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diff --git a/old/64433-h/64433-h.htm b/old/64433-h/64433-h.htm deleted file mode 100644 index 3907ddc..0000000 --- a/old/64433-h/64433-h.htm +++ /dev/null @@ -1,14142 +0,0 @@ -<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" - "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> -<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> - <head> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=utf-8" /> - <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> - <title> - The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus, by J. 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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="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Amazing Emperor Heliogabalus</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: John Stuart Hay</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Contributor: John Bagnell Bury</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: January 31, 2021 [eBook #64433]</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Most recently updated: February 2, 2023 -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: MFR and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive)</div> - -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AMAZING EMPEROR HELIOGABALUS ***</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_i"></a>[i]</span></p> - -<h1>THE AMAZING EMPEROR<br /> -HELIOGABALUS</h1> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ii"></a>[ii]</span></p> - -<div class="figcenter titlepage" style="width: 300px;"> -<img src="images/macmillan.jpg" width="300" height="100" alt="" /> -</div> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br /> -MELBOURNE</span></p> - -<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> -<span class="smaller">NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br /> -ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO</span></p> - -<p class="center"><span class="smcap">THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">TORONTO</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iii"></a>[iii]</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage larger"><span class="smaller">THE</span><br /> -AMAZING EMPEROR<br /> -HELIOGABALUS</p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> -J. STUART HAY<br /> -<span class="smaller">ST. JOHN’S COLLEGE, OXFORD</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smaller">WITH INTRODUCTION BY</span><br /> -<span class="smcap">Professor J. B. BURY, Litt.D.</span><br /> -<span class="smaller">REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE</span></p> - -<p class="titlepage">MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED<br /> -ST. MARTIN’S STREET, LONDON<br /> -1911</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_iv"></a>[iv]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_v"></a>[v]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">PREFACE</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The life of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, -generally known to the world as Heliogabalus, -is as yet shrouded in impenetrable mystery. -The picture we have of the reign is that of an imperial -orgy—sacrilegious, necromantic, and obscene. -The boy Emperor, who reigned from his fourteenth to -his eighteenth year, is depicted amongst that crowd -of tyrants who held the throne of Imperial Rome, -by the help of the praetorian army, as one of the most -tyrannical, certainly as the most debased.</p> - -<p>Few people have made any study of the documents -which relate to this particular period, and -fewer still have taken the trouble to inquire whether -the accounts of the Scriptores are trustworthy or -consonant with the known facts.</p> - -<p>To this present time no account of the life of this -Emperor has been published. Histories of the -decline and fall of Imperial Rome there are in -plenty; other reigns have been examined in detail; -German critics have sifted the trustworthiness of the -documents, few in number and all late in date, which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vi"></a>[vi]</span> -refer to other reigns; so far nothing has been done -on the life of Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>The present writer started this study with the -view that the Syrian boy-Emperor was, in all -probability, what his biographers have painted him, -and what all other writers have accepted as being a -substantially correct account of the absence of mind, -will, policy, and authority which he was supposed to -have betrayed, along with other even more reprehensible -characteristics.</p> - -<p>The first reason to doubt this estimate came -from the continually recurring mention of a perpetual -struggle between the Emperor and his female -relatives; a fight in which the boy was always worsting -able and resolute women, carrying his point -with consummate tact and ability, while allowing the -women a certain show of dignity and position, where -it in no way diminished the imperial authority or -his own prerogative.</p> - -<p>This circumstance alone was scarcely consonant -with Lampridius’ account of a mere youthful -debauchee, who had neither inclination nor will for -anything, save a low desire to wallow in vice and -unspeakable horrors as the be-all and end-all of his -existence.</p> - -<p>On further inquiry, another circumstance obtruded -itself, namely, that the boy had a vast -religious scheme or policy, which he was bent -on imposing on his subjects in Rome, and -indeed throughout the world. This policy was the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_vii"></a>[vii]</span> -unification of churches in one great monotheistic -ideal.</p> - -<p>Religion may be neurotic in itself, but the scheme -of Elagabalus was not essentially so. Certainly the -course of action by which he purposed to effect his -ideal was not that of a mere sensualist. It showed -understanding, persistency, and dogged determination; -it was not popular, because in the general -incredulity, the earlier deities had lost even the -immortality of mummies.</p> - -<p>Yet another reason which forced one to disagree -with the usual summary of the character under -discussion was that, despite (1) the awful accounts of -the imperial orgies; (2) the accusations brought -against the cruelty and incompetency of the government; -(3) the announcement that all good men were -exterminated in the general lust for destruction of -such worthies; (4) the account of the class and -calibre of the men employed in all state offices; -(despite all this) the authors inform us that the state -did not suffer from the effects of the reign. This -was obviously an impossibility at the outset, and the -terminological inexactitude became even more apparent -when all the known good men were mentioned -as peaceably holding office, not only during the reign -in question, but in that of Elagabalus’ successor; -either they had been resurrected or had never been -exterminated.</p> - -<p>Again, the account given of the military policy -is not that which would be the work of a weakling.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_viii"></a>[viii]</span> -The fiscal policy may have been unchanged, but the -edict which enforced the payment of Vectigalia in -gold, showed a considerable amount of sense, in -demanding the payment of taxes in the one coin -whose standard had been maintained when all others -had been debased by preceding Emperors, and no -one had been worse than the great financier Septimius -Severus in this debasing of the currency.</p> - -<p>In legal matters alone we are told that the period -was sterile, because only five decrees of the reign are -recorded by the editors of the <i>Prosopographia</i>. This -may be true, but it is quite possible, in fact more -than probable, that in later redactions much of the -work which Papinian, Paul, Ulpian, and other such -produced during this reign has been embodied in -later decrees or codifications, and one can scarcely -imagine that these men were entirely sterile for four -years in the zenith of their authority.</p> - -<p>Again, it is most noticeable that in the mass of -abuse and obvious animus which the “life” exhibits, -there is not one definite act of cruelty reported; no -wanton murder is cited; no hint given that the -people were discontented with the appointments -made, or that they suffered from any of the misrule -which had been so prevalent for years past. -On the other hand, we are told that the people -considered Elagabalus a worthy Emperor, despite -all that could be said to his discredit.</p> - -<p>Chiefly it was this too obvious animus, shown on -each page of the documents, which led the writer to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_ix"></a>[ix]</span> -examine the opinions of German and Italian critics -on the measure of credibility which could safely be -attached to the Scriptores Historiae Augustae. It -was an agreeable surprise to find that their estimates -of the Scriptores ranged from those of men who -stigmatised the whole collection as an impudent and -unenlightened forgery to men who, like Mommsen, -contended that, though originally the lives might -have had some real historical value, they had been -so edited and enlarged as to lack the essential -weight of historical evidence, and contained, as -they stood, but a modicum of consecutive and -unvarnished fact.</p> - -<p>Authorities being so far in accord, the present -writer set to work to sift the accounts which were -obviously quite unnaturally biased, and to separate -what was merely stupidly contradictory from what -was mutually exclusive.</p> - -<p>This method has been applied merely to the first -seventeen sections of Lampridius’ work, the portion -which professes to contain a more or less historical -account of the events from Elagabalus’ entry into -Rome to his disappearance into the main drain of -the city.</p> - -<p>In the latter portion of the life there is a wealth -of biographical detail, which, in plain English, -means an account <i>in extenso</i> of what has been already -described too luridly in the foregoing sections. It -is written in Latin, and has never been translated -into English, to the writer’s knowledge, nor has he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_x"></a>[x]</span> -any intention of undertaking the work at this present -or any other time, as he has no desire to land -himself, with the printers and publishers, in the -dock at the Old Bailey, in an unenviable, if not -an invidious and notorious position.</p> - -<p>Those, however, who are capable of reading the -Latin tongue, and therefore inured against further -corruption, will find an excellent edition published -in Paris by M. Panckoucke in 1847. The last three -chapters in the present volume are an attempt to -bring together all the material capable of publication -in these seventeen sections, and take the form of three -essays on the main figures of the Emperor’s psychological -imagination. They are in no way an endeavour -to expurgate the sections referred to, as -any such attempt would leave one with the numerals -as headings and the word “Finis” half-way down a -sheet of notepaper. It is better for the sapient to -read the chapters for themselves, and so all men will -be satisfied.</p> - -<p>It has also been impossible, on the same grounds, -to criticise the statements here made; the greater -part are, like those in the biographical portion, -frankly impossible, when not mutually exclusive. It -is needless to say that the author accepts the whole -with all the Attic salt at his disposal.</p> - -<p>Another anomaly that may strike the reader is -the fact that various names are used to designate the -Emperor. Tristran remarks that “they are as many -as the hydra has heads.” The present idea is to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xi"></a>[xi]</span> -use the titles which the boy bore at the different -stages of his life, rather than apply to him on all -occasions the nickname which was attached to him -after his death.</p> - -<p>In the earlier part of the work I have referred -to the youth as Varius and Bassianus, the two names -which appear most frequently, in reference to his -reputed fathers, but have neglected Avitus, by -which title he is occasionally known, in reference to -his grandfather, as also that of Lupus, which is -sometimes found in Dion, because, as Dr. Wotton -remarks, there is no means of finding out whether -he was so called (if ever he was given the name at -all) on account of some ancestry, by reason of a -false reading, or on account of some other matter -now long laid to rest.</p> - -<p>After the Proclamation, I have preferred to call -the Emperor by his official name, Marcus Aurelius -Antoninus, or Antonine for short, as this is the only -manner in which the coins, inscriptions, and documents -describe him. After his death, it seems -allowable to give him the nickname which his -relations and later biographers have applied to him, -namely, the latinised form of the name of his God. -I have nowhere adopted the later Greek spelling or -adaptation, Heliogabalus, either when referring to -the God of the Emesans or to the Emperor himself. -The only form in which the name occurs in inscriptions -is in describing the Emperor as “Priest -of Elagabal” or the Sun. Lampridius certainly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xii"></a>[xii]</span> -Hellenised its form a century later, on what grounds -is by no means clear, when one realises that neither -the boy nor his God had any trace of Greek blood, -tradition, or philosophy about them, and that the -identification of a particular Syrian monotheism -with Mithraism or general Sun worship is not -universally admitted as a necessary consequence, -either in the case of Elagabal, Jehovah, or indeed -in that of any of the other “El” claimants to exclusiveness, -though the balance of probability may -lie on the side of the identification. It is further -unnecessary to drag in the Hellenised form of -the Emperor’s name in order to pander to a -popular and erroneous conception of the reign, -which conception this book is designed to combat -and generally offend. Heliogabalus is nevertheless -the sole title by which this Emperor is known to -the world at large, in consequence of which I have -allowed the name to stand on the title-page, chiefly -in order that Mrs. Grundy’s prurient mind may -know, before she buys or borrows this volume, that -it is the record of a life at which she may expect to -be shocked, though she will in all probability find -herself yawning before the middle of the introductory -chapter.</p> - -<p>As I understand the reign, the main object on -the part of the boy’s murderers in nicknaming him -Elagabalus after his death, was to throw discredit -on his memory by depriving him of the venerated -title Antonine, and substituting therefor the name<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiii"></a>[xiii]</span> -of a Syrian monotheistic deity, who by his exclusiveness -was an offence and a byword in the -eyes of the virile, pantheistic philosophy which then -held sway.</p> - -<p>A word must also be said as to the attitude in -leaving untouched much of the scandal attaching to -this Emperor’s name. I have only been able to -deal with the public side of his character, as there -are no coins or inscriptions which refer to his private -life, and have in consequence been forced to quote -what the tradition, gained from his traducers’ writings, -states was his unfortunate abnormality.</p> - -<p>These traditions may be true wholly or in part, -they certainly could only be disproved by the actual -persons implicated, who have written neither for -nor against the Emperor’s psychological condition. -The traditions, however, as far as they treat of the -public position and reputation of the Emperor, have -been shown to be grossly unfair where they are not -horribly untruthful, and may be—in all probability -are—of an equal value, when they discuss private -practices about which no one can have had -any particular knowledge except his actual accomplices. -Suffice it to say, that any stick is good -enough to beat a dog with once he is incapable of -defending himself, and in this case it has been laid -about Antonine’s shoulders with almost diabolical -ingenuity.</p> - -<p>I much regret that I have been unable to find -any portraits of the Emperor for whose authenticity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xiv"></a>[xiv]</span> -Bernouilli will vouch. Alone of the whole family -there remain authentic busts of Julia Mamaea and -Julia Paula, neither of whom are important enough -to be included, since we are unable to give a portrait -of Elagabalus himself. I have therefore confined -myself to the use of coins, whose veracity is undoubted, -hoping that the reader will supply from -his imagination that charm and beauty which the -biographers have been unwillingly forced to allow -both to the Emperor and his mother.</p> - -<p>In the preparation of this work I have had much -valuable and kindly assistance, for which I desire to -acknowledge my deep indebtedness here. First, to -Professor Bury of Cambridge, for his unwearying and -sage advice on my whole manuscript; also to Dr. -Bussell, Vice-Principal of Brasenose College, Oxford, -for his interest and kindly corrections; to -the authorities in the Bodleian Library; to the -assistants in the British Museum, especially to Mr. -Philip Wilson and Mr. A. J. Ellis for their continued -help in my work there, and to Mr. Allen -for the time and care he has spent in helping me -find the coins that explain the text.</p> - -<p>I have also to acknowledge with sincere thanks -the permission of Mr. E. E. Saltus of Harvard -University to quote his vivid and beautiful studies -on the Roman Empire and her Customs. I am -deeply indebted to Mr. Walter Pater, Mr. J. A. -Symonds, and Mr. Saltus for many a <i>tournure -de phrase</i> and picturesque rendering of Tacitus,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xv"></a>[xv]</span> -Suetonius, Lampridius, and the rest. I also desire -to thank Dr. Counsell of New College, Oxford, -and Dr. Bailey of the Warneford Asylum, not only -for their help in correcting my proofs, but also for -their assistance in the preparation of my chapter on -Psychology.</p> - -<p>To all these gentlemen I owe a great debt, -which, I hope, the general public will repay by an -appreciation of their work. We have endeavoured -to right a wrong; if our efforts are in any way -successful, the reader will acknowledge that this -<i>mauvais quart d’heure</i>, which has been stigmatised -as full of impossible situations and intolerable -surprises, is in reality a very human life which, like -our own, has its exquisite moments of which we -would as soon deprive ourselves as Elagabalus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvi"></a>[xvi]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xvii"></a>[xvii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">CONTENTS</h2> - -</div> - -<table summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller">PAGE</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> - <td class="tdpg tp"><a href="#INTRODUCTION">xxiii</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#PART_I">PART I</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">General sketch of conditions, <a href="#Page_1">1</a>. - The Augustan Histories and their writers, <a - href="#Page_2">2</a>. Lampridius, author of the Life of - Elagabalus, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. First attempts at - criticism, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. Modern criticism, - <a href="#Page_4">4</a>. Latin sources: Marius Maximus, - <a href="#Page_5">5</a>. Greek sources: Dion Cassius, - Xiphilinus, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>. Herodian, <a - href="#Page_8">8</a>. General attack on the authenticity of - the “Lives,” <a href="#Page_9">9</a>. Mommsen’s opinion, - <a href="#Page_10">10</a>. Peter, Richter, Dessau, Seeck, - Klebs, Kornemann, <a href="#Page_11">11-15</a>. Italian - opinion, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>. General opinion of - the biographies, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>. Reasons - for the tainted sources, <a href="#Page_18">18</a>. - Church historians, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>. - Jurisprudence, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>. Numismatists, - <a href="#Page_21">21</a>. Object of this work, <a - href="#Page_23">23</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Emesa, <a href="#Page_24">24</a>. High-Priest Kings, - <a href="#Page_25">25</a>. Septimius Severus, - <a href="#Page_27">27</a>. Julius Bassianus, <a - href="#Page_27">27</a>. Julia Domna’s marriage, - <a href="#Page_28">28</a>. Caracalla’s birth, <a - href="#Page_29">29</a>. Septimius Severus, Emperor, - <a href="#Page_30">30</a>. Julia’s court, <a - href="#Page_31">31</a>. Maesa comes to Rome with her - family, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>. Marriage of Soaemias, - <a href="#Page_34">34</a>. Birth of Elagabalus, <a - href="#Page_35">35</a>. Paternity of Elagabalus, <a - href="#Page_35">35</a>. Birthplace of Elagabalus, <a - href="#Page_36">36</a>. Julia Mamaea, her marriage, and - her connection with Caracalla, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>. - Macrinus Praetorian Praefect, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>. - His plot against Caracalla, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>. - Election of Macrinus, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>. Julia’s - position, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>. Her work to recover - the empire, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>. Banishment and - death, <a href="#Page_44">44</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Maesa’s return to Emesa, <a href="#Page_46">46</a>. - Macrinus’ weakness and tyranny, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>. - The legion at Emesa, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>. - Bassianus High-Priest, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>. - Worship of Elagabal, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>. - Bassianus’ religious outlook, <a href="#Page_51">51</a>. - Eutychianus and Gannys corrupt<span class="pagenum"><a - id="Page_xviii"></a>[xviii]</span> the soldiers, <a - href="#Page_53">53</a>. Date of the proclamation of - Elagabalus, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>. Macrinus astonished, - <a href="#Page_56">56</a>. The Empire in favour of - Bassianus, Julian’s expedition, <a href="#Page_59">59</a>. - Deserters to Bassianus, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>. - Macrinus at Apamea, and Diadumenianus’ elevation, <a - href="#Page_63">63</a>. Macrinus retires to Antioch, - <a href="#Page_66">66</a>. Bassianus wins allegiance - of soldiers at Apamea, <a href="#Page_67">67</a>. - Dion on the dates of proclamation and battle, <a - href="#Page_67">67</a>. Arval Brothers’ meeting, <a - href="#Page_68">68</a>. Wirth, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>. - Battle of Immae, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>. Antonine - at Antioch, <a href="#Page_71">71</a>. Macrinus’ - escape, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>. Capture and death, - <a href="#Page_74">74</a>. Character of Macrinus, <a - href="#Page_75">75</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Antonine’s refusal to allow the sack of Antioch, - <a href="#Page_77">77</a>. Chief minister, <a - href="#Page_78">78</a>. Antonine’s temperament, <a - href="#Page_79">79</a>. Acts of the new Government, <a - href="#Page_81">81</a>. Amnesty, <a href="#Page_83">83</a>. - Position of the Senate, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>. - Delight of Rome, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>. Dismissal of - troops, <a href="#Page_87">87</a>. Treasonable attempts - and pretenders, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>. Elagabal to - accompany the Emperor, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>. Journey - to Nicomedia, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>. Winter in Asia - Minor, <a href="#Page_93">93</a>. Illness of the Emperor, - <a href="#Page_94">94</a>. Xiphilinus on Antonine’s - religion, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>. Monotheistic or - Mithraic not polytheistic, <a href="#Page_96">96</a>. - Death of Gannys, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>. Antonine’s - character, <a href="#Page_102">102</a>. His popularity and - his taxation, <a href="#Page_104">104</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Date of arrival in Rome discussed, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>. - The entry into the city according to Herodian, - <a href="#Page_110">110</a>. First marriage, - <a href="#Page_111">111</a>. The temples, <a - href="#Page_112">112</a>. The scheme for the unifying - of religions, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>. The - worship, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>. The Eastern - cults, <a href="#Page_115">115</a>. Date of scheme - discussed, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>. Reasons for - its failure, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>. Women in the - Senate, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>. Senaculum, <a - href="#Page_121">121</a>. Lampridius on the Emperor’s - popularity, <a href="#Page_124">124</a>. Charges against - the Administration, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>. - Divorce of Julia Paula, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>. - Pastimes, <a href="#Page_127">127</a>. Summary, - <a href="#Page_128">128</a>. Elagabal’s alliance - with Vesta, Antonine’s with Aquilia Severa, <a - href="#Page_129">129</a>. Pomponius Bassus’ plot, <a - href="#Page_131">131</a>. Antonine divorces Elagabal - from Minerva, himself from Aquilia Severa, <a - href="#Page_132">132</a>. Sends for Tanit from Carthage, - <a href="#Page_133">133</a>. Marries Annia Faustina, <a - href="#Page_134">134</a>. Alliance of Maesa and Mamaea, <a - href="#Page_135">135</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Lampridius on Alexander, <a href="#Page_137">137</a>. - Seius Carus’ plot, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>. - Military expenditure, <a href="#Page_140">140</a>. - Maesa’s plan for the adoption of Alexander, <a - href="#Page_141">141</a>. The Emperor’s reasons for - concurrence, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>. Name Alexander - accounted for, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>. Date of - adoption discussed, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>. - Position after adoption, <a href="#Page_146">146</a>. - Alexander’s titles, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>. - Antonine’s endeavours, <a href="#Page_148">148</a>. - Antonine’s resolve to divorce Annia Faustina and disown - Alexander, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>. Accusations - against the Government, <a href="#Page_151">151</a>. - Antonine’s attempt to assassinate<span class="pagenum"><a - id="Page_xix"></a>[xix]</span> Alexander discussed, <a - href="#Page_152">152</a>. Antonine goes to Praetorian - camp, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>. Camp conference, <a - href="#Page_155">155</a>. Hatred of Maesa and Mamaea - testified against Antonine, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>. - Mamaea’s precautions, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>. - Antonine’s preparations for suicide, <a - href="#Page_160">160</a>. Alexander designated Consul, - <a href="#Page_160">160</a>. The Emperor’s refusal and - reasons for his compliance, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>. - Lampridius on Julius Sabinus, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>. - Ulpian and Silvinus, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>. - Reasons for the murder and the various accounts, <a - href="#Page_165">165</a>. Criticism on the above, <a - href="#Page_170">170</a>. The treatment of Elagabalus’ - body, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">The Emperor set free to further his cult, - <a href="#Page_173">173</a>. The procession, - <a href="#Page_174">174</a>. Mismanagement and - appointments, <a href="#Page_178">178</a>. Freedmen, <a - href="#Page_180">180</a>. Return of Aquilia Severa, <a - href="#Page_183">183</a>. Desire for military glory, - <a href="#Page_184">184</a>. The names of the Emperor, - <a href="#Page_185">185</a>. Activity in building, <a - href="#Page_186">186</a>. Military disaffection, its - causes and result, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>. Date - of Elagabalus’ murder and length of reign discussed, - <a href="#Page_191">191</a>. Date for renewal of - tribunician power discussed, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>. - Elagabalus’ interest in public affairs, <a - href="#Page_198">198</a>. The treatment of inscriptions, <a - href="#Page_198">198</a>. Outlook of the Roman world, <a - href="#Page_200">200</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Roman views on matrimony, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>. - Elagabalus’ marriage with Julia Paula, <a - href="#Page_205">205</a>. Position of Julius Paulus, <a - href="#Page_206">206</a>. Serviez, etc., on Julia Paula, - <a href="#Page_207">207</a>. Dates of this marriage and - divorce, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>. Elagabalus’ marriage - with Aquilia Severa, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>. Vestals - discussed, <a href="#Page_211">211</a>. Roman religion, <a - href="#Page_212">212</a>. Elagabalus’ lack of prejudice, <a - href="#Page_214">214</a>. His explanation to the Senate, - <a href="#Page_215">215</a>. Family of Aquilia Severa, <a - href="#Page_215">215</a>. Probable dates of marriage and - divorce, <a href="#Page_216">216-18</a>. Maesa’s desire for - an alliance with the nobility, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>. - Annia Faustina chosen, her family discussed, <a - href="#Page_222">222</a>. Her age and her divorce, <a - href="#Page_223">223</a>. Further marriages discussed, <a - href="#Page_224">224</a>. Elagabalus’ return to Aquilia, <a - href="#Page_225">225</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#PART_II">PART II</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Lampridius’ Life of Elagabalus impossible, - <a href="#Page_227">227</a>. Elagabalus a psycho-sexual - hermaphrodite, not wicked, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>. - The condition quite usual then as now, <a - href="#Page_229">229</a>. Virtue a virile quality, - not a neurotic negation, <a href="#Page_229">229</a>. - The Phallus natural and omnipresent typifies joy and - fruitfulness, <a href="#Page_230">230</a>. Elagabalus has - strong homosexual nymphomania and every inducement<span - class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xx"></a>[xx]</span> to gratify - his feminine instinct, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>. - His nature incredibly open and affectionate, <a - href="#Page_232">232</a>. Maesa an aggravating factor, <a - href="#Page_234">234</a>. Modern authorities on similarly - inverted cases to-day, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>. - Biblical parallels, Greek instances, modern religious - tendencies, <a href="#Page_234">234</a>. Normal intolerance - largely hypocritical, <a href="#Page_235">235</a>. - The usual instincts of such natures, <a - href="#Page_235">235</a>. Elagabalus’ love of flowers, - feasts, and teasing, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>. - His marriages psychologically considered, <a - href="#Page_238">238</a>. His castration and desire for an - operation which might produce the female organs discussed, - <a href="#Page_238">238</a>. Elagabalus’ marriage with - Hierocles, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>. Hierocles - and Zoticus discussed, <a href="#Page_239">239</a>. - Comparison with Messalina, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>. - Spintries, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>. Elagabalus’ love - of colour, <a href="#Page_241">241</a>. His frankness, <a - href="#Page_241">241</a>. Greek love opposed to effeminacy, - <a href="#Page_242">242</a>. Gulick on the psychology, on - Christianity, <a href="#Page_242">242</a>. Effeminacy, not - homosexuality, disgusts Roman world and gives reason for - Elagabalus’ downfall, <a href="#Page_244">244</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Description of Nero’s golden house, - <a href="#Page_245">245</a>. Elagabalus compared - with Nero, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>. Pastimes, - prodigalities, and dress, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>. - Extravagances of ritual, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>. - Congiaries and games, <a href="#Page_251">251</a>. Table - appointments and food, <a href="#Page_252">252</a>. - Maecenas’ feast, <a href="#Page_254">254</a>. - Perfumes, <a href="#Page_256">256</a>. Fish, <a - href="#Page_258">258</a>. The spectacles described, - <a href="#Page_260">260</a>. Gladiators discussed, - <a href="#Page_262">262</a>. Elagabalus’ skill as a - sportsman, <a href="#Page_263">263</a>. The lotteries, - <a href="#Page_264">264</a>. Elagabalus’ devices for - suicide, <a href="#Page_265">265</a>. The psychology of - extravagance, <a href="#Page_266">266</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="tdc"><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdsub">Elagabalus’ piety, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>. - Constantine the opponent of other monotheisms, <a - href="#Page_268">268</a>. Theories of religion, <a - href="#Page_269">269</a>. Civilised religion becomes - philosophical, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>. Rome both - atheist and credulous, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>. - Civic religion leaves the forces of sex and superstition - out of count, <a href="#Page_270">270</a>. Gods always - necessary to the superstitious, the more mystical the - more attractive, <a href="#Page_271">271</a>. Semitic - rituals attract the mob, <a href="#Page_273">273</a>. - Elagabal exclusive and absorbs other cults, <a - href="#Page_273">273</a>. Elagabalus’ scheme - Erastian, compared with Tudor conception, <a - href="#Page_273">273</a>. Elagabalus will not persecute, - <a href="#Page_276">276</a>. Religion and castration, - <a href="#Page_276">276</a>. Elagabalus no idolator, - <a href="#Page_277">277</a>. His mistake in trying to - amalgamate the hated Judaism with Roman deities, <a - href="#Page_277">277</a>. Marriages of Elagabal, <a - href="#Page_278">278</a>. Human sacrifices discussed, - <a href="#Page_280">280</a>. The column for the - meteorite, <a href="#Page_281">281</a>. Contest between - religion and dogma, <a href="#Page_282">282</a>. The - numbers of the mob prevail against the rationalists, <a - href="#Page_284">284</a>. Rome bored with all Gods, hence - Elagabalus’ failure, <a href="#Page_285">285</a>.</td> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tp">BIBLIOGRAPHY</td> - <td class="tdpg tp"><a href="#BIBLIOGRAPHY">289</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="tp">INDEX</td> - <td class="tdpg tp"><a href="#INDEX">299</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxi"></a>[xxi]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">LIST OF COINS</h2> - -</div> - -<table summary="List of coins (illustrations)"> - <tr> - <td></td> - <td class="tdpg smaller"><span class="smcap">Facing page</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Antoninus Pius, struck at Emesa (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1a">26</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus1b">26</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Medal of Julia Domna Pia, Empress (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2a">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Maesa Augusta (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2b">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Soaemias Augusta (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2c">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Mamaea Augusta (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus2d">40</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3a">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Elagabalus) (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3b">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Macrinus recording Victoria Parthica, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 218. (From a woodcut)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3c">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Diadumenianus as Emperor, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> - 218 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus3d">60</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 commemorating the - arrival of Elagabalus in Rome (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4a">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Liberalitas II. Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> - 219 for the Emperor’s marriage with Julia Cornelia Paula. (From - the collection of Sir James S. Hay, K.C.M.G.)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4b">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 concerning - the grain supply (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4c">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 to commemorate - the Emperor’s recovery (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus4d">110</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Thyatira Coin of Elagabalus (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5a">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin struck to commemorate Alexianus’ adoption, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5b">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin struck to commemorate Alexander as Pont. Max., - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus5c">142</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Jovi Ultiori. The Eliogabalium as reconsecrated to Jupiter, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 224. (From a woodcut)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus6a">174</a><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxii"></a>[xxii]</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin struck to commemorate the Procession of Elagabal, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus6b">174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 representing - the Eliogabalium. (From a photogravure)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus6c">174</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220, misread by - Cohen as T.P. III Cos. IIII (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus7a">196</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221, misread by - Cohen as T.P. IIII Cos. IIII (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus7b">196</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 222 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus7c">196</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Cornelia Paula Augusta (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8a">216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Cornelia Paula Augusta, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220-21 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8b">216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Aquilia Severa Augusta, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220-21 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8c">216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Annia Faustina Augusta, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> - 221-22 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8d">216</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td>Coin of Julia Aquilia Severa Augusta, - <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221-22 (British Museum)</td> - <td class="tdpg"><a href="#illus8e">216</a></td> - </tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxiii"></a>[xxiii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTION">INTRODUCTION</h2> - -</div> - -<p>The Emperor who is studied in this volume has -commonly been treated as if his reign had no significance, -unless it were to show to what deep places -the Roman Empire had sunk when such a monster -of lubricity could wield the supreme power. If the -chronicle of his naughty life has been exploited to -illustrate the legend that the pagan society of the -Empire was desperately wicked and infamously -corrupt, he has not been taken seriously as a ruler. -Yet Elagabalus appeared under too ominous a -constellation to justify us in dismissing his brief -attempt to govern the world as unworthy of more -than a superficial description and a facile condemnation. -His reign lasted less than four years; but -those years fell in a period which was critical for -the future of European civilisation, and he was -brought up in a circle intensely alive to the religious -problems which were then moving the souls -of men. Mr. Hay has broken new ground, and he -has done history a service, in making Elagabalus the -subject of a serious and systematic study.</p> - -<p>The third century, so obscurely lit by poor and -meagre records, saw the Empire of Rome shaken -to its foundations. There was a manifest decline in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxiv"></a>[xxiv]</span> -its strength and efficiency, marked by the insolent -domination of the common soldier, and luridly -illustrated by the statistical facts that from Septimius -Severus to Diocletian the average reign of an -Emperor was about three years and that there were -only two or three sovereigns who were not the -victims of a mutiny or a conspiracy. As one of -the efficacious causes of this decline has often been -suggested (most recently by M. Bouché-Leclercq) -the detachment of men’s interest from the public -weal by the attraction and influence of individualistic -oriental religions, which did not aim at securing -the stability of the state, like the old religions of -Rome and Greece, but undertook to save the -individual and ensure his happiness in a life beyond -the tomb. It is undoubtedly true that in this -period religious currents were stirring society to its -depths, and several rival worships were engaged -in a competition of which the issue was decided in -the following century. And if the state was really -weakened by a cleavage which had become sensible -between the private spiritual interests of the individual -citizen and the public interests of society, -if its cohesion was endangered by the tendency to -place the former interests above the latter, we can -understand the statesmanship of Constantine the -Great, who, by closely connecting the state with -one of those individualistic religions, conciliated -and identified the two interests. I do not suggest -that Constantine formulated the problem in the -general terms in which we may formulate it now; -he was pushed to his far-reaching decision by a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxv"></a>[xxv]</span> -variety of particular social facts, which involved the -general problem, while they forced upon him a -particular solution. But the problem which he -solved had long been there, and a hundred years -before Constantine established Christianity, another -Emperor had attempted to solve it. That Emperor -was Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>The religious currents of the age of the Severi -did not escape the notice, or fail to engage the -interest, of the Court. Julia Domna, Julia Mamaea, -Alexander Severus, were all under the influence of -the spirit of the time. These were the days in -which Julia Domna and Philostratus discovered for -the world a new saviour in the person of Apollonius -of Tyana. But the religious zeal of Elagabalus -was more passionate than the intellectual interest of -any of his house. He conceived a universal -religion for the Empire, and his abortive attempt -to establish it is examined by Mr. Hay with a full -sense of its significance and an unprejudiced desire -to understand it.</p> - -<p>With all his unashamed enthusiasm, Elagabalus -was not the man to establish a religion; he had not -the qualities of a Constantine or yet of a Julian; -and his enterprise would perhaps have met with -little success even if his authority had not been -annulled by his idiosyncrasies. The Invincible -Sun, if he was to be worshipped as a sun of righteousness, -was not happily recommended by the acts -of his Invincible Priest. I have said “idiosyncrasies”; -should I not have said “infamies”? But -it is unprofitable as well as unscientific simply to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxvi"></a>[xxvi]</span> -brand Elagabalus as an abominable wretch. His -life is a document in which there is something -demanding to be comprehended. If all men and -women are really bisexual, this Syrian boy was of -that abnormal type in which the recessive is inordinately -strong at the expense of the dominant sex; -he was a remarkable example of <i>psychopathia sexualis</i>; -but in his age there were no Krafft-Ebings to -submit his case to scientific observation. From -this point of view, which Mr. Hay has taken, -Elagabalus becomes an intelligible morbid human -being. And the young man, though so highly -abnormal and spoiled by the possession of supreme -power before he had reached maturity, was far -from being repulsive. A salient feature of his -character was good nature; he appears to have -wished to make every one happy. His pleasures -were not stained by the cruelties of Nero. It -amused him to shock people, but he was always -good-humoured. He is said to have genially -inquired of some grave and decorous old gentlemen -who were his guests at a vintage festival, whether -they were inclined for the pleasures of Venus. The -anecdote, if not true to fact, seems to be characteristic. -It is told in the <i>chronique scandaleuse</i> of -Lampridius, one of the writers of that Augustan -History round which a forest of critical literature -has grown up in recent times. The outcome of all -the criticism is generally to the discredit of these -authors, and Mr. Hay has the merit of having -strictly applied this unfavourable result to the Life -of Elagabalus.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxvii"></a>[xxvii]</span></p> - -<p>But though the religious enterprise of this eccentric -Emperor was doomed to fail, it was not by any -means the wild project of a madman, which those -who judge <i>post eventum</i>—after the triumph of -Christianity—or who, like Domaszewski, see in it -merely <i>eine Vergöttlichung der Unzucht</i>, are apt to -take for granted that it was. In those days, it was -not in the least certain, as yet, that Christianity -would be chosen and its rivals left; this religion -was not, as its apologists would have us believe, the -only light in a dark world. To a disinterested mind -it would appear that Mithra or Isis might have -become the divinity of western civilisation. They -were certainly well in the running. We may guess -what circumstances aided the worship of Christ to -rise above competing cults, but for inquirers, like -Mr. Hay and myself, who hold no brief, and do not -accept the easy axiom that what happens is best, -it is unproven that Christianity was decidedly the -best alternative. Perhaps it was. Yet we may -suspect that, if the religion which was founded by -Paul of Tarsus had, “by the dispensation of Providence,” -disappeared, giving place to one of those -homogeneous oriental faiths which are now dead, -we should be to-day very much where we are. -However this may be, it seems that in the third -century the Christians were far from commending -their doctrine to the rest of the world by any signal -moral superiority in their own conduct. The bad -opinion which pagans held of their morals in the -time of Tertullian cannot be explained as a mere -wilful prejudice, and Tertullian’s reply that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxviii"></a>[xxviii]</span> -charge is only true of some but not of all nor even -of the greater number (<i>Ad nationes</i>, 5) is a significant -admission that, taking them all round, the -Christians were not then conspicuous as a sect of -extraordinary virtue. Moreover, there was nothing -in the ethics of their system which had not been -independently reached by the reason of Greek and -Roman teachers, and they are entitled to boast that -the success of their religion depended not on any -superiority in its moral ideals to those of pagan -enlightenment, but on its supernatural foundations.</p> - -<p>Slander, with ecclesiastical authority behind it, -dies so hard, that I may take leave to add a remark -which to well-informed students of antiquity is -now a platitude. The offensive performances of -Elagabalus prove nothing as to the prevailing -morality of his time, just as the debauches of Nero -prove nothing for his. To judge the private morals -of the pagan subjects of the Empire from the descriptions -of Suetonius and Lampridius is even more -absurd than it would be to portray the domestic -life of Christian England from the reports of the -Divorce Court. The notion that the poor Greeks -and Romans were sunk in wickedness and vice -is a calumnious legend which has been assiduously -propagated in the interest of ecclesiastical history, -and is at the present day a commonplace of pulpit -learning. If pagans, in ignorance or malice, slandered -the assemblies and love-feasts of the early -Christians, it will be allowed that Christian divines -of later ages have, by their fable of pagan corruption, -wreaked a more than ample revenge.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_xxix"></a>[xxix]</span></p> - -<p>Among readers of Gibbon, the very name of -“Heliogabalus” will always “force a smile from -the young and a blush from the fair.” But it may -be expected that, after Mr. Hay’s investigation, it -will be recognised that this Emperor made, according -to his lights, a perfectly sincere attempt to benefit -mankind, which must be judged independently of -his own moral or physiological perversities.</p> - -<p class="right">J. B. BURY.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_I">PART I</h2> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_1"></a>[1]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE CRITICAL LITERATURE CONCERNING THE AUGUSTAN HISTORIES</span></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>The Scope of this Book</i></p> - -</div> - -<p>The age of the Antonines is an age little understood -amongst the present generation. The documents -relating thereto are few in number, and -for the most part the work of very second-rate -scandal-mongers. Like the Senate of the time, -these writers had so far lost their sense of personal -responsibility that they were quite willing to record -anything that their “God and Master” ordered. -The pleasures and vices of the age were lurid and -extravagant. The menace of official Christianity, -with its destruction of literature and philosophy, -was almost at the gates of the city. All which -facts serve to render this most magnificent period -of Roman history unreal and fantastic to men of -our more practical and rationalistic age.</p> - -<p>The reign of Elagabalus is not a record of great -deeds. It shows no advance in science or in -military conquest. Save in the realm of jurisprudence, -it is not an age of great men, because<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_2"></a>[2]</span> -these are born in the struggles of nations. It is not -an age of poverty or distress. It is rather a record -of enormous wealth and excessive prodigality, -luxury and aestheticism, carried to their ultimate -extreme, and sensuality in all the refinements of its -Eastern habit. Such were the forces that swayed -the minds of these eager, living men, made idle by -force of circumstances.</p> - -<p>It was a wonderful and a beautiful age, full of -colour, full of the joy of living; and yet, as we look -back upon its enervating excitements, who can -wonder at the greatness of the decline which followed -the triumph of so much magnificence? Rome was -at the apex of her power; the Empire was consolidated; -the temple of Janus was closed; the Pax -Romana reigned supreme, and with it order and -government in the remotest corner of that vast -dominion. What mattered the extravagances of a -foolish boy to the merchants of Lyons or to the -traders of Alexandria, so long as they were undisturbed -and taxation was at a minimum? What -mattered the blatant outburst of a Semitic monotheism, -when men’s minds—amongst the superstitious—were -already attuned to the kindred -mysteries of Mithra and the spiritual chicanery of -Isis? The harm had been done both to reason and -to ancient belief by the secret dissemination of -other superstitions, whose effete neuroticism, whose -enervating and softening influences had done -almost more to ruin the glorious fighting strength -of the Empire than all the luxury and effeminacy of -the bygone world.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_3"></a>[3]</span></p> - -<p>It was a pitiful exhibition, the powers of ignorance -and mystery undermining the strength of -knowledge and virility, till the barbarians, whom -the very name of Rome had conquered and held -entranced, overthrew a greatness which, in the -age of reason, the world had found irresistible. It -is pitiful, but it is true, and the record of merely a -part will be found in the Augustan Histories.</p> - -<p>The difficulties presented to the student of the -Scriptores Historiae Augustae are manifold and ever -increasing. Not the least of them lies in the variation -of standard by which this collection has been -judged, and in the diametrically opposing theories -which eminent scholars have drawn from the same -passages.</p> - -<p>The criticism owes its origin to the confusions -which are bound to exist in any series of lives -covering a period of 167 years and purporting to -be the work of several—though none of them contemporary—writers.</p> - -<p>The Biographies which have survived are nominally -the work of six authors, to wit, Aelius Spartianus, -Julius Capitolinus, Vulcacius Gallicanus, Aelius -Lampridius, Trebellius Pollio, and Flavius Vopiscus. -The author of the Life of Elagabalus in this series -is Aelius Lampridius, of whom personally nothing -is known. Peter<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> postulates that he was not a -plebeian, as he wrote at Constantine’s bidding, and -presumably, from the virulence of his attacks, with -some ulterior object in view. This was probably -an attack on the Imperial author of that species of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_4"></a>[4]</span> -Mithraic worship which Constantine desired to -extirpate, as the most formidable opponent of his -own new religion.</p> - -<p>Lampridius dedicates his Life of Elagabalus to -this Emperor, which at once shows us that at least -100 years had passed since the events recorded -had taken place, and calls for an inquiry into the -sources of Lampridius’ information. The text as -it stands to-day is at times incomprehensible, -largely through the efforts of scholars of the Bonus -Accursius and Casaubon type,<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> while Dodwell in -1677 played his part in corrupting, according to his -lights, what must always have been a document -whose need of further mutilation was highly unnecessary. -The first attempt at modern criticism -of the texts began in 1838, when Becker<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> of Breslau -endeavoured to reassign the various lives to their -respective authors, without very much success. In -1842 Dirksen<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> of Leipzig attempted to ascertain -the sources employed by the various Scriptores, -and their use or misuse of the material to their -hands. He founded his criticism mainly on the -recorded speeches and messages of the Emperors, -which, unfortunately for the theories then put forward, -were discovered by Czwalina,<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> in 1870, to be -largely spurious.</p> - -<p>The next work of any importance was done by -Richter<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> and Peter,<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> when the former tried to date<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_5"></a>[5]</span> -the Scriptores themselves from internal evidence; -the latter threw light on the time when the actual -lives were written, and, amongst others, assigns -Lampridius’ Life of Elagabalus to a period in -or about the year <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 324. In 1865 the same -author<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a> placed the study of the Scriptores on a -firmer basis altogether, by introducing the system -of textual criticism as applied to the sources, both -Latin and Greek, from which the writers had drawn -their facts.</p> - -<p>Amongst Latin sources the chief name mentioned -was Marius Maximus, of whose works nothing now -remains. He was Consul under Alexander Severus -and a devoted servant to that Emperor, at whose -direction he attempted to complete Suetonius<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a> by -a popular and scandal-mongering edition of recent -events. Mueller,<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> in 1870, after a careful investigation -of all the references to this author, concluded -that his work was the compilation of a volume -styled <i>De vitis imperatorum</i>, which contained the -lives of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, -Marcus, Commodus, Pertinax, Julianus, Severus, -Caracalla, and Elagabalus. That the last of these -lives should have been written by the friend and -servant of Elagabalus’ murderers is in itself unfortunate, -as one immediately suspects that some -attempt will be made to justify the crime, or at any -rate that veiled malignancy rather than a true -historical portrait will be the result. It is easily -discovered from the shortest perusal of the wealth<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_6"></a>[6]</span> -of mere abuse which it contains that no veil was -considered either necessary or expedient, and that -if Lampridius drew his information of the Emperor -Elagabalus from Maximus, as a sole source, his -work was, historically speaking, as worthless a -caricature as that with which Maximus had bolstered -up Alexander’s government. Mueller, therefore, -propounded the theory that though Maximus was -the main Latin source, other authors were used -by the Scriptores in a supplemental way. In this -theory he was supported by Ruebel, Dreinhoefer, -and Plew,<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> who cite, amongst other names, that of -Aelius Junius Cordus, an author who is quoted -with considerable frequency throughout the lives. -This theory of one main Latin source—Maximus—held -ground until quite recently, when the work of -Heer, Schulz, and Kornemann, as we shall see, put -a somewhat different, if less satisfactory, complexion -on the matter. It may be remarked, in passing, -that Niehues,<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a> in 1885, attributes the earliest life -of Macrinus and his son Diadumenianus—amongst -other Emperors whose period does not concern us -in this present inquiry—to Cordus rather than -Maximus, which may account for a certain amount -of impartiality about Macrinus’ life, there being no -special end to serve either way.</p> - -<p>The Greek sources used by the Scriptores are -more easily fixed, for, though most of the authors -have perished, the work of Herodian is preserved,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_7"></a>[7]</span> -and the abbreviation of Cassius Dio, which was -made by Xiphilinus of Trebizond for ecclesiastical -purposes, is still readable. It is perhaps necessary -to state Haupt’s<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> opinion that the Scriptores did not -actually transcribe the Greek sources, and that these -can only give one a certain idea as to how the writers -used their materials. Unfortunately for the reign -in question, neither of these two authors can be -considered as unprejudiced authorities. Indeed, -circumstances have conspired to obscure the history -of Elagabalus at every point. Cassius Dio is by -unanimous consent the best historian of the third -century, infinitely superior to Maximus as a man of -literary ability and historical insight; he is not -highly exciting, and has an annoying habit of -mistaking sententious platitudes for speculative -philosophy. His impartiality is certainly very -questionable, and his obviously superstitious credulity -notable. But these defects are easily overlooked -by the student, because his work does -embody a vast store of information on the workings -of the Imperial system. In all probability he was -absent from Rome during the reign of Elagabalus, -since he tells us (79-7) that Macrinus appointed -him Curator of Smyrna and Pergamum in the -year 218, from which posts he was not removed by -Elagabalus.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a> When next he appears it is as the -friend and servant of Maesa, at the beginning of -Alexander’s reign. He was then—successively—twice -Consul, Proconsul of Africa, Governor of -Dalmatia and Pannonia Superior, and presumably<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_8"></a>[8]</span> -died under Alexander at 80 years of age, as we -have no work from him after that date. As servant -of the dominant faction, Dio’s history must have -been compiled to support Maesa’s action in causing -the murder of Elagabalus, and to justify the succession -of Alexander, when once the women had -cleared the headstrong boy and his mother from -their path. Dio advances his information as that -of an eye-witness, and as such it was presumably -derived from the same source as that of Maximus—so -much so, that Giambelli<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> in 1881 tried to prove -that Dio’s main source for his history was Maximus -throughout and none other.</p> - -<p>The other Greek contemporary is Herodian, -the facts of whose life are by no means certain. -Kreutzer<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> thinks that he came to Rome about the -beginning of the third century, and subsequently -held some minor administrative posts in the government. -He stands on a different plane from Dio, -as he possessed very small qualifications as a -historian. He narrates, it is true, salient features -of court life and current foreign affairs, though he -has small conception of their bearing and less -regard for their chronology. In this matter it is only -fair to remember that the ignorant emendations of -Bonus Accursius and a tribe of mediaeval scholars -may account for much that now looks so outrageous.</p> - -<p>As regards the sources from which Dio and -Herodian took their facts, much has been written, -though the attempts<a id="FNanchor_17" href="#Footnote_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> made since 1881 to show that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_9"></a>[9]</span> -both used Maximus are at best poor and inconclusive. -Mueller<a id="FNanchor_18" href="#Footnote_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> in 1870 pointed out with some -considerable weight that the similarities which exist -between the parallel accounts found in Herodian and -the Scriptores were probably due to the fact that -both had used Maximus. This line of argument -was developed by Giambelli and Plew<a id="FNanchor_19" href="#Footnote_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> on the -basis of a supposition that Herodian had been -worked over before he was used by the Scriptores, -thus endeavouring to account for the discrepancies -between Herodian and Maximus, and supporting -the Maximus-as-root-base theory of both authors. -Boehme<a id="FNanchor_20" href="#Footnote_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a> in 1882 introduced the name of Dexippus -as the probable intermediate writer, and pointed -out that the references made by certain Scriptores -to Herodian, under the name of Arrianus, are -hard to understand if the scriptor had the correct -name before him. Certain passages can however -be shown to have been taken direct from -Herodian, on account of which Peter<a id="FNanchor_21" href="#Footnote_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> entirely -rejected the Dexippus intermediary theory a few -years later. In the main, however, the general -authenticity of the sources, whether Greek or Latin, -was accepted up to the year 1889, though one or -two discoveries had been made which weakened -their hold and prepared the way for the general -attack.</p> - -<p>The first was made by Czwalina<a id="FNanchor_22" href="#Footnote_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a> of Bonn in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_10"></a>[10]</span> -1870, who declared that the documents and letters -in the Life of Avidius Cassius were spurious; and -in 1880 Klebs<a id="FNanchor_23" href="#Footnote_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> destroyed the authenticity of those -at the end of Diadumenianus’ Life. Things were -more or less quiet until the year 1889, when -Dessau<a id="FNanchor_24" href="#Footnote_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a> opened his attack on the general authenticity -of the Scriptores’ work, asserting from the -strongest internal evidence, such as their mention -of persons and things—in lives dedicated to Constantine -as Emperor—which did not happen till -after his death, that the lives were the work of -a forger in the later part of the fourth century; a -man who had been stupid enough to give an -appearance of antiquity to his work by the use of -names and dedications borrowed from older sources, -but not smart enough to avoid the inclusion of -glaring anachronisms.</p> - -<p>Mommsen<a id="FNanchor_25" href="#Footnote_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> at once undertook to defend the -authenticity of the collection, asking saliently why -a forger of Theodosius’ time should undertake to -praise the extinct dynasty founded by Constantius. -The very patchwork, he says, is enough to prove -the collection no forgery. Again, the use of pre-Diocletian -geographical names, such as those -given to the legions, all date from a period prior -to Diocletian. Mommsen then proceeds to his -criticism, in the course of which he divides the lives -into primary and secondary, which to his mind -solved the problem, and on this basis he drew<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_11"></a>[11]</span> -entirely different conclusions from the facts which -Dessau had adduced as proofs of forgery. The -progress of Mommsen’s study forced him to -admit what he had so entirely repudiated at first, -that the lives do contain hints of a later period, -all of which, he asserts, can be accounted for by -the manner in which the collection took form. -Mommsen’s opinion, as finally stated, was that -about <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 330 an editor collected the available -material and then filled in the gaps with his own -work. Again, at a later time a reviser retouched -this whole collection and added the evidence of -the latest period, which has caused all the trouble. -By him also the work resembling Eutropius and -Victor was inserted. It is not the clearest of statements, -and had to be so modified, as it proceeded, -that it certainly has not the weight attaching to it -that others of Mommsen’s works carry.</p> - -<p>During the year 1890 two works appeared, the -first by Seeck,<a id="FNanchor_26" href="#Footnote_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> who attempted to assist Dessau, -the other by Klebs,<a id="FNanchor_27" href="#Footnote_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a> who had accepted a modified -Mommsen estimate of the authenticity of the -Scriptores. Seeck began by pointing out that a -work which was first heard of in the latter part of -the fourth<a id="FNanchor_28" href="#Footnote_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> century was not likely to arouse sufficient -interest to induce any one to revise it during the -earlier part of that century. He attacked the work -attributed to Vopiscus, Pollio, and Spartianus in -particular, pointing out, in the case of Vopiscus, -that had he written under Constantine he would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_12"></a>[12]</span> -not have put him second in the dedication,<a id="FNanchor_29" href="#Footnote_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a> -or, if Pollio had written in the third century, -when the title Mater Castrorum was commonly -given to the Empresses, he would never have -spoken of it as a speciality in Victoria’s case.<a id="FNanchor_30" href="#Footnote_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a> If -Spartian wrote under Diocletian, it is obvious that -he must have had a prevision of that Emperor’s -sudden change of plan as to the succession. Klebs<a id="FNanchor_31" href="#Footnote_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> -in the same year further modified Mommsen’s -position, and explained the similarities to Victor -and Eutropius as due to the use of the same -sources by these authors and by the Scriptores, and -rejected the idea of a revision by a late hand on -the ground that no one would be so foolish as to -imitate the style of the original writers for the sake -of inserting nonsense; certainly not the most convincing -of the arguments which might have been -used by a man who presumably had at least heard -the history of the Gospel additions. A later article -(1892)<a id="FNanchor_32" href="#Footnote_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a> was more conclusive, as here he attempted -to prove that no one forger could have adopted -the variety of attitude towards both the Senate and -Christianity which we find expressed in the various -sections of the “lives,” while the presence of -geographical names and official titles, lost before -the beginning of the fourth century, point to earlier -authenticity, not later forgery.</p> - -<p>Woelfflin<a id="FNanchor_33" href="#Footnote_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> in 1891 supported Mommsen on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_13"></a>[13]</span> -textual grounds. He traces the differences of style -to the fact that certain authors had used Suetonius, -others Maximus, while others again had trusted to -their own retentive memories, not altogether a safe -historical criterion. He states that the traces of -similarity running through the works are due -certainly to a reviser, but that the reviser was -Vopiscus,<a id="FNanchor_34" href="#Footnote_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> which either puts Vopiscus at a much -later date than had ever been done before, or resigns -the idea of a late reviser in the Mommsen sense.</p> - -<p>Dessau<a id="FNanchor_35" href="#Footnote_35" class="fnanchor">[35]</a> in 1892 replied with a scathing attack -on this same Vopiscus, from the point of view of -his age and the impossibility of his having seen and -heard all he claims to have done. Seeck<a id="FNanchor_36" href="#Footnote_36" class="fnanchor">[36]</a> in 1894 -published a second article supporting Dessau with -six points culled from titles and names not known -till after the reputed dates of the Scriptores. He -now considers that plurality of authors, or forgers, -as the case may be, is certain, and that they wrote, -or forged, as Diocletian and Constantine gave command, -using for their work many sources, including -the Imperial Chronicle. But it is an inconclusive -article.</p> - -<p>In 1899 an American, Dr. Drake<a id="FNanchor_37" href="#Footnote_37" class="fnanchor">[37]</a> of Michigan, -published some studies in detail on the life of -Caracalla, which tended to establish the genuineness -of certain portions which had been thought -spurious. Heer<a id="FNanchor_38" href="#Footnote_38" class="fnanchor">[38]</a> of Leipzig followed in 1901 with a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_14"></a>[14]</span> -critical survey of the life of Commodus, dividing it -into two parts, the first chronological, the second -biographical, and came to the conclusion that, -though the chronological part was trustworthy, the -biography was derived from very poor sources, and -was only in part contemporaneous. Schulz<a id="FNanchor_39" href="#Footnote_39" class="fnanchor">[39]</a> in 1903 -applied the same methods to the lives from Commodus -to Caracalla, in 1904 to the life of Hadrian,<a id="FNanchor_40" href="#Footnote_40" class="fnanchor">[40]</a> -and in 1907 to the lives of the house of Antonine,<a id="FNanchor_41" href="#Footnote_41" class="fnanchor">[41]</a> -unfortunately leaving out Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>Kornemann<a id="FNanchor_42" href="#Footnote_42" class="fnanchor">[42]</a> in 1905 attempted to bring together -the materials of the lives from Hadrian to Alexander -Severus, much on the lines of Schulz’s work. He -points out that the characteristic note was to be -found in the author’s interest in the affairs of state, -as opposed to those of war, and how Alexander -Severus has been raised to his pinnacle of smug -propriety on account of supposititious favours to -the senatorial body, while extreme animus is -betrayed towards the warlike Emperors or those -who, like the paternal despots of the Antonine -House, trusted in the army and only used the -“slaves in togas” for ratifying any decree that -they might think necessary, a mode of procedure -in government to which that body had long been -slavishly subservient. Kornemann goes on to -suggest that this fondness for Alexander presupposes -the writer’s work having been published<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_15"></a>[15]</span> -during that Caesar’s reign, especially as no trace -is found of his work later. Kornemann then -invents a new name for our old friend Marius -Maximus, and calls him, with some further show of -scholarship, one Lollius Urbicus,<a id="FNanchor_43" href="#Footnote_43" class="fnanchor">[43]</a> a theory which -still only interests Kornemann. Heer<a id="FNanchor_44" href="#Footnote_44" class="fnanchor">[44]</a> in 1901 -had given him a certain support, however, in refusing -to believe that any one could have credited -Maximus with any part in the chronological side of -the lives, and Schulz in his Life of Hadrian adopted -the same view, assigning the references to Maximus -to a later hand. It was Peter<a id="FNanchor_45" href="#Footnote_45" class="fnanchor">[45]</a> who, in 1905, asked -pertinently why Maximus should be ousted from -the authorship of the chronological source in favour -of an <i>unknown</i> contemporary, though he admitted, -with some freedom, that many of the citations from -Maximus stood in passages of questionable value, -or seem to have been thrust into the text.