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diff --git a/old/1dfre10.txt b/old/1dfre10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3e128ba --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1dfre10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,29377 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Volume 1: +The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire +by Edward Gibbon + + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the copyright laws for your country before posting these files!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. Do not remove this. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. 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Haradda@aol.com and +davidr@inconnect.com are my email addresses for now. Please feel +free to send me your comments and I hope you enjoy this. + +David Reed + + + +History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire + +Edward Gibbon, Esq. + +With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman + + + +Vol. 1 + + + +Introduction + +Preface By The Editor. + + The great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of +history. The literature of Europe offers no substitute for "The +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed +possession, as rightful occupant, of the vast period which it +comprehends. However some subjects, which it embraces, may have +undergone more complete investigation, on the general view of the +whole period, this history is the sole undisputed authority to +which all defer, and from which few appeal to the original +writers, or to more modern compilers. The inherent interest of +the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon it; the +immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the +general accuracy; the style, which, however monotonous from its +uniform stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate +ar., is throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque always +commands attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic +energy, describes with singular breadth and fidelity, and +generalizes with unrivalled felicity of expression; all these +high qualifications have secured, and seem likely to secure, its +permanent place in historic literature. + + This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which +he has cast the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the +formation and birth of the new order of things, will of itself, +independent of the laborious execution of his immense plan, +render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" an +unapproachable subject to the future historian: ^* in the +eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot: - +[Footnote * A considerable portion of this preface has already +appeared before us public in the Quarterly Review.] + + "The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion +which has ever invaded and oppressed the world; the fall of that +immense empire, erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, +republics, and states both barbarous and civilized; and forming +in its turn, by its dismemberment, a multitude of states, +republics, and kingdoms; the annihilation of the religion of +Greece and Rome; the birth and the progress of the two new +religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the +earth; the decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its +expiring glory and degenerate manners; the infancy of the modern +world, the picture of its first progress, of the new direction +given to the mind and character of man - such a subject must +necessarily fix the attention and excite the interest of men, who +cannot behold with indifference those memorable epochs, during +which, in the fine language of Corneille - + + 'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'acheve.'" +This extent and harmony of design is unquestionably that which +distinguishes the work of Gibbon from all other great historical +compositions. He has first bridged the abyss between ancient and +modern times, and connected together the two great worlds of +history. The great advantage which the classical historians +possess over those of modern times is in unity of plan, of course +greatly facilitated by the narrower sphere to which their +researches were confined. Except Herodotus, the great historians +of Greece - we exclude the more modern compilers, like Diodorus +Siculus - limited themselves to a single period, or at 'east to +the contracted sphere of Grecian affairs. As far as the +Barbarians trespassed within the Grecian boundary, or were +necessarily mingled up with Grecian politics, they were admitted +into the pale of Grecian history; but to Thucydides and to +Xenophon, excepting in the Persian inroad of the latter, Greece +was the world. Natural unity confined their narrative almost to +chronological order, the episodes were of rare occurrence and +extremely brief. To the Roman historians the course was equally +clear and defined. Rome was their centre of unity; and the +uniformity with which the circle of the Roman dominion spread +around, the regularity with which their civil polity expanded, +forced, as it were, upon the Roman historian that plan which +Polybius announces as the subject of his history, the means and +the manner by which the whole world became subject to the Roman +sway. How different the complicated politics of the European +kingdoms! Every national history, to be complete, must, in a +certain sense, be the history of Europe; there is no knowing to +how remote a quarter it may be necessary to trace our most +domestic events; from a country, how apparently disconnected, may +originate the impulse which gives its direction to the whole +course of affairs. + + In imitation of his classical models, Gibbon places Rome as +the cardinal point from which his inquiries diverge, and to which +they bear constant reference; yet how immeasurable the space over +which those inquiries range; how complicated, how confused, how +apparently inextricable the causes which tend to the decline of +the Roman empire! how countless the nations which swarm forth, +in mingling and indistinct hordes, constantly changing the +geographical limits - incessantly confounding the natural +boundaries! At first sight, the whole period, the whole state of +the world, seems to offer no more secure footing to an historical +adventurer than the chaos of Milton - to be in a state of +irreclaimable disorder, best described in the language of the +poet: - + + - "A dark + Illimitable ocean, without bound, + Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, + + And time, and place, are lost: where eldest Night + And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold + Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise + Of endless wars, and by confusion stand." + + We feel that the unity and harmony of narrative, which shall +comprehend this period of social disorganization, must be +ascribed entirely to the skill and luminous disposition of the +historian. It is in this sublime Gothic architecture of his +work, in which the boundless range, the infinite variety, the, at +first sight, incongruous gorgeousness of the separate parts, +nevertheless are all subordinate to one main and predominant +idea, that Gibbon is unrivalled. We cannot but admire the manner +in which he masses his materials, and arranges his facts in +successive groups, not according to chronological order, but to +their moral or political connection; the distinctness with which +he marks his periods of gradually increasing decay; and the skill +with which, though advancing on separate parallels of history, he +shows the common tendency of the slower or more rapid religious +or civil innovations. However these principles of composition +may demand more than ordinary attention on the part of the +reader, they can alone impress upon the memory the real course, +and the relative importance of the events. Whoever would justly +appreciate the superiority of Gibbon's lucid arrangement, should +attempt to make his way through the regular but wearisome annals +of Tillemont, or even the less ponderous volumes of Le Beau. +Both these writers adhere, almost entirely, to chronological +order; the consequence is, that we are twenty times called upon +to break off, and resume the thread of six or eight wars in +different parts of the empire; to suspend the operations of a +military expedition for a court intrigue; to hurry away from a +siege to a council; and the same page places us in the middle of +a campaign against the barbarians, and in the depths of the +Monophysite controversy. In Gibbon it is not always easy to bear +in mind the exact dates but the course of events is ever clear +and distinct; like a skilful general, though his troops advance +from the most remote and opposite quarters, they are constantly +bearing down and concentrating themselves on one point - that +which is still occupied by the name, and by the waning power of +Rome. Whether he traces the progress of hostile religions, or +leads from the shores of the Baltic, or the verge of the Chinese +empire, the successive hosts of barbarians - though one wave has +hardly burst and discharged itself, before another swells up and +approaches - all is made to flow in the same direction, and the +impression which each makes upon the tottering fabric of the +Roman greatness, connects their distant movements, and measures +the relative importance assigned to them in the panoramic +history. The more peaceful and didactic episodes on the +development of the Roman law, or even on the details of +ecclesiastical history, interpose themselves as resting-places or +divisions between the periods of barbaric invasion. In short, +though distracted first by the two capitals, and afterwards by +the formal partition of the empire, the extraordinary felicity of +arrangement maintains an order and a regular progression. As our +horizon expands to reveal to us the gathering tempests which are +forming far beyond the boundaries of the civilized world - as we +follow their successive approach to the trembling frontier - the +compressed and receding line is still distinctly visible; though +gradually dismembered and the broken fragments assuming the form +of regular states and kingdoms, the real relation of those +kingdoms to the empire is maintained and defined; and even when +the Roman dominion has shrunk into little more than the province +of Thrace - when the name of Rome, confined, in Italy, to the +walls of the city - yet it is still the memory, the shade of the +Roman greatness, which extends over the wide sphere into which +the historian expands his later narrative; the whole blends into +the unity, and is manifestly essential to the double catastrophe +of his tragic drama. + + But the amplitude, the magnificence, or the harmony of +design, are, though imposing, yet unworthy claims on our +admiration, unless the details are filled up with correctness and +accuracy. No writer has been more severely tried on this point +than Gibbon. He has undergone the triple scrutiny of theological +zeal quickened by just resentment, of literary emulation, and of +that mean and invidious vanity which delights in detecting errors +in writers of established fame. On the result of the trial, we +may be permitted to summon competent witnesses before we deliver +our own judgment. + + M. Guizot, in his preface, after stating that in France and +Germany, as well as in England, in the most enlightened countries +of Europe, Gibbon is constantly cited as an authority, thus +proceeds: - + + "I have had occasion, during my labors, to consult the +writings of philosophers, who have treated on the finances of the +Roman empire; of scholars, who have investigated the chronology; +of theologians, who have searched the depths of ecclesiastical +history; of writers on law, who have studied with care the Roman +jurisprudence; of Orientalists, who have occupied themselves with +the Arabians and the Koran; of modern historians, who have +entered upon extensive researches touching the crusades and their +influence; each of these writers has remarked and pointed out, in +the 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,' some +negligences, some false or imperfect views some omissions, which +it is impossible not to suppose voluntary; they have rectified +some facts combated with advantage some assertions; but in +general they have taken the researches and the ideas of Gibbon, +as points of departure, or as proofs of the researches or of the +new opinions which they have advanced." + + M. Guizot goes on to state his own impressions on reading +Gibbon's history, and no authority will have greater weight with +those to whom the extent and accuracy of his historical +researches are known: - + + "After a first rapid perusal, which allowed me to feel +nothing but the interest of a narrative, always animated, and, +notwithstanding its extent and the variety of objects which it +makes to pass before the view, always perspicuous, I entered upon +a minute examination of the details of which it was composed; and +the opinion which I then formed was, I confess, singularly +severe. I discovered, in certain chapters, errors which appeared +to me sufficiently important and numerous to make me believe that +they had been written with extreme negligence; in others, I was +struck with a certain tinge of partiality and prejudice, which +imparted to the exposition of the facts that want of truth and +justice, which the English express by their happy term +misrepresentation. Some imperfect (tronquees) quotations; some +passages, omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion +on the honesty (bonne foi) of the author; and his violation of +the first law of history - increased to my eye by the prolonged +attention with which I occupied myself with every phrase, every +note, every reflection - caused me to form upon the whole work, a +judgment far too rigorous. After having finished my labors, I +allowed some time to elapse before I reviewed the whole. A +second attentive and regular perusal of the entire work, of the +notes of the author, and of those which I had thought it right to +subjoin, showed me how much I had exaggerated the importance of +the reproaches which Gibbon really deserved; I was struck with +the same errors, the same partiality on certain subjects; but I +had been far from doing adequate justice to the immensity of his +researches, the variety of his knowledge, and above all, to that +truly philosophical discrimination (justesse d'esprit) which +judges the past as it would judge the present; which does not +permit itself to be blinded by the clouds which time gathers +around the dead, and which prevent us from seeing that, under the +toga, as under the modern dress, in the senate as in our +councils, men were what they still are, and that events took +place eighteen centuries ago, as they take place in our days. I +then felt that his book, in spite of its faults, will always be a +noble work - and that we may correct his errors and combat his +prejudices, without ceasing to admit that few men have combined, +if we are not to say in so high a degree, at least in a manner so +complete, and so well regulated, the necessary qualifications for +a writer of history." + + The present editor has followed the track of Gibbon through +many parts of his work; he has read his authorities with constant +reference to his pages, and must pronounce his deliberate +judgment, in terms of the highest admiration as to his general +accuracy. Many of his seeming errors are almost inevitable from +the close condensation of his matter. From the immense range of +his history, it was sometimes necessary to compress into a single +sentence, a whole vague and diffuse page of a Byzantine +chronicler. Perhaps something of importance may have thus +escaped, and his expressions may not quite contain the whole +substance of the passage from which they are taken. His limits, +at times, compel him to sketch; where that is the case, it is not +fair to expect the full details of the finished picture. At +times he can only deal with important results; and in his account +of a war, it sometimes requires great attention to discover that +the events which seem to be comprehended in a single campaign, +occupy several years. But this admirable skill in selecting and +giving prominence to the points which are of real weight and +importance - this distribution of light and shade - though +perhaps it may occasionally betray him into vague and imperfect +statements, is one of the highest excellencies of Gibbon's +historic manner. It is the more striking, when we pass from the +works of his chief authorities, where, after laboring through +long, minute, and wearisome descriptions of the accessary and +subordinate circumstances, a single unmarked and undistinguished +sentence, which we may overlook from the inattention of fatigue, +contains the great moral and political result. + + Gibbon's method of arrangement, though on the whole most +favorable to the clear comprehension of the events, leads +likewise to apparent inaccuracy. That which we expect to find in +one part is reserved for another. The estimate which we are to +form, depends on the accurate balance of statements in remote +parts of the work; and we have sometimes to correct and modify +opinions, formed from one chapter by those of another. Yet, on +the other hand, it is astonishing how rarely we detect +contradiction; the mind of the author has already harmonized the +whole result to truth and probability; the general impression is +almost invariably the same. The quotations of Gibbon have +likewise been called in question; - I have, in general, been more +inclined to admire their exactitude, than to complain of their +indistinctness, or incompleteness. Where they are imperfect, it +is commonly from the study of brevity, and rather from the desire +of compressing the substance of his notes into pointed and +emphatic sentences, than from dishonesty, or uncandid suppression +of truth. + + These observations apply more particularly to the accuracy +and fidelity of the historian as to his facts; his inferences, of +course, are more liable to exception. It is almost impossible to +trace the line between unfairness and unfaithfulness; between +intentional misrepresentation and undesigned false coloring. The +relative magnitude and importance of events must, in some +respect, depend upon the mind before which they are presented; +the estimate of character, on the habits and feelings of the +reader. Christians, like M. Guizot and ourselves, will see some +things, and some persons, in a different light from the historian +of the Decline and Fall. We may deplore the bias of his mind; we +may ourselves be on our guard against the danger of being misled, +and be anxious to warn less wary readers against the same perils; +but we must not confound this secret and unconscious departure +from truth, with the deliberate violation of that veracity which +is the only title of an historian to our confidence. Gibbon, it +may be fearlessly asserted, is rarely chargeable even with the +suppression of any material fact, which bears upon individual +character; he may, with apparently invidious hostility, enhance +the errors and crimes, and disparage the virtues of certain +persons; yet, in general, he leaves us the materials for forming +a fairer judgment; and if he is not exempt from his own +prejudices, perhaps we might write passions, yet it must be +candidly acknowledged, that his philosophical bigotry is not more +unjust than the theological partialities of those ecclesiastical +writers who were before in undisputed possession of this province +of history. + + We are thus naturally led to that great misrepresentation +which pervades his history - his false estimate of the nature and +influence of Christianity. + + But on this subject some preliminary caution is necessary, +lest that should be expected from a new edition, which it is +impossible that it should completely accomplish. We must first +be prepared with the only sound preservative against the false +impression likely to be produced by the perusal of Gibbon; and we +must see clearly the real cause of that false impression. The +former of these cautions will be briefly suggested in its proper +place, but it may be as well to state it, here, somewhat more at +length. The art of Gibbon, or at least the unfair impression +produced by his two memorable chapters, consists in his +confounding together, in one indistinguishable mass, the origin +and apostolic propagation of the new religion, with its later +progress. No argument for the divine authority of Christianity +has been urged with greater force, or traced with higher +eloquence, than that deduced from its primary development, +explicable on no other hypothesis than a heavenly origin, and +from its rapid extension through great part of the Roman empire. +But this argument - one, when confined within reasonable limits, +of unanswerable force - becomes more feeble and disputable in +proportion as it recedes from the birthplace, as it were, of the +religion. The further Christianity advanced, the more causes +purely human were enlisted in its favor; nor can it be doubted +that those developed with such artful exclusiveness by Gibbon did +concur most essentially to its establishment. It is in the +Christian dispensation, as in the material world. In both it is +as the great First Cause, that the Deity is most undeniably +manifest. When once launched in regular motion upon the bosom of +space, and endowed with all their properties and relations of +weight and mutual attraction, the heavenly bodies appear to +pursue their courses according to secondary laws, which account +for all their sublime regularity. So Christianity proclaims its +Divine Author chiefly in its first origin and development. When +it had once received its impulse from above - when it had once +been infused into the minds of its first teachers - when it had +gained full possession of the reason and affections of the +favored few - it might be - and to the Protestant, the rationa +Christian, it is impossible to define when it really was - left +to make its way by its native force, under the ordinary secret +agencies of all-ruling Providence. The main question, the divine +origin of the religion, was dexterously eluded, or speciously +conceded by Gibbon; his plan enabled him to commence his account, +in most parts, below the apostolic times; and it was only by the +strength of the dark coloring with which he brought out the +failings and the follies of the succeeding ages, that a shadow of +doubt and suspicion was thrown back upon the primitive period of +Christianity. + + + "The theologian," says Gibbon, "may indulge the pleasing +task of describing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed +in her native purity; a more melancholy duty is imposed upon the +historian: - he must discover the inevitable mixture of error and +corruption which she contracted in a long residence upon earth +among a weak and degenerate race of beings." Divest this passage +of the latent sarcasm betrayed by the subsequent tone of the +whole disquisition, and it might commence a Christian history +written in the most Christian spirit of candor. But as the +historian, by seeming