, Marquardt -and Mommsen’s “Handbuch,” says this emphatically: “Ehen, bei welchen -der eine Theil der Römischen Bürgerschaft, der Andere den Latinern jüngeren -Rechtes oder den Peregrinen angehörte, sind nach Römischen Recht nicht -gültig” (vii. 29). Göteke, in a special study of the subject (“Constantinum -honeste et ex legitimo matrimonio natum”), says that special edicts made it -impossible for an officer to marry in the province in which he served. He -believes that the effect of these would not be permanent, but he fails to -consider Helena’s disability as a <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">peregrina</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="fnanchor">24</a> The question may be raised whether St. Augustine had not the case of -Constantine in mind when, in his moral treatise “De Bono Conjugali,” he -refuses to condemn a man who, having a barren wife, takes a concubine in -addition, to provide a family. It is clear, at least, that early Christian opinion -was not fixed. Gibbon again improves upon Christian writers by holding -that Minervina was an earlier wife, not a concubine, of Constantine; but, as -Professor Bury points out, the document on which he relies does not apply to -that Emperor.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="fnanchor">25</a> It is from the confusion of dates that I ascribe the words confidently -to Jerome, and not Eusebius The words “ninth year” can only refer to -the ninth year of the Cæsarate of Crispus, or 326. The interval of three -years has no significance in view of the confusion of dates.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="fnanchor">26</a> Gibbon, Professor Bury, and Mr. Firth make Zosimus coincide with -Zonaras. The reader will see from my literal translation of his words that -he differs very materially. He does not suggest that Fausta accused -Crispus, or that she was really guilty of any misconduct; but he pointedly -accuses Helena.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="fnanchor">27</a> Miss Gardner observes, in her life of Julian, that we do not know if -Helena was older than Julian, But, while Julian is known to have been -born in 331 or 332, since he was in his sixth year at the time of the massacre -of 337, and died at thirty-two, Helena’s mother had been murdered in 326.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="fnanchor">28</a> Philostorgius says that, as she lay ill with her malady, Constantius -recalled Bishop Theophilus from exile, and he cured her. But Zonaras -makes her die of this very malady, scouting the Arian miracle.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="fnanchor">29</a> The Alexandrian Chronicle repeatedly calls her Marina, and we have no -coins to determine the full and accurate name. Cohen, at least, gives no -coins, though Tillemont refers to them.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="fnanchor">30</a> Lib. xxviii. 1: He says that Gratian put a certain man to death “on -the advice of his mother.” Zonaras says that Severa still lived at the time -of the second marriage.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="fnanchor">31</a> Gratian, the youthful son of Severa, had been clothed with the purple by -Valentinian, “at the instigation of his wife and father-in-law,” says the -epitomist of Aurelius Victor, in the autumn of 367. On the other hand, -Justina’s brother was killed, in the service of Valentinian, in 369, The second -marriage falls most naturally in 368.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="fnanchor">32</a> Yet St. Augustine, who was in Rome the year after the death of Gratian, -says in his “Confessions” (viii. 2) that “nearly the whole nobility of -Rome” still clung to the old religion.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="fnanchor">33</a> Hence Tillemont and others, who give these dates, must be wrong in -placing the quarrel with Eutropius in 399. Philostorgius expressly says that -she had two daughters in her arms when she appealed to Arcadius.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="fnanchor">34</a> See Professor Puech’s “Saint Jean Chrysostome,” 1891.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="fnanchor">35</a> The curious reader will find Chrysostom’s surprising strictures of the -clergy more than confirmed in the letters of Jerome, and his fierce denunciation -of the monks borne out in Augustine’s treatise on them.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="fnanchor">36</a> Gibbon makes her survive Chrysostom, and die in 408. But Tillemont -has pointed out that the “Life of Chrysostom” by George of Alexandria, on -which he seems to have relied, forges letters, and is quite unreliable. The -earlier writers put the death of Eudoxia in 404.</p></div> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="index"> -<h2 class="nobreak p1" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> - -<ul class="index"> -<li class="ifrst">Ablabius, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Acerronia Pollia, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Acholius, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Acte, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Actium, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Adultery at Rome, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ælia Capitolina, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Pætina, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Æmilianus, L. A. L., <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ætius, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Afer, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agrippa, M. V., <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— son of Julia, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35–6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agrippina, the elder, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82–104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— memoirs of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ahenobarbus, C. D., <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Albinus, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="Alexander"></a>Alexander Severus, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219–21</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222–31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexandra, St., <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexandria, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexandrian Chronicle, the, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexianus. <i>See</i> <a href="#Alexander">Alexander</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ambrose, St., <a href="#Page_266">266</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anastasia, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Anicetus, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Annius Verus, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Anonymus Valesii,” <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antinous, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antioch, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antonia, <a href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antoninus Pius, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165–8</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apollodorus, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Appian, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Appius Silanus, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Appuleia Varilia, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arcadia, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arcadius, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326–32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Argentocoxus, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Argobastes, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arintheus, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arsenius, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Asiaticus, Valerius, <a href="#Page_71">71–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Astrology at Rome, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ataulph, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Athanasius, <a href="#Page_295">295</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Athenais, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Athens, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attalus, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attianus, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attila, <a href="#Page_345">345</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Auctions of Caligula, the, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_57">57</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustans, the, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustine, St., <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustulus, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustus, title of, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aurelian, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245–51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Avitus, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Bacchanalia, the, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baiæ, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Balbinus, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Barbatoria</i>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baring-Gould, Mr., <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baronius, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Basil, St., <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassani, <a href="#Page_186">186</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassianus, the elder, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger. <i>See</i> <a href="#Caracalla">Caracalla</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassianus, Senator, <a href="#Page_273">273</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_352">352</span></li> - -<li class="indx">— V. A. <i>See</i> <a href="#Elagabalus">Elagabalus</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassus, Pomponius, <a href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bauto, <a href="#Page_326">326</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Berenice, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boissier, M., <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boniface, Count, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Britannicus, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bruttius Præsens, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Burrus, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bury, Prof., <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Cænis, <a href="#Page_128">128–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cæsar, Julius, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cæsonia, Milonia, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caius Cæsar = Caligula</li> - -<li class="indx">Caius, son of Julia, <a href="#Page_32">32–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caledonians, the, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caligula, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_49">49–59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Callistus, <a href="#Page_80">80</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Calpurnia, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Calpurnius Piso, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Candidian, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Capitolinus, Julius, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_173">173</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Capreæ, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="Caracalla"></a>Caracalla, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caractacus, <a href="#Page_84">84</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carinus, <a href="#Page_252">252–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carnuntum, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Carus, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cassianus Postumus, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cassiodorus, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cassius, Avidius, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Castricia, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ceionia, <a href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Celsa, Nonia, <a href="#Page_210">210</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Celsus, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Centumcellæ, <a href="#Page_182">182</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charito, <a href="#Page_306">306</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Christians, persecution of the, <a href="#Page_257">257–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chrysaphius, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chrysostom, John, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cinna, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Circus, the, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— factions of the, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Claudii, the, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Claudius, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64–76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79–82</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— II, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cleander, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cleopatra, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— servant of Claudius, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clodia, <a href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cohen, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cologne, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Commodus, L. C., <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— L. V., <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_180">180</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— son of Marcus, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_182">182–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constans, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantia, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— wife of Gratian, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantina, F. J., <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantine, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271–85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantinople, founding of, <a href="#Page_283">283</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantius, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266–71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292–304</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— General, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Contubernium</i>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corbulo, Domitius, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cornificia, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corruption at Rome, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crepereius Gallus, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crinitus, Ulpius, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crispilla, Quintia, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crispina, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Crispus, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278–82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Passienus, <a href="#Page_67">67</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Curia mulierum</i>, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Daza, <a href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Deaths of the Persecutors,” <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Decius, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Delmatius, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dexippus, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Diadumenianus, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Didia Clara, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dill, Dr. S., <a href="#Page_136">136</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dio, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Diocletian, <a href="#Page_253">253–60</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Divination at Rome, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dominica, Albia, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domitia Lepida, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Longina, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domitian, <a href="#Page_130">130–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domitian, Prefect, <a href="#Page_292">292</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_353">353</span></li> - -<li class="indx">Domitilla, Flavia, <a href="#Page_128">128</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domna, Julia, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_196">196–209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domus Vectiliana, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drepanum, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drusilla, daughter of Agrippina, <a href="#Page_51">51</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— daughter of Cæsonia, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drusus Nero, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— son of Agrippina, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— son of Livia, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duruy, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Eboracum, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eclectus, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elagabal, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><a id="Elagabalus"></a>Elagabalus, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211–21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eleuthera, St., <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Emesa, <a href="#Page_195">195</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Empress, the title, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ennia, <a