</p> - -<p>In 1899 Tropea<a id="FNanchor_46" href="#Footnote_46" class="fnanchor">[46]</a> of Padua published a treatise on -the general literature of the S.H.A., in which he -shows that the aim of the collection was political, -and in the interest of the reigning house; in consequence -of which he postulates that it is either -falsified in fact, or wholly fabricated in the sense -that Czwalina had already suggested. Tropea was -followed by his pupil Pasciucco,<a id="FNanchor_47" href="#Footnote_47" class="fnanchor">[47]</a> who examined the -life of Elagabalus in detail in 1905. The result of -this examination was to show that Lampridius had -not only failed to examine his sources of information, -but had exhibited a singular lack of order and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_16"></a>[16]</span> -proportion in his imaginations. Pasciucco concluded -with the illuminating remark that Lampridius’ -sources are either fabulous or of little value, and -answer only to the political complexion which that -writer had adopted.</p> - -<p>In 1904 Lécrivain<a id="FNanchor_48" href="#Footnote_48" class="fnanchor">[48]</a> published an admirable conservative -presentation of the available material, -which, with Schulz’s work on the Imperial House -of Antonine in 1907, leaves the textual criticism of -the sources in a sufficiently nebulous condition to -please the majority, at any rate for the time being.</p> - -<p>In the light of the foregoing criticism and the -almost universal conclusion, drawn by both parties, as -to the obvious want of impartiality not only amongst -the sources but also in the lives themselves, the -scope of this work will limit itself to a psychological -criticism of the life of Elagabalus, as contained in -the Augustan Histories. These documents, as will -be remembered from the foregoing summary, are a -collection of heterogeneous and unenlightened compositions, -to which Lampridius, by no means the -ablest contributor, has added the life of the Syrian -boy-emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. Lampridius -exhibits to a striking degree the want of -method and order, the vain repetitions and frequent -contradictions, the lack of historical insight and -love of petty detail which characterise the whole -collection. This he shows to such a degree -that it would be as obviously unfair to regard -his biographical compilation on Elagabalus as -historical fact, as the more than questionable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_17"></a>[17]</span> -“Tendenzschriften,” which were his sources of information; -the perusal of which must have left the compiler -with a distorted view of events, even had he started -with a fair and unprejudiced mind. This certainly -was not Lampridius’ outlook, as is evinced by the -obvious animus against his subject portrayed on -every page both in his unsupported accusations -and in his puerile fault-finding.</p> - -<p>In all probability this series of lives was never -intended to be more than a succession of scandal-loving -biographies, designed to take the place of -the improper little novels which used to be imported -from Greece, but whose supply was falling short -with the decadence of Greek literature.</p> - -<p>In the result, the biographies of the Augustae -Historiae Scriptores are for the most part an -inartistic farrago of unordered trivialities, which -modern criticism has shown to be late in date, and -with little or no individual significance. Their -whole value depends on their source, or sources, -and these have been proved, at least biographically -speaking, to have been only too often untrustworthy. -The Life of Elagabalus, as caricatured by the particular -Scriptor, or forger, is not even an attempt -to portray historical events in either their chronological -or natural order; it makes no mention of -the origin of the Emperor, his claims to the throne, -his fight with Macrinus, nor yet of the facts of his -subsequent government. It is merely one vast -stream of personal abuse and ordures, directed against -the memory of the great exponent of that monotheism -which was the chief danger to Constantine’s<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_18"></a>[18]</span> -theories in a similar direction; while Lampridius’ -sources are vitiated by the fact that they are -Imperial attempts to blacken the memory of a -murdered Emperor, whose popularity with the masses -made his murderer’s position insecure on the throne -of the world.</p> - -<p>It may not be altogether fair to charge the young -Alexander personally with the murder of Elagabalus, -and even if one does, it is only right to remember that -he claimed a certain justification for the deed.<a id="FNanchor_49" href="#Footnote_49" class="fnanchor">[49]</a> Alexander -affirmed that he had himself been in danger -of death at his cousin’s hand on more than one -occasion. Undoubtedly, the true instigators of the -murder were Mamaea, Alexander’s mother, and -Maesa, the common grandmother of the cousins. -Both of these women saw power and authority -passing from their hands, and could ill brook a -second place in the direction of the government. -By their machinations, bribery, and corruption, they -had endeavoured already three times to suborn the -Praetorian Guard. But the effort had failed. -Sufficient men had always been wanting for the project, -and only an unlucky chance threw the Emperor -into the hands of those few on the day of his death. -Alexander’s complicity in this crime might have -been overlooked, on account of his youth, had not -his strenuous efforts to justify the deed called attention -to his attitude, not of regret, but of exultation -in the crime. This attitude is most clearly seen -in the scandalous literary productions which alone -disgrace the name of Elagabalus, all issued from<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_19"></a>[19]</span> -the pens of Cassius Dio, Herodian, and Maximus,—or -Lollius Urbicus,—all three servants and bedesmen -of Alexander and his female relatives.</p> - -<p>Surely if it had been possible to give proof of -cruelty, tyranny, bloodthirstiness, deceit, or guile, -the record of these deeds would have filled the -pages of the paid traducers; but contemporaries, -who loved Elagabalus too well for his generosity, -charm, and beauty, would know better. The only -course open to the writers, therefore, was to attack -personal habits of which the outside world knew -little and cared less, because they were habits that -affected no one save the boy’s familiars, who were -perfectly free to depart if they objected to his -manners or conversation.</p> - -<p>As regards the later compilers of Imperial -histories, mention must be made of Zosimus and -Zonaras, the twelfth-century editors of Cassius -Dio, who, however, add little to our knowledge. -They are of a certain value because they omit many -of the scandals before produced, while the same may -be said for Aurelius Victor and the <i>Breviarium</i> of -Eutropius.</p> - -<p>The Church historians make little mention of -the period; they were undisturbed by persecutions, -and had no emperor or praefect to abuse. They -were, in fact, so busy inventing the difficulty of the -diphthong and developing Pauline theories on the -doctrine and position of Christ, that they had but -little time for the real facts of life and progress around -them. Origen is a slight exception, but then his -pride had been flattered by a summons to Court,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_20"></a>[20]</span> -where, Eusebius tells us, he discussed astronomical -theology with the now visionary Julia Mamaea—who -seems to have aped her aunt, Julia Pia, in -these matters. Origen’s pride was further flattered -by the dignity of a Praetorian escort on the journey -to Antioch—he does not mention the return voyage—which -was certainly a most astonishing honour, -for which one would like to have other than sacerdotal -confirmation.</p> - -<p>Further literary authorities, such as Sextus -Rufus, Orosius, John of Antioch, and Jordanis, though -inferior in weight, have obviously got some of their -information from sources other than those open to -the Scriptores, and their statements may be accepted -with reserve, unless they can be shown to be -irrational and contrary to known facts.</p> - -<p>When all is gathered in, the sum total of the -recorded history, as Mr. Cotter Morison<a id="FNanchor_50" href="#Footnote_50" class="fnanchor">[50]</a> says, is -meagre to a degree. The investigation of the -various isolated records in the light of what is -known of the movements and tendencies of the age—combined -with the psychology of the boy’s character—is -and must be the key to much that at first -sight seems contradictory and obscure in the scandals -reported—none of which, as Niebuhr has said, are -capable of historical treatment with anything like an -assurance of accuracy. In this part of the biography -Lampridius himself is of considerable use. In the -course of his vituperation he is continually letting -fall allusions and observations revealing a character, -instincts, and religion which he is quite incapable<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_21"></a>[21]</span> -of comprehending, and can only malign with a -vitriolic vehemence worthy of a better cause. His -very vehemence is fortunate, since it has left the -way open for psychology and science to proclaim -the abuse, what we now know it to be, both malicious -and untruthful.</p> - -<p>The evidences from the jurisprudence of the -reign are certainly unsatisfactory. Later codifications -have left us with but few dated laws of a reign -that stands in the golden age of Roman jurisprudence. -Ulpian, Papinian, and Paul were not -men to allow a break in the order of legal succession, -and though Ulpian was presumably banished -in connection with Alexander, it was not until within -a few months of Elagabalus’ death. Sufficient -remains to show us that the Empire suffered no -break in the perfect autonomy of jurisprudence, -justice, and government, throughout a period which -Forquet de Dorne<a id="FNanchor_51" href="#Footnote_51" class="fnanchor">[51]</a> has dignified under the pseudonym -of the reign of military anarchy.</p> - -<p>Cohen and Eckhel are of great importance in -fixing, as nearly as possible, the chronology of the -period, by their records of the medals and coins of -the reign. The same may be said of the inscriptions -which have escaped the vandalism of the -Emperor’s enemies. Duruy, in his great history, is -unwilling to give the medals much biographical -weight, comparing them to the governmental -journals of all times, which give only the account of -events as seen through official spectacles, and on -which as little reliance can be placed as on the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_22"></a>[22]</span> -published bulletins of victories: witness the Parthian -medal of Macrinus, the record of a great victory for -the Roman troops over Artabanus; the real fact -being a colossal defeat followed by a peace, the -latter purchased in a manner disgraceful to both -the people and the arms of Rome.</p> - -<p>Inscriptions are unfortunately few and far between, -owing to the fury with which Alexander and -his relatives pursued Elagabalus’ memory. Undoubtedly -it was no new thing to call upon the -Senate to execrate the memory of a murdered rival. -It was, in fact, one of that body’s most important -functions during the period under discussion. -Rarely has the work been done so thoroughly and -effectively, which says something for the zeal of -Alexander and the money he spent in extirpating -all reference to the memory of Elagabalus.</p> - -<p>The works of Valsecchius<a id="FNanchor_52" href="#Footnote_52" class="fnanchor">[52]</a> and Turre,<a id="FNanchor_53" href="#Footnote_53" class="fnanchor">[53]</a> amongst -seventeenth-century scholars, are illuminating on -the subject of the length of Elagabalus’ reign. -Tristran’s<a id="FNanchor_54" href="#Footnote_54" class="fnanchor">[54]</a> attitude shows the slavishness of tradition; -certain of Saumaise’s<a id="FNanchor_55" href="#Footnote_55" class="fnanchor">[55]</a> emendations show the -same tendency despite his usual impartiality; in -fact, all have accepted the tradition of wickedness -without the least question as to its <i>fons et origo</i>. -This work proposes to take the texts as they exist, -and endeavour from their unwitting statements of -the boy’s psychology to convict them of untruth. -From their unsupported charges of secret crimes, to -show that real crimes were largely non-existent, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_23"></a>[23]</span> -to throw the burden of all the ordures which have -covered this Emperor’s name on to the shoulders of -his relations and murderers, to whom alone it was a -vital object to destroy his fair renown before a world -which loved him. That his world did love him, despite -all, there are manifold traces. The prodigal -Emperors always were adored; so were their successors, -the wicked popes. Man was too near to -nature to be aware of shame, and infantile enough -to like to be surprised. That was Elagabalus’ -scheme; he amused his people and surprised them -at the same time.</p> - -<p>The whole spirit of tolerance of the unusual -makes it difficult for us to picture Rome. Modern -ink has acquired Nero’s blush; yet, however sensitive -a writer may be, once Roman history is before -him although he may violate it, may even give -it a child, he never can make it immaculate. He -may skip, indeed; and it is because he has -skipped so often that you may fancy Augustus was -immaculate. The rain of fire which fell on the -cities that mirrored their towers in the Bitter Sea -might just as well have fallen on him, on Virgil, on -Caligula, Nero, Otho, Vitellius, Titus, or Domitian<a id="FNanchor_56" href="#Footnote_56" class="fnanchor">[56]</a> -why, then, condemn Elagabalus alone unheard, save -for the fact that his relations hated him, and as -far as we can see, hated him without a cause, or -perhaps because he was growing too strong, and his -unfortunate disease gave them their opportunity to -gain that power after which the women were striving -like grim death?</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_24"></a>[24]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE FAMILY OF THE EMPEROR MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONINUS</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>Great houses, says a historian, win and lose undying -fame in less than a century; they shoot, bud, -bloom, bear fruit; from obscurity they rise to -dominate their age, indelibly to write their names -in history, and after a hundred years give place to -others, who in turn take the stage, while they -descend into the crowd and live on insignificant, -retired, unknown. This is true, in some periods, -but not of the Imperial houses of Rome. Their -flight across the stage was meteoric in its rapidity. -A generation saw the rise and total extinction of -many of those families who aspired to the Roman -Purple, particularly the revived house of Antonine.</p> - -<p>On the borders of the Orontes, in that part of -Syria which is known as Phoenicia, lies a small, -disagreeable, and melancholy-looking town, which -to-day bears the name of Homs, or Hems. It is a -construction of yellow and black stones mixed with -mud and broken straw, and is the rendezvous of -Curds, Bedouins, and Turkomans, a straggling -village, where dirt, squalor, and misery proclaim the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_25"></a>[25]</span> -absence of trade, roads, or contact with an outside -world. A short distance away are the ruins of an -ancient castle, built by the Crusaders to dominate -the route to Antioch. Here alone is there a trace -of fruitfulness, a sort of oasis of green gardens, extending -along the river-bank towards what was once -the graceful and beautiful capital of the Elagabal -monarchy, the famous city of Emesa—celebrated -under the independent High-Priest Kings of the -family of Sohemais for the splendour of its palaces -and the magnificence of its temple, and because it -was the headquarters of the worship of the God of -Gods, Elah-Gebal, or Baal, which is the name more -familiar to Christian ears. For us the chief interest -in this wretched village lies in the fact that it is the -home of that race of Syrian Emperors who ruled -Rome during the period of her greatest renown and -prosperity—a period when the splendour of the -Purple reached its apogee. Rome had been watching -a crescendo that had mounted with the ages; it -culminated in the revived Antonine house; but the -tension had been too great, something snapped, and -there was nothing left. So it had been with Emesa; -her splendours endured sorrowfully until the twelfth -century, and then were engulfed, as her house had -long since been, in a great earthquake which -devastated that part of Syria, along with lesser-known -parts of the earth’s surface.</p> - -<p>Little is known of the early history of the -hereditary High-Priest Kings of Emesa. Strabo -tells us that, like the neighbouring sovereigns of -Jerusalem, their origin was sacerdotal, to which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_26"></a>[26]</span> -functions they had attached the title and jurisdiction -of secular rulers on the breaking-up of the Seleucid -monarchy.</p> - -<p>The most famous princes of the Emesan dynasty -of High-Priest Kings were Samsigeramus and his -son Iamblichus, the friend of Cicero. In the war -between Octavius and Antony this prince found he -had taken up arms on the wrong side, and was killed -by Antony for fear of treachery. In the year 20 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span> -Augustus re-established the kingdom of Emesa in -favour of the son of Iamblichus, which kingdom -certainly continued until the time of Vespasian, -according to Froelich, and probably until Antoninus -Pius, during whose reign we have the first known -Imperial coins of Emesa (Eckhel). The kingdom -was small, and the wealth, except the revenue -which came as religious offerings, insignificant—facts -which undoubtedly decided the rulers of the -time to yield gracefully before the advancing arms -of the universal Emperor, who, in return, left the -High-Priest Kings a certain amount of political as -well as their inherent religious authority, much in -the same way that he left the family of Herod -their nominal monarchy, along with the support of -a similar Babylonian religion. Certainly the fame -of the temple at Emesa and the oracle of Belos -at Apamea was widespread, and the hereditary -High Priest in the year of grace 179 was an astute -gentleman.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> - -<img src="images/illus1a.jpg" id="illus1a" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Antoninus Pius, struck at Emesa -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus1b.jpg" id="illus1b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) -(British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_26"><i>Face page 26.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>In that first year of the reign of the Emperor -Commodus there was appointed to the command of -the fourth Scythian legion then quartered in Syria,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_27"></a>[27]</span> -in all probability, as Peter thinks, at Emesa itself, -an African, one Septimius Severus by name, a native -of Leptis Magna in Tripoli, born in the year 146, -and therefore about the age of thirty-three years.</p> - -<p>Whether or not he was a widower at the time is -uncertain. He had previously married a lady, by -name Marcia, but as no children by her are known -to have existed, it is probable that she was either -dead or repudiated by that year, added to which -his precocious inquiries as to the marriageable -young women in the neighbourhood presuppose -that the general was either free or at least travelling -<i>en garçon</i>.</p> - -<p>The High Priest of the period was—according -to two references in the Epitome of Aurelius Victor—a -certain Julius Bassianus, descended in hereditary -line from the afore-mentioned Iamblichus. Certainly -he was not a plebeian, as Dion says, somewhat -sneeringly, when referring to his daughter’s origin, -unless, of course, Dion meant in point of comparison -with the rank to which she eventually attained.</p> - -<p>It was certainly a happy chance that Bassianus -possessed not only a wise prophet, but also a superstitious -commander in the army of occupation, and -was astute enough to work both for the miraculous -profit of his house and lineage. Unfortunately he -had no daughter old enough for an immediate -marriage. She who is presumed the eldest, -Domna by name, was at the time only nine years of -age, having been born in the year 170, whilst her -sister Maesa was presumably somewhat younger.</p> - -<p>But to return to the Oracle. In the year of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_28"></a>[28]</span> -grace 179, when Septimus found himself in a peaceful -province, <i>en garçon</i> and very much admired, he -took an interest in the marriageable daughters of -important persons, like most young men of ambition -in their more calculating moments, and—being a -religious-minded man—he determined to consult -the gods, especially the famous voice which spoke -so near at hand. Here he learnt that to the -elder daughter of Bassianus was reserved, according -to her horoscope, the power of making the -man whom she should wed a king. It was an -ambitious height to which Septimius aspired, and -an ambition which would have cost him his life had -Commodus got bruit of the transaction. Nevertheless, -being a prudent man, and at the same -time ambitious, he resolved to let no chance slip. -He did what Bassianus expected—demanded the -lady’s hand and obtained the reversion thereof.</p> - -<p>At what date the marriage took place is by no -means certain; there are two references in Dion -which are mutually exclusive. The first says that -the Empress Faustine (who, by the way, the -same Dion says, died in 175) herself prepared their -marriage bed in the precincts of the temple, which -sounds a highly unsatisfactory beginning to ordinary -matrimony. But as he has just told us that the -lady was of an age of five in the year above -mentioned, it is highly improbable that her nuptial -couch would be prepared by any one, or anywhere, -for some time to come, especially as there -is no indication that Septimius had heard of the -lady before 179, when he consulted the Oracle.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_29"></a>[29]</span> -Again, Dion assumes that Marcia did not die until -Septimius was appointed Governor of Lyonese -Gaul about the year 187, so that her husband -could only have been playing with astrology, wise -prophets, and other things against the time when -the obex to solid matrimony should be removed. -Possibly even Dion is referring—when he drags in -the Empress Faustine—to Septimius’ first marriage, -or, as has been suggested, the whole thing was a -dream of either Septimius or Dion, probably both, -as both were much addicted to such proceedings. -Considering the so-called scandal against the lady’s -character, her proclivities, and the knowledge that -her eldest son Bassianus was born at Lyons on -April 4, 188, it is most natural to conclude that the -marriage took place some time in the spring of the -year 187, though the pledges may have been given -when the child was nine years old or thereabouts, and -the actual marriage deferred till Julia’s seventeenth -year, Septimius amusing himself in the interval, -after the manner of soldiers. It must be admitted -that, as the record of his scrapes is limited to -two, he was more discreet than the majority of his -profession.</p> - -<p>His choice of a wife, if made on unusual grounds, -was more than successful. Few Emperors have -had more renowned ladies or more helpful spouses -than Julia Domna Pia, the daughter of Bassianus, -proved herself to Septimius. It was fortunate that -she had more than a horoscope to assist her in her -new position. Even the governorship of Lyonese -Gaul was an important post, and there she had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_30"></a>[30]</span> -large scope for the use of her wit, learning, beauty, -and wisdom, in addition to her Syrophoenician -adaptability for amorous intrigues. By means of -which combination the family became people of -renown throughout the length and breadth of -Pertinax’s Empire, a circumstance which enabled -them, on the murder of that Emperor, to assume -the rôle of avengers, the deliverers of Rome, the -saviours of the Empire, which had now three heads -but no commander.</p> - -<p>It was Julia, we are assured by Capitolinus, who -decided her husband to assume the Purple; it was -Julia who first amongst Empresses was Domna, or -Mistress, Mater Castrorum, Mater Senatus, Mater -Patriae, Mater Totius Populi Romani. Of course -she had the sad notoriety of being mother to -Caracalla, and late authors (<i>vide</i> Tertullian <i>ad -Nationes</i>) have reproached her with many indiscretions—have -even accused her of conspiring against -her husband; but Dion, who is by no means -partial to her, mentions neither accusation, and the -absurdity of the latter throws doubt, at least on -the public knowledge of the former story. In any -case her elevated mind, her four children, and her -rank, even when combined with her sun-warmed -nature, ought to have protected her from anything -except occasional amusements, of which she might -have preferred her husband ignorant. Julia’s real -fame rests on the basis of her character as a -mathematician, an astrologer, and a wise counsellor. -The fruit of her learning and philosophy has -been handed down to all time by her friend and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_31"></a>[31]</span> -associate Philostratus in the dedication to her of -his Life of Apollonius, the miracle-worker of Tyana, -the Thaumaturge whose life and miracles are supposed -to form so large a part of the traditional life -of Jesus as it exists to-day.</p> - -<p>In the palace Julia Domna had gathered round -her a circle of learned men, where all subjects were -discussed, and whence, in all probability, a contemporary -derived his idea of the <i>Deipno sophistae</i>. -It was a circle of rhetoricians, lawyers, astrologers, -physicians, philosophers, and historians, which included -men such as Cassius Dio, Ulpian, Papinian, -Paul, Galen, and Philostratus—one and all names -which speak volumes for the gravity of the lady and -the perfection of her taste. If, therefore, any truth -is to be attributed to the account of her frailties, -the worst that can be imagined of the pious Julia -is, that like the Virgin Queen of this country, she -took her recreations in those ways which nature -and temperament prompted, while the main business -of her life was social, political, and philosophical. -Many, like Bayle, have made merry over the carnal -anecdotes, though surely for a true judgment of her -character the preservation of a single conversation -with Philostratus of Lemnos would be worth the -record of a thousand dull intrigues—in surmise—for -which familiarity has bred contempt.</p> - -<p>Besides which, Severus lived in the bosom of -his family, or rather of his wife’s family, the Bassiani. -With his two sons and two daughters there -had come to Rome about the year <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 193 the family -of his wife’s sister Julia Maesa, a lady for whom<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_32"></a>[32]</span> -fate had provided no Imperial horoscope, and who -in consequence had no right to be anything like -as ambitious as her sister the Empress. Maesa -was, however, equally beautiful, equally clever, -and equally determined to climb, if climbing were -possible. To her mind Rome was the place where -fortunes were to be made if you had an Imperial -connection, so to Rome Maesa came. She had -married, at an early age, the Proconsul Julius -Avitus, by no means an undistinguished government -servant. The fact that he held the governments -of Asia, Mesopotamia, and Cyprus successively, -and was Consul in the year 209, says -something for the trust which was reposed in him. -He seems to have been resident in Rome in his -own mansion on the Aesquiline—according to -Lanciani—from the year 193, a fact which presupposes -that he was already a man of wealth -and position, who considered himself justified—on -account of his relation to the Imperial home—in -resigning the government of the provinces, though -at no time was the proconsulship an unprofitable -possession, even for the most upright. Herodian -testifies most fully to the wealth of the family, leading -us to suppose that Maesa knew full well that -“poverty is no recommendation anywhere,” and -had amassed money accordingly.</p> - -<p>At the period now before us Maesa’s political ability -seems to have had little or no scope. It was gold -she wanted at that time, and gold she was getting -together against an emergency. This emergency -fate provided under the Emperor Macrinus, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_33"></a>[33]</span> -she was thus enabled to use her stores of gold and -statecraft with much profit both under Elagabalus -and in the early years of Alexander’s reign. She was -then free, and showed herself in her true colours, -a sort of Dowager-Empress after the Chinese -pattern, greedy, with a terrible eagerness for power, -authority, and a command such as Julia with more -good sense had never thought of encompassing. -It was a longing that she had to satisfy at the -price of her treasure, her popularity—if ever she had -any—even at the price of her own children’s blood. -Maesa’s family consisted of two daughters, whose -sons were both to become renowned Emperors, -men whose names live by their very eccentricities, -though their deeds are but far-off fables -meet for the acrimonious discussions which make -historians famous. Of the two daughters, Soaemias, -or Symiamira, the elder, was less of the politician, had -less of the calculating, self-possessed individuality -which was so strong in both her mother and sister, -who were both women with the true courtesan -instinct, which could turn their very amours to -substantial account. Soaemias was certainly no -ruler. She was a living, passionate, human woman, -full of the joy of life, generous both for good -and evil, courageous too, according to Herodian. -By common consent, she was voluptuous, devoted -to those who loved her, willing to give her very -life for that of her well-loved son. A woman who -was bound to be popular with men, and hated by -her sisters for all time, both on account of her -qualities and her defects. To such a nature the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_34"></a>[34]</span> -position Lampridius ascribes in the state would -have been utterly impossible. Nor is this borne -out anywhere by the existing inscriptions, which -always make Soaemias take a place second to -that of Maesa, except in the Senate on the Quirinal, -which was her special concern.</p> - -<p>Soaemias married some time before the year -204 Sextus Varius Marcellus. He was, according -to Dion, a native of Apamea, and a man of some -considerable prominence. As early as 196 we -hear of him in the position of Procurator Aquarum, -and his advancement, presumably helped by his -connection with royalty, was very rapid. Through -the usual grades of procuratorships he reached the -rank of Praefect in early life, and thence the height -of ambition, the Praetorian class of the Senatorial -order. At the time of his death he was about -to complete his term of office as Legatus Legionis -III. Augustae, Praeses provinciae Numidiae, or may -just have vacated that position; at least such is the -reading of the inscription according to Domaszewski, -who puts his death some time in the year <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 217. -The young couple seem to have had an estate at -Velletri, a city some twenty-five miles south of Rome; -as here Varius Marcellus’ funeral inscription was -found some short time back. Whether or not her -husband’s praefectorial duties left Soaemias much -to herself can be judged by the statement, made -by all authorities, that she spent the greater part -of her time with her aunt at Court, which she could -scarcely have done had her husband been at -Velletri. There is a question raised by Eckhel<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_35"></a>[35]</span> -as to the number of her children; he cites from -a Bilingue Marmor, which contains the inscription—“Julia -Soaemias Bassiana cum <i>filis</i>,” but as this -is the only mention of any children, apart from -Bassianus himself, the others have passed into -obscure oblivion. Probably this mention is responsible -for more than one of the many scandalous -stories which centre round her name. She certainly -had one son, Varius Avitus Bassianus (sometimes -also called Lupus). Whether he was first, second, -or last, we have no sort of information. Various -writers give the boy different names in early life; -few agree even as to the year of his birth. Dion -says that he was born on October 1, 204. Herodian, -for no discoverable reason, puts it as early -as 201, while both Ammianus Marcellinus and -Julianus imply that his birthplace was Emesa, which -latter fact seems most improbable. Bassianus’ -very parentage is obscure, on account of the reputation -which his mother had acquired during her -residence in Rome. Certainly her cousin Caracalla -admired her, but he admired most women of the type, -and if we can believe any of the scandals, Soaemias -was in no way averse to passing her time in -amorous converse with her very vigorous cousin, -or indeed with any other strong and healthy -soldiers who thronged the imperial ante-chambers. -This state of affairs seems to have been one of -which people in Rome were well aware, as was -testified by the vestal whom Caracalla, having impotently -failed to violate, burned alive, protesting -her innocence on the grounds that Soaemias had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_36"></a>[36]</span> -put it beyond the power of Caracalla to violate her -when he tried.</p> - -<p>In one way it was a misfortune for her son that -no one could fix exactly—perhaps his mother least -of all—the paternity of Bassianus, though, on the -other hand, this very uncertainty had its peculiar -uses at the psychological moment. Certainly the -discovery that she had other children, whilst Bassianus -alone comes to the front, lends countenance -to the official story that her attachment to Caracalla -was not unfruitful, while the name Bassianus, which -her son bore, was the name by which Caracalla was -always known until the time of his proclamation, -and even afterwards. At any rate there is nothing -unlikely in the imperial paternity which all authors -mention, some as conjectural, some even assuming -as a fact, with, however, very little chance of ascertaining -the arcana of the circumstances. There is and -can be, at any rate medically speaking, no truth in -the abominable suggestion of Lampridius, that the -boy was named Varius on account of the variety of -gentlemen who contributed to his <i>mise en scène</i>, -especially when Lampridius knew, if he knew anything -at all, that the lady’s husband was by name -Varius. What, therefore, was more natural than that -the lad should bear the family name along with the -other belonging to his natural father the Emperor -Bassianus?</p> - -<p>The reputed birthplace is certainly a mystery. -Why Soaemias should have taken the long and tiring -journey to Emesa, when she could have enjoyed -herself so much better in Rome, has never been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_37"></a>[37]</span> -explained. Even though the birth were an accident -which she wished to conceal from her husband, -why go to Emesa, where she was best known outside -Rome, and where people could talk just as -well as in the imperial city? Her husband may -have been absent on military or civil duty for -too long a time to stop people talking about the -interesting event (in some provinces the tenure of -office was five years), which would suggest things -best left undiscovered, but even then there were -many such accidents happening in the best-regulated -families. No one would be shocked, her family -was in too good a position to allow any such -expression of feeling; she was a married woman -and could claim the protection of that state of life -at Terracina, or Baiae, or any other seaside resort, -until the time was safely over. There seems no -suggestion possible that will accord with Julianus’ -implication. It may be true, though we can see no -earthly reason for the journey, and, in the absence -of corroboration, we may conclude that in all probability -it is merely a loose way of saying that -the family of a man belongs to a certain village -or island, without necessarily implying that the -person in question was himself born there. It -may even be a backhanded way of disparaging the -birth of him whose memory had to be slighted, -by saying that he was a mere provincial nobody, -whilst the birth of his murderer and successor is -vaunted and raised to great splendour by circumstantial -untruth, in order to prove him fully <i>capax -imperii</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_38"></a>[38]</span></p> - -<p>The second daughter of Julia Maesa was Julia -Mamaea. While still abroad with her family, she -had married another Syrian, by name Gessianus Marcianus, -a native of Arca. Nothing is known of him -except from Dion’s statement that he had filled, more -than once, the office of Imperial Procurator. By this -marriage Mamaea incurred the <i>capitis diminutio</i> -on account of the inferior rank of her husband, -but by means of a privilegium from Severus and -Caracalla she was allowed to retain her own Senatorial -rank. Of this admirable woman none of the -frailties so common amongst her family and relations -are reported. She lived and died a model of -unswerving rectitude. This affectation she carried -almost to the Jesuit extreme, when she made use -of her reputation and wealth to obtain the murder -of the nephew of whom she so highly disapproved -and by whose murder she would benefit -so materially. There is, of course, the story of one -indiscretion with Caracalla, by means of which she -consented to gain popularity for her son. She, as -well as her sister, claimed the distinction of having -been Caracalla’s mistress, and Alexianus, as well as -Bassianus, was claimed as the result of that cousin’s -too amorous embraces. The admission was doubtless -due rather to a hypocritical affectation of -wickedness, prompted by the political exigencies -of the moment, than to the fact that her cold and -stately beauty had unbent to tempt a too ardent -cousin by the offer of those seductive attractions -which he could get so easily elsewhere. Especially -as the assumption of this rôle of temptress might<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_39"></a>[39]</span> -cause her in after-life all the reproaches of a misspent -youth, with little to show for the sacrifice. -Perhaps mention ought to be made of the opinion -of Dexippus, that the boys Bassianus and Alexianus -were cousins-german <i>paternal</i>, which, as we know -from theologians, when they are fitting facts to -theory, is the same thing as brothers by the same -father. Certainly Mamaea’s beauty is remarkable. -As we see it in her bust at the Louvre, she is a -younger edition of her aunt Julia, perhaps without -the humanity and gentleness expressed in that lady’s -portrait, which is to be found in the Rotondo at the -Vatican, but there is a real resemblance between -the two. Both, though Syrian by race, are remarkably -Western in type, whereas the features of Julia -Soaemias—in the statue representing her as Venus -Coelestis, also in the Vatican museum—are distinctly -of a more Oriental cast. Soaemias’ form is -most beautiful, though it must be confessed that her -head and arms would have pleased Rubens’ taste -better than they do our present pre-Raphaelite -ideas of attractiveness. Soaemias’ history, however, -leaves no doubt in our minds that all men -considered her the more attractive at the time; -and certainly, if but a tittle of the stories concerning -her be true, she must have been as fascinating as -the goddess in whose form she has been portrayed.</p> - -<p>We have now before us the main personages -in the political revolution of the year <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 218, a -revolution which displaced the Moor, the beloved -of the Senate, and replaced the house of Severus, -the beloved of the army, upon that peak whereon<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_40"></a>[40]</span> -the young Emperors of old Rome balanced themselves—a -peak with a precipice on either side.</p> - -<p>First, there is the <i>Empress Julia Domna Pia</i>, -clever, witty, sagacious, and beautiful.</p> - -<p>Then her sister, <i>Julia Maesa, Sanctissima</i>,—for -so her religiosity is described—the widow of Julius -Avitus, wealthy, hard, crafty, and domineering, but -a woman with a policy and limitless determination, -as her later history shows. Then her two -daughters—</p> - -<p>(1) <i>Julia Soaemias Bassiana</i>, the wife of Varius -Marcellus, beautiful, voluptuous, religious, neurotic, -the mother of Elagabalus, a woman with few, if any, -political aspirations, tendencies, or abilities.</p> - -<p>(2) <i>Julia Mamaea</i>, the upright (except when -other things paid better), classic, cold, calculating, -philosophic, mildly interested in Christianity, and -devoted to the interests of her own family.</p> - -<p>Finally, the two successive Emperors, their sons, -<i>Varius Avitus Bassianus</i>, the impulsive, affectionate, -headstrong child of about thirteen years, with all his -mother’s hereditary sexuality, neurotic religion, and -love of life; and <i>Alexianus</i>, a child of approximately -nine, Mamaea’s son, and bearing her reputation, of -whom more at a later time.</p> - -<p>Let us follow in outline the actions and movements -of this family from the death of the Emperor -Antoninus Caracalla to the inception of the movement -which placed his, at least reputed, son in his -place.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> - -<img src="images/illus2a.jpg" id="illus2a" width="600" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Medal of Julia Domna Pia, Empress (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus2b.jpg" id="illus2b" width="550" height="275" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Maesa Augusta (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus2c.jpg" id="illus2c" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Soaemias Augusta (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus2d.jpg" id="illus2d" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Mamaea Augusta (British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_40"><i>Face page 40.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>Without doubt the family had lived securely and -delicately in Rome through the reigns of Septimius<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_41"></a>[41]</span> -Severus and his son, growing in wisdom, stature, -and prosperity, and, as far as we know, in favour -with God and man, until the tragic events of the -year 217 made it appear that the fortunes of the family -had come to a sudden and decided collapse. The -circumstances of the death of Caracalla were typical -of that age of sovereignty. As a general rule the -knife gave what a dish of mushrooms took away. -Caracalla’s government had been cruel and severe -in the extreme, but he was adored by the army, with -whom he lived and worked, not as Emperor, but as -comrade. For them he could never do enough in -the way of privileges, for them the treasury was -depleted, and cities turned into cemeteries that they -might have the booty. Fighting was as natural to -him as to a tiger cat; and fighting he died. It was -for the pursuit of a campaign against the Parthians -that the Emperor and Court had moved to Antioch -in Syria, where Julia, his mother, was acting as -Secretary of State, while the Emperor was bounding -like a panther upon the various cities of Mesopotamia. -In the pursuit of her duties, it happened -that there came into her hands certain letters -warning her of a plot against her son’s life.</p> - -<p>With the army at that time was a praefect, Opilius -Macrinus by name, a Moorish lawyer of low birth -and pedantic habits. He had been procurator to -Plautianus, the so-called traitor, whom both Julia -and Caracalla had hated. Now Macrinus had been -honoured by Severus after Plautianus’ murder, and -still stood high in the imperial favour—though he -was treated by the Emperor, says Dion, as a sort of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_42"></a>[42]</span> -buffoon. Macrinus had dreamed that the purple -should be his, and was supported in his wish by -the African astrologer Serapion, who was obliging -enough to prophesy the speedy demise of Aurelius -Antonine in Macrinus’ favour.</p> - -<p>Julia immediately sent dispatches containing -the account of what was going forward to her son, -who, as usual, was absent from the city. When -these arrived in the camp, Caracalla was just -mounting his chariot, and gave orders that the -mail should be taken first to Macrinus, who would -sift its contents and only bring what was necessary -to the Emperor. Thus did Macrinus learn that -his treachery was discovered and a death-sentence -for real or supposed treason imminent, which unpleasant -certainty he resolved to obviate without -further delay. In a very few days he had discovered -a discontented person willing to do his work, one -Martialis, a centurion, whose brother, according -to Herodian, had recently been executed for some -military offence, or, in Dion’s version, because he -was angered at his own tardy promotion. These -two discussed the matter and resolved on the -extermination of their mutual grievance, Martialis -to do the deed.</p> - -<p>The opportunity came on the 8th April 217, -when Caracalla was on a journey to visit the temple -of the Moon at Charrae in Mesopotamia. By the -way, he had occasion to dismount for purposes of -natural relief, and withdrew somewhat from his staff, -thus leaving himself unprotected. Martialis saw -his opportunity. On the pretext of having been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_43"></a>[43]</span> -called, he rushed up and stabbed the defenceless -Emperor in the back, then made off, followed by the -German officers, who immediately got wind of what -had been done. He was the cat’s paw, and suffered -the penalty that Macrinus had foreseen would be -his. Four days later, and, <i>faute de mieux</i>, the army -offered the Empire to this same Macrinus, little -wotting for the moment what his part had been in -the tragedy they deplored, desiring only a leader -against the approaching forces of King Artabanus. -As usual, according to Herodian, the Senate breathed -a sigh of relief when the Emperor died. In their -effete condition they were only too anxious to change -masters as often as possible. With a want of political -sense and ability, which so well merited the -treatment they received at the hands of their tyrants, -that august body continually preferred—with an -entire lack of statesmanship—the unknown to the -known evils of their future.</p> - -<p>At the time of Caracalla’s death, Julia’s chief -grief was at the loss of her influence. During the -last quarter of a century she had had the world at -her feet, and not the world of sycophants by any -means. Latterly she had enjoyed the supreme -power, and must have had enormous patronage in -her hands; naturally her nominees would be men -eager in her interest and support. Dion seems -to say that her first idea was one of suicide, as a -means of escaping her loss of prestige, but he shows -us that her fears proved groundless, since the -new Emperor left her in Antioch with the outward -marks of her dignity unaltered. It was certainly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_44"></a>[44]</span> -not a wise policy from Macrinus’ point of view. -Julia, knowing at least of his treachery, and ably -assisted by her crafty sister, took advantage of the -mismanagement of the Parthian campaign, and the -insensate strictness with which this pedantic lawyer -immediately attempted to reform the manners of -his young soldiers, to suggest that she herself would -make a better ruler than this pedagogue (at least, -so one gathers from Dion, 78-23). It was a -chimerical scheme at best, and as Julia knew her -Rome so well, she must have realized that no -woman could have a chance, as sole ruler, in such -an environment. It is therefore more natural to -suppose that if she attempted anything at all, it -was to suggest some youth to the army in -whose name she could exercise the power she -loved; and who was more natural than the son -of Soaemias and Caracalla? It is conjectural, of -course, but the report of his paternity seems already -to have been abroad, and will account for the -extraordinary alacrity with which the troops received -the lad a few months later. At any rate, -something caused Macrinus to change his mind as -to the advisability of allowing Julia and her relations -to remain longer in the Eastern capital. -Thus he ordered them to return at once to Emesa, -whence they were sprung. Julia was too proud -to submit to the condition of subject under the -adventurer whom her family had raised from -nothing, or to become after so much grandeur -an object of public pity. She resolved, therefore, to -escape from her distress like a Stoic of ancient<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_45"></a>[45]</span> -days. Moreover, she was suffering from a disease -which is still considered incurable. Death was -approaching her; she went out to meet it, and -either allowed herself to die of starvation or pierced -her cancer with a poisoned dagger. The report -that Macrinus had ordered her suicide is quite -incompatible with his other dealings towards the -family of Bassianus.</p> - -<p>Maesa, more prudent and more far-seeing, resolved -to obey the order literally, and returned with -her widowed daughters (Dion), their two sons, and -all her vast treasure to her native city of Emesa, -some 125 miles south of Antioch. Here, as we -have already pointed out, the family was of immense -importance, not only on account of their hereditary -position, but by reason of their wealth and imperial -connections. Macrinus’ short tenure of office is one -continual record of gross blunders, of which this is -about the most futile, comparable only with a few -similar acts perpetrated by our own Stuart dynasty -and the last hereditary kings of France. Emesa -was the one place in the Empire where Maesa had -real power and authority. A whole city would -back her pretensions and further her schemes with -a devotion that Macrinus could only expect from -the handful of Moors who formed his bodyguard.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_46"></a>[46]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE USURPATION AND FALL OF MACRINUS, 217-218</span></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Steps to Empire</i></p> - -</div> - -<p>As we have suggested, Maesa saw more possibilities -in living than in assaying that better part -which can never be taken from men, which circumstance -shows that she at least was not tainted with -the growing superstition that a mythical eternity is -preferable to a certain present. She promptly -obeyed the edict of banishment which Macrinus -had published against the relations of the murdered -Emperor, and, as we have said, took with her to her -native city the whole of her wealth and belongings. -It was some time during the winter of 217/18 that -Macrinus ordered the family of Bassianus to leave -Antioch, and it was this very departure that eventually -cost him his throne and life. Certainly he must -have known that plans for replacing the house of -Antonine on the throne were rife. The final result -shows months of work, effected only by hosts of -agents. In fact, we may almost surmise that government -servants all over the Empire had never -acquiesced in the usurpation of Macrinus at all,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_47"></a>[47]</span> -and were merely biding their time. There was only -one safe plan for Macrinus, if he wanted the loyalty -of the civil and military parties in the state, namely, -to extirpate the whole house of Antonine. Instead -of taking this sensible and necessary measure, he -merely banished the relations of Caracalla, whom -the soldiers regarded as their natural allies, most -especially the son and impersonator of that Emperor, -the young Bassianus, now aged about fourteen -years.</p> - -<p>They had more than one grudge against -Macrinus. First, they felt the utter disgrace of -the Parthian campaign, and were disgusted at the -lying medal to celebrate a victory which all the -world knew to have been a colossal defeat. Next, -they were righteously annoyed at the restrictions -put on their usual liberty. Third, they were quite -unnecessarily relegated, on half rations, to uncomfortable -winter quarters, their pay reduced, and -their privileges stopped.</p> - -<p>It is easy to imagine the soldiers’ disgust at -finding themselves subjects to a mere legal pedant, -in the place of their popular idol and born leader -Caracalla, subjects of a man whose prime object -seemed to be the infliction of harsh and unnecessary -punishments in all matters concerning the ordinary -enjoyments common to their state and life—a ruler -whose first reforms were to make criminal offences -those natural pleasures which were alone considered -to make the strenuous military life endurable. -Tristran, quoting from Dion, recalls a -law which ordained the burning alive of a soldier<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_48"></a>[48]</span> -and his mistress (<i>junctis corporibus</i>); or, as an act -of grace, their walling up together (in the same -interesting condition), and their being left to die of -hunger and suffocation. This feeling of rebellion -was by no means lessened when men knew that -the new Emperor was taking his ease at Antioch, -the Queen of the East, and they compared this -treatment with what they had received from their -friend and comrade the late Emperor. Macrinus -was full of regulations for others, but fully impressed -with the legal maxim that the lawgiver is above -the law. It is small wonder, all things considered, -if the prayers of that host were that the -Gods would favour their suppliants both in their -hatreds and in their lusts, prayers that were offered -in such right Davidic fashion that Forquet de Dorne -thinks the attempts made even during this period -against the Emperor’s life would have been successful, -if it had not been for the fidelity of -his fellow Moors. Macrinus, like other amateur -soldiers, did not recognise the power of the army -in the government of a military empire. He seems -to have thought that the best way to play up to his -electors was to adopt a title of Severus and display -it towards them in all its rigour. Not that Macrinus’ -incapacity as a statesman and military leader ceased -here; he made a yet greater mistake in leaving a -large and discontented army in winter quarters in -Syria, partly at Emesa itself. These legions were -nominally for the protection of Phoenicia; actually, -they kept Maesa in touch with the outside world, -and were under the direct influence of her active<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_49"></a>[49]</span> -brain and limitless treasure, for to such Herodian -gives us to understand that her spoils approximated. -Little could the Moor have imagined what a volcano -he was preparing for himself when he left together -the discontented legionaries, the aunt of Caracalla, -and the representative of the house and name of -Severus: whose title to bastardy henceforward -became of prime importance to the family and their -fortunes.</p> - -<p>Julia Maesa had not lived for twenty-five years -at the Roman Court for nothing. She knew the -men with whom she had to deal, she was accustomed -to observe and meditate; further, she had -gold which openeth the heart of man, and an intelligence -quite acute enough to know where it -could best be spent in order to yield the largest -return. Besides this, she had a grandson celebrated -for his remarkable beauty, his vivid intelligence, -and his admirable gaiety. For such a youth -employment must be found immediately. Here at -Emesa was the very thing ready to hand, the -sacerdotal position which was the property of the -family. Maesa knew that a high position in the -Church is an acquisition which, even in this life, is -of lucrative and social advantage to the holder. -The High-Priesthood of one of the most important -religions of Syria was Bassianus’ possession for the -mere trouble of undergoing the ordination rite, -while with it there still went a certain amount of -the former princely kudos of that house. No sooner -had the family, with apparent grief and tribulation, -covered the intervening miles, than Bassianus was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_50"></a>[50]</span> -endowed with the family offices, dignities, and -emoluments, while his cousin Alexianus was most -probably associated with him as a sort of priest -or acolyte. A very fitting figure the boy made as -High Priest of the Semitic Elagabal or Sun God, -the God of Gods made without hands, supreme, -fecund, potent, and glorious. Elagabal was worshipped -under the symbol of a great black stone or -meteorite, in the shape of a Phallus, which, having -fallen from the heavens, represented a true portion -of the Godhead, much after the style of those -black stone images popularly venerated in Normandy -and other parts of Europe to-day. The -temple itself was of great renown; its celebrity -was gained from the fact that it represented the -greatest natural force of all time, and its magnificence -was in proportion to its renown. Gold, -silver, and precious stones had poured into it, not -only from the countryside and from Judea, but from -kings, satraps, and vassals all over the Eastern -provinces. Solomon’s temple, though nominally -the last word in barbaric ostentation, was easily -surpassed in taste, richness, and splendour at -Emesa. Herodian paints vividly the sensuous -beauty of the worship, the vestments, the music, -the dances, the sacrifices, and the mysteries, till -one has only to substitute Jehovah for Baal, and one -has a familiar scene; rather more splendid, rather -more cosmopolitan than the Jerusalem mysteries, -but equally designed to entrance the beholder and -to mystify the devout. But whereas Baal drew -all men within his warm, natural, fecund embrace,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_51"></a>[51]</span> -Jehovah was at best a local deity whom no one—save -those urged on by tribal necessities—had -ever thought it worth while to propitiate, let alone -to serve, at least if we can form any idea of his -importance from the Semitic literature and philosophy -when compared with that of the Western -Empire.</p> - -<p>Into all this power and sensuous beauty Bassianus -stepped proudly, as supreme lord, knowing -how well it became his own splendid magnificence. -He must have been warned that it was but a means -to an end, that here he had no abiding city; but -unfortunately he had a strong strain of mystical -devotion in his blood, and immediately became an -enthusiast for his deity. From the first moment -that he appears upon the scene the boy is always the -same, impulsive, enthusiastic, mystical, continually -dominated by that effete neuroticism which still -trades under the name of religion. Thus Bassianus -gloried in the beauty, which to his mind expressed, -however inadequately, the potency of his ineffable -deity. Here was a God who was able to make men -happy, and had taken him into a very specially protective -embrace; a God who was evidently supreme, -only, and alone, the God of the Universe. Further, -Bassianus gloried in his own beauty, the perfection -with which he had learnt to dance that indolent -measure to the kiss of flutes, robed in garments the -like of which he had not imagined during his residence -in the city of the Caesars.</p> - -<p>Now, it will be remembered that Caracalla’s -soldiers were wintering, half-fed, loveless, and discontented<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_52"></a>[52]</span> -in that place, and, as is not uncommon with -simple men of that profession, they were easily -attracted by the mysterious and the unusual. Soon -they heard of this wonderful boy, in whose face was -the enigmatic beauty shared by Gods and women; -and further, it was rumoured that, unlike most religious -functionaries, this priest was more ready to -give than to receive. They came in scores to watch -and worship, and found, when they came, that he -possessed the charm of the dissolute and the wayward, -heightened by the divine. On his head was -a diadem set with precious stones, whose iridescence -sparkled like a luminous aureole about his brow. -His frail tunic was of clinging purple silk diapered -with gold, the sleeves were wide, after the Phoenician -fashion, and fell to his feet, and he was shod with -fine gilded leather reaching to his thighs. Many of -those who gazed upon him must have seen and -remarked his beauty in the great City of the -Empire, whilst those who ascended to the temple -and beheld its rites believed each day more strongly -(assisted, of course, by Maesa’s well-spent incentive) -that they beheld the child of destiny. Never had -his beauty appealed as now; never had the soldiery -felt the need of a deliverer as much as at present. -Still the numbers—attracted by rumour—grew -greater till the lad, feeling the return of Rome -to himself, ceased to dance, and strolled amongst -his beloved soldiers, surveying them with the -bold feminine eyes they loved. Amongst the -troops was a certain Eutychianus, called by -Xiphilinus, Comazon, because he took part in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_53"></a>[53]</span> -mimes and farces. He was a soldier of some age -and renown who had served in Thrace under the -Emperor Commodus, and was a man of growing -influence and ability. Publius Valerius Comazon -Eutychianus was the full name of the man, who was -highly honoured for his part in the subsequent -proceedings. It is impossible to believe that -this man was merely an actor, indeed it is most -probable that the abridger of Dion has thought -fit to introduce a bit of gratuitously impossible -information when he remarks that Eutychianus -was only a freed man of the Emperor and an -actor. During the reign of Elagabalus he was -once Consul and twice City Praefect, and was -again appointed to this same office under the -Emperor Alexander.</p> - -<p>This man and the tutor Gannys seem to have -been the means of forcing home on the neglected -legionaries two most important items of information. -Through them the soldiers were reminded -that Bassianus was their murdered comrade’s son -and heir, issue of the Emperor and his equally -popular cousin Soaemias—that fiery-eyed woman -of superb bearing, before whom fire had been -carried as before an Empress, and yet one whose -favours had ever been for the strong, whose predilections -were for the military. Here they found -her again, passionate as ever, banished on account -of her relationship to their dead leader, and banished -by the man they now knew to be his murderer. -And further, they found her rich. Sedulously she -caused the rumour of her generosity to circulate,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_54"></a>[54]</span> -until all men knew about the lumps of gold she -was ready to give to any one who would place her -Antonine on the throne of his father. It may have -been that more than one in that camp could have -traced a resemblance to himself in the young -priest’s features, but none did, the lumps of gold -had a language all their own, a persuasive power -so potent that not only was Bassianus recognised -with a frenzy of loyalty, but his less attractive -cousin Alexianus was accepted as his half-brother, -a youth whose imperial paternity was at least as -possible as his own.</p> - -<p>Now the question was, could anything be done -to put these protestations of loyalty to some -practical use? Bassianus was certainly accepted -by the legionaries early in the year 218 as the -legitimate bastard and heir of Caracalla; the true -Augustus, deprived of his throne and heritage by -the hated Moor,—the man who had killed their -idol, and was now oppressing them (which was -perhaps more to the point) with the multitude of -his civilian parsimonies.</p> - -<p>Already Maesa’s plans (or were they those of -Julia Pia?) were taking shape in a manner almost -too good to be true, when, to the help of the youth -and his relatives, came the divine portents, which -were the accustomed foreshadowings of important -events. The great God veiled his face. Elagabal -signified his displeasure at the rule of the murderer -by an eclipse, and following on the eclipse came a -comet, a daystar from on high (another frequently -recurring sign of the rise of a redeemer and of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_55"></a>[55]</span> -rejuvenation of the world). These signs and portents -were doubtless adequately explained to the soldiers, -and seem to have decided them to redeem their -promises. Within four days, according to Wirth, -it was decided that Bassianus should repair to the -camp with his treasure, and be proclaimed Emperor -by the whole army in that province. Of course, all -this took time. Authorities differ, not only as to -the method adopted, but also as to the month in -which the proclamation took place. Dion states -definitely that Bassianus was proclaimed Emperor -at dawn on 16th May 218. Wirth, criticising Dion, -decides that the proclamation took place almost -immediately after the eclipse, which we know from -Oppolzer took place on 12th April. He quotes -Dion’s own words that the proclamation took place -ὑπὸ τὰς ἠμέρας ἐκείνας of the eclipse; therefore 16th -May is obviously a scribe’s error for 16th April, as -the phrase is quite incapable of bearing the meaning -within thirty-four days. Further, Wirth goes on -to explain that haste was an obvious necessity, as -no troops would ever be left in winter quarters till -the middle of May. The middle of April, in that -province, was more than late enough to account for -Dion’s statement that the troops had been unduly -delayed in winter quarters that year. Undoubtedly, -Wirth’s suggestion as to an earlier date of proclamation -than that stated in the present text of Dion -is the most likely; the difficulty lies in the fact that -from 16th April to 8th June, the date of the battle, -there is a period of seven weeks in which the active -Maesa apparently did nothing; but more of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_56"></a>[56]</span> -later. To continue with the story. When the -preparations were ready, and the portents of the -eclipse had decided the superstitious, Dion says that -Bassianus, Maesa, and the family of the Bassiani, -with wagons bearing their treasure, the ransom -of the Empire, left the city, and took up their -quarters within the camp on the night of 15th April -(or 15th May) 218. Herodian says that only Bassianus -and Eutychianus went, and by stealth, as -Maesa was ignorant of the final plans, though both -agree that at dawn on the next day the High Priest, -Bassianus, was brought out, shown to the soldiers, -habited in the clothes that Caracalla had worn, -and then, Macrinus having been deposed, Bassianus -was elected Emperor in his stead, under the title -of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, Antonini Filius, -Severi Nepos, Augustus, Pius, Felix. Herodian -adds that the camp was at once fortified, both to -protect the young Emperor—who, like his putative -father, preferred the camp to the palace—and also -to withstand the punitive expedition which Macrinus -was bound to send as soon as he heard of the -revolt and mutiny. The news would take at least -a couple of days to reach Antioch, if not considerably -longer, considering that the soldiers had taken -care to keep the proceedings within the camp. -In due course Macrinus heard of their audacity. -He was astonished and disgusted, and frankly said -so. The account which he sent to the Senate -was not pleasant reading for any of those it concerned; -but except by means of the pen, the nominally -deposed Emperor did not think that much<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_57"></a>[57]</span> -need be done. Still, that a mere boy, with a handful -of women, should have seduced the defenders -of a province was preposterous. Something must -be done to show the soldiery that, though Caracalla -might have stood such freedom of choice (which -by the way he never did), he, Macrinus, was now -master of the Empire, and incidentally their master -as well. It was a veritable storm in a tea-cup, -of course, but really upsetting to the man who -thought that his troubles were now over, that rest -remained for the elect of the Gods. The remarkable -thing about Macrinus is, that he seems to -have been absolutely in the dark as to the state -of public opinion, and the extent of the plot for -replacing the Antonine House on the throne. As -we read the history of Bassianus’ phenomenal -rise to power, there is a ring of the English -Restoration. It is impossible to account for -his universal success except on the grounds that -the government officials everywhere as well as the -soldiers recognised in him a legitimate sovereign and -an obvious ruler. From the moment at which he -set up his standard there seems to have been -no sort of adequate opposition either from the civil -or military government of Macrinus; while, on -the other hand, Bassianus obviously had a party -organised in every city and province, which was -sedulously kept informed of his progress from day to -day. Not only <i>a</i> party, but <i>the</i> party, as there is no -instance—except at Alexandria, where the Antonines -were scarcely popular—of Bassianus’ legates being -received otherwise than with open arms. None<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_58"></a>[58]</span> -of which facts argue well for the position of the -Moor in the state. Macrinus was inclined to -overestimate his popularity, and he certainly underestimated -the influence of youths and women. -Perhaps he had no experience of female tactics, -and the persistency with which they prosecute their -own designs; he obviously thought a sententious -letter to the Senate, full of smug platitudes, abuse -of the army and the house of Antonine, was what -that august assembly wanted. So far he had not -missed his mark; but when he went on to inform -them that they would never have any desire to -wish him any hurt, one of the Senators, Fulvius -Diogenianus by name (who was obviously better -informed than the majority as to the likelihood -of their having to put up with Macrinus much -longer), answered immediately and with surprising -candour, “But that is what we are all longing for”; -whereupon the Senate sent word to the army that -their general and Emperor was not to be trusted -on several counts.</p> - -<p>Macrinus, however, was not entirely idle; he -had at least begun to think. True, he had, for -himself, preferred the pen to the sword, and then -found that the pen was a double-edged weapon -like the sword, only rather more dangerous, because -it constituted documentary evidence. Still, he -would not let others err in the same way. He -sent for his Praetorian Praefect, Ulpius Julianus, -to attend at his silken couch and talk business. -The result of this conference was that Macrinus -resolved to strike fear, by proxy of course, into<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_59"></a>[59]</span> -the hearts of that “child and idiot,” his two women, -and the legion who supported him; and where, he -argued, would the revolt be when their hopes, -centred in a child, too young to know even the -rudiments of politics, were suddenly blighted? Of -course, he would like news, and yes, he thought -he had better say it, the boy’s head in a charger—stone-dead -hath no fellow. It would put the -Emperor quite at his ease once again to know that -his rival was dead. It was perhaps foolish to be -concerned about so effete a crew, nothing could -come of it all; but still he would feel relieved if -Julian would go at once to Emesa.</p> - -<p>We are not told how long Julian took in his -preparations, or on the journey. From Macrinus’ -attitude of disregard, probably he was not specially -pressed, though from his selection of troops Julian -must have thought the rising more important than -Macrinus had pretended in his letter to the Senate. -Julian’s chief anxiety was to secure loyalty to -Macrinus amongst the men he took for the suppression -of this revolt. Certain incautious speculations -amongst the men led to the execution -of several before the expedition started. From -his position as Praetorian Praefect, Julian would -take a fair contingent; his dignity demanded -it, and probably his knowledge of the state of -politics would tell him that a strong movement was -necessary at the outset. Apparently about three -legions went in all. Julian added to his forces a -large number of Moors, unless Herodian means -that he took the Moorish cohorts of the Praetorian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_60"></a>[60]</span> -Guard as main body, and added other men to -these; in any case, it seems obvious that, even if -the government had not got wind of what was -going forward, the army had, and in consequence -the Moors, as Macrinus’ own countrymen, were -considered the most trustworthy soldiers for the -work, besides which they were never over-particular -in their methods. There is evidence that, no matter -how much he might belittle the movement in public, -Macrinus knew that the “Idiot” and his two women -were likely to have a full dog’s chance, and get -a good run for their money.</p> - -<p>The journey from Antioch to Emesa is, as -we have said, a matter of 125 miles. The -report of the meeting <i>inside the camp</i> had to -reach Macrinus; he had to get his mind attuned -to the extraordinary circumstances; then appoint -Julian, who had to make his inquisition and -other preparations, and then get to Emesa. Conjecturally, -he could not have arrived with an -effective force much before the 28th of April, or -settled down to attack the fortified camp outside -the city till that day. On the first day, Dion tells -us that Julian all but took the camp in a long day’s -fight; but it was heavy work, and, contrary to -Macrinus’ expectation, the arrival of Julian had not -struck fear into the heart of the “effeminate and -debauched Syrian lad,” who was still with his -soldiers, and showed no intention of giving way -even when the sun began to decline in the west.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> - -<img src="images/illus3a.jpg" id="illus3a" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Caracalla) -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus3b.jpg" id="illus3b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Elagabalus) -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus3c.jpg" id="illus3c" width="600" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Macrinus recording Victoria Parthica, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 218. -(From a woodcut.)</p> - -<img src="images/illus3d.jpg" id="illus3d" width="600" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Diadumenianus as Emperor, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 218 (British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_60"><i>Face page 60.