to respect, yet by dexterously confounding +the limits of the sacred land, contrived to insinuate that it was +an Utopia which had no existence but in the imagination of the +theologian - as he suggested rather than affirmed that the days +of Christian purity were a kind of poetic golden age; - so the +theologian, by venturing too far into the domain of the +historian, has been perpetually obliged to contest points on +which he had little chance of victory - to deny facts established +on unshaken evidence - and thence, to retire, if not with the +shame of defeat, yet with but doubtful and imperfect success. + Paley, with his intuitive sagacity, saw through the +difficulty of answering Gibbon by the ordinary arts of +controversy; his emphatic sentence, "Who can refute a sneer?" +contains as much truth as point. But full and pregnant as this +phrase is, it is not quite the whole truth; it is the tone in +which the progress of Christianity is traced, in comparison with +the rest of the splendid and prodigally ornamented work, which is +the radical defect in the "Decline and Fall." Christianity alone +receives no embellishment from the magic of Gibbon's language; +his imagination is dead to its moral dignity; it is kept down by +a general zone of jealous disparagement, or neutralized by a +painfully elaborate exposition of its darker and degenerate +periods. There are occasions, indeed, when its pure and exalted +humanity, when its manifestly beneficial influence, can compel +even him, as it were, to fairness, and kindle his unguarded +eloquence to its usual fervor; but, in general, he soon relapses +into a frigid apathy; affects an ostentatiously severe +impartiality; notes all the faults of Christians in every age +with bitter and almost malignant sarcasm; reluctantly, and with +exception and reservation, admits their claim to admiration. +This inextricable bias appears even to influence his manner of +composition. While all the other assailants of the Roman empire, +whether warlike or religious, the Goth, the Hun, the Arab, the +Tartar, Alaric and Attila, Mahomet, and Zengis, and Tamerlane, +are each introduced upon the scene almost with dramatic animation +- their progress related in a full, complete, and unbroken +narrative - the triumph of Christianity alone takes the form of a +cold and critical disquisition. The successes of barbarous +energy and brute force call forth all the consummate skill of +composition; while the moral triumphs of Christian benevolence - +the tranquil heroism of endurance, the blameless purity, the +contempt of guilty fame and of honors destructive to the human +race, which, had they assumed the proud name of philosophy, would +have been blazoned in his brightest words, because they own +religion as their principle - sink into narrow asceticism. The +glories of Christianity, in short, touch on no chord in the heart +of the writer; his imagination remains unkindled; his words, +though they maintain their stately and measured march, have +become cool, argumentative, and inanimate. Who would obscure one +hue of that gorgeous coloring in which Gibbon has invested the +dying forms of Paganism, or darken one paragraph in his splendid +view of the rise and progress of Mahometanism? But who would not +have wished that the same equal justice had been done to +Christianity; that its real character and deeply penetrating +influence had been traced with the same philosophical sagacity, +and represented with more sober, as would become its quiet +course, and perhaps less picturesque, but still with lively and +attractive, descriptiveness? He might have thrown aside, with +the same scorn, the mass of ecclesiastical fiction which envelops +the early history of the church, stripped off the legendary +romance, and brought out the facts in their primitive nakedness +and simplicity - if he had but allowed those facts the benefit of +the glowing eloquence which he denied to them alone. He might +have annihilated the whole fabric of post-apostolic miracles, if +he had left uninjured by sarcastic insinuation those of the New +Testament; he might have cashiered, with Dodwell, the whole host +of martyrs, which owe their existence to the prodigal invention +of later days, had he but bestowed fair room, and dwelt with his +ordinary energy on the sufferings of the genuine witnesses to the +truth of Christianity, the Polycarps, or the martyrs of Vienne. + And indeed, if, after all, the view of the early progress of +Christianity be melancholy and humiliating we must beware lest we +charge the whole of this on the infidelity of the historian. It +is idle, it is disingenuous, to deny or to dissemble the early +depravations of Christianity, its gradual but rapid departure +from its primitive simplicity and purity, still more, from its +spirit of universal love. It may be no unsalutary lesson to the +Christian world, that this silent, this unavoidable, perhaps, yet +fatal change shall have been drawn by an impartial, or even an +hostile hand. The Christianity of every age may take warning, +lest by its own narrow views, its want of wisdom, and its want of +charity, it give the same advantage to the future unfriendly +historian, and disparage the cause of true religion. + + The design of the present edition is partly corrective, +partly supplementary: corrective, by notes, which point out (it +is hoped, in a perfectly candid and dispassionate spirit with no +desire but to establish the truth) such inaccuracies or +misstatements as may have been detected, particularly with regard +to Christianity; and which thus, with the previous caution, may +counteract to a considerable extent the unfair and unfavorable +impression created against rational religion: supplementary, by +adding such additional information as the editor's reading may +have been able to furnish, from original documents or books, not +accessible at the time when Gibbon wrote. + + The work originated in the editor's habit of noting on the +margin of his copy of Gibbon references to such authors as had +discovered errors, or thrown new light on the subjects treated by +Gibbon. These had grown to some extent, and seemed to him likely +to be of use to others. The annotations of M. Guizot also +appeared to him worthy of being better known to the English +public than they were likely to be, as appended to the French +translation. + + The chief works from which the editor has derived his +materials are, I. The French translation, with notes by M. +Guizot; 2d edition, Paris, 1828. The editor has translated almost +all the notes of M. Guizot. Where he has not altogether agreed +with him, his respect for the learning and judgment of that +writer has, in general, induced him to retain the statement from +which he has ventured to differ, with the grounds on which he +formed his own opinion. In the notes on Christianity, he has +retained all those of M. Guizot, with his own, from the +conviction, that on such a subject, to many, the authority of a +French statesman, a Protestant, and a rational and sincere +Christian, would appear more independent and unbiassed, and +therefore be more commanding, than that of an English clergyman. + + + The editor has not scrupled to transfer the notes of M. +Guizot to the present work. The well-known??eal for knowledge, +displayed in all the writings of that distinguished historian, +has led to the natural inference, that he would not be displeased +at the attempt to make them of use to the English readers of +Gibbon. The notes of M. Guizot are signed with the letter G. + + II. The German translation, with the notes of Wenck. +Unfortunately this learned translator died, after having +completed only the first volume; the rest of the work was +executed by a very inferior hand. + + The notes of Wenck are extremely valuable; many of them have +been adopted by M. Guizot; they are distinguished by the letter +W. ^* + +[Footnote *: The editor regrets that he has not been able to find +the Italian translation, mentioned by Gibbon himself with some +respect. It is not in our great libraries, the Museum or the +Bodleian; and he has never found any bookseller in London who has +seen it.] + + III. The new edition of Le Beau's "Histoire du Bas Empire, +with notes by M. St. Martin, and M. Brosset." That distinguished +Armenian scholar, M. St. Martin (now, unhappily, deceased) had +added much information from Oriental writers, particularly from +those of Armenia, as well as from more general sources. Many of +his observations have been found as applicable to the work of +Gibbon as to that of Le Beau. + + IV. The editor has consulted the various answers made to +Gibbon on the first appearance of his work; he must confess, with +little profit. They were, in general, hastily compiled by +inferior and now forgotten writers, with the exception of Bishop +Watson, whose able apology is rather a general argument, than an +examination of misstatements. The name of Milner stands higher +with a certain class of readers, but will not carry much weight +with the severe investigator of history. + + V. Some few classical works and fragments have come to +light, since the appearance of Gibbon's History, and have been +noticed in their respective places; and much use has been made, +in the latter volumes particularly, of the increase to our stores +of Oriental literature. The editor cannot, indeed, pretend to +have followed his author, in these gleanings, over the whole vast +field of his inquiries; he may have overlooked or may not have +been able to command some works, which might have thrown still +further light on these subjects; but he trusts that what he has +adduced will be of use to the student of historic truth. + + The editor would further observe, that with regard to some +other objectionable passages, which do not involve misstatement +or inaccuracy, he has intentionally abstained from directing +particular attention towards them by any special protest. + + The editor's notes are marked M. + + A considerable part of the quotations (some of which in the +later editions had fallen into great confusion) have been +verified, and have been corrected by the latest and best editions +of the authors. + + June, 1845. + + In this new edition, the text and the notes have been +carefully revised, the latter by the editor. + + Some additional notes have been subjoined, distinguished by +the signature M. 1845. + +Preface Of The Author. + + It is not my intention to detain the reader by expa??iating +on the variety or the importance of the subject, which I have +undertaken to treat; since the merit of the choice would serve to +render the weakness of the execution still more apparent, and +still less excusable. But as I have presumed to lay before the +public a first volume only ^1 of the History of the Decline and +Fall of the Roman Empire, it will, perhaps, be expected that I +should explain, in a few words, the nature and limits of my +general plan. + +[Footnote 1: The first volume of the quarto, which contained the +sixteen first chapters.] + + The memorable series of revolutions, which in the course of +about thirteen centuries gradually undermined, and at length +destroyed, the solid fabric of human greatness, may, with some +propriety, be divided into the three following periods: + + I. The first of these periods may be traced from the age of +Trajan and the Antonines, when the Roman monarchy, having +attained its full strength and maturity, began to verge towards +its decline; and will extend to the subversion of the Western +Empire, by the barbarians of Germany and Scythia, the rude +ancestors of the most polished nations of modern Europe. This +extraordinary revolution, which subjected Rome to the power of a +Gothic conqueror, was completed about the beginning of the sixth +century. + + II. The second period of the Decline and Fall of Rome may +be supposed to commence with the reign of Justinian, who, by his +laws, as well as by his victories, restored a transient splendor +to the Eastern Empire. It will comprehend the invasion of Italy +by the Lombards; the conquest of the Asiatic and African +provinces by the Arabs, who embraced the religion of Mahomet; the +revolt of the Roman people against the feeble princes of +Constantinople; and the elevation of Charlemagne, who, in the +year eight hundred, established the second, or German Empire of +the West + + III. The last and longest of these periods includes about +six centuries and a half; from the revival of the Western Empire, +till the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, and the +extinction of a degenerate race of princes, who continued to +assume the titles of Caesar and Augustus, after their dominions +were contracted to the limits of a single city; in which the +language, as well as manners, of the ancient Romans, had been +long since forgotten. The writer who should undertake to relate +the events of this period, would find himself obliged to enter +into the general history of the Crusades, as far as they +contributed to the ruin of the Greek Empire; and he would +scarcely be able to restrain his curiosity from making some +inquiry into the state of the city of Rome, during the darkness +and confusion of the middle ages. + + As I have ventured, perhaps too hastily, to commit to the +press a work which in every sense of the word, deserves the +epithet of imperfect. I consider myself as contracting an +engagement to finish, most probably in a second volume, ^2 the +first of these memorable periods; and to deliver to the Public +the complete History of the Decline and Fall of Rome, from the +age of the Antonines to the subversion of the Western Empire. +With regard to the subsequent periods, though I may entertain +some hopes, I dare not presume to give any assurances. The +execution of the extensive plan which I have described, would +connect the ancient and modern history of the world; but it would +require many years of health, of leisure, and of perseverance. +[Footnote 2: The Author, as it frequently happens, took an +inadequate measure of his growing work. The remainder of the +first period has filled two volumes in quarto, being the third, +fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes of the octavo edition.] + + Bentinck Street, February 1, 1776. + + P. S. The entire History, which is now published, of the +Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, abundantly +discharges my engagements with the Public. Perhaps their +favorable opinion may encourage me to prosecute a work, which, +however laborious it may seem, is the most agreeable occupation +of my leisure hours. + + Bentinck Street, March 1, 1781. + + An Author easily persuades himself that the public opinion +is still favorable to his labors; and I have now embraced the +serious resolution of proceeding to the last period of my +original design, and of the Roman Empire, the taking of +Constantinople by the Turks, in the year one thousand four +hundred and fifty-three. The most patient Reader, who computes +that three ponderous ^3 volumes have been already employed on the +events of four centuries, may, perhaps, be alarmed at the long +prospect of nine hundred years. But it is not my intention to +expatiate with the same minuteness on the whole series of the +Byzantine history. At our entrance into this period, the reign +of Justinian, and the conquests of the Mahometans, will deserve +and detain our attention, and the last age of Constantinople (the +Crusades and the Turks) is connected with the revolutions of +Modern Europe. From the seventh to the eleventh century, the +obscure interval will be supplied by a concise narrative of such +facts as may still appear either interesting or important. +[Footnote 3: The first six volumes of the octavo edition.] +Bentinck Street, March 1, 1782. + +Preface To The First Volume. + + Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which an +historical writer may ascribe to himself; if any merit, indeed, +can be assumed from the performance of an indispensable duty. I +may therefore be allowed to say, that I have carefully examined +all the original materials that could illustrate the subject +which I had undertaken to treat. Should I ever complete the +extensive design which has been sketched out in the Preface, I +might perhaps conclude it with a critical account of the authors +consulted during the progress of the whole work; and however such +an attempt might incur the censure of ostentation, I am persuaded +that it would be susceptible of entertainment, as well as +information. + + At present I shall content myself with a single observation. + +The biographers, who, under the reigns of Diocletian and +Constantine, composed, or rather compiled, the lives of the +Emperors, from Hadrian to the sons of Carus, are usually +mentioned under the names of Aelius Spartianus, Julius +Capitolinus, Aelius Lampridius, Vulcatius Gallicanus, Trebellius +Pollio and Flavius Vopiscus. But there is so much perplexity in +the titles of the MSS., and so many disputes have arisen among +the critics (see Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin. l. iii. c. 6) +concerning their number, their names, and their respective +property, that for the most part I have quoted them without +distinction, under the general and well-known title of the +Augustan History. + +Preface To The Fourth Volume Of The Original Quarto Edition. + +I now discharge my promise, and complete my design, of writing +the History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, both in +the West and the East. The whole period extends from the age of +Trajan and the Antonines, to the taking of Constantinople by +Mahomet the Second; and includes a review of the Crusades, and +the state of Rome during the middle ages. Since the publication +of the first volume, twelve years have elapsed; twelve years, +according to my wish, "of health, of leisure, and of +perseverance." I may now congratulate my deliverance from a long +and laborious service, and my satisfaction will be pure and +perfect, if the public favor should be extended to the conclusion +of my work. + + It was my first intention to have collected, under one view, +the numerous authors, of every age and language, from whom I have +derived the materials of this history; and I am still convinced +that the apparent ostentation would be more than compensated by +real use. If I have renounced this idea, if I have declined an +undertaking which had obtained the approbation of a +master-artist, ^* my excuse may be found in the extreme +difficulty of assigning a proper measure to such a catalogue. A +naked list of names and editions would not be satisfactory either +to myself or my readers: the characters of the principal Authors +of the Roman and Byzantine History have been occasionally +connected with the events which they describe; a more copious and +critical inquiry might indeed deserve, but it would demand, an +elaborate volume, which might swell by degrees into a general +library of historical writers. For the present, I shall content +myself with renewing my serious protestation, that I have always +endeavored to draw from the fountain-head; that my curiosity, as +well as a sense of duty, has always urged me to study the +originals; and that, if they have sometimes eluded my search, I +have carefully marked the secondary evidence, on whose faith a +passage or a fact were reduced to depend. + +[Footnote *: See Dr. Robertson's Preface to his History of +America.] + + I shall soon revisit the banks of the Lake of Lausanne, a +country which I have known and loved from my early youth. Under +a mild government, amidst a beauteous landscape, in a life of +leisure and independence, and among a people of easy and elegant +manners, I have enjoyed, and may again hope to enjoy, the varied +pleasures of retirement and society. But I shall ever glory in +the name and character of an Englishman: I am proud of my birth +in a free and enlightened country; and the approbation of that +country is the best and most honorable reward of my labors. Were +I ambitious of any other Patron than the Public, I would inscribe +this work to a Statesman, who, in a long, a stormy, and at length +an unfortunate administration, had many political opponents, +almost without a personal enemy; who has retained, in his fall +from power, many faithful and disinterested friends; and who, +under the pressure of severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigor +of his mind, and the felicity of his incomparable temper. Lord +North will permit me to express the feelings of friendship in the +language of truth: but even truth and friendship should be +silent, if he still dispensed the favors of the crown. + + In a remote solitude, vanity may still whisper in my ear, +that my readers, perhaps, may inquire whether, in the conclusion +of the present work, I am now taking an everlasting farewell. +They shall hear all that I know myself, and all that I could +reveal to the most intimate friend. The motives of action or +silence are now equally balanced; nor can I pronounce, in my most +secret thoughts, on which side the scale will preponderate. I +cannot dissemble that six quartos must have tried, and may have +exhausted, the indulgence of the Public; that, in the repetition +of similar attempts, a successful Author has much more to lose +than he can hope to gain; that I am now descending into the vale +of years; and that the most respectable of my countrymen, the men +whom I aspire to imitate, have resigned the pen of history about +the same period of their lives. Yet I consider that the annals +of ancient and modern times may afford many rich and interesting +subjects; that I am still possessed of health and leisure; that +by the practice of writing, some skill and facility must be +acquired; and that, in the ardent pursuit of truth and knowledge, +I am not conscious of decay. To an active mind, indolence is +more painful than labor; and the first months of my liberty will +be occupied and amused in the excursions of curiosity and taste. +By such temptations, I have been sometimes seduced from the rigid +duty even of a pleasing and voluntary task: but my time will now +be my own; and in the use or abuse of independence, I shall no +longer fear my own reproaches or those of my friends. I am +fairly entitled to a year of jubilee: next summer and the +following winter will rapidly pass away; and experience only can +determine whether I shall still prefer the freedom and variety of +study to the design and composition of a regular work, which +animates, while it confines, the daily application of the Author. + +Caprice and accident may influence my choice; but the dexterity +of self-love will contrive to applaud either active industry or +philosophic repose. + + Downing Street, May 1, 1788. + + P. S. I shall embrace this opportunity of introducing two +verbal remarks, which have not conveniently offered themselves to +my notice. 1. As often as I use the definitions of beyond the +Alps, the Rhine, the Danube, &c., I generally suppose myself at +Rome, and afterwards at Constantinople; without observing whether +this relative geography may agree with the local, but variable, +situation of the reader, or the historian. 