href="#Page_50">50–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ephesus, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Epicureanism, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Etruscilla, Herennia, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eucer, <a href="#Page_110">110</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eudocia, <a href="#Page_334">334–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eudoxia, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327–31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Licinia, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Euphemia, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eusebia, Aurelia, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296–301</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eusebius, Bishop, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— eunuch, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eutropia, Galeria Valeria, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eutropius, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— historian, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fabia, <a href="#Page_180">180</a>, <a href="#Page_181">181</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fadilla, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Julia, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Junia, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Falco, <a href="#Page_190">190</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fausta, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278–82</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Faustina, the elder, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_170">170–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Maxima, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Rupilia, <a href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Faustinopolis, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Felix, <a href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Firth, Mr., <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flaccilla, Ælia, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flaminian Circus, <a href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flavian, Archbishop, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Forum, the, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— of Trajan, the, <a href="#Page_143">143</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Freedmen at Rome, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fronto, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fucine Lake, <a href="#Page_87">87</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fulvia, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fundana, Galeria, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Furnilla, Marcia, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Gainas, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Galba, Sulpicius, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Galerius, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Galla, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gallienus, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gallus, <a href="#Page_237">237</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gannys, <a href="#Page_212">212</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gardner, A., <a href="#Page_299">299</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Genseric, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Germanicus, <a href="#Page_37">37–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Geta, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gibbon, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_274">274</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_301">301</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Glycerius, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Golden House of Nero, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gordianus, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Görres, Dr., <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Göteke, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gratian, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Greece, Nero in, <a href="#Page_119">119</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gregorovius, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_161">161</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Güldenpenning, <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hadrian, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149–63</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hannibalian, <a href="#Page_286">286</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Helena, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>, <a href="#Page_266">266–70</a>, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— wife of Julian, <a href="#Page_297">297</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299–304</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henderson, Mr., <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herennianus, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herod, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Agrippa, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_59">59</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herodes, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herodian, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Historia Augusta,” the, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_217">217</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_354">354</span></li> - -<li class="indx">Hodgkin, Mr., <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Honoria, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_345">345</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Honorius, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a>, <a href="#Page_323">323</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hortensius, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hostilianus, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Huns, the, <a href="#Page_344">344</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ifland, Dr., <a href="#Page_317">317</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Imperator, the title, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Jerome, St., <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jerusalem, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Josephus, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_130">130</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jovian, <a href="#Page_306">306</a>, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julia, daughter of Octavian, <a href="#Page_23">23–30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_33">33–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— daughter of Drusus, <a href="#Page_66">66–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— daughter of Titus, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Livilla, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julian, the Emperor, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_288">288</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_296">296–305</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julianus, Didius, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julius, son of Julia, <a href="#Page_32">32–3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Junia Claudilla, <a href="#Page_49">49</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Silana, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Junius Silanus, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>, <a href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Justina, Aviana, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312–17</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Juvenal, <a href="#Page_137">137</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Kornemann, Professor, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lactantius, <a href="#Page_258">258</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Læta, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lætus, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lake Agrippa, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lampridius, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leontius, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lepida, Domitia, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— wife of Galba, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lepidus, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the Triumvir, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Libanius, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Liberius, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Licinius, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Livia, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15–17</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19–21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24–44</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Medullina Camilla, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Orestilla, <a href="#Page_52">52</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Liviada, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Livilla, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Livius