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>Unfortunately for Julian—and incidentally for -his master also, as things turned out—the Praefect<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_61"></a>[61]</span> -thought that “the night cometh in which no man -can work,” and gave his Moors leave to retire to -their lines at sunset. With them went certain -of the Emesan legionaries, displaying a hardihood -truly heroic, unless they were fairly sure of their -ground. All that night they worked, spreading -their evangel, talking, persuading, and promising on -behalf of Antonine and his gold; talking until even -the besieging Moors knew full well that those walls -held not only the son of Caracalla, but the limitless -wealth which he was ready to give to all those who -would assist him in reaching the throne of his father -and their hero. It was enough. When morning -broke, the vision of his Augustitude was seen above -the walls of the camp, dressed in garments which -they could recognize from their colour and shape as -having belonged to Caracalla, and surrounded by -his money bags. There he stood, boldly and -proudly, certainly in imminent danger of death -from the besiegers, but without fear, while all -around him rose a great shout, “Behold the image -of your benefactor! can you fight against him and -us, who stand by him for his father’s sake?” Now, -the resemblance, as shown on the coins given by -Cohen (<i>vide</i> coin 8, p. 324, and coin 1, p. 243, vol. iv.), -is quite remarkable; whether it was merely a family -likeness or entirely paternal, it was quite good enough -for men who at some little distance were already convinced, -and entirely anxious to share in the largess -that they had seen was already the prize of others.</p> - -<p>There was no further fighting, for all Julian’s -orders. The soldiers threw down their arms and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_62"></a>[62]</span> -refused battle against the popular idol. True, -there was still a question of heads, but the head -of the “Idiot” was not thought about in the old -connection; it was too valuable where it was. It -was the officers of Macrinus who suffered at the -hands of those who were candidates for their -offices, and to whom the position and property -of the defunct had been promised by the new -Emperor. The last to fall was Julian. That trusty -favourite of the deposed Emperor had managed to -escape when he saw the way that the tide was -flowing, but for a general commanding-in-chief -to escape is not easy, and there were doubtless -many aspirants for his responsibility and position. -Herodian tells a dismal tale of the Praefect found in -hiding, where he was given a short shrift, because -his head was wanted for a use other than that of -commanding the Praetorian Guards. The ingeniousness -of the conquerors had designed it as -an evangel, or announcement of good tidings to -Macrinus, impersonating the head he wanted, that -of Bassianus the Impostor.</p> - -<p>But to return to Macrinus. Julian departed -on his mission, the Emperor seems to have got -more and more worried; people must have told -him things which he had never heard before, and -he appears to have worked himself into a fever of -excitement, a simple longing to do something, no -matter what, to get on the move, to propitiate somebody, -chiefly the soldiers whom he had neglected, -and well, perhaps, just a bit persecuted. It had all -been for their good, of course, but now he had to think<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_63"></a>[63]</span> -of his own good; and so he set out towards Emesa. -Not that he had any intention of endangering his -precious person by going anywhere in that vicinity -himself; but there was the second Parthian Legion, -enrolled by Severus, and very loyal to the house of -Antonine, which was wintering at Apamea, about -half-way between Antioch and Emesa. Perhaps it -would be as well to modify that precious title of his -by gifts, largesses, and other privileges, especially -in the case of this particular legion of Albano, as it -was called, a legion which was so near the danger -zone, and whose defection might simply mean flight -for Macrinus. Gold had worked miracles at Emesa, -but Macrinus was not so foolish as to expect miracles, -he only wanted mercenary service; neither did he -want any more talk of bribes, which every one -would accept very readily, and would as readily -repudiate the responsibility thereby incurred. But -surely what had paid at Emesa ought to pay at -Apamea too. If a boy Emperor Bassianus was -popular there, why not set up a child yet younger -than the impostor; in fact, why not make his own -son, Diadumenianus, Associate Emperor with himself? -The boy was quite ten years of age, and would -make a fitting set-off to the “Idiot” of fourteen, -whose youthful pretensions he had just derided so -conclusively before the Senate. Besides which, it -would be an additional security for his family if -anything untoward should happen, and would -furnish the occasion for a largess, which Macrinus -was wanting. It would be an occasion at which -no one could cavil, no one pretend to sneer.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_64"></a>[64]</span> -Neither would it be a craven act, such as the -late dealings with Parthia had been stigmatised. -It was quite a budget that the ponderous lawyer -had thought out in so short a space of time. -Travelling, he knew not quite whither, had sharpened -his wits wonderfully, and he did more than plan; he -executed his design without delay. The legions -rejoiced once more in their demoralising privileges, -and in more than they could have hoped for in the -way of extra pay. Dion tells us that on the day -when Macrinus declared his son Antonine and -Augustus (with no senatorial patent, of course) he -promised to each legionary 5000 drachmae, of which -1000 were to be paid down. Further, in the letter -to the Senate which announced his son’s elevation, -he promised to each Roman citizen a congiary -of 150 drachmae. Obviously Macrinus was -changing his views; in his last letter he had played -up to the Senate and despised the army; he was -now playing up to the army, and showing the -Senate and sovereign people of Rome that he -estimated their worth at just one thirty-third of the -amount at which he valued a base soldier—a -man who would continually suffer himself to be -bribed, to the enormous hurt of the state, as -he had so recently enforced upon the senatorial -attention.</p> - -<p>Macrinus was certainly not clever, his acrobatic -feats were never graceful, never gained him much -applause even from the gallery. The occasion of -this congiary and donative was certainly a good bid -for general popularity; rejoicings went on apace;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_65"></a>[65]</span> -the obedient Senate, having taken their bribe, -poured contumely upon the house of Antonine -with a hearty goodwill, and declared its members -enemies to the state and commonwealth of Rome. -But somehow no one was quite satisfied, certainly -not Macrinus; the news he was expecting did not -come; the head he wanted had not yet been sent.</p> - -<p>There is a certain difficulty about the date of -Diadumenianus’ elevation. Neither Dion nor -Herodian state definitely when it was effected. -Mommsen postulates that it must be late in May -on account of the scarcity of evidence on the point. -There are several known coins which call him -Emperor, one struck at Antioch, another at -Thyatira in 218; a third obviously earlier in the -same year omits the title. Certainly the writer -of Macrinus’ letters to the Senate places it after -the proclamation of Bassianus, and leads one to -suppose that it took place as given above, at -Apamea, and was the means adopted to conciliate -the legionaries.</p> - -<p>Meanwhile at Emesa busy brains had been -busily at work. A gentle reminder of his perilous -position was on the way to Macrinus. By way -of showing him that Julian had forced a battle, -and was sending the spoil to grace the festivities -arranged for the Child Emperor’s elevation, -Eutychianus Comazon, the soldier whose persuasive -power and influence had been of such use -to Maesa, bethought himself of a pleasant surprise. -He took the Praefect’s head and wrapped -it in linen cloths, tied it with many and elaborate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_66"></a>[66]</span> -cords, then, taking Julian’s own signet, he sealed -the bundle carefully and sent it by the hands of a -trusty and cunning soldier. “From the victorious -Praefect Julian to his august Emperor, with greeting. -The head and source of our offence, according -to the commandment.” Judge of the fright and -disgust which arose in the breast of that Moor on -discovering, when the bundle was opened, not the -features of his despised enemy, but the death-mask -of his trusty and well-beloved lieutenant, the man -who had saved him from Caracalla’s vengeance at -the outset of his own plot. Merely that, and no -further news to hand, because the bearer of the -tidings had departed without waiting for a reward. -Bit by bit the news trickled through: at least four -legions had deserted, and, greatest blow of all, the -very Moors in whom he had trusted. The hated -Antonine was triumphant and in the ascendant. -It was enough to wake even the comatose parody -of the great Marcus Aurelius. After waiting to -recover his senses, he took to his heels and ran—discretion -being the better part of valour—not, -however, as Herodian suggests, with characteristic -untruth, towards Emesa, but back to Antioch, as -Dion discreetly remarks, with Bassianus and his -paltry, though rapidly augmenting, forces soon to -follow. The boy and idiot was ready to fight the -Praetorian Guards, ready even to face the brunt of -opposition from the conciliated legion at Apamea -if necessary.</p> - -<p>Bassianus’ army must have been enthusiastically -loyal and keen. It was a motley crew of men, with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_67"></a>[67]</span> -new officers and a disorganised commissariat; -certainly it had no adequate head. Indeed, had -Macrinus taken the bull by the horns at once, -he was bound to have cut up Antonine’s forces -and silenced the revolt; but he escaped, hoping to -fight another day, and Bassianus instead came to -Apamea. Here Severus’ legion of Albano was -in no mood to offer opposition to the heir of -Severus, and promptly took the suggested oaths, -which added yet more strength to the rush that -was about to be made on Antioch, where Macrinus -was sheltering himself and shivering with apprehension, -having left the field clear to his adversary, -and given him just what he wanted, time for accession -of strength.</p> - -<p>To return for a moment to the length of time -during which this campaign lasted. If we accept -Dion’s date of 16th May for the proclamation, there -will only be three weeks left before the battle, in -which time much has to happen. First, The news -has to be brought to Macrinus 125 miles away. -Second, Macrinus has to appoint Julian, who has -carefully to choose his men, to reach Emesa, and -lose his head in the effort to take Antonine. In -the meantime Macrinus has written to the Senate -to announce the revolt, and get that body’s condemnation -of the Antonine house. He has then -gone to Apamea with the court and baggage, -declared his son Emperor, and, as he thought, -pacified the legion and organised festivities, during -which festivities he receives ocular demonstration -of the failure of Julian’s attempt. He then writes<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_68"></a>[68]</span> -to the Senate a hurried letter announcing his son’s -accession, and receives an answer to his first letter -condemning the house of Antonine. He then -retires to Antioch, and here there seems to be a lull, -during which time the patrolling parties, for whom -Macrinus has sent, come in to Bassianus’ standard, -not Macrinus’. Herodian says that this happened -in driblets, but that these amounted to such a number -before the 1st of June, that Antonine’s generals -advised him to tempt a battle. All this, especially -the wait for gradual accessions of strength, would -have been impossible to fit into less than a fortnight.</p> - -<p>But there is further evidence. According to -Henzen, the Collegio Fratrum Arvalium were -concerned on 30th May with the “precatio cooptionis -Antonini,” to be admitted a member of -the College. If the proclamation had only taken -place on 16th May, the Brothers could not have -known about it and arranged a meeting by 30th -May, especially when we consider that (according -to Dion) Macrinus’ letters to the Senate had caused -that august body to declare war on the family of -Antonine after that time. Had Bassianus been -proclaimed on 16th April and the Brothers heard -of his phenomenal success, they would naturally -hasten to be on the safe side by 30th May. -Within a month from that date they would have -heard of the defeat of Macrinus, so that in all probability -the meeting which admitted Bassianus and -sent Primus Cornelianus to announce his admission -was held about 28th June. On 14th July there -is the record of a third meeting, which merely<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_69"></a>[69]</span> -takes further vows for Antonine’s safety, as the -Emperor, who has been already admitted a member. -Dion’s date is, therefore, simply impossible. -Neither Macrinus nor Antonine could have accomplished -what they did in a fortnight, even three -weeks. Rome could not possibly have heard and -answered under five weeks, even by express post. -Bassianus could not possibly have got together -forces enough to assure success under that period. -We must therefore conclude that Dion’s date, -16th May, is a mere slip for 16th April, as Wirth -has postulated.</p> - -<p>This is very forcibly brought home to us when -we realise (as Herodian tells us) that when Bassianus -did move on Antioch, it was with forces -scarcely inferior in number to those with Macrinus, -and by so doing he managed to frighten the Moor -out of his lair, because there was a fear that Antioch -might fall and he would be caught like a rat in a trap. -Thus was Macrinus forced out to meet the child. -Again the ancient Procurator-Fiscal made an error -of judgment by taking command himself. He would -have done better to stay in the city and give the -command to a trained general; but not a bit of it, -he was too anxious, too worried to trust any one. -When he heard that Antonine was nearing Immae -or Emma, not twenty miles from Antioch, he went -out suddenly, resolved to trust to his Moors and -Praetorians for the result.</p> - -<p>In this battle the valour of both armies seems to -have been indifferent. Herodian tells us that the -soldiers of Antonine fought like lions, fearing the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_70"></a>[70]</span> -results of doing anything else; preferring to die -like men than to be hanged like dogs; a report of -valour which was probably picked up from that -army itself. But the stars in their courses seem -to have fought against Sisera in the person of -Macrinus, while Deborah and her leman Barak, -otherwise Maesa and her similarly related Gannys -(neither of whom had ever seen red blood before -save in the circus) managed so to shut up the -forces of Macrinus in the narrowness of the village, -that their numbers and superior agility, divested as -they were of their cuirasses and bucklers for that -end, were of small effect. Nevertheless, the issue -of the battle would have been not a little doubtful -if Macrinus had not given it away by his cowardice. -The guards made so vigorous a stand, that Antonine’s -army turned to fly. It was then that Maesa -and Soaemias showed their bravery, according to -both Dion and Herodian, for, having leapt from -their chariots, they rushed into the midst of the -failing troops, and with tears and entreaties urged -them to return. The palm of victory seems, however, -to lie with the boy Emperor. Both Dion -and Herodian tell us of his bravery and the mighty -fury which (like a divine inspiration) breathed from -him, when, sword in hand, he galloped through the -failing ranks and cut down all those who showed an -inclination to turn from the fight. It was a good -beginning, and shows that the boy was not entirely -what his biographers have painted him—the craven, -miserable, religious sensualist known to common -report. He showed in this battle that he could<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_71"></a>[71]</span> -glory in his manhood, could forget that salvation -was by faith and prayer alone; could forget that -only the Gods can settle the great issues. It was -thus that Antonine carried his successful arms right -into the opposing camp, hoping to find the Moor; -but to the disgust of all that host, the Emperor had -vanished; being tired, he had gone home. His -Praetorians had sought for some time for the -ensigns that announced the presence of the Emperor, -but they had sought in vain, and deserters -had told Antonine the story.</p> - -<p>Antonine now made a proposition to the opposing -host, namely, that they should turn and -become his guards, should retain the privileges -granted by Caracalla, and above all, should fight no -more for the craven. Nothing loath, they did as -they were bidden, and by nightfall on 8th June 218 -the proclaimed Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus -was the acknowledged head of the greater part of the -army, and ruler of the Roman world which acknowledged -Antioch as its capital. Maesa’s bold attempt -had succeeded beyond all her hopes. The one source -of trouble was that Macrinus was still at large.</p> - -<p>The Antonine policy had never been that of -Macrinus. They had always eradicated the source -of their offence as far as they were able, and to -that end Marcus Aurelius sent messengers to take -the ex-Emperor’s person. From the battle-field -that caitiff had gone, first to Antioch, sending -heralds on ahead to announce their master’s victory -and the destruction of the Antonine host, lest the -populace should seize the city for Antonine and kill<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_72"></a>[72]</span> -him, or, as Xiphilinus puts it, in order to induce -them to receive him into their city at all. Had -there been time, we might have had another -medal, in correspondence with the Parthian fraud, -announcing the victory of Macrinus at Immae; but -stragglers began to come in, and with them the -news that Antonine would arrive shortly at the -head of the whole army, an announcement which -caused bloodshed and strife in the city, and decided -Macrinus to reconstruct his plans. He would not -stay, he decided, where he was not wanted; he -would make his way to Rome, in the hope that his -kindness to the Senate would at least secure them -as a bodyguard—though what use some 600 portly -and middle-aged gentlemen were going to be to -him against the legions of a military empire was a -question that had not yet occurred to his distracted -mind; but at any rate Antioch was no place for him -or his son. The latter he entrusted to Epagathos, -one of the few men on whom he could rely, with -orders to take him to the King of Parthia for safe -keeping; whilst he himself, having cut off his hair -and beard, and laid aside the purple and imperial -ornaments for his successor’s use, set out for the -capital city by the route used for the ordinary post. -It is a most significant fact that this man, the -acknowledged Emperor, should on the very day -of the battle itself have distrusted all his own -lieutenants, governors, and civil officials to such an -extent that he felt the only safe mode of progress -was, disguised as a countryman, to travel by the -public carriage. It presupposes that by this time<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_73"></a>[73]</span> -all men were merely waiting for his fall, which was -anticipated everywhere as a foregone conclusion, -the inevitable result of a weak usurper’s unsuccessful -attempt.</p> - -<p>It is incredible that all the government servants -and other accredited agents of Macrinus would -have dared to give credit immediately to the -ambassadors of an unknown pretender, and only -in Alexandria (where the name of Antonine had -acquired an unenviable notoriety and there was a -personal friend of Macrinus as governor) were -Antonine’s ambassadors put to death as upstart -traitors. True, there have been fugitive kings -before and since, but never after one battle and to -make way for an utterly unknown child, who by -some miracle has got the whole functionaries of -imperial government, both civil and military, into -his own hands in less than a couple of hours, -without even the use of the field telegraph.</p> - -<p>From Antioch, Macrinus went on horseback to -Aegae in Cilicia, and thence by the public post -through Cappadocia, Galatia, and Bithynia, with -great expedition, giving out that he was a messenger -from the Emperor Macrinus. He intended -to cross into Europe by way of Eribolus, and thus -to avoid Nicomedia, where the Governor Caecilius -Aristo was seeking his life to take it from him, in -favour of the new Emperor. The distance that -Macrinus travelled was, so we learn from the <i>Itinera -Hierosolymitana</i>, 750 Roman miles, covering in his -haste, so Friedländer thinks, about 130 Roman -miles per diem, which would bring him to Eribolus<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_74"></a>[74]</span> -(barring accidents, of course) about 15th June. -Thence, we are told, he took shipping and attempted -to reach Byzantium; but the battle was not to the -strong; the attempt was rendered abortive by the -avenging deity in the shape of a great north-west -wind, which threw him back upon the coast near -Chalcedon. There the well-informed agents of the -Emperor Antoninus came up with him, and discovered -his whereabouts by means of Macrinus’ -imperial procurator, to whom, being short of funds, -the Moor had foolishly sent in his extremity.</p> - -<p>The discovery was tragic; the lord of the world, -the man whose sceptre threatened the Gods and -commanded the sun, was discovered by his pursuers -hidden in a small house on the outskirts of Chalcedon, -trembling with a fever and fright, brought -on by the fatigues and emotions of his hurried -journey. He was promptly put into a chariot and -taken back towards Antioch by his captor Aurelius -Celsus. By the time the party reached Cappadocia -news was brought that Epagathos had failed in his -mission, and that Diadumenianus was killed, which -so utterly upset the poor gentleman that he deliberately -threw himself from his chariot, in the hope of -ending his disappointed existence and escaping a -worse fate. In so doing he broke his collar-bone -instead of his neck. There was certainly no luck -for Macrinus till he reached Archelais, about 75 -miles from the frontier of Cappadocia, when, presumably -acting under fresh orders, the Centurion -ordered him to be put to death, a merciful release -from the sufferings which his stupidity and incapacity<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_75"></a>[75]</span> -had brought upon him. The date is not known, -though it was in all probability some time before -the end of the month of June. Dion allots fourteen -months less three days to his tenure of power, -counting to the day of the battle.</p> - -<p>As far as we know, he left neither friends, -enemies, monuments (except the arch at Tana in -Algeria, erected by his compatriots), children, nor -evils to live after him. Certainly he meant well, and -acted in a manner more futile and less imperial than -any of his predecessors. There was no attempt of -any sort made to revive his memory; no resuscitation -of any party in favour of his rule; no enthusiasm or -even loyalty betrayed towards him from the moment -that Antonine claimed the throne. Antonine’s -campaign, on the contrary, was one triumphal procession, -feebly resisted by a counter-march on the -part of the reigning Emperor; after which time, -and without even waiting to hear of their Emperor’s -death or abdication, the whole governmental world -settles down without the least suspicion of disloyalty -under the headship of Antonine. Nothing is disorganised. -In less than half a day everything is -absolutely at his disposal throughout the empire, -and no further question is asked as to where the -late Emperor may be. Travel quickly as he will, -Macrinus was not able to take from men’s minds -what must have been a foregone conclusion, namely, -that he was doomed, and another was reigning in -his stead. It was an obvious case of a usurper -about whom no one cares sufficiently to make -further inquiries.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_76"></a>[76]</span></p> - -<p>The Roman world had wearied of Macrinus and -his pretensions, just as it had wearied of Claudius; -both were fantastic, vacillating, abstracted, and -cowardly tyrants, declaring themselves to be of the -opinion of those who were right, and announcing -that they would give judgment in favour of those -whose reasons appeared the best. Slipshod and -tattered they both went through life; Emperors -whom no one obeyed and at whom every one -jeered; men who, when they heard that conspirators -were abroad, were not indignant, but merely -frightened. Perhaps it was the purple which had -driven so many Emperors mad, that made Macrinus -an idiot; certainly he acted like one, and made way -for yet another Phaeton for the universe: a prince -for whose sovereignty the world was too small, as -Tiberius had remarked of his nephew Caius, nicknamed -Caligula, the man without whom neither -Nero, Domitian, Commodus, Caracalla, or Elagabalus -could have existed. The lives of all are -horrible, yet analyse the horrible and you find the -sublime. The valleys have their imbeciles, from the -mountains poets and madmen come. Elagabalus -was both, sceptred at that, and with a sceptre that -could lash the earth, threaten the sky, beckon -planets, and ravish the divinity of the divine.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_77"></a>[77]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE WINTER AT NICOMEDIA</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>Saluted by the whole army on the evening of 8th -June 218, the young Emperor, Marcus Aurelius -Antoninus, set out to cover the 20 odd miles which -separated Immae from Antioch, the Eastern capital. -Next morning, we are told by Dion, he entered the -city amidst the customary rejoicings. It had been a -principle with the late Caracalla to give conquered -cities over to the rapacity of the soldiers, and here -the conquering host imagined, nay, strongly urged, -that this laudable custom should be revived, but the -present Antonine saw no reason for any such proceeding. -With a singular lack of subservience, -which is, we are told, the first mark of a born sovereign, -he informed them that a regular toll would -be taken from the citizens instead, and each man -paid a sum of 500 drachmae from the imperial -exchequer; he thus satisfied their natural expectation -of reward, and promised the population that no -pillage would take place; that, on the other hand, -the ordinary contributions to the exchequer (the -marks of settled government in times of peace)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_78"></a>[78]</span> -were sufficient, while pillage would suggest the wars -and disturbances which were now over.</p> - -<p>It was certainly a bold act, this crossing the -will of the soldiers at the very outset, too bold for -either a woman or a boy of fourteen to have devised; -but Antonine intended to make that city his temporary -capital, and had in consequence more than -soldiers to conciliate.</p> - -<p>As to the question of principal adviser and chief -minister, we have a most difficult matter to face from -the outset. Lampridius asserts that Soaemias was -in the position of absolute director of the Emperor -and his government, an assertion utterly ludicrous -to any one who understands that lady’s character, -as Lampridius himself has expounded it. Soaemias -would have been, psychologically speaking, quite -incapable of directing any operations other than -those of the nuptial couch; though she may have -thought out some of the details of costume, etiquette, -and precedence which later fell to her share as -president of the Senate on the Quirinal; besides -which, her name always follows that of Maesa on -inscriptions and records where the two names appear -together. Herodian, on the other hand, states that -Maesa was the ruling spirit, which is much more -likely. Maesa’s character is very different, if less -attractive; crafty, cunning, able, and persistent, she -had not schemed, fought, and expended her treasure -except for her own ultimate good, and to her the -ultimate good was the possession of power and -authority. Besides which, she was fully <i>au fait</i> with -all governmental procedure in Rome, and was, in<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_79"></a>[79]</span> -consequence, the fit and proper person to direct the -immediate policy.</p> - -<p>But there was much to temper her power. There -was an element which even she, far-sighted as she -was, had forgotten, and left out of count, namely, the -Emperor himself. From the moment of his elevation -he showed that he had a mind and will of his own; -probably he had possessed them all along, but his -grandmother had never thought that they would get -in <i>her</i> way till she was brought face to face with them.</p> - -<p>By nature Bassianus was gentle and affectionate, -with no other passions than an innocent fanaticism -for the cult of the only God, and a hereditary temperament, -which we know to-day is less of a vice -than a perversion; a temperament which Suetonius -assures us he shared with the majority of his predecessors, -and Dion says was common amongst the -Syrian clergy. Caracalla had, innate in his being, -jealousy, hatred, and revenge. Bassianus hated -no one; he was, in fact, only too prone to love his -fellows, but, like Caracalla, he had a strong and -imperious will. He had no sooner grasped the -limitless possibilities of the imperial position than -vertigo seems to have overtaken him. But fancy -the position! On a peak piercing the heavens, -shadowing the earth, a precipice on either side, the -young Emperors of Old Rome stood. Did they look -below, they could scarce see the world. From above, -delirium came; while the horizon, though it hemmed -the limits of their vision, could not mark the frontiers -of their dream. In addition, there was the exaltation -that altitudes produce.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_80"></a>[80]</span></p> - -<p>The Emperor was alone; henceforward his will -was unopposed. His grandmother tried to make -herself felt; on each occasion she had to give way, -to retire beaten, till one can well imagine that lady’s -despair at the unforeseen development,—almost -anticipate the final resolve of that crafty old sinner, -to rid herself of the grandson whom she had set -up, fondly imagining him her mere puppet. Still, -advisers were necessary. From what we can see of -the available men (and a man would certainly be -Antonine’s choice) there is but one for whom consistently -through his life the Emperor had respect, -namely, Eutychianus. He had, so Dion states, conceived -the plot of the proclamation, and carried it out -by himself, while the women were still unconscious -of what was going forward. He was immediately -made Praetorian Praefect, later he was Consul, and -twice City Praefect, which frequent recurrence of -office, being unusual in one person, is put down by -Dion as a gross breach of the constitution—where no -constitution existed except the imperial will. The -sneer of Xiphilinus at his buffooneries is obviously -an untruth, considering the fact that we know of him -as a soldier as far back as Commodus’ reign. If he -had been a mere nonentity or a worthless person, it -is incredible that, in the proscriptions and murders -that followed that of Antonine, Eutychianus should -have been reappointed to the office of Praefect of -Rome for at least the ensuing year. Taking all the -evidence into consideration, it is probable that from -the outset the soldier Eutychianus was chief minister -and director of the government, and as such supported<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_81"></a>[81]</span> -Antonine against his grandmother. To him -therefore, as well as to Maesa, may be attributed -much of the sane common-sense work that was -done; work which, especially in the dealings with -the soldiers, shows a man’s hand, a soldier’s touch, -indeed that of a soldier who knows, by reason of -his position, just how far he can go.</p> - -<p>The first recorded act of the new government -was to announce to the Roman Fathers the -restoration of the house of Antonine. Now the -Senate of the Roman people was in no very -pleasant position, considering the possibilities and -the knowledge that the imperial house had not a -few grudges to settle with their august assembly. -Rome, as we know from the record of the Arval -Brothers’ meeting held on 30th May, was expecting -some announcement almost daily, either of the -accession or extirpation of the late imperial connection. -The last communication from the East -had been signed by Macrinus. It was a distracted -and illiterate epistle announcing the elevation of his -small son to the empire, and the speedy fall of the -pseudo-Antonine. In all probability the news which -had reached the Arval Brothers was common property, -and the Senate was not so sure of the result of -the revolt as Macrinus would have liked them to be. -The main cause for anxiety was their answer, which -was probably still on its way to Macrinus: a dutiful -response to his demand—made about 20th April—that -the Antonine family should be proscribed and -declared enemies to the state. With their usual -subservience, the Conscript Fathers had decreed as<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_82"></a>[82]</span> -desired, had even gone out of their way to level -invectives and ordures against the memory of the -house of Severus, and this with a hearty goodwill -that showed their genuineness.</p> - -<p>Now, if these tactless epistles, as the Fathers -feared, had reached Antioch either just before or -just after the new monarch’s arrival, they were -likely to cause an infinity of trouble, especially if -they fell into the wrong hands, which, as luck would -have it, they promptly did. This circumstance quite -decided Elagabalus on the amount of respect -which it was necessary to pay to the “Slaves in -Togas” either in his own or in any other state. -Judge of their apprehensions when an answer to -their obedient proscriptions was brought into the -Senate House, within the first fortnight of July, if -not earlier, by a herald declaring his mission from -the august Emperor, Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, -Antoninus’ son, Severus’ grandson, Pius and -Happy, Tribune and Proconsul, without so much -as by your leave or with your leave from the -assembled Fathers. (Dion omits the title of Consul, -despite the fact that there are inscriptions which call -Antonine Consul at that date.) Think how willingly -now the Fathers would have given their right hands -to repair the egregious mistake they had just made. -They had been too precipitate, too hurried altogether, -and they knew from past experience that -the house of Antonine did not visit such mistakes -in a chastened spirit.</p> - -<p>At last the imperial message was laid before the -house. It was as though the Gods had been for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_83"></a>[83]</span> -once propitious to human stupidity. The letter contained -gracious words, “dropping as the gentle dew -from heaven.” Was it a mere ruse, such as former -Antonines had played, or was it in reality the herald -of a new world to come? Surely yes, for it promised -amnesty, on the word of the Emperor, to the Senate -and people of Rome, for all words, acts, and proscriptions -formerly promulgated against the divine -Caesar, by command of the usurping murderer -Macrinus; to whom the same Senate and people -were commanded to give neither help nor assistance, -but rather to condemn and execrate, in the -precise terms they had so recently applied to the -divine Emperor now happily reigning. For was -he not an enemy to the state who had not only -murdered his master, whom he had been appointed -to guard, but also in that he, who was neither -Senator nor otherwise worthy, had pretended to -Empire, being a mere slave and gladiator, whom -Caracalla had raised to the rank of Praetorian -Praefect?</p> - -<p>There was some more biting sarcasm on the -ease with which that august body had accepted the -pretensions of the ex-slave without question, and -had been persuaded to confirm him in the position -of his murdered master. For himself, Antonine -makes the mere announcement of his succession, -much as Macrinus had done on the occasion of his -son’s elevation, with the obvious implication that the -Fathers will confirm the accomplished facts with as -little delay as is compatible with the usual decencies. -He tells them that to err is human, but Antonine,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_84"></a>[84]</span> -<i>mirabile dictu</i>, will forgive, on the conditions -mentioned, of course; which conditions taken as -fulfilled, the Emperor continues with an explanation -of the happy auguries for the commencement -of his reign. He was come, he said, a second -Augustus; like Augustus he was eighteen years -of age (an obvious lie, and they knew it, but an -Emperor of fourteen did not sound well); like -Augustus his reign started with a victory which -revenged the murder of his father, and the success, -with which both he and Augustus had met, was a -good omen for the people, who might expect great -things from a prince who proposed to unite the -wisdom of Augustus with that of the philosopher -Marcus Aurelius, and to rule after these truly admirable -examples. Another letter to the soldiers was -delivered at the same time, which contained extracts -from Macrinus’ correspondence with Marius Maximus, -Praefect of the City. In this the vacillating -duplicity of the late Macrinus and his opinion of -the army generally was made the most of, his -innate civilian distrust of the military held up to -ridicule and scorn.</p> - -<p>To crown these admirable productions of literary -persuasiveness was a promise to the soldiers of -their immediate return to the privileges and conditions -existent under Caracalla in the case of each -and several of the Emperor’s beloved comrades. -They were certainly admirable letters, designed -to rejoice the hearts of both guards and people, -and to leave the Senate in pleasurable anticipation -of favours to come, if they took immediate advantage<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_85"></a>[85]</span> -of the opportunity now given them to change -their minds,—otherwise—well, the more stringent -methods of Augustus might have to be employed, -and orders were sent to Pollio, Consul Suffectus, -to this effect. Undoubtedly the Fathers made up -their minds with admirable promptitude—they do -not seem to have made a single inquiry as to the -fate of the Moor who was nominally reigning Emperor. -Never was their voice more willingly given; -public thanksgivings were decreed for the restoration -of the house of Antonine, and the acts of an -Emperor who had treated them as so much garden -refuse were lauded most fulsomely. Proscription -was the lot of the “Tyrant and Murderer,” who had -usurped the imperial styles, titles, and addresses; -in fact anything that lay in their power to oblige -with they were most happy to offer; more than -he had ever thought of asking the Fathers hastened -to lay at the feet of the child whose origin, whose -sentiments, whose feminine beauty, whose very -female relatives breathed divinity from every pore.</p> - -<p>There is no better example of the vast comprehensiveness -of mind possessed by bodies of -men fulfilling the functions which Aristotle calls -the “collective wisdom of the many,” than this -instance of the wonderful facility with which they -are able to see all points of view in succession, -especially the more advantageous. Only a few -short weeks back the infallible wisdom had decreed -that the new deities were enemies to the state. Now -they knew that the existence of these very enemies -was only another way of stating the life and being<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_86"></a>[86]</span> -of the state itself. Their one regret was that they -had not known it sooner; as it was, they were -forced to admit that, if the well-bred can contradict -other people, the wise must contradict -themselves.</p> - -<p>Of course the young Emperor was pleased with -the transports of loyalty with which Rome greeted -his accession; Maesa and Soaemias at the joint -title of Augusta which the Emperor and Senate -conferred upon them; but for precaution’s sake, -Pollio might as well keep the soldiers on the <i>qui -vive</i>, as a sort of reminder to the Conscript -Fathers that it would be as well to take no more -comprehensive views of the circumstances just at -present, especially as the Emperor had no intention -of proceeding to Rome just yet. But it was not -wise to talk, and the Fathers knew it; they were -content, for the present, to praise the Gods for their -safety, and to register any decrees which august -personages might see fit to send for their confirmation, -otherwise they decided to keep their mouths -tightly closed as to the inner thoughts of the heart.</p> - -<p>The announcement of his succession having been -posted to Rome, and agents dispatched to secure -the person of the ex-Emperor, Antonine seems -to have turned his attention to rewards and the -management of the army. As was quite natural, -the first offices were bestowed on Eutychianus, the -man whom we have just mentioned. In all probability -it was to him that the success at Immae -was actually due; he was the soldier, the trained -leader, while Gannys, the boy’s tutor, to whom<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_87"></a>[87]</span> -Xiphilinus ascribes the victory, was admittedly an -effete and uxorious leman of both Soaemias and -Maesa, who could never have been a real leader of -men, even though he were personally popular with -the troops, as the Valesian Fragment states. It -is obvious that the work and abilities of the two -men (Eutychianus and Gannys) have got muddled. -Xiphilinus (78.31.1) ascribes the plot to Eutychianus; -later (79.6), still presumably quoting Dion, he states -that Gannys was solely responsible for the whole -plot. Dion (Frag. Vales.) states that Eutychianus -had contrived the whole revolution. Clearly some -scribe has erred in the insertion of names, or -Xiphilinus is not a trustworthy abbreviator. If we -can judge by results, we see that Eutychianus -was immediately appointed Praefect of the Praetorian -Guard in the room of Ulpius Julianus, -deceased, while Gannys, the personal favourite of -the Emperor and his women, got no sort of distinction. -Eutychianus’ elevation was not altogether -popular. Xiphilinus considered that he had no -right to the post (though he had just remarked -that he alone set the Emperor on the throne), and -that the frequency with which he was reappointed -was actually a constitutional scandal; but he certainly -did good and useful work throughout his -tenure of office.</p> - -<p>The first move was to rectify the error of -Macrinus in keeping troops out in the field unnecessarily. -The new government sent back to their -quarters all the soldiers gathered for the Parthian -war by Caracalla, and that with expedition. There<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_88"></a>[88]</span> -are various inscriptions at Lambesa, in Pannonia, and -other places which testify to this, while at Moguntiacum -in Upper Germany there is a record of the -arrival of a legion as early as 23rd July 218, and -which, by the way, gives the Emperor the title of -Consul, as well as the other imperial addresses which -Dion has mentioned that he assumed as of right.</p> - -<p>This dismissal of the soldiers was a prudent -measure. It not only pleased them, and gave them -something to do besides stirring up strife, but also -made it possible to preserve discipline without -resorting to the enormous gifts which had impoverished -the government heretofore. This may -certainly be traced to Eutychianus’ influence rather -than to that of Maesa, who would probably have -preferred to keep the soldiers a little longer, in -order to see how things settled down; whereas the -troops must have been sent back to their quarters -the very week of the battle, and before Macrinus’ -death, in order to have arrived in Upper Germany -by 23rd July. This action, to whomsoever -attributable, shows the perfect confidence of the new -government in its own stability from the very outset. -It was also a bold measure, and a measure which -could only have been taken by a general who knew -his troops, who to keep and with whom to dispense, -because trouble was sure to arise through ambition -and similar causes.</p> - -<p>Dion tells us of at least two notables who -thought themselves <i>capax imperii</i>, because they -imagined that the state was disturbed, the occasion -propitious. One was Verus, or Severus, tribune of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_89"></a>[89]</span> -the third Gallic, another Gellius Maximus, tribune -of the fourth Scythian Legion; both were Senators -who aspired to empire and found futurity. The -same historian mentions three others, insignificant -persons; one the son of a centurion in the third -Gallic Legion (which legion, by the way, on account -of these two bids for notoriety, was practically disbanded, -the men being transferred to the third -Augustan Legion). Another was a clothier; the -third a mere private person, whose temerity led him -to an attempt, the object of which was to subvert the -fleet stationed at Cyzicus during the winter of 218-219, -presumably for the protection of the Emperor -when he arrived at Nicomedia. The attempts of -these persons met with the reward due to folly, and -did but strengthen the position of the Emperor by -giving him an excuse to put to death others, whose -complicity or sympathy pointed them out as perilous -to the state. They were all friends of Macrinus, -says Wotton, who were making difficulties for the -new government. All authorities state very clearly -that there was no man who suffered for any assistance -given to Macrinus; neither was there any -inquisition made after enemies or neutrals. The -heads of the opposition party were merely put to -death when they refused to acknowledge the <i>fait -accompli</i>; when they did so they were confirmed in -their offices as a matter of course. The number put -to death, besides the five aspirants to the imperial -position, is placed by Dion at eight—no enormous -holocaust, when one thinks of the legions of imperial -servants confirmed in their offices. The names<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_90"></a>[90]</span> -include Julianus Nestor, Captain of the Guards to -the late Emperor; Fabius Agrippinus, Governor -of Syria; Pica Caerianus, Governor of Arabia; -Aelius Decius Triccianus, a man of mean origin, -whose death the 2nd Parthian Legion demanded -on account of his cruelty towards them; Castinus, -a friend and officer of Macrinus; Claudius Attalus, -Lieutenant-Governor of Cyprus, a man who had -been expelled from the Senate by Severus and -stupidly readmitted by Caracalla. It was not clear -on what count this man actually suffered, and in -consequence the story of an enmity between him and -Eutychianus, during the campaign in Thrace—when -he is said to have cashiered the new Praefect of the -Praetorian Guards—is regarded as sufficient reason -for saying that Eutychianus demanded his death.</p> - -<p>During this same winter there was another pretender -to kingship, helped by another governor friend -of Macrinus, a certain Senator Valerianus Paetus. -This man’s crime lay in the fact that, after the -imperial custom, he had coined gold pieces bearing -his own image and superscription, and distributed -these amongst the people of Cappadocia and Galatia, -which was considered tantamount to a declaration of -imperial proclamation. His defence, when apprehended, -was that the medals were actually intended -for the adornment of his mistresses. The court -found, however, that no sane man could reasonably -possess this luxury in sufficient numbers to justify -the coining of the amount of medals discovered; -besides which, his accomplice Sylla, Governor of -Cappadocia, who had just before been tampering<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_91"></a>[91]</span> -with the loyalty of the Gallic Legions, on their way -through Bithynia, was mixed up in the plot quite -inextricably. So the judgment given was, “guilty -of usurping imperial functions, and aspiring to -empire”; rather a larger count, all considered, than -the kindred count of “coining,” which merited death -in this enlightened and humane country up to the -year of grace 1832. Throughout the trials we are -given to infer that the usual course of judicial -procedure was adhered to; the condemnation was -after trial and just cause found; while those who -know anything of Roman legal procedure are aware -that every chance was given to the accused, and -that the burden of proof lay on the accuser.</p> - -<p>But to return to the chronological arrangement -of the events during this sojourn in the East. As -we have said, on 9th June 218 Antonine entered -Antioch amidst the applause of the world. As far -as we can judge from Herodian’s statement, he must -have stayed there for some months. The pressure -of immediate government business would be enormous, -the various legates had to be sent forth, the -submission of governors received, and the army question -settled, along with other outstanding difficulties, -and in consequence the season was far advanced, -says Herodian, when the imperial family reached -Nicomedia, too late for them to attempt the crossing -into Europe. Besides the business delays, -much time must have been wasted by the Emperor’s -determination to take the image of the Great God -with him, and wherever he should reign, there to set -up the temple of that supreme ineffable Deity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_92"></a>[92]</span></p> - -<p>Duruy states that during his residence at Antioch, -or on the journey across Asia Minor, the Emperor -reconsecrated to Elagabal the temple of Faustina -which Marcus Aurelius had erected on Mount -Taurus. If this be so, it could only have been as -a temporary resting-place. The Deity, we are -assured, had no settled home after leaving Emesa -until the great temple or Eliogabalium was erected -on the Palatine. There was one person to whom -these delays appeared as highly unnecessary, namely, -the Dowager Empress Julia Maesa.</p> - -<p>In the full flush of her newly acquired position, -she had every intention of wintering in the capital. -It was much more to her liking than the provincial -life to which the late Emperor had relegated her. -In consequence of this intention, we are led to -infer that the lady gave orders. Here the Emperor -showed his paternity. Maesa may not have fully -credited her own assertion before, henceforward -she was called upon to believe it whether she -would or no. Her grandson, perhaps merely self-willed, -perhaps wishing to settle business, certainly -intending to stay in the voluptuous East, told -the lady to be quiet, and revoked the orders. -She tried reasoning, but was told that it wearied -his youthful augustitude. She persisted further, -and then thought that she had triumphed, because -the Emperor, with true Antonine guile, packed up -and commanded the Court to set out for Rome. Not -that he had the slightest intention of facing the -Tramontana, possibly even snow, but it looked -gracious, and many things might be done <i>en<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_93"></a>[93]</span> -route</i>. For many reasons the journey was slow and -difficult; the dignity of the God had to be considered; -the procession across Asia would take some -weeks. We have no idea as to the route taken, -though Roerth has informed us of an inscription -from Prusias, where, he says, the Emperor stayed; -if so, it was probably his last halting-place before -Nicomedia, where he had decided to winter instead -of trusting himself on the billows of a wintry sea. -It was here that Antonine’s imperial life actually -began; here, under the eastern sky and surrounded by -the pomp and colour of the Orient, that the Emperor -shaped his reign, and developed the two main -features of his life—his religion and his psychology.</p> - -<p>Before discussing either of these, however, it -will be well to sum up what we know of the work -done during this winter spent in Asia Minor. -According to Hydatius’ statement, drawn from the -<i>Consularia Constantinopolitana</i>, Antonine ordered -the records of indebtedness to the fiscus to be -burnt, which burning took thirty days. If the -story be true, it was either a foolish waste of -indebtedness to the government, or an acknowledgment -of the hopelessness of collecting the debts, -though how the new government could have grasped -this fact so quickly is not recorded; in any case, it -was a real bid for popularity.</p> - -<p>Much time would also be spent in the legal -proceedings which settled the fate of the various -pretenders, malcontents, and traitors. Again, the -consideration of grants to legions, fitting rewards for -assistance given in time of need, in fact the thousand<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_94"></a>[94]</span> -and one things which occupy the official mind -in the ordinary course of events, let alone on the -restoration of a house banished and proscribed by -imperial predecessors, had all to be discussed and -would certainly take time. Cohen tell us of one of -these measures, of which we know nothing save -from the coins of 218, some of which bear the -legend “Annona Augusti,” which he says is a -reference to some measure relative to the grain -supply, instituted for the benefit of the people.</p> - -<p>There was certainly enough to occupy every one’s -attention, but it does not quite account for the -whole Court staying at Nicomedia until May 219. -Cohen has, however, discovered a fact that no -historians mention, namely that during this period -the Emperor was unwell, as some of the coins of 219 -bear the legend “Salus Augusti,” “Salus Antonini -Augusti,” which are supposed to announce his -recovery. If this illness had happened after he -arrived in Rome, we should probably have heard -about it, besides which it might have been a bar to -his matrimony; if in Nicomedia, as Cohen thinks, -it accounts for the length of the stay.</p> - -<p>Business apart, of which they say little or -nothing (facts have to be culled from coins, inscriptions, -reports, etc., not from the pages of paid -traducers), the historians now begin their tirades -against the Emperor’s conduct and religion. The -obvious inference is that the self-willed boy was -already beginning to get on somebody’s nerves; -on whose more likely than on Maesa’s and his -sensitive aunt Julia Mamaea, who so ardently<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_95"></a>[95]</span> -desired her own son to occupy his room. Maesa -must have learned by now, from her own sense of -the fitting and the insistent representations of -Mamaea, that she would have been much better -advised, even from her own point of view, if she -had set up her younger grandson instead of this -headstrong youth who was flouting her at every -turn. Of course, it was a question whether Alexianus’ -elevation would even have been possible, while -an elder and a more charming son of Caracalla was -known to the soldiers, nevertheless Maesa ruminated -and left records which her scribes have copied.</p> - -<p>“One of the blackest of his crimes,” to quote -Xiphilinus, the monk of Trebizond, the abbreviator -of Dion Cassius, “was the worship of his God, -which he introduced into Rome (though it was a -foreign God), whom he revered more religiously -than any other, so far as to set him above Jupiter, -and to get himself declared his priest by decree -of the Senate. He was so extravagant as to be -circumcised and abstained from hogs’ flesh. He -appeared often in public in the habit resembling -that of the priests of Syria, which caused him to -be named the Assyrian. Is it necessary to mention -those whom he put to death without reason? -since he did not spare his best friends, whose wise -and wholesome remonstrances he could not bear.” -These are the sum total of the great crimes which -during this period Xiphilinus brings against the -Emperor, to which Herodian adds the accusation -of a disordered life. Let us examine the statements -in order.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_96"></a>[96]</span></p> - -<p>“The blackest of his crimes was the worship of -his God and the introduction of a foreign God into -Rome.” To Xiphilinus the ecclesiastic, in all -probability the worship of any God except his -own was a foul and insolent crime, best dealt -with by the holy office of the Inquisition, or whatever -took the place of that most useful body (for -general purposes of extermination) at the period. -But at the moment the knowledge and worship -of Xiphilinus’ God was, for all practical purposes, -confined in Rome to washerwomen or to people -of their mental calibre. Xiphilinus’ idea that Rome -had no foreign Gods is equally ecclesiastical, since -only the wilfully blind did not know that Rome was -comprehensively, sceptically polytheist, and that she -admitted and was deeply attached to many similarly -monotheistic Eastern cults, notably those of Mithra -and Isis. Why then decry the worship of Elagabal -alone? One can see no reason except the -exclusiveness of that worship, the vast monotheistic -ideal to which the Emperor had attached himself, -and which he was minded to spread throughout -the length and breadth of the empire, by every -fair means in his power. It was this idea, later -centred in Mithraism, which was the most determined -opponent of the similarly monotheistic ideal -of Xiphilinus, and, as its strongest opponent, called -forth the monk’s hatred. Rome, however, had a -different reason for disliking Elagabal. It was -because he, like Jehovah, dethroned all other -deities. Rome would willingly have accepted the -Syrian Deity amongst the lupanar of divinities<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_97"></a>[97]</span> -whose residence was the Pantheon and whose -rites were obscene; but such was not Antonine’s -scheme, even <i>primus inter pares</i> was impossible. -Elagabal was over all supreme; even Jupiter -Capitolinus, Jehovah, and Vesta must serve the -one God. But Rome, whose atriums dripped not -blood but metaphysics, knew too well the futility -of all Gods to wish for any exclusive cult; such -must fall to the washerwomen, because they were -unwanted, unlearned, barbaric, and out of date. But -the Emperor persisted, which annoyed his grandmother -and other people hugely (she seems to have -been generally annoyed, however, so this may be -taken as said on other occasions). She had told -the boy at Emesa that religion was only a means -to the end, and he, with his usual contrariness, -had flouted her opinion, backed up by his mother, -and persisted in making it the main end of his life. -In so doing he went clean contrary to the <i>Zeitgeist</i>, -and eventually suffered for his folly in not hanging -up the fishing-net when once the fish was landed. -Xiphilinus makes another egregious mistake in declaring -that Antonine caused the Senate to declare -him priest of Elagabal, since it was the possession -of that hereditary rank or office which had paved -the way to empire at all. Again, we are asked to -believe that to this period belong his circumcision -and resolve to abstain from hogs’ flesh, whereas -Cheyne considers that these two religious peculiarities -were common to all Syrian religious, as well as -to the Egyptian and Semitic peoples, and dated with -him in all probability from the usual age at which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_98"></a>[98]</span> -circumcision was performed, the age of puberty, -which corresponded with his assumption of the priesthood -in 217 or early 218. Lampridius, on the other -hand, dates the commencement of these observances -as part of the fanaticism of the later period in Rome; -when the Emperor formulated his scheme for -one universal church, which was to include the -distinctive rites of all religions, an inference which -is not by any means necessary. Antonine’s religion -was undoubtedly exclusive and fanatical, though -even here it was not peculiar, as the Christian -history gives us far more pitiable records of -these vices. Antonine’s religion was never cruel, -it never persecuted, whereas from the moment -that Christianity attained the ascendancy she has -considered persecution her especial rôle. There -may be joy in heaven over the sinner that repents; -in Christendom the joy is at his downfall. We can -fancy the difference with which the monk would -have treated this Emperor’s memory had he been -successful, had he even had the foresight to affiliate -his church with the kindred worship of Jerusalem, -to call his Deity Jehovah in the later adaptation -of the term, and had then died as other martyrs had -done, a victim to the conviction that in him resided -the fulness of the godhead bodily, and further, in -the prosecution of a scheme for monotheistic worship, -such as no Emperor had ever yet formulated. It -is a thousand pities for his reputation that he did -not see ahead. In that case, though he would not -have formed a fourth part of the ineffable Trinity, -his life would at least have become blameless, not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_99"></a>[99]</span> -only by the baptism of blood, but also in the pages of -ecclesiastical historians. We might then have seen -St. Antoninus “Athleta Christi,” a holy martyr -worshipped throughout the length and breadth -of Christendom, as the upholder of monotheism -against the forces of his polytheistic surroundings.</p> - -<p>In connection with this question, one act of pride -is recorded of the sojourn of Nicomedia, an act which -well shows the temper of the boy, namely, his assumption -of the latinized name of his God, Elagabalus -(though, apparently, this was not done for official -purposes, as it never occurs on the coins or inscriptions -of his reign). Earlier Emperors had been -deified at their death; latterly it had been customary -to accord divine honours during the lifetime of the -monarch. Elagabalus did not believe that, a senatorial -patent aiding, he could become a new God. -He did believe, unfortunately, like so many prophets -and other religious maniacs, that he could associate -himself with his God as his earthly emanation or -expression; and henceforward, says Lampridius, -none might address him officially except on the -knee. It was a weird fancy, but no uncommon -delusion, and the world has connived at his conceit -by giving him that title when all others are forgotten -save amongst numismatists. That Antonine -intended others to regard him in this light, and was -thus a constant menace to Christ, is certain from the -fact (recorded by Herodian) that he sent to the -imperial city during this winter his portrait, painted in -the full splendour of his Aaronic vestments, with -the command that it should be placed in the Senate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_100"></a>[100]</span> -House, immediately above the statue of Victory, and -that each Senator on entering should offer incense -and an oblation to Deus Solus in the image of his -High Priest on earth. Herodian records another -effort, made during this winter, to introduce the -worship of Deus Solus into the minds of men. -This was an order sent to magistrates officiating at -the public sacrifices that this name should take the -first and most important place; an order which, we -are told, even Montanist Christians were able to -obey, especially as there were no penalties attaching -to the refusal.</p> - -<p>It had obviously been a gross error of judgment -on Maesa’s part to introduce a boy of such a temperament -to a religion of any sort, much more so to -have made him the directing force thereof; but it -was done, and with it went the clothes she now -hated so cordially. At Emesa, Antonine had -accustomed himself to the clinging softness of the -silken raiment worn by that priesthood; now he -declined to lay it aside. He hated wool and refused -to wear it, neither did linen take his fancy. Silk -and cloth of gold encrusted with jewels was his -ostentatious conceit, and he was going to wear -what his soul delighted in, now that he was free to -indulge his proclivities, but what had been entirely -proper and fitting at Emesa would not do for the -War Lord of the Roman Empire. One knows that -circumstances alter cases, and can fancy the state of -Maesa’s mind when she contemplated the wide-eyed -astonishment which would greet the painted -priest as he made his entry into Rome the conservative.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_101"></a>[101]</span> -The Emperor thought he knew better -than his elders; he had found the secret of popularity -with the army, and thought that similar attractions -would bring the city captive to his feet. Money, -beauty, and voluptuousness, says Capitolinus, had -brought him to the throne of the world, and he -had artistic taste enough to realise that his beauty, -height, and grace were enhanced when he was -robed in the silken garments of his choice. He -did not realise that the clothes were too rich for a -soldier; that bracelets, necklaces, and tiaras were the -means by which priests rule women, not soldiers -the hearts of men; that now he must put away -childish things, since he had begun to be a man, -the leader of armies. Again Maesa was right, but -she was overruled, and made more entries against -the day when the sum of this grandson’s iniquities -against her should be so complete that she might -put another in his room. It is only fair to state, -however, that Dion totally disagrees with this other -“eye-witness” when he remarks, that Antonine -always wore the Toga Praetexta at the games and -shows, thus restricting the use of the Syrian clothes -to religious and family appearances.</p> - -<p>But, to proceed to Xiphilinus’ third charge, that -of putting men, even his best friends, to death -without reason. This almost certainly refers to -the death of Gannys, his mother’s and grandmother’s -obliging servant, and the Emperor’s tutor, -to whom, Herodian tells us, he was much attached. -Forquet de Dorne says that this man considered -himself authorised to remonstrate continually with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_102"></a>[102]</span> -the Emperor on his conduct, just as though his -relations’ grumblings did not weary him sufficiently. -Further, Wotton tells us that a marriage had been -arranged between him and one of the imperial -ladies, and that there was an idea of declaring him -Caesar. Probably these two circumstances led to -the tragedy or accident which resulted in Gannys’ -death, and which, we are told, Antonine always -bitterly regretted.</p> - -<p>The tutor was nagging and pedagogic. Further, -a plot was unmasked. Gannys did not realise -that the Antonine temper, when developed, was -not a thing to play with. The Emperor forgot -himself, and in a fit of mad anger rushed at his -tormentor with his sword or knife drawn, struck, -and even wounded him. As was only natural, -Gannys drew to defend himself, and the guards, -fearing for Antonine’s life, interposed, and the -unfortunate man was no more. Gannys’ fault lay in -neglecting the boy’s training for amorous converse -with his female relations; putting off his duty of -moulding the plastic character until all was set, -hard as bronze, in a misshapen and distorted mould. -He had put everything off till a time when reformation -was impossible, and the reckoning must -be paid by the defaulter. There is no other murder -or act of cruelty, either recorded or hinted at by -any one of the men who were paid to ruin his -reputation. The worst that they can say is, that -his character was debased, and small wonder.</p> - -<p>As we read this Emperor’s life, we are bound to -admit that his nature was debased; but we are<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_103"></a>[103]</span> -struck, not so much by this fact, as by the necessary -conclusion that he could never have had the opportunity -of being anything else. His faults are -admittedly the faults of children, magnified by the -fact that he was a child suddenly placed in the -unfortunate position where all restraint from outside -was impossible, and where his wayward petulancy -forbade any to tempt the trial. To him the possession -of supreme power meant the holding of limitless -privileges, with practically no training for the responsibilities -involved. The whole position calls for our -pity rather than our censure, if we realise that his -only training was neurotic or religious, and phallic -at that. All things considered, it is a marvel that -no deeds of murder, rapine, envy, hatred, or malice -have been laid to his charge, even by his enemies; -such as have been laid to the charge not only of his -predecessors, but even at the door of those whom -the world honours as the righteous, the salt of the -earth. No history is immaculate. If it were, it -would relate to a better world; unable to be immaculate, -history is usually stupid, more usually -false. Concerning Elagabalus, it has contrived to -be absurd, by means of the impossibility of the -statements for which it attempts to offer neither -proof nor likelihood.</p> - -<p>It is during this period at Nicomedia, we are told -by the historians of the reign, that his popularity -disappears—a statement which, on the evidence of -the medals and inscriptions, as well as from what -we know of his extraordinary generosity, is and -must be utterly false. A further statement that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_104"></a>[104]</span> -soldiers already regretted their action in deposing -Macrinus is equally absurd, as they had no sort of -reason to do this, and, being largely returned to -their quarters, would know little or nothing of any -scandals of which they had fully approved a few -months previously. The impression left by the -adjectives used on inscriptions, medals and coins -is, that the Emperor was wildly popular, not only -with the military, but also with the civil population. -The titles are fulsome, the use of superlatives -unparalleled. The frequent use of the adjective -<i>indulgentissimus</i> tells its own story, explains what -Rome thought of his character. There is not the -smallest doubt that his generous prodigalities -endeared him to the whole population as few, if -any, of the Emperors were ever endeared, and the -adjectives are indicative of the popular sentiment. -Another reason for the popularity of the Emperor -was the Pax Romana which he brought to the -whole world. That such was popular and advantageous -is abundantly testified by the inscriptions -and many coins still known to us.</p> - -<p>The fatal influences of peace were as yet unrecognized, -and a happy scepticism tranquillised the -mind, gave free play to the senses. Life was -nonchalant, though the world still had its one great -passion—Rome, its greatness and renown. The -wheels of empire were well oiled; they now ran -with wonderful smoothness, even in provinces which -the rigidity of the Republic had alienated. It was -a time when, even in far-distant Dacia, the lover -quoted Horace to his maid under the light of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_105"></a>[105]</span> -moon, a time when the toga protected the world. -Life was sweet, because of the abundance of its -pleasant things. The treasure of the world was -such as has never been realised since, the resources -of wealth wonderful. During three hundred years, -from Augustus to Diocletian, no new tax was -created, and at the beginning of the third century -the contributions of the citizens, fixed two centuries -earlier, had become so nominal, with the growing -power of money, that their weight was almost -infinitesimal. The Roman world owed all to its -Imperium; small wonder that its people adored the -youth who personified its all with such grace and -liberality.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_106"></a>[106]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V<br /> -<span class="smaller">EARLY GOVERNMENT IN ROME</span></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>The Government in Rome to the Year 221 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span></i></p> - -</div> - -<p>To write the history of the years from 219 to 221 -(as we have it in the Scriptores) is a task which can -only be undertaken adequately in a language not -understanded of the people. Not that these years -differed materially from those which had gone before, -or those that followed. “Every altar in Old Rome -had its Clodius”—so Juvenal has told us—“and even -in Clodius’ absence there were always those breaths -of sapphic song that blew through Mitylene. Rome -was certainly old, but Rome was not good—not, at -least, in the sense in which we use the word to-day. -Of this no one who has even sauntered through -the catacombs of the classics preserves so much as -a lingering doubt. This is because the Roman -world was beautiful, ornate, unutilitarian; a world -into which trams, advertisements, and telegraph -poles had not yet come; a world that still had -illusions, myths, and mysteries, one in which religion -and poetry went hand in hand, a world -without newspapers, hypocrisy, and cant,” a world -into which this boy Emperor, his mind attuned to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_107"></a>[107]</span> -the whole surroundings, entered proudly during -either June or July in the year of grace 219.</p> - -<p>The date of the imperial family’s departure -from Nicomedia is uncertain, on the information at -present available; and we can only approximate -to the date of their arrival in the city by means of -a comparison between the statement of Eutropius -that he reigned two years and eight months there, -and the statement of Dion that he reigned in all -three years nine months and four days, neither of -which is definitely certain, as they do not agree -with other authorities. If the date, if even the -month, of Antonine’s death were capable of definite -interpretation, the date of his arrival would be clear. -As it is, most authorities have placed his entry into -the city within the first fortnight of July; Wirth -suggests, on the foregoing data, 11th July, to be -precise. There are, however, various circumstances -which incline us to an earlier period, most probably -during the month of June.</p> - -<p>It seems incredible that, unless the illness already -alluded to was of a most serious nature, the Emperor, -with Macrinus’ failure before his eyes, should -have stayed away from Rome for more than a year. -It will be remembered that the Emperor Caracalla -had been absent for some years before his death, -warring against the Parthians; that Macrinus had -spent the whole of his fourteen months’ precarious -tenure of the imperial power in or about Antioch -the voluptuous; and that the restored house of -Antonine had ruled with undisputed sway from 8th -June 218.