2. In proper names +of foreign, and especially of Oriental origin, it should be +always our aim to express, in our English version, a faithful +copy of the original. But this rule, which is founded on a just +regard to uniformity and truth, must often be relaxed; and the +exceptions will be limited or enlarged by the custom of the +language and the taste of the interpreter. Our alphabets may be +often defective; a harsh sound, an uncouth spelling, might offend +the ear or the eye of our countrymen; and some words, notoriously +corrupt, are fixed, and, as it were, naturalized in the vulgar +tongue. The prophet Mohammed can no longer be stripped of the +famous, though improper, appellation of Mahomet: the well-known +cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo, would almost be lost in +the strange descriptions of Haleb, Demashk, and Al Cahira: the +titles and offices of the Ottoman empire are fashioned by the +practice of three hundred years; and we are pleased to blend the +three Chinese monosyllables, Con-fu- tzee, in the respectable +name of Confucius, or even to adopt the Portuguese corruption of +Mandarin. But I would vary the use of Zoroaster and Zerdusht, as +I drew my information from Greece or Persia: since our connection +with India, the genuine Timour is restored to the throne of +Tamerlane: our most correct writers have retrenched the Al, the +superfluous article, from the Koran; and we escape an ambiguous +termination, by adopting Moslem instead of Musulman, in the +plural number. In these, and in a thousand examples, the shades +of distinction are often minute; and I can feel, where I cannot +explain, the motives of my choice. + + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Anoninies. +Part I. + +Introduction. + +The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In The Age Of The +Antonines. + + In the second century of the Christian Aera, the empire of +Rome comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most +civilized portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive +monarchy were guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. +The gentle but powerful influence of laws and manners had +gradually cemented the union of the provinces. Their peaceful +inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages of wealth and +luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved with +decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the +sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the +executive powers of government. During a happy period of more +than fourscore years, the public administration was conducted by +the virtue and abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two +Antonines. It is the design of this, and of the two succeeding +chapters, to describe the prosperous condition of their empire; +and after wards, from the death of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce +the most important circumstances of its decline and fall; a +revolution which will ever be remembered, and is still felt by +the nations of the earth. + + The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under +the republic; and the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied +with preserving those dominions which had been acquired by the +policy of the senate, the active emulations of the consuls, and +the martial enthusiasm of the people. The seven first centuries +were filled with a rapid succession of triumphs; but it was +reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious design of +subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of moderation +into the public councils. Inclined to peace by his temper and +situation, it was easy for him to discover that Rome, in her +present exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear +from the chance of arms; and that, in the prosecution of remote +wars, the undertaking became every day more difficult, the event +more doubtful, and the possession more precarious, and less +beneficial. The experience of Augustus added weight to these +salutary reflections, and effectually convinced him that, by the +prudent vigor of his counsels, it would be easy to secure every +concession which the safety or the dignity of Rome might require +from the most formidable barbarians. Instead of exposing his +person and his legions to the arrows of the Parthians, he +obtained, by an honorable treaty, the restitution of the +standards and prisoners which had been taken in the defeat of +Crassus. ^1 + +[Footnote 1: Dion Cassius, (l. liv. p. 736,) with the annotations +of Reimar, who has collected all that Roman vanity has left upon +the subject. The marble of Ancyra, on which Augustus recorded +his own exploits, asserted that he compelled the Parthians to +restore the ensigns of Crassus.] + + His generals, in the early part of his reign, attempted the +reduction of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix. They marched near a +thousand miles to the south of the tropic; but the heat of the +climate soon repelled the invaders, and protected the un-warlike +natives of those sequestered regions. ^2 The northern countries +of Europe scarcely deserved the expense and labor of conquest. +The forests and morasses of Germany were filled with a hardy race +of barbarians, who despised life when it was separated from +freedom; and though, on the first attack, they seemed to yield to +the weight of the Roman power, they soon, by a signal act of +despair, regained their independence, and reminded Augustus of +the vicissitude of fortune. ^3 On the death of that emperor, his +testament was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as a +valuable legacy to his successors, the advice of confining the +empire within those limits which nature seemed to have placed as +its permanent bulwarks and boundaries: on the west, the Atlantic +Ocean; the Rhine and Danube on the north; the Euphrates on the +east; and towards the south, the sandy deserts of Arabia and +Africa. ^4 + +[Footnote 2: Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 780,) Pliny the elder, (Hist. +Natur. l. vi. c. 32, 35, [28, 29,] and Dion Cassius, (l. liii. p. +723, and l. liv. p. 734,) have left us very curious details +concerning these wars. The Romans made themselves masters of +Mariaba, or Merab, a city of Arabia Felix, well known to the +Orientals. (See Abulfeda and the Nubian geography, p. 52) They +were arrived within three days' journey of the spice country, the +rich object of their invasion. + + Note: It is the city of Merab that the Arabs say was the +residence of Belkis, queen of Saba, who desired to see Solomon. +A dam, by which the waters collected in its neighborhood were +kept back, having been swept away, the sudden inundation +destroyed this city, of which, nevertheless, vestiges remain. It +bordered on a country called Adramout, where a particular +aromatic plant grows: it is for this reason that we real in the +history of the Roman expedition, that they were arrived within +three days' journey of the spice country. - G. Compare +Malte-Brun, Geogr. Eng. trans. vol. ii. p. 215. The period of +this flood has been copiously discussed by Reiske, (Program. de +vetusta Epocha Arabum, ruptura cataractae Merabensis.) Add. +Johannsen, Hist. Yemanae, p. 282. Bonn, 1828; and see Gibbon, +note 16. to Chap. L. - M. + + Note: Two, according to Strabo. The detailed account of +Strabo makes the invaders fail before Marsuabae: this cannot be +the same place as Mariaba. Ukert observes, that Aelius Gallus +would not have failed for want of water before Mariaba. (See M. +Guizot's note above.) "Either, therefore, they were different +places, or Strabo is mistaken." (Ukert, Geographic der Griechen +und Romer, vol. i. p. 181.) Strabo, indeed, mentions Mariaba +distinct from Marsuabae. Gibbon has followed Pliny in reckoning +Mariaba among the conquests of Gallus. There can be little doubt +that he is wrong, as Gallus did not approach the capital of +Sabaea. Compare the note of the Oxford editor of Strabo. - M.] +[Footnote 3: By the slaughter of Varus and his three legions. +See the first book of the Annals of Tacitus. Sueton. in August. +c. 23, and Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 117, &c. Augustus did +not receive the melancholy news with all the temper and firmness +that might have been expected from his character.] + +[Footnote 4: Tacit. Annal. l. ii. Dion Cassius, l. lvi. p. 833, +and the speech of Augustus himself, in Julian's Caesars. It +receives great light from the learned notes of his French +translator, M. Spanheim.] + + Happily for the repose of mankind, the moderate system +recommended by the wisdom of Augustus, was adopted by the fears +and vices of his immediate successors. Engaged in the pursuit of +pleasure, or in the exercise of tyranny, the first Caesars seldom +showed themselves to the armies, or to the provinces; nor were +they disposed to suffer, that those triumphs which their +indolence neglected, should be usurped by the conduct and valor +of their lieutenants. The military fame of a subject was +considered as an insolent invasion of the Imperial prerogative; +and it became the duty, as well as interest, of every Roman +general, to guard the frontiers intrusted to his care, without +aspiring to conquests which might have proved no less fatal to +himself than to the vanquished barbarians. ^5 + +[Footnote 5: Germanicus, Suetonius Paulinus, and Agricola were +checked and recalled in the course of their victories. Corbulo +was put to death. Military merit, as it is admirably expressed by +Tacitus, was, in the strictest sense of the word, imperatoria +virtus.] + + The only accession which the Roman empire received, during +the first century of the Christian Aera, was the province of +Britain. In this single instance, the successors of Caesar and +Augustus were persuaded to follow the example of the former, +rather than the precept of the latter. The proximity of its +situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite their arms; the +pleasing though doubtful intelligence of a pearl fishery, +attracted their avarice; ^6 and as Britain was viewed in the +light of a distinct and insulated world, the conquest scarcely +formed any exception to the general system of continental +measures. After a war of about forty years, undertaken by the +most stupid, ^7 maintained by the most dissolute, and terminated +by the most timid of all the emperors, the far greater part of +the island submitted to the Roman yoke. ^8 The various tribes of +Britain possessed valor without conduct, and the love of freedom +without the spirit of union. They took up arms with savage +fierceness; they laid them down, or turned them against each +other, with wild inconsistency; and while they fought singly, +they were successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of +Caractacus, nor the despair of Boadicea, nor the fanaticism of +the Druids, could avert the slavery of their country, or resist +the steady progress of the Imperial generals, who maintained the +national glory, when the throne was disgraced by the weakest, or +the most vicious of mankind. At the very time when Domitian, +confined to his palace, felt the terrors which he inspired, his +legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola, defeated the +collected force of the Caledonians, at the foot of the Grampian +Hills; and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and +dangerous navigation, displayed the Roman arms round every part +of the island. The conquest of Britain was considered as already +achieved; and it was the design of Agricola to complete and +insure his success, by the easy reduction of Ireland, for which, +in his opinion, one legion and a few auxiliaries were sufficient. +^9 The western isle might be improved into a valuable possession, +and the Britons would wear their chains with the less reluctance, +if the prospect and example of freedom were on every side removed +from before their eyes. + +[Footnote 6: Caesar himself conceals that ignoble motive; but it +is mentioned by Suetonius, c. 47. The British pearls proved, +however, of little value, on account of their dark and livid +color. Tacitus observes, with reason, (in Agricola, c. 12,) that +it was an inherent defect. "Ego facilius crediderim, naturam +margaritis deesse quam nobis avaritiam."] + +[Footnote 7: Claudius, Nero, and Domitian. A hope is expressed +by Pomponius Mela, l. iii. c. 6, (he wrote under Claudius,) that, +by the success of the Roman arms, the island and its savage +inhabitants would soon be better known. It is amusing enough to +peruse such passages in the midst of London.] +[Footnote 8: See the admirable abridgment given by Tacitus, in +the life of Agricola, and copiously, though perhaps not +completely, illustrated by our own antiquarians, Camden and +Horsley.] + +[Footnote 9: The Irish writers, jealous of their national honor, +are extremely provoked on this occasion, both with Tacitus and +with Agricola.] + + But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his +removal from the government of Britain; and forever disappointed +this rational, though extensive scheme of conquest. Before his +departure, the prudent general had provided for security as well +as for dominion. He had observed, that the island is almost +divided into two unequal parts by the opposite gulfs, or, as they +are now called, the Friths of Scotland. Across the narrow +interval of about forty miles, he had drawn a line of military +stations, which was afterwards fortified, in the reign of +Antoninus Pius, by a turf rampart, erected on foundations of +stone. ^10 This wall of Antoninus, at a small distance beyond the +modern cities of Edinburgh and Glasgow, was fixed as the limit of +the Roman province. The native Caledonians preserved, in the +northern extremity of the island, their wild independence, for +which they were not less indebted to their poverty than to their +valor. Their incursions were frequently repelled and chastised; +but their country was never subdued. ^11 The masters of the +fairest and most wealthy climates of the globe turned with +contempt from gloomy hills, assailed by the winter tempest, from +lakes concealed in a blue mist, and from cold and lonely heaths, +over which the deer of the forest were chased by a troop of naked +barbarians. ^12 + +[Footnote 10: See Horsley's Britannia Romana, l. i. c. 10. + Note: Agricola fortified the line from Dumbarton to +Edinburgh, consequently within Scotland. The emperor Hadrian, +during his residence in Britain, about the year 121, caused a +rampart of earth to be raised between Newcastle and Carlisle. +Antoninus Pius, having gained new victories over the Caledonians, +by the ability of his general, Lollius, Urbicus, caused a new +rampart of earth to be constructed between Edinburgh and +Dumbarton. Lastly, Septimius Severus caused a wall of stone to +be built parallel to the rampart of Hadrian, and on the same +locality. See John Warburton's Vallum Romanum, or the History +and Antiquities of the Roman Wall. London, 1754, 4to. - W. See +likewise a good note on the Roman wall in Lingard's History of +England, vol. i. p. 40, 4to edit - M.] + +[Footnote 11: The poet Buchanan celebrates with elegance and +spirit (see his Sylvae, v.) the unviolated independence of his +native country. But, if the single testimony of Richard of +Cirencester was sufficient to create a Roman province of +Vespasiana to the north of the wall, that independence would be +reduced within very narrow limits.] + +[Footnote 12: See Appian (in Prooem.) and the uniform imagery of +Ossian's Poems, which, according to every hypothesis, were +composed by a native Caledonian.] + + Such was the state of the Roman frontiers, and such the +maxims of Imperial policy, from the death of Augustus to the +accession of Trajan. That virtuous and active prince had +received the education of a soldier, and possessed the talents of +a general. ^13 The peaceful system of his predecessors was +interrupted by scenes of war and conquest; and the legions, after +a long interval, beheld a military emperor at their head. The +first exploits of Trajan were against the Dacians, the most +warlike of men, who dwelt beyond the Danube, and who, during the +reign of Domitian, had insulted, with impunity, the Majesty of +Rome. ^14 To the strength and fierceness of barbarians they added +a contempt for life, which was derived from a warm persuasion of +the immortality and transmigration of the soul. ^15 Decebalus, +the Dacian king, approved himself a rival not unworthy of Trajan; +nor did he despair of his own and the public fortune, till, by +the confession of his enemies, he had exhausted every resource +both of valor and policy. ^16 This memorable war, with a very +short suspension of hostilities, lasted five years; and as the +emperor could exert, without control, the whole force of the +state, it was terminated by an absolute submission of the +barbarians. ^17 The new province of Dacia, which formed a second +exception to the precept of Augustus, was about thirteen hundred +miles in circumference. Its natural boundaries were the Niester, +the Teyss or Tibiscus, the Lower Danube, and the Euxine Sea. The +vestiges of a military road may still be traced from the banks of +the Danube to the neighborhood of Bender, a place famous in +modern history, and the actual frontier of the Turkish and +Russian empires. ^18 + +[Footnote 13: See Pliny's Panegyric, which seems founded on +facts.] + +[Footnote 14: Dion Cassius, l. lxvii.] + +[Footnote 15: Herodotus, l. iv. c. 94. Julian in the Caesars, +with Spanheims observations.] + +[Footnote 16: Plin. Epist. viii. 9.] + +[Footnote 17: Dion Cassius, l. lxviii. p. 1123, 1131. Julian in +Caesaribus Eutropius, viii. 2, 6. Aurelius Victor in Epitome.] +[Footnote 18: See a Memoir of M. d'Anville, on the Province of +Dacia, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 444 - +468.] + + Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as mankind shall +continue to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than +on their benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be +the vice of the most exalted characters. The praises of +Alexander, transmitted by a succession of poets and historians, +had kindled a dangerous emulation in the mind of Trajan. Like +him, the Roman emperor undertook an expedition against the +nations of the East; but he lamented with a sigh, that his +advanced age scarcely left him any hopes of equalling the renown +of the son of Philip. ^19 Yet the success of Trajan, however +transient, was rapid and specious. The degenerate Parthians, +broken by intestine discord, fled before his arms. He descended +the River Tigris in triumph, from the mountains of Armenia to the +Persian Gulf. He enjoyed the honor of being the first, as he was +the last, of the Roman generals, who ever navigated that remote +sea. His fleets ravaged the coast of Arabia; and Trajan vainly +flattered himself that he was approaching towards the confines of +India. ^20 Every day the astonished senate received the +intelligence of new names and new nations, that acknowledged his +sway. They were informed that the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, +Iberia, Albania, Osrhoene, and even the Parthian monarch himself, +had accepted their diadems from the hands of the emperor; that +the independent tribes of the Median and Carduchian hills had +implored his protection; and that the rich countries of Armenia, +Mesopotamia, and Assyria, were reduced into the state of +provinces. ^21 But the death of Trajan soon clouded the splendid +prospect; and it was justly to be dreaded, that so many distant +nations would throw off the unaccustomed yoke, when they were no +longer restrained by the powerful hand which had imposed it. +[Footnote 19: Trajan's sentiments are represented in a very just +and lively manner in the Caesars of Julian.] + +[Footnote 20: Eutropius and Sextus Rufus have endeavored to +perpetuate the illusion. See a very sensible dissertation of M. +Freret in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 55.] +[Footnote 21: Dion Cassius, l. lxviii.; and the Abbreviators.] + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines. + + +Part II. + + It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was +founded by one of the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided +over boundaries, and was represented, according to the fashion of +that age, by a large stone) alone, among all the inferior +deities, refused to yield his place to Jupiter himself. A +favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, which was +interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the boundaries +of the Roman power would never recede. ^22 During many ages, the +prediction, as it is usual, contributed to its own +accomplishment. But though Terminus had resisted the Majesty of +Jupiter, he submitted to the authority of the emperor Hadrian. +^23 The resignation of all the eastern conquests of Trajan was +the first measure of his reign. He restored to the Parthians the +election of an independent sovereign; withdrew the Roman +garrisons from the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and +Assyria; and, in compliance with the precept of Augustus, once +more established the Euphrates as the frontier of the empire. ^24 +Censure, which arraigns the public actions and the private +motives of princes, has ascribed to envy, a conduct which might +be attributed to the prudence and moderation of Hadrian. The +various character of that emperor, capable, by turns, of the +meanest and the most generous sentiments, may afford some color +to the suspicion. It was, however, scarcely in his power to +place the superiority of his predecessor in a more conspicuous +light, than by thus confessing himself unequal to the task of +defending the conquests of Trajan. + +[Footnote 22: Ovid. Fast. l. ii. ver. 667. See Livy, and +Dionysius of Halicarnassus, under the reign of Tarquin.] + +[Footnote 23: St. Augustin is highly delighted with the proof of +the weakness of Terminus, and the vanity of the Augurs. See De +Civitate Dei, iv. 29. + + Note *: The turn of Gibbon's sentence is Augustin's: "Plus +Hadrianum regem bominum, quam regem Deorum timuisse videatur." - +M] + +[Footnote 24: See the Augustan History, p. 5, Jerome's Chronicle, +and all the Epitomizers. It is somewhat surprising, that this +memorable event should be omitted by Dion, or rather by +Xiphilin.] + + The martial and ambitious of spirit Trajan formed a very +singular contrast with the moderation of his successor. The +restless activity of Hadrian was not less remarkable when +compared with the gentle repose of Antoninus Pius. The life of +the former was almost a perpetual journey; and as he possessed +the various talents of the soldier, the statesman, and the +scholar, he gratified his curiosity in the discharge of his duty. + +Careless of the difference of seasons and of climates, he marched +on foot, and bare- headed, over the snows of Caledonia, and the +sultry plains of the Upper Egypt; nor was there a province of the +empire which, in the course of his reign, was not honored with +the presence of the monarch. ^25 But the tranquil life of +Antoninus Pius was spent in the bosom of Italy, and, during the +twenty-three years that he directed the public administration, +the longest journeys of that amiable prince extended no farther +than from his palace in Rome to the retirement of his Lanuvian +villa. ^26 + +[Footnote 25: Dion, l. lxix. p. 1158. Hist. August. p. 5, 8. If +all our historians were lost, medals, inscriptions, and other +monuments, would be sufficient to record the travels of Hadrian. + Note: The journeys of Hadrian are traced in a note on +Solvet's translation of Hegewisch, Essai sur l'Epoque de Histoire +Romaine la plus heureuse pour Genre Humain Paris, 1834, p. 123. - +M.] + +[Footnote 26: See the Augustan History and the Epitomes.] + + Notwithstanding this difference in their personal conduct, +the general system of Augustus was equally adopted and uniformly +pursued by Hadrian and by the two Antonines. They persisted in +the design of maintaining the dignity of the empire, without +attempting to enlarge its limits. By every honorable expedient +they invited the friendship of the barbarians; and endeavored to +convince mankind that the Roman power, raised above the +temptation of conquest, was actuated only by the love of order +and justice. During a long period of forty-three years, their +virtuous labors were crowned with success; and if we except a few +slight hostilities, that served to exercise the legions of the +frontier, the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius offer the fair +prospect of universal peace. ^27 The Roman name was revered among +the most remote nations of the earth. The fiercest barbarians +frequently submitted their differences to the arbitration of the +emperor; and we are informed by a contemporary historian that he +had seen ambassadors who were refused the honor which they came +to solicit of being admitted into the rank of subjects. ^28 +[Footnote 27: We must, however, remember, that in the time of +Hadrian, a rebellion of the Jews raged with religious fury, +though only in a single province. Pausanias (l. viii. c. 43) +mentions two necessary and successful wars, conducted by the +generals of Pius: 1st. Against the wandering Moors, who were +driven into the solitudes of Atlas. 