Drusus Claudianus, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Locusta, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lollia Paulina, <a href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lollius, <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Londinium, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lucilla, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lucius Domitius = Nero</li> - -<li class="indx">Lucullan Gardens, the, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lugdunum, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lutetia, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Luxury at Rome, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_54">54</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lycisca, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Macellum, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macrinus, Opilius, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, <a href="#Page_209">209–12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Sallustius, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macro, <a href="#Page_50">50–1</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Macrobius, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mæcenas, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mæonius, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mæsa, Julia, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211–19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Magnentius, <a href="#Page_289">289</a>, <a href="#Page_290">290</a>, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Malala, John, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mamæa, Julia, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>, <a href="#Page_222">222–31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcella, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcellinus, Ammianus, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_291">291</a>, <a href="#Page_294">294</a>, <a href="#Page_299">299</a>, <a href="#Page_300">300</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Chronicle of, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcellus, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcia, <a href="#Page_185">185–9</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcian, <a href="#Page_339">339</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marciana, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Paccia, <a href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcus Aurelius, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a>, <a href="#Page_169">169–78</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mardonius, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maria, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marina, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— daughter of Eudoxia, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mariniana, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marius, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Maximus, <a href="#Page_173">173</a>, <a href="#Page_175">175</a>, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mark Antony, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marriage, Roman, <a href="#Page_268">268–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marsa, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Matidia, the elder, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_355">355</span></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maxentius, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_273">273</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maximian, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_271">271–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maximin, <a href="#Page_261">261</a>, <a href="#Page_262">262</a>, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maximinus, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>, <a href="#Page_232">232–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maximus, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_315">315</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Petronius, <a href="#Page_346">346–7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Pupienus, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Memnia, <a href="#Page_226">226</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mercurius, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Merivale, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_37">37</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a>, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Messalina, Statilia, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Valeria, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_62">62</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63–78</a>, <a href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Metaphrastes, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Milvian Bridge, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Minervina, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mnester, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Montius, <a href="#Page_292">292</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Naissos, <a href="#Page_266">266</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Narcissus, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Negri, Gaetano, <a href="#Page_298">298</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nepos, Julius, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nepotian, <a href="#Page_290">290</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nero, son of Agrippina the elder, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the Emperor, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96–121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nerva, M. C., <a href="#Page_135">135</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nicæa, Council of, <a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nicomedia, palace of, <a href="#Page_255">255</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Niger, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nigrinus, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nîmes, mausoleum at, <a href="#Page_148">148</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Numerianus, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Octavia, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— daughter of Messalina, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_105">105</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108–11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Octavian, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17–21</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24–36</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Odenathus, <a href="#Page_240">240–2</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Odoacer, <a href="#Page_350">350</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Olybrius, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Oppian Law, the, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orbiana, Sallustia Barbia, <a href="#Page_225">225</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orestes, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orosius, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orphanages, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ostia, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Otho, Salvius, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Paganism, insincerity of, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pagans, origin of name, <a href="#Page_314">314</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pagi, <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Palatine Hill, the, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Palladium, the, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pallas, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Palma, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Palmyra, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pandateria, <a href="#Page_30">30</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Papianilla, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paris in the fourth century, <a href="#Page_302">302</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paris, the actor, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paula, Julia Cornelia, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paulina, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paulinus, <a href="#Page_333">333</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_336">336</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paulus, <a href="#Page_295">295</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Perennis, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pertinax, <a href="#Page_189">189–91</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Petronia, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Petronius, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Philanthropy in the Roman world, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Philip, the