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_108"></a>[108]</span></p> - -<p>Rome had, therefore, been for about five years -without her Court and her God, the personification -of her greatness. All that time Rome had clamoured -and grown weary, waiting for her essential life to -vivify her magnificence. That Antonine was -wanted and wildly popular there can be no doubt, -both from the statements of Lampridius and those -of Eutropius, which record the spontaneity with -which both Senate and people condemned the usurping -house, and rejoiced at the restoration, as also -from the record of the warmth with which Antonine -was welcomed on his arrival. In fact, all men -seem to have been pleased; the army with their -Antonine; the Senate with their Aurelius; the -people with their Augustus, or their Nero, as the -case might be. Save for her strength, Rome had -nothing of her own. Her religion, literature, art, -philosophy, luxury, and corruption were all from -abroad. Greece gave her artists; in Africa, Gaul, -and Spain were her agriculturists; in Asia her -artisans. Rome consumed, she did not produce; -except for herself and her greatness, she was sterile. -She was bound to desire the fount of her greatness, -the embodiment of her power in her midst.</p> - -<p>This is, of course, supposition of a merely circumstantial -kind, but there is more than supposition -that the family arrived earlier than July. There is -the record of the Emperor’s first marriage, which -must have taken place early in that month. This -is commemorated by Alexandrian coins dated LΒ, -<i>i.e.</i> prior to 28th August 219. The marriage took -place in Rome, and the news of its accomplishment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_109"></a>[109]</span> -would take at least three or four weeks to reach -Egypt, after which new coin dies would have to -be cut, and the money, ordinary debased coins in -common usage, issued. The latest possible date, -therefore, at which the marriage could have taken -place, to find coins in circulation recording the -event, before 28th August, was the second week -in July. This leaves neither time to the Emperor -for the choice of his consort after his arrival—which -would, after all, have been only a natural wish on -his part—nor, which is more important, time to -make the necessary preparations for what Herodian -tells us were the most stupendous celebrations that -Rome the magnificent had yet witnessed. Wirth’s -date is just possible, especially if Maesa had chosen -the wife and had made the preparations beforehand; -otherwise, knowing Maesa’s propensity for management, -we must suppose an earlier date of arrival, -especially as no two of the biographers agree as to -the length of the reign, which is variously stated as -having lasted from six years (Herodian) to thirty -months (Victor).</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, the one known inscription is -mutilated. It is set up to the Sun in honour of -the return of somebody and Totius Domus Divinae. -It was found in 1885 under the Via Tasso on a -pedestal, and bears only the date of its erection, -29th September 219, not the date of the return of -the house. It seems therefore safest, in order to -allow time before 21st July for the marriage and -festivities, to conjecture a start made either late in -April or early in May, which, after a journey of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_110"></a>[110]</span> -1600 miles, would bring the family to Rome some -time in the early part of June. It is, of course, -conjectural, but allows time for the known events.</p> - -<p>Once in Rome, we hear little good of the -Emperor’s life, conduct, administration, or abilities. -Unfortunately, we have to deal in the main with -Constantine’s friend, Aelius Lampridius, a man -whose biography is a cheap glorification of Alexander, -combined with ignorant and perpetual abuse -of Antonine’s religion and psychology. All his -statements in the way of fact could be compressed -into half a page of any ordinary book of reference, -and even these he manages to arrange so badly, -or to draw from such conflicting sources, that they -comprise simply a mass of futile contradictions.</p> - -<p>The entry into the city is the record of a scandal -which only Herodian perpetuates. This writer, -as we have remarked, is nowhere famed for his -accuracy; he tells us that the cortège was a rabble -of women, eunuchs, and priests of the Sun who -surrounded the Emperor. The boy was dressed -in the silken robes worn by the priests of Syria. -On his head was a jewelled tiara of Persian -design, whilst his body was laden with rings, necklaces -of pearls, bracelets, and other signs of vulgar -ostentation; his cheeks were painted, his eyebrows -darkened; in fact he was the very picture of an -Egyptian or Assyrian courtesan. To finish with, -we have a bit of morality, which tells us how he not -only spoilt his real beauty by such extravagances, -but made himself ridiculous in the eyes of gods and -men by these borrowed plumes.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 500px;"> - -<img src="images/illus4a.jpg" id="illus4a" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 commemorating the arrival of Elagabalus in Rome -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus4b.jpg" id="illus4b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Liberalitas II. Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 for the Emperor’s marriage -with Julia Cornelia Paula. (From the collection of Sir James S. Hay, K.C.M.G.)</p> - -<img src="images/illus4c.jpg" id="illus4c" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 concerning the grain supply -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus4d.jpg" id="illus4d" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin struck in <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219 to commemorate the Emperor’s recovery -(British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_110"><i>Face page 110.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_111"></a>[111]</span></p> - -<p>This is all very circumstantial, obviously the -work of an eye-witness, but it is not supported by -the evidence of any coin struck to commemorate -the event. The <i>Adventus Augusti</i> shows the -Emperor riding into the city laurelled and habited -in military accoutrements. Nor is the scandal -mentioned by either Lampridius or Dion; which -means that, at least as far as Lampridius goes, his -source, Marius Maximus, the then City Praefect, -who would certainly be an eye-witness, had not -noticed anything unusual. This, one imagines, he -would have been only too anxious to do, since -he appears to have vacated this office immediately -afterwards in favour of the Emperor’s friend -Eutychianus, which circumstance was not likely to -be specially pleasing to Marius, and ought to have -encouraged him to keep his eyes open for indecencies. -Dion, too, as we have said, is silent, -and he has lost no other chance of recording -Antonine’s frailties. Surely, then, it is at least -allowable to relegate this record of inexcusable -folly to the limbo of other picturesque lies, and -proceed to sift the similar accumulation which -Lampridius has collected for our amusement.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly, the first act was to make an -alliance with the daughter of the well-known jurist, -Julius Paulus, and to celebrate the event with a -colossal magnificence. All the authors, with the -exception of Lampridius, who ignores the marriage -entirely, furnish picturesque details. They describe -the games, in which only one elephant and, to -balance him, fifty-one tigers were killed (the numbers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_112"></a>[112]</span> -are peculiar, but incapable of verification); the -general distribution of wheat, the unusual magnificence -of the whole scene, and the congiary in -which even the wives of Senators took part. The -sums of money given are most noticeable; every -one in Rome received 150 drachmae per head, -except the soldiers, who only got 100, or very -slightly more—a diminution of the promised privileges -formerly granted by Caracalla, which could -scarcely have been pleasing to the Lords of Rome, -especially if, as Lampridius says, the Emperor had -already begun to lose his popularity with the army. -It almost presupposes a change of idea in the body -politic, and argues that the new government was -bent on the same reforms which had ruined Macrinus, -a circumstance which would not turn out advantageously -for all concerned. Certainly it was neither -wise nor conducive to peace thus to reduce the -donative on such an occasion; but of this more must -be said later.</p> - -<p>Directly after the festivities in honour of the -arrival, and, as has been suggested, of the marriage -as well, because we can only trace one congiary -and one set of rejoicings during this year—which -circumstance rather leads one to suppose that the -extraordinary generosity cited did duty for the -two occasions—the Emperor set to work to provide -a shelter for his God. In point of fact, he -provided two. The first and most magnificent, was -on the Palatine; the other, almost as vast and -beautiful, was a sort of summer resting-place in the -suburbs. Wissowa considers that this second was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_113"></a>[113]</span> -in the eastern part of the city, near the site of Sta. -Croce, near also to the Porta Praenestina, and that -it was built on a tract of land known as “Ad Spem -Veterem”; in other words, in the garden belonging -to Varius Marcellus, the Empress Soaemias’ late -husband, and, therefore, imperial property.</p> - -<p>Concerning the position of the first temple, -we have more certain evidence. Baumeister has -identified certain ruins on the Palatine as the -Eliogabalium, and though his conclusions are not -generally accepted, all the Greek authors agree as -to the Palatine being the centre of the cult. Victor -tells us that the God was established in “Palatii -penetralibus,” and Sextus Rufus corroborates Lampridius’ -statement that it was on the site of a temple -of Orcus (Pluto) on the Circus Maximus side of -the Palatine Hill.</p> - -<p>Some idea of its general magnificence may be -gathered from a coin struck in the year 222, which -is described by Studniczka. “The temple,” he -says, “rises to a great height in a glorious symmetry -of columns, and is partly covered by the -figure of the Emperor and his attendant. Below -the group appears the entrance to the temple courtyard, -which is crowned with statues.” On either -side of the entrance are wing-halls, singularly -reminiscent of the Bramante porticoes at St. Peter’s, -eagles taking the place of statues as acroteria.</p> - -<p>We must not suppose, despite Xiphilinus’ statement, -that the cult of this Sun God was first heard -of in Rome at this period. All the imperial money -coined at Emesa had borne his temple, stone, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_114"></a>[114]</span> -eagle on the obverse for many years past, besides -which the worship of Mithra, the Persian Sun God, -is considered by Cumont to have been the most -popular religion in Rome at this time. Septimius -Severus had built a temple on the Palatine in his -honour, doubtless with the help and counsel of the -family of Elagabal worshippers, and there seem to -have been many others in the city; a fact which -would tend to pave the way for Antonine’s scheme. -This however could not develop itself until the -temple was completed, which from the evidence -that can be gathered from coins and inscriptions -does not seem to have been an accomplished fact -until the late autumn of the next year, 220.</p> - -<p>No sooner was the temple finished than the -scheme for the unifying of churches, which the -Emperor had himself conceived, and intended to -promote with the full strength of imperial command, -was put into operation. As we have said, -Antonine had no more idea of making Elagabal a -mere rival to the Roman Deities than Constantine -had of putting Christ into that unenviable position. -He intended that the Lord should swallow up all -other Deities, should make captive all the gods of -old Rome. To do this it was necessary, first, to -impress the world with the splendour, the beauty, -the power, and the magnificence of that being who -had so miraculously delivered the family of Bassianus -from Phoenician obscurity, and brought them -into the fierce light of the Roman noonday; secondly, -he had to make some alliance with the head and -centre of the old Roman worship of Vesta, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_115"></a>[115]</span> -one religion which symbolised Rome, its perpetuity, -and its undying fame; thirdly, he had to acquire -all the objects of sacred devotion, and transfer them -to Elagabal’s temple, as well to attract worshippers -as to stimulate devotion.</p> - -<p>For the accomplishment of the first of these -objects he ordained the most magnificent worship -that had as yet been devised. He, as High Priest, -used to descend daily from the palace in order to -sacrifice vast quantities of oxen and sheep upon -innumerable altars laden with spices and odours. -The libations were more ample and more costly -than any that had yet been heard of. Herodian -further tells us how the rare and costly wines mingling -with the blood of the victims made great -streams in every direction; but even this waste was -insufficient: with Davidic persistency the Emperor -danced, encircling the altars, followed by the -Syrians, men and women, who formed his court, -while the display and waste of energy was accompanied -by the clashing of cymbals and other instruments -of music which had been brought from the -God’s home in the East. At these orgies the -Senate sat in a great semicircle, and were, fortunately, -mere spectators of the show. It was the -generals of armies, the governors of provinces, and -court officials of all sorts who were less fortunate. -These worthies Antonine habited in a replica of -his own trailing garments, and ordered to perform -menial offices about the altars of God, a proceeding -which caused them to gnash with their teeth -and run about the city declaring very plainly (to one<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_116"></a>[116]</span> -another, of course) that they infinitely preferred the -tents of ungodliness to all and sundry offices of -divine religion, especially in its Semitic forms. -From the very outset Elagabal was unpopular -with the upper classes. They had cause to dislike -this insensate show. With the populace it was -probably different, at least for a time. One can -imagine their joy at beholding, tier upon tier, the -Conscript Fathers assembled each morning as -most unwilling spectators of a show which they -abominated.</p> - -<p>As we have already pointed out, other Eastern -cults were making considerable headway in Rome -amongst all classes, and had attracted not a few of -that august body. We have mentioned the worship -of the Sun God Mithra, which, with other similar -religions, had constantly increased in importance -since the year 204 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>, the date of its introduction -into the city.</p> - -<p>Now the Eastern cults were popular because they -supplied a felt want, namely, a personal spiritual -religion, whereas the religion of Rome, though fine, -virile and strong, was purely political. The God of -Rome was Rome, and concerned itself solely with -patriotism. With the individual, with his happiness -or aspirations, it concerned itself not at all. It was -the prosperity of the Empire, its peace and immortality, -for which sacrifices were made and libations -offered. The antique virtues, courage in war, -moderation in peace, and honour at all times, were -civic, not personal. It was the state that had a -soul, not the individual. Man was ephemeral, it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_117"></a>[117]</span> -was the nation that endured.<a id="FNanchor_57" href="#Footnote_57" class="fnanchor">[57]</a> Naturally, this was -unsatisfying to the uneducated; their Rome was -the abridgment of every superstition, their Pantheon -an abattoir of the Gods who presided over death and -whose worship was gore.</p> - -<p>Added to this had come the worship of Isis, the -secrets of Mithra, of which the chief note was one -of mysticism. There was something terrifying and -yet alluring about the abluent functions, the initiations, -the secrets that it was death to divulge. -Now, the rites that Antonine introduced were -entirely blatant, Semitic, Syrian. They contained, -as far as we can judge, nothing specially -mysterious, either in the way of initiation or -progression, little which could even attract the -curiosity of the devout. All that Elagabal could -appeal to was the public curiosity; his worship was, -in fact, designed to appeal to such and nothing more, -<i>at the outset</i>; even with such an end in view it might -have become popular had it not been that Antonine -made this all-embracing deity too easy of access, -in consequence of which he became too cheap. -The Emperor seems to have recognised this early, -and to have evolved a scheme for uniting the already -popular mysteries of all other Gods with his own; -to which resolve we may attribute the stories of his -initiation into the priesthood of Cybele and the -rest; he thought that it would enhance his God’s -attractiveness and assure his popularity in the eyes -of the mob.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_118"></a>[118]</span></p> - -<p>As far as we can judge from the evidence of -coins and medals, there was little or no parade of -Antonine’s religious ideals or his comprehensive cult -until the later part of the year 220, until, in fact, -the temple was ready and the necessary adjuncts to -hand. With its opening came the transference -thither of the most venerable objects of Roman -superstition: all the sacred stones, even the Palladium -from the temple of Minerva, the sacred fire -which was the symbol of Rome’s existence, even -the shields which had fallen from heaven, and to -which the oracles had attached the very destinies -of the city itself. But of this more in its proper -place.</p> - -<p>Certainly, for all his attempts, Elagabal did not -become a popular divinity. Men began to fear his -propensity for swallowing other cults. His rapacity -in absorbing the deities of centuries made the -superstitious uneasy for the continued existence -of Gods whom, they believed vaguely, they might -some day need, and who would then have lost their -power and authority. But there was yet another -reason for Elagabal’s unpopularity, namely, the -Emperor’s attempt to unite the Hebraic and -Christian mysteries with those of his own God.</p> - -<p>Neither Christian nor Hebrew was ever popular -in old Rome. Their characters, their rites, and -their machinations were sincerely disapproved of -both by the rulers and the governed; they were -generally known as robbers, thieves, liars, lawbreakers, -cannibals even, men who were lacking in -every virtue that Rome held dear; men who set up<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_119"></a>[119]</span> -their own specimen of a creed to the exclusion of all -others, the which was, generally speaking, subversive -of government, law and order. They were -men entirely displeasing to the high Gods, and -therefore to be spared only when the master of -Rome refused consent to kill.</p> - -<p>Now, Antonine clearly protected these atheistic -vagabonds, citizens of no state, troublers of every -nation; nay more, he attempted to tolerate their -blasphemies by uniting them with his own religion. -As we have said, Rome was probably familiar with -Elagabal through the Syrian house and Emesan -coins, but with the other Judean religion they had -not a few disagreements, and had certainly no wish -to amalgamate it with the venerated cults of the -city, as Antonine seemed bent on doing. It was -certainly a bad day for the house of Severus when -the Emperor decided to mix himself up with the -hated Judaism.</p> - -<p>We must here leave for a moment the history -of Antonine’s religious changes and aspirations to -recount the secular work accomplished between the -summer of the year 219 and the autumn or winter -of the year 220, it may be even up to the early -weeks of the year 221, when the Emperor made -that vital mistake in policy which threw him into -the hands of his family, to his undoing.</p> - -<p>Amongst the “facts” recorded by Lampridius -concerning this period, we have two mutually exclusive -statements concerning the admission of the -Emperor’s mother and grandmother to the Senate, -and their governmental position in the State. The<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_120"></a>[120]</span> -first (in Sec. 4) states that at the very first meeting -of that august assembly Antonine sent for his -mother; that on her arrival he called her to take a -place alongside the Consuls; and that with them -she signed decrees, Senatus Consulta, and other -documents, an enormity which no other woman had -ever perpetrated, and which was certainly never -heard of again. He finishes with the remark that -she obtained the title of Clarissima, the only woman -who has ever had this honour conferred upon her—altogether -a most circumstantial account.</p> - -<p>A few sections farther on (Sec. 12) he recounts -how Antonine always took his grandmother Varia -with him whenever he went to the camp or to the -Senate, in order to give him the authority and -dignity which he lacked, adding, that before her no -woman had been admitted into the Senate either -to give her opinion or append her signature. It -is significant, by the way, that Varia never was and -never could have been Maesa’s name—so much for -Lampridius’ ignorance of the family history.</p> - -<p>Now, either Antonine took one, both, or neither; -Lampridius says both—each to the exclusion of the -other, as each was first, each the only woman, but -Soaemias was alone Clarissima. Cannot one see the -jealous wrath of the grandmother, the real politician, -at the promotion of her absolutely incapable -daughter over her head by means of that -coveted title (a title, by the way, which would have -bored Soaemias’ temperament inexpressibly), while -she was relegated to an inferior position?</p> - -<p>The only conclusion to be drawn is that which is<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_121"></a>[121]</span> -recorded by <i>all</i> the inscriptions, namely, that Maesa -was the predominant factor, since her name always -occurs first where she and Soaemias are mentioned -together. Maesa, in all probability, did slip into -the Senate; she would have appreciated the dignity -of the position enormously, and the fact would give -a basis to some story or other that had got about. -Antonine would certainly have had no objection; -the Senate was no longer the government properly -so called; Maesa could do no harm there, and it -would be a sop to her for the small power she was -exercising in the actual development of events.</p> - -<p>Soaemias, we can quite believe, was president of -the assembly on the Quirinal which Lampridius -sneers at as a foundation of Antonine’s, and yet tells -us had existed before his time. It was called the -Senaculum or Conventus Matronarum. Friedländer -says that it was an ancient and honourable -assembly as early as the year 394 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>, when its -members voted their jewels to help raise the tithe -in connection with the spoils of Veii. Seneca refers -to it in his treatise <i>De matrimoniis</i> as a regular -assembly. Again, in the year 209 <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>, the matrons -met, in consequence of omens, to decide on expiation; -even in imperial times Suetonius says that -the Assembly met to reprove Agrippina for her -vagaries; and Hieronymus counts amongst the distractions -of Roman life the daily attendance at the -Matronarum Senatus. What, therefore, this petulant -and carping critic can find to grumble about in -this permanent assembly meeting to carry out the -provisions of the Lex Appia, one simply cannot<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_122"></a>[122]</span> -imagine, unless it be that, having been prejudiced in -early youth, he declined to listen to any arguments -for the furthering of either women’s rights or duties -in the State. At any rate, it is scarcely fair to stigmatise -as an immoral and reprehensible act, the -Emperor’s grant to this Senate of women of the -power to make necessary edicts on points which are -now very ably supervised by the Lord Chamberlain’s -department. The points discussed were those -relating to the length of a train or the Court -uniform of a guardsman; the precedence due to -rank; who must wait for another’s salutation; to -whom a carriage; to whom a saddle-horse; to -whom a public conveyance; to whom a mere -donkey-cart was a fitting means of progression; -who might use mules; or for whom oxen were considered -sufficiently rapid; for whom the saddle -might be inlaid with ivory; for whom with bone; -for whom with silver; or even when pointing -out what persons might fittingly wear gold and -jewelled buckles on their shoes without the imputation -of plutocratic ostentation.</p> - -<p>To-day, despite the fact that we have progressed -by eighteen centuries, it is generally believed in -governmental circles that such matters are possibly -best settled by women, and such useful, not to say -necessary functions concerning the polite amenities -of civilised existence would be most readily conceded -by authority to their sex, if only such would -content and assuage that feline animosity which -has of late disturbed social gatherings, even the -intercourse between authorities in the state and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_123"></a>[123]</span> -ladies seeking a useful outlet for their superfluous -energies. Alas, the world is grown older, and the -female mind now knows itself capable of regulating -both the social and political worlds, and has no -intention of satisfying its aspirations, like Soaemias, -with the social side of life, as long as mere man -opposes her entrance into the political sphere.</p> - -<p>Surely, everything considered, this cavilling at -what was an ancient, and still would be a useful, -body, is only another proof of the spirit in which the -biographers have poured abuse on a boy who was -so obviously striving to satisfy his relatives by -giving them an outlet for their energies, while keeping -the essential powers of government in his own -hands. Of course he failed, mainly because his -grandmother was not satisfied with her function -in the state, she wanted to filch from Antonine -what was <i>his</i> right, and what she wanted she -determined to get at all costs. Whether she really -aspired to the Senate and got there is another -question. It is distinctly stated that under Alexander -Severus no woman ever sat in that assembly; -further, that decrees were passed forbidding their -presence there for ever. Now, Maesa was almost -sole ruler during the early years of that reign, and -one can never believe that she deprived herself of -one jot or tittle of a power which she had once -acquired. There is one occasion, and one occasion -only, on which we may well imagine, as the writers -state, that the women were all present, officially, in -the Senate, namely, at the meeting when Alexander -was adopted. At other times, we can believe that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_124"></a>[124]</span> -they were there, just as the queen consort is present -in the House of Peers, but without any real political -significance.</p> - -<p>To this period Lampridius assigns the winter -spent at Nicomedia, which is a very fair example -of this biographer’s egregious carelessness and -stupidity. Considering that both Dion and Herodian -are perfectly explicit as to the actual date, it is -monstrous that he should have put this period just -a year later than it actually occurred, nor, as we -have said, is it in this matter alone that he leads us -to mistrust his accuracy, where either fact or fiction -are at stake.</p> - -<p>Lampridius, with a great show of moralising, -and having already stated that the Emperor had -lost his popularity shortly after Macrinus’ death, -re-ascribes its loss to this current year, namely, -from the summer of 219 to the autumn of 220, and -this without showing cause, reason, or mismanagement -which would justify the statement, if we -except the vague statement that he neglected public -business for religion, though, as far as we can see, -the Emperor did not begin to neglect the State -for the Church until his temple was opened. After -that time we can well believe that all his energies -were centred on his cult, an error which, like that -made by certain Stuart sovereigns of this enlightened -country, equally lost, the one his head, and -the other his crown. No act of cruelty is cited, no -accusation of glaring or vital mistakes made, until -the very end of the year 220.</p> - -<p>Arrived at that period, there is much to be said—the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_125"></a>[125]</span> -mismanagement of affairs grows apace. First, -there is his religion, which he makes a definite -eyesore; second, he is accused of selling honours, -dignities, and power, both with his own hands -and by those of his favourites; third, he appoints -Senators without any reference to either their age, -good sense, or nobility; fourth, he sells the offices -of praefect, tribune, ambassador, and general, even -those about the palace itself.</p> - -<p>Now, all this may be perfectly true. Antonine -must have wanted money, but, as we have remarked -before, he had a passion for giving, not for receiving. -The most likely supposition is therefore, that he -gave offices indiscriminately to those who pleased -him, and that his favourites, often debased and unworthy -people, sold what they could get hold of -to the highest bidder. The accusation is vitiated -by the fact that no names are mentioned, no -instances given, except those of the two chariot -drivers, Protogenes and Gordius, intimates of the -Emperor and supervisors of his sports. It is quite -possible that he admired and liked these men for -their proficiency in sport, and that unwholesome -minds saw more in the friendship than was warranted. -Of Protogenes we hear no more. Cordus or -Gordius—probably the same person as the above—was -made Praefect of the Watch during the -next year; perhaps he was useful, perhaps he -was not; any way he was dismissed in the autumn -of 221.</p> - -<p>Amongst the last events of this 220th year of -our salvation, or early in the year 221, occurred<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_126"></a>[126]</span> -the divorce of the august Julia Cornelia Paula, -Empress. We know that it was late in the year, -as there are coins in existence struck at Alexandria -after 29th August which bear her name, and others -struck at Tripolis in Phoenicia after October 220 -(Eckhel). In all probability this lady was in no -way averse to retiring into opulent privacy, a woman -with both a past and a future.</p> - -<p>Certainly her husband had neglected her scandalously -if even a tithe of Lampridius’ stories of his -infidelities are true, and, from what we can learn -of his psychological state, a certain number are -obviously so. Modern investigation of such psychopathic -conditions inclines us to admit that the -boy was a sort of nymphomaniac, if not entirely -homosexual, at least heterosexual, with a strong -homosexual instinct, and it would be unnatural for -any woman to appreciate this temperament in a -husband, especially when she knew, as she must -have known, since he was perfectly frank about -it, that he was already allied, by a species of matrimony, -with the chariot driver Hierocles—calling -himself wife and Empress—and that he was not -attached to this man alone but to many others, for -whom inquisition had been made throughout the -Empire, on account of their looks and ability to -satiate his mania more satisfactorily.</p> - -<p>This is, of course, Lampridius’ version of the -Emperor’s character, and the same sources have -been used by both Dion and Herodian with similar -though varying degrees of grossness in expression. -Undoubtedly the boy was by nature abnormal,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_127"></a>[127]</span> -as were almost all the Emperors of Old Rome. -Antonine had his moments when he imitated a -virgin at bay, others when he was a wife, still -others when he expected to be a mother, others -when he carded wool, others when he played the -pandore (an instrument of music with three strings -invented by the Assyrians, according to Pollux, -or, as Isidore remarks, attributed to the God Pan -himself). Again, he would play the hydraulic organ -of the period, and loved to dress himself in the -clothes of women, even in the customary undress -uniform of the courtesan, adopting the positions, -voice, and manner of the most expert.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly these pastimes were most reprehensible -and unpleasant, to be condemned one and -all; though somehow to-day we are not altogether -inclined to regard proficiency in music amongst -men as quite so censurable and disgusting an art -as the other foibles—to give them no worse a name—which -Lampridius so justly censures. Unfortunately, -many of these seem to have come quite -naturally to the Emperor on account of his untrained -and unrestrained nature, though Forquet de Dorne -thinks that it was not so much evil propensities as -his innate desire to please, combined with his -genuine efforts to spend all his energies for other -people, which have been misinterpreted by the evil-minded, -especially as this was not the only side to -the boy’s character, as the biographers would have -us believe. And this because we are told, amongst -the list of his enormities, that he loved driving -chariots both in the palace and in the circus, habited<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_128"></a>[128]</span> -in a green tunic, and that he was most dextrous in -the sport.</p> - -<p>To-day, racing is considered as the sport of -kings; certainly it is not the obvious outcome -of an effeminate or degraded mind; rather the -reverse: it is a virile occupation, calling forth -nerve, pluck, courage, and other manly qualities. -In third-century Rome it was much the same, but -for purposes of disgusting posterity Lampridius -affected not to think so. He pointed out that it -was a calling proper only to coachmen and lackeys, -though he must have known, if he had thought -about it at all, that his readers would listen with -their tongues in their cheeks when he tried to -maintain that the courage, nerve, and pluck which -the boy showed in this sport were evidences of the -same degeneracy which he was decrying when he -recounted the carding of wool and the other feminine -occupations. Hosts of men, kings, and emperors -of all ages have indulged in the intoxication of -horse-racing. The mere fact of Lampridius putting -this story, with its palpably stupid and far-fetched -moral, alongside the really serious scandals would -be enough to make critics distrust, not only his -information, but even his ability to understand and -use such when he had got it.</p> - -<p>To sum up, therefore, our investigations of the -months between June 219 and November 220, we -must admit that no gross act of folly had as yet -been committed. The Emperor had spent his time -in building his temples, and in restoring the Flavian -amphitheatre—which had been burnt down on 23rd<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_129"></a>[129]</span> -August 217,—in finishing the baths of Caracalla, -and in erecting his own splendid bathing establishments -in the palace and on the Aventine. He had -refounded the Senaculum, and built a hall for its -use; he was attending to business, helped by his -fellow-consul, Eutychianus, and was giving righteous -judgment, as all biographers admit, when he -attended the courts or the Senate. He was, -moreover, most popular, liberal, and generous, -though devoted to the pleasures of the table, -and unfortunately hermaphroditic in tendency, -which hereditary taint was certainly mitigated by -the fact that he was devoted to outdoor exercises, -especially those that demanded courage, nerve, and -strength of will. Underneath all this there is a -predominating religious feeling, and the simply -monotheistic obsession which drove him to his -doom.</p> - -<p>The year 221 is the time of Antonine’s utter -failure. As far as we can judge from numismatic -evidence, one of his first acts was to divorce, as -we have said, the Empress Julia Paula, probably -in pursuance of his scheme for religious unity. -He had conceived a notion of rendering his God -absolutely supreme by means of an alliance with -the worship of Vesta. Now this Goddess and her -Sacred Stone or Phallus, called the Palladium, her -shields or bucklers, had been sent to Troy direct -from heaven. Aeneas had brought them to Latium, -and they were the head and centre of Roman -greatness. Pallas, or Vesta, was too powerful to -be absorbed in the ordinary way. Antonine therefore<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_130"></a>[130]</span> -considered that his God, being unmarried, -might well acquire possession of Vesta by a matrimonial -alliance. As Pontifex Maximus, he was -head of the Vesta worship, and had a perfect right -to enter her shrine when and how he pleased, a -circumstance which Lampridius entirely ignored -when he said that the Emperor forced his way -into the temple illegally. Antonine certainly did -go to her shrine at this time, and took the sacred -fire, carrying it to the Eliogabalium. Lampridius -asserts that the high priestess, being jealous of -the loss of her charge, tried to palm off a false -vessel upon him, but that the Emperor saw the -deceit and broke the jar in contempt for the foolish -fraud. He also transferred the sacred stone at the -same time, and in pursuance of his plan, celebrated -the nuptials on which he had set his heart. This was -bad enough for Roman susceptibilities, but he went -one worse. Being himself free, he decided to marry -one of the Sacred Vestals from the shrine of his -God’s new wife. He certainly seems to have been -vitally attracted by the charms of Aquilia Severa, a -woman no longer in the first flush of youth, to judge -by her effigy, but one whom his religious as well as -his personal predilections pointed out as a fitting -consort. Pallas and Elagabal were united in a -heavenly union like so many others amongst Syrian -and Egyptian deities; why, then, should not Antonine, -the chief priest of the Sun, and Aquilia, an -important priestess of Minerva, unite in a fruitful -union which would produce a demi-god meet for the -Empire?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_131"></a>[131]</span></p> - -<p>The theory had its points. Unfortunately, Rome -did not see them. She stood obviously aghast, -thoroughly disliking the notion. Then, as now, -Rome disliked the public repudiation of vows; it -was an unforgivable scandal. As Clement VII. -remarked some years later to Henry Tudor, with -an equally genuine fervour, “Pray, please yourself -by all means, but don’t let me know.” That was -and always will be the true Roman attitude. Concubinage -amongst these ladies was perfectly natural, -but matrimony never; it offended the susceptibilities, -and hence the subsequent trouble. Antonine does -not seem to have grasped this fact, and, if any -one told him, he was too much enamoured of his -scheme to resign it without an effort. But even -the Senate seems to have protested, and a plot, -in which Pomponius Bassus and Silius Messala were -implicated (probably inspired by that upright lady -Julia Mamaea), was set on foot. It was an attempt -to substitute some other personage for the youth -who knew so little of Roman feeling as to commit -this act of sacrilege. These two men were well-known -busybodies, who had already dethroned one -Emperor, and were obviously anxious for further -employment in the same direction. Unfortunately -for them, the plan was discovered, and their secret -court, held to consider the Emperor’s actions, -raided. They were immediately arraigned before -the Senate, and condemned for the crime of <i>lèse-majesté</i>, -or treason, probably both, thus meeting -the fate they had so richly deserved; but of these<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_132"></a>[132]</span> -two men we shall have occasion to speak later -on.</p> - -<p>There is still another thing to notice in connection -with this dual marriage (that of the two -Gods and of the High Priest and the Vestal), -namely, the erection of a shrine in the Forum to -celebrate the event, the which was probably built, -according to Commendatore Boni, somewhere in the -summer of the year 221. Certain pieces of a capital -discovered near that place between the years 1870-1872, -display the God Elagabal between Minerva -and Urania, his second wife, which leads one to the -conclusion that the union with Vesta, though no -longer of earthly, was at least considered as one of -spiritual duration.</p> - -<p>But to proceed. By the spring of 221 Antonine -must have discovered for himself, even if his -friends had not told him, that his religious ideals -were far from popular. The very fact of the plot -was enough to show him how public opinion was -trending, added to which general pressure seems to -have been put upon the Emperor to rectify the two -glaring mistakes which he had just made, through -his perverse religiosity. We know from both Dion -and Herodian that neither marriage lasted any -length of time. Numismatic evidence of his third -wedding is dated prior to 28th August 221, which -presupposes that Aquilia Severa had returned to -her nunnery, while the celebration of the nuptials -between the Sun and Moon implies, what we know -to be a fact, that Minerva had returned to the -seclusion from which she ought never to have been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_133"></a>[133]</span> -taken. It must have been a great blow to the boy, -thus to relinquish his hold on one of the chief parts -of his scheme, but he had seen that it would do -Elagabal no good to slight the religion with which -the destinies of Rome were inextricably mixed up, -and that he had merely thrown open the way to -his grandmother’s machinations. Again, as Borghesi -has pointed out, probably Eutychianus was -back at his side as City Praefect, in which position -that officer would be better able to judge of the -feeling which Antonine’s action had created, than -as Consul. The result was that the Emperor -published a statement, by no means conciliatory in -character, which announced, that his God liked not -so martial a wife, in consequence of which he had -decided to return her to her own shrine, and send -for Astarte from Carthage instead. Tanit of the -Carthaginians, Juno Coelestis or Magna Mater as -she was called in Italy, where she had grown in -importance from the third century <span class="allsmcap">B.C.</span>, when she -was first introduced, was probably a Phoenician -Goddess with a cosmopolitan tendency. Cumont -tells us that this maiden divinity was identified with -Diana, Cybele, and sometimes with Venus. Generally -she was called a moon goddess, certainly she -possessed a twofold nature—as queen of the -heavens she directed the moon and stars, and sent -down life-giving rains on the earth, and as the personification -of the productive force of nature, she -was the patroness of fertility. Latterly in Rome -she had been identified with the cult of Mithra, which -had taken such a hold on the popular mind and was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_134"></a>[134]</span> -now at the summit of its power. Undoubtedly the -introduction of this Goddess into their midst, -especially since it could hurt no local superstition, -would be a popular move, and Elagabal would gain -the reflected glory; at least amongst the ignorant -and religious-minded to whom such arrant nonsense -would be sure to appeal. From the Emperor’s own -point of view the marriage was fitting, since the queen -of the heavens was, not only second in authority to -the Sun, but was also rich, and with her came the -whole of her treasure, according to Herodian. This -statement, however, Dion denies flatly, asserting -that the Emperor refused to take anything from -her temple except two golden lions, presumably -as a sort of protection for the journey, while -he himself provided her dowry by a general impost -on the whole Empire; so much for rival eye-witnesses.</p> - -<p>About this same time, certainly (as we have said) -before 28th August, Antonine married again, presumably -at the instigation of his grandmother, and -to gain the allegiance of the patrician classes. -The bride was widow of that busybody Pomponius -Bassus, lately deceased. The alliance, like that of -the God, was sure to be popular with all classes, -and the lady, though by no means in her first youth -(from the portraits on her medals she leaves one -with the impression of being about forty-five years -of age) was of Imperial Antonine lineage. Undoubtedly -the Emperor soon tired of her charms, -which were scarcely likely to please a boy of -eighteen, and in consequence we are told he did not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_135"></a>[135]</span> -keep her long. She was a friend of his grandmother, -a well-known and ambitious woman, who -was quite pleased to dry her eyes at once and fall -in with Maesa’s plan of appointing a sort of nuptial -guardian for the boy, which would naturally be -a great asset in the struggle that his grandmother -and aunt had fully decided upon, from the moment -when he made his mistake in underestimating the -popular antipathy towards his unfortunate religious -scheme.</p> - -<p>Both Maesa and Mamaea were now working -together, for both were determined to consolidate in -their hands the power that was Antonine’s by right. -From this moment there is one continuous policy of -corruption, vilification, and grab, while the women, -their greedy claws ever stretching out, filch from the -boy his popularity, his friends, and his reputation. -Herodian tells us of the money spent to corrupt the -guards. Every word of the biographies tells the -same story. Even when they had encompassed -his death and put another in his room they could -not leave his memory in peace. The trump card in -this game was played by Maesa’s diplomacy; she -knew that the only way to win the boy was to attach -herself to his religious ideals, and she therefore seems -to have fallen in with his scheme for the union of -Elagabal and Urania. She sympathised with his -endeavour to make his God popular; indeed, was -not Elagabal her God also, hers by right of her -position as the eldest of his hereditary house of -priests? Very insidiously she wormed her way -into his boyish confidence, lulled his mind to rest,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_136"></a>[136]</span> -and then suggested her great plan, the appointment -of Alexianus to help him in the government, -to assist in the secular affairs which so sadly -hampered the Emperor’s spiritual and sacerdotal -functions.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_137"></a>[137]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI<br /> -<span class="smaller">ANTONINE’S DEALINGS WITH ALEXANDER</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>Lampridius has given us, in his life of Alexander -Severus, a mass of undigested information concerning -the character and daily life of Mamaea’s son. -The narrative is as much concerned to prove the -virtues of Alexander as it is to represent the -degradation of his predecessor. Somehow the -panegyric misses fire; Lampridius has produced a -spasmodic and unenlightened discourse on trivialities, -together with a haphazard essay on his hero’s -moral qualities. He assures us that Alexander had -a regal presence, great flashing eyes, a penetrating -gaze, a manly appearance, and the stature and -health of a soldier. Now, the practice of idealising -the appearance of royalty is not unknown, even in -these days. Unfortunately, this description is in no -way borne out by the portraits still extant. Alexander, -in the Vatican bust, has certainly the appearance -of strength, but it is such as is possessed by a -lusty coal-heaver, with a bull neck and a thick skull; -the undecided features of the face, the weak mouth -and chin, the low forehead, half hidden by the hair, -all betoken mild-mannered vacuity rather than<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_138"></a>[138]</span> -manliness, while the eyes, so far from flashing, seem, -in the phrase of Duruy, to “stare without seeing.” -It is the figure neither of a Roman nor of a ruler of -men, but just that possessed by the family to which -he belonged, though cast in an effete and much-used -mould; it is the face of a half-caste Phoenician, such -as he chanced to be. Alexander was an absolutely -perfect tool for the purposes of his grandmother’s -scheme, and, in consequence, Lampridius records -the series of omens portending his royal nativity. -The entire menagerie of Egypt seemed to proclaim -him king. Surely, argued Maesa, such evidences -of suitability would convince the truly religious -Antonine; and so, primed with her proofs, the lady -repaired to carry out her scheme. But, as we have -said, the Emperor was used to her wiles; she had -tried cajoling him before and had failed; this time it -was on the score of religion, on the necessity that -he should devote his full energies to the furthering -of his great and all-embracing scheme, that she -attacked him. It is a pitiful sight for us, who -know the results, to watch the guile of the serpent -prostituting innocence for its own gain. Maesa -must at this time have been close on fifty years of -age, and we are assured on all hands that she was -in close alliance with her daughter Mamaea, who -had long since conceived a holy horror, not only -of the sins of her nephew, but also for the person of -the sinner. So strongly was she convinced of her -righteousness, that she had already thought it her -bounden duty, as well as her special privilege, to -attempt the corruption of the guards, and to support<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_139"></a>[139]</span> -the plots, all and sundry, which disaffected functionaries -might attempt against the person of the -Emperor.</p> - -<p>Now, venality is a vice not confined to the -modern world; then, as now, it was possible -to find men who considered that their usefulness -was underestimated, and that their position -inadequately represented their merits. The -record of at least three such personages and their -attempts has come down to us: the first was that -instituted by Pomponius Bassus and his colleague -Silius Messala, who had adopted Mamaea’s line -of argument as to the inadvisability of allowing -Antonine’s mistaken religious policy to continue; -the second, that of Seius Carus, who in 221 -attempted the corruption of the Alban Legion in -either his own or Alexianus’ interest—and in both -of these plots we are led to infer that Julia Mamaea -had a considerable finger.</p> - -<p>The question of Seius Carus is one of considerable -interest from this point of view. The gentleman -was wealthy and of the patrician order, which -facts did not prevent him, according to Dion, from -spending his money freely amongst the soldiery, -obviously with an ulterior motive. Unfortunately -for him, he hit upon the wrong legion, the -body which was now quartered near Rome and -had joined Antonine so readily at Apamea in 218. -In the year 220 this legion had set up an inscription -to Antonine’s Victoria Aeterna, which monument -had expressed the greatest possible devotion -to the reigning Emperor, and gave the lie direct to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_140"></a>[140]</span> -those stories of Dion and Lampridius, which assert -that, as early as the winter of 218, the soldiers -cordially hated Antonine, and placed all their -hopes on Alexianus. Lampridius gives a very -poor reason for this—because, forsooth, they could -not stand the thought that he was as ready as they -themselves were to receive pleasure through all -the cavities of his body. Dion relates Seius’ trial, -but ignoring the fact of the plot, which he had just -mentioned, he informs us that the gentleman -suffered for a crime which was absolutely unknown -to the imperial, as indeed to any other legal -system, unless it be the ecclesiastical—“on account -of his worth and abilities.” Unfortunately, Dion -does not point out why the millions of other men in -the Empire, equally worthy and equally able, were -allowed a greater longevity, though it is certainly a -point which might be considered with some show of -interest. But to return to the imperial ladies. As we -have said, they were spending much time searching -out disaffected subjects, and repeating stories not -conducive either to peace or tranquillity; further, they -were making use of Antonine’s most foolish resolve -to cut down military expenditure at the price of a -possible unpopularity, by giving a decided preference -to the civil element in the population, a -proceeding which, as we have remarked on more -than one occasion, was not only foolish but -under the circumstances criminally wrong. Despite -the manifold and splendid qualities which soldiers -possessed, it must be confessed that they were as -eager for gain as the average Hebrew grocer, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_141"></a>[141]</span> -almost as ready to accept coins from no matter -what tainted source they might come. “Money,” -as Vespasian had said, “has no smell,” a sentiment -with which most men were in entire agreement.</p> - -<p>This is a very fair view of the state of politics -about the month of June, in the year of our Lord -221, at which time the Dowager-Empress propounded -her scheme; an attempt, she said, to -transfer the odium of Antonine’s neglect in secular -matters to other shoulders, and so to set the boy free -to carry out his great policy for the advancement -of religious unity throughout the world. Maesa -certainly agreed with her grandson’s point of view, -or said she did, which came to the same thing. -The work which he had proposed was great and -important, and it had been neglected for the good of -the state. Now, to neglect the great God angered -him to whom the family owed their position. To -neglect the affairs of state angered the people, and -gave rise to disturbances; of this Antonine had had -recent examples. Surely it would be advisable to -appoint a coadjutor in the affairs of state, and, for -obvious reasons, one of his own family, some one -who would naturally have no other desire than to -serve Antonine; there was a relative ready and -willing. Why did he not adopt Alexianus? Perhaps -the boy was insignificant! Well, so much -the better; but at any rate he might be used to -advantage. All this was most plausible, and may -have blinded the Emperor for the moment, but -we can easily understand, from what we know of -Antonine’s nature, that even if he saw through<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_142"></a>[142]</span> -the very specious pleas here put forward, he would -quite enjoy meeting his grandmother on her own -ground. He had done it before, and had played -the game successfully.</p> - -<p>But the suggestion seems to have really appealed -to his sense of the fitting; he <i>was</i> hard pressed; -he was more anxious for the fate of his God than -for the fate of the Empire (a crime for which other -sovereigns have suffered similar fates at the hands -of infuriated populaces), besides which, Dion tells -us that Antonine loved his cousin, stupid and -namby-pamby as he undoubtedly was.</p> - -<p>And there was yet another side to the suggestion -which commended itself to the Emperor’s favourable -consideration. In his present position Alexianus -was a distinct menace to the government. Since -Antonine’s mistake about Vesta and Severa, his -cousin had been used as a lever wherewith to raise -popular indignation. There had been two plots, as -we have pointed out, to dethrone Antonine; and, -presumably, as Julia Mamaea was behind both, to -replace him by Alexianus. Why not take the boy -into his own keeping, adopt him as Maesa suggested, -and, by taking their tool from their hands in -response to their own appeal, neutralise the influence -of both aunt and grandmother at one swoop? -He could then train him in his own way. Alexianus -was young—Herodian says about twelve years -old—and ought, if he were a natural child, to be -easily won by kindness, friendship, and joy. This -information of Herodian’s as to age is, for a -wonder, corroborated by several reliable sources;<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_143"></a>[143]</span> -not that Herodian knew he was right even in this -case, because he puts the adoption in the year 220 -instead of 221, which would have made Alexianus -about eleven instead of over twelve years old, as he -states.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 700px;"> - -<img src="images/illus5a.jpg" id="illus5a" width="700" height="350" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Thyatira Coin of Elagabalus (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus5b.jpg" id="illus5b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin struck to commemorate Alexianus’ adoption, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus5c.jpg" id="illus5c" width="550" height="275" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin struck to commemorate Alexander as Pont. Max., <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 -(British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_142"><i>Face page 142.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>This is the only rational view to take of the -Emperor’s apparent gullibility, as Antonine was far -too quick-witted not to have scented trouble in any -scheme, however specious, to which his aunt was -party. He had already heard of her dealings with -the soldiers, and of the money that she was spending -with a purpose: obviously he saw in the adoption -a loophole for his own escape, and at the same time -for her undoing. His friends may have warned -him to look out for rocks ahead. They knew that -the boy was dealing with two able and crafty women -made desperate by their continual disappointments; -if so, he must have refused to listen to them, for -some time early in July Antonine took his cousin -Alexianus to the Senate, and there, in the presence -of the women, this boy of sixteen summers went -through the ceremony of adopting the child of twelve. -He then solemnly declared his intention of training -his son himself, fitting him for the business of -Empire early, in order that he might be free from -solicitudes about a successor. Now, this was by no -means Mamaea’s plan, and caused endless friction -in the working.</p> - -<p>Antonine obviously thought that some explanation -of his decision was needed, and had the -audacity to tell the assembled fathers that he was -acting on the commands of the great God, who<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_144"></a>[144]</span> -had designated Alexianus as the successor to the -name and Empire of Severus,—this on the basis of -a bastardy almost as probable as his own.</p> - -<p>The name Alexander, which was then imposed -upon Alexianus, is accounted for both by Lampridius -and Dion by two equally untrue and mutually contradictory -stories. Lampridius says that the boy was -born in the temple of Alexander at Arca, on the -birthday of Alexander of Macedon, 18th June 208; -as a matter of fact he was not born until the -1st October of that year, and it was highly improbable -that a woman in the social position of -Mamaea would allow an accident of the kind to -happen in so public and unprepared a position. -Dion accounts for the new name by relating the -miraculous return from the dead of the Macedonian -king, and his spectral journey through Thrace, where -he buried a wooden horse which has not since been -found,—neither has the consonance of the story -been established, for that matter. The real reason -for the change of name was perfectly simple; it was -in memory of the devotion which Caracalla, his -putative father, had always testified towards King -Alexander of Macedon.</p> - -<p>The ages of the two principal figures in this -ceremony form the peg on which Lampridius hangs -not a few jeers. Perhaps it was absurd, but far -more unnatural things had been extolled: witness -Septimius’ adoption of the defunct Marcus Aurelius -as his father, which was certainly an even less possible -performance in the natural order of generation. -If Lampridius jeered later, no one did so at the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_145"></a>[145]</span> -time; in fact, we are led to infer that all men were -pleased. The soldiers, because Mamaea had made -it worth their while to adopt that attitude; the -Senate, because they expected consideration from a -little milksop brought up entirely at his mother’s -apron-strings; the people, because it was the -occasion for Antonine’s fourth congiary. Singularly -enough, there is again no mention made of a donative, -or distribution of money to the soldiers, which -seems unfortunate.</p> - -<p>It is difficult to ascertain the exact date of the -adoption. Herodian’s statement of the year 220 is -easily refuted, both by epigraphic and numismatic -evidence. These give, as near as possible, 10th -July in the year 221, by means of the following -deductions:—(1st) The fasti of a priestly college, -probably the Sodales Antoniniani, dated either -2nd or 10th July in that year, describe Alexianus -as “Marcus Aurelius Alexander Nobilissimus -Caesar,” and either Imperii <i>consors</i> or <i>heres</i>, on -which discrepancy of words hangs a future tale; -(2nd) the earliest Alexandrian coins which call -Alexianus Caesar are dated LΕ, or subsequent to -29th August 221; (3rd) there is an inscription -found amongst those of the 7th Cohort of the -Vigiles, which was set up on 1st June of that year, -and commemorates the Imperatores Antoninus et -Alexander. The earliest date is therefore 1st June, -the latest the end of July or beginning of August. -The probabilities lie between the two, as the early -police inscription has been accounted for on the -grounds that, along with her money, Mamaea had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_146"></a>[146]</span> -circulated a report of the adoption before it took -place. The numismatic evidence points to a middle -date, because, as far as we can judge, the Alexandrian -mint was most expedite in issuing its coins, -and here, if the adoption took place early in June, -they would seem to have allowed a month or so to -elapse between the time they got the news and the -first issue of the coins. Other mints also issued -their first coins, calling Alexander Caesar, towards -the end of 221.</p> - -<p>The one official decree is that of the Sodales. It -is defective in its designation, and has caused much -disagreement both as to Alexander’s position once -he was adopted, as well as about the date of the -ceremony itself. At any rate, until more definite -information comes to hand, we are forced to be -content with the generally received date, somewhere -about 10th July. The next question is as to the -position of Alexander after that date, in the year -221. Certainly Maesa and Mamaea intended to -have him “Imperii consors.” As far as we can judge, -both from the statement in the Senate and from his -subsequent proceedings in the state, Antonine’s -intention was to adopt an “Imperii heres”; now, -this was a very different matter, and entirely -nullified the major part of the plan of the schemers. -Antonine certainly did defeat their plot in part -by refusing to give Alexander any governmental -powers. This is certain from the fact that on no -coin does Alexander appear with the imperial insignia -(the laurel wreath) before the month of March -222, though the titles which he received at his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_147"></a>[147]</span> -adoption—Augustus, Imperator, and Caesar—are -frequently used before that date, because Antonine -never had the least objection to other people using -titles, so long as he kept the power. Maesa and -Mamaea must have been wild with rage at having -gained so little; they had shaken hands repeatedly, -and congratulated themselves so often because -Samson had at last delivered himself bound into -their hands and henceforth they were in permanent -possession of the administration, that it must have -been a very disagreeable awakening when they -found that their plan had not succeeded.</p> - -<p>If we can believe anything that Lampridius says, -we would judge that Maesa was now genuinely -frightened. She thought that Antonine’s religious -mistake had created a real wave of bad feeling in -the city, and that, if anything should happen to the -reigning Emperor, her position would be gone for -good and all. Now, the last thing that she had a -mind to do was to return to provincial obscurity. -With a patience and determination worthy of a -better cause, she set to work to gain for herself, and -incidentally for Alexander also, what had not accrued -when the adoption took place. As far as we can judge -from the coins, Maesa had only managed at that time -to obtain his association with Antonine as Pontifex -Maximus, thereby lessening the Emperor’s authority -over the Roman cults, for which he had shown so -little respect. One thing was, however, satisfactory: -Alexander was “out”; people knew about him in -Rome; he was the heir designate, and, as such, a -most useful lever in the hands of the unscrupulous.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_148"></a>[148]</span></p> - -<p>It was certainly not long before Antonine found -that his success had not been as unqualified as he had -imagined. Alexander was Caesar by decree of the -Senate; Severus by some utterly unconstitutional -decree of the army; Antonini filius and Severi -Nepos; but here it began and ended. The boy -was utterly unresponsive to the affection that -Antonine was anxious to lavish upon him; utterly -incapable, so the Emperor said, of any sort of training -for the position he was destined to occupy. -Undoubtedly a great mistake had been made, the -boy was a born prig, and the Emperor had given -his case away by adopting him at all, by putting -him into a position in which his popularity was -bound to increase amongst those who did not know -him personally. In fact, Antonine arrived at the -conclusion before the wine harvest that he had -played his aunt’s game and not his own, and in -consequence he became moody and uncomfortable.</p> - -<p>Lampridius’ contrast of the two characters is, as -we have said, a caricature drawn for the laudation -of the younger, the reprobation of the elder. If -only a part is true, it must have been very annoying -for the Emperor of seventeen to be saddled, -through his own stupidity, with a nincompoop of -twelve, a boy who quoted proverbs to a purpose, -and the maxims of a detestable crowd of female -relatives at every turn. Of course, Lampridius’ -likeness of his little hero is stocked with fulsome -adulation. One would think, on reading -it, that there was at least one person in the world -who did not deceive himself when he said that he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_149"></a>[149]</span> -was without sin, and therefore ready to cast the -first stone. The account of his first meeting with -the Senate is simply ludicrous; no child, however -disgusting, could have displayed the unction and -greasiness which is recorded as having slipped off -his tongue. Were he one-half as nasty as Lampridius -asserts, we can well imagine that the whole -devil in Antonine was striving to get hold of his -cousin’s prejudices, trying to persuade him to run, -dance, play, to wake him up from the self-satisfaction -which so ill became his years. All of this, we -are told, Antonine did, under the generic terms of -corrupting his morals, which is after all the sum -total of Antonine’s enormities.</p> - -<p>But here Mamaea stepped in. She had spoilt -her son’s youth, as many another parent has done -both before and since, and was not going to stand -by and see her work dissipated, blown to the winds. -Not that she need have feared. The Bassiani developed -young; Alexander’s character was moulded, -and he had no desire to change, to live his life -as a man, instead of as a vegetable, or enjoy the -gifts which the gods had given to men. Antonine -had thought that something might be done for -the cousin he pitied, by turning him loose; he -found it was no good, and soon lost patience. -He then realised the trend of affairs; he saw the -growing influence of the women, the stupidity of -the boy, and chafed more each day under both. -The nonconformist conscience, which was Alexander’s -chief attraction, and is still his only title to -fame, annoyed the Emperor continually. Friction<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_150"></a>[150]</span> -arose at every turn. It was Antonine striving to -minimise the influence of the women, and the -women striving to destroy the influence of Antonine, -together with his crew of wretched favourites. -Neither did the elderly Annia Faustina tend -to mend matters. She as well as Alexander had -been a mistake, and so the Emperor resolved to get -rid of both his troubles at one swoop. To do this, -however, he had to quarrel openly with his relatives, -and by a <i>coup d’état</i> regain paramount authority in -the state. The question was, would he be strong -enough? Would a boy of seventeen, surrounded -by friends who, however agreeable as sportsmen, -however able in the histrionic art were anything -but trained politicians, have much chance of -regaining what statecraft, diplomacy, and guile had -filched from him at a moment when he was comparatively -helpless?</p> - -<p>His first act was to follow the same tactics that -he had adopted on 10th July. He sent to the -Senate ordering the fathers to withdraw the title -of Caesar which he had conferred on Alexander -and which they had confirmed. That august -assembly, we are told, preserved a discreet silence, -not quite knowing whom to please, or which way the -strongest cat was going to jump. Here, after all -that the author has said about Alexander’s popularity -and the general hatred testified towards Antonine, -occurs a strange statement. Lampridius says -they were silent because, “according to certain persons, -Alexander was popular with the army.” This, -as we see, is a much-qualified expression of opinion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_151"></a>[151]</span> -when compared with those in the foregoing sections, -and put in conjunction with the Senate’s reluctance -to commit itself one way or another, it is certainly -significant, and points to the fact that the real -hatred towards the Emperor had yet to be worked -up, like the similar hatred towards the aristocracy -in this country. Another significant fact concerning -the Emperor’s honest and straightforward intentions -towards his cousin is, that right up to the last he -seems to have had command of the boy’s person, -and never took any decisive measure, either openly -or secretly—in the usual Antonine fashion—for -removing him to another sphere of usefulness in -realms celestial, despite the plots formed against his -own life, of which, before now, he had had ample -proof.</p> - -<p>It is probable that about this time Antonine made -several official appointments which were considered -thoroughly bad by the older politicians. Names -are not mentioned, but we can well believe that the -Emperor had grown suspicious of his old advisers -ever since he had seen them paying court to the -young Caesar and his mother. We are told that -he put men into offices, especially those about the -palace, who, from a personal and too intimate -relation, he felt he could rely on. As ever, such -appointments are a gross mistake. As mere friends -such men would have tended to his undoing; as -officials they tended to revolution.</p> - -<p>Following up his command to the Senate, Antonine -sent messengers to the army. These demanded -that the soldiery should relieve Alexander of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_152"></a>[152]</span> -title of Severus, or Caesar, or whatever designation -they had taken upon themselves to confer on the -boy, while the same messengers were ordered to -deface the statues and inscriptions in the camp, as -the custom was to treat those of dethroned tyrants. -Now, this was unwise, without so much as by your -leave, or with your leave, because the property -belonged to the regiments, and not to the Emperor.</p> - -<p>Next in order comes the record of an attempt -made by Antonine to assassinate his cousin. It -is a story which requires careful examination, -because Herodian never mentions it at all, and -Dion only refers to it casually in the following -words: “Much as Sardanapalus loved his cousin, -when he began to suspect everybody and learnt -that the general feeling was veering towards -Alexander, he dared to change his resolution, and -did all in his power to get rid of him. He tried -one day to have him assassinated, and not only -did not succeed, but nearly lost his own life in -the attempt.” Lampridius is, of course, much -more explicit. This we might expect, because he -lived so much later and had a century of vilification -to work upon as well as Dion’s official story. -From him we learn that Antonine sent men to -assassinate Alexander, and also sent letters to the -boy’s governors (all of whom, be it remembered, -were of Mamaea’s appointment and consequently -were working for her, not for Antonine) with -promises of wealth and honours if they would -only kill their charge in any way they thought best, -either in the bath, by poison, or the sword.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_153"></a>[153]</span></p> - -<p>This policy of bovine artfulness accomplished, -Antonine went to his gardens in the suburbs -(<i>ad spem veterem</i>) for an afternoon’s exercise in -chariot-driving, certainly without any sufficient -guard. At this juncture Lampridius stops his -fantastic story of the most futile attempt at assassination -ever recorded, in order to utter a few -sententious platitudes, which, however, cut both -ways. He remarks with a verisimilitude of -sincerity, that “the wicked can do nothing against -the innocent.” Now this is a maxim which is not -always regarded as a truism, even on the Stock -Exchange, but it was a convenient way of accounting -for the incomprehensible ending to this absurd -allegation.