2d. Against the Brigantes +of Britain, who had invaded the Roman province. Both these wars +(with several other hostilities) are mentioned in the Augustan +History, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 28: Appian of Alexandria, in the preface to his History +of the Roman Wars.] + +Part II. + + The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the +moderation of the emperors. They preserved peace by a constant +preparation for war; and while justice regulated their conduct, +they announced to the nations on their confines, that they were +as little disposed to endure, as to offer an injury. The military +strength, which it had been sufficient for Hadrian and the elder +Antoninus to display, was exerted against the Parthians and the +Germans by the emperor Marcus. The hostilities of the barbarians +provoked the resentment of that philosophic monarch, and, in the +prosecution of a just defence, Marcus and his generals obtained +many signal victories, both on the Euphrates and on the Danube. +^29 The military establishment of the Roman empire, which thus +assured either its tranquillity or success, will now become the +proper and important object of our attention. + +[Footnote 29: Dion, l. lxxi. Hist. August. in Marco. The +Parthian victories gave birth to a crowd of contemptible +historians, whose memory has been rescued from oblivion and +exposed to ridicule, in a very lively piece of criticism of +Lucian.] + + In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was +reserved for those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a +property to defend, and some share in enacting those laws, which +it was their interest as well as duty to maintain. But in +proportion as the public freedom was lost in extent of conquest, +war was gradually improved into an art, and degraded into a +trade. ^30 The legions themselves, even at the time when they +were recruited in the most distant provinces, were supposed to +consist of Roman citizens. That distinction was generally +considered, either as a legal qualification or as a proper +recompense for the soldier; but a more serious regard was paid to +the essential merit of age, strength, and military stature. ^31 +In all levies, a just preference was given to the climates of the +North over those of the South: the race of men born to the +exercise of arms was sought for in the country rather than in +cities; and it was very reasonably presumed, that the hardy +occupations of smiths, carpenters, and huntsmen, would supply +more vigor and resolution than the sedentary trades which are +employed in the service of luxury. ^32 After every qualification +of property had been laid aside, the armies of the Roman emperors +were still commanded, for the most part, by officers of liberal +birth and education; but the common soldiers, like the mercenary +troops of modern Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and very +frequently from the most profligate, of mankind. + +[Footnote 30: The poorest rank of soldiers possessed above forty +pounds sterling, (Dionys. Halicarn. iv. 17,) a very high +qualification at a time when money was so scarce, that an ounce +of silver was equivalent to seventy pounds weight of brass. The +populace, excluded by the ancient constitution, were +indiscriminately admitted by Marius. See Sallust. de Bell. +Jugurth. c. 91. + + Note: On the uncertainty of all these estimates, and the +difficulty of fixing the relative value of brass and silver, +compare Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 473, &c. Eng. trans. p. 452. +According to Niebuhr, the relative disproportion in value, +between the two metals, arose, in a great degree from the +abundance of brass or copper. - M. Compare also Dureau 'de la +Malle Economie Politique des Romains especially L. l. c. ix. - M. +1845.] + +[Footnote 31: Caesar formed his legion Alauda of Gauls and +strangers; but it was during the license of civil war; and after +the victory, he gave them the freedom of the city for their +reward.] + +[Footnote 32: See Vegetius, de Re Militari, l. i. c. 2 - 7.] + That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated +patriotism, is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in +the preservation and prosperity of the free government of which +we are members. Such a sentiment, which had rendered the legions +of the republic almost invincible, could make but a very feeble +impression on the mercenary servants of a despotic prince; and it +became necessary to supply that defect by other motives, of a +different, but not less forcible nature - honor and religion. +The peasant, or mechanic, imbibed the useful prejudice that he +was advanced to the more dignified profession of arms, in which +his rank and reputation would depend on his own valor; and that, +although the prowess of a private soldier must often escape the +notice of fame, his own behavior might sometimes confer glory or +disgrace on the company, the legion, or even the army, to whose +honors he was associated. On his first entrance into the +service, an oath was administered to him with every circumstance +of solemnity. He promised never to desert his standard, to +submit his own will to the commands of his leaders, and to +sacrifice his life for the safety of the emperor and the empire. +^33 The attachment of the Roman troops to their standards was +inspired by the united influence of religion and of honor. The +golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the +object of their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less +impious than it was ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in +the hour of danger. ^34 These motives, which derived their +strength from the imagination, were enforced by fears and hopes +of a more substantial kind. Regular pay, occasional donatives, +and a stated recompense, after the appointed time of service, +alleviated the hardships of the military life, ^35 whilst, on the +other hand, it was impossible for cowardice or disobedience to +escape the severest punishment. The centurions were authorized +to chastise with blows, the generals had a right to punish with +death; and it was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a +good soldier should dread his officers far more than the enemy. +From such laudable arts did the valor of the Imperial troops +receive a degree of firmness and docility unattainable by the +impetuous and irregular passions of barbarians. + +[Footnote 33: The oath of service and fidelity to the emperor was +annually renewed by the troops on the first of January.] + +[Footnote 34: Tacitus calls the Roman eagles, Bellorum Deos. +They were placed in a chapel in the camp, and with the other +deities received the religious worship of the troops. + + Note: See also Dio. Cass. xl. c. 18. - M.] + +[Footnote 35: See Gronovius de Pecunia vetere, l. iii. p. 120, +&c. The emperor Domitian raised the annual stipend of the +legionaries to twelve pieces of gold, which, in his time, was +equivalent to about ten of our guineas. This pay, somewhat +higher than our own, had been, and was afterwards, gradually +increased, according to the progress of wealth and military +government. After twenty years' service, the veteran received +three thousand denarii, (about one hundred pounds sterling,) or a +proportionable allowance of land. The pay and advantages of the +guards were, in general, about double those of the legions.] + And yet so sensible were the Romans of the imperfection of +valor without skill and practice, that, in their language, the +name of an army was borrowed from the word which signified +exercise. ^36 Military exercises were the important and +unremitted object of their discipline. The recruits and young +soldiers were constantly trained, both in the morning and in the +evening, nor was age or knowledge allowed to excuse the veterans +from the daily repetition of what they had completely learnt. +Large sheds were erected in the winter- quarters of the troops, +that their useful labors might not receive any interruption from +the most tempestuous weather; and it was carefully observed, that +the arms destined to this imitation of war, should be of double +the weight which was required in real action. ^37 It is not the +purpose of this work to enter into any minute description of the +Roman exercises. We shall only remark, that they comprehended +whatever could add strength to the body, activity to the limbs, +or grace to the motions. The soldiers were diligently instructed +to march, to run, to leap, to swim, to carry heavy burdens, to +handle every species of arms that was used either for offence or +for defence, either in distant engagement or in a closer onset; +to form a variety of evolutions; and to move to the sound of +flutes in the Pyrrhic or martial dance. ^38 In the midst of +peace, the Roman troops familiarized themselves with the practice +of war; and it is prettily remarked by an ancient historian who +had fought against them, that the effusion of blood was the only +circumstance which distinguished a field of battle from a field +of exercise. ^39 It was the policy of the ablest generals, and +even of the emperors themselves, to encourage these military +studies by their presence and example; and we are informed that +Hadrian, as well as Trajan, frequently condescended to instruct +the unexperienced soldiers, to reward the diligent, and sometimes +to dispute with them the prize of superior strength or dexterity. +^40 Under the reigns of those princes, the science of tactics was +cultivated with success; and as long as the empire retained any +vigor, their military instructions were respected as the most +perfect model of Roman discipline. + +[Footnote 36: Exercitus ab exercitando, Varro de Lingua Latina, +l. iv. Cicero in Tusculan. l. ii. 37. [15.] There is room for a +very interesting work, which should lay open the connection +between the languages and manners of nations. + + Note I am not aware of the existence, at present, of such a +work; but the profound observations of the late William von +Humboldt, in the introduction to his posthumously published Essay +on the Language of the Island of Java, (uber die Kawi-sprache, +Berlin, 1836,) may cause regret that this task was not completed +by that accomplished and universal scholar. - M.] + +[Footnote 37: Vegatius, l. ii. and the rest of his first book.] +[Footnote 38: The Pyrrhic dance is extremely well illustrated by +M. le Beau, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxxv. p. 262, +&c. That learned academician, in a series of memoirs, has +collected all the passages of the ancients that relate to the +Roman legion.] + +[Footnote 39: Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. iii. c. 5. We are +indebted to this Jew for some very curious details of Roman +discipline.] + +[Footnote 40: Plin. Panegyr. c. 13. Life of Hadrian, in the +Augustan History.] + + Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the +service many alterations and improvements. The legions, as they +are described by Polybius, ^41 in the time of the Punic wars, +differed very materially from those which achieved the victories +of Caesar, or defended the monarchy of Hadrian and the Antonines. + +The constitution of the Imperial legion may be described in a few +words. ^42 The heavy-armed infantry, which composed its principal +strength, ^43 was divided into ten cohorts, and fifty-five +companies, under the orders of a correspondent number of tribunes +and centurions. The first cohort, which always claimed the post +of honor and the custody of the eagle, was formed of eleven +hundred and five soldiers, the most approved for valor and +fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts consisted each of five +hundred and fifty-five; and the whole body of legionary infantry +amounted to six thousand one hundred men. Their arms were +uniform, and admirably adapted to the nature of their service: an +open helmet, with a lofty crest; a breastplate, or coat of mail; +greaves on their legs, and an ample buckler on their left arm. +The buckler was of an oblong and concave figure, four feet in +length, and two and a half in breadth, framed of a light wood, +covered with a bull's hide, and strongly guarded with plates of +brass. Besides a lighter spear, the legionary soldier grasped in +his right hand the formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin, whose +utmost length was about six feet, and which was terminated by a +massy triangular point of steel of eighteen inches. ^44 This +instrument was indeed much inferior to our modern fire-arms; +since it was exhausted by a single discharge, at the distance of +only ten or twelve paces. Yet when it was launched by a firm and +skilful hand, there was not any cavalry that durst venture within +its reach, nor any shield or corselet that could sustain the +impetuosity of its weight. As soon as the Roman had darted his +pilum, he drew his sword, and rushed forwards to close with the +enemy. His sword was a short well-tempered Spanish blade, that +carried a double edge, and was alike suited to the purpose of +striking or of pushing; but the soldier was always instructed to +prefer the latter use of his weapon, as his own body remained +less exposed, whilst he inflicted a more dangerous wound on his +adversary. ^45 The legion was usually drawn up eight deep; and +the regular distance of three feet was left between the files as +well as ranks. ^46 A body of troops, habituated to preserve this +open order, in a long front and a rapid charge, found themselves +prepared to execute every disposition which the circumstances of +war, or the skill of their leader, might suggest. The soldier +possessed a free space for his arms and motions, and sufficient +intervals were allowed, through which seasonable reenforcements +might be introduced to the relief of the exhausted combatants. +^47 The tactics of the Greeks and Macedonians were formed on very +different principles. The strength of the phalanx depended on +sixteen ranks of long pikes, wedged together in the closest +array. ^48 But it was soon discovered by reflection, as well as +by the event, that the strength of the phalanx was unable to +contend with the activity of the legion. ^49 + +[Footnote 41: See an admirable digression on the Roman +discipline, in the sixth book of his History.] + +[Footnote 42: Vegetius de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 4, &c. + +Considerable part of his very perplexed abridgment was taken from +the regulations of Trajan and Hadrian; and the legion, as he +describes it, cannot suit any other age of the Roman empire.] +[Footnote 43: Vegetius de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 1. In the purer +age of Caesar and Cicero, the word miles was almost confined to +the infantry. Under the lower empire, and the times of chivalry, +it was appropriated almost as exclusively to the men at arms, who +fought on horseback.] + +[Footnote 44: In the time of Polybius and Dionysius of +Halicarnassus, (l. v. c. 45,) the steel point of the pilum seems +to have been much longer. In the time of Vegetius, it was +reduced to a foot, or even nine inches. I have chosen a medium.] + +[Footnote 45: For the legionary arms, see Lipsius de Militia +Romana, l. iii. c. 2 - 7.] + +[Footnote 46: See the beautiful comparison of Virgil, Georgic ii. +v. 279.] + +[Footnote 47: M. Guichard, Memoires Militaires, tom. i. c. 4, and +Nouveaux Memoires, tom. i. p. 293 - 311, has treated the subject +like a scholar and an officer.] + + +[Footnote 48: See Arrian's Tactics. With the true partiality of +a Greek, Arrian rather chose to describe the phalanx, of which he +had read, than the legions which he had commanded.] + +[Footnote 49: Polyb. l. xvii. (xviii. 9.)] + + The cavalry, without which the force of the legion would +have remained imperfect, was divided into ten troops or +squadrons; the first, as the companion of the first cohort, +consisted of a hundred and thirty-two men; whilst each of the +other nine amounted only to sixty-six. The entire establishment +formed a regiment, if we may use the modern expression, of seven +hundred and twenty-six horse, naturally connected with its +respective legion, but occasionally separated to act in the line, +and to compose a part of the wings of the army. ^50 The cavalry +of the emperors was no longer composed, like that of the ancient +republic, of the noblest youths of Rome and Italy, who, by +performing their military service on horseback, prepared +themselves for the offices of senator and consul; and solicited, +by deeds of valor, the future suffrages of their countrymen. ^51 +Since the alteration of manners and government, the most wealthy +of the equestrian order were engaged in the administration of +justice, and of the revenue; ^52 and whenever they embraced the +profession of arms, they were immediately intrusted with a troop +of horse, or a cohort of foot. ^53 Trajan and Hadrian formed +their cavalry from the same provinces, and the same class of +their subjects, which recruited the ranks of the legion. The +horses were bred, for the most part, in Spain or Cappadocia. The +Roman troopers despised the complete armor with which the cavalry +of the East was encumbered. Their more useful arms consisted in +a helmet, an oblong shield, light boots, and a coat of mail. A +javelin, and a long broad sword, were their principal weapons of +offence. The use of lances and of iron maces they seem to have +borrowed from the barbarians. ^54 + +[Footnote 50: Veget. de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 6. His positive +testimony, which might be supported by circumstantial evidence, +ought surely to silence those critics who refuse the Imperial +legion its proper body of cavalry. + Note: See also Joseph. B. J. iii. vi. 2. - M.] + +[Footnote 51: See Livy almost throughout, particularly xlii. 61.] + + +[Footnote 52: Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 2. The true sense of +that very curious passage was first discovered and illustrated by +M. de Beaufort, Republique Romaine, l. ii. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 53: As in the instance of Horace and Agricola. This +appears to have been a defect in the Roman discipline; which +Hadrian endeavored to remedy by ascertaining the legal age of a +tribune. + + Note: These details are not altogether accurate. Although, +in the latter days of the republic, and under the first emperors, +the young Roman nobles obtained the command of a squadron or a +cohort with greater facility than in the former times, they never +obtained it without passing through a tolerably long military +service. Usually they served first in the praetorian cohort, +which was intrusted with the guard of the general: they were +received into the companionship (contubernium) of some superior +officer, and were there formed for duty. Thus Julius Caesar, +though sprung from a great family, served first as contubernalis +under the praetor, M. Thermus, and later under Servilius the +Isaurian. (Suet. Jul. 2, 5. Plut. in Par. p. 516. Ed. Froben.) +The example of Horace, which Gibbon adduces to prove that young +knights were made tribunes immediately on entering the service, +proves nothing. In the first place, Horace was not a knight; he +was the son of a freedman of Venusia, in Apulia, who exercised +the humble office of coactor exauctionum, (collector of payments +at auctions.) (Sat. i. vi. 45, or 86.) Moreover, when the poet +was made tribune, Brutus, whose army was nearly entirely composed +of Orientals, gave this title to all the Romans of consideration +who joined him. The emperors were still less difficult in their +choice; the number of tribunes was augmented; the title and +honors were conferred on persons whom they wished to attack to +the court. Augustus conferred on the sons of senators, sometimes +the tribunate, sometimes the command of a squadron. Claudius +gave to the knights who entered into the service, first the +command of a cohort of auxiliaries, later that of a squadron, and +at length, for the first time, the tribunate. (Suet in Claud. +with the notes of Ernesti.) The abuses that arose caused by the +edict of Hadrian, which fixed the age at which that honor could +be attained. (Spart. in Had. &c.) This edict was subsequently +obeyed; for the emperor Valerian, in a letter addressed to +Mulvius Gallinnus, praetorian praefect, excuses himself for +having violated it in favor of the young Probus afterwards +emperor, on whom he had conferred the tribunate at an earlier age +on account of his rare talents. (Vopisc. in Prob. iv.) - W. and +G. Agricola, though already invested with the title of tribune, +was contubernalis in Britain with Suetonius Paulinus. Tac. Agr. +v. - M.] + +[Footnote 54: See Arrian's Tactics.] + + The safety and honor of the empire was principally intrusted +to the legions, but the policy of Rome condescended to adopt +every useful instrument of war. Considerable levies were +regularly made among the provincials, who had not yet deserved +the honorable distinction of Romans. Many dependent princes and +communities, dispersed round the frontiers, were permitted, for a +while, to hold their freedom and security by the tenure of +military service. ^55 Even select troops of hostile barbarians +were frequently compelled or persuaded to consume their dangerous +valor in remote climates, and for the benefit of the state. ^56 +All these were included under the general name of auxiliaries; +and howsoever they might vary according to the difference of +times and circumstances, their numbers were seldom much inferior +to those of the legions themselves. ^57 Among the auxiliaries, +the bravest and most faithful bands were placed under the command +of praefects and centurions, and severely trained in the arts of +Roman discipline; but the far greater part retained those arms, +to which the nature of their country, or their early habits of +life, more peculiarly adapted them. By this institution, each +legion, to whom a certain proportion of auxiliaries was allotted, +contained within itself every species of lighter troops, and of +missile weapons; and was capable of encountering every nation, +with the advantages of its respective arms and discipline. ^58 +Nor was the legion destitute of what, in modern language, would +be styled a train of artillery. It consisted in ten military +engines of the largest, and fifty-five of a smaller size; but all +of which, either in an oblique or horizontal manner, discharged +stones and darts with irresistible violence. ^59 +[Footnote 55: Such, in particular, was the state of the +Batavians. Tacit. Germania, c. 29.] + +[Footnote 56: Marcus Antoninus obliged the vanquished Quadi and +Marcomanni to supply him with a large body of troops, which he +immediately sent into Britain. Dion Cassius, l. lxxi. (c. 16.)] +[Footnote 57: Tacit. Annal. iv. 5. Those who fix a regular +proportion of as many foot, and twice as many horse, confound the +auxiliaries of the emperors with the Italian allies of the +republic.] + +[Footnote 58: Vegetius, ii. 2. Arrian, in his order of march and +battle against the Alani.] + +[Footnote 59: The subject of the ancient machines is treated with +great knowledge and ingenuity by the Chevalier Folard, (Polybe, +tom. ii. p. 233- 290.) He prefers them in many respects to our +modern cannon and mortars. We may observe, that the use of them +in the field gradually became more prevalent, in proportion as +personal valor and military skill declined with the Roman empire. + +When men were no longer found, their place was supplied by +machines. See Vegetius, ii. 25. Arrian.] + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines. + + +Part III. + + The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a +fortified city. ^60 As soon as the space was marked out, the +pioneers carefully levelled the ground, and removed every +impediment that might interrupt its perfect regularity. Its form +was an exact quadrangle; and we may calculate, that a square of +about seven hundred yards was sufficient for the encampment of +twenty thousand Romans; though a similar number of our own troops +would expose to the enemy a front of more than treble that +extent. In the midst of the camp, the praetorium, or general's +quarters, rose above the others; the cavalry, the infantry, and +the auxiliaries occupied their respective stations; the streets +were broad and perfectly straight, and a vacant space of two +hundred feet was left on all sides between the tents and the +rampart. The rampart itself was usually twelve feet high, armed +with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and defended by a +ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in breadth. This +important labor was performed by the hands of the legionaries +themselves; to whom the use of the spade and the pickaxe was no +less familiar than that of the sword or pilum. Active valor may +often be the present of nature; but such patient diligence can be +the fruit only of habit and discipline. ^61 + +[Footnote 60: Vegetius finishes his second book, and the +description of the legion, with the following emphatic words: - +"Universa quae ix quoque belli genere necessaria esse creduntur, +secum Jegio debet ubique portare, ut in quovis loco fixerit +castra, arma'am faciat civitatem."] + +[Footnote 61: For the Roman Castrametation, see Polybius, l. vi. +with Lipsius de Militia Romana, Joseph. de Bell. Jud. l. iii. c. +5. Vegetius, i. 21 - 25, iii. 9, and Memoires de Guichard, tom. +i. c. 1.] + + Whenever the trumpet gave the signal of departure, the camp +was almost instantly broke up, and the troops fell into their +ranks without delay or confusion. Besides their arms, which the +legendaries scarcely considered as an encumbrance, they were +laden with their kitchen furniture, the instruments of +fortification, and the provision of many days. ^62 Under this +weight, which would oppress the delicacy of a modern soldier, +they were trained by a regular step to advance, in about six +hours, near twenty miles. ^63 On the appearance of an enemy, they +threw aside their baggage, and by easy and rapid evolutions +converted the column of march into an order of battle. ^64 The +slingers and archers skirmished in the front; the auxiliaries +formed the first line, and were seconded or sustained by the +strength of the legions; the cavalry covered the flanks, and the +military engines were placed in the rear. + +[Footnote 62: Cicero in Tusculan. ii. 37, [15.] - Joseph. de +Bell. Jud. l. iii. 5, Frontinus, iv. 1.] + +[Footnote 63: Vegetius, i. 9. See Memoires de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. xxv. p. 187.] + +[Footnote 64: See those evolutions admirably well explained by M. +Guichard Nouveaux Memoires, tom. i. p. 141 - 234.] + + Such were the arts of war, by which the Roman emperors +defended their extensive conquests, and preserved a military +spirit, at a time when every other virtue was oppressed by luxury +and despotism. If, in the consideration of their armies, we pass +from their discipline to their numbers, we shall not find it easy +to define them with any tolerable accuracy. We may compute, +however, that the legion, which was itself a body of six thousand +eight hundred and thirty-one Romans, might, with its attendant +auxiliaries, amount to about twelve thousand five hundred men. +The peace establishment of Hadrian and his successors was +composed of no less than thirty of these formidable brigades; and +most probably formed a standing force of three hundred and +seventy-five thousand men. Instead of being confined within the +walls of fortified cities, which the Romans considered as the +refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the legions were encamped on +the banks of the great rivers, and along the frontiers of the +barbarians. As their stations, for the most part, remained fixed +and permanent, we may venture to describe the distribution of the +troops. Three legions were sufficient for Britain. The principal +strength lay upon the Rhine and Danube, and consisted of sixteen +legions, in the following proportions: two in the Lower, and +three in the Upper Germany; one in Rhaetia, one in Noricum, four +in Pannonia, three in Maesia, and two in Dacia. The defence of +the Euphrates was intrusted to eight legions, six of whom were +planted in Syria, and the other two in Cappadocia. With regard +to Egypt, Africa, and Spain, as they were far removed from any +important scene of war, a single legion maintained the domestic +tranquillity of each of those great provinces. Even Italy was +not left destitute of a military force. Above twenty thousand +chosen soldiers, distinguished by the titles of City Cohorts and +Praetorian Guards, watched over the safety of the monarch and the +capital. As the authors of almost every revolution that +distracted the empire, the Praetorians will, very soon, and very +loudly, demand our attention; but, in their arms and +institutions, we cannot find any circumstance which discriminated +them from the legions, unless it were a more splendid appearance, +and a less rigid discipline. ^65 + +[Footnote 65: Tacitus (Annal. iv. 5) has given us a state of the +legions under Tiberius; and Dion Cassius (l. lv. p. 794) under +Alexander Severus. I have endeavored to fix on the proper medium +between these two periods. See likewise Lipsius de Magnitudine +Romana, l. i. c. 4, 5.] + + The navy maintained by the emperors might seem inadequate to +their greatness; but it was fully sufficient for every useful +purpose of government. The ambition of the Romans was confined +to the land; nor was that warlike people ever actuated by the +enterprising spirit which had prompted the navigators of Tyre, of +Carthage, and even of Marseilles, to enlarge the bounds of the +world, and to explore the most remote coasts of the ocean. To +the Romans the ocean remained an object of terror rather than of +curiosity; ^66 the whole extent of the Mediterranean, after the +destruction of Carthage, and the extirpation of the pirates, was +included within their provinces. The policy of the emperors was +directed only to preserve the peaceful dominion of that sea, and +to protect the commerce of their subjects. With these moderate +views, Augustus stationed two permanent fleets in the most +convenient ports of Italy, the one at Ravenna, on the Adriatic, +the other at Misenum, in the Bay of Naples. Experience seems at +length to have convinced the ancients, that as soon as their +galleys exceeded two, or at the most three ranks of oars, they +were suited rather for vain pomp than for real service. Augustus +himself, in the victory of Actium, had seen the superiority of +his own light frigates (they were called Liburnians) over the +lofty but unwieldy castles of his rival. ^67 Of these Liburnians +he composed the two fleets of Ravenna and Misenum, destined to +command, the one the eastern, the other the western division of +the Mediterranean; and to each of the squadrons he attached a +body of several thousand marines. Besides these two ports, which +may be considered as the principal seats of the Roman navy, a +very considerable force was stationed at Frejus, on the coast of +Provence, and the Euxine was guarded by forty ships, and three +thousand soldiers. To all these we add the fleet which preserved +the communication between Gaul and Britain, and a great number of +vessels constantly maintained on the Rhine and Danube, to harass +the country, or to intercept the passage of the barbarians. ^68 +If we review this general state of the Imperial forces; of the +cavalry as well as infantry; of the legions, the auxiliaries, the +guards, and the navy; the most liberal computation will not allow +us to fix the entire establishment by sea and by land at more +than four hundred and fifty thousand men: a military power, +which, however formidable it may seem, was equalled by a monarch +of the last century, whose kingdom was confined within a single +province of the Roman empire. ^69 + +[Footnote 66: The Romans tried to disguise, by the pretence of +religious awe their ignorance and terror. See Tacit. Germania, +c. 34.] + +[Footnote 67: Plutarch, in Marc. Anton. [c. 67.] And yet, if we +may credit Orosius, these monstrous castles were no more than ten +feet above the water, vi. 19.] + +[Footnote 68: See Lipsius, de Magnitud. Rom. l. i. c. 5. The +sixteen last chapters of Vegetius relate to naval affairs.] +[Footnote 69: Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. c. 29. It must, +however, be remembered, that France still feels that +extraordinary effort.] + + We have attempted to explain the spirit which moderated, and +the strength which supported, the power of Hadrian and the +Antonines. We shall now endeavor, with clearness and precision, +to describe the provinces once united under their sway, but, at +present, divided into so many independent and hostile states. + Spain, the western extremity of the empire, of Europe, and +of the ancient world, has, in every age, invariably preserved the +same natural limits; the Pyrenaean Mountains, the Mediterranean, +and the Atlantic Ocean. That great peninsula, at present so +unequally divided between two sovereigns, was distributed by +Augustus into three provinces, Lusitania, Baetica, and +Tarraconensis. The kingdom of Portugal now fills the place of +the warlike country of the Lusitanians; and the loss sustained by +the former on the side of the East, is compensated by an +accession of territory towards the North. The confines of Grenada +and Andalusia correspond with those of ancient Baetica. The +remainder of Spain, Gallicia, and the Asturias, Biscay, and +Navarre, Leon, and the two Castiles, Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia, +and Arragon, all contributed to form the third and most +considerable of the Roman governments, which, from the name of +its capital, was styled the province of Tarragona. ^70 Of the +native barbarians, the Celtiberians were the most powerful, as +the Cantabrians and Asturians proved the most obstinate. +Confident in the strength of their mountains, they were the last +who submitted to the arms of Rome, and the first who threw off +the yoke of the Arabs. + +[Footnote 70: See Strabo, l. ii. It is natural enough to +suppose, that Arragon is derived from Tarraconensis, and several +moderns who have written in Latin use those words as synonymous. +It is, however, certain, that the Arragon, a little stream which +falls from the Pyrenees into the Ebro, first gave its name to a +country, and gradually to a kingdom. See d'Anville, Geographie +du Moyen Age, p. 181.] + + Ancient Gaul, as it contained the whole country between the +Pyrenees, the Alps, the Rhine, and the Ocean, was of greater +extent than modern France. To the dominions of that powerful +monarchy, with its recent acquisitions of Alsace and Lorraine, we +must add the duchy of Savoy, the cantons of Switzerland, the four +electorates of the Rhine, and the territories of Liege, +Luxemburgh, Hainault, Flanders, and Brabant. When Augustus gave +laws to the conquests of his father, he introduced a division of +Gaul, equally adapted to the progress of the legions, to the +course of the rivers, and to the principal national distinctions, +which had comprehended above a hundred independent states. ^71 +The sea-coast of the Mediterranean, Languedoc, Provence, and +Dauphine, received their provincial appellation from the colony +of Narbonne. The government of Aquitaine was extended from the +Pyrenees to the Loire. The country between the Loire and the +Seine was styled the Celtic Gaul, and soon borrowed a new +denomination from the celebrated colony of Lugdunum, or Lyons. +The Belgic lay beyond the Seine, and in more ancient times had +been bounded only by the Rhine; but a little before the age of +Caesar, the Germans, abusing their superiority of valor, had +occupied a considerable portion of the Belgic territory. The +Roman conquerors very eagerly embraced so flattering a +circumstance, and the Gallic frontier of the Rhine, from Basil to +Leyden, received the pompous names of the Upper and the Lower +Germany. ^72 Such, under the reign of the Antonines, were the six +provinces of Gaul; the Narbonnese, Aquitaine, the Celtic, or +Lyonnese, the Belgic, and the two Germanies. + +[Footnote 71: One hundred and fifteen cities appear in the +Notitia of Gaul; and it is well known that this appellation was +applied not only to the capital town, but to the whole territory +of each state. But Plutarch and Appian increase the number of +tribes to three or four hundred.] +[Footnote 72: D'Anville. Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule.] + + We have already had occasion to mention the conquest of +Britain, and to fix the boundary of the Roman Province in this +island. It comprehended all England, Wales, and the Lowlands of +Scotland, as far as the Friths of Dumbarton and Edinburgh. +Before Britain lost her freedom, the country was irregularly +divided between thirty tribes of barbarians, of whom the most +considerable were the Belgae in the West, the Brigantes in the +North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk and +Suffolk. ^73 As far as we can either trace or credit the +resemblance of manners and language, Spain, Gaul, and Britain +were peopled by the same hardy race of savages. Before they +yielded to the Roman arms, they often disputed the field, and +often renewed the contest. After their submission, they +constituted the western division of the European provinces, which +extended from the columns of Hercules to the wall of Antoninus, +and from the mouth of the Tagus to the sources of the Rhine and +Danube. + +[Footnote 73: Whittaker's History of Manchester, vol. i. c. 3.] + Before the Roman conquest, the country which is now called +Lombardy, was not considered as a part of Italy. It had been +occupied by a powerful colony of Gauls, who, settling themselves +along the banks of the Po, from Piedmont to Romagna, carried +their arms and diffused their name from the Alps to the Apennine. + +The Ligurians dwelt on the rocky coast which now forms the +republic of Genoa. Venice was yet unborn; but the territories of +that state, which lie to the east of the Adige, were inhabited by +the Venetians. ^74 The middle part of the peninsula, that now +composes the duchy of Tuscany and the ecclesiastical state, was +the ancient seat of the Etruscans and Umbrians; to the former of +whom Italy was indebted for the first rudiments of civilized +life. ^75 The Tyber rolled at the foot of the seven hills of +Rome, and the country of the Sabines, the Latins, and the Volsci, +from that river to the frontiers of Naples, was the theatre of +her infant victories. On that celebrated ground the first +consuls deserved triumphs, their successors adorned villas, and +their posterity have erected convents. ^76 Capua and Campania +possessed the immediate territory of Naples; the rest of the +kingdom was inhabited by many warlike nations, the Marsi, the +Samnites, the Apulians, and the Lucanians; and the sea-coasts had +been covered by the flourishing colonies of the Greeks. We may +remark, that when Augustus divided Italy into eleven regions, the +little province of Istria was annexed to that seat of Roman +sovereignty. ^77 + +[Footnote 74: The Italian Veneti, though often confounded with +the Gauls, were more probably of Illyrian origin. See M. Freret, +Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. + + Note: Or Liburnian, according to Niebuhr. Vol. i. p. 172. - +M.] +[Footnote 75: See Maffei Verona illustrata, l. i. + + Note: Add Niebuhr, vol. i., and Otfried Muller, die +Etrusker, which contains much that is known, and much that is +conjectured, about this remarkable people. Also Micali, Storia +degli antichi popoli Italiani. Florence, 1832 - M.] + +[Footnote 76: The first contrast was observed by the ancients. +See Florus, i. 11. The second must strike every modern +traveller.] + +[Footnote 77: Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. iii.) follows the division +of Italy by Augustus.] + + The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course +of the Rhine and the Danube. The latter of those mighty streams, +which rises at the distance of only thirty miles from the former, +flows above thirteen hundred miles, for the most part to the +south-east, collects the tribute of sixty navigable rivers, and +is, at length, through six mouths, received into the Euxine, +which appears scarcely equal to such an accession of waters. ^78 +The provinces of the Danube soon acquired the general appellation +of Illyricum, or the Illyrian frontier, ^79 and were esteemed the +most warlike of the empire; but they deserve to be more +particularly considered under the names of Rhaetia, Noricum, +Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Maesia, Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece. + +[Footnote 78: Tournefort, Voyages en Grece et Asie Mineure, +lettre xviii.] + +[Footnote 79: The name of Illyricum originally belonged to the +sea-coast of the Adriatic, and was gradually extended by the +Romans from the Alps to the Euxine Sea. See Severini Pannonia, +l. i. c. 3.] + + The province of Rhaetia, which soon extinguished the name of +the Vindelicians, extended from the summit of the Alps to the +banks of the Danube; from its source, as far as its conflux with +the Inn. The greatest part of the flat country is subject to the +elector of Bavaria; the city of Augsburg is protected by the +constitution of the German empire; the Grisons are safe in their +mountains, and the country of Tirol is ranked among the numerous +provinces of the house of Austria. + + The wide extent of territory which is included between the +Inn, the Danube, and the Save, - Austria, Styria, Carinthia, +Carniola, the Lower Hungary, and Sclavonia, - was known to the +ancients under the names of Noricum and Pannonia. In their +original state of independence, their fierce inhabitants were +intimately connected. Under the Roman government they were +frequently united, and they still remain the patrimony of a +single family. They now contain the residence of a German prince, +who styles himself Emperor of the Romans, and form the centre, as +well as strength, of the Austrian power. It may not be improper +to observe, that if we except Bohemia, Moravia, the northern +skirts of Austria, and a part of Hungary between the Teyss and +the Danube, all the other dominions of the House of Austria were +comprised within the limits of the Roman Empire. + + Dalmatia, to which the name of Illyricum more properly +belonged, was a long, but narrow tract, between the Save and the +Adriatic. The best part of the sea-coast, which still retains +its ancient appellation, is a province of the Venetian state, and +the seat of the little republic of Ragusa. The inland parts have +assumed the Sclavonian names of Croatia and Bosnia; the former +obeys an Austrian governor, the latter a Turkish pacha; but the +whole country is still infested by tribes of barbarians, whose +savage independence irregularly marks the doubtful limit of the +Christian and Mahometan power. ^80 + +[Footnote 80: A Venetian traveller, the Abbate Fortis, has lately +given us some account of those very obscure countries. But the +geography and antiquities of the western Illyricum can be +expected only from the munificence of the emperor, its +sovereign.] + + After the Danube had received the waters of the Teyss and +the Save, it acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of +Ister. ^81 It formerly divided Maesia and Dacia, the latter of +which, as we have already seen, was a conquest of Trajan, and the +only province beyond the river. If we inquire into the present +state of those countries, we shall find that, on the left hand of +the Danube, Temeswar and Transylvania have been annexed, after +many revolutions, to the crown of Hungary; whilst the +principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia acknowledge the +supremacy of the Ottoman Porte. On the right hand of the Danube, +Maesia, which, during the middle ages, was broken into the +barbarian kingdoms of Servia and Bulgaria, is again united in +Turkish slavery. + +[Footnote 81: The Save rises near the confines of Istria, and was +considered by the more early Greeks as the principal stream of +the Danube.] + + The appellation of Roumelia, which is still bestowed by the +Turks on the extensive countries of Thrace, Macedonia, and +Greece, preserves the memory of their ancient state under the +Roman empire. In the time of the Antonines, the martial regions +of Thrace, from the mountains of Haemus and Rhodope, to the +Bosphorus and the Hellespont, had assumed the form of a province. +Notwithstanding the change of masters and of religion, the new +city of Rome, founded by Constantine on the banks of the +Bosphorus, has ever since remained the capital of a great +monarchy. The kingdom of Macedonia, which, under the reign of +Alexander, gave laws to Asia, derived more solid advantages from +the policy of the two Philips; and with its dependencies of +Epirus and Thessaly, extended from the Aegean to the Ionian Sea. +When we reflect on the fame of Thebes and Argos, of Sparta and +Athens, we can scarcely persuade ourselves, that so many immortal +republics of ancient Greece were lost in a single province of the +Roman empire, which, from the superior influence of the Achaean +league, was usually denominated the province of Achaia. + + Such was the state of Europe under the Roman emperors. The +provinces of Asia, without excepting the transient conquests of +Trajan, are all comprehended within the limits of the Turkish +power. But, instead of following the arbitrary divisions of +despotism and ignorance, it will be safer for us, as well as more +agreeable, to observe the indelible characters of nature. The +name of Asia Minor is attributed with some propriety to the +peninsula, which, confined betwixt the Euxine and the +Mediterranean, advances from the Euphrates towards Europe. The +most extensive and flourishing district, westward of Mount Taurus +and the River Halys, was dignified by the Romans with the +exclusive title of Asia. The jurisdiction of that province +extended over the ancient monarchies of Troy, Lydia, and Phrygia, +the maritime countries of the Pamphylians, Lycians, and Carians, +and the Grecian colonies of Ionia, which equalled in arts, though +not in arms, the glory of their parent. The kingdoms of Bithynia +and Pontus possessed the northern side of the peninsula from +Constantinople to Trebizond. On the opposite side, the province +of Cilicia was terminated by the mountains of Syria: the inland +country, separated from the Roman Asia by the River Halys, and +from Armenia by the Euphrates, had once formed the independent +kingdom of Cappadocia. In this place we may observe, that the +northern shores of the Euxine, beyond Trebizond in Asia, and +beyond the Danube in Europe, acknowledged the sovereignty of the +emperors, and received at their hands either tributary princes or +Roman garrisons. Budzak, Crim Tartary, Circassia, and Mingrelia, +are the modern appellations of those savage countries. ^82 +[Footnote 82: See the Periplus of Arrian. He examined the coasts +of the Euxine, when he was governor of Cappadocia.] + + Under the successors of Alexander, Syria was the seat of the +Seleucidae, who reigned over Upper Asia, till the successful +revolt of the Parthians confined their dominions between the +Euphrates and the Mediterranean. When Syria became subject to +the Romans, it formed the eastern frontier of their empire: nor +did that province, in its utmost latitude, know any other bounds +than the mountains of Cappadocia to the north, and towards the +south, the confines of Egypt, and the Red Sea. Phoenicia and +Palestine were sometimes annexed to, and sometimes separated +from, the jurisdiction of Syria. The former of these was a +narrow and rocky coast; the latter was a territory scarcely +superior to Wales, either in fertility or extent. ^* Yet +Phoenicia and Palestine will forever live in the memory of +mankind; since America, as well as Europe, has received letters +from the one, and religion from the other. ^83 A sandy desert, +alike destitute of wood and water, skirts along the doubtful +confine of Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The +wandering life of the Arabs was inseparably connected with their +independence; and wherever, on some spots less barren than the +rest, they ventured to for many settled habitations, they soon +became subjects to the Roman empire. ^84 + +[Footnote *: This comparison is exaggerated, with the intention, +no doubt, of attacking the authority of the Bible, which boasts +of the fertility of Palestine. Gibbon's only authorities were +that of Strabo (l. xvi. 1104) and the present state of the +country. But Strabo only speaks of the neighborhood of +Jerusalem, which he calls barren and arid to the extent of sixty +stadia round the city: in other parts he gives a favorable +testimony to the fertility of many parts of Palestine: thus he +says, "Near Jericho there is a grove of palms, and a country of a +hundred stadia, full of springs, and well peopled." Moreover, +Strabo had never seen Palestine; he spoke only after reports, +which may be as inaccurate as those according to which he has +composed that description of Germany, in which Gluverius has +detected so many errors. (Gluv. Germ. iii. 1.) Finally, his +testimony is contradicted and refuted by that of other ancient +authors, and by medals. Tacitus says, in speaking of Palestine, +"The inhabitants are healthy and robust; the rains moderate; the +soil fertile." (Hist. v. 6.) Ammianus Macellinus says also, "The +last of the Syrias is Palestine, a country of considerable +extent, abounding in clean and well-cultivated land, and +containing some fine cities, none of which yields to the other; +but, as it were, being on a parallel, are rivals." - xiv. 8. See +also the historian Josephus, Hist. vi. 1. Procopius of Caeserea, +who lived in the sixth century, says that Chosroes, king of +Persia, had a great desire to make himself master of Palestine, +on account of its extraordinary fertility, its opulence, and the +great number of its inhabitants. The Saracens thought the same, +and were afraid that Omar. when he went to Jerusalem, charmed +with the fertility of the soil and the purity of the air, would +never return to Medina. (Ockley, Hist. of Sarac. i. 232.) The +importance attached by the Romans to the conquest of Palestine, +and the obstacles they encountered, prove also the richness and +population of the country. Vespasian and Titus caused medals to +be struck with trophies, in which Palestine is represented by a +female under a palm-tree, to signify the richness of he country, +with this legend: Judea capta. Other medals also indicate this +fertility; for instance, that of Herod holding a bunch of grapes, +and that of the young Agrippa displaying fruit. As to the +present state of he country, one perceives that it is not fair to +draw any inference against its ancient fertility: the disasters +through which it has passed, the government to which it is +subject, the disposition of the inhabitants, explain sufficiently +the wild and uncultivated appearance of the land, where, +nevertheless, fertile and cultivated districts are still found, +according to the testimony of travellers; among others, of Shaw, +Maundrel, La Rocque, &c. - G. The Abbe Guenee, in his Lettres de +quelques Juifs a Mons. de Voltaire, has exhausted the subject of +the fertility of Palestine; for Voltaire had likewise indulged in +sarcasm on this subject. Gibbon was assailed on this point, not, +indeed, by Mr. Davis, who, he slyly insinuates,was prevented by +his patriotism as a Welshman from resenting the comparison with +Wales, but by other writers. In his Vindication, he first +established the correctness of his measurement of Palestine, +which he estimates as 7600 square English miles, while Wales is +about 7011. As to fertility, he proceeds in the following +dexterously composed and splendid passage: "The emperor Frederick +II., the enemy and the victim of the clergy, is accused of +saying, after his return from his crusade, that the God of the +Jews would have despised his promised land, if he had once seen +the fruitful realms of Sicily and Naples." (See Giannone, Istor. +Civ. del R. di Napoli, ii. 245.) This raillery, which malice has, +perhaps, falsely imputed to Frederick, is inconsistent with truth +and piety; yet it must be confessed that the soil of Palestine +does not contain that inexhaustible, and, as it were, spontaneous +principle of fertility, which, under the most unfavorable +circumstances, has covered with rich harvests the banks of the +Nile, the fields of Sicily, or the plains of Poland. The Jordan +is the only navigable river of Palestine: a considerable part of +the narrow space is occupied, or rather lost, in the Dead Sea +whose horrid aspect inspires every sensation of disgust, and +countenances every tale of horror. The districts which border on +Arabia partake of the sandy quality of the adjacent desert. The +face of the country, except the sea- coast, and the valley of the +Jordan, is covered with mountains, which appear, for the most +part, as naked and barren rocks; and in the neighborhood of +Jerusalem, there is a real scarcity of the two elements of earth +and water. (See Maundrel's Travels, p. 65, and Reland's Palestin. +i. 238, 395.) These disadvantages, which now operate in their +fullest extent, were formerly corrected by the labors of a +numerous people, and the active protection of a wise government. +The hills were clothed with rich beds of artificial mould, the +rain was collected in vast cisterns, a supply of fresh water was +conveyed by pipes and aqueducts to the dry lands. The breed of +cattle was encouraged in those parts which were not adapted for +tillage, and almost every spot was compelled to yield some +production for the use of the inhabitants. + + Pater ispe colendi + Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque par artem + Movit agros; curis acuens mortalia corda, + Nec torpere gravi passus sua Regna veterno. + + Gibbon, Misc. Works, iv. 540. + +But Gibbon has here eluded the question about the land "flowing +with milk and honey." He is describing Judaea only, without +comprehending Galilee, or the rich pastures beyond the Jordan, +even now proverbial for their flocks and herds. (See +Burckhardt's Travels, and Hist of Jews, i. 178.) The following is +believed to be a fair statement: "The extraordinary fertility of +the whole country must be taken into the account. No part was +waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable wood; the more +fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, others were +hung with orchards of fruit trees the more rocky and barren +districts were covered with vineyards." Even in the present day, +the wars and misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural +richness of the soil. "Galilee," says Malte Brun, "would be a +paradise were it inhabited by an industrious people under an +enlightened government. No land could be less dependent on +foreign importation; it bore within itself every thing that could +be necessary for the subsistence and comfort of a simple +agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the seasons +regular; the former rains, which fell about October, after the +vintage, prepared the ground for the seed; that latter, which +prevailed during March and the beginning of April, made it grow +rapidly. Directly the rains ceased, the grain ripened with still +greater rapidity, and was gathered in before the end of May. The +summer months were dry and very hot, but the nights cool and +refreshed by copious dews. In September, the vintage was +gathered. Grain of all kinds, wheat, barley, millet, zea, and +other sorts, grew in abundance; the wheat commonly yielded thirty +for one. Besides the vine and the olive, the almond, the date, +figs of many kinds, the orange, the pomegranate, and many other +fruit trees, flourished in the greatest luxuriance. Great +quantity of honey was collected. The balm-tree, which produced +the opobalsamum,a great object of trade, was probably introduced +from Arabia, in the time of Solomon. It flourished about Jericho +and in Gilead." - Milman's Hist. of Jews. i. 177. - M.] + +[Footnote 83: The progress of religion is well known. The use of +letter was introduced among the savages of Europe about fifteen +hundred years before Christ; and the Europeans carried them to +America about fifteen centuries after the Christian Aera. But in +a period of three thousand years, the Phoenician alphabet +received considerable alterations, as it passed through the hands +of the Greeks and Romans.] + +[Footnote 84: Dion Cassius, lib. lxviii. p. 1131.] + + The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to +what portion of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. ^85 By its +situation that celebrated kingdom is included within the immense +peninsula of Africa; but it is accessible only on the side of +Asia, whose revolutions, in almost every period of history, Egypt +has humbly obeyed. A Roman praefect was seated on the splendid +throne of the Ptolemies; and the iron sceptre of the Mamelukes is +now in the hands of a Turkish pacha. The Nile flows down the +country, above five hundred miles from the tropic of Cancer to +the Mediterranean, and marks on either side of the extent of +fertility by the measure of its inundations. Cyrene, situate +towards the west, and along the sea-coast, was first a Greek +colony, afterwards a province of Egypt, and is now lost in the +desert of Barca. ^* + +[Footnote 85: Ptolemy and Strabo, with the modern geographers, +fix the Isthmus of Suez as the boundary of Asia and Africa. +Dionysius, Mela, Pliny, Sallust, Hirtius, and Solinus, have +preferred for that purpose the western branch of the Nile, or +even the great Catabathmus, or descent, which last would assign +to Asia, not only Egypt, but part of Libya.] + +[Footnote *: The French editor has a long and unnecessary note on +the History of Cyrene. For the present state of that coast and +country, the volume of Captain Beechey is full of interesting +details. Egypt, now an independent and improving kingdom, +appears, under the enterprising rule of Mahommed Ali, likely to +revenge its former oppression upon the decrepit power of the +Turkish empire. - M. - This note was written in 1838. The future +destiny of Egypt is an important problem, only to be solved by +time. This observation will also apply to the new French colony +in Algiers. - M. 1845.] + + From Cyrene to the ocean, the coast of Africa extends above +fifteen hundred miles; yet so closely is it pressed between the +Mediterranean and the Sahara, or sandy desert, that its breadth +seldom exceeds fourscore or a hundred miles. The eastern +division was considered by the Romans as the more peculiar and +proper province of Africa. Till the arrival of the Phoenician +colonies, that fertile country was inhabited by the Libyans, the +most savage of mankind. Under the immediate jurisdiction of +Carthage, it became the centre of commerce and empire; but the +republic of Carthage is now degenerated into the feeble and +disorderly states of Tripoli and Tunis. The military government +of Algiers oppresses the wide extent of Numidia, as it was once +united under Massinissa and Jugurtha; but in the time of +Augustus, the limits of Numidia were contracted; and, at least, +two thirds of the country acquiesced in the name of Mauritania, +with the epithet of Caesariensis. The genuine Mauritania, or +country of the Moors, which, from the ancient city of Tingi, or +Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of Tingitana, is +represented by the modern kingdom of Fez. Salle, on the Ocean, +so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was +noticed by the Romans, as the extreme object of their power, and +almost of their geography. A city of their foundation may still +be discovered near Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom +we condescend to style the Emperor of Morocco; but it does not +appear, that his more southern dominions, Morocco itself, and +Segelmessa, were ever comprehended within the Roman province. The +western parts of Africa are intersected by the branches of Mount +Atlas, a name so idly celebrated by the fancy of poets; ^86 but +which is now diffused over the immense ocean that rolls between +the ancient and the new continent. ^87 + +[Footnote 86: The long range, moderate height, and gentle +declivity of Mount Atlas, (see Shaw's Travels, p. 5,) are very +unlike a solitary mountain which rears its head into the clouds, +and seems to support the heavens. The peak of Teneriff, on the +contrary, rises a league and a half above the surface of the sea; +and, as it was frequently visited by the Phoenicians, might +engage the notice of the Greek poets. See Buffon, Histoire +Naturelle, tom. i. p. 312. Histoire des Voyages, tom. ii.] +[Footnote 87: M. de Voltaire, tom. xiv. p. 297, unsupported by +either fact or probability, has generously bestowed the Canary +Islands on the Roman empire.] + + Having now finished the circuit of the Roman empire, we may +observe, that Africa is divided from Spain by a narrow strait of +about twelve miles, through which the Atlantic flows into the +Mediterranean. The columns of Hercules, so famous among the +ancients, were two mountains which seemed to have been torn +asunder by some convulsion of the elements; and at the foot of +the European mountain, the fortress of Gibraltar is now seated. +The whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea, its coasts and its +islands, were comprised within the Roman dominion. Of the larger +islands, the two Baleares, which derive their name of Majorca and +Minorca from their respective size, are subject at present, the +former to Spain, the latter to Great Britain. ^* It is easier to +deplore the fate, than to describe the actual condition, of +Corsica. ^! Two Italian sovereigns assume a regal title from +Sardinia and Sicily. Crete, or Candia, with Cyprus, and most of +the smaller islands of Greece and Asia, have been subdued by the +Turkish arms, whilst the little rock of Malta defies their power, +and has emerged, under the government of its military Order, into +fame and opulence. ^!! + +[Footnote *: Minorca was lost to Great Britain in 1782. Ann. +Register for that year. - M.] + +[Footnote !: The gallant struggles of the Corsicans for their +independence, under Paoli, were brought to a close in the year +1769. This volume was published in 1776. See Botta, Storia +d'Italia, vol. xiv. - M.] + +[Footnote !!: Malta, it need scarcely be said, is now in the +possession of the English. We have not, however, thought it +necessary to notice every change in the political state of the +world, since the time of Gibbon. - M] + + This long enumeration of provinces, whose broken fragments +have formed so many powerful kingdoms, might almost induce us to +forgive the vanity or ignorance of the ancients. Dazzled with +the extensive sway, the irresistible strength, and the real or +affected moderation of the emperors, they permitted themselves to +despise, and sometimes to forget, the outlying countries which +had been left in the enjoyment of a barbarous independence; and +they gradually usurped the license of confounding the Roman +monarchy with the globe of the earth. ^88 But the temper, as well +as knowledge, of a modern historian, require a more sober and +accurate language. He may impress a juster image of the +greatness of Rome, by observing that the empire was above two +thousand miles in breadth, from the wall of Antoninus and the +northern limits of Dacia, to Mount Atlas and the tropic of +Cancer; that it extended in length more than three thousand miles +from the Western Ocean to the Euphrates; that it was situated in +the finest part of the Temperate Zone, between the twenty-fourth +and fifty-sixth degrees of northern latitude; and that it was +supposed to contain above sixteen hundred thousand square miles, +for the most part of fertile and well-cultivated land. ^89 +[Footnote 88: Bergier, Hist. des Grands Chemins, l. iii. c. 1, 2, +3, 4, a very useful collection.] + +[Footnote 89: See Templeman's Survey of the Globe; but I distrust +both the Doctor's learning and his maps.] + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Part I. + +Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In The +Age Of The Antonines. + + It is not alone by the rapidity, or extent of conquest, that +we should estimate the greatness of Rome. The sovereign of the +Russian deserts commands a larger portion of the globe. In the +seventh summer after his passage of the Hellespont, Alexander +erected the Macedonian trophies on the banks of the Hyphasis. ^1 +Within less than a century, the irresistible Zingis, and the +Mogul princes of his race, spread their cruel devastations and +transient empire from the Sea of China, to the confines of Egypt +and Germany. ^2 But the firm edifice of Roman power was raised +and preserved by the wisdom of ages. The obedient provinces of +Trajan and the Antonines were united by laws, and adorned by +arts. They might occasionally suffer from the partial abuse of +delegated authority; but the general principle of government was +wise, simple, and beneficent. They enjoyed the religion of their +ancestors, whilst in civil honors and advantages they were +exalted, by just degrees, to an equality with their conquerors. +[Footnote 1: They were erected about the midway between Lahor and +Delhi. The conquests of Alexander in Hindostan were confined to +the Punjab, a country watered by the five great streams of the +Indus. + + Note: The Hyphasis is one of the five rivers which join the +Indus or the Sind, after having traversed the province of the +Pendj-ab - a name which in Persian, signifies five rivers. * * * +G. The five rivers were, 1. The Hydaspes, now the Chelum, +Behni, or Bedusta, (Sanscrit, Vitastha, Arrow-swift.) 2. The +Acesines, the Chenab, (Sanscrit, Chandrabhaga, Moon-gift.) 3. +Hydraotes, the Ravey, or Iraoty, (Sanscrit, Iravati.) 4. +Hyphasis, the Beyah, (Sanscrit, Vepasa, Fetterless.) 