Emperor, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Philostorgius, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_287">287</a>, <a href="#Page_293">293</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Philostratus, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pipara, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Piso, C. C., <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pissamena, <a href="#Page_313">313</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Placidia, Ælia Galla, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_334">334</a>, <a href="#Page_341">341</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342–5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the younger, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Planasia, <a href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plancina, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_39">39</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plautia Urgulanilla, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plautianus, <a href="#Page_199">199–201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plautilla, <a href="#Page_199">199</a>, <a href="#Page_201">201</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pliny, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plotina, <a href="#Page_138">138–48</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Polemo, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_167">167</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pollio, Trebellius, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Polybius, <a href="#Page_63">63</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pompeianus, Claudius, <a href="#Page_181">181</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pompeius Planta, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pompey, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Poppæa, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110–17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Sabina, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Poppæus Sabinus, <a href="#Page_107">107</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_356">356</span></li> - -<li class="indx">Porphyry of Gaza, <a href="#Page_329">329</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prætorian Guards, the, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_227">227</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prisca, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Probus, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Procopius, <a href="#Page_308">308–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Puech, Professor, <a href="#Page_329">329</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Puellæ Faustinianæ, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a href="#Page_177">177</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pulcheria, <a href="#Page_317">317</a>, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Puteoli, <a href="#Page_53">53</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pyrallis, <a href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pythagoras, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Quadratus, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Quietus, Lusius, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Quintilius, <a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Religion at Rome, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Renan, <a href="#Page_136">136</a>, <a href="#Page_172">172</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ricimer, <a href="#Page_348">348</a>, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rome, burning of, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Romula, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rostra, the, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rubellius Plautus, <a href="#Page_98">98</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rufinus, <a href="#Page_325">325</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_327">327</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rufus Crispinus, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sabina, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_149">149–61</a>, <a href="#Page_202">202</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sabinus, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sacred Way, the, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sallustius, <a href="#Page_307">307</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salona, <a href="#Page_260">260</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salonina, Cornelia, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Saloninus, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sapor, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Saturninus, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scantilla, Manlia, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>, <a href="#Page_193">193</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Schultz, O., <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scotland, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scribonia, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seeck, Dr., <a href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sejanus, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_47">47</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Selinus, <a href="#Page_146">146</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Senaculum, <a href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Senate, the Roman, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_103">103</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seneca, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>, <a href="#Page_97">97</a>, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_115">115</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Serena, <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— St., <a href="#Page_256">256</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Servianus, Ursus, <a href="#Page_149">149</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Serviez, Roergas de, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Servilia, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severa, Julia Aquilia, <a href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Marcia Otacilia, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Valeria, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severian, <a href="#Page_263">263</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Bishop, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severina, Ulpia, <a href="#Page_250">250</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severus, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— deacon, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Livius, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Septimus, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>, <a href="#Page_194">194–204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sextilia, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sextus Pompeius, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sidonius Apollinaris, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Silanus, Junius, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Lucius, <a href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Silius, Caius, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a>, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Silvagni, V., <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Simeon Stylites, <a href="#Page_338">338</a>, <a href="#Page_348">348</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sinuessa, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Smyrna, <a href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Soæmias, Julia, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>, <a href="#Page_212">212</a>, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>, <a href="#Page_214">214–21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Socrates, the historian, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sosibius, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sozomen, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spartianus, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sporus, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stahr, A., <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stilicho, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_325">325</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stoicism, <a href="#Page_66">66</a>, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a href="#Page_168">168</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Subura, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Suetonius, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a href="#Page_155">155</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Suidas, <a href="#Page_296">296</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Suillius, <a href="#Page_71">71</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sulpicianus, <a href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sura, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>, <a href="#Page_150">150</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Syria