</p> - -<p>Lampridius then continues that the promulgation -of these orders, as carried to the soldiers, did not -increase the popularity of the Emperor, at any rate -amongst that party who were in Mamaea’s pay; -besides which, fratricide was by no means a popular, -even when it was a fashionable crime. The result -of these two supposed epistles when communicated -to the soldiers (by whom or why is unfortunately -not mentioned) was to rouse them to the highest -pitch of anger. Quite spontaneously they ran, -some to the palace, where Alexander was living -with his mother, and some to the gardens, where, -also by some unexplained power of divination, they -knew they would find Antonine; their intention -being to carry out Mamaea’s wishes on the person -of the Emperor without further delay. Soaemias, -we are told, followed them on foot with the design<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_154"></a>[154]</span> -of warning her son concerning the danger that -threatened him. Antonine was preparing for a -chariot race when he heard the noise approaching, -and being frightened, says Lampridius, he -hid in the doorway of his bedroom, behind the -curtain; surely not a very safe place to hide when -thoroughly frightened by an angry mob, and -quite unlike his usual procedure in times of danger. -Next he sent his praefect Antiochianus to find -out the reason of the tumult. This man easily -managed to dissuade the soldiers from their murderous -designs, and recalled them to their oaths, -because, as Lampridius naïvely remarks, they were -too few in number; the greater part having refused -to leave their standard, which Aristomachus had -kept out of the treasonable attempt.</p> - -<p>At last Antonine’s eyes were fully opened to his -danger. He now knew how far Mamaea’s money -and persuasions had gone, and whither the influence -of Maesa was tending. There had been a military -rising; not strong enough to effect its purpose, -it is true, but still able to cause confusion, strife, -and divided allegiance in the city, and set people’s -tongues wagging.</p> - -<p>The Emperor seems to have made up his mind at -once as to his line of conduct. With a courage -almost unprecedented in a boy of his age, he went -straight to the camp, resolved to show himself -in their midst and settle this matter, once and for -all, with the Praetorians. It was undoubtedly one -of the finest acts of courage in his life, this going -alone and unprotected into the midst of a camp<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_155"></a>[155]</span> -which was supposed to be in mutiny; a camp where -he had just learnt that at least a section of the men -were in his aunt’s pay, and to which, if Lampridius’ -statement is correct, his aunt, cousin, and grandmother -had just retired for safety. Surely to go -there utterly unprotected was simply courting the -assassination he had so narrowly avoided, was -making death absolutely certain, unless he knew -that the number of the disaffected was very small, -and that Lampridius’ statement about the imperial -family and their journey thither was pure fiction. -There is not much doubt, however, despite the -biographer, that they were still in the palace, and -would rather have died than go to the camp, lest -the Emperor should learn of their part in the -conspiracy.</p> - -<p>There is yet another discrepancy between the -account of Dion and that of Lampridius; the latter -says that Alexander was in the camp for safety, the -former is equally sure that Antonine took him with -him when he went to find out the reason of the -disturbance. Be this as it may, Dion states that -the arrival of the Emperor put a stop to the -trouble, and that there was a conference, at which -Alexander’s name was never mentioned. The -subject of complaint and mutiny was, that certain -freedmen had been appointed to offices for which, -in all probability, there had been candidates better -qualified than the Emperor’s friends. With a considerable -amount of good sense, Antonine acceded -to the soldiers’ demands; he dismissed four out -of the five persons mentioned, amongst whom were<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_156"></a>[156]</span> -Gordius, from the praefecture of the night watch, -Murissimus, from an unknown office, and two other -friends, “who, mad as he was, made him madder.” -Hierocles’ name was also mentioned, but the -Emperor refused to listen to it; “he would die,” he -said, “rather than give up Hierocles, whatever -they might think of his usefulness,” and this was -all. Antonine had recognised a grievance and -remedied it; after which, in all probability, the -affair was dealt with by the regimental court-martial -as usual.</p> - -<p>A comparison between Dion’s account of this -“terrible uproar” and Lampridius’ account of the -futility of the whole proceeding leaves one with the -impression that once again Mamaea had failed in a -dastardly attempt on Antonine’s life. It is unthinkable -that any assassin, however stupid, would have -warned the friends of his enemy concerning his -proposed attempt, as both Herodian and Lampridius -testify that Antonine did. Herodian, speaking -generally of Antonine’s plots against Alexander, says -that “the Emperor was of so shallow and wicked -a character that he announced openly and without -precaution what was in his mind, and did the same -without any concealment.” Lampridius says that -he had the foolishness to write to the boy’s -guardians and tell them to do the deed.</p> - -<p>As to the whole arrangement being a plot of -Mamaea’s, there is much more to be said. It would -certainly not be to her advantage if Alexander’s -adoption was annulled: that project must be stopped -at all costs; why, therefore, should she not circulate<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_157"></a>[157]</span> -the report that Antonine was plotting a definite act -against his cousin on a certain day? She chose -a day when, as she knew, the Emperor would be in -a quiet spot and defenceless. She could pay for a -military rising, which, being quite a usual occurrence, -would account for everything, and then her -troubles would be over, her position secure for her -lifetime. Unfortunately for her, Soaemias heard -of the plan and went to warn her son. When she -got to the gardens, she found that Mamaea’s -money had not bought sufficient people, and that -the attempt was frustrated. If there had been -any real attempt made by an unpopular Emperor -against a popular associate, some definite arrangement -would have been come to as regards the -protection of the person threatened, but, as far -as we can see, things went on just as usual. The -Emperor still had command of the boy’s person, -after as before the rising, and the family still -lived on in the palace, trying to brazen out their -treachery, facts which give the lie to Lampridius’ -remark that special regulations were made to keep -the boys apart, as well as for Alexander’s safety.</p> - -<p>There is a phrase in Dion which is fairly -conclusive as to the attitude which his family -were adopting towards Antonine at this period. -It reads: “this time” (in the camp conference, -where it will be remembered that the soldiers never -mentioned putting their Emperor to death at all) -“he obtained mercy, though with difficulty, because -his grandmother hated him on account of his conduct, -and because, not being even the son of Antonine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_158"></a>[158]</span> -(Caracalla), her inclination was veering towards -Alexander, as if he had been in reality the issue -of that prince.” This is a very fair indication of -the stories by means of which these women were -trying to ruin the boy; stories inspired by hatred. -It seems that they were perfectly willing to do anything, -to say anything, to contradict anything, they -had formerly said, to spend anything, if only they -could collect a faction strong enough to support their -schemes of replacing Antonine by Alexander. Here -is a good attempt to crush his popularity by denying -what they had formerly stated so enthusiastically—the -bastardy of Varius—and affirming instead that -of Alexianus as being the only genuine example; -in fact, they were limiting the performances of -Caracalla to the unattractive sister, and denying -Soaemias’ position. If they could do that, they -were more than capable of working up fury by -reports of a definite attempt on the only genuine -bastard’s life, and thus justify their attempt in the -Gardens of Hope. The net result of this plot, by -whomsoever instituted, was the retirement of Alexander -from public notice. Herodian states that he -was deprived of his honours. This, however, cannot -mean what the mendacious author seems to imply; -namely, that Antonine took from him his titles of -Caesar and Imperator, as both these occur on the -Monza military diploma issued on 7th January 222, -and on the majority of the coins issued up to the -death of Antonine in the spring of that year. Mere -empty titles were, however, of little or no use to -the imperial ladies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_159"></a>[159]</span></p> - -<p>Defeated as they had been in one scheme, their -ingenuity turned to yet another means of destroying -the Emperor’s authority. The attempt above -mentioned cannot be dated precisely, but we may -infer from Lampridius’ arrangement of his matter, -that it was between the wine harvest and the 1st -of January, on which date Mamaea made her last -and successful attempt to get her son into a definite -political position. During the interval, both Dion -and Lampridius assure us, with tears in their eyes, -that the Emperor made daily attempts on the life -of his cousin: a life so useful, so necessary to the -state.</p> - -<p>To circumvent these Mamaea refused to allow -Alexander to eat anything from the imperial kitchens -and set up a kitchen and establishment of her own -in the palace, an arrangement which would scarcely -have been sanctioned by Antonine if he had had any -definite murderous object in view, because it would -have interfered too materially with such plans. But -there was obviously some gross negligence afoot. -Any resolute ruler, given a couple of days (even -without Locusta’s famous stew of poison and mushrooms, -which Nero, in allusion to Claudius’ apotheosis, -called the food of the Gods), would have given -the lie to that pious generalisation of Lampridius -about the impotence of the wicked, and done it in -much the same manner that Nero, Domitian, Commodus, -and Caracalla had done; not to mention others -whose names it would be invidious to bring forward, -but who still firmly believe that the wicked, when -suitably backed, have a certain power in this world<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_160"></a>[160]</span> -of woe, the wicked naturally being those whom we -personally dislike. Antonine seems to have been -quite indifferent as to what was going on; he knew -that his position was precarious; Syrian divines had -told him that his doom was near; in consequence of -which he prepared several devices for a unique -and splendid suicide; and lived his life, a life in which -the spintries—a form of amusement with which -Tiberius had refreshed an equally worried frame—figured -largely, along with other equally reprehensible -enjoyments.</p> - -<p>Of the actual politics we know little or nothing -from the time of this so-called revolution, until by -some means or other, unknown to the Emperor, -Maesa got Alexander designated Consul for the -year of grace 222. Here Antonine struck. He refused -point blank to go to the Senate to be invested -with the dignity unless some one else were designated -instead of his cousin. He saw the game as clearly -as you and I can see it, and resolved to create a -deadlock in the constitution. There should be an -Emperor, but no Consuls, unless, of course, the -women and Senate were prepared to give way. -He was <i>not</i> going to give official position and -authority to enemies whose object he knew only too -well. Up to this juncture he had succeeded in -nullifying their machinations; did they think he was -going to give away his whole position now? Not -he, and so on, and so on. Here was a real -difficulty—Rome without Consuls was unthinkable. -Antonine without supremacy was almost as impossible -a suggestion; still the women resolved to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_161"></a>[161]</span> -hold on, and try whether patience and diplomacy -would not appeal to his sentimental nature, and -thus overcome the last bit of opposition. After -all, he was young, and affection with children is -so much more powerful than reason.</p> - -<p>This time Maesa herself does not seem to have -tried to influence the boy. If we can believe -Lampridius’ statements, that crafty old sinner had -already managed to worm herself back into the friendship -of the boy and his mother, by putting the odium -of recent troubles entirely on to the shoulders of her -daughter Mamaea. In consequence, it was with a -bold carriage that she appeared in public with the -Emperor, and in private used her influence with -Julia Soaemias, begging her to make it clear to the -dear boy that his refusal to take the consulship -would be his own undoing. Rome would never -endure such a breach of the usual order. The -obvious thing would have been for Antonine to go -away, but he seems to have thought, right up to -midday on 1st January, that the Senate and his -relations would give way first. Then, suddenly -yielding to his mother’s entreaties, he consented to -the plan, and, going to the Senate, he associated -Alexander with himself in the consular dignity, -thereby signing his own death warrant.</p> - -<p>January 1, 222, was the beginning of the end. -It is very pitiful to see the multitudinous wiles by -means of which, all through his reign, craft circumvented -what the Emperor obviously knew was -his correct and proper course. Sometimes, as -we see, it was his zeal for religion to which they<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_162"></a>[162]</span> -appealed, sometimes his love for his mother. In -each case the result was the same, the Emperor did -what his political instinct told him was unwise, in -response to what he considered a higher motive. -The adoption had not carried with it the authority -which the women desired; the office of Consul was, -therefore, vitally necessary for Alexander’s promotion. -Antonine was bound to refuse his consent to -the plan; he was permanent Consul if he liked, and -would associate no one with himself of whom he -disapproved. What did it matter to him if people -talked of the discord; had they not done so ever -since Maesa and Mamaea started out on their electioneering -campaign? The truth would certainly be -better for him than his relations’ lies; for himself, he -was not afraid of danger, though Soaemias, the well-meaning -and artless, was, and for her sake Antonine -gave himself up, an unwilling victim, into the hands -of his enemies. It was shortly after midday when he -went to the Curia accompanied by the self-satisfied -little enormity, and there, in the presence of his -grandmother, he consented to give the women all -that official power and authority which they had -hitherto struggled vainly to obtain.</p> - -<p>Henceforward, both Dion and Lampridius tell us -that the Emperor sought his cousin’s life to take -it from him. Not that the continual reiteration -of the accusation, when contrasted with the utter -futility of Antonine’s masterful inaction, is in any -way convincing; this we have already pointed out, -and can add nothing to the discussion here.</p> - -<p>Lampridius recounts one quite amusing action,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_163"></a>[163]</span> -which, if it were true, would give a certain probability -to his stories. Antonine, having resolved to -kill Alexander, because the tension of this continual -running fight had become too great for his nerves, -determined to dissolve the Senate first; fearing that, -should they be sitting when Alexander died, they -might elect some one else instead of the murderer. -The chief reason for doubting this story is that no -Antonine had ever yet had the smallest occasion to -fear anything untoward from the action of that -august assembly, and it is most improbable that -this Antonine was going to begin now. Emperors -had always taken the Senate’s concurrence in their -actions for granted, and had invariably met with -entire subservience.</p> - -<p>But to proceed with the beautifully circumstantial -details, which, as usual, Lampridius makes -as glaringly mendacious as they are circumstantial. -The Senators, he says, were told to leave the city -at once; those who had neither carriages nor servants -were told to run; some hired porters; others -were lucky and got carriages. One only, a Consular, -by name Sabinus, the personage to whom -Ulpian had dedicated his works, and who, being -Severa’s father, one would have thought might -reasonably have remained, did not go sufficiently -rapidly for the Emperor’s liking; in fact, he stayed -in the city in defiance of the order, and must have -walked abroad very openly, for the Emperor saw -him, and whispered to a centurion, “Kill that -man!” Now, the centurion was deaf, and thought -the order was “Chase that man,” which order he<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_164"></a>[164]</span> -promptly executed. Thus the infirmity of a “mere -common centurion” saved Sabinus’ life, and gave -the world the works of Ulpian with the dedication -above mentioned. Now, if, as seems the case, -Ulpian’s dedication of his works to this Consular -is dependent on Sabinus being the man saved from -Antonine’s rapacity and cruelty, the whole story is -a lie, along with the palpable untruth about the -dedication. Ulpian never mentioned this gentleman, -either by name, implication, or in any other -fashion, which is just a bit awkward for Aelius -Lampridius, who might at least have taken the -trouble to consult the title-page of Ulpian’s works -or have asked somebody else to do the job for -him, if he was too tired with his former efforts at -inventing fiction. The name is certainly mentioned -in the commentaries which Ulpian wrote on the -famous jurist of Tiberius’ period, but that is naturally -another story altogether.</p> - -<p>There is yet another effort made to drag -Ulpian into this same chapter, namely, when -Lampridius says that part of Antonine’s scheme -for the murder of Alexander was to deprive him -of his tutors, one of whom he banished (Ulpian), -while Silvinus, the distinguished orator, whom the -Emperor himself had recommended, was put to -death. Both of these men suffered because they -were great and good men. Now, Ulpian we know, -Julius Paulus we know also (though quite why he -was left by Alexander’s side when good men were -banished we are not told; unless it be that, for the -moment, he was hiding his light under a bushel);<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_165"></a>[165]</span> -but who on earth was Silvinus? His name is not -given amongst that exhaustive list of nonentities -marshalled out by Lampridius (<i>Alex. Sev. vita</i>, -xxxii.) as the men who had failed to teach -Alexander Latin, after an effort which lasted -from his earliest babyhood up to the time of -his death; neither is he mentioned in any other -place, either by this author or in any other record -of Antonine’s cruelties; on which account we feel -inclined to relegate him, with other doubtful blessings, -to the special limbo reserved for all similarly -inspired terminological inexactitudes, and proceed -to recount the rapidity with which Mamaea found -means to make up for lost time in acquiring her -authority.</p> - -<p>Needless to say, even here Lampridius’ fabrications -are as difficult to reconcile with Dion and -Herodian’s stories as those two authors are impossible -to square with one another. Of course the -two last were both eye-witnesses of the scenes they -recount, and tell us so, with some pride, a circumstance -which in no way hinders them from seeing -things double, and calling them different aspects of -the same truth, after the manner of theologians -when they are in a conciliatory frame of mind.</p> - -<p>For the murder of Antonine Lampridius assigns -no adequate reason, giving instead two suppositions -of his own—first, that the Praetorians feared Antonine’s -vengeance on account of the attack which -they had made on him some months previously, and -for which he had then and there forgiven them; -but, says Lampridius, despite this forgiveness, the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_166"></a>[166]</span> -soldiers killed him in cold blood. Second, that on -account of the hatred he had testified towards them -(presumably in not seeing to their donatives), they -resolved to rid the Republic of this pest, and began -by putting to death, first, the friends of the Emperor -by various foul and indecent means, and then, having -got these out of the way, they openly attacked -Antonine in the latrinae, and killed him.</p> - -<p>Dion’s account is more circumstantial, and brings -Alexander and Mamaea into the horrid scene. -His story is that the two Consuls, during a meeting -of the Praetorians, summoned on account of one of -the multitudinous plots against Alexander, went into -the camp, that their two mothers followed, fighting -one another more openly than usual, each imploring -the soldiers to kill her sister’s son. We are then -told that Antonine, quite contrary to his custom, -got frightened, rushed from the scene and disappeared -into a chest. This was apparently a foolish -and obvious hiding-place, whence he was soon -dragged in order to have his head cut off, while his -mother held him in her arms. Naturally, as the -operation of killing one without the other in such -a position was difficult, Soaemias perished along -with her son.</p> - -<p>Herodian, always the most circumstantial and -picturesque liar, substitutes for the story of the -sudden dissolution of the Senate, a report which he -says Antonine caused to be circulated. It was to -the effect that Alexander was ill, so ill that he was -likely to die at any moment. By this means -Antonine hoped to keep the boy shut up in the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_167"></a>[167]</span> -palace until the soldiers and citizens had forgotten -him, when he would be able to put him out of the -way quietly. Of course this would have been an -admirable plan if the boy had had no fond mother -or grandmother to look after his interests, but was -rather futile when one considers that these ladies, -after striving to rule for four years, had at last got -the power into their own hands by appointing -Alexander Consul. It was extremely improbable, -therefore, that both Maesa and Mamaea were -going to keep their mouths closed and say nothing -when, in the full flush of their triumph, they saw -their puppet, and with him their own power, being -put <i>hors de combat</i> in a slow and lingering manner. -As usual, Herodian never thought of these things, -and ascribed the whole action to the Praetorians. -These turbulent guardsmen, when they began to -miss the young Consul, decided to mutiny again, the -present form being a refusal to turn out the palace -guard until Alexander should reappear in the temples.</p> - -<p>On the face of things, this was a most irrational -proceeding. If the Praetorians wanted to save -Alexander and suspected that foul play was about -to be perpetrated in the palace, surely they would -have gone to their posts as usual, and then used -their official position to rescue the boy, instead of -shutting themselves up in their camp, and leaving -him to his fate quite unprotected. This apparently -did not occur, either to the soldiers or Herodian, -who announces that when the guards refused to -come to the palace, Antonine (instead of finishing -the work and showing the dead body in the temples)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_168"></a>[168]</span> -was simply penetrated with the usual fear—always -imputed and never lived up to, unfortunately for -Herodian. In order to demonstrate to the soldiers -just how frightened he was, the Emperor did the one -thing that no terrified person could possibly have -done, he set out in a litter for the camp—utterly unprotected, -of course, because he had no guards. The -litter is fully described, namely, the state litter, sparkling -with gold and precious stones. With Antonine -went Alexander, presumably, as the story develops, -in order to foster the hatred which the soldiers felt -towards the Emperor, and raise to a frenzy the love -they bore Alexander. It was as usual a journey -in which the Emperor courted death; in fact, the -number of times that Antonine imperilled his precious -life is simply astounding to any one who -studies these delightful romances. But to proceed. -When the litter arrived, the gates of the camp were -opened, and the Consuls were conducted to the -chapel, which occupied a central position in the enclosure. -This leads one to suppose, considering also -the magnificence of the carriage, that the visit was -one of an official nature, in which the two Consuls -were bound to go together. The chapel also was -an ominous place, as it was here that Caracalla had -played the farce of regretting his part in, if not of -exculpating himself from, the murder of his brother -Geta. Of course, things happened just as was expected; -the visit did foster loyalty to Alexander, -who was received as a deliverer with acclamation, -and raised to fever pitch all the evil passions -against Antonine, who was received with perfect<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_169"></a>[169]</span> -coldness. Despite this inauspicious reception, the -Emperor elected to stay the night in the camp -chapel, the better to meditate on his wrongs, which -was obviously an unlikely proceeding on the part of -the young Sybarite.</p> - -<p>Next morning he held a court-martial to try the -soldiers who had made themselves conspicuous by -the warmth of their reception of Alexander. Herodian -and the Emperor seem to have quite forgotten -that the guards were mutinying, as we hear no more -of that story, though obviously they ought to have -been tried for that offence first. At any rate, -Antonine, still penetrated with terror, condemned -these men to death as seditious persons. The -soldiers, transported with rage at his treatment of -their companions, and filled with hatred of the -Emperor, conceived the notion of succouring their -imprisoned brethren by upsetting the dishonoured -Emperor. Time and pretext were admirable; they -killed Antonine and with him Soaemias, who was -present, both as his mother and as Empress; they -then included in the massacre all those of the -cortège who were in the camp, and known to be -Antonine’s ministers or accomplices in his crimes. -They then gave the bodies to the mob, to be -dragged about the streets of Rome, finally throwing -that of the Emperor into the Tiber from the Aemilian -Bridge. All this was presumably done under -the eyes of, and with the consent of Eutychianus, -the Emperor’s friend and chief minister, who was, -it will be remembered, in command of the Praetorians -at the time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_170"></a>[170]</span></p> - -<p>A careful comparison of these three stories reveals -the fact that none of the eye-witnesses saw the same -things, and none ascribe the deed to the same motive. -All agree, however, in shifting the responsibility from -the shoulders of the former conspirators on to those -of the Praetorians. No one except Dion Cassius -mentions either Maesa or Mamaea, and he merely -says that Mamaea and Soaemias both urged murder -each of her sister’s son. No mention is made of -Antonine’s supposed plot against his cousin; in fact, -all reference to plots against Alexander, Maesa, and -Mamaea is here carefully eliminated, surely with an -object; since it has been the great reason given -heretofore for the Emperor’s unpopularity, and -precarious position. But let us attempt to reconstruct -the events of this memorable day. From -Herodian we learn that the state litter was used; -that in it travelled the two Consuls, accompanied -by at least the Empress mother; Fulvius Diogenianus, -the Praefect of Rome; Aurelius Eubulus, -who, as chancellor of the exchequer, had made himself -extremely unpopular by robbing hen-roosts -(Dion), and was in consequence torn to pieces by -the mob; Hierocles, the Emperor’s friend and -husband (who had recently been designated Caesar, -presumably as a sort of set-off to Alexander), and -two out of the three Praetorian praefects.</p> - -<p>Dion and Lampridius both suggest that the -Emperor tried to escape. Herodian, with the -fullest account, makes no mention of this fact; -neither Lampridius nor Dion agree, however, -as to the mode of Antonine’s proposed escape.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_171"></a>[171]</span> -The incident of the latrinae, mentioned by Lampridius, -suggests a murder similar in circumstance to -that of Caracalla. What would have been easier -than for one of Mamaea’s party to seize the boy, -alone and unprotected in the latrinae? The -Emperor once gone, the obvious thing would be -for the conspirators to remove as quickly as possible -all those persons who might make things difficult -for his successor. Of these, Soaemias would -certainly be the most troublesome. Hot and -passionate, devoted to her son and to his memory, -if she had lived, Rome would have resounded with -the noise of the crime. It was obviously necessary -to close her mouth with expedition. Why -Eutychianus did not suffer the same fate is quite -incomprehensible. The only theory that has been -suggested is that neither Maesa nor Mamaea felt -themselves capable of undertaking the whole administration -alone; they felt that they must have at -least one man who knew the ropes at their back.</p> - -<p>To account for the treatment of Antonine’s body -at the hands of the mob is certainly difficult. We -know that he had done nothing which could have -rendered him obnoxious to the populace. To ascribe -it to intolerance of his psychopathic condition -shows, not only ignorance of Roman susceptibilities, -but also a foolish ante-dating of popular prejudice. -We certainly have no record of this Emperor’s -sepulchre; and to dismiss as mere fable the one -point on which the authors all agree is equally -impossible. The probable solution lies in the -fact that Mamaea’s money, which had caused the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_172"></a>[172]</span> -murder, invented this scheme for disgracing her -nephew’s memory, and thus averted trouble from -herself. It would raise a popular tumult, or at any -rate a disgust for the idol of the masses, if they -could have Antonine’s body dragged through the -city publicly, as the perpetrator of unmentionable -crimes, concerning which the populace knew nothing. -Suffice it to say that it did the work. Antonine -had the stigma of all crimes imputed to his memory; -and Alexander the good arose superior to all human -frailties. Then and not till then, Rome began to be -shocked. Men whose fortunes Antonine had made -by his liberality, the Senate, whom he had snubbed -so unmercifully, the army to whose donatives he had -not attended properly, all these found it advisable -to adopt the views of the new administration; their -education in ingratitude was complete. Instead of -the generous, fearless, affectionate boy whom the -populace had known, there emerged the sceptred -butcher ill with satyriasis; the taciturn tyrant, hideous -and debauched, the unclean priest, devising in the -crypts of a palace infamies so monstrous that to -describe them new words had to be coined. It was -Mamaea’s work, and for 1800 years no one has -had the audacity to look below the surface and -unmask the deception.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_173"></a>[173]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII<br /> -<span class="smaller">SUPPLEMENTARY MATTER CONCERNING THE YEARS 221-222</span></h3> - -<p class="center"><i>Antonine’s Government from 221 to 222 <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span></i></p> - -</div> - -<p>The events of the years 221 and until March 222 are -mainly a record of internecine fights and struggles; -the Emperor was trying to retain his position in -the state, the women leaving no stone unturned -to possess themselves of power in Alexander’s -name. We have traced the events which led to -the adoption of Alexander, and noticed the small -amount of power which his position as heir to the -Empire actually put into the hands of Maesa and -Mamaea. We have seen further how the repudiation -of the adoption by Antonine lessened even this -modicum of power, and how the successful attempt to -make Alexander Consul gained for their puppet -the official position from which the terms of his -adoption had excluded him. Once that position -was secured, we have watched the successful plot -against the Emperor’s life, which placed Maesa and -Mamaea in actual command of the state under -the merely nominal headship of Alexander. It only -remains for us to follow the governmental acts of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_174"></a>[174]</span> -these last months of Antonine’s life, as far as the -authorities will allow.</p> - -<p>The first recorded action after the adoption of -Alexander was one of religion. The ostensible -object of the ceremony on 10th July, or rather -earlier, had been to free the chief priest of Elagabal -from his secular duties, in order that he might -further the worship of the Great God. To this -end, Antonine instituted a magnificent religious -procession through the city, taking his God from -the temple on the Palatine to that in the suburbs. -Herodian, with his usual inaccuracy, announces that -this ceremony took place each year at midsummer. -Now, the temple on the Palatine was not finished -by midsummer of the year 220, judging from the -coins which celebrate the expansion of the cult, -and that near the Porta Praenestina was even -later in its completion. The inference is, therefore, -that the procession could not possibly have taken -place in the year 220 at midsummer. Further -evidence is, however, forthcoming; Cohen mentions -certain Roman coins struck in honour of the procession; -they show the God on a car, and date from -the latter part of the year 221, by which time the -suburban temple was finished and the procession -certainly took place.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> - -<img src="images/illus6a.jpg" id="illus6a" width="600" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Jovi Ultiori. The Eliogabalium as reconsecrated to Jupiter, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 224. -(From a woodcut.)</p> - -<img src="images/illus6b.jpg" id="illus6b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin struck to commemorate the Procession of Elagabal, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus6c.jpg" id="illus6c" width="300" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221 representing the Eliogabalium. -(From a photogravure.)</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_174"><i>Face page 174.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>Before midsummer in the year 222, according to -Dion, Antonine was dead. He did not therefore -conduct the Elagabal procession, and as the authors -inform us that Alexander sent the God back to -Emesa with considerable expedition, after reconsecrating -the temple to Jupiter, it is very unlikely<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_175"></a>[175]</span> -that Alexander continued the public parade of an -unpopular worship, even though the God was still -in Rome at the time mentioned.</p> - -<p>Despite Herodian’s statement that Alexander, as -well as Antonine, was a priest of the Sun, it is fairly -certain that the former was never actually associated -with his cousin in that priesthood, and was -not in the least likely to begin the worship after -Antonine’s death. The obvious inference is that, -as usual, Herodian was speaking without his book; -<i>each</i> year meant that there was one procession, and -one only, namely at midsummer in the year 221.</p> - -<p>The correct interpretation of this function belongs -to specialists in Semitic mythology. There -are points about it, however, which incline one to -the idea that its institution in Rome was due to the -marriage of Elagabal and Juno Coelestis. Its real -significance lies in the fact that it took place at -midsummer. Ramsay tells us of many such processions -in the East, notably those held during -the month Tammuz, which (owing to the variations -of the local Syrian calendars) fell in various places -at different times between June and September. -Now, these processions celebrated the nuptials -of the divine pair Ishtar-Tammuz or Aphrodite-Adonis. -The worship of this pair centred at Bylus, -not 100 miles from Emesa, and from this shrine, in -all probability, Antonine got his idea of the great -procession, made memorable by the coins struck -during the year 221, and also by the inscription to -Hercules, erected either in the latter part of the year -221 or early in 222 (Domaszewski) by the Centurion<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_176"></a>[176]</span> -Masculinus Valens, the standard-bearer Aurelius -Fabianus, and the adjutant Valerius Ferminus, all -of the Tenth Antonine Cohort of the Praetorian -Guard. This inscription records their having taken -part in the sacred procession, which seems to have -been of a military as well as of a religious character. -The magnificence was extraordinary. The chariot -on which the God was transported was richly -covered with gold and precious stones; great -umbrellas were at each corner. It was drawn by -six white horses (the coins give them all abreast), -and the reins were so arranged as to make it appear -that the God himself was driving, while the horses -were actually guided by the Emperor, running backwards, -and supported on either side by guards lest -anything untoward should happen. Statues of the -Gods, costly offerings, and the insignia of imperial -power were carried, while the Equestrian order -and the Praetorian Guards followed.</p> - -<p>The streets were strewn thick with yellow sand, -powdered with gold dust, and the whole route was -lined by the populace, carrying torches and strewing -flowers in the path of God. Precisely the -same thing may be seen to-day following the same -route and at the same time of the year. The -procession of the Corpus Domini is still a popular -function even in modern Rome, though its termination -is no longer the occasion for temporal -blessings such as Antonine’s liberality provided. -Herodian mentions this liberality, and condemns it -as a sort of diabolical plot for the extermination -of the citizens. He says that when the festival was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_177"></a>[177]</span> -over, Antonine used to mount on towers especially -constructed for the purpose, and distribute to the -crowd vases of gold and silver, clothes and stuffs of -all sorts, fat oxen and other animals, clean and -unclean, except pigs, which were forbidden to -him by his Phoenician (not Jewish) custom. -Presumably the distribution was by tickets, -exchangeable for these gifts, of which he says each -was at liberty to take what he could seize. In the -scramble, many citizens perished either by crushing -one another, or by throwing themselves, in their -eagerness, on the lances of the soldiers. The consequence -was that the festival became a misfortune -to many families. But surely to make Antonine -responsible for the greediness of the crowd is as -absurd as to record the fiction that he smothered -people with flowers, or took luncheon in the circus -when he was interested in the games, and then -evince such harmless amusements as proofs of -cruelty.</p> - -<p>As we recorded in the last chapter, it was -certainly not long before Antonine discovered that -he had made a vital mistake in adopting his cousin. -We are led to infer that the boys had not seen -much of one another for some time previously, as -Mamaea had kept them apart, fearing her son’s -contamination. Now that Alexander was actually -in the palace and in daily contact with the Emperor, -incompatibility of temper was the natural result, -though in several places we are informed that -Antonine loved his cousin at least up to 1st January, -which interesting fact may be doubted on psychological<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_178"></a>[178]</span> -as well as on the historical grounds already -recorded. His second mistake had been in marrying -his grandmother’s elderly friend Annia Faustina.</p> - -<p>By the autumn of 221 the Emperor had resolved -(as we have already pointed out) to rid -himself of both encumbrances at once. For -Antonine, divorces, like marriages, were made in -heaven, an opinion which he had no desire to -hide from men. He therefore divorced Annia -Faustina without intending to live a single life, -even for a time, because he had grown weary, -was tired of this struggle with his relations. -Moreover, he wanted friends; the <i>coup d’état</i> by -which he had freed himself from the irksomeness of -Alexander’s sonship, or had at least tried to do so, -and by which he had at the same time got rid of his -third wife, had naturally caused a break with his -family; after which the Emperor seems to have -considered himself at perfect liberty to make any -appointments he chose, and to mismanage the state -much as a Claudius or a Macrinus might have done. -It was a period, according to Lampridius, when -Antonine was specially drawn to members of -the theatrical profession. Now such persons are -admirable in their proper place, but are not much -sought after in governmental positions. Unfortunately, -the Emperor did not know this fact, and, -considering himself emancipated, did as Nero, -Titus, Domitian, or Caracalla would have done: he -appointed his friends everywhere. The biographers, -of course, assume that the men appointed were of -loose character, as well as of base origin, without<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_179"></a>[179]</span> -supplying a tittle of evidence either as to who the -men were or what they did when in responsible -positions. The supposition is that they were -appointed on account of abnormalities; the result, -as chronicled, is that the state did not suffer from -their mismanagement.</p> - -<p>We can quite see the point of view of a boy -feverishly anxious to regain the power and authority -which he had lost, and imagining that the one way to -do this was to put his own friends into office, whether -they were barbers, runners, cooks, or locksmiths. -Lampridius tells us that men from each of these -trades were appointed as procurators of the 20th, -though how many such appointments Antonine made -it is impossible to discover. In the autumn of this -year (221) the soldiers asked for the dismissal of four -such favourites, of whom the Chariot-Driver Gordius, -Praefect of the Night Watch, was one; Claudius -Censor, Praefect of the Sustenances, another. In the -same passage Lampridius reiterates the old lie about -Eutychianus Comazon, who had been reappointed -Praefect of the Praetorian Guard about January 222. -He again calls Eutychianus an actor, who changed -his offices as quickly as he would have changed his -parts on the stage, and records that it was the height -of folly to put him in command of the guards. -In all probability it was annoying to Mamaea, as -she might not be able to bribe the guards as freely -as heretofore. Now, we have already seen that -Eutychianus Comazon was a soldier as far back -as the year 182; that he had held this same office -(Praefect of the Praetorium) in 218; that he had been<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_180"></a>[180]</span> -Praefect of the City in 219, Consul in 220; again -Praefect of the City in 221, and that, when in the -murders and proscriptions which followed that of -Antonine, the then Praefect of Rome Fulvius Diogenianus -had met his end, Comazon was reappointed -to the city praefecture for the third time, and now -by Maesa and Mamaea. It is, therefore, pure -stupidity to condemn Antonine for appointing this -actor (!) to a post in 222 which he had already held -with honour, and which he was to hold again with -renown. If none of Antonine’s appointments were -worse than this of Eutychianus Comazon, it is small -wonder that the state suffered in no wise from -the mismanagement. A further charge brought -against the administration is, that the Emperor -appointed freedmen to the posts of Governors of -Provinces, Ambassadors, Proconsuls, and military -leaders, thus debasing all these offices by conferring -them upon the ignoble and dissolute.</p> - -<p>Here is another wilful bit of misrepresentation. -A short perusal of Petronius on the position of -freedmen will disabuse any one’s mind of the idea -that they were either ignoble or essentially dissolute. -Patricians they were not, though they aped -the manners and extravagances of that class, much -as the plutocracy of to-day ape the aristocracy of -yesterday, both in their wealth and their exclusiveness. -Money in Old Rome carried much the same -kudos as it carries in England to-day. The democracy -could and did rise when they had acquired wealth; -they were then just as vulgar, just as ostentatious, -just as snobbish as their successors the plutocrats<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_181"></a>[181]</span> -of this latter-day world; they had the privileges -that wealth confers and none of the responsibilities -which aristocracy involves, and were, equally -with the modern plutocrats, without traditions or -heredity to guide them. But this was their misfortune, -not their fault. On the other hand, there was, -as a general rule, plenty of ability amongst the men -who had risen. They were clear-headed, far-sighted -politicians; men who, being free from traditions, -were best able to cut away the overgrowth of -centuries, because their respect for archaeological -institutions had not degenerated them into mere -fossilized curiosities of an antediluvian age. Certainly -they were not all ignoble, if they were plebeian -in origin, and it is mere supposition to say that -they were all dissolute; so indecent a suggestion -could only emanate from those who hoped to gain -in comparison.</p> - -<p>There was one obvious reason why Maesa and -her party should object to any and every appointment -made by Antonine. Men thus appointed -would not be her nominees, and she could not -therefore demand the fees payable on such occasions. -This mention of fees brings one to the -second part of the charge against the Emperor, -namely, that he sold offices either himself or -through his favourites. It would certainly be -more satisfactory if we knew something as to what -he sold, to whom he sold it, or for how much he -sold it. Lampridius is careful not to mention such -trivial and minor details, he just brings the accusation, -without either proof or real likelihood to support<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_182"></a>[182]</span> -it. The main contention seems to be that the practice -is immoral; if so, immorality is as rife to-day -as in third-century Rome. Sovereigns, ministers, -cabinets, universities, churches, in fact every species -of authority confers its own offices, decorations, titles, -and sinecures, for all of which fees are still chargeable, -even exacted. This practice of royalties may -account for the charge, as it is unlikely, psychologically -speaking, that Antonine would ever have -sought to profit pecuniarily from his friends, and -certainly he would not have appointed enemies, -even for money’s sake; he had learnt too much -about the ways of such people in the bosom of his -own family. We have remarked in other places on -Antonine’s penchant for giving, and can well believe -that the boy bestowed favours broadcast; that he -sought to fill offices as they fell vacant, by the -appointment of friends, especially with men who -had endeared themselves to him, men from whom -he expected loyalty in return for his devotion and -generosity. Poor child, he had yet to learn that -sycophants are ever to be bought by the highest -bidder. Lampridius relates the trouble and increase -of difficulty which, by their disloyalty, venality, and -unbridled gossip, these men brought upon their -benefactor in return for his trust. Fortunately for -all parties concerned, they met their deaths (doubtless -unwilling victims) along with the master whom -they had betrayed. They thought they had secured -themselves, but found they would have done better -to secure him, which is not an unusual position with -traitors.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_183"></a>[183]</span></p> - -<p>Amongst the number of appointments made for -his own pleasure during this period we must include -the return of Aquilia Severa to the position of wife -and Empress. Dion relates that, between the -divorce of Annia Faustina and the return of the -nun to connubial felicity, Antonine took two -women to wife; but adds sapiently that even he -does not know who they were, or when the marriages -took place. Now, as the time between the -divorce of Annia and the Emperor’s death cannot -greatly have exceeded three months, and as he was -obviously desirous of returning to Aquilia Severa -from the first, the story of the two odd wives may -be dismissed as not proven, another of those terminological -inexactitudes which seem to be inseparable -from the political amenities of every age; added to -which we must remember that Antonine was still -so passionately devoted to Hierocles that he would -willingly have died rather than be parted from him.</p> - -<p>The return of the nun was the crowning point in -Antonine’s folly. Undoubtedly he was getting more -and more worried, was feverishly anxious to repair -the damage to his shattered power, was ready to catch -at any straw that would give him encouragement and -help. In his extremity he turned to the one woman -for whom he had ever cared,—if we except his -mother, who, poor woman, was of an artfulness so -bovine that her support was a much more useful asset -in his enemies’ game than to his own position. For -Antonine, unfortunately, Aquilia Severa was also -worse than useless; she may have cared for him, -but her return spelt his ruin and destruction.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_184"></a>[184]</span></p> - -<p>Not that Antonine was by any means at the end -of his resources as yet. If he hesitated, no one -knew it. Like Caligula, he must have spent -nearly £400,000,000 of our money, and was radiant -because he had achieved the impossible. But he -was worried, and, again like Caligula, in the nick of -time he remembered the sure and certain way to -glory. As an Antonine at the head of a conquering -army he would again advance against the Marcomanni, -the men inhabiting Bavaria and Bohemia, -whom Commodus had reduced.</p> - -<p>Now, the oracles had predicted that an Antonine -should finish this war, a circumstance which commended -itself to the Emperor from more points of -view than one. Like every religious person in the -Empire Antonine was superstitious. Zonaras recounts -that the boy wore 600 amulets; but, as he -was not there to see, and the contemporary authors -do not mention the fact, we can dismiss this with -similarly exaggerated stories. Not that the use of -these aids to piety or tickets to heaven is even now -extinct; the idea may still be found set forth, with -both precision and logic, in any manual of prayers -under the heading “Brown Scapular,” or “St. Simon -Stock.” More ridiculous and more wicked were the -figments of imagination, by means of which men tried -to dissuade Antonine from undertaking this war. -They told him that these Marcomanni had been -conquered by means of enchantments and magic -ceremonies, the sole property of Chaldeans and -other soothsayers. Remove these enchantments, -and those same enemies of the Empire would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_185"></a>[185]</span> -break out into open rebellion once more. Antonine, -therefore, sought to know the enchantments and -how to destroy them, so that a pretext might be -found for recommencing the war, which he, as an -Antonine, was eager to finish, lest that honour -should fall to another. Here even Lampridius is -sympathetic; he says that a war would have enabled -the Emperor to merit the name of Antonine, which -he, along with nearly all the others, had sullied; but -the opportunity was not given him; death came too -soon to enable him to make the preparations.</p> - -<p>Lampridius now enters upon a few more pious -reflections, and in the course of his argument a few -more terminological inexactitudes concerning the -Emperor’s name and family history. He states -that Antonine had not only usurped that august -name, but had profaned it, until it became a name -of public ridicule; that he was called nothing but -Varius and Heliogabalus. These remarks are both -unnecessary and untrue. The Emperor was never -called either Varius or Heliogabalus. The name -of his God, which he assumed at Nicomedia, was -never in any sort of way an official title; neither -does Varius appear on any known coin, inscription, -or document. This Emperor is frequently cited as -Priest of Elagabal, Priest of the Most High God, -which title was, by the way, often obliterated on the -monuments instead of the name Antonine, when -Alexander defaced, or partly defaced, these after -his cousin’s death.</p> - -<p>Like the name Jahwe, the El of the Hebrews, -this name Elagabal, the El of the Emesans, was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_186"></a>[186]</span> -in all probability considered too holy for common -use, at least during the Emperor’s lifetime. After -his death, it was applied to him as a sort of -nickname, just as Caligula or Caracalla had been -applied to former Emperors, or even like the term -“Romanist” was applied more recently to the last -Stuart King of this country.<a id="FNanchor_58" href="#Footnote_58" class="fnanchor">[58]</a></p> - -<p>To this latter period of the reign we may ascribe -a certain amount of Antonine’s activity in building. -Lampridius mentions at least two monuments of -importance, the first a gigantic column which he -purposed to erect, a staircase inside, round which -should be engraved or chiselled, not the history of -the Emperor’s deeds, not even the history of the -family exploits, but a record of the miracles which -God had wrought, and for which men gave thanks. -Antonine was murdered before the project could be -fulfilled, and Rome lost the finest of those most -beautiful relics of antiquity—the columns which -still grace her forums and market-places. The -second was a high tower which he built in accordance -with the prophecy of certain Syrian priests, that -his death as well as his life should be violent. All -traces of this tower and its location have disappeared; -so have the sheets of gold covered with -jewels, with which he paved the court below, in -pursuance of his desire to perish magnificently. -The idea of this extravagance was that of a splendid<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_187"></a>[187]</span> -suicide, to be accomplished by throwing himself from -the summit of the tower on to the sparkling beauty -beneath, thus finding sensuousness even in death. -Antonine had read Iambulus; he knew the history -of the men in the Fortunate Isles, who, when they -were overtaken by the ennui of sheer happiness, lay -on perfumed grass which had the faculty of producing -a voluptuous death. His conception was not -so easy, but what it lost in ease it gained in -splendour.</p> - -<p>In addition to these works, mention must be made -of the completion of the Antonine baths, now known -as those of Caracalla, the Thermae Varianae on the -Aventine, which are variously named by Pauly as -Thermae Syrae or Surae, and the hall built for -the Senaculum on the Quirinal. These are authentic -works, and there are many other instances cited by -Lampridius of this Emperor’s passion for building. -We hear of houses, baths, huge salt-water lakes, -built in the mountains and fastnesses of the country -districts. All these were erected, so the story goes, -but for a moment, as temporary shelters for the -monarch when travelling, and were destroyed when -once he had reached his next habitation. Even -Lampridius states that such records are obviously -false, the inventions of those who wished to malign -Antonine, once Alexander was possessed of the -supreme power, sycophants Lampridius calls them, -who makes such a poor show himself when occupying -that unenviable position at Constantine’s bidding.</p> - -<p>There is yet another point which must be -examined in connection with the murder of this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_188"></a>[188]</span> -Emperor, namely the so-called disaffection of the -soldiers. Time and again, throughout the history of -the reign, we learn from coins and inscriptions that -Antonine was popular with all ranks of the army. -On the other hand, we have the repeated assurance -of all authors, both Greek and Latin, that the -Emperor was continually losing his popularity.</p> - -<p>More reliance could be placed on the written -testimony if the authors agreed as to when this -popularity was lost. As a matter of fact, Lampridius -ascribes the beginning, progress, and culmination of -this dislike to each separate year; on the later occasions, -seemingly, because he had forgotten that he -had already stated definitely that the affection for -the Emperor was a thing of the past. Nevertheless, -the story cannot be entirely dismissed as a mere -fable, since there were two military risings or disturbances, -in the second of which the Emperor lost -his life.</p> - -<p>The question must occur as to whether these -are traceable to actual disaffection or to some -conspiracy. The side-lights which all authors throw -on the progress of events leave no doubt in our -minds that the two risings were definite conspiracies, -worked up by interested persons,—such wholly unsuccessful -plots as those of Seius Carus and -Pomponius Bassus may be left out of consideration -here, as they were at once discovered and as easily -frustrated. The fact remains, however, that -Antonine was killed, most probably in the Praetorian -camp, and that his body, having been dragged -about the city, was thrown into the Tiber, near the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_189"></a>[189]</span> -Aemilian Bridge, or else cast down a drain which -ran into the river, in order to show contempt for -his sacred person. Again, there was no effort made -to punish the wrong-doers. The Praetorians themselves, -when they knew of the murder, made no -outcry, which circumstances tend to show a certain -amount of acquiescence on the part of the soldiers -and people. How, then, had Antonine alienated in -222 the men who in 220 testified such devotion to -his person and rule?</p> - -<p>A considerable amount of disaffection can be -traced to the foolish neglect which the Emperor -showed towards his troops. He was their nominee; -to them he owed his throne. He had promised -them the money, privileges, and affection which -had been his father’s special care. Once in sure -possession of the Empire, this policy was changed. -The first congiary in 218 was undoubtedly accompanied -by a donative of satisfying amplitude. At -the second (on the occasion of his first marriage) -we are told that the Emperor gave more to the -humblest citizen of Rome, more to the wives of the -Senators, than he bestowed on the men who had -placed him on the throne a year previously. There -is no record of any other liberality until the early -part of the year 221, on the occasion of the dual -marriage, his own with Aquilia Severa and that of -his God with Vesta, the Madonna of Old Rome. -On this occasion no mention is made of any money -distributed to the military forces. The same may -be said for the fourth liberality, given in July 221, to -celebrate the adoption of Alexander.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_190"></a>[190]</span></p> - -<p>These official liberalities were by no means the -only distributions by which Antonine endeared -himself to the civilian populace. On the occasion -of his taking the Consulate, he went out of his way -to bestow magnificent gifts on the populace. After -the great summer procession in 221 he distributed -a vast number of costly presents amongst the crowd. -He instituted two lotteries, one for the comedians, -one for the citizens. He gave to his friends and to -the poor more than they could carry away, but on -all of these occasions we are expressly told that he -limited his generosity to the civil population.</p> - -<p>Obviously Antonine was tired of the army. And, -being Emperor, he decided to give to whomsoever -he pleased, to neglect whom he would. It was not -immoral, at least in our judgment, it was stupid, -which is far worse, and, as every one has discovered -for himself, stupidity brings greater penalties than -immorality.</p> - -<p>Of the fourth and fifth congiaries, concerning -which Mediobarbus speaks, we can say nothing, as -in the opinion of competent numismatists (Cohen -and Eckhel) they do not belong to this reign at all; -there certainly are coins bearing the inscription -“Marcus Aurelius Antoninus,” and on the obverse -“Liberalitas V. VI.”; but science and discrimination -now assign these to the reign of Caracalla, not to -that of the Emperor under discussion.</p> - -<p>There is certainly one point of view from which -this neglect of the soldiers appeared immoral, namely, -the military. Promises had been made and, as -is usual with promises, they had been broken.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_191"></a>[191]</span> -Mamaea took advantage of this circumstance, and -small wonder if, her secret, though regular, distributions -aiding, the lords of Rome felt that their position -was ignominious when they saw others, actors, -sycophants, loafers, procurers, strumpets, and the -like, receiving what they felt was theirs by right; -small wonder if they listened to and profited by her -promises of the substantial gratitude which would -follow the substitution of Alexander for the ungrateful -civilian who now held the purse-strings.</p> - -<p>It must be confessed that Mamaea’s money and -promises were of little effect while Antonine lived. -The Emperor was certainly well served. Each plot -was easily frustrated; never would sufficient men -turn out in rebellion. When he died, those whom -she had paid most liberally convinced the rest of their -proper attitude, and the first liberality of Alexander’s -reign was a sufficient <i>pourboire</i> to close most mouths. -Those who created disturbances followed their -master to the grave, or rather the cloaca.</p> - -<p>The exact time of Antonine’s murder is, as we have -said, most uncertain. Dion ascribes to him a tenure -of power lasting 3 years 9 months and 4 days from -the day of the battle in which he gained supreme -command—8th June 218. This fixes the day of -his death as 11th March 222. It is a statement -with which the editors of the <i>Prosopographia</i>, Groebe, -Salzer, and Rubensohn, all agree. The <i>Liber -generationis</i><a id="FNanchor_59" href="#Footnote_59" class="fnanchor">[59]</a> gives 6 years 8 months and 28 days, -and is supported by the <i>Chronicle</i> of 354, which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_192"></a>[192]</span> -gives equally explicitly 6 years 8 months and 18 -days. The discrepancy is at first sight most disconcerting, -especially as the two latter statements -are both—at least nominally—official. The coins -limit the reign to four years at the outside, in consequence -of which some explanation has to be found -for the extraordinary addition of three years in both -the <i>Chronicle</i> and the <i>Liber generationis</i>. Mommsen -has suggested that a deflection of the two first -strokes of III in the number of the years has created -the error in both these documents. Later writers -have accounted for the difference between Dion’s -VIIII months and the VIII of the Latin sources, as -due to the omission of one stroke in the latter, the -confusion in the number of days by the fact that an -X has been omitted in the <i>Chronicle</i>. Mommsen’s -emendation seems perfectly plausible, but the absurd -quibbles used to bring into agreement what was in -all probability for some time a moot point can be -passed over without much mention.</p> - -<p>Rubensohn has a much more reasonable conclusion, -namely, that the times given in the -<i>Chronicle</i> and <i>Liber generationis</i> refer not to the -date of the battle at all, but to the date of the proclamation -or to the date of Julianus’ defeat, some time -during the early days of May 218. Lampridius, of -course, chips in with another discordant note, -namely, that “<span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> pridie nonas Martias” the -Senate received their new Emperor Alexander with -acclamations, but for present purposes he may be -left out of count, as we have no confirmation of -this very late statement. Eutropius’ statement of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_193"></a>[193]</span> -2 years and 8 months refers only to the residence -in Rome, and Victor’s 30 months is utterly out of -the question, as is also Lampridius’ statement that -this monster occupied the throne for nearly three -years. Still more disconcerting than the wild -statements of the biographers is the fact that right -up to 8th December 222 certain rescripts are dated -with the names of both Antonine and Alexander, -“Conss.”; two only, one in March and one in -October, appear with Alexander as sole Consul, and -this inscription occurs on a rescript dated “III non. -Febr.,” when, if any other evidence is to be -accepted, Antonine was still alive. It was on this -count that Stobbe based his assertion that Antonine -was killed, or at least put out of the government, as -early as 5th or 6th January, and that Mamaea used -her new power as soon as ever Alexander was -officially recognised as Consul. It is certainly a -theory for which something may be said, but would -entirely dispose of the circumstantial accounts which -the historians have left of the boy’s murder. If this -supposition is true, then Mamaea possessed herself -of the Emperor’s person by means of a riot in the -camp, immediately after Alexander became Consul, -deprived him of his friends and support, and -thus gradually accustomed the populace to his -absence, before she killed him. This would certainly -account for the placidity with which Rome -received news of his death at some later period, but -would not account for the discrepancy of the coins -and rescripts, the first of which make Alexander -sole Emperor by the early summer, the second,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_194"></a>[194]</span> -which call Antonine Consul, presume that he was still -alive as late as December in the same year (222).</p> - -<p>From a numismatic point of view there have -been further difficulties raised as to the length of -the reign, on account of Antonine having reached -his fourth Consulate and fifth tribunician year, but -these have been raised by persons who have neglected -Eckhel and have not always verified their references. -The regular coins tell us that Antonine had reached -his fourth Consulate and fifth year of tribunician power -when he died. Certain writers, notably Valsecchius -and Pagi, have postulated that the Emperors always -renewed the tribunician powers on the anniversary -of their succession, others, such as Stobbe, that -the date of the tribunician power would always be -put on each coin when that of the Consulship was -given. Neither of these contentions can be admitted -for an instant, as Eckhel has proved most -conclusively, and as can be further demonstrated -from the very coins these writers cite as proofs of -their several contentions. Valsecchius’ theory was -that Antonine thought he began to reign on the -murder of his father Caracalla, and dated his tribunician -year in consequence from 8th April 217. This -would make him in his second tribunician year by -8th June 218, and the coins should appear as “T.P. -II Cos.” Unfortunately for the theory, there is not -a single example of this aberration, as Turre pointed -out some centuries ago. Pagi, on the other hand, -thought that Antonine dated his reign from 16th -March 218, and renewed his tribunician powers -every year on that date; he accepted Dion’s date,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_195"></a>[195]</span> -11th March, for Antonine’s decease, and, in consequence, -postulated that coins struck with the -legend “T PV Cos IIII” were struck in anticipation -of the event of 16th March 222. Against this -Eckhel urges that the whole theory is utterly unnecessary, -because it throws all the rest of the coins -out of date in order to make a setting for nine, -which are in reality perfectly regular.</p> - -<p>The truth obviously lies in Eckhel’s theory, which -has been rejected by Stobbe because it is so simple -and obvious, namely, that Antonine renewed both -consular and tribunician powers on the same day, -1st January, a contention which the Fasti Romani -amply corroborate. Naturally, as we know from -Dion, the first year began on 8th June, when -Antonine’s name was substituted for that of Macrinus. -On 1st January 219 Antonine took his second -Consulship and second tribunician powers. On -1st January 220 the Emperor became Consul for -the third time, Tribune of the People third time. -On 1st January 221 Gratus and Seleucus were -Consuls, Antonine Tribune of the People fourth -time; 1st January 222 Antonine and Alexander -Coss. IIII and I, Antonine Tribune of the People -fifth time. All is duly set out on the coins in -regular order.</p> - -<p>The basis for other theories was found by fertile -brains when Cohen listed a few irregularities in the -dating, notably three coins dated T.P. Cos. II, which -just inverted Valsecchius’ theory, and, said Stobbe, -showed that the Emperor had renewed his Consulate -on 1st January, and had not yet renewed his powers<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_196"></a>[196]</span> -as Tribune of the People. It was undoubtedly -plausible, but Stobbe omitted to notice another coin -whose date is T.P. Cos. IIII, which, on his own -theory of the number invariably affixed to T.P. as -well as to Cos., would signify that the Emperor had -never renewed his tribunician powers at all, or else -had renewed his consular powers four times in one -year, both of which ideas are demonstrably absurd. -Along with his supposition that the number would -always be affixed to T.P. whenever it also followed -Cos., Stobbe formulated another theory partly -based on the idea which had been enunciated by -Pagi concerning the date of the coins marked T.P. -V Cos. IIII, and supported his contention from -an example listed by Cohen as T.P. IIII, Cos. IIII. -It was to the effect that as the Emperors Septimius -Severus, Caracalla, Geta, and Alexander Severus -had renewed their tribunician powers about the -middle of January, Antonine had done the same, -and that the paucity of the coins marked T.P. V Cos. -IIII is due to the fact that he was murdered very -shortly after, if not before the issue was completed, -and the tribunicial renewal had taken place. Stobbe’s -proof lay in the fact that Cohen had listed these -three coins as above (T.P. IIII Cos. IIII), which, -this critic affirmed, were issued after January 1st -and before the tribunicial renewal,—about the -middle of the month.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 600px;"> - -<img src="images/illus7a.jpg" id="illus7a" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220, misread by Cohen as T.P. III Cos. IIII -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus7b.jpg" id="illus7b" width="600" height="300" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221, misread by Cohen as T.P. IIII Cos. IIII -(British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus7c.jpg" id="illus7c" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 222 (British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_196"><i>Face page 196.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>But it was mere theory on both counts. As -Egbert showed later, the tribunicial renewal in the -case of Septimius, Caracalla, and Geta was not early -in January at all; it was on the 10th of December.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_197"></a>[197]</span> -Macrinus’ renewal was early in January, so was -Alexander’s, but this was not conclusive evidence -that Antonine renewed his powers on the same -date. There certainly are coins, three of them, -listed by Cohen, two in France at the Bib. Nat., -and one in the British Museum marked T.P. IIII -Cos. IIII. This was clear proof, said Stobbe, that -the tribunician powers were renewed after the -consular powers, and that T.P. V Cos. IIII were -later in the same year (222) than T.P. IIII Cos. -IIII. The French coins I have not seen, but I -have had the privilege of examining that in the -British Museum (Cohen, vol. iv. p. 342, No. 197), -and find that Cohen has misread the number affixed -to the Cos.; it is listed as T.P. IIII Cos. IIII, but is -in reality T.P. IIII Cos. III P.P. (<i>i.e.</i> the year 221). -The first P has been read into the number,—which -same inscription is most probably on the French -coins as well as on that in the British Museum, since -it appears gratuitous to impute a mistake to contemporaries -by way of making copy for later critics. -I have noted yet another mistake, namely, two -coins listed by Cohen as irregularities; they are -dated, T.P. III Cos. IIII (p. 344, Nos. 210, 211). -On these another admirable theory has been based, -namely, that Antonine was going to take the Consulate, -had his coins struck, and then backed out at -the beginning of 221, thus before he had renewed -his powers as tribune. Again very pretty, but the -British Museum has the coins, and they are not -dated T.P. III Cos. IIII at all; they are quite -ordinary—T.P. III Cos. III, or of the year 220, and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_198"></a>[198]</span> -there is no need to transpose the numbers, which is -an alternative theory to that stated above.</p> - -<p>The evidence from the coins is quite conclusive. -The Emperor renewed his dual powers either on -the same day, 1st January, or on a day immediately -succeeding. As Eckhel pointed out in 1792 there -is no coin which, if the date be correctly read, gives -any countenance to any other theory, while all such -are unnecessary and at variance with known facts.</p> - -<p>Lampridius gives us a certain amount of evidence -that the Emperor took an interest in the affairs -of state all through his life, both by his account of -Antonine’s sagacity as a judge, and his desire to -appoint fourteen praefects of the city, under the -headship of the Imperial Praefectus Urbis or Urbi. -Naturally, the desire is attributed to base motives, -namely, in order to benefit unworthy persons. The -scheme, Lampridius tells us, was actually carried into -operation during Alexander’s reign, and is then -applauded as useful and necessary, an obvious bit of -special pleading on one side or the other.</p> - -<p>It is with a singularly unanimous voice that the -authors announce the general execration against -the memory of Antonine, and the joy shown by the -populace in dragging his dead body about the city. -All are certain that the Senate made a general order -to deface the name of Antonine on all monuments -and documents through the Empire, as soon as that -dishonoured Emperor was safely out of the way.</p> - -<p>The unanimity is wonderful; all the more wonderful -because so utterly unusual. Unfortunately, it -is in no way borne out by the inscriptions. We have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_199"></a>[199]</span> -mentioned the rescripts which for the most part bear -Antonine’s name throughout the whole year 222. -This circumstance is hardly in consonance with the -senatorial action in ordering all mention of the -dishonoured Emperor to be expunged (<i>i.e.