5. The +Satadru, (Sanscrit, the Hundred Streamed,) the Sutledj, known +first to the Greeks in the time of Ptolemy. Rennel. Vincent, +Commerce of Anc. book 2. Lassen, Pentapotam. Ind. Wilson's +Sanscrit Dict., and the valuable memoir of Lieut. Burnes, Journal +of London Geogr. Society, vol. iii. p. 2, with the travels of +that very able writer. Compare Gibbon's own note, c. lxv. note +25. - M substit. for G.] + +[Footnote 2: See M. de Guignes, Histoire des Huns, l. xv. xvi. +and xvii.] + + I. The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it +concerned religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of +the enlightened, and by the habits of the superstitious, part of +their subjects. The various modes of worship, which prevailed in +the Roman world, were all considered by the people, as equally +true; by the philosopher, as equally false; and by the +magistrate, as equally useful. And thus toleration produced not +only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord. + + The superstition of the people was not imbittered by any +mixture of theological rancor; nor was it confined by the chains +of any speculative system. The devout polytheist, though fondly +attached to his national rites, admitted with implicit faith the +different religions of the earth. ^3 Fear, gratitude, and +curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular disorder, or a distant +journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the articles of his +belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The thin +texture of the Pagan mythology was interwoven with various but +not discordant materials. As soon as it was allowed that sages +and heroes, who had lived or who had died for the benefit of +their country, were exalted to a state of power and immortality, +it was universally confessed, that they deserved, if not the +adoration, at least the reverence, of all mankind. The deities +of a thousand groves and a thousand streams possessed, in peace, +their local and respective influence; nor could the Romans who +deprecated the wrath of the Tiber, deride the Egyptian who +presented his offering to the beneficent genius of the Nile. The +visible powers of nature, the planets, and the elements were the +same throughout the universe. The invisible governors of the +moral world were inevitably cast in a similar mould of fiction +and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, acquired its divine +representative; every art and profession its patron, whose +attributes, in the most distant ages and countries, were +uniformly derived from the character of their peculiar votaries. +A republic of gods of such opposite tempers and interests +required, in every system, the moderating hand of a supreme +magistrate, who, by the progress of knowledge and flattery, was +gradually invested with the sublime perfections of an Eternal +Parent, and an Omnipotent Monarch. ^4 Such was the mild spirit of +antiquity, that the nations were less attentive to the +difference, than to the resemblance, of their religious worship. +The Greek, the Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their +respective altars, easily persuaded themselves, that under +various names, and with various ceremonies, they adored the same +deities. ^5 The elegant mythology of Homer gave a beautiful, and +almost a regular form, to the polytheism of the ancient world. +[Footnote 3: There is not any writer who describes in so lively a +manner as Herodotus the true genius of polytheism. The best +commentary may be found in Mr. Hume's Natural History of +Religion; and the best contrast in Bossuet's Universal History. +Some obscure traces of an intolerant spirit appear in the conduct +of the Egyptians, (see Juvenal, Sat. xv.;) and the Christians, as +well as Jews, who lived under the Roman empire, formed a very +important exception; so important indeed, that the discussion +will require a distinct chapter of this work. + + Note: M. Constant, in his very learned and eloquent work, +"Sur la Religion," with the two additional volumes, "Du +Polytheisme Romain," has considered the whole history of +polytheism in a tone of philosophy, which, without subscribing to +all his opinions, we may be permitted to admire. "The boasted +tolerance of polytheism did not rest upon the respect due from +society to the freedom of individual opinion. The polytheistic +nations, tolerant as they were towards each other, as separate +states, were not the less ignorant of the eternal principle, the +only basis of enlightened toleration, that every one has a right +to worship God in the manner which seems to him the best. +Citizens, on the contrary, were bound to conform to the religion +of the state; they had not the liberty to adopt a foreign +religion, though that religion might be legally recognized in +their own city, for the strangers who were its votaries." - Sur +la Religion, v. 184. Du. Polyth. Rom. ii. 308. At this time, +the growing religious indifference, and the general +administration of the empire by Romans, who, being strangers, +would do no more than protect, not enlist themselves in the cause +of the local superstitions, had introduced great laxity. But +intolerance was clearly the theory both of the Greek and Roman +law. The subject is more fully considered in another place. - +M.] + +[Footnote 4: The rights, powers, and pretensions of the sovereign +of Olympus are very clearly described in the xvth book of the +Iliad; in the Greek original, I mean; for Mr. Pope, without +perceiving it, has improved the theology of Homer. + + Note: There is a curious coincidence between Gibbon's +expressions and those of the newly-recovered "De Republica" of +Cicero, though the argument is rather the converse, lib. i. c. +36. "Sive haec ad utilitatem vitae constitute sint a principibus +rerum publicarum, ut rex putaretur unus esse in coelo, qui nutu, +ut ait Homerus, totum Olympum converteret, idemque et rex et +patos haberetur omnium." - M.] + +[Footnote 5: See, for instance, Caesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 17. +Within a century or two, the Gauls themselves applied to their +gods the names of Mercury, Mars, Apollo, &c.] + + The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the +nature of man, rather than from that of God. They meditated, +however, on the Divine Nature, as a very curious and important +speculation; and in the profound inquiry, they displayed the +strength and weakness of the human understanding. ^6 Of the four +most celebrated schools, the Stoics and the Platonists endeavored +to reconcile the jaring interests of reason and piety. They have +left us the most sublime proofs of the existence and perfections +of the first cause; but, as it was impossible for them to +conceive the creation of matter, the workman in the Stoic +philosophy was not sufficiently distinguished from the work; +whilst, on the contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his +disciples resembled an idea, rather than a substance. The +opinions of the Academics and Epicureans were of a less religious +cast; but whilst the modest science of the former induced them to +doubt, the positive ignorance of the latter urged them to deny, +the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit of inquiry, +prompted by emulation, and supported by freedom, had divided the +public teachers of philosophy into a variety of contending sects; +but the ingenious youth, who, from every part, resorted to +Athens, and the other seats of learning in the Roman empire, were +alike instructed in every school to reject and to despise the +religion of the multitude. How, indeed, was it possible that a +philosopher should accept, as divine truths, the idle tales of +the poets, and the incoherent traditions of antiquity; or that he +should adore, as gods, those imperfect beings whom he must have +despised, as men? Against such unworthy adversaries, Cicero +condescended to employ the arms of reason and eloquence; but the +satire of Lucian was a much more adequate, as well as more +efficacious, weapon. We may be well assured, that a writer, +conversant with the world, would never have ventured to expose +the gods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already +been the objects of secret contempt among the polished and +enlightened orders of society. ^7 + +[Footnote 6: The admirable work of Cicero de Natura Deorum is the +best clew we have to guide us through the dark and profound +abyss. He represents with candor, and confutes with subtlety, +the opinions of the philosophers.] + +[Footnote 7: I do not pretend to assert, that, in this +irreligious age, the natural terrors of superstition, dreams, +omens, apparitions, &c., had lost their efficacy.] + + Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed +in the age of the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and +the credulity of the people were sufficiently respected. In +their writings and conversation, the philosophers of antiquity +asserted the independent dignity of reason; but they resigned +their actions to the commands of law and of custom. Viewing, +with a smile of pity and indulgence, the various errors of the +vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their +fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods; and +sometimes condescending to act a part on the theatre of +superstition, they concealed the sentiments of an atheist under +the sacerdotal robes. Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely +inclined to wrangle about their respective modes of faith, or of +worship. It was indifferent to them what shape the folly of the +multitude might choose to assume; and they approached with the +same inward contempt, and the same external reverence, the altars +of the Libyan, the Olympian, or the Capitoline Jupiter. ^8 +[Footnote 8: Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, and Plutarch always +inculcated a decent reverence for the religion of their own +country, and of mankind. The devotion of Epicurus was assiduous +and exemplary. Diogen. Laert. x. 10.] + + It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of +persecution could introduce itself into the Roman councils. The +magistrates could not be actuated by a blind, though honest +bigotry, since the magistrates were themselves philosophers; and +the schools of Athens had given laws to the senate. They could +not be impelled by ambition or avarice, as the temporal and +ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The +pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators; +and the office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by the +emperors themselves. They knew and valued the advantages of +religion, as it is connected with civil government. They +encouraged the public festivals which humanize the manners of the +people. They managed the arts of divination as a convenient +instrument of policy; and they respected, as the firmest bond of +society, the useful persuasion, that, either in this or in a +future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished by +the avenging gods. ^9 But whilst they acknowledged the general +advantages of religion, they were convinced that the various +modes of worship contributed alike to the same salutary purposes; +and that, in every country, the form of superstition, which had +received the sanction of time and experience, was the best +adapted to the climate, and to its inhabitants. Avarice and +taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished nations of the +elegant statues of their gods, and the rich ornaments of their +temples; ^10 but, in the exercise of the religion which they +derived from their ancestors, they uniformly experienced the +indulgence, and even protection, of the Roman conquerors. The +province of Gaul seems, and indeed only seems, an exception to +this universal toleration. Under the specious pretext of +abolishing human sacrifices, the emperors Tiberius and Claudius +suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids: ^11 but the priests +themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in peaceful +obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism. ^12 + +[Footnote 9: Polybius, l. vi. c. 53, 54. Juvenal, Sat. xiii. +laments that in his time this apprehension had lost much of its +effect.] + +[Footnote 10: See the fate of Syracuse, Tarentum, Ambracia, +Corinth, &c., the conduct of Verres, in Cicero, (Actio ii. Orat. +4,) and the usual practice of governors, in the viiith Satire of +Juvenal.] + +[Footnote 11: Seuton. in Claud. - Plin. Hist. Nat. xxx. 1.] +[Footnote 12: Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, tom. vi. p. 230 - +252.] + + Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly +filled with subjects and strangers from every part of the world, +^13 who all introduced and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of +their native country. ^14 Every city in the empire was justified +in maintaining the purity of its ancient ceremonies; and the +Roman senate, using the common privilege, sometimes interposed, +to check this inundation of foreign rites. ^* The Egyptian +superstition, of all the most contemptible and abject, was +frequently prohibited: the temples of Serapis and Isis +demolished, and their worshippers banished from Rome and Italy. +^15 But the zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble +efforts of policy. The exiles returned, the proselytes +multiplied, the temples were restored with increasing splendor, +and Isis and Serapis at length assumed their place among the +Roman Deities. ^16 Nor was this indulgence a departure from the +old maxims of government. In the purest ages of the +commonwealth, Cybele and Aesculapius had been invited by solemn +embassies; ^17 and it was customary to tempt the protectors of +besieged cities, by the promise of more distinguished honors than +they possessed in their native country. ^18 Rome gradually became +the common temple of her subjects; and the freedom of the city +was bestowed on all the gods of mankind. ^19 + +[Footnote 13: Seneca, Consolat. ad Helviam, p. 74. Edit., Lips.] + + +[Footnote 14: Dionysius Halicarn. Antiquitat. Roman. l. ii. (vol. +i. p. 275, edit. Reiske.)] + +[Footnote *: Yet the worship of foreign gods at Rome was only +guarantied to the natives of those countries from whence they +came. The Romans administered the priestly offices only to the +gods of their fathers. Gibbon, throughout the whole preceding +sketch of the opinions of the Romans and their subjects, has +shown through what causes they were free from religious hatred +and its consequences. But, on the other hand the internal state +of these religions, the infidelity and hypocrisy of the upper +orders, the indifference towards all religion, in even the better +part of the common people, during the last days of the republic, +and under the Caesars, and the corrupting principles of the +philosophers, had exercised a very pernicious influence on the +manners, and even on the constitution. - W.] + +[Footnote 15: In the year of Rome 701, the temple of Isis and +Serapis was demolished by the order of the Senate, (Dion Cassius, +l. xl. p. 252,) and even by the hands of the consul, (Valerius +Maximus, l. 3.) ^! After the death of Caesar it was restored at +the public expense, (Dion. l. xlvii. p. 501.) When Augustus was +in Egypt, he revered the majesty of Serapis, (Dion, l. li. p. +647;) but in the Pomaerium of Rome, and a mile round it, he +prohibited the worship of the Egyptian gods, (Dion, l. liii. p. +679; l. liv. p. 735.) They remained, however, very fashionable +under his reign (Ovid. de Art. Amand. l. i.) and that of his +successor, till the justice of Tiberius was provoked to some acts +of severity. (See Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. Joseph. Antiquit. l. +xviii. c. 3.) + + Note: See, in the pictures from the walls of Pompeii, the +representation of an Isiac temple and worship. Vestiges of +Egyptian worship have been traced in Gaul, and, I am informed, +recently in Britain, in excavations at York. - M.] + +[Footnote !: Gibbon here blends into one, two events, distant a +hundred and sixty-six years from each other. It was in the year +of Rome 535, that the senate having ordered the destruction of +the temples of Isis and Serapis, the workman would lend his hand; +and the consul, L. Paulus himself (Valer. Max. 1, 3) seized the +axe, to give the first blow. Gibbon attribute this circumstance +to the second demolition, which took place in the year 701 and +which he considers as the first. - W.] + +[Footnote 16: Tertullian in Apologetic. c. 6, p. 74. Edit. +Havercamp. I am inclined to attribute their establishment to the +devotion of the Flavian family.] + +[Footnote 17: See Livy, l. xi. [Suppl.] and xxix.] + +[Footnote 18: Macrob. Saturnalia, l. iii. c. 9. He gives us a +form of evocation.] + +[Footnote 19: Minutius Faelix in Octavio, p. 54. Arnobius, l. +vi. p. 115.] + + II. The narrow policy of preserving, without any foreign +mixture, the pure blood of the ancient citizens, had checked the +fortune, and hastened the ruin, of Athens and Sparta. The +aspiring genius of Rome sacrificed vanity to ambition, and deemed +it more prudent, as well as honorable, to adopt virtue and merit +for her own wheresoever they were found, among slaves or +strangers, enemies or barbarians. ^20 During the most flourishing +aera of the Athenian commonwealth, the number of citizens +gradually decreased from about thirty ^21 to twenty-one thousand. +^22 If, on the contrary, we study the growth of the Roman +republic, we may discover, that, notwithstanding the incessant +demands of wars and colonies, the citizens, who, in the first +census of Servius Tullius, amounted to no more than eighty-three +thousand, were multiplied, before the commencement of the social +war, to the number of four hundred and sixty-three thousand men, +able to bear arms in the service of their country. ^23 When the +allies of Rome claimed an equal share of honors and privileges, +the senate indeed preferred the chance of arms to an ignominious +concession. The Samnites and the Lucanians paid the severe +penalty of their rashness; but the rest of the Italian states, as +they successively returned to their duty, were admitted into the +bosom of the republic, ^24 and soon contributed to the ruin of +public freedom. Under a democratical government, the citizens +exercise the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be +first abused, and afterwards lost, if they are committed to an +unwieldy multitude. But when the popular assemblies had been +suppressed by the administration of the emperors, the conquerors +were distinguished from the vanquished nations, only as the first +and most honorable order of subjects; and their increase, however +rapid, was no longer exposed to the same dangers. Yet the wisest +princes, who adopted the maxims of Augustus, guarded with the +strictest care the dignity of the Roman name, and diffused the +freedom of the city with a prudent liberality. ^25 +[Footnote 20: Tacit. Annal. xi. 24. The Orbis Romanus of the +learned Spanheim is a complete history of the progressive +admission of Latium, Italy, and the provinces, to the freedom of +Rome. + + Note: Democratic states, observes Denina, (delle Revoluz. d' +Italia, l. ii. c. l., are most jealous of communication the +privileges of citizenship; monarchies or oligarchies willingly +multiply the numbers of their free subjects. The most remarkable +accessions to the strength of Rome, by the aggregation of +conquered and foreign nations, took place under the regal and +patrician - we may add, the Imperial government. - M.] + +[Footnote 21: Herodotus, v. 97. It should seem, however, that he +followed a large and popular estimation.] + +[Footnote 22: Athenaeus, Deipnosophist. l. vi. p. 272. Edit. +Casaubon. Meursius de Fortuna Attica, c. 4. + + Note: On the number of citizens in Athens, compare Boeckh, +Public Economy of Athens, (English Tr.,) p. 45, et seq. Fynes +Clinton, Essay in Fasti Hel lenici, vol. i. 381. - M.] + +[Footnote 23: See a very accurate collection of the numbers of +each Lustrum in M. de Beaufort, Republique Romaine, l. iv. c. 4. + Note: All these questions are placed in an entirely new +point of view by Nicbuhr, (Romische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 464.) +He rejects the census of Servius fullius as unhistoric, (vol. ii. +p. 78, et seq.,) and he establishes the principle that the census +comprehended all the confederate cities which had the right of +Isopolity. - M.] + +[Footnote 24: Appian. de Bell. Civil. l. i. Velleius Paterculus, +l. ii. c. 15, 16, 17.] + +[Footnote 25: Maecenas had advised him to declare, by one edict, +all his subjects citizens. But we may justly suspect that the +historian Dion was the author of a counsel so much adapted to the +practice of his own age, and so little to that of Augustus.] + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Part II. + + Till the privileges of Romans had been progressively +extended to all the inhabitants of the empire, an important +distinction was preserved between Italy and the provinces. The +former was esteemed the centre of public unity, and the firm +basis of the constitution. Italy claimed the birth, or at least +the residence, of the emperors and the senate. ^26 The estates of +the Italians were exempt from taxes, their persons from the +arbitrary jurisdiction of governors. Their municipal +corporations, formed after the perfect model of the capital, ^* +were intrusted, under the immediate eye of the supreme power, +with the execution of the laws. From the foot of the Alps to the +extremity of Calabria, all the natives of Italy were born +citizens of Rome. Their partial distinctions were obliterated, +and they insensibly coalesced into one great nation, united by +language, manners, and civil institutions, and equal to the +weight of a powerful empire. The republic gloried in her +generous policy, and was frequently rewarded by the merit and +services of her adopted sons. Had she always confined the +distinction of Romans to the ancient families within the walls of +the city, that immortal name would have been deprived of some of +its noblest ornaments. Virgil was a native of Mantua; Horace was +inclined to doubt whether he should call himself an Apulian or a +Lucanian; it was in Padua that an historian was found worthy to +record the majestic series of Roman victories. The patriot +family of the Catos emerged from Tusculum; and the little town of +Arpinum claimed the double honor of producing Marius and Cicero, +the former of whom deserved, after Romulus and Camillus, to be +styled the Third Founder of Rome; and the latter, after saving +his country from the designs of Catiline, enabled her to contend +with Athens for the palm of eloquence. ^27 + +[Footnote 26: The senators were obliged to have one third of +their own landed property in Italy. See Plin. l. vi. ep. 19. +The qualification was reduced by Marcus to one fourth. Since the +reign of Trajan, Italy had sunk nearer to the level of the +provinces.] + +[Footnote *: It may be doubted whether the municipal government +of the cities was not the old Italian constitution rather than a +transcript from that of Rome. The free government of the cities, +observes Savigny, was the leading characteristic of Italy. +Geschichte des Romischen Rechts, i. p. G. - M.] + +[Footnote 27: The first part of the Verona Illustrata of the +Marquis Maffei gives the clearest and most comprehensive view of +the state of Italy under the Caesars. + + Note: Compare Denina, Revol. d' Italia, l. ii. c. 6, p. 100, +4 to edit.] + + The provinces of the empire (as they have been described in +the preceding chapter) were destitute of any public force, or +constitutional freedom. In Etruria, in Greece, ^28 and in Gaul, +^29 it was the first care of the senate to dissolve those +dangerous confederacies, which taught mankind that, as the Roman +arms prevailed by division, they might be resisted by union. +Those princes, whom the ostentation of gratitude or generosity +permitted for a while to hold a precarious sceptre, were +dismissed from their thrones, as soon as they had per formed +their appointed task of fashioning to the yoke the vanquished +nations. The free states and cities which had embraced the cause +of Rome were rewarded with a nominal alliance, and insensibly +sunk into real servitude. The public authority was every where +exercised by the ministers of the senate and of the emperors, and +that authority was absolute, and without control. ^! But the same +salutary maxims of government, which had secured the peace and +obedience of Italy were extended to the most distant conquests. +A nation of Romans was gradually formed in the provinces, by the +double expedient of introducing colonies, and of admitting the +most faithful and deserving of the provincials to the freedom of +Rome. + +[Footnote 28: See Pausanias, l. vii. The Romans condescended to +restore the names of those assemblies, when they could no longer +be dangerous.] + +[Footnote 29: They are frequently mentioned by Caesar. The Abbe +Dubos attempts, with very little success, to prove that the +assemblies of Gaul were continued under the emperors. Histoire +de l'Etablissement de la Monarchie Francoise, l. i. c. 4.] +[Footnote !: This is, perhaps, rather overstated. Most cities +retained the choice of their municipal officers: some retained +valuable privileges; Athens, for instance, in form was