and Rome, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tacitus, <a href="#Page_9">9</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>, <a href="#Page_45">45</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>, <a href="#Page_90">90</a>, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the Emperor, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tarvey, Mr., <a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tertulla, Arricidia, <a href="#Page_129">129</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_357">357</span></li> - -<li class="indx">Tertullus, <a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tetricus, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theatre, the Roman, <a href="#Page_58">58</a>, <a href="#Page_109">109</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thebes, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theoclea, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theodora, Flavia Maximiana, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theodoret, <a href="#Page_310">310</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theodosius, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_314">314</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_317">317–21</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— II, <a href="#Page_328">328</a>, <a href="#Page_332">332–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theophanes, <a href="#Page_336">336</a>, <a href="#Page_337">337</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theophilus, <a href="#Page_304">304</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thermantia, A. M., <a href="#Page_324">324</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thessalonica, massacre of, <a href="#Page_319">319</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thirty Tyrants, the, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tiberius Claudius Germanicus, <a href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— — Nero, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the Emperor, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_35">35</a>, <a href="#Page_36">36–42</a>, <a href="#Page_46">46–9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tigellinus, <a href="#Page_110">110</a>, <a href="#Page_116">116</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tillemont, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a>, <a href="#Page_324">324</a>, <a href="#Page_326">326</a>, <a href="#Page_330">330</a>, <a href="#Page_331">331</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Timesitheus, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Timolaus, <a href="#Page_241">241</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Titiana, Flavia, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Titus, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>, <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— Ollius, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tivoli, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>, <a href="#Page_160">160</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Toledo, Council of, <a href="#Page_269">269</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trajan, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139–46</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tranquillina, Furia Sabina, <a href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Triaria, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Triumphal procession, <a href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ulpianus, Domitius, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Urbica, Magnia, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Urgulania, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a href="#Page_61">61</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Vaballath, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valens, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_308">308</a>, <a href="#Page_309">309</a>, <a href="#Page_310">310</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valentinian, <a href="#Page_307">307</a>, <a href="#Page_311">311–13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— II, <a href="#Page_313">313</a>, <a href="#Page_318">318</a>, <a href="#Page_319">319</a>, <a href="#Page_321">321</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— III, <a href="#Page_335">335</a>, <a href="#Page_342">342</a>, <a href="#Page_343">343</a>, <a href="#Page_346">346</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valeria, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_259">259</a>, <a href="#Page_260">260</a>, <a href="#Page_261">261–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valerianus, <a href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valerius Messala Barbatus, <a href="#Page_62">62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vandals, the, <a href="#Page_344">344</a>, <a href="#Page_347">347</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Velabrum, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Verina, <a href="#Page_349">349</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vespasian, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>, <a href="#Page_128">128–9</a>, <a href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vestal Virgins, <a href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vestinus, Atticus, <a href="#Page_118">118</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vetranio, <a href="#Page_289">289</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vettius Valens, <a href="#Page_74">74</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vibidia, <a href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vice in the Roman Empire, <a href="#Page_136">136–7</a>, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Victor, Aurelius, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_279">279</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— — “Epitome,” <a href="#Page_148">148</a>, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_312">312</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Victoria, <a href="#Page_242">242–4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Victorinus, <a href="#Page_243">243</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vindex, <a href="#Page_120">120</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vipsania, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vitellius, the elder, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>, <a href="#Page_75">75</a>, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>, <a href="#Page_124">124</a></li> - -<li class="indx">— the Emperor, <a href="#Page_124">124–8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Volusianus, <a href="#Page_237">237</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vopiscus, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Wilkins, M. G., <a href="#Page_197">197</a>, <a href="#Page_207">207</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Woman, position of, at Rome, <a href="#Page_4">4–6</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Xenophon, <a href="#Page_91">91</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Zabda, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zenobia, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>, <a href="#Page_244">244–50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zonaras, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_303">303</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zosimus, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>, <a href="#Page_245">245</a>, <a href="#Page_248">248</a>, <a href="#Page_249">249</a>, <a href="#Page_257">257</a>, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>, <a href="#Page_272">272</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>, <a href="#Page_280">280</a>, <a href="#Page_284">284</a>, <a href="#Page_298">298</a>, <a href="#Page_316">316</a>, <a href="#Page_320">320</a></li> -</ul> -</div></div> - -<p class="newpage p4 center small vspace"> -PRINTED BY<br /> -HAZELL, WATSON AND VINEY, LD.,<br /> -LONDON AND AYLESBURY. -</p> - -<p> </p> -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak p1" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Note</h2> - -<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; unpaired quotation -marks were remedied when the change was obvious, and otherwise left -unpaired.</p> - -<p>Footnotes, originally at the bottoms of pages, have been collected and -moved to precede the Index.</p> - -<p>The index was not checked for proper alphabetization or correct page -references.</p> - -<p>Cover created by Transcriber and placed in the Public Domain.</p> -</div></div> - -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE EMPRESSES OF ROME***</p> -<p>******* This file should be named 60933-h.htm or 60933-h.zip *******</p> -<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> -<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/0/9/3/60933">http://www.gutenberg.org/6/0/9/3/60933</a></p> -<p> -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed.</p> - -<p>Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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