</i> while they -themselves continue to use his name publicly and -officially). Again, there is an inscription C.I.L. VI. -3015, set up in July 222, which commemorates both -Consuls as though alive; and another, though probably -a forgery of Ligorius, No. 570, in which the two names -appear on 13th April of the same year. Surely this -would have been impossible if Antonine were dead -and the Senate had ordered his name to be erased -everywhere. This order, however, cannot be taken -literally; an examination of the existing inscriptions -gives quite other results.</p> - -<p>The name of Antonine is erased, but only in 40 -known cases, while in certain places the name -Alexander is substituted for that of Antonine, which, -if usual, is rather a cheap way of getting the -honour and renown belonging to another. A few -African inscriptions blot out the Emperor’s claim -to be grandson of Severus, and a few in different -parts of the Empire blot out the title Priest of -Elagabal, witness the inscription at Walwick -Chesters. In 52 cases the names, styles, and titles -of Antonine are left intact, which makes it improbable -that there was any great campaign against his -memory, such as Lampridius would have us believe -that every one in the Empire was only too anxious -to institute.</p> - -<p>Dion and Lampridius both tell us that Antonine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_200"></a>[200]</span> -was called Tiberinus and Tractitius after his death, -in reference to the shameful treatment which his -body was supposed to have met with after his -murder, and the final act of throwing it into the -river in order that it should never be buried. Sardanapalus -is another epithet applied to him by Dion -and his copier Zonaras, who also call him Pseudo-Antonine, -in reference to his grandmother’s statement -made “through hatred” in 221, that not he but -Alexander was the only legitimate bastard; such -and the like were the taunting adjectives by means -of which the biographers sought to defame the -boy’s memory.</p> - -<p>Here, for all practical purposes, Lampridius’ -account of the Emperor’s life ceases. There are still -seventeen chapters of mere biographical scandal, -some of it illuminating, some hypocritically obscene. -Nevertheless, it has been possible to abstract from -these sections a certain amount of information -descriptive of the boy’s extravagances and their -setting, his psychology and its result, his religious -ambitions, and with them the reasons for his -downfall.</p> - -<p>These are all obvious traits in Antonine’s character, -and can be discerned despite the mass of exaggerations -and hostility with which the pages abound. -To criticise these statements in any sort of detail is, -however, obviously impossible on the information at -present available, and furthermore, we are scarcely -competent to judge the period from our modern -standpoint of prejudice.</p> - -<p>There is no period of history which fully corresponds<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_201"></a>[201]</span> -to these last years of imperial greatness; few -men who embody the spirit which breathed life into -all that splendour, and even fewer in the modern -world who understand the revived paganism of the -Renaissance. Here too there was a difference. In -old Rome it has been said that a sin was a prayer; -under Leo X. it was, rather, a taxable luxury. Sinning -is still a luxury, but no longer taxable; the -Reformation has set us free from such extortion and -restraint, and supplied us with hypocrisy and cant -to take its place.</p> - -<p>From Suetonius we gather that the Roman world -sinned and sparkled; we still sin, but are perforce to -yawn in the process. The world of Suetonius was -the world <i>où on s’en fichait</i>. Our world is the -world <i>où on s’ennuie</i>. Hence our inability to grasp -the spirit of philosophical paganism, a spirit whose -morality does not consist in improper thoughts about -other people, but in a mind set free from terror of -the Gods, not very much caring what other people -do so long as they do not interfere with us.</p> - -<p>It is thus that we must view Elagabalus. To -look at him through any other spectacles is to -examine the restless, frivolous, perhaps debased -dragon-fly as though he were a vampire, and then, -imagination aiding, describe him as a stampeding -unicorn with a taste for <i>marrons glacés</i>.</p> - -<p>It is absurd, purely grotesque, this caricature -we have of Antonine; perhaps that is why the world -has left him alone, that they may gaze the longer on -a mask that allures. If these criticisms have done -anything to remove part of the accretions with<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_202"></a>[202]</span> -which the world has daubed his figure at the -bidding of his relations, the trouble is amply repaid. -Naturally, this monograph is not the last word; it -is, on the other hand, the first, put forward in the -hope that it may at least commend itself as a point -of view. Neither is it a compromise with the -proprieties, which are, after all, in the modern world, -little else save a compromise with either our neighbours -or the police; what one expects from them, -certainly not how much they may expect from -oneself, or even from Elagabalus.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_203"></a>[203]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE WIVES OF THE EMPEROR</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>This Antonine has been accused of building the -Cloaca Maxima, into which, a century later, all -Rome rolled, largely on the grounds that he -divorced at least three wives, and was himself -wife of the Chariot Driver Hierocles, amongst others -of his unusually numerous acquaintance.</p> - -<p>The imputation of excavating in Rome cannot -be attributed to Elagabalus alone. Augustus had -done a little digging there, but hypocritically, as he -did everything else, devising ethical laws as a cloak -for turpitudes of his own; Caligula had done the same, -so had Nero, Hadrian, and Caracalla. Maecenas -divorced himself and remarried twenty times, as both -ceremonies were less expensive than they are to-day. -Suetonius said of Caligula that it was uncertain -which was the vilest, the unions he contracted, their -brevity, or their cause. With such examples, it was -inevitable that ordinary people should unite but -to part, and that insensibly the law should annul as -a caprice, a clause that defined marriage as the -inseparable life.</p> - -<p>Under the Caesars, marriage became a temporary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_204"></a>[204]</span> -arrangement abandoned and re-established at will. -Seneca said that women of rank counted their years -by their husbands; Juvenal, that it was in such -fashion they counted their days. Paul, in a letter -whose verbosity apes philosophical phraseology, -regarded the privileges of divorce as inherent in the -patriarchal theories of family life. Tertullian added, -somewhat sapiently, that divorce was the result of -matrimony.</p> - -<p>Divorce, however, was never obligatory, matrimony -was. According to the Lex Papia Poppoea, -whoso at twenty-five was unmarried; whoso, -divorced or widowed, did not remarry; whoso, -though married, was childless became <i>ipso facto</i> a -public enemy.</p> - -<p>To this law, as was obviously necessary, only a -technical attention was paid. Men married just -enough to gain a position or inherit a legacy; -the next day they got a divorce. At the moment of -need a child was adopted; the moment passed, the -child was disowned. As with men, so with women. -The Univira became the many-husbanded wife, -occasionally a matron with no husband at all; -one who, to escape the consequences of the Lex -Papia Poppoea, hired a man to lend her his name, -and who, with an establishment of her own, was free -to do as she liked; to imitate men at their worst; -to fight like them and with them for power; to -dabble in the bloody drama of state; to climb -on the throne and kill there or be killed. The -Empire had liberated women from domestic tyranny, -just as it had liberated men from that of the state.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_205"></a>[205]</span></p> - -<p>Such was the position of matrimony when, -early in July 219, the Emperor Marcus Aurelius -Antoninus took to wife the Lady Julia Cornelia -Paula, of the well-known though by no means -patrician family of Cornelia. Her father was Julius -Paulus, probably one of the most famous jurisconsults -and lawyers Rome has ever known. As -father-in-law to an Emperor, his position was doubtless, -like that of Sylla, the father-in-law of Caesar, -somewhat heady. Unfortunately it impaired his -usefulness to a considerable degree. We learn -from the editors of the <i>Prosopographia</i> that there are -only five decrees on subjects of jurisprudence which -can be definitely assigned to this reign, and from -Lampridius that Paulus was appointed to the presumably -lucrative, though certainly uninspiring -office of usher to the young Alexander, on whose -bovine intelligence he could unfortunately make -no impression. It is doubtless wrong to promote -relations to Court sinecures when they can be better -and more usefully employed in arduous work for -the state, but it is a position to which even the best -of us aspire when fatigued with either a misspent or -a full-spent life.</p> - -<p>According to Barrachinus, the family of Cornelia -came from Padua; Bertrand says they were from -Tyro; and in Pignorius’ estimation they may -even have seen light in Rome. Julius and his -daughter are the only two of the family who have -come into prominence. Unfortunately, we do not -know the date of the birth or death of either, nor the -year in which Julius began to climb; suffice it to say,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_206"></a>[206]</span> -that he had published many volumes before the -death of Septimius Severus, in whose council, -according to Digest xxix., he had a place. His -first office seems to have been that of Praetor, -and thence by regular stages he climbed to that -of Praefect of Rome, finishing with the height of all -ambition, the Praefecture of the Praetorium, and as -such he was a Senator of the Empire. Tristran—who -knew about as much of the lady personally as you or -I can—has remarked that Julia was beautiful. His -taste is certainly not a modern one, as her effigy -represents her with a sharp beaky face, and a long -scraggy neck. This author, with some show of -fairness, attempts to justify his statement by a truism, -namely, that the Emperor was such a connoisseur of -beauty that he would never have chosen a lady -who had not this necessary qualification. Precisely, -but did Antonine choose the lady at all? The -probabilities are that she was well over thirty at -the time of the marriage, and that the Emperor -had neither seen nor heard of her before she was -presented to him by his relations, on his arrival -in Rome; in fact, that this marriage was a political -move by means of which the official classes were -closely allied with the imperial house.</p> - -<p>We have already described the pomp and circumstance -with which this wedding was celebrated, the -games, with their lavish waste of animal life, -amongst the rarest of known beasts, the congiary -and donative. As this is the sole mention of such -splendour on the occasion of Antonine’s committing -matrimony, which holy estate he is said to have<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_207"></a>[207]</span> -attempted six times in two and a half years, it -inclines us to the opinion that this was his first -experiment in that direction, especially as the -evidence of coins and medals is perfectly conclusive -on this point. Tristran and Serviez, however, place -Annia Faustina as first wife, on Dion’s faulty -arrangement of the events at Nicomedia.</p> - -<p>Cornelia Paula was, as we have said, a lady -of some renown and position. Serviez tells us that -it was generally believed she had been married -before; was already, in fact, a mother of children; -and Tristran adds, enceinte by some one else at the -time of the marriage. The Emperor’s pretext for -marrying her seems to lend support to this contention. -It was that he wished the sooner to provide an heir -for the Empire, though, as Dion says, he was not as -yet a man himself. Since Cornelia had no children -by Antonine, and the reason of her divorce, as given -publicly, was a secret blemish in her body, which -was only discovered after about eighteen months of -married concord, the presumptive evidence is against -Serviez’ theory; in fact, it presupposes sterility -rather than some corporal deformity, or even over-fruitfulness; -and it, of course, gives the lie to the -gratuitous assumption of Tristran that the lady -was enceinte when Antonine married her. What -amount of genuine feeling existed between Julia -Paula and her husband we cannot even surmise. -From a psychological point of view, one would be -inclined to predicate very little. The Emperor -was too much wedded to his friends, was too -feminine in character to appreciate a wife, other<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_208"></a>[208]</span> -than, as Lampridius says, “a strumpet who could -increase his knowledge of her art.” The family -of Julius Paulus rose to the height of power as -soon as a daughter of his house became Empress. -Lampridius is not by any means definite as to -the date of Julius Paulus’ domination in the state; -though it seems natural to suppose that, when -Eutychianus Comazon vacated the Praefectship of -the Praetorium in order to become Praefect of -Rome (July 219), the Emperor’s father-in-law was -appointed in his room, and vacated this office either -at the time of his daughter’s divorce, or more probably -at an earlier date, <i>i.e.</i> when his official year -expired in July 220.</p> - -<p>The precise date of the divorce is unknown. As -we have said, there are coins struck at Alexandria -with Julia’s effigy and inscription, after 29th August -220, and others at Tripolis in Phoenicia, after -October in that year. The most likely supposition -is that Antonine divorced her somewhere in the -beginning of 221, after he had made up his mind to -take to wife the Vestal, Aquilia Severa, in accordance -with his religious scheme or ideal.</p> - -<p>Julia Cornelia Paula is the only wife of Antonine -mentioned in inscriptions, and, as we hear nothing -of her in any other way, it is improbable that she -had much importance at Court. Possibly she was -found to be of no use either to Antonine, Maesa, -Soaemias, or Mamaea, each in their separate ways, -and as such was relegated to unimportant obscurity, -neglected as a cypher. Her coin types are equally -unimportant. They make reference to the Concordia<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_209"></a>[209]</span> -which was supposed to exist between the pair, -and introduce the deities protective of matrimony. -Her portraits vary from those of a woman of sixty -odd years to the representation of a woman about -thirty years old, which latter age is almost confirmed -by her so-called bust in the Borghese collection at -the Louvre; but no known author can really do -more than guess at what this lady was as careful -to conceal as her less fortunate sisters.</p> - -<p>Lampridius tries to leave one with the impression, -that on the divorce of this Augusta (the Senate had -accorded the title at the time of the marriage) Julius -Paulus was banished. Unfortunately, he mentions -him a little later on as being tutor to Alexander (in -the beginning of the year 222). The inference is, -of course, that Lampridius took the two impressions -from conflicting sources. In all probability the -great jurisconsult, having exchanged his position as -Praefect of the Praetorium for a Court sinecure as -Alexander’s tutor, did not re-emerge into public life -until his thick-headed pupil was safely seated on the -throne. Quite what office he then occupied Pauly -has not determined. It may have been once again -the Praefecture of the Praetorium, a position second -only to that of the Emperor himself, and one which -carried with it practical sovereignty, in the Tudor -sense, only excepting the one element which went to -solidify Elizabethan greatness, the assumption of the -powers, dignities, and privileges of the ecclesiastical -headship.</p> - -<p>Julia Cornelia Paula, shorn of her title and -position some time during the winter of 220-221,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_210"></a>[210]</span> -retired into opulent privacy. No sane person would, -at that time, have pitied Julia’s lot, unless it were -because she was no longer enjoying the position of -Empress. Even in mediaeval times, when divorce -was an ecclesiastical privilege, and in consequence -most costly, it was not regarded as an unmixed evil. -Of course, it was rare, and, being ecclesiastical, carried -a certain stigma with it. Furthermore, as we have -said, it was a privilege for which there was not the same -need as in times of women’s greater freedom. No -one who, like the mediaeval husband, had canonical -permission to beat his wife when she annoyed -him, stood in vital need of dissolving the bond, -(<i>vide</i> Beaumanoir, lvii.: “Tout mari peut battre sa -femme pourvu que ce soit modérément, et sans que -mort s’ensuive”). During the epoch in question, it -was the most usual and ordinary circumstance of daily -life. It was continued interest in, not satiety with, -the charms of your spouse that created wonder -in old Rome; suffice it to say, that Julia retired, a -woman with a past, and the knowledge, that if she had -her wits about her, there was a considerable future to -look forward to. No one expressed regret at her -going, so in all probability Maesa was agreeable, -though we can scarcely think that the old lady knew -of the scheme which her grandson was concocting -when she allowed the mistake to be made without -an effort to stop his headlong swoop to ruin; a -flight which would certainly involve the whole family -on its way, unless they could dissociate themselves -from the new religious policy which dictated it.</p> - -<p>Probably along with predilection Antonine had<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_211"></a>[211]</span> -seen and admired a lady, whom Dion describes, or -makes Antonine describe, as Chief Priestess of -Vesta. With this designation Preuner emphatically -disagrees, accounting for the ἀρχιέρεια on the grounds -that she officiated in the chief worship of Rome, not -that she herself was the chief priestess. It was in -the early months of the year 221 that Antonine, -having seconded Julia Paula, took from her nunnery -the Vestal Aquilia Severa, thereby thoroughly shocking -the susceptible. We have already discussed -the reasons for this act of folly. From a religious -point of view there was much to be said by the -Emperor, and undoubtedly he said it. From an -aesthetic standpoint it was a mistake. There are -still in existence a certain number of coins and -medals which bear her effigy; these give her the -appearance of a sinister and rather evil-looking -woman, utterly unlike the helpless Neophyte, young -and beautiful, whom various writers have depicted -in their efforts to excite our pity for the poor nun -forcibly ravished by an unattractive and debauched -Emperor.</p> - -<p>The whole modern opinion of the community -of Vesta is founded on a mistaken view of their -position and usefulness. Our ideas of Vestals -are largely derived from the conceptions which -Egyptian anchorites bequeathed to the esoteric religious -communities which flourished during the middle -ages. The truth lies in the fact that the Roman -Vestals have but one point of contact with the -successors of the anchorites, namely, their reputation -for chastity, which was, however, grafted on<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_212"></a>[212]</span> -to an entirely different religious foundation. The -Vestals were a community of high-born Roman -ladies, whose duty it was to tend and preserve the -sacred fire which symbolised Rome’s existence, and, -while they worshipped the Phallus, to keep themselves -unspotted from the world, not otherwise from -its contact. In the performance of their public -functions they were admirable and most punctilious, -but they were not cloistered virgins, as we know the -race to-day. They were women of the world, with a -value enhanced by an often (according to Suetonius) -supposititious virginity; women who, clad in the -white linen garments of a blameless life, their hair -arranged in the six braids which symbolised chastity, -were the chief figures at all public functions, the -leaders of feeling at the games and gladiatorial -shows, and the arbiters of public opinion in all -that touched religion and morals, at a time when -religion and morals meant courage, bravery, patriotism, -and hardihood.</p> - -<p>It would be as absurd to impute to these women -Christian ideas of religion and morals as it would -be to transfer the same neuroticism to the Spartan -communities of a still earlier age. The ideal was -not then suffering for suffering’s sake, not even -suffering to appease an offended deity, but suffering -for the sake of virility, patriotism, and strength.</p> - -<p>As we have said, Roman religion was in the -third century what it always had been, purely political. -It was the prosperity of the Empire, its peace -and immortality, for which sacrifices were made; with -the individual, his happiness and prosperity, it concerned<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_213"></a>[213]</span> -itself not at all. The antique virtues were -civic, not personal. It was the State which had a -soul, not the individual. Man was ephemeral. It -was the nation that endured, and to secure that -permanence each citizen laboured. As for the -citizen, death was near, and so he hastened to live; -before the roses could fade, he wreathed himself with -them; immortality was, for him, in his descendants, -the continuation of his name, the respect for his -ashes. Any other form of futurity was a speculation. -In anterior epochs, fright had peopled Tartarus, -but fright had gone; the Elysian fields were -too vague, too wearisome to contemplate. “After -death,” said Cicero, “there is nothing”; and philosophy -agreed with him. Of such and kindred -religious theories the Roman statesmanship—realising -the danger of independent religions—had -constituted her Emperor supreme governor. As -Pontifex Maximus he held much the same position -as that which our Tudor Sovereigns created for -themselves as heads of the Church in England. -The Emperor was supreme over religious dogma -and practice, whenever occasion necessitated control.</p> - -<p>The old faiths were crumbling, but none the less -Rome was the abridgment of every superstition. -The Gods of the conquered had always formed part -of her spoils; to please them was easy—from -Jehovah to the unknown Gods beyond the Rhine -their worship was gore. That the upper classes -had no faith goes without saying, but of the philosophical -atheism of the upper classes the people knew -nothing; they clung piously to a faith which had a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_214"></a>[214]</span> -theological justification for every sin; and turned -with equal avidity to the Mithraic, Egyptian, and -even to the Nazarene religion with which Constantine -finally replaced the ancient worship, as long as -they were all the same thing under a different name; -the religion of the Empire with local or foreign -mysteries thrown in; the accustomed traditions, -miracles, feasts, and nature worship, unfortunately, -as men found after Constantine, grown contentious -and continually more expensive to maintain.</p> - -<p>The Vestals were still the guardians and types -of the older theories they professed; they were the -link between philosophy and superstition, and as such -they played their part admirably: in private much -the same as other women, in public exact. Occasionally -there was a public scandal, but very rarely. -Domitian had recalled the archaic law and had -buried one defaulter alive. Claudius, referring to -Messalina, had told them that the fate which made -him the husband of impure women had destined him -to punish such. The lady whom Caracalla buried -alive protested, not against the imputation of a -broken vow, but because the vow had not been -broken satisfactorily enough for her liking.</p> - -<p>Apparently Antonine was quite without Roman -prejudice in this, or indeed in any other matter. -He liked the lady; whether from a religious or an -aesthetic point of view is uncertain. If it were the -latter, and her portraits do her justice, Antonine’s -reputation as a judge of female beauty is irretrievably -gone. She was frankly old and ugly. Nevertheless -he wanted to marry her, and what he wanted he usually<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_215"></a>[215]</span> -got. Whether or not Aquilia Severa wanted him -is unknown, at any rate she was perfectly willing to -exchange supposititious virginity for the imperial -marriage bed on more than one occasion. Rome, -as we have pointed out, was shocked, frankly disgusted. -The Emperor had the report, probably -through the Senate, and thereupon pointed out to -that august body the essential piety of the proceeding: -a Vestal and the Chief Priest of the Holy God -were bound to produce children entirely divine.</p> - -<p>It was a veritably Tudor argument, than which -nothing more specious, for the allaying of prejudice, -could have been produced by Henry, the Eighth of -that name. Unfortunately, Rome in the third -century enjoyed considerably more of that Tory -virtue, and was less bored with a religion which -affected no one personally, than England was in -the sixteenth century. Rome continued to object -to the Emperor shocking her prejudices. England -changed her mind, and with it her prejudices, at the -bidding of her sovereigns, and, sacerdotal extermination -aiding, she forgot in a generation what it had -taken her a thousand years to learn.</p> - -<p>Needless to say, this union of the Emperor was -productive of nothing either human or divine, concerning -which, or as a sort of mild reflection thereupon, -Lampridius utters his psychologically illuminating -remark concerning the use this Emperor had -for wives and women generally.</p> - -<p>The history of Severa’s family is obscure. Her -father was the notable jurist Aquilius Sabinus, who -had been Praefect of Rome both in 214 and 216.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_216"></a>[216]</span> -He was the firm friend of Silius Messala, the kingmaker, -and possibly as a Senator, was one of that -gentleman’s judges when he was condemned for -treason against his sovereign. We hear further of a -son, one Fabius Sabinus, who, on account of his -wisdom and learning, has come down to history as -the Cato of his age. The daughter must have partaken -of the family ability. Her father’s senatorial -rank would, in all probability, have opened to her -the doors of that most exclusive of corporations to -which she belonged, but his position could scarcely -have raised her eyes to the imperial purple.</p> - -<div class="figcenter" style="width: 550px;"> - -<img src="images/illus8a.jpg" id="illus8a" width="550" height="275" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Cornelia Paula Augusta (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus8b.jpg" id="illus8b" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Cornelia Paula Augusta, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220-21 (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus8c.jpg" id="illus8c" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Aquilia Severa Augusta, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 220-21 (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus8d.jpg" id="illus8d" width="500" height="250" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Annia Faustina Augusta, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221-22 (British Museum).</p> - -<img src="images/illus8e.jpg" id="illus8e" width="550" height="275" alt="" /> - -<p class="caption">Coin of Julia Aquilia Severa Augusta, <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221-22 (British Museum).</p> - -<p class="caption-r"><a href="#Page_216"><i>Face page 216.</i></a></p> - -</div> - -<p>We can form no absolute judgment from the -records at our disposal, as to the precise date at -which this lady exchanged the practices of open -celibacy for those of problematical matrimony. The -most likely suggestion is that it was early in the -spring of the year 221, at a time contemporaneous -with the alliance celebrated between Elagabal and -Minerva. The Alexandrian coins bearing her -name are dated LΔ, subsequent to 29th August -220, while the coins “Aequitas Publica”—which -also bear her name—were issued early in 221, -obviously for the third distribution of money which -was held in honour of the double marriage. No -games or excitements such as celebrated Antonine’s -first alliance were at this time attempted; the -Emperor had quite enough to do in allaying the -trouble caused by the marriage itself, and in considering -projects for the furthering of his religious -schemes. Of the lady’s position and influence we -know nothing, though we can quite believe that she<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_217"></a>[217]</span> -was no friend of the elderly Maesa, or the cross-grained -mother of Alexianus, both of whom wished -her so ill. Serviez is by no means complimentary -to Severa, on account of the avidity with which she -changed her position. He calls her ambition unbounded, -though it is very doubtful whether, placed -in a similar position, any one of us would have -refused the flattery, and undoubted compliment -made to our superlative worth.</p> - -<p>The title of Augusta, of which Julia Cornelia -Paula had been relieved, was conferred on Aquilia, -and doubtless the Emperor looked forward to some -considerable degree of felicity in the company of a -woman of whose marriage every one disapproved.</p> - -<p>As we know, Antonine found out quite soon that -he had made a vital mistake; that he had attacked -the one superstition that Rome would not allow to -be touched, and, with extreme reluctance, he sent -both the Goddess and her Vestal back to their appropriate -dwellings. Antonine has been censured -right royally both for his marriage and for the consequent -divorce. Now, if the marriage were wrong, -as all the authors say, surely the divorce was right; -certainly Rome thought so, since his compliance -with national wishes seems to have won men over, -and appeased their minds, thus restoring the Emperor -to his popularity. Why then did he further -alienate them by remarrying Severa in the early -part of the next year, as Dion and the coins relate? -It is a mystery.</p> - -<p>Antonine does not seem to have done anything -at all for the family of this wife; there is no record<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_218"></a>[218]</span> -of any offices held by them, or official appointments -given, taken, or received by men of their -name. Of course, they may have got jobs which -came under the generic term of “appointment of -unfit persons”; if so, we have no record of what -they got, while the duration of the marriage was so -abbreviated that there was scarcely time for any -scandal to develop. The date of the divorce, like -all the dates of the reign, can only be fixed approximately. -It was not before the early spring and not -later than the end of June, by which time Julia -Maesa had regained her power (what she had of it) -over the mind of Antonine, that she persuaded him -to return both Minerva and her personification to -their respective homes, to send for Astarte, for -Elagabal, to marry Annia Faustina himself, and, -above all, to adopt Alexianus; which latter ceremony -took place some time before 10th July 221. We -can well imagine the boy’s disgust at the failure of -his plans and at the early loss of a friend in Aquilia, -who, as both Dion and Herodian tell us, was -Empress for only a little time.</p> - -<p>One of the greatest obstacles which the imperial -family had met with was their lack of connection -with the Roman nobility. No doubt this could -easily have been remedied. Maesa might have -tried to make her first alliance in this direction; she -seems to have imagined, however, that such persons -were extinct. They had died twice, we are told, -at Pharsalus and Philippi, and those who had not -died then had suffered for real or imaginary crimes -under succeeding Emperors. The absolutely necessary<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_219"></a>[219]</span> -step, therefore, which Maesa had to take in -this policy of alliance was to find the most influential -marriageable woman in Rome and put her into -the place that Aquilia Severa was holding to the -jeopardy of all concerned. The lady appeared as if -by a miracle. Amongst other persons who disapproved -of Antonine’s proceedings were the two -Senators Silius Messala and Pomponius Bassus, of -whom mention has already been made, as having been -concerned in a plot for dethroning the Emperor. Both -had been men of importance for years. Pomponius -Bassus had been Consul under Septimius Severus -and Governor of Mysia under Caracalla. In fact, -so important were they in their own estimation, -that nothing set bounds to their ambition. Already -between them they had contrived the deposition of -the Emperor Julianus, and the election of Septimius, -and, like the great Earl of Warwick of fifteenth-century -fame, they were by no means averse to -putting their heads together once again, in order to -rid the state of whomsoever they thought <i>incapax -imperii</i>.</p> - -<p>Now, this was just the work that Mamaea -wanted. For other reasons, Maesa was not averse -to the plot. The gentlemen held a secret court to -examine into the Emperor’s actions, and presumably -they found him <i>incapax</i>, so set to work to -corrupt the guards in the usual fashion.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately for Antonine, that infamous system -of informers which had flourished and been of such -vital use under former Emperors (under his father -Caracalla, to go no further back for an example)<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_220"></a>[220]</span> -was considered by his own government as harsh and -objectionable, an utterly intolerable practice in a good -and settled state. Antonine had, therefore, refused -to allow delators to assist the government. This -being the case, he ought to have apprehended all -known traitors himself. Messala and Bassus were -known for such; they had always been dangerous -persons. Nevertheless, Antonine left them at large. -True, as Lampridius tells us, he did send for Silius -Messala and probably also Pomponius Bassus to -come to him at Nicomedia, because he considered it -safer to keep these gentlemen with him in the East -than to allow their tongues to wag freely in Rome, -before such time as he had dictated his own terms -of government to the Senate and people. When -they returned to Rome, these men obviously -plotted freely in the accustomed way until they -approached too many soldiers, after which time -they were condemned by the Senate, and sent -to other spheres of usefulness, or, as they themselves -would have put it, to an endless nothingness, -where an absence of all energy could do neither -good nor evil. It is quite impossible to fix the -exact date of this execution. There is a tendency to -assign it to the early part of the reign, <i>i.e.</i>, about -the beginning of the year 219, whilst the Court -resided at Nicomedia; this, on the very frail -evidence that their names appear amongst Dion’s -list of those who were executed during the reign, -which list was published amongst the acts of the first -winter. No cause has been shown, however, for -any plot to dethrone and murder the Emperor at<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_221"></a>[221]</span> -that date; indeed, until the religious mistake in -221, any such plot would have been utterly -impossible, though there is plenty of evidence -concerning the various attempts of the years 221 -and 222, of which almost certainly this conspiracy -was one. The execution was obviously connected, -in Dion’s mind, with Antonine’s third marriage. -He says that the real reason, as every one knew, -was because the Emperor wanted to play David -to Bassus’ Uriah, with Annia Faustina taking the -hackneyed part of Bathsheba.</p> - -<p>But it is a stupid story. Antonine was married -to a woman of his own choosing, and certainly did -not want the friend of his grandmother, even though -to please that relation he did take Annia almost as -soon as her husband was dead. This is again the -only possible explanation of Dion’s phrase that -“This inhuman monster (<i>i.e.</i> Antonine) would not -allow Annia Faustina to spoil her beauty by weeping -for her departed husband,” a story either adapted -from the similar lie related of Caracalla and his -mother, or designed to do honour to the work of the -unconscionable traitor Pomponius. It is quite -true that Maesa found ample means of drying any -tears that the usual decencies extracted from the -Lady Annia; but, as things turned out, no one -seemed more anxious than this scion of the imperial -house of Commodus to marry the present Antonine, -despite all his relations’ epithets, and, through these, -what later commentators have found to say against -the boy.</p> - -<p>Annia Faustina was the only wife of Antonine<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_222"></a>[222]</span> -who did not assume the title of Julia; this, -presumably, because she was the only lady who -had a name of her own by birth. Her genealogy -is obscure, at least on her mother’s -side. Everybody is agreed that she was great-granddaughter -of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius -through his fourth daughter Arria Fadilla. This -lady married a certain Cn. Claudius Severus, -whose son Ti. Claudius Severus was Annia’s -father. Authorities disagree as to the wife of -Titus. Pauly does not mention any marriage, -presumably on the grounds that all are conjectural; -Ramsay, from an inscription found in Phrygia, -postulates that he married a second cousin, one -of the Cornificia family. Tristran asserts that it -was yet another cousin, Aurelia Sabina. Eckhel’s -genealogy is too obscure to be of much use, though -he also traces the descent of Titus’ wife to Lucilla, -yet another relation. The main contention is, -however, the same in all cases: Annia was descended -on both sides from the imperial house of Commodus, -unless the amours of the younger wife of the Emperor -Marcus Aurelius made it more probable that some -lusty soldier or gladiator, rather than her philosophical -husband, had been responsible for the -accidents of her children’s birth. Be that as it may, -Arria Fadilla had passed with the rest of the family -as an imperial child, and her descendants enjoyed -her worship and renown.</p> - -<p>As usual, we are told that Annia was young and -beautiful, neither of which statements is borne out -by the coins extant; to judge from these one would<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_223"></a>[223]</span> -postulate that she was between forty and forty-five -years of age at the time of her marriage with -Antonine. Eckhel states definitely that she was -thirty-eight years old at that period. Pauly ventures -on neither the date of her birth nor death. It is, -therefore, most unwise to assert, as the biographers -do, what neither portraits nor authorities will in -any way corroborate.</p> - -<p>As with her age, so with her life: Annia’s words, -deeds and political aspirations are quite unknown -to us. Obviously, coming at the political juncture of -Antonine’s mistake, and bringing the alliance with -the old nobility that Maesa wanted by way of -support, Annia was the friend of the Alexander -party in the state. As such, she must have been an -extraordinary annoyance to the Emperor and his -friends. Certainly, from Lampridius’ accounts, the -boy-husband was moody, distrustful, and generally -miserable during the whole of this period, which -does not presuppose connubial felicity.</p> - -<p>There is no mention of Annia having taken any -special part either for or against her husband in the -network of treasonable attempts which his family were -continually trying. We do not even know how the -marriage was dissolved. The natural presumption is -that he divorced Annia, as he had divorced Cornelia -and Aquilia, though it is allowable in the absence of -the usual gibe at his inconstancy, or any suggestion of -foul play, to suppose that she died—allowable, but not -very probable. Antonine obviously took her as part -of his grandmother’s scheme, and got rid of her -when he tried to get rid of Alexander, by repudiating<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_224"></a>[224]</span> -the adoption. Dion relates that he then took -two nameless women to wife, finally returning to -Aquilia Severa. The first part of the statement is -obviously a fiction. All Antonine, or any one of his -temperament, wanted from a wife was friendship and -affection; this he certainly had in Aquilia, whom he -only divorced as a precautionary measure, and -whom he certainly took back just as soon as he -could get rid of Annia.</p> - -<p>Of course, to divorce Annia, a really important -imperial lady, was a disagreeable step; it would -alienate the whole of the upper classes, unless he -could show reason for the change. Annia, by the -extreme eagerness with which she had jumped at -the chance of being Empress, was certainly not -going to be party to the divorce—not that her consent -was necessary in such times of freedom, when -divorce was of daily occurrence, even in the best-regulated -families. Cicero divorced his wife, we are -told, because she did not idolise him; Caesar his, on -the pretext that she ought to be above suspicion. -Certainly no actual misconduct was necessary, unless -the whim of the moment be regarded as such. -Antonine exercised this right to act on his whim, or -rather on his knowledge that the lady was an unnecessary -burden, but it cost him dear, the lady was -not born to take such snubs in a chastened spirit, -even if her imperial relations liked to adopt that -attitude, which is, to say the least of it, an unlikely -supposition.</p> - -<p>The odd ladies may be ignored. Dion says they -were wives, not concubines. But time did not<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_225"></a>[225]</span> -permit of so many weddings and divorces; while the -Emperor’s inclination, continually veering back to -Aquilia, would not have let him try so many others. -Dion tells us that Antonine remarried this Vestal -before the last and fatal plot was set on foot; a -statement which is corroborated by certain Alexandrian -coins struck after 29th August 221. It was -a proceeding, as far as we can judge, more mad than -his first mistake. Admitting that Antonine knew -that his first error, in taking the nun to wife, had -angered the people, it is impossible for us to imagine -why he took her again, thus once more upsetting -the city. It was the most unaccountable blunder, -and one which would finally alienate those whom he -had so lately tried to propitiate. There may have -been goodness in the act, kindness towards the -woman, who had given up so much for his sake. -There is goodness everywhere, often the basis of -evil is in that virtue; certainly much madness may -be traced to it.</p> - -<p>In reading the account of this epoch, one feels as -though one were assisting at the spectacle of a -gigantic asylum where the inmates were omnipotent. -From this disease of madness Rome might have -recovered, had not her delirium, which was fine, -turned to softening of the brain. Until a century -later, there was hope, because the guilt was -conscious; it was only when guilt became ignorance, -that Rome disappeared.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_226"></a>[226]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PART_II">PART II</h2> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_227"></a>[227]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE PSYCHOLOGY OF THE EMPEROR ELAGABALUS</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>“I would never have written the life of Antoninus -Impurissimus,” said Lampridius, “were it not that -he had predecessors.” Even in Latin the task was -difficult. In English it would be impossible, at least -Lampridius’ life. There are subjects that permit of -a hint, particularly if it be masked to the teeth, but -there are others that no art can drape, not even the -free use of Latin substantives. Our task therefore -is to deal, rather with their sins of omission, than -with the biographers’ offences against all canons of -good taste in recording the inexpressible. In his work -on the Caesars, Suetonius displayed the eccentricities -simply, without adding any descriptive placards; -therein lay Suetonius’ advantage; he was able to -describe; nowadays a writer may not, at least not -the character we possess of Elagabalus. It is not -that he was depraved, for all his house was; it is, that, -like many moderns, he made depravity a pursuit, -and the aegis of the purple has carried the stories<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_228"></a>[228]</span> -beyond the limits of the imaginable, let alone -beyond the limits of the real. Were we to accept -unexamined, the testimony of his traducers of the -Christian era, we would gather that “at the feet of -that painted boy Elephantis and Parrhasius could -have sat and learned a lesson,” that “apart from -that phase of his sovereignty, he was a little Sardanapalus, -an Asiatic Mignon, who found himself -great.” Of course it would have been curious to -see him in that wonderful palace, clothed like a -Persian queen, insisting that he should be addressed -as Imperatrix, and quite living up to the title. It -would not only have been interesting, it would have -given one an insight into how much Rome saw and -how much she could stand.</p> - -<p>Lampridius himself drew breath once, to remark -that he could not vouch for the truth of the stories -he was committing to paper, but he was employed -to show the contrast between Constantine’s “execrable -superstition,” as Tacitus describes it, and -those of the ancient world, so went on to record -things even more impossible. Perhaps his remark -was unnecessary. His record has defeated its own -end. He has come down to posterity as the -biographer whose contradictory collection of scandalous -enumerations becomes monotonous rather -than amusing as he gets deeper into the mire. For -ages the world has secretly revelled over these -records, making no sort of effort to get at the truth, -perhaps because, in secret, men like to believe that -their predecessors were more inhumanly wicked -than they are themselves. Not that, in the light of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_229"></a>[229]</span> -modern science, any physician would consider Elagabalus -inhumanly wicked, any more than he would -be inclined to apply the term to a man born blind, -or with the taint of leprosy in his system; in fact -even wickedness itself has been described as “a -myth invented by good people to account for the -curious attractiveness of those whom they dislike.” -The greater part of the dislike which men have exhibited -towards this Emperor and his faults comes -from the fact that he was psycho-sexually abnormal, -and was possessed of a genius for the aesthetic and -the religious that his historians wished to decry. He -was evidently abnormal, even in an age that produced -abnormalities like Nero, Tiberius, Commodus, -and Hadrian; further, he was frankly abnormal, -and to-day we know better than to be frank about -anything.</p> - -<p>Since the world began, no one has been wholly -wicked, no one wholly good. The truth about -Elagabalus must lie between the two extremes, -admitting, however, a congenital twist towards the -evil tendencies of his age. He had habits which -are regarded by scientists less as vices than as -perversions, but which, at the time, were accepted -as a matter of course. Men were then regarded as -virtuous when they were brave, when they were -honest, when they were just; and this boy did, -despite his hereditary taint, show more than dashes -of these virtues. The idea of using the expression -“virtuous” in its later sense, occurred, if -at all, in jest merely, as a synonym for a eunuch. -It was the matron and the vestal who were supposed<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_230"></a>[230]</span> -to be virtuous, and their virtue was often -supposititious.</p> - -<p>The ceremonies connected with the Phallus, and -those observed in the rituals of the city were of a -nature that only the infirm could withstand. Indeed, -the symbol of human life was then omnipresent. -Iamblichus, the philosopher, has much to say on the -subject; so have Arnobius and Lactantius. If -Juvenal, Martial, and Petronius are more reticent, -it is because they are not Fathers of the Church nor -yet antiquarians. The symbol was on the coins, -over the bakers’ ovens; as a preservative against -envy it hung from the necks of children; the vestals -worshipped it; at weddings it was used in a manner -which need not be described. It was a religious -emblem, and as such formed the chief symbol in the -training of the boy who was now ruler of the world. -By birth a Syrian, by profession High Priest of the -Sun, whose devotees worshipped the Phallus as his -symbol, was it likely that he, the chief exponent, -should remain cold, should take no interest in what -was an all-absorbing topic? Besides which, the -family was corrupted by the presence of a living -fire in their veins, engendered by the perpetual -heat of the sun. Consider the history of his relations, -and no one will wonder that he was by nature -voluptuous. But it was not his voluptuousness that -the world objected to; it was the abnormal condition -of his mind; because in the body of the man resided -the soul with all the natural passions of a woman. -He was what the world knew as a Psycho-sexual -Hermaphrodite.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_231"></a>[231]</span></p> - -<p>In form he was attractive and exceedingly graceful; -his hair, which was very fair, glistened like gold -in the sun; he was slender and possessed of glorious -blue eyes, which in turn were endowed with the -power of attracting all beholders to his worship; and -he knew his power over men; he had first realised -it when the legionaries flocked to the temple at -Emesa attracted by the reports of this Prince -Charming. He was then just at the age of incipient -manhood, and his woman’s instinct taught him, -as no outside force could have done, that virility -and strength were the finest things in the world; -his religion, surroundings, and education told him -nothing about the restraint of, what was to him, a -perfectly natural, perhaps even an hereditary -passion, the exercise of which so endeared him -to the soldiers that they forthwith placed him upon -the throne of the world. As Emperor he had every -desire, and was under no compulsion to abstain -from gratifying the craving to study and exaggerate -that swift, vivid, violent age, when what -Mill in his Essay on Liberty desired was enjoyed -by the Augustitudes, “There was no check on -the growth of personality, no grinding down of -men to meet the average.” Not that any one has -ever accused Elagabalus of being average. In no -particular can he be considered mediocre. Perhaps -his life and habits were not those to which the virile -Roman world was addicted, despite the fact that -Hadrian had deified, in Antinous, not a lad, but a -lust, whose worship, a half-century later, Tertullian -noted was still popular; since which time Christian<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_232"></a>[232]</span> -diatribes of all kinds have been levelled against the -pagans of the decadence, merely because their -atriums dropped, not blood, but metaphysics.</p> - -<p>Were it permitted to examine Elagabalus’ extravagances -in print, we should at once realise that -they are those common (in a greater or less degree) -to all animals at the age of puberty, where instinct -has not associated the developing powers with any -one special person or thing, but that they are, in this -instance, exaggerated by the traits of his heredity -and surroundings. What character should we expect -to-day from a child of nature if he were free -with an unbounded liberty, and rich beyond the -efforts of imagination, to say nothing of the possession -of a congenitally perverted instinct? The -more one sifts the records, the clearer it appears -that Elagabalus’ actions are those of an incredibly -generous person, instinctively trusting, open-hearted -and affectionate, a mighty contrast, both in his -pleasures and his punishments, to the persons who -preceded him, and to his successors, who mistook -new superstitions for progress in the development -of the world. The example he set in tolerance of -opinions not his own, and his reluctance, to punish -those who opposed him, must have led men to expect -great things from his manhood. Alone of all the -Emperors he stands out with the proud boast that -no murder for political or avaricious purposes can -be laid to his charge. There were a few executions, -amongst the adherents of Macrinus, rendered necessary -by attempts to take the crown from the new -Emperor; but despite the fact of serious provocation,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_233"></a>[233]</span> -his amnesty to the Senate and to Rome, for -their participation in the usurpation of Macrinus and -his son, was scrupulously kept. In religious -matters—his special domain—no one can say that he -was apathetic, and yet there is no instance of persecution -recorded, even by Fathers of the Church. -His whole life was devoted to the introduction of a -fantastic eastern monotheism, designed to extinguish -the polytheistic atheism which permeated -Roman society. Undoubtedly opposition and bitterness -would have been raised if the Emperor had not -shown a moderation foreign to his years, unless he had -exercised a restraining influence over a mob which -was still thirsting for the blood of the Judaisers, -as later records demonstrate. In one particular, -however, we are told that Elagabalus was fierce, -namely, in the contradiction of his pleasures, none of -which can in fairness be said to have affected the -outside world. He might have been led; certainly -he could not be driven; what Antonine could? -His tutor Gannys found this out too late, and suffered -for his mistake.</p> - -<p>With a singular lack of consistency, Lampridius -ascribes all Elagabalus’ moderation to his grandmother -Maesa, all his excesses to his own fault, -whereas psychologists can demonstrate from a mass -of similar cases that both his virtues and excesses -are those usually exhibited by one of his temperament, -and at any rate his relations were responsible -for his lack of early training and non-association with -sane, healthy-minded persons.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly Maesa’s influence, in the executive<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_234"></a>[234]</span> -government, was an aggravating factor; but considering -the state of autonomy which the machine -had then reached, and the large influence exerted -by favourites, it cannot be said that she was -supreme; indeed, on more than one occasion, we see -the boy of fourteen years opposing her influence most -strenuously, especially after she had hoodwinked -him into appointing Alexianus as his coadjutor in -the Empire. It was pitiable, then, to see the old -lady’s efforts to retain her position; this, however, -she only managed to do by persuading the troops -to mutiny and slay her grandson. There is not -much to be said for either party, but Elagabalus -obviously found relations a tedious pack of people, -and their influence, like drugs, best taken in small -quantities.</p> - -<p>Quite a cursory study of authorities on psychology, -such as Krafft-Ebing, Bloch, Forel, Moll, etc., -will show us that characters like Elagabalus have -occasionally appeared, and are still known in history. -They are almost curiosities of nature, and are rarely -if ever responsible for their own instincts, neither -are they cruel nor evil by nature.</p> - -<p>To-day we are inclined to regard the romantic -friendships exhibited in the stories of David and -Jonathan, Herakles and Hylas, Apollo and Hyacinth, -to mention no others, as the outcome of somewhat -similar natures, and we decry some of the -noblest patriots, tyrannicides, lawgivers, and heroes, -in the early ages of Greece, because they regarded -the bond of male friendship as higher and nobler -than what they called the sensual love for women,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_235"></a>[235]</span> -or because they received friends and comrades with -peculiar honour on account of their staunchness in -friendship. Nevertheless, psychologists have noted -that this tendency towards the more elevated forms -of homosexual feeling is still to be found, more or -less developed, amongst religious leaders and other -persons with strong ethical instincts. It is only -therefore when this tendency occurs in slightly -abnormal minds that we excite our passions against -men whom our imagination alone has branded as -debased criminals, men for whom the only fitting -reward is an application of the stake and faggot, -without further inquiry.</p> - -<p>To the vulgar-minded, all persons who present -deformities, whether physical or mental, are subjects -of derision and hatred; to those who realise something -of the disabilities under which these unfortunates -are labouring, they are the objects of either -active or passive sympathy,—in the abstract, of -course; should the insane, the leprous, or even the -man of genius get in our way we, as normal persons, -feel ourselves justified in ridding the world of its -nuisance. It is thus that the instinct of fear, rather -than that of justice, spurs us on to use the collective -strength of the average, to exaggerate the abnormalities -of the few; but it is not a high or noble instinct, -this fear which has led men for many centuries -through a mire of cruelty, superstition, and deceit; -and it is under this lack of justice that the memory -of Elagabalus has long suffered. No credit has -been given him for the quality of mercy which he -displayed, though an absurd charge of cruelty has<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_236"></a>[236]</span> -been preferred, on the ground that he occasionally -took luncheon in the circus during the progress of -the games; his biographer gratuitously assuming -that it was only done when there were criminals -to be executed. Another absurd charge of cruelty -has been raised on account of Antonine’s passion -for flowers, of which, says Lampridius, such masses -fell from panels in the ceiling that many were -smothered; an obvious exaggeration, unless the -guests were paralytics or suicidal lunatics, and, as -even the author’s account mentions no compulsion -put on these gentlemen thus to die, he would seem -to invite a verdict of death by misadventure, rather -than by design, however aesthetic.</p> - -<p>There was nothing sinister about Elagabalus’ -feasts, nothing after the style of Domitian’s little -supper parties, where all was melanic, walls, ceilings, -linen, slaves; parties to which every one worth -knowing was ultimately bidden, and, as usual in -state functions, every one that was bidden came, -only to find a broken column inscribed with a too -familiar name behind his allotted couch, and Domitian -talking very wittily about the proscriptions and -headsmen he had arranged for each.</p> - -<p>Caligula and Vitellius had been famous as hosts, -but the feasts that Elagabalus gave outranked theirs -for sheer splendour. His guests certainly suffered -from his passion for teasing, and to dine with the -Emperor in such a mood was no sybaritic enjoyment. -He might serve you with wax game and -sweets of crystal, the counterparts of what he was -eating himself, and expect evident signs of enjoyment<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_237"></a>[237]</span> -as you endeavoured to masticate the representation; -he would seat you on air cushions, and -have them deflated surreptitiously, thoroughly enjoying -your discomfort; but when that was over you -would be served with camels’ heels, platters of -nightingales’ tongues, ostriches’ brains (six hundred at -a time), prepared with that garum sauce which the -Sybarites invented, and of which the secret is lost. -Therewith were peas and grains of gold, beans and -amber, quail powdered with pearl dust, lentils and -rubies, spiders in jelly, fig-peckers served in pastry. -The guests that wine overcame were carried to -bedrooms; when they awoke, there, staring at them, -were tigers and leopards—tame, of course, but some -of the guests were stupid enough not to know it, -and died of fright. It might not be pleasant to be -promised adorable sirens, and to find oneself shut -up for the night with an elderly Ethiopian, but it was -not essentially cruel or debased, at least not from -the humorist point of view, as was proved by the -laughter of the Emperor at the sight of your disgusted -face when he let you out in the morning. -Unless you were fond of the water, it could not -have been a pleasant experience to take the part of a -water Ixion—tied to a revolving wheel—for the Emperor’s -lust of the eye; but if you submitted to these -things, you were sure of a reward more liberal than -any you had expected. Lampridius reports that no -guests left the Emperor’s presence with empty hands. -After dinner he would give you the gold and silver -plate from which you had eaten, or cause you to -draw lots for prizes which varied from a dead dog to<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_238"></a>[238]</span> -the half of his daily revenue. Elagabalus saw no -virtue in sending men away in the style of Domitian -with their heads under their arms,—it was too conventionally -the pose of the Christian martyr.</p> - -<p>The description applied to Caesar’s sexual condition -can with equal justice be applied to this youth -of seventeen. He was a woman for all men, and a -man for all women, at least if one can judge by the -number of wives he married during his short reign -of less than four years. The number was six, -according to Dion Cassius. Three of them were -well-known women, one a Vestal, by whom he -designed to produce a demi-god. The others are -only referred to, their names are quite unknown. -By none of them, however, had he any issue, which -perhaps is as well, since he frequently remarked that -should he have children, he would bring them up to -his way of living, in his outlook on life, and the -world could scarcely have stood a successor of his -abnormal temperament. How far his marriages -were true matrimony we do not know, but the fact -of his going through the ceremony presupposes that -the statements of Lampridius and Zonaras to the -effect that he was initiated a priest of Cybele (in the -full sense) are exaggerations, and also that the -operation which would have made him a woman to -outward appearance as well as in sentiment and -affections, never took place; indeed, this is impossible -on both physiological and psychological -grounds.</p> - -<p>Despite these marriages, the one romance of this -boy’s life was with the fair-haired chariot-driver<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_239"></a>[239]</span> -Hierocles. His identity is somewhat involved, -though Dion Cassius states that he was a Carian -slave, by profession a chariot-driver. This lad -found his fortune by a mere accident. One day he -was thrown from his chariot, right against the imperial -pulvinar, and lost his helmet. Elagabalus -was there and at once noted the perfect profile and -curly hair of the athlete. He had him transferred -to the palace, where on account of a similarity of -taste the intimacy soon ripened into love, and that -again, according to Xiphilinus, into a contract of -marriage.</p> - -<p>Hierocles must have been the best, and certainly -was the most powerful, of that army of sycophants -and courtesans which had always thronged the Roman -Court. We have no complaints against his exercise -of authority, though Lampridius says that his power -exceeded that of the Emperor himself. His banishment -was demanded, with that of others, in the -first mutiny, but he was immediately allowed to -return, despite the fact that Elagabalus meditated -conferring the imperial title upon him. He -was a good son, and in his prosperity was in -no way ashamed of his mother. He openly purchased -her from her owners, and sent a company of -the Praetorian Guard to bring her to Rome, there -placing her amongst the women whose husbands had -been Consuls. He appears to have been proud not -only of his position, but also of the Emperor’s love for -him, as the story of the Smyrnian Zoticus related by -Xiphilinus and Zonaras well illustrates. They relate -how he gave the youth a drug which made him useless<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_240"></a>[240]</span> -to the Emperor during the first night, and thus procured -his expulsion from the palace, though probably -the story of Zoticus’ disgrace, on account of his -treachery and venality (Lampridius’ version) contains -as much truth as any other. Certainly Hierocles -had no just cause for fear; Elagabalus’ affection -was too feminine, too deep-rooted, to do more than -tease the man from whose hands, like many another -woman in history, he was more than willing to take -ill-usage and stripes, if only they were signs of -jealousy or proofs of affection.</p> - -<p>Of course there were others. The Elagabalus of -whom Lampridius treats was a second Messalina in -the variety of his tastes, and in the frequency of -his visits to the various lupanars of the city, and -like this Empress he measured his attractiveness -by the amount of gold he could carry home after -such expeditions. He cultivated the class of person -who could discourse on the spintries with which -Tiberius had refreshed his jaded mind and enfeebled -frame, and made much of the man who could -invent new sauces or other species of Sybaritic -enjoyment. All such he treated with consideration, -teased them and excited them, it is true, but pampered -and fed them (sometimes, exclusively on -their own inventions, till they could produce something -more palatable), and loaded them with gifts, -honours, offices, dignities, until they learnt that the -condition of perfection is idleness, the aim of perfection -is youth. We can well imagine the fury of -the legitimate office seekers when they saw these -children of pleasure preferred before them.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_241"></a>[241]</span></p> - -<p>In a discussion on his psychology mention must -be made of Elagabalus’ love of colour. To the -Roman, white in its cleanliness and simplicity was -the acme of an aesthetic taste, though the profusion -of purple borderings, the mingling of scarlet and -gold, showed his kinship with the children of the -south. Syria, and the East generally, loved that -mass of brilliancy which relieves the aridity of the -land; Elagabalus, posing as the aesthete of his -time, annoyed the Roman world by his love of -purple and shaded silk garments, by his passion for -green, in all its known shades, and for feasts in -which everything was in the deep azure of a cloudless -sky. To-day we still cultivate colour schemes -without much hostile comment, as it takes the -philosopher to discover their puerility, the prurient-minded -their wickedness and degeneracy.</p> - -<p>We are told that the blatant discussions of his -amusements made right-minded men blush, causing -ultimate nausea for his tastes and opinions. But it -could only have been the few he had the opportunity -of disgusting; the majority had heard the same -before and showed no desire to be shocked. Other -Emperors had been as outspoken, be it said to their -reprobation as well as to his, but other Emperors -had not been so good-hearted, so filled with the -charity that thinketh no wrong. When they had -scented opposition they had removed the cause -forthwith; Elagabalus let it grow and strengthen -till it swallowed him up.</p> - -<p>It may be that, as Lampridius says, his effeminacy -disgusted the virile Roman world. It was a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_242"></a>[242]</span> -vice as reprehensible then as now. The genius of -the Greek and Roman friendships was all against -the weak softness of the Semitic races. Greek -love had been regulated “to strengthen hardihood, -to breed a contempt for death, to overcome the -sweet desire for life, to humanise cruelty, to which -powers almost as much veneration is due as to -the cult of the Immortal Gods,” says Valerius -Maximus, in his treatise <i>De amicitiae vinculo</i>. -It would have been small wonder if the whole -mass of healthy-minded individuals had turned -from Lampridius’ picture of this little painted -quean of seventeen years, who never showed in -himself any traits of manliness, except when he was -on the seat of judgment. If he had been portrayed -as wholly woman, or wholly man, we could have -understood him, but for this strange admixture even -the physicians are at a loss to account, almost to -understand. He had his good qualities and had them -in plenty, but overshadowing them all, like a terrible -blight, there was this organic affliction of the senses, -passions, and general outlook. Unfortunately, this -blight of femininity still exists in the world to a -certain extent, especially amongst religious persons. -Gulick holds that the reason why only 7 per cent of -young men attend the Christian churches is because -the qualities demanded are feminine not virile, such -as passive love, passive suffering, rest, prayer, trust; -whereas Confucianism and Mahommedanism attract -men because the demand is for virile qualities, and -the place for women is small. Such faiths make even -more than individual demands on the virtues of<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_243"></a>[243]</span> -courage, endurance, self-control, bravery, loyalty, -and enthusiasm. Gulick says also, that the able-bodied -boy who lacks the courage to fight is -generally a milksop, or a sneak, without any high -sense of honour.</p> - -<p>In this epitome of the qualities demanded of -men we see the true grounds on which the world -has instinctively condemned Elagabalus, though -probably without quite knowing why they did so. -It is because they have been told that he possessed -the virtues, along with the mind, of the -woman, and a voluptuous woman at that, and had -nothing of what the world expects to find in the -male animal. His reign was short, so he left no -traces of his mind on the Empire, and what little he -did effect was reversed by his successor. His reign -of prodigal extravagance caused not one single new -impost; his government of the city and provinces -alike was one of peace and harmony. That infamous -system of informers under which the aristocracy -and plutocracy of Rome had suffered so direly -up to the death of Caracalla was never re-established -by Elagabalus; despite the fact that his rule -had been subverted, on more than one occasion, by -the existing aristocrats. The people was sovereign, -and it was important that that sovereign should be -amused, flattered, and fed. All was done that had -been done before by the demi-gods, and all was done -with an exaggeration unparalleled. His games in the -circus were such that even Lampridius admits the -people considered him a worthy Emperor, because -he was endowed with a sense of the grandeur of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_244"></a>[244]</span> -imperial position, and expressed it by his marvellous -prodigalities. They made him what he was, -and has ever remained in history, the Emperor of -extravagance. In him the glow of the purple -reached its apogee. Rome had been watching a -crescendo that had mounted with the ages. Its -culmination was in this hermaphrodite. But the -tension had been too great, even for the solidarity -of Imperial Rome; it was as though the mainspring -had snapped, and the age of anarchy, both military -and religious, did the rest: undermining the State, -till the Emperors, whose sceptre had lashed both -gods and sky, became little better than a procession -of bandits, coloured and ornate it is true, but -utterly lacking in that strength and virility which -is the essential of real government throughout the -world.</p> - -<p>Thus did Rome make way for Attila, the scourge -whom God sent for the final extinction of art and -philosophy, and incidentally for the refurbishing of -the world under its mediaeval guise.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_245"></a>[245]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE EXTRAVAGANCES OF THE EMPEROR ELAGABALUS</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>The Rome of Elagabalus was a dream aflame with -gold, “a city of triumphal arches, enchanted temples, -royal dwellings, vast porticoes, and wide, hospitable -streets; a Rome purely Greek in conception and -design. On its heart, from the Circus Maximus to -the Forum’s edge, the remains of the gigantic -Palace of Nero still shone, fronted by a stretch of -columns a mile in length; a palace so wonderful that -even the cellars were frescoed. In the baths of -porphyry and verd-antique you had waters cold or -sulphurous at will, and these Elagabalus threw open -to all whose forms pleased him, men and women -alike” (a custom of mixed bathing which had been -abolished by Hadrian and was again proscribed by -Alexander Severus). “The dining-halls had ivory -ceilings, from which flowers fell, and wainscots that -changed at every service. The walls were alive -with the glisten of gems, with marbles rarer than -jewels. In one hall was a dome of sapphire, a floor -of malachite, crystal columns and red gold walls; -about the palace were green savannahs, forest -reaches, the call of the bird and deer; before it was<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_246"></a>[246]</span> -a lake, eight acres of which Vespasian had drained -and replaced by an amphitheatre, which is still the -wonder of the world.”</p> - -<p>Into this profusion of aesthetic loveliness the -youth of fourteen summers stepped proudly, realising -how fitting a background it made to his glorious -beauty. It was Nero’s creation, and here was -a young Nero (in face and manner) suddenly reappeared -to enjoy what he had been prematurely -forced to leave.</p> - -<p>In spite of everything, Nero was still the idol of -the masses. For years fresh roses had lain on his -tomb, the memory of his festivals was unforgettable, -regret for him refused to be stilled; he was more -than a god, he was a tradition, and his second -advent was confidently expected. The Egyptians -had proclaimed that the soul has its avatars; the -Romans had sneered in their philosophical fashion -at all ideas of soul migration till Elagabalus sauntered -from that distant Emesa, an Antonine at the -head of an adoring army; then they began to think -that the Egyptians were wiser than they looked, for -in the blue eyes of the young Emperor the spirit of -Nero’s magnificence shone.</p> - -<p>All men were charmed; the Senate with their -Aurelius, the people with their Nero, the army with -their Antonine. Certainly in profusion Elagabalus -was destined to rival his prototype. His prodigalities -were more excessive, his mignons more blatant, -his wives more numerous, and his processions more -splendid. Only in cruelty (at which none can cavil) -did the resemblance fail. Nero had regretted his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_247"></a>[247]</span> -ability to write when first a death-warrant was presented -for his signature; he appended his name and -soon found the taste for blood. Elagabalus wept at -the sight of suffering, poverty and misery to the end -of his life; and as he never avoided seeing it, he -must have wept often. In fact, a favourite pastime, -according to Herodian, was wandering disguised -through the purlieus of the city; sometimes he -would serve as potboy in the taverns, or as barber’s -assistant in the slums, as itinerant vendor of vegetables -and perfumes about the streets; which antics -assume a most reprehensible flavour in the mouth -of the historians after the Emperor had conceived -the notion of taking the world into his confidence -and had ordered paintings of himself in the plebeian -garbs above mentioned. Any way, Elagabalus -tried to alleviate distress, which was more practical -than tears, though an unusual extravagance amongst -the Emperors of the decadence.</p> - -<p>From his infancy the boy had gloried in extravagance. -Even as a private citizen we are told that -he refused to stir without a procession of sixty chariots -following, a foible which had caused Maesa to gnash -her teeth instead of adopting measures which would -prevent the recurrence of such ostentation. He had -never even thought of austerity, simplicity, and poverty -as necessary evils, let alone as Christian virtues, to -be borne with fortitude and temperance. Once -when a friend asked him whether he was not afraid -that his prodigalities would land him in ultimate -necessity, he replied with an astounding self-complacency, -“What can be better for me than to be<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_248"></a>[248]</span> -heir to myself.” Like many a modern child, he -objected to woollen garments, and his parents were -foolish enough to give way to his whimsies; he -disliked the feel of wool, he said. Another prejudice -was against linen that had been washed. So dainty -was he that he never used the same garments, the -same jewels, the same woman twice (unless it were -his wife), says Lampridius. But in Rome wool was -necessary; Rome was never healthy. Maesa knew -it by experience, but was more than willing to tempt -providence by returning thither. The Tramontana -visited it then as now; fever too, and sudden death. -Wool was certainly necessary; besides, it was the -accustomed dress of the country, and Rome was -intensely conservative, she would not endure an -Emperor who came dressed as an Eastern barbarian; -the boy of thirteen years must adopt the clothes, -habits, and customs of his adopted country, of his -reputed father; thus the grandmother argued till -Elagabalus was bored with the discussion, and told -the lady so. He was devising, moreover, he announced, -garments more splendid and more bizarre -than any Rome had found outside the temple at -Jerusalem. His fancy was a frail tunic of purple -silk diapered with gold, or that even more resplendent -vestment which was woven throughout of fine -gold and encrusted with gems. Alone of the -garments he had seen, this enhanced his beauty and -gave dignity to his movements. The sleeves were -long and full, reaching to his heels, open to show -the rounded softness of his girlish arms; gilded -leather covered his feet and reached to his thighs; it<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_249"></a>[249]</span> -was softer than wool and certainly showed his form -to better advantage. Sometimes after supper he -would appear in public dressed in the stiff dalmatic -of a young deacon, calling himself Fabius Gurgis, -and Scipio, because the parents of these youths had -formerly shown them to the people in this costume -in order to correct their bad manners.</p> - -<p>Encircling his curls (but in the palace only) was -a diadem of heavy gold, studded with jewels; not -the simple golden circlet known to the Roman world, -but one after a Persian design, first introduced by -Caracalla, rich, splendid, and brilliant with the -numbers of rubies, sapphires, and emeralds which -he thought became him. Unfortunately, his -taste for precious stones did not stop here. Lampridius -and Herodian pour deserved scorn on -the numerous bracelets, rings and necklaces, all as -rich and costly as could be made, with which he -decked his person; but, perhaps unnecessarily, on -his shoe-buckles, whose stones, engraved cameo -and intaglio, were the wonder of the beholder, and -their cry has been increased to a howl by later -commentators, who seem to consider it a species -of indecency that the Emperor’s shoes should be of -fine leather, his stones priceless, while theirs were -of ill-dressed cowhide, held together with buckles -of paste.</p> - -<p>Of course, it is not a pleasant taste, this overlaying -of the body with an inordinate display of -wealth, even when done merely for the honour of -one’s God, as Elagabalus protested. Unfortunately, -it is still known both in the Plutocratic and Sacerdotal<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_250"></a>[250]</span> -worlds. Certain minds still revolt, still see its -snobbery, vanity and degeneracy, are even foolish -enough to imagine that the personal vanity of such -functionaries will one day renounce what is their -main means of attraction.</p> - -<p>Elagabalus’ love of extravagance comes out most -strongly in his ritual of worship. Never in the -history of Rome had such daily waste of life and -liquor, such profusion of colour and gold, flowers, -music, and movement displayed the honour of God -or man. The Emperor’s one idea was to eclipse all -that his predecessors had imagined. It was a -stupendous task to surpass Nero in fantasy, Otho -and Vitellius in greediness; but he had read Suetonius, -and not an eccentricity of the Caesars had -escaped his notice. He knew, too, where to exceed -them, and still lives on the reputation of a work -accomplished.</p> - -<p>The hecatombs of oxen and innumerable quantities -of sheep which came daily to the temple of the Only -God required a perfect army of butchers that their -slaughter might do homage to the Deity while daylight -lasted. These, with the spices, wine, and -flowers, were but part payment of the interest which -the high priest felt his family owed to Elagabal for -the past and present successes of his house, while -his most beloved title was that which styled him -“Invictus Sacerdos, Dei Soli.” There is a great -variety in his medals, both in those coined by the -Senate and in those struck by himself, whereon this -priesthood of his is described. Chief Priest and -Invincible Priest of Elagabal, or the Sun, are commonly<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_251"></a>[251]</span> -to be met with round his image, which stands -in a sacrificing posture, with a censer in his hand, -over an altar. It was in this supreme ineffable -spirit that the Emperor put his trust, to him he -ascribed his health, wealth, and security, together -with that of his whole catholic church militant here -on earth.</p> - -<p>On his arrival in Rome in the year <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 219, -Elagabalus thought well to carry through the laudable -custom (for the poor) of bestowing the usual -congiary on the people. If Mediobarbus were to be -trusted, he gave six such during his short reign -of approximately four years, besides the soldiers’ -donatives (which to his cost and undoing he foolishly -neglected as time went on). To-day such liberalities -on the part of a sovereign take the form of free -meals and a limited supply of beer, but are amiable -and satisfying methods of spending the public money -in an ingratiating fashion. What Elagabalus gave -was from the private funds of his house, and was -given in a manner quite his own. Formerly it had -been usual to distribute gold and silver (Nero had -added eccentric gifts, of course) on such occasions, -but Elagabalus signalised his assumption of the -Consulship by the distribution of fat oxen, camels, -eunuchs, slaves, caparisoned saddle-horses, closed -sedans and carriages, hoping, as he remarked, that -all men would remember these were the gifts of the -Emperor; as though any were likely to forget when -they found themselves saddled with a dromedary, -and expected to conduct it safely to their own backyard -through the crowded lanes of the city. Such<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_252"></a>[252]</span> -gifts were often more trouble than they were worth, -and the scramble at the distribution much what it -would be now, at least, according to Lampridius’ -description of those yearly distributions which -followed the translation of the Great God to his -temple in the suburbs.</p> - -<p>At times Elagabalus gave money; witness the -congiary and donative to celebrate his marriage -with Cornelia Paula, when, as Herodian tells us, -not only the people, but also the Senators, Equites, -and even the Senators’ wives partook of the -liberality, receiving 150 denares each, the soldiers -250, on account, presumably, of their superior -usefulness.</p> - -<p>Had this boy’s megalomania stopped short at -donatives and congiaries, we should know little but -good of him; unfortunately, he considered that to -love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance, -and spent his money as best pleased his fancy -at the moment, which was always with a taste for -resplendency.</p> - -<p>We can imagine the beauty of his reclining -couches, solid silver, richly chased, the cushions -upholstered in purple woven with pure gold. Entire -services in silver for table use, very massive; even -the saucepans were in the same metal, and elegantly -fashioned vases or cups containing 100 lbs. weight -of precious metal apiece, with the most obvious -indecencies engraved or repousséd on the sides; the -strange part of it all being that he took delight, not -so much in the possession of all this splendour as -in the giving of it to his friends, so much so that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_253"></a>[253]</span> -the silversmiths could scarce keep pace with his -generosity. It is a good feeling that of giving -generously, better to give than to receive, and -what Elagabalus got in return cost the giver so -little pain.</p> - -<p>To food and drink the Emperor was as much -addicted as the traditional city alderman, though his -imagination certainly surpassed that of the retired -tradesman, at least in quality and design. His chief -authority was Apicius, the renowned author of a book -entitled <i>De re coquinaria</i>, but he had other models -almost as famous, if not as long-lived, in the Emperors -Otho and Vitellius, and managed to outdo -them all in extravagance. Lampridius states that -no feast cost Elagabalus less than 100,000 sesterces, -and often reached the stupendous figure of 300,000, -<i>tout compris</i>. The number of dishes has been -reached, if not surpassed, by modern luxury, but to -Lampridius twenty-two courses sounded absurd; -not so, however, the ablutions and courtesans who -always attended and utilised the intervals in an -unbecoming manner. Occasionally these intervals -were of some length, caused by the removal of -whole services of plate to the possession of some -guest who had said the right thing at the psychological -moment. Another means of delay was -found in the practice, which Elagabalus instituted, of -taking each course in the house of a different friend, -an arrangement which necessitated the transference -of the whole party in their gold and ivory chariots -from the Capitol to the Palatine, thence to the -Coelian Hill, and again to another friend who might<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_254"></a>[254]</span> -live beyond the walls, or yet to another in Trastevere. -This, with the usual impedimenta, arriving -at the house of each, for the dishes in their order, -took time, and in such a fashion we can well believe -the chronicler who states that a single feast was -scarce finished in the daytime, especially as the -intervals for customary enjoyments were arranged -with due regard for the utmost desires of the guests.</p> - -<p>It is charming to imagine a feast such as is -recorded of Maecenas, where “in ungirdled tunics -the guests lay on silver beds, the head and neck encircled -with amaranthe—whose perfume, in opening -the pores, neutralises the fumes of wine—fanned by -boys, whose curly hair they used as napkins. Under -the supervision of butlers the courses were served -on silver platters, so large that they covered the -tables. Sows’ breasts with Lybian truffles; dormice -baked in poppies and honey; peacocks’ tongues -flavoured with cinnamon; oysters stewed in garum—a -sort of anchovy sauce made of the intestines of -fish—flamingoes’ and ostriches’ brains, followed by -the brains of thrushes, parroquets, pheasants, and -peacocks, also a yellow pig cooked after the Trojan -fashion, from which, when carved, hot sausages fell -and live thrushes flew; sea-wolves from the Baltic, -sturgeons from Rhodes, fig-peckers from Samos, -African snails and the rest.” A full list of the dainties -set forth would weary the amateur, might even -make him envious of the times that are now long -dead, times when the ceaseless round of beef and -mutton would have been considered monotonous or -bad art, and year in year out plain boiled greens<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_255"></a>[255]</span> -were unknown; times when the Emperor served, -as we have recorded, grains of gold with his peas, -rubies with lentils, beans and amber, for the mere -pleasure of sight; though his salads of mullets’ fins -with cress, balm mint, and fenugreek, we should -probably have found no greater delicacy than the -undercooked vegetables of this twentieth century -of our salvation and discomfort.</p> - -<p>As with food, so with wine, Elagabalus was a -glutton. Mulsum, that cup composed of white -wine, roses, nard, absinthe and honey, was <i>vieux -jeu</i>. The delicate wines of Greece were always -palatable; so was the crusty Falernian of the year -632 <span class="allsmcap">A.U.C.</span>, to those who were of an age to appreciate -its worth. The young gourmet thought otherwise, and -rendered them noisome by the addition of crushed -pine kernels and fir cones. It was a youthful taste, -such as we still distrust, but scarcely immoral in the -generally accepted sense of the term. As regards -a tendency to over-indulgence in good liquor, we -have no data; there is a passage in Lampridius -(though evidently faulty) which asserts that the -Emperor used to mix wine with the baths and then -invite the guests to drink, the basin from which he -had drunk being easily distinguishable by the fall -in its level; an utter impossibility, and not even -clever as a bit of scandal. Another extravagance -culled from the same biographer tells how this child -realised the summer by feasts at which all was of one -colour, food as well as fittings, and how he would -order all the dishes of a certain day to be composed -of a single sort of flesh: it might be pheasant under<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_256"></a>[256]</span> -twenty different garbs, fowls served on the same -scale, even fish, if the Court happened to be at a -distance from the sea. At another time you would -be served with a vegetarian diet, or occasionally -with nothing but pork, which sounds inconsistent -when we consider that the same author has sneered -copiously at the Emperor’s adoption of the Jewish -superstition in this matter. He further tells us that -it was not magnificent enough for this child’s fancy -to recline on silver beds, with covers fashioned in -cloth of gold; his cushions were of hare’s fur, or -down from under the partridge’s wing, whilst the -whole was strewn thick with flowers and perfumes, -those of important guests with saffron and gold dust. -Wherever he went were flowers strewing the way—lilies, -violets, roses, and narcissus.</p> - -<p>No mention of psychological extravagance would -be complete without a certain disquisition on the -use of perfumes. Here, as everywhere else, Lampridius -tells us that Elagabalus contrived to outdo -his predecessors. The use he made of unguents -was little short of dissolute. As usual, the biographer -would have us believe that the failing was an -idiosyncrasy peculiar to the Emperor, whose life he -was decrying. He had obviously not heard of the -soporific nastiness of Solomon’s beloved, a lady -who is represented to us by the writer of the Canticles -as a cluster of camphire, a mountain of myrrh, -a hill of frankincense, spikenard and cinnamon, -additions which would not only have made her -sticky, but noisome to boot. Mahommed and his -pavement of musk was beyond Lampridius’ ken,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_257"></a>[257]</span> -but he had certainly heard of the perfumes which -scented the temple at Jerusalem, and it would have -been no new sight for him to have watched Elagabalus -pour tons of aromatics upon the new altars -erected to the ancient gods.</p> - -<p>Even to-day we know something about the -odour of sanctity and occasionally inhale its delights -by stealth, because, despite undoubted legal prohibition, -the clergy have persuaded us that the -Gods still love the smell of incense. Our point is, -however, that everything sacred and profane stank -horribly at the period. Thank heaven, the personal -use of <i>mille fleurs</i> which then obsessed the world -has now given place to a smell of the open. But -there was nothing unusual during the third century -in the fact that Elagabalus burnt Indian aromatics -instead of coal in his dining-rooms, balm instead of -petroleum in his lamps, and heated his stoves and -bathrooms with odours instead of the more commonplace -materials. What is repulsive is the -depraved use which the world made of perfume. -The tunics of men, their baths, beds, horses, rooms, -streets, servants, even their food smelt. Caligula -had wasted a fortune on perfumes. Nero had waded -in them. Myrrh, aloes, and cassia, saffron and -cinnamon, not to mention others equally objectionable -and even more costly; these all made life -heavy and cloying, turned conceptions of wrong -into right, made the unholy adorable, stained the -thoughts and depraved the mind, just as M. Huysmans -(in <i>À Rebours</i>) describes what he succeeded in -doing during his stay at Fontenay.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_258"></a>[258]</span></p> - -<p>Not that Rome was as objectionable as Athens. -There, we are told that both men and women -painted their faces with white lead, their eyelids -with kohl, and their nails with henna; and in order -to draw attention to the depravity, they perfumed -their hair with marjoram, rubbed their arms with -mint, their legs with ivy, and the soles of their feet -with baccaris. In Greece this idea of attention to -personal beauty was a perfect cult—the latest -recipes for artificial adornments were engraved on -tablets and exhibited in the temples of Aesculapius, -and, this done, the state imposed a fine for a slatternly -appearance; but for all that it was decadent and -nasty. People, of course, still spend money on -their personal appearance, but patchouli, thank -heaven! has gone, even from Piccadilly.</p> - -<p>The Emperor’s fondness for fish was tempered -by its rarity. He would never eat of its living -things whilst he sojourned near the sea; he would -have them transported to the immense salt-water -tanks he had constructed amongst the mountains -and in the interior of the country, both for their -preservation and his own amusement. We are told -that he invented a method of fishing in which oxen -figured, a conceit which later years has not revived.</p> - -<p>First in history he conceived of sausages made -from lampreys’ roes, soft-shelled oysters, lobsters, -and crayfish, and fed the country peasants on the -same. Indeed, his generosity here, as in Rome, -was unbounded, the chroniclers relating how he -would throw from the windows as many dishes as -he offered to his own guests then at table. There<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_259"></a>[259]</span> -was nothing of our niggardly idea of charity here, no -notion that any crusts were good enough for the -hungry. His dogs were fed on foie-gras, his horses -on grapes, his lions on pheasants and parroquets—an -unnecessary and unpleasant waste when one -knows how much these beasts would have preferred -a more ordinary fare.</p> - -<p>His fish sauce was a triumph of the culinary art, -which is utterly lost. It was a transparent bluish-green, -the counterpart of sea water, in which the -fish looked alive and natural, utterly unlike the -ragged ugliness which is now presented for our consumption. -So famous were his dishes that the -pastrycooks and dairymen of the day were wont -to reproduce them in their own particular wares, -selling the same as imperial affectations.</p> - -<p>The menus also were his own conception, embroidered -on the tablecloth—not the mere list of -dishes, but pictures drawn with the needle of the -dishes themselves—which, of course, necessitated a -change of cloth with each service. He first, we are -told, made the public feasts, as well as private -dinners, great and magnificent. Formerly these -feasts had been of a military simplicity. Elagabalus -could not see why even political guests should not -enjoy themselves when they came to dine with him, -and served them with hydrogarum, the then last -word in Sybaritic enjoyment. His successor Alexander -thought differently, and reverted to the old -order, a proceeding which pleased no one save the -flatulent.</p> - -<p>Elagabalus was, unfortunately, tainted with what<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_260"></a>[260]</span> -is perhaps natural in young people, though in -elderly plutocrats is an acquired vice, that of overt -snobbery. It is recorded by more than one of his -guests that he would often ask them to price his -dishes, in order to hear an excessive value suggested, -remarking that great cost gave a good -appetite, especially when one knew that dishes -were scarce and out of season. Of course, it was -bad form, even in a boy, but how much else that -happens is the same? There are other things in -plenty to cavil at.</p> - -<p>It was not by food alone that Elagabalus drained -the treasury; he had other ways of flattering the -sovereign people of Rome. The spectacles which -he gave in the amphitheatre were unique. Fancy -80,000 people on ascending galleries, protected -from the sun by a canopy of spangled silk, an arena -three acres in extent, carpeted with sand, vermilion, -and borax, in that arena were naval displays on lakes -of wine, and the death of whole menageries of Egyptian -beasts (in one show, Herodian tells us, fifty-one -tigers alone were killed). There were chariot races, -in which not only horses, but also stags, lions, tigers, -dogs, and even women figured, till the spectators -showed a colossal delight. The magnificence of the -spectacle almost surpasses belief: from below came -the blare of a thousand brass instruments, and from -above the caresses of flutes, while the air, sweet with -flowers and perfume (for the Emperor had provided -saffron even for the cloaks of the crowd), was alive -with multicoloured motes. The terraces were parterres -of blending hues, when into that splendour a<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_261"></a>[261]</span> -hundred lions, their tasselled tails sweeping the -sand, entered obliquely, and anon a rush of wild -elephants, attacked on either side; another moment -of sheer delight, in which the hunters were tossed -upon the terraces, tossed back again by the spectators, -and trampled to death. By way of interlude, -the ring was peopled with acrobats, who flew up in -the air like birds, and formed pyramids together, -much in the fashion that we know them to-day. -There was a troop of tamed lions, their manes -gilded, that walked on tight-ropes, wrote obscenities -in Greek, and danced to cymbals, which one of -them played; a chase of ostriches and feats of horsemanship -on zebras from Madagascar. The interlude -at an end, the sand was re-raked. Then, -preceded by the pomp of lictors, interminable files -of gladiators entered, while the eyes of the women -lighted and glowed; artistic death was their chiefest -joy, for there was no cowardice in the arena. The -gladiators fought for applause, for liberty, for death—fought -manfully, skilfully, terribly too, and -received the point of the sword or the palm of -victory with an equally unmoved expression, an -unchanged face. It was a magnificent conception -on which the Romans, or, more exactly, the Etruscans, -their predecessors, had devised to train their -children for war and allay the fear of blood. It had -been serviceable indeed, and though the need of it -had gone, the spectacle endured, and, enduring, constituted -the chief delight of the Vestals and of -Rome. By its means a bankrupt became Consul, -an Emperor beloved. It had stayed revolutions,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_262"></a>[262]</span> -because it was felt to be the tax of the proletariat -on the rich. Silver and bread were for the individual, -but these things were for the crowd. When -evening descended, so did torches and the Emperor -to take chief part in the ballet which he considered -as the culminating point in the performance.</p> - -<p>In a robe, immaterial as a moonbeam, his eyelids -darkened with antimony, his face painted in imitation -of the courtesans who sat on high chairs and ogled -passers-by in the Suburra, he entered the arena, -and there, to the incitement of crotals, he danced -with his Syrians before the multitude, a protecting -claque of 80,000 persons toasting the performer -with the magnificent cry, “Io Triumphe!” whatever -they thought of its indecency. Lampridius -tells us of his importing from Egypt those little -serpents, known under the name of “good genius,” -and letting them loose amongst the audience, among -whom many were bitten, many killed, in the stampede. -It was quite a likely prank to play—is even -heard of to-day—but one cannot imagine that -Elagabalus wanted to disperse the audience, as -his biographer suggests, before they had witnessed -the magnificence which he had prepared for their -delectation. It would have been too foolish, -especially if he wanted an appreciative reception for -his own turn.</p> - -<p>So much for his public appearances. Many of -his private pleasures are quite repeatable, though all -are extravagant, such as his chariot races in the -palace and in the Gardens of Hope, his teams of -great dogs to draw him from place to place, his<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_263"></a>[263]</span> -naked women for the same purpose, or when he -himself, in the attributes and customary undress -of Bacchus, was drawn by lions, tigers, and the -female sex. In driving, Elagabalus had a splendid -nerve, as we learn from the record of his chariot -races with camels and elephants even over the -Vatican and its tombs. He seems to have imagined -that others were possessed of the same daring and -hardihood. Witness his requests to guests that they -should drive chariots, to which were harnessed four -wild stags, through the porticoes in front of his -dining-rooms, which porticoes were strewn thick with -gold and silver dust, because he could not get -electrum. Many found the task most unpleasant, -especially if they were portly, or Senators whose -pomposity ought to have put such antics out of -the question; but Elagabalus was no respecter -of persons, unless, of course, they were young, -beautiful, and full of lust; to such he was ever -considerate, whether they were men or women. -One day, because they pleased him, he presented to -the courtesans and procurers of the city the whole -supply of corn for a year’s provision, and promised a -like amount to those dwelling outside the walls. -On another he collected the <i>cocottes</i> of the theatres -and circuses, and, having harangued them as -“companions in arms,” presented them with a -soldier’s donative of three pieces of gold, saying, -“Tell no one that Antonine has given you this.”</p> - -<p>Elagabalus is the originator of lotteries, which -have since become a source of profit to European -states. There was one for the people, one for the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_264"></a>[264]</span> -comedians. Of course, he provided the prizes, and -there does not seem to have been any purchase -of tickets. These were singular, as were all his other -gifts, and varied from 1 lb. of beef to 100 pieces -of gold or 1000 of silver.</p> - -<p>In summer he had the audacity to erect a snow -mountain in his orchard, in order that cool airs -might relieve the oppressiveness of Sol in Leone. -Even in the relief of natural functions he was -magnificent, using only vases of gold, onyx, and -myrrhin. Whether this last is a metal or sort of -agate has been disputed, but Pliny had no doubt as -to its extreme worth. He tells us that a drinking -cup was sold for 70,000 sesterces, and a sacrificial -capis for 1,000,000, to his own knowledge.</p> - -<p>The progresses of Elagabalus were a sight that -made even the citizens of Rome stare open-mouthed. -Nero had taken a train of 500 carriages, and the -boy Emperor was not to be outdone. He ordered -a following of 600 at a time, saying that the King of -Persia had a train of 10,000 camels, and for himself, -his numerous courtesans, procurers, and the rest, -whom he had bought and freed, all richly habited, -could not be accommodated with less, wherein he -showed a certain chivalry, as also in the case of the -very famous <i>cocotte</i>, whom he had bought for 100,000 -sesterces, and then relegated to perpetual virginity.</p> - -<p>The Syrian astrologers had told Elagabalus that -he would meet with a violent death, which information -seems in no way to have disturbed his equanimity; -it merely added to his extravagances, in that he -built a tower, from which he designed to throw<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_265"></a>[265]</span> -himself, when his hour was come, on to a pavement -of gold encrusted with gems, in order that -men might say, “qualis artifex periit.” To make -assurance doubly sure, he carried with him little -cases fashioned in emeralds and rubies, containing -deadly poisons, also cords of purple silk, with which -he might strangle himself if he were in any real -trouble, though the adulation of the people made -it doubtful if such could ever happen. Was it a -wonderful thing that the people loved him—the -originator of lotteries where no one but the Emperor -was the loser, the distributor of an incessant shower -of tickets that were exchangeable, not for bread or -trivial sums, but for gems, pictures, slaves, fortunes, -ships, villas, and estates? Such a one was bound to -be adored; indeed, his lavishness deified him in the -eyes of the sovereign people of Rome.</p> - -<p>There is one record of wanton waste which -Lampridius has laid to his charge, namely, that -of sinking laden ships in the harbours in order -to show men at what a price he valued his wealth, -that it could pay any compensation, could stand any -strain. It is a foolish and criminal fault for a -statesman to squander the wealth of his country, -but an accusation which is still levelled against the -statesmen of our own time, and that not infrequently. -They may not attempt to realise the greatness -of their country by collecting cobwebs by the ton, as -Elagabalus once managed to do, saying that he wished -thus to realise the greatness of Rome, but they are -perfectly capable of ordering equally unproductive -labour and paying for it at an enormous price, which<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_266"></a>[266]</span> -is, ethically speaking, much the same thing. The -psychology of extravagance has not yet been -examined, so we are still free to condemn what -we do not fully understand. Megalomania we all -know something about and can all condemn as -experts. It was Elagabalus’ success, as it has -tended to the progress of other equally well-known -persons.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_267"></a>[267]</span></p> - -<h3 class="nobreak" id="CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI<br /> -<span class="smaller">THE RELIGION OF THE EMPEROR ELAGABALUS</span></h3> - -</div> - -<p>One of the main causes of complaint against the -Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was his -religion. Lampridius and Xiphilinus are unanimous -in their condemnation of its tendencies and -beliefs. Into these it is unnecessary to enter at -greater length than has been done in preceding -chapters. If there is one point on which all his -biographers are fully agreed, it is that the Emperor -was pre-eminently religious. God took the first -place in his calculations and designs.</p> - -<p>Had he been a private person, no one could -have objected to this tendency. In general, piety -towards the Gods has been commended throughout -the world’s history. It is only when a man occupies -a public position and subordinates his civil to his -religious duties that the world is apt to look askance -at the latter. This is the position of Elagabalus, at -least in part; he is accused of neglecting the -business of the state for the sake of his conscience. -Other sovereigns have been likewise accused, and -have likewise suffered at the hands of a world even -more vitally religious than were the Senate and<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_268"></a>[268]</span> -people of third-century Rome. Similar instances -may be found not far from home which have perhaps -even less justification, when we consider that the -cause of offence here was ceremonies, not vital -creeds.</p> - -<p>A word may also be said concerning the objects -which Antonine’s biographers had in view when -they condemned what we should—at first sight—have -expected them to have praised in the -Emperor’s life.</p> - -<p>As we have already pointed out, Constantine’s -determination to impose Christianity on the empire -led to grave opposition, chiefly from the adherents -of the similarly monotheistic cult of Mithra, a cult -which was certainly identified with that of Elagabal, -the only God. It was—if on that account alone—obviously -necessary that, not only the opposing -religion, but also the chief exponent of that worship, -should come in for severe censure at the hands of -the fourth-century monotheism.</p> - -<p>As one reads the story of Antonine’s life, one -is struck not so much by the record of his perverse -sexualities, about which no one can have known -anything definite, and which, even if the reports be -true, we are bound to regard as congenital, in the -light of modern research, as we are by the record of -his religious fanaticism. This trait is, and in all probability -justly, considered to be reprehensible. It -is not, however, restricted to the Emperor in -question; probably everybody has come across it, -in one form or another, during the course of his -life; some have even suffered under its potency.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_269"></a>[269]</span> -Antonine was, as we have said, in a peculiar -position; he was young, powerful, and extremely -religious; he ascribed the success of his house to the -favour of his God, and desired to make some return -in the shape of coercing men to that God’s worship. -To this Emperor the possession of supreme power -meant limitless possibilities for the effecting of -his scheme. Further, as we have seen, he came of -a religious stock, or rather of a family whose -traditions were bound up with a very definite form -of religious worship, which is generally considered -as the same thing.</p> - -<p>The origin of religion is a much-disputed point. -Some men have considered that the source of all -religion is fright; others prefer love; both of which -appeal to the superstitious instinct inherent in man. -It may be that these instincts breed reverence, fear, -or love for forces outside man’s control, and incomprehensible -to him; in any case, these forces -were the first things to be deified in the history of -religions, and took their precedence in the natural -order of their mystery or usefulness, becoming a -sort of aristocracy of talent, with a supreme head, -the God of Gods.</p> - -<p>In process of time the older religions of Greece -and Rome gave way to philosophies; and the -thinkers having reasoned away the potency of -their deities, fought against what they considered -a decadent and sentimental, not to say a baseless -tradition, with all the aids that experience gave -them. Then it was that the signs, portents, and -miracles which had bolstered up the faith of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_270"></a>[270]</span> -ignorant, which had kept fright and superstition -alive, even the very prophecies and revelations -which were the sacerdotal proofs of inherent -genuineness became either natural phenomena or -debasing charlatanry, amongst men who knew their -origin and history, or had learned from Archimedes -the principles of mathematics.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, in imperial Rome the atmosphere -was charged with the marvellous, very much as -it was in Northern Europe until the time of the -Renaissance. The world was filled with prodigies, -strange Gods, and credulous crowds. The occult -sciences, astrology, magic and divinations, all had -their adepts, and commanded the respect which -kindred practices command amongst the credulous -to-day.</p> - -<p>But the philosophy of the older religions was -undoubtedly hard and cold. Courage, moderation, -and honour were qualities that enforced the permanence -of the state, not of the individual. Men -laboured not for hope of reward, but for the sake of -duty; they knew that vice was part of the universal -order of things, perhaps an error of the understanding, -certainly an error which it was idle to blame, -yet righteous to rectify. But the older religions as -they had developed during the latter days of the -republic were far from satisfying the whole aspirations -of man.</p> - -<p>The mind of man is not his only function, he has -physical parts and passions as well, such as fright, -superstition, attractions, antipathies, and sex. Some -men were incapable of thought, few were single<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_271"></a>[271]</span> -in aim, and there was a craving, it may be quite -irrational, but still human, which longed to create, -or at least to imagine, something higher than self, -something mightier than mind, something to which -the irrational and traditional side of man could -appeal; and so, as one God died, a newer and more -mystical personage took his place. Jupiter had -ceased to dominate the world with a visible potency, -Mithra, more mystical, more sentimental, took his -place as a power, so intimately connected with -man’s physical parts and passions, that the world -of philosophy, which dealt with the body through -the mind, could scarcely touch the fringes of his -garment.</p> - -<p>There was, therefore, in Rome at the beginning -of the third century <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> a party of men strongly -attached, for sentimental or neurotic reasons, to one -or other of the recently imported Eastern creeds; -but there was also a large party of conservatives -whose atheism was as cool and detached as that of -Horace; and a still larger party of ordinary people -whose attachment to the old practices of Roman -Polytheism expressed all that they considered either -necessary or expedient, from the point of view of -ordinary piety. But in each case the religion was -subordinated to a paramount political, not to an essentially -religious life, which life was evolving, as we -learn from nearly all authors, towards degeneration, -despite the fact that culture and literature -was still based upon the philosophy of intellectual -freedom.</p> - -<p>Unfortunately, the very rule which had made for<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_272"></a>[272]</span> -political greatness was now robbing men of every -liberating interest, was leaving society sterile and -empty. As a consequence of this, each generation -was becoming less wishful to think, and less capable -of thought; not that the intellect of Rome had by -any means descended to that ultimate plane of intelligence -from which it was ready to enslave itself -under the retrograde tendencies of Eastern theistic -beliefs. Rome, the mistress of the world, had seen -good in all Gods; she had acknowledged and included -in her worship the philosophies and deities of -all nations, tribes, and tongues; every force, natural, -physical, and political, was represented at her altars. -Rome was comprehensively, sceptically Polytheist, -when to her palaces flocked the engineers, astronomers, -and philosophers of that vast empire. It was -only to the common people, possessed as they were -by beliefs in non-human powers, in beings that beset -life with malignity, that the restoration of cults -and ritual commended itself, and even they were -eclectic in their tastes and fancies.</p> - -<p>Despite pulpit learning, we know that Rome -was no more attracted by those doctrines of the universal -socialistic brotherhood which had emanated -from Nazareth, than she was by the system of the -ecstatic visionary from Tarsus, who was destined—by -a more systematic and regular development of his -revelations—to capture the freedom of the earlier -intellectual religions, as soon as the world’s hoary -wisdom, having lost its virility, was involved in the -dotage of an unreasoning antiquity.</p> - -<p>In the long run we know that the mob triumphed,<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_273"></a>[273]</span> -and that every religion of the West was orientalised, -every superstition and neurotic tendency developed, -and philosophy was brought to its knees utterly -debased, until its function was merely to be the -apologist of all that superstition taught or did. For -the present, rational thinking men were alive. -When they died, exclusive monotheism came, -carrying before it, like a flood, the greatness of the -former world. But the issue was still uncertain. Had -Elagabalus lived; had the beauty and impressiveness -of his Semitic ritual made its way; had time -been given for men to grasp his idea of one vast, -beneficent, divine power, into the empire of whose -central authority men might escape from the thousand -and one petty marauders of the spirit world, they -might have been attracted to the worship of life -and light instead of enmeshed by the seductive -force of obscure and impossible dogmas, tempted -by the bait of an elusive socialism and a problematical -futurity.</p> - -<p>It was not that Rome, atheist or religious, objected -to the worship of Baal. She had her own -and a round dozen other Jupiters, as men conceived -him to be, and was quite ready to include him -amongst the number. The trouble was that rational -thinking men could not bring their minds to conceive -of any supreme potency in the world, outside -man himself; while religious persons had each his -own particular conceit in the way of deities, all -of which the new Emperor, with more zeal than -discretion, proceeded to make subject to his own -Lord’s will.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_274"></a>[274]</span></p> - -<p>But there was obviously more than mere amalgamation -in Antonine’s scheme. We have already -pointed out the Emperor’s position of supremacy -over the old cults, and discussed the disintegrating -tendency of the mystical and independent monotheisms, -which was already apparent even in the city -itself. The danger which these new religions imported -into political life lay in the establishment of -an imperium over the souls of men, which, based on -superstitious terrors rather than on any appeal to -reason or logic, claimed an authority over the mind -equal to that of the State over the persons of its -subjects.</p> - -<p>The main attraction of these forms of faith lay -in their ability to supply men with a personal -and spiritual religion, which, being free from -State intervention, was able to incite its adherents -to rebellion, against any policy of which its -priesthood disapproved, on spiritual or even on -financial grounds. Statesmen had long recognised -the danger, and were obviously attempting to cope -with the new forces. Antonine’s proposal was one -for the extension of his jurisdiction (as Pontifex -Maximus) to the new monotheisms, by the amalgamation -of these with the older worships over which -his authority as Pontifex Maximus was unchallenged. -If he had succeeded he would have exerted his -headship of religion in much the same fashion as -Elizabeth Tudor—claiming a similar headship—exerted -hers in the sixteenth century. This policy -meant the appointment of State officials endowed -with the wealth, titles, and a portion of the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_275"></a>[275]</span> -vesture of those old prelates, who had by their -traditions and claims to magical powers, coerced, -and indeed still coerce the minds of the credulous -to the disintegration of the State. Antonine foreshadowed -what Tudor greatness effected; namely, -the erection of a State church, whose business it -was to replace an independent priesthood which -fostered fanaticism, by a race of civil servants who -would restrain and modify superstition, turning all -dangerous and harmful elements in the religious life -into useful and philanthropic energies, concerning -whose profit it would take an anchorite to disagree.</p> - -<p>We have traced the steps by which Antonine -proceeded to carry out his policy of amalgamation. -The erection of that superb and gigantic temple -in the XIth region; the summer residence for -his God near the Porta Praenestina; and the procession, -in which all men and most of the Gods took -part, have been catalogued already. It was, however, -this very amalgamation to which Rome, atheist -and religious, objected. Antonine could have done -what pleased him in the way of introducing a new -worship; he might have caused all men to assist at -his ceremonies, and no one would have objected; -but to desecrate the older religions, and deprive -them of their treasured possessions, was an offence -against all canons of Roman taste.</p> - -<p>There can be little doubt that one by one the -temples were despoiled of their chief objects of -veneration in order that these might contribute to -Baal’s glory, and attract more worshippers to his -shrine. It was in this way that the Emperor<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_276"></a>[276]</span> -designed to extinguish all the other cults in the -city, and so leave his God supreme; but persecution -would have been preferable to contempt. Elagabal’s -temple was indeed a perfect museum of ecclesiastical -relics, all <i>ad majorem dei gloriam</i>; still it -did not attract, because it was contrary to the whole -spirit of the time; no one demanded a monotheistic -creed, and, though all the worships of the city -should be comprehended in that of Elagabal, men -could not raise devotion towards an amalgamation -which, they felt, was neither good deity nor good -philosophy.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly the Emperor was most eager. -Why he did not persecute in order to attain his -end was a mystery, until men understood something -of his psychology. He would go (according to -Lampridius) to any lengths of personal inconvenience -in order that he might further his plan, but -would put no one else to unnecessary discomfort or -loss. We are told that his desire to obtain the -sacred objects from the temple of Cybele led him to -sacrifice fat bulls to that Goddess, with his own -hands, and, when that was not enough (as the -priests proved difficult), that he submitted himself -to their ordination (a ceremony which included castration) -in order that he might possess himself of -their sacred stone.</p> - -<p>Lampridius has been understood to assert this -castration, using the words “<i>genitalia devinxit</i>,” but, -as Professor Robinson Ellis has pointed out to me, -<i>devinxit</i> usually means no more than “tied up.” -Aurelius Victor, being later, is naturally more explicit.<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_277"></a>[277]</span> -He says “<i>abscissis genitalibus</i>,” but despite -his fourth-century statement, there is considerable -ground for doubt as to whether the operation actually -took place, chiefly on account of the records which -his biographers have left concerning the Emperor’s -later proclivities—matrimony and the like—in which -he is supposed to have indulged until the last moment -of his life. And it would certainly have been a -miserable ending to a life of pleasure, as he understood -the meaning of the word. If it is true, it -certainly proves a zeal for the Kingdom of Heaven’s -sake which we are scarcely capable of understanding.</p> - -<p>Towards idols made with hands Antonine had -no attraction. It was the acquisition of stones with -a claim to divinity on which he had set his mind, -even (according to a most faulty passage in Lampridius) -to the Laodicean statue of Diana, which -Orestes with his own hands had placed in its proper -sanctuary. These he made, one and all, servants of -the only God—some chamberlains, some domestics. -Early Christianity had much the same idea as -Antonine concerning the position of the older Gods, -but, with a singular lack of perspicacity, it turned -them into demons,—where they did not become -saints,—and by so doing created a power of evil out -of what had formerly been a powerful beneficence.</p> - -<p>Undoubtedly, one of the Emperor’s chief mistakes -was his attempt to amalgamate the kindred -worship of Jerusalem, in its various forms, with that -of the Roman deities, and even though his circumcision -almost certainly belongs to the period when -he became High Priest of Elagabal (the period when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_278"></a>[278]</span> -he attained to puberty), the connection of this ceremony -with the kindred Jewish observance was sufficient, -in the Roman mind, to brand Antonine as a -Hebrew innovator. The same odium would not, -however, have been attached to him when it was -reported that he had submitted to the triune baptism -practised by various of the Christian sects; since -this practice was well known to the Romans on -account of its inclusion amongst the ceremonies at -the Mithraic initiations. The ceremony, therefore, -would only become unpopular when men realised -that it was an outward and visible sign of their -Emperor’s inclusion of the Nazarene sect in his -grand reunion of churches.</p> - -<p>Much has been said by persons, whose business -it was to find causes of complaint, against the foolish -and blasphemous proposal of the marriage for his -God. To our modern notions it was a scheme -quite unworthy of the great work the Emperor was -inaugurating. In the third century modern notions -of religion were as yet unborn. There was at the -time many a divine pair, both in Rome and in the -provinces, who attracted attention. The proposal -was, therefore, neither unusual nor sacrilegious. It -was certainly inadvisable to subordinate the chief -cult of Rome in the drastic fashion which Antonine -employed, and the Emperor paid for his temerity; -but when he proposed Urania as consort, no one -objected, and it was only the return of the Vestal to -connubial felicity that re-aroused the annoyance -which his compliance with Roman sentiment had -pacified. The idea of matrimony amongst the Gods<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_279"></a>[279]</span> -was quite usual, so much so, that the expressions of -the biographers betray wilful ignorance, not only of -contemporary religion, but also of the Emperor’s -scheme and purpose.</p> - -<p>Concerning the magnificence of the worship all -authorities tell us something, and from them we -can gather that, accustomed as the Romans were to -a severe and simple ritual, the Syrian worship, -whether on the Palatine or in the temple at Jerusalem, -was a thing for fools to gaze at and wise men -to scorn. A few grains of incense, a few drops of -wine in libation, a perfect pentameter verse, and -the dignified Roman passed on. Here there was -one long succession of butchery, hecatombs of oxen, -and runlets of the finest wines, which, together -with clouds of incense, served to increase the feeling -of nausea caused by the smell of the victims. Nor -was this all. Round and round the countless altars -the wonderful painted boy, in whose eyes fanaticism -and mystery glowed, led men and women through -the latest and most approved terpsichorean -measures, to the accompaniment of a band whose -noise recalls that of Nebuchadnezzar; if there be any -truth in either record, as we have it. The psalms -and hymns which formed part of the worship were -equally unusual in the city of the Caesars; their only -place was in the Eastern religions which gave them -birth, because such a display of barbaric worship -had long been superseded amongst the intellectual -and progressive peoples of the West. Such useless -waste of life, such prodigality of movement, music, -and colour, was but little in accord with the Western<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_280"></a>[280]</span> -philosophy of religion, and it was with a sigh for his -sanity that wise men escaped from the orgy in -which their Emperor was taking chief part.</p> - -<p>It was all so freakish that men might have looked -and listened quietly, if the High Priest—in accordance -with his scheme of reform—had not desired -the assistance of his great officers of state; naturally, -these men objected all the more strongly -because they were perforce to profess interest in -their new duties, and joyfully spread disaffection, -once they were amongst the conspirators and out -of the Emperor’s hearing.</p> - -<p>Lampridius’ legend of Antonine’s human sacrifices -must be dealt with as another calumny. He says -that the Emperor used to sacrifice young boys of -the best families, preferring those whose parents -were alive, and, being present, would be most -grieved at the deed. In this case the refutation is -scarcely needed, since the author asserts that such was -the custom of the Syrian worship, whereas it is now -certain that Rome had caused the cessation of human -sacrifices long before the second century amongst all -Semitic peoples. It is in all probability the same -legend which was attached to the early Christian -mysteries, and with even less reason, for while the -Christian worship was in secret, and so might lend -itself to the supposition of nefarious practices, that -of the Sun God was public and blatantly open before -the world, following a well-known and approved -ritual.</p> - -<p>No, Antonine may have been mad, but there -was a certain method in his madness, and this<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_281"></a>[281]</span> -form of lunacy would only have alienated the -very people he was striving so hard to win. -It was in the method he failed, not in the conception, -for monotheism was continually gaining -ground; Paganism was obviously falling asleep -quite gently; Isis was giving way to Mary, apotheosis -to canonisation, and saints succeeding -divinities. Antonine, with the true Eastern conception -of religion, strove to impress men with his -vivid monotheism by means of the magnificence of -the worship, the prodigal expenditure of a gorgeous -pageant. This he gave the world right royally, but -it was precisely this that the austere Roman could -not understand was meant to be connected with the -simple philosophy of his Western religion. Antonine -thought to make his God great by means of a pompous -show. He succeeded in presenting him as a -low comedian in the last act of a puerile melodrama; -unfortunately not the first, or last, deity who has -been thus presented before the eyes of an astonished -world.</p> - -<p>It had long been a Roman custom to commemorate -the greatest of her victories by the erection -of gigantic columns in the forums of the city; -Antonine proposed to build the most magnificent -that had yet greeted human eyes. It was to be a -memorial to the triumph of the Lord over the -deities of chance and circumstance. Its summit, -which he designed should be reached by a stairway -inside, was to support the great meteorite. Death -intervened to spoil the plan and to deprive Rome -of a monument surpassing in grandeur any that the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_282"></a>[282]</span> -city should ever see. Such were the methods by -which the boy strove to win acceptance for Elagabal, -and through him for the great monotheistic principle -in religion. It must be clearly understood -that the religion of Emesa was in no sense idolatrous. -It is true that the city possessed a huge -black meteorite, which it venerated exceedingly, -because it was a portion of the being of its God. -In shape, we are told, it was a Phallus, and as such -was the symbol of fecund life, typifying the great -force of light, joy, and fruitfulness, which men regarded -as the be-all and end-all of their existence.</p> - -<p>Of this theory in religion Marcus Aurelius Antoninus -was high priest and chief exponent, and even -his boy’s mind could see the superiority of life to -death, of the supreme beneficent being to the lesser -deities who oppressed other peoples. Certainly he -was so impressed, and resolved to spread that -worship and knowledge by means of the vast power -which resided in his childish hands from the year of -grace 218.</p> - -<p>Little, when the young Emperor undertook the -task of unifying churches, could he have imagined the -magnitude of the task, or the reason of the opposition. -As we have said, this opposition came from the fact -that an entirely different system of religion held sway. -To-day we would call the Roman system natural -religion and Antonine’s conception dogmatic truth. -He ascribed too much to his God, which is no uncommon -failing amongst the credulous; probably he -claimed a revelation from on high, and was inclined -to consign those who disagreed with him to that<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_283"></a>[283]</span> -special limbo which the ignorant have reserved for -all those who make them look foolish, for all that -spells truth contrary to their own limited imaginings; -if so, he would not have been unusual. The genius -of natural religion is that it is comprehensive, tolerant, -righteous and just. It has no dogma save the -individual experience of each. The genius of -dogmatic religion lies in the assumption to itself of -absolute exclusiveness; it alone contains truth, and -in its later editions, finality as well. Whether -Antonine’s form included this latter pretension we -do not know, certainly it claimed what no Roman -thinker could accord to any faith under the sun—the -proposition that God was one and God was supreme. -The Roman had been bred on Pyrrho, Epicurus, -Lucretius, and Cicero, and was more inclined to -postulate that God was the cosmic entity of spirit, -something as potent as, if not analogous to, the entity -of electricity in modern science. He had no relations -with the older deities who had made life terrible by -their persecutions of the human race, and had no -desire to submit himself again to a system which -would erect fright into yet another national deity. -He had long since grown weary of trying to propitiate -infinity, and now understood that he might -as well sacrifice to the animals in the Zoological -Gardens, in the hope of staying their hunger, as -make oblation to the deities in the expectation of -a return in kind.</p> - -<p>This was no new struggle that Antonine proposed -to inaugurate in the city of Rome. It is -the contest between rationalism and dogma when<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_284"></a>[284]</span> -pushed to its logical conclusion. Doubtless there -is much to be said on both sides; certainly -much has been written and more has been said -during the history of civilisation. The rationalists -have set it forth as the struggle between ignorance -and reason; the dogmatists as that between -good and evil; certainly it was not a struggle on -which Antonine was either old enough or wise -enough to lay down any definite line of truth -for the future guidance of the world. Unfortunately, -this was just what he attempted to do. -He knew that the national deity of every nation -under heaven was fright, and forgot that its antithesis -was truth. He knew that fright was bound -to predominate; that men would continue to pay -their worship as they paid their taxes, lest a worse -thing should happen to them. It had been the -same in Homer’s day. Men had been brought up -to fright, and as one God died they demanded -another. The Prophets had given men Gods, -laughing the while at the divinities they created, -because they believed as little in the sacerdotal -fables as Tennyson did in the phantom idylls of -Arthurian romance.</p> - -<p>The point is, that what the mass of men demand -they will get. It is the usual law of supply and -demand, where the man who can increase the -demand and satisfy it to any extent is the successful -founder of a new religion. This is undoubtedly the -business of the sacerdotal caste in every generation, -and their success is assured as long as they are -capable of increasing the supply, while they whet the<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_285"></a>[285]</span> -demand. They fail when some one else appeals to -popular imagination as more mysterious, or more -spiritual.</p> - -<p>Now, Antonine seemed to think that mere -dictation of what was to himself obvious should be -enough to give his God a start, and, that done, all -men would discover the vital attraction for themselves. -Perhaps he was right; stranger things had -happened before his day, and were to happen not -long afterwards; we can never know, as the system -had no more time for a fair trial than had that of -Constantine’s successor Julian.</p> - -<p>For the moment Rome was bored with all -Gods; they had found them so cruel, vindictive, -and malignant that the citizens had got irritated -and sceptical, had left their deities feeling that -already for too long time had blood and treasure -been spent without avail. Now at last, men said, -“dread has vanished and in its place is the ideal.” -Evemerus had asserted that the Gods were just -ordinary bullies who would cringe if men stood up -to them, and even the lower classes had agreed -with him.</p> - -<p>This, Antonine felt, was a deplorable state of -affairs—rank atheism if not something worse. He -knew the potency of his God, and desired, by gentle -means, to set it forth to others that they too might -believe. Unfortunately, no one desired belief, and -he had to fight against rationalism as well as -convention. The Romans were not yet tired of -their chase after impossible delights; when they -were, another dogma presented itself, and as often<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_286"></a>[286]</span> -as not it was accepted, as being the line of least -resistance.</p> - -<p>If Antonine had given them what Julian did, his -success would have been assured. Such was philosophy, -freedom, and beauty under the guise of a -God whose existence he admitted, but whose intervention -he denied. Antonine was not Julian; he -was an Eastern monotheist, far nearer to the worship -and doctrines of Jehovah than to those of any Western -mode of thought. He could not understand the -deification of attributes, because he wanted something -more tangible, real, and superstitious, something -that appealed to his neurotic nature and -erotic passions.</p> - -<p>Thus it is that his vain efforts to unite all -worship, all religions in that dedicated to Deus -Solus are derided, as well by the monotheistic -Hebrew as by the tritheistic Christian. His fault -lay in the fact that he was too young for the work, -too unaccustomed to the circuitous and mole-like -burrowings by which a religion captures society. -But the scheme in itself showed purpose and a precocious -propensity for the mysterious, unnatural and -unhealthy in a child of his age.</p> - -<p>Had Antonine been born in the twentieth instead -of the third century of this era, had he enjoyed the -advantages of a modern education, he would have -learned that religion and unusual propensities are -the last things a gentleman is expected to parade -before the world. Further, he would have certainly -emerged from the training—which though drastic is -certainly most salutary—with his waywardness<span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_287"></a>[287]</span> -curbed, his mind and will strengthened, his lithe -and graceful body healthy and fit to bear the -fatigues and responsibilities which life was going to -lay upon his splendid shoulders. Unfortunately for -him, he was a Syrian with wonderful eyes and a -mystical temperament, and was born at a time when -the monarch’s wayward will was a law unto himself -and all the world besides; yet despite these drawbacks, -with so many of the elements of success to -hand, he might have triumphed, if the usual conspirators -had not been at work. “Rome was still -mistress of the world though she was growing very -old. A few more years and the Earth’s new -children fell upon her; then the universe was -startled by the uproar of her agony. Then and not -till then, where the thunderbolt had gleamed did the -emaciated figure of the crucifix appear, and upon the -shoulders of a prelate descended the purple which -had dazzled the world.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_288"></a>[288]</span></p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="bibliography"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_289"></a>[289]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="BIBLIOGRAPHY">BIBLIOGRAPHY</h2> - -</div> - -<p class="letter"><span class="smcap">Accursius (Bonus).</span> Vitae Caesarum. 1475.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Arnold (W. T.).</span> Roman Provincial Administration. Oxford, 1906.</p> - -<p><span class="smcap">Audollent (A.).</span></p> - -<div class="blockquote"> - -<p>1. Carthage romaine. 1901. École française à Athènes.</p> - -<p>2. Mission épigraphique en Algérie. 1890. 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Bonn, 1837.</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_298"></a>[298]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak">FOOTNOTES</h2> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> <i>Die S.H.A. Sechs litterar-geschichtliche Untersuchungen</i>, Leipzig, 1892.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> See Peter, <i>Hist. Crit.</i> cap. ii.; Bernhardy, <i>Proemii de S.H.A.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> <i>Observationum S.H.A.</i>, Breslau, 1838.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="label">[4]</a> <i>Andeutungen zur Texteskritik</i>, 1842.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="label">[5]</a> Czwalina, <i>De epistularum auctorumque quae a S.H.A. proferuntur</i>, -Bonn, 1870.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="label">[6]</a> “Über die S.H.A.,” <i>Rhein. Mus.</i> vol. vii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="label">[7]</a> Peter, <i>Hist. Crit. S.H.A.</i>, Leipzig, 1860.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="label">[8]</a> Peter, <i>Jahresbericht</i>, 1865-82, “S.H.A.”</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="label">[9]</a> <i>Ibid.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="label">[10]</a> “Der Geschichtschreiber Marius Maximus,” <i>Untersuch.</i> vol. iii., Leipzig, -1870.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="label">[11]</a> Ruebel, <i>De fontibus quatuor priorum S.H.A.</i>, Bonn, 1872; Dreinhoefer, -<i>De auctoribus vitarum quae feruntur Spartiani</i>, etc., Halle, 1873; -Plew, <i>Marius Maximus, als direkt und indirekt Quelle der S.H.A.</i>, 1873.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="label">[12]</a> <i>De Aelio Cordo rerum Augustarum scriptore commentatio</i>, Muenster, 1885.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="label">[13]</a> Haupt, <i>Philologus</i>, xliv. 575.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="label">[14]</a> Dio, lxxx. 1.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="label">[15]</a> <i>Gli Scrittori della Storia Augusta</i>, 1881.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="label">[16]</a> <i>De Herodiano rer. Rom. scriptore</i>, 1881.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_17" href="#FNanchor_17" class="label">[17]</a> Giambelli and Plew, <i>opp. citt.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_18" href="#FNanchor_18" class="label">[18]</a> <i>Op. cit.</i> p. 82.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_19" href="#FNanchor_19" class="label">[19]</a> <i>Marius Maximus als direkt und indirekt Quelle der S.H.A.</i>, Strassburg, -1878.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_20" href="#FNanchor_20" class="label">[20]</a> Boehme, <i>Dexippi fragmenta</i>, 1882, pp. 10-11.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_21" href="#FNanchor_21" class="label">[21]</a> <i>Die S.H.A.</i>, pp. 49, 102.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_22" href="#FNanchor_22" class="label">[22]</a> <i>De epistularum auctorumque quae a S.H.A. proferuntur</i>, Bonn, 1870.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_23" href="#FNanchor_23" class="label">[23]</a> “Die ‘Vita’ des Avidius Cassius,” <i>Rhein. Mus.</i> vol. xliii., 1888.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_24" href="#FNanchor_24" class="label">[24]</a> Dessau, “Über Zeit und Persönlichkeit der S.H.A.,” <i>Hermes</i>, xxiv. -337-92, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_25" href="#FNanchor_25" class="label">[25]</a> “Die S.H.A.,” <i>Hermes</i>, xxv. 228-92.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_26" href="#FNanchor_26" class="label">[26]</a> “Die Entstehungszeit der S.H.A.” <i>Neue Jahrbuch Phil.</i> vol. cxli.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_27" href="#FNanchor_27" class="label">[27]</a> “Die Sammlung der S.H.A.,” <i>Rhein. Mus.</i> vol. xlv.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_28" href="#FNanchor_28" class="label">[28]</a> Seeck, <i>op. cit.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_29" href="#FNanchor_29" class="label">[29]</a> <i>Carinus</i>, xviii. 3.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_30" href="#FNanchor_30" class="label">[30]</a> T. Pollio, <i>Trig. Tyr.</i> v. 3, etc.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_31" href="#FNanchor_31" class="label">[31]</a> Klebs, “Die Sammlung der S.H.A.,” <i>Rhein. Mus.</i>, vol. xlv., 1890.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_32" href="#FNanchor_32" class="label">[32]</a> <i>Ibid.</i> vol. xlvii.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_33" href="#FNanchor_33" class="label">[33]</a> “Die S.H.A.,” <i>Sitzungsber. der philos.-philol. Klasse der Bayer. Akad.</i>, -1891.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_34" href="#FNanchor_34" class="label">[34]</a> <i>Op. cit.</i> p. 479.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_35" href="#FNanchor_35" class="label">[35]</a> “Über die S.H.A.,” <i>Hermes</i>, vol. xxvii., 1892.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_36" href="#FNanchor_36" class="label">[36]</a> “Zur Echtheitsfrage der S.H.A.,” <i>Rhein. Mus.</i> vol. 49.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_37" href="#FNanchor_37" class="label">[37]</a> “Studies in S.H.A.,” <i>Amer. Journ. Phil.</i> vol. xx., Baltimore, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_38" href="#FNanchor_38" class="label">[38]</a> <i>Der historische Wert der</i> Vita Commodi.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_39" href="#FNanchor_39" class="label">[39]</a> <i>Beiträge zur Kritik der Überlieferung der Zeit von Commodus zu -Caracalla</i>, 1903.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_40" href="#FNanchor_40" class="label">[40]</a> <i>Leben des Kaisers Hadrian</i>, Leipzig.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_41" href="#FNanchor_41" class="label">[41]</a> <i>Kaiserhaus der Antonin</i>, Leipzig.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_42" href="#FNanchor_42" class="label">[42]</a> <i>Kaiser Hadrian und der letzte grosse Historiker von Rom</i>, 1905.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_43" href="#FNanchor_43" class="label">[43]</a> Quoting Diadumenianus, ix. 2.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_44" href="#FNanchor_44" class="label">[44]</a> <i>Op. cit.</i> pp. 145 ff.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_45" href="#FNanchor_45" class="label">[45]</a> <i>Berlin. phil. Wochenschriften</i>, xxii. p. 489, xxv. p. 1471.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_46" href="#FNanchor_46" class="label">[46]</a> <i>Studi sugli S.H.A.</i>, Messina, 1899.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_47" href="#FNanchor_47" class="label">[47]</a> <i>Elagabalo</i>, Feltre, 1905.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_48" href="#FNanchor_48" class="label">[48]</a> <i>Études sur hist. Aug., 1904</i>, Paris.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_49" href="#FNanchor_49" class="label">[49]</a> <i>Vide</i> cap. vi. <i>Vita Alex. Sev.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_50" href="#FNanchor_50" class="label">[50]</a> <i>Life of Gibbon.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_51" href="#FNanchor_51" class="label">[51]</a> <i>Les Empereurs syriens.</i></p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_52" href="#FNanchor_52" class="label">[52]</a> <i>De M.A.A.E. trib. pot.</i>, Florence, 1711.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_53" href="#FNanchor_53" class="label">[53]</a> Bishop of Adria.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_54" href="#FNanchor_54" class="label">[54]</a> Tristran Sieur de St-Amant, <i>Commentaires historiques</i>, Paris, 1635.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_55" href="#FNanchor_55" class="label">[55]</a> C. Saumaise, <i>S.H.A.</i> vi., <i>Notae et emendationes</i>, Paris, 1620.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_56" href="#FNanchor_56" class="label">[56]</a> <i>Vide</i> Suetonius, <i>Lives of the Emperors</i>.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_57" href="#FNanchor_57" class="label">[57]</a> As Tiberius, “Principes mortales, rem publicam aeternam esse” (<i>Ann.</i> -iii. 6).</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_58" href="#FNanchor_58" class="label">[58]</a> The change of the name to its Greek and commonly received form is -100 years later than Elagabalus, in fact it occurs first in Lampridius, and -was seemingly born of the necessity, which had been suggested to Constantine, -of connecting the old worship of the only God with that of Mithra the Persian -Sun deity.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_59" href="#FNanchor_59" class="label">[59]</a> The number of years in the <i>Liber generationis</i> is, however, debatable, -since Rubensohn gives three years in his edition.</p> - -</div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_60" href="#FNanchor_60" class="label">[60]</a> S.H.A. = Scriptores Historiae Augustae.</p> - -</div> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a id="Page_299"></a>[299]</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INDEX">INDEX</h2> - -</div> - -<ul> - -<li class="ifrst">Aegae in Cilicia, Macrinus retires to, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aemilian Bridge, Antonine’s body thrown from, <a -href="#Page_169">169</a>, <a href="#Page_189">189</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aeneas, <a href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aesculapius, <a href="#Page_258">258</a></li> - -<li class="indx">African inscriptions erase <i>Severi Nepos</i>, <a -href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Agrippina, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexander of Macedon, his connection with Alexander -Severus, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexander Severus, or Alexianus, <a -href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>, <a -href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a -href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>, <a -href="#Page_54">54</a>, <a href="#Page_123">123</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">description and career to Antonine’s death, <a -href="#Page_136">136-72</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">not priest of -Elagabal, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">liberality -at his adoption, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date -of accession, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date -of tribunicial renewal, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">substitutes his name for that of Antonine, <a -href="#Page_199">199</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">stupidity, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">abolishes mixed bathing, -<a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on public feasts, <a -href="#Page_259">259</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Alexandria, Bassianus’ legates badly received at, <a -href="#Page_57">57</a>, <a href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ammianus Marcellinus, on the birthplace of Bassianus, <a -href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Annia Faustina, marriage with Antonine, <a -href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">divorce mooted, -<a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">divorced, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with Bathsheba, -<a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">her genealogy, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">age and position, <a -href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">reasons against the -divorce, <a href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antinous and Hadrian, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antioch, Origen goes to, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Macrinus at, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a -href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">news of rising reaches, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">distance between Antioch to Emesa, <a -href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">coin of Diadumenianus, -Emperor, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Macrinus -retires to, <a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Macrinus -leaves for Rome, <a href="#Page_72">72</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">Antonine arrives at, <a href="#Page_77">77</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antiochianus, <a href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antoninus Pius, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">first Roman coins of Emesa, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Antony, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apamea, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a -href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">Macrinus goes to, and declares Diadumenianus Caesar at, -<a href="#Page_67">67</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Antonine at, <a -href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aphrodite-Adonis, compared with Elagabal-Urania, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apicius, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apollo and his loves, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Apollonius of Tyana, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Appia, Lex, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aquilia Severa, matrimony with Emperor discussed, -<a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">duration of -marriage, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">return to -Emperor, <a href="#Page_183">183</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position -discussed, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, <a href="#Page_208">208</a>, -<a href="#Page_211">211</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">appearance, <a -href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of marriage, <a -href="#Page_216">216</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of divorce, <a -href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">returns as Empress, <a -href="#Page_224">224</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arca, Alexander’s birthplace, <a -href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Archelais, death-place of Macrinus, <a -href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Archimedes, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aristomachus, the standard-bearer, <a -href="#Page_154">154</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aristotle, quoted, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arnobius, on Phallic worship, <a -href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arria Fadilla, grandmother of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_300"></a>[300]</span>Arrianus, Herodian, <a -href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Artabanus, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a -href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Diadumenianus sent to, <a -href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Arvalium, Collegio Fratrum, meet to elect Elagabalus, -<a href="#Page_68">68</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">temporizing policy, <a -href="#Page_81">81</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Assyrian, the,” Xiphilinus’ name for Antonine, <a -href="#Page_95">95</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Attila, <a href="#Page_244">244</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustan Legion, absorbs 3rd Gallic Legion on account of -this latter’s revolt, <a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Augustus, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with Antonine, -<a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">influence in Rome, <a -href="#Page_104">104</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aurelia Sabina, mother of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aurelius Celsus, captor of Macrinus, <a -href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aurelius Eubulus, Chancellor of Exchequer, <a -href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Aurelius Fabianus, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Avitus, Julius, husband of Julia Maesa, <a -href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Barak compared with Gannys, <a -href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Barrachinus on Gens Cornelia, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bassianus, Julius, <a href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bathsheba, compared with Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Baumeister, on site of Eliogabalium, <a -href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bayle, dictionary of, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Becker, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Belos, oracles, at Apamea, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bertrand, on Gens Cornelia, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bloch cited, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boehme on Dexippus, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Boni, Commendatore, on Elagabal shrine, <a -href="#Page_132">132</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bonus Accursius, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a -href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borghese, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Borghese Collection, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bylus, centre of worship of Aphrodite-Adonis, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Bithynia, Macrinus’ flight through, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Byzantium, <a href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Caecilius Aristo, Governor of Nicomedia, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caesar, Julius, on divorce, <a -href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">his sexual condition, <a -href="#Page_238">238</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caius Caligula, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">prodigalities, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">marriages, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">as a host, <a href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">his perfumes, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Capitolinus, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a -href="#Page_101">101</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cappadocia, Macrinus flies through, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Caracalla, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">birth of, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">and Soaemias, <a href="#Page_33">33-36</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">and Julia Mamaea, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">in Mesopotamia, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his murder, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">soldiers compare him with Macrinus, <a -href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Bassianus accepted as -heir of, <a href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">conquered -cities, <a href="#Page_61">61</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a -href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Antonine promises -Caracalla’s privileges to soldiers, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">baths of, finished, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his paternity denied for Antonine and -affirmed for Alexander, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">liberalities, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">date of tribunicial renewal, <a -href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Caracalla’s influence on -morals, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Vestals, <a -href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">uses Pomponius Bassus, -<a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">his severity to his -mother, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">his system -of informers not re-established, <a href="#Page_243">243</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">introduces Persian tiara, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Casaubon, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cassius, Avidius, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Castinus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chalcedon, Macrinus taken at, <a -href="#Page_74">74</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Charrae, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cheyne quoted, <a href="#Page_97">97</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Christ, Pauline theories concerning, <a -href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Apollonius, <a -href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">menaced by Antonine’s -claim, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>, <a href="#Page_114">114</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Christian religion, persecuting tendencies, -<a href="#Page_1">1</a>, <a href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">unpopular in Rome, <a href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">amalgamated with that of Elagabal, <a -href="#Page_278">278</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">human sacrifices, <a -href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Chronicle, Imperial, on length of reign, <a -href="#Page_13">13</a>, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cicero, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a -href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on immortality, -<a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on divorce, <a -href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Claudius Attalus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_301"></a>[301]</span>Claudius Censor, dismissed from office, <a -href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Claudius, Emperor, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with Macrinus, -<a href="#Page_76">76</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Vestals, <a -href="#Page_214">214</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clement VII., <a href="#Page_131">131</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Clodius, <a href="#Page_106">106</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cn. Claudius Severus, grandfather of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cohen, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a -href="#Page_61">61</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Antonine’s illness, -<a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the date of the -procession, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on number -of liberalities, <a href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -irregular coins, <a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Commodus, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a -href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>, <a -href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantine, Emperor, orders life of Elagabalus, -<a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">reasons for this order, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and Christ, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a -href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and the new Monotheism, -<a href="#Page_214">214</a>, <a href="#Page_228">228</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">opposed by Mithras, <a href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">mentioned, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Constantius, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Consularia Constantinopolitana</i>, <a -href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cordus, Aelius Junius, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cornelia, family discussed, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cornificia family, ancestors of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Corpus Domini procession, compared with Elagabal -procession, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Croce, Church of Sta., site of summer temple, <a -href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cumont, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">quoted, <a href="#Page_133">133</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cybele, Antonine priest of, <a -href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">identified with Urania, -<a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">priests castrated, <a -href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Elagabalus ordained to -this priesthood, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Cyzicus, port of Nicomedia, <a -href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Czwalina, <a href="#Page_4">4</a>, <a -href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Dacia, <a href="#Page_104">104</a></li> - -<li class="indx">David, compared with Antonine, <a -href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Jonathan, <a -href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Deborah, <a href="#Page_70">70</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dessau, attacks authenticity of Scriptores, <a -href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">attacks Wölfflin, <a -href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dexippus, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Diana, identified with Urania, <a -href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">the Laodicean statue of, -<a href="#Page_277">277</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Digest xxix., <a href="#Page_206">206</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Diocletian, <a href="#Page_12">12</a>, <a -href="#Page_105">105</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dion Cassius, character of his work and his -appointments, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Maesa’s -influence on, <a href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">quoted, -<a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a -href="#Page_28">28</a>, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Sextus Varius Marcellus, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on date of Bassianus’ birth, <a -href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Gessianus Marcianus, -<a href="#Page_38">38</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the date of the -proclamation, <a href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the -journey to the camp, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -battle of Immae, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Antonine’s entry into Antioch, <a href="#Page_77">77</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s Consulate, <a href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on pretenders, <a href="#Page_88">88</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on length of reign, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s character, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on duration of second marriage, <a -href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Urania’s dowry, <a -href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Seius Carus, <a -href="#Page_139">139</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Antonine’s love -of Alexander, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Alexander’s name, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -plot against Alexander, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">discrepancies with Lampridius’ stories, <a -href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Maesa’s hatred of -Antonine, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on other -plots to destroy Alexander, <a href="#Page_162">162</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s murder, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">eliminates Maesa and Mamaea from the murder, <a -href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on date of murder, <a -href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on duration of Aquilia’s -marriage, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -executions, <a href="#Page_220">220</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Annia Faustina’s marriage, <a href="#Page_221">221</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on the nameless wives, <a href="#Page_224">224</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Hierocles, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a -href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dirksen, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Divorce considered, <a href="#Page_204">204</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">mediaeval privilege, <a href="#Page_210">210</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dodwell, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domaszewski quoted, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Domitian, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Vestals, <a -href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and feasts, <a -href="#Page_236">236</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Drake, on Caracalla’s life, <a -href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Dreinhoefer, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Duruy, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a -href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Alexander Severus, <a -href="#Page_138">138</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Eckhel, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the number of -Soaemia’s children, <a href="#Page_34">34</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -date of Cornelia Paula’s divorce, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on number of liberalities, <a -href="#Page_190">190</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the tribunicial -renewal, <a href="#Page_194">194</a>;</li> <li class="isub1"><span -class="pagenum"><a id="Page_302"></a>[302]</span>on Annia Faustina’s -genealogy, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on her -age, <a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Egbert, on tribunicial renewals, <a -href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elah-Gebal, monarchy, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Bassianus becomes High Priest of, <a -href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">portents of, <a -href="#Page_54">54</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">accompanies the -Emperor, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">occupies -Temple of Faustina on Mount Taurus, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">his worship decreed to be first, <a -href="#Page_100">100</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position in Rome, -<a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">shrine in Forum, -<a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">second marriage, -<a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Alexander’s -adoption, <a href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">procession, -<a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">return to -Emesa, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">analogy -with use of name Jehovah, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">regarded as another Jupiter, <a href="#Page_189">189</a>, -<a href="#Page_273">273</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">amalgamation -unpopular, <a href="#Page_275">275</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">worship -not idolatrous, <a href="#Page_287">287</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elephantis and Parrhasius, compared with Elagabalus, <a -href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eliogabalium, site of, <a href="#Page_92">92</a>, <a -href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">sacred fire taken to, -<a href="#Page_130">130</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of completion, -<a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">relics taken to, <a -href="#Page_275">275</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Elizabeth, Queen, compared with Julia Pia, <a -href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">her ecclesiastical -headship same as that of Emperor, <a href="#Page_274">274</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ellis, Prof. Robinson, quoted, <a -href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Emesa, <a href="#Page_25">25</a>, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a href="#Page_100">100</a>, <a -href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a href="#Page_231">231</a>, <a -href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">reputed birthplace -of Bassianus, <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Maesa -and family return to, <a href="#Page_45">45-6</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">Julian’s battle at, <a href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">the god returns to, <a href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Epagathos, Diadumenianus entrusted to, <a -href="#Page_72">72</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Epicurus, <a href="#Page_283">283</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eribolus, Macrinus embarks from, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eusebius, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eutropius, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a -href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on length of reign in -Rome, <a href="#Page_107">107</a>, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on entry into the city, <a href="#Page_108">108</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Eutychianus persuades the soldiers, <a -href="#Page_52">52</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">takes Bassianus to -the camp, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">sends -Julianus’ head to Apamea, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">position in State discussed, <a -href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with Gannys, -<a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">City Praefect, -<a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Consul, <a -href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">City Praefect, second -time, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Praetorian -Praefect, <a href="#Page_169">169</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">spared from -the murders, <a href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">epitome -of offices, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and -Julius Paulus, <a href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Evemerus quoted, <a href="#Page_285">285</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Fabius Agrippinus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fabius Gurgis, <a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fasti Romani (Clinton), on tribunicial renewal, <a -href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Faustina, <a href="#Page_28">28</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Flavian amphitheatre restored by Antonine, <a -href="#Page_128">128</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Forel cited, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Forquet de Dorne, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Macrinus, <a href="#Page_48">48</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Gannys, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s nature, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Friedländer, on distance of Macrinus’ flight, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Senaculum, <a -href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Froelich, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Fulvius Diogenianus, on Macrinus, <a -href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Praefect of Rome, <a -href="#Page_170">170</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Galatia, Macrinus flies through, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Galen, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gallicanus, <a href="#Page_3">3</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gallic Legion, 3rd, disloyal to Antonine and disbanded, -<a href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gannys, <a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">compared with Gideon, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">compared with Eutychianus, <a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">murder of, <a href="#Page_101">101</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">reasons for his death, <a href="#Page_233">233</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gellius Maximus, a pretender, <a -href="#Page_89">89</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Geta, <a href="#Page_168">168</a>, <a -href="#Page_196">196</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Giambelli, on Dion Cassius, <a -href="#Page_8">8</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on sources of Dion and -Herodian, <a href="#Page_9">9</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gordius or Cordus, <a href="#Page_125">125</a>, <a -href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">dismissed from office, -<a href="#Page_179">179</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gratus, Consul <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221, -<a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Groebe, on date of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Gulick, on Christian tendencies, <a -href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Hadrian, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a -href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">influence on morals, -<a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Antinous, <a -href="#Page_231">231</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">abolishes mixed bathing, -<a href="#Page_245">245</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_303"></a>[303]</span>Haupt, on Greek sources of Scriptores, <a -href="#Page_7">7</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hebrew religion, unpopularity of, <a -href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">barbaric, <a -href="#Page_279">279</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Heer, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a -href="#Page_13">13</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Commodus, <a -href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Heliogabalus, Lampridius’ name for the Emperor, <a -href="#Page_185">185</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Henzen, on the Arval Brothers, <a -href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herakles, his friendships, <a -href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hercules, inscription to, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herod, kingship compared with that of Emesan dynasty, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Herodian, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a -href="#Page_8">8</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a -href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a href="#Page_42">42</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on date of Bassianus’ birth, <a -href="#Page_35">35</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the worship at Emesa, -<a href="#Page_50">50</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the journey to -the camp, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the -battle of Immae, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Maesa’s position, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -length of Antonine’s stay in Antioch, <a href="#Page_91">91</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Elagabalus’ portrait sent to Senate, <a -href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on entry into the city, <a -href="#Page_110">110</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Antonine’s character, -<a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on duration of -second marriage, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Urania’s dowry, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -corruption of the guards, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Alexander’s age, <a href="#Page_142">142</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on date of adoption, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">does not mention Antonine’s plot against Alexander, -<a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the disowning -of Alexander, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Antonine’s murder, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -the cortège to the camp, <a href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on the liberalities, <a href="#Page_176">176</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on duration of Aquilia’s marriage, <a -href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Elagabalus’ pastimes, -<a href="#Page_247">247</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his ostentation, -<a href="#Page_249">249</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hierocles, marriage with Elagabalus, <a -href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dismissal demanded and refused, <a -href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">killed with Antonine, <a -href="#Page_170">170</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">origin and character, <a -href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Homs or Hems, modern name of Emesa, <a -href="#Page_24">24</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Horace, his atheism, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Huysmans, quoted, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hyacinth and Apollo, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hydatius, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Hylas and Herakles, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Iamblichus, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Iamblichus, the philosopher, on Phallicism, <a -href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Iambulus, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Immae or Emma, battle of, <a href="#Page_69">69</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ishtar-Tammuz, parallel procession to that of Elagabal, -<a href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isidore, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Isis, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>, <a -href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">popularity in Rome, <a -href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">gives way to Mary, <a -href="#Page_281">281</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Itinera Hierosolymitana</i>, <a -href="#Page_73">73</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Jehovah, compared with Baal, <a href="#Page_50">50</a>, -<a href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">analogy with -use of name Elagabal, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">character of worship, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">amalgamated with Elagabal, <a -href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">akin to Elagabal, <a -href="#Page_286">286</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jerome, on Senaculum, <a href="#Page_121">121</a></li> - -<li class="indx">John of Antioch, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jonathan and David, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jordanis, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julia Cornelia Paula, marriage with Antonine, -<a href="#Page_111">111</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">divorced, -<a href="#Page_126">126</a>, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">history, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">reasons for the marriage, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">age, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">date of divorce, <a href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julia Domna Pia, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">married to Septimius -Severus, <a href="#Page_29">29</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">her titles, -<a href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with -Mamaea, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">Secretary of State, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">after Caracalla’s death, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">her suicide, <a href="#Page_45">45</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julianus, on birthplace of Bassianus, <a -href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julianus, Emperor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">deposed by Pomponius Bassus, <a -href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julianus, Ulpius, sent by Macrinus to Emesa, -<a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">defeat of, <a -href="#Page_60">60-62</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Julius Paulus, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, -<a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_111">111</a>, <a -href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">history, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Eutychianus, <a -href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">banishment discussed, <a -href="#Page_209">209</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Jupiter Capitolinus, to serve Elagabal, <a -href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Eliogabalium reconsecrated -to, <a href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">gives place to -Mithra, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Juvenal, <a href="#Page_106">106</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on morals, <a href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Klebs, <a href="#Page_10">10</a>, <a -href="#Page_11">11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Kornemann, on lives from Hadrian to Alexander Severus, -<a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_14">14</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Krafft-Ebing, cited, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_304"></a>[304]</span>Kreutzer, on Herodian, <a -href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Lactantius, cited, <a href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lambesa in Pannonia, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lampridius, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, -<a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_16">16</a>, <a -href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on name “Varius,” <a href="#Page_36">36</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Soaemias, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the period of fanaticism, <a -href="#Page_98">98</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the entry into -the city, <a href="#Page_108">108</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Maesa and Soaemias in Senate, <a href="#Page_119">119</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Senaculum, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Antonine’s neglect of state for religion, -<a href="#Page_124">124</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Antonine’s infidelities, <a href="#Page_126">126</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Alexander, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Alexander’s name, <a href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the reasons for Senate’s reticence, <a -href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on plot against -Alexander, <a href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Antonine’s danger, <a href="#Page_154">154</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">discrepancies, <a href="#Page_155">155</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on possible date of disowning, <a -href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Sabinus, Ulpian, and -Silvinus, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">reasons -for Antonine’s murder, <a href="#Page_165">165</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on unfit appointments, <a href="#Page_179">179</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Antonine’s desire for conquest, <a -href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the Emperor’s name -and history, <a href="#Page_185">185</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -buildings erected, <a href="#Page_186">186</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -date of Alexander’s accession, <a href="#Page_192">192</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s sagacity, <a href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Julius Paulus, <a href="#Page_205">205</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Antonine’s wives generally, <a -href="#Page_208">208</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Julius Paulus’ -banishment, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Antonine’s use for wives, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s moods when married to Annia, <a -href="#Page_223">223</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">impossibility of his -stories, <a href="#Page_227">227</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">ascribes -Elagabalus’ moderation to Maesa, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on his passion for flowers, <a -href="#Page_236">236</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his castration, -<a href="#Page_238">238</a>, <a href="#Page_276">276</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Zoticus, <a href="#Page_240">240</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Elagabalus’ effeminacy, <a -href="#Page_241">241</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his fastidiousness, -<a href="#Page_248">248</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his jewellery, <a -href="#Page_249">249</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on cost of his feasts, -<a href="#Page_253">253</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his pranks, <a -href="#Page_262">262</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on his wanton waste, -<a href="#Page_265">265</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">condemns Antonine’s -religion, <a href="#Page_267">267</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Diana’s statue, <a href="#Page_277">277</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Elagabalus’ human sacrifices, <a href="#Page_280">280</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lanciani, concerning Julius Avitus’ house on Aesquiline, -<a href="#Page_32">32</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lécrivain, <a href="#Page_16">16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Leptis Magna, birthplace of Septimius Severus, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><i>Liber Generationis</i>, on length of Antonine’s -reign, <a href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ligorius, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Locusta, <a href="#Page_159">159</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lollius Urbicus, confounded with Marius Maximus, <a -href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lucilla, reputed mother of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lupus, nickname of Bassianus, <a -href="#Page_35">35</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Lyons, birthplace of Caracalla, <a -href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Macrinus, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, -<a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a href="#Page_17">17</a>, <a -href="#Page_22">22</a>, <a href="#Page_32">32</a>, <a -href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a href="#Page_43">43</a>, <a -href="#Page_81">81</a>, <a href="#Page_112">112</a>, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">becomes Emperor, <a -href="#Page_44">44</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">usurpation and fall, <a -href="#Page_46">46-76</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of tribunicial -renewal, <a href="#Page_197">197</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maecenas, <a href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Maesa, Julia, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a -href="#Page_18">18</a>, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">comes to Rome, <a href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">her family, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>, <a -href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">returns to Emesa, <a -href="#Page_45">45-6</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">makes Bassianus high -priest, <a href="#Page_49">49</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">goes to the -camp, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with -Deborah, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position in -state, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Augusta, <a -href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">desires to go to Rome, <a -href="#Page_92">92</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">arranges Antonine’s first -marriage, <a href="#Page_109">109</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">in Senate, -<a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Annia Faustina, -<a href="#Page_134">134</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">starts Alexander -plot, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">her scheme, -<a href="#Page_141">141</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">partial failure -of plot, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">hatred -of Antonine, <a href="#Page_157">157</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">has -Alexander designated Consul, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">agreeable to Julia Paula’s divorce, <a -href="#Page_210">210</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">no friend of Severa’s, -<a href="#Page_217">217</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">scheme for her -divorce, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">plan of -alliance with Roman nobility, <a href="#Page_218">218</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">influence on government, <a href="#Page_233">233</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and Elagabalus’ youth, <a href="#Page_247">247</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mamaea, instigator of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_18">18</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and Origen, <a -href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position and character, -<a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">helps in first plot, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">and Annia Faustina, <a href="#Page_135">135</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">starts Alexander plot, <a href="#Page_138">138</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">corrupts police, <a href="#Page_145">145</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">partial failure of plot, <a href="#Page_147">147</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Mamaea’s guardians for Alexander, <a -href="#Page_152">152</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">part in the -plot against Antonine’s life, <a href="#Page_156">156</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">takes precautions for Alexander’s safety, -<a href="#Page_159">159</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">part -in Antonine’s murder, <a href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">her probable plan for the murder, <a -href="#Page_171">171</a>;</li> <li class="isub1"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_305"></a>[305]</span>subsequent vilification of Antonine, <a -href="#Page_172">172</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">helps Pomponius Bassus’ -plot, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcia, first wife of Septimius Severus, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_29">29</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcianus, Gessianus, <a href="#Page_38">38</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcomanni, Antonine’s desire to conquer, <a -href="#Page_184">184</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcus Aurelius, <a href="#Page_84">84</a>, -<a href="#Page_144">144</a>, <a href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">relationship with Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marcus, Emperor, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Marius Maximus, author of <i>De vitis imperatorum</i>, -<a href="#Page_5">5</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">credibility as a source, -<a href="#Page_6">6</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">confounded with Lollius -Urbicus, <a href="#Page_15">15</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Macrinus’ correspondence with cited, <a -href="#Page_84">84</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Antonine’s entry into -city, <a href="#Page_111">111</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Martialis, the murderer of Caracalla, <a -href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Masculinus Valens, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mediobarbus, on liberalities, <a -href="#Page_190">190</a>, <a href="#Page_251">251</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Messalina, compared with Elagabalus, <a -href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mithra, <a href="#Page_2">2</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">the most determined opponent of Jehovah, <a -href="#Page_96">96</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">popularity in Rome, -<a href="#Page_114">114</a>, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">identified with Urania, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">and with Elagabal worship, <a -href="#Page_268">268</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">takes the place of -Jupiter, <a href="#Page_271">271</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Moguntiacum, <a href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Moll, cited, <a href="#Page_234">234</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mommsen, defends Scriptores, <a -href="#Page_10">10</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on the date -of Diadumenianus’ elevation, <a href="#Page_65">65</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on length of Antonine’s reign, <a -href="#Page_192">192</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Monza diploma, on Alexander’s position, <a -href="#Page_158">158</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Morison, Cotter, cited, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Mueller, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a -href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a href="#Page_8">8</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Murissimus, <a href="#Page_156">156</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Nero, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_76">76</a>, <a href="#Page_159">159</a>, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">influence on morals, -<a href="#Page_203">203</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">abnormal, <a -href="#Page_229">229</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">palace described, -<a href="#Page_245">245</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">ever popular, <a -href="#Page_246">246</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">exceeded by Elagabalus -in extravagance, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">his -use of perfumes, <a href="#Page_257">257</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nerva, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nestor, Julianus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Nicomedia, Antonine winters at, <a -href="#Page_93">93</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">length of stay -discussed, <a href="#Page_94">94</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Antonine -assumes the name Elagabalus at, <a href="#Page_99">99</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Elagabalus’ popularity disappears, <a -href="#Page_103">103</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">departure from, <a -href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Niebuhr, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Niehues, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Oppolzer, on the date of the eclipse, <a -href="#Page_55">55</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orcus (Pluto), temple of, site of Eliogabalium, <a -href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Origen, his journey to Court, <a -href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Orosius, <a href="#Page_20">20</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Otho, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with -Elagabalus, <a href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Padua, a reputed birthplace of Gens Cornelia, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Paetus, Valerianus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pagi, on tribunicial renewal, <a -href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Palladium, removed to Eliogabalium, <a -href="#Page_118">118</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">history of, <a -href="#Page_129">129</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Papia Poppoea, Lex, cited, <a -href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Papinian, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a -href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parthian campaign, <a href="#Page_41">41</a>, <a -href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parthian Legion, at Apamea, <a -href="#Page_60">60</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">attempted corruption by -Seius Carus, <a href="#Page_63">63</a>, <a href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Parthian medal, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pasciucco, on Lampridius, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pauly, on the buildings of the reign, <a -href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on genealogy of Annia -Faustina, <a href="#Page_222">222</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on her age, -<a href="#Page_223">223</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pertinax, <a href="#Page_5">5</a>, <a -href="#Page_30">30</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Peter, Hermann, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Dexippus, <a -href="#Page_9">9</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Lollius Urbicus, <a -href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Petronius, on freedmen, <a -href="#Page_180">180</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">quoted, <a -href="#Page_230">230</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Philostratus, <a href="#Page_31">31</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pica Caerianus, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pignorius, on Gens Cornelia, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plautianus, <a href="#Page_41">41</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Plew, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pliny, on value of myrrhin, <a -href="#Page_264">264</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pollio, Consul Suffectus, <a href="#Page_85">85</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_306"></a>[306]</span>Pollio, Trebellius, <a -href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a href="#Page_11">11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pollux, <a href="#Page_127">127</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Pomponius Bassus, <a href="#Page_134">134</a>, <a -href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_188">188</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">plot in connection with Aquilia Severa’s marriage, -<a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Consul and -Governor of Mysia, his offices, <a href="#Page_219">219</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">date of death, <a href="#Page_221">221</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Porta Praenestina, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, <a -href="#Page_275">275</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Praefecti Urbis, mooted by Antonine, appointed by -Alexander, <a href="#Page_198">198</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Preuner, on Aquilia’s position, <a -href="#Page_211">211</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Primus Cornelianus, <a href="#Page_68">68</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Procession of the God, probable date, <a -href="#Page_174">174</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">origin of, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prosopographia, on date of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_191">191</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on jurisprudence of the -reign, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Protogenes, <a href="#Page_125">125</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Prusias, <a href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ramsay, on the procession, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on genealogy of Annia -Faustina, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Renaissance, compared with Roman spirit of atheism, <a -href="#Page_201">201</a>, <a href="#Page_270">270</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rescripts, bear Antonine’s name after supposed death, <a -href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Richter, <a href="#Page_4">4</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roerth, on the journey across Asia, <a -href="#Page_93">93</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Roman religion, described, <a -href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">its civic nature -and the Emperor’s position, <a href="#Page_213">213</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">genesis of, <a href="#Page_269">269</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">alien to natural religion, <a href="#Page_282">282</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Rubensohn, on date of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Ruebel, <a href="#Page_6">6</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Sabinus Aquilius, Severa’s father, banished, <a -href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">confused by Lampridius -with Sabinus Tiberius, jurist, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">position, <a href="#Page_215">215</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sabinus, Fabius, brother of Aquilia Severa, <a -href="#Page_216">216</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Salzer, on date of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_191">191</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Samsigeramus, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sardanapalus, Dion’s name for Antonine, <a -href="#Page_152">152</a>, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Saumaise, <a href="#Page_22">22</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Schulz, <a href="#Page_6">6</a>, <a -href="#Page_15">15</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Antonine House, <a -href="#Page_16">16</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Scythian Legion, quartered at Emesa under Commodus, <a -href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seeck, <a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a -href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seius Carus, <a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a -href="#Page_188">188</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seleucid monarchy, <a href="#Page_26">26</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seleucus, Consul <span class="allsmcap">A.D.</span> 221, -<a href="#Page_195">195</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Senaculum, Soaemias president of, <a -href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>, <a -href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">hall built for, <a -href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Senate, subservience of, <a href="#Page_14">14</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Macrinus’ letters to, <a href="#Page_56">56</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">desire to be rid of</li> <li class="isub1">Macrinus, -<a href="#Page_58">58</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">informed -of Diadumenianus’ elevation, <a href="#Page_64">64</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Antonine’s letters and amnesty to, <a -href="#Page_82">82</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">registers Antonine’s -decrees, <a href="#Page_85">85</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">did not -declare Antonine priest of Elagabal, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>, <a -href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">at Elagabal worship, -<a href="#Page_116">116</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">attitude towards -Aquilia Severa’s wedding, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">tries traitors, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">adoption of Alexander before, <a -href="#Page_143">143</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">ordered to disown -Alexander, <a href="#Page_150">150</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Alexander -recognised Consul before, <a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">dissolved, <a href="#Page_163">163</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">orders the erasure of Antonine’s name, <a -href="#Page_198">198</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">creates Julia Paula -Augusta, <a href="#Page_209">209</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and -marriage of Aquilia Severa, <a href="#Page_215">215</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">and Pomponius Bassus, <a href="#Page_220">220</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Seneca, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>, <a -href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Septimius Severus, <a href="#Page_27">27</a>, -<a href="#Page_31">31</a>, <a href="#Page_38">38</a>, <a -href="#Page_144">144</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">honours Macrinus, <a -href="#Page_41">41</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">builds Mithraic temple, -<a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of tribunicial -renewal, <a href="#Page_196">196</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">employs -Julius Paulus, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">uses -Pomponius Bassus, <a href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Serapion, <a href="#Page_42">42</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Serviez, on the order of Antonine’s wives, <a -href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Aquilia Severa, <a -href="#Page_217">217</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Severus or Verus, a pretender, <a -href="#Page_88">88</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sextus Rufus, <a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on site of Eliogabalium, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sextus Varius Marcellus, husband of Soaemias, <a -href="#Page_34">34</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx"><span class="pagenum"><a -id="Page_307"></a>[307]</span>Silius Messala, plot in connection -with Aquilia Severa’s marriage, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, -<a href="#Page_139">139</a>, <a href="#Page_216">216</a>, <a -href="#Page_219">219</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Silvinus, Alexander’s tutor, killed, <a -href="#Page_164">164</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Soaemias, character, <a href="#Page_33">33</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">compared with Mamaea, <a href="#Page_39">39</a>, <a -href="#Page_40">40</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">and the legionaries, -<a href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">at battle of -Immae, <a href="#Page_70">70</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position in -state, <a href="#Page_78">78</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Augusta, -<a href="#Page_86">86</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">position in the -Senate, <a href="#Page_120">120</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">tries to -frustrate plot against Antonine, <a href="#Page_153">153</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">persuades Antonine to admit Alexander Consul, -<a href="#Page_161">161</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">murder of, <a -href="#Page_166">166</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">reasons for her murder, -<a href="#Page_171">171</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sodales Antoniniani, on date of adoption, <a -href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sohemais, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Solomon’s temple compared with Emesan temple, <a -href="#Page_50">50</a></li> - -<li class="indx">“Spartianus,” Aelius, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a -href="#Page_11">11</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spem Veterem gardens, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>, -<a href="#Page_153">153</a>, <a href="#Page_158">158</a>, <a -href="#Page_262">262</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Spintries, <a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a -href="#Page_240">240</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Stobbe, on date of Antonine’s murder, <a -href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on tribunicial renewal, -<a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Strabo, <a href="#Page_25">25</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Studniczka, on Eliogabalium, <a -href="#Page_113">113</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Suburra, district of Rome, <a -href="#Page_262">262</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Suetonius, <a href="#Page_13">13</a>, -<a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a href="#Page_79">79</a>, <a -href="#Page_227">227</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Senaculum, <a href="#Page_121">121</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Vestals, <a href="#Page_131">131</a>, <a -href="#Page_212">212</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on life generally, -<a href="#Page_20">20</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Caligula, <a -href="#Page_203">203</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Summer temple, site of, <a -href="#Page_112">112</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">date of completion, <a -href="#Page_174">174</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Sylla, Governor of Cappadocia, a traitor, <a -href="#Page_90">90</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">compared with Julius -Paulus, <a href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Tacitus, on Christianity, <a -href="#Page_228">228</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tammuz, month of processions, <a -href="#Page_175">175</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tana, in Algeria, arch to Macrinus at, <a -href="#Page_75">75</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Taurus, Mount, temple of Faustina on, <a -href="#Page_92">92</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tertullian, on Antinous, <a href="#Page_231">231</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tertullian, on Julia Domna, <a -href="#Page_30">30</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on divorce, <a -href="#Page_204">204</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Theodosius, <a href="#Page_10">10</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thermae Caracallae, <a href="#Page_187">187</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">Varianae or Surae, <a href="#Page_187">187</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thrace, Eutychianus fights under Commodus in, <a -href="#Page_53">53</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">Alexander’s spectral -journey, <a href="#Page_144">144</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Thyatira, coin of Diadumenianus, <a -href="#Page_65">65</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tiberinus and Tractitius, nicknames of Antonine given by -Dion and Lampridius, <a href="#Page_200">200</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tiberius, Emperor, <a href="#Page_117">117</a>, -<a href="#Page_160">160</a>, <a href="#Page_164">164</a>, <a -href="#Page_229">229</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Titus, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_178">178</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Titus Claudius Severus, father of Annia Faustina, <a -href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Trajan, <a href="#Page_5">5</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Triccianus, Aelius Decius, <a href="#Page_90">90</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tripolis, coins struck at, <a -href="#Page_208">208</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tristran, as critic, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Macrinus, <a href="#Page_47">47</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Julia Paula, <a href="#Page_206">206</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on the order of the wives, <a -href="#Page_207">207</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Annia Faustina’s -genealogy, <a href="#Page_222">222</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tropea, <a href="#Page_15">15</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Turre, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">tribunicial renewal, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Tyro, a reputed birthplace of Gens Cornelia, <a -href="#Page_205">205</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Ulpian, <a href="#Page_21">21</a>, <a -href="#Page_31">31</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">dedication of works, <a -href="#Page_163">163</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Urania, Astarte, Tanit, Juno Coelestis, shrine in -Forum, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">marriage with -Elagabal, <a href="#Page_133">133</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">amalgamated -to the worship of Elagabal, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Valerius Ferminus, <a href="#Page_176">176</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valerius Maximus quoted, <a href="#Page_242">242</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Valsecchius, <a href="#Page_22">22</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on tribunicial renewal, <a href="#Page_194">194</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Velletri, home of Soaemias and her husband, <a -href="#Page_34">34</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vespasian, <a href="#Page_26">26</a>, <a -href="#Page_141">141</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vespasian amphitheatre, <a href="#Page_246">246</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vesta, Minerva, or Pallas, to serve Elagabal, <a -href="#Page_97">97</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">alliance of Elagabal -with, <a href="#Page_114">114</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">story -of the marriage with Elagabal, <a href="#Page_129">129</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">shrine in Forum, <a href="#Page_132">132</a>, <a -href="#Page_189">189</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">amalgamated with -Elagabal, <a href="#Page_278">278</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vestals, community discussed, <a -href="#Page_211">211</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">supporters of civic -religion, <a href="#Page_214">214</a>;</li> <li class="isub1"><span -class="pagenum"><a id="Page_308"></a>[308]</span>arbiters of public -feeling, <a href="#Page_261">261</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Victor, Aurelius, on site of Eliogabalium, -<a href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>, <a -href="#Page_27">27</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on length of reign, <a href="#Page_193">193</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s castration, <a href="#Page_276">276</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Victoria Aeterna inscription, <a -href="#Page_139">139</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vigiles inscription, <a href="#Page_145">145</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Virgil, <a href="#Page_23">23</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vitellius, <a href="#Page_23">23</a>, <a -href="#Page_236">236</a>, <a href="#Page_250">250</a>, <a -href="#Page_253">253</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Vopiscus, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, <a -href="#Page_11">11</a>, <a href="#Page_13">13</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Walwick Chesters inscription, title of <i>Sac. -Elag.</i> erased, <a href="#Page_199">199</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wirth, on the date of the proclamation, <a -href="#Page_55">55</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on date of battle of -Immae, <a href="#Page_69">69</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on arrival in -Rome, <a href="#Page_107">107</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wissowa, on site of summer temple, <a -href="#Page_112">112</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wölfflin, on Vopiscus, <a href="#Page_3">3</a>, -<a href="#Page_11">11</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Mommsen, <a -href="#Page_12">12</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Wotton, quoted, <a href="#Page_89">89</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Gannys, <a href="#Page_102">102</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Xiphilinus, <a href="#Page_7">7</a>, <a -href="#Page_52">52</a>, <a href="#Page_113">113</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Eutychianus, <a href="#Page_80">80</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Antonine, <a href="#Page_95">95</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on Antonine’s marriage with Hierocles, <a -href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Zoticus, <a -href="#Page_239">239</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">condemns Antonine’s -religion, <a href="#Page_267">267</a></li> - -<li class="ifrst">Zoticus, his story, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zonaras, <a href="#Page_19">19</a>;</li> <li -class="isub1">on Antonine’s amulets, <a href="#Page_184">184</a>;</li> -<li class="isub1">on nicknames of the Emperor, <a -href="#Page_200">200</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on Elagabalus’ -castration, <a href="#Page_238">238</a>;</li> <li class="isub1">on -Zoticus, <a href="#Page_239">239</a></li> - -<li class="indx">Zosimus, <a href="#Page_19">19</a></li> - -</ul> - -<p class="titlepage">THE END</p> - -<p class="titlepage smaller"><i>Printed by <span class="smcap">R. & R. 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