still a +confederate city. (Tac. Ann. ii. 53.) These privileges, indeed, +depended entirely on the arbitrary will of the emperor, who +revoked or restored them according to his caprice. See Walther +Geschichte les Romischen Rechts, i. 324 - an admirable summary of +the Roman constitutional history. - M.] + + "Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very +just observation of Seneca, ^30 confirmed by history and +experience. The natives of Italy, allured by pleasure or by +interest, hastened to enjoy the advantages of victory; and we may +remark, that, about forty years after the reduction of Asia, +eighty thousand Romans were massacred in one day, by the cruel +orders of Mithridates. ^31 These voluntary exiles were engaged, +for the most part, in the occupations of commerce, agriculture, +and the farm of the revenue. But after the legions were rendered +permanent by the emperors, the provinces were peopled by a race +of soldiers; and the veterans, whether they received the reward +of their service in land or in money, usually settled with their +families in the country, where they had honorably spent their +youth. Throughout the empire, but more particularly in the +western parts, the most fertile districts, and the most +convenient situations, were reserved for the establishment of +colonies; some of which were of a civil, and others of a military +nature. In their manners and internal policy, the colonies +formed a perfect representation of their great parent; and they +were soon endeared to the natives by the ties of friendship and +alliance, they effectually diffused a reverence for the Roman +name, and a desire, which was seldom disappointed, of sharing, in +due time, its honors and advantages. ^32 The municipal cities +insensibly equalled the rank and splendor of the colonies; and in +the reign of Hadrian, it was disputed which was the preferable +condition, of those societies which had issued from, or those +which had been received into, the bosom of Rome. ^33 The right of +Latium, as it was called, ^* conferred on the cities to which it +had been granted, a more partial favor. The magistrates only, at +the expiration of their office, assumed the quality of Roman +citizens; but as those offices were annual, in a few years they +circulated round the principal families. ^34 Those of the +provincials who were permitted to bear arms in the legions; ^35 +those who exercised any civil employment; all, in a word, who +performed any public service, or displayed any personal talents, +were rewarded with a present, whose value was continually +diminished by the increasing liberality of the emperors. Yet +even, in the age of the Antonines, when the freedom of the city +had been bestowed on the greater number of their subjects, it was +still accompanied with very solid advantages. The bulk of the +people acquired, with that title, the benefit of the Roman laws, +particularly in the interesting articles of marriage, testaments, +and inheritances; and the road of fortune was open to those whose +pretensions were seconded by favor or merit. The grandsons of +the Gauls, who had besieged Julius Caesar in Alcsia, commanded +legions, governed provinces, and were admitted into the senate of +Rome. ^36 Their ambition, instead of disturbing the tranquillity +of the state, was intimately connected with its safety and +greatness. + +[Footnote 30: Seneca in Consolat. ad Helviam, c. 6.] + +[Footnote 31: Memnon apud Photium, (c. 33,) [c. 224, p. 231, ed +Bekker.] Valer. Maxim. ix. 2. Plutarch and Dion Cassius swell +the massacre to 150,000 citizens; but I should esteem the smaller +number to be more than sufficient.] + +[Footnote 32: Twenty-five colonies were settled in Spain, (see +Plin. Hist. Nat. iii. 3, 4; iv. 35;) and nine in Britain, of +which London, Colchester, Lincoln, Chester, Gloucester, and Bath +still remain considerable cities. (See Richard of Cirencester, p. +36, and Whittaker's History of Manchester, l. i. c. 3.)] + +[Footnote 33: Aul. Gel. Noctes Atticae, xvi 13. The Emperor +Hadrian expressed his surprise, that the cities of Utica, Gades, +and Italica, which already enjoyed the rights of Municipia, +should solicit the title of colonies. Their example, however, +became fashionable, and the empire was filled with honorary +colonies. See Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum Dissertat. xiii.] +[Footnote *: The right of Latium conferred an exemption from the +government of the Roman praefect. Strabo states this distinctly, +l. iv. p. 295, edit. Caesar's. See also Walther, p. 233. - M] +[Footnote 34: Spanheim, Orbis Roman. c. 8, p. 62.] + +[Footnote 35: Aristid. in Romae Encomio. tom. i. p. 218, edit. +Jebb.] + +[Footnote 36: Tacit. Annal. xi. 23, 24. Hist. iv. 74.] + + So sensible were the Romans of the influence of language +over national manners, that it was their most serious care to +extend, with the progress of their arms, the use of the Latin +tongue. ^37 The ancient dialects of Italy, the Sabine, the +Etruscan, and the Venetian, sunk into oblivion; but in the +provinces, the east was less docile than the west to the voice of +its victorious preceptors. This obvious difference marked the +two portions of the empire with a distinction of colors, which, +though it was in some degree concealed during the meridian +splendor of prosperity, became gradually more visible, as the +shades of night descended upon the Roman world. The western +countries were civilized by the same hands which subdued them. +As soon as the barbarians were reconciled to obedience, their +minds were open to any new impressions of knowledge and +politeness. The language of Virgil and Cicero, though with some +inevitable mixture of corruption, was so universally adopted in +Africa, Spain, Gaul Britain, and Pannonia, ^38 that the faint +traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms were preserved only in the +mountains, or among the peasants. ^39 Education and study +insensibly inspired the natives of those countries with the +sentiments of Romans; and Italy gave fashions, as well as laws, +to her Latin provincials. They solicited with more ardor, and +obtained with more facility, the freedom and honors of the state; +supported the national dignity in letters ^40 and in arms; and at +length, in the person of Trajan, produced an emperor whom the +Scipios would not have disowned for their countryman. The +situation of the Greeks was very different from that of the +barbarians. The former had been long since civilized and +corrupted. They had too much taste to relinquish their language, +and too much vanity to adopt any foreign institutions. Still +preserving the prejudices, after they had lost the virtues, of +their ancestors, they affected to despise the unpolished manners +of the Roman conquerors, whilst they were compelled to respect +their superior wisdom and power. ^41 Nor was the influence of the +Grecian language and sentiments confined to the narrow limits of +that once celebrated country. Their empire, by the progress of +colonies and conquest, had been diffused from the Adriatic to the +Euphrates and the Nile. Asia was covered with Greek cities, and +the long reign of the Macedonian kings had introduced a silent +revolution into Syria and Egypt. In their pompous courts, those +princes united the elegance of Athens with the luxury of the +East, and the example of the court was imitated, at an humble +distance, by the higher ranks of their subjects. Such was the +general division of the Roman empire into the Latin and Greek +languages. To these we may add a third distinction for the body +of the natives in Syria, and especially in Egypt, the use of +their ancient dialects, by secluding them from the commerce of +mankind, checked the improvements of those barbarians. ^42 The +slothful effeminacy of the former exposed them to the contempt, +the sullen ferociousness of the latter excited the aversion, of +the conquerors. ^43 Those nations had submitted to the Roman +power, but they seldom desired or deserved the freedom of the +city: and it was remarked, that more than two hundred and thirty +years elapsed after the ruin of the Ptolemies, before an Egyptian +was admitted into the senate of Rome. ^44 + +[Footnote 37: See Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. Augustin. de +Civitate Dei, xix 7 Lipsius de Pronunciatione Linguae Latinae, c. +3.] + +[Footnote 38: Apuleius and Augustin will answer for Africa; +Strabo for Spain and Gaul; Tacitus, in the life of Agricola, for +Britain; and Velleius Paterculus, for Pannonia. To them we may +add the language of the Inscriptions. + + Note: Mr. Hallam contests this assertion as regards Britain. +"Nor did the Romans ever establish their language - I know not +whether they wished to do so - in this island, as we perceive by +that stubborn British tongue which has survived two conquests." +In his note, Mr. Hallam examines the passage from Tacitus (Agric. +xxi.) to which Gibbon refers. It merely asserts the progress of +Latin studies among the higher orders. (Midd. Ages, iii. 314.) +Probably it was a kind of court language, and that of public +affairs and prevailed in the Roman colonies. - M.] + +[Footnote 39: The Celtic was preserved in the mountains of Wales, +Cornwall, and Armorica. We may observe, that Apuleius reproaches +an African youth, who lived among the populace, with the use of +the Punic; whilst he had almost forgot Greek, and neither could +nor would speak Latin, (Apolog. p. 596.) The greater part of St. +Austin's congregations were strangers to the Punic.] + +[Footnote 40: Spain alone produced Columella, the Senecas, Lucan, +Martial, and Quintilian.] + +[Footnote 41: There is not, I believe, from Dionysius to Libanus, +a single Greek critic who mentions Virgil or Horace. They seem +ignorant that the Romans had any good writers.] + +[Footnote 42: The curious reader may see in Dupin, (Bibliotheque +Ecclesiastique, tom. xix. p. 1, c. 8,) how much the use of the +Syriac and Egyptian languages was still preserved.] + +[Footnote 43: See Juvenal, Sat. iii. and xv. Ammian. Marcellin. +xxii. 16.] +[Footnote 44: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvii. p. 1275. The first +instance happened under the reign of Septimius Severus.] + + It is a just though trite observation, that victorious Rome +was herself subdued by the arts of Greece. Those immortal +writers who still command the admiration of modern Europe, soon +became the favorite object of study and imitation in Italy and +the western provinces. But the elegant amusements of the Romans +were not suffered to interfere with their sound maxims of policy. +Whilst they acknowledged the charms of the Greek, they asserted +the dignity of the Latin tongue, and the exclusive use of the +latter was inflexibly maintained in the administration of civil +as well as military government. ^45 The two languages exercised +at the same time their separate jurisdiction throughout the +empire: the former, as the natural idiom of science; the latter, +as the legal dialect of public transactions. Those who united +letters with business were equally conversant with both; and it +was almost impossible, in any province, to find a Roman subject, +of a liberal education, who was at once a stranger to the Greek +and to the Latin language. + +[Footnote 45: See Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 2, n. 2. The +emperor Claudius disfranchised an eminent Grecian for not +understanding Latin. He was probably in some public office. +Suetonius in Claud. c. 16. + + Note: Causes seem to have been pleaded, even in the senate, +in both languages. Val. Max. loc. cit. Dion. l. lvii. c. 15. - +M] + + It was by such institutions that the nations of the empire +insensibly melted away into the Roman name and people. But there +still remained, in the centre of every province and of every +family, an unhappy condition of men who endured the weight, +without sharing the benefits, of society. In the free states of +antiquity, the domestic slaves were exposed to the wanton rigor +of despotism. The perfect settlement of the Roman empire was +preceded by ages of violence and rapine. The slaves consisted, +for the most part, of barbarian captives, ^* taken in thousands +by the chance of war, purchased at a vile price, ^46 accustomed +to a life of independence, and impatient to break and to revenge +their fetters. Against such internal enemies, whose desperate +insurrections had more than once reduced the republic to the +brink of destruction, ^47 the most severe ^* regulations, ^48 and +the most cruel treatment, seemed almost justified by the great +law of self-preservation. But when the principal nations of +Europe, Asia, and Africa were united under the laws of one +sovereign, the source of foreign supplies flowed with much less +abundance, and the Romans were reduced to the milder but more +tedious method of propagation. ^* In their numerous families, and +particularly in their country estates, they encouraged the +marriage of their slaves. ^! The sentiments of nature, the habits +of education, and the possession of a dependent species of +property, contributed to alleviate the hardships of servitude. +^49 The existence of a slave became an object of greater value, +and though his happiness still depended on the temper and +circumstances of the master, the humanity of the latter, instead +of being restrained by fear, was encouraged by the sense of his +own interest. The progress of manners was accelerated by the +virtue or policy of the emperors; and by the edicts of Hadrian +and the Antonines, the protection of the laws was extended to the +most abject part of mankind. The jurisdiction of life and death +over the slaves, a power long exercised and often abused, was +taken out of private hands, and reserved to the magistrates +alone. The subterraneous prisons were abolished; and, upon a +just complaint of intolerable treatment, the injured slave +obtained either his deliverance, or a less cruel master. ^50 +[Footnote *: It was this which rendered the wars so sanguinary, +and the battles so obstinate. The immortal Robertson, in an +excellent discourse on the state of the world at the period of +the establishment of Christianity, has traced a picture of the +melancholy effects of slavery, in which we find all the depth of +his views and the strength of his mind. I shall oppose +successively some passages to the reflections of Gibbon. The +reader will see, not without interest, the truths which Gibbon +appears to have mistaken or voluntarily neglected, developed by +one of the best of modern historians. It is important to call +them to mind here, in order to establish the facts and their +consequences with accuracy. I shall more than once have occasion +to employ, for this purpose, the discourse of Robertson. + + "Captives taken in war were, in all probability, the first +persons subjected to perpetual servitude; and, when the +necessities or luxury of mankind increased the demand for slaves, +every new war recruited their number, by reducing the vanquished +to that wretched condition. Hence proceeded the fierce and +desperate spirit with which wars were carried on among ancient +nations. While chains and slavery were the certain lot of the +conquered, battles were fought, and towns defended with a rage +and obstinacy which nothing but horror at such a fate could have +inspired; but, putting an end to the cruel institution of +slavery, Christianity extended its mild influences to the +practice of war, and that barbarous art, softened by its humane +spirit, ceased to be so destructive. Secure, in every event, of +personal liberty, the resistance of the vanquished became less +obstinate, and the triumph of the victor less cruel. Thus +humanity was introduced into the exercise of war, with which it +appears to be almost incompatible; and it is to the merciful +maxims of Christianity, much more than to any other cause, that +we must ascribe the little ferocity and bloodshed which accompany +modern victories." - G.] + +[Footnote 46: In the camp of Lucullus, an ox sold for a drachma, +and a slave for four drachmae, or about three shillings. +Plutarch. in Lucull. p. 580. + + Note: Above 100,000 prisoners were taken in the Jewish war. +- G. Hist. of Jews, iii. 71. According to a tradition preserved +by S. Jerom, after the insurrection in the time of Hadrian, they +were sold as cheap as horse. Ibid. 124. Compare Blair on Roman +Slavery, p. 19. - M., and Dureau de la blalle, Economie Politique +des Romains, l. i. c. 15. But I cannot think that this writer +has made out his case as to the common price of an agricultural +slave being from 2000 to 2500 francs, (80l. to 100l.) He has +overlooked the passages which show the ordinary prices, (i. e. +Hor. Sat. ii. vii. 45,) and argued from extraordinary and +exceptional cases. - M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 47: Diodorus Siculus in Eclog. Hist. l. xxxiv. and +xxxvi. Florus, iii. 19, 20.] + +[Footnote *: The following is the example: we shall see whether +the word "severe" is here in its place. "At the time in which L. +Domitius was praetor in Sicily, a slave killed a wild boar of +extraordinary size. The praetor, struck by the dexterity and +courage of the man, desired to see him. The poor wretch, highly +gratified with the distinction, came to present himself before +the praetor, in hopes, no doubt, of praise and reward; but +Domitius, on learning that he had only a javelin to attack and +kill the boar, ordered him to be instantly crucified, under the +barbarous pretext that the law prohibited the use of this weapon, +as of all others, to slaves." Perhaps the cruelty of Domitius is +less astonishing than the indifference with which the Roman +orator relates this circumstance, which affects him so little +that he thus expresses himself: "Durum hoc fortasse videatur, +neque ego in ullam partem disputo." "This may appear harsh, nor +do I give any opinion on the subject." And it is the same orator +who exclaims in the same oration, "Facinus est cruciare civem +Romanum; scelus verberare; prope parricidium necare: quid dicam +in crucem tollere?" "It is a crime to imprison a Roman citizen; +wickedness to scourge; next to parricide to put to death, what +shall I call it to crucify?" + + In general, this passage of Gibbon on slavery, is full, not +only of blamable indifference, but of an exaggeration of +impartiality which resembles dishonesty. He endeavors to +extenuate all that is appalling in the condition and treatment of +the slaves; he would make us consider those cruelties as possibly +"justified by necessity." He then describes, with minute +accuracy, the slightest mitigations of their deplorable +condition; he attributes to the virtue or the policy of the +emperors the progressive amelioration in the lot of the slaves; +and he passes over in silence the most influential cause, that +which, after rendering the slaves less miserable, has contributed +at length entirely to enfranchise them from their sufferings and +their chains, - Christianity. It would be easy to accumulate the +most frightful, the most agonizing details, of the manner in +which the Romans treated their slaves; whole works have been +devoted to the description. I content myself with referring to +them. Some reflections of Robertson, taken from the discourse +already quoted, will make us feel that Gibbon, in tracing the +mitigation of the condition of the slaves, up to a period little +later than that which witnessed the establishment of Christianity +in the world, could not have avoided the acknowledgment of the +influence of that beneficent cause, if he had not already +determined not to speak of it. + + "Upon establishing despotic government in the Roman empire, +domestic tyranny rose, in a short time, to an astonishing height. + +In that rank soil, every vice, which power nourishes in the +great, or oppression engenders in the mean, thrived and grew up +apace. * * * It is not the authority of any single detached +precept in the gospel, but the spirit and genius of the Christian +religion, more powerful than any particular command. which hath +abolished the practice of slavery throughout the world. The +temper which Christianity inspired was mild and gentle; and the +doctrines it taught added such dignity and lustre to human +nature, as rescued it from the dishonorable servitude into which +it was sunk." + + It is in vain, then, that Gibbon pretends to attribute +solely to the desire of keeping up the number of slaves, the +milder conduct which the Romans began to adopt in their favor at +the time of the emperors. This cause had hitherto acted in an +opposite direction; how came it on a sudden to have a different +influence? "The masters," he says, "encouraged the marriage of +their slaves; * * * the sentiments of nature, the habits of +education, contributed to alleviate the hardships of servitude." +The children of slaves were the property of their master, who +could dispose of or alienate them like the rest of his property. +Is it in such a situation, with such notions, that the sentiments +of nature unfold themselves, or habits of education become mild +and peaceful? We must not attribute to causes inadequate or +altogether without force, effects which require to explain them a +reference to more influential causes; and even if these slighter +causes had in effect a manifest influence, we must not forget +that they are themselves the effect of a primary, a higher, and +more extensive cause, which, in giving to the mind and to the +character a more disinterested and more humane bias, disposed men +to second or themselves to advance, by their conduct, and by the +change of manners, the happy results which it tended to produce. +- G. + + I have retained the whole of M. Guizot's note, though, in +his zeal for the invaluable blessings of freedom and +Christianity, he has done Gibbon injustice. The condition of the +slaves was undoubtedly improved under the emperors. What a great +authority has said, "The condition of a slave is better under an +arbitrary than under a free government," (Smith's Wealth of +Nations, iv. 7,) is, I believe, supported by the history of all +ages and nations. The protecting edicts of Hadrian and the +Antonines are historical facts, and can as little be attributed +to the influence of Christianity, as the milder language of +heathen writers, of Seneca, (particularly Ep. 47,) of Pliny, and +of Plutarch. The latter influence of Christianity is admitted by +Gibbon himself. The subject of Roman slavery has recently been +investigated with great diligence in a very modest but valuable +volume, by Wm. Blair, Esq., Edin. 1833. May we be permitted. +while on the subject, to refer to the most splendid passage +extant of Mr. Pitt's eloquence, the description of the Roman +slave-dealer. on the shores of Britain, condemning the island to +irreclaimable barbarism, as a perpetual and prolific nursery of +slaves? Speeches, vol. ii. p. 80. + + + Gibbon, it should be added, was one of the first and most +consistent opponents of the African slave-trade. (See Hist. ch. +xxv. and Letters to Lor Sheffield, Misc. Works) - M.] + +[Footnote 48: See a remarkable instance of severity in Cicero in +Verrem, v. 3.] + +[Footnote *: An active slave-trade, which was carried on in many +quarters, particularly the Euxine, the eastern provinces, the +coast of Africa, and British must be taken into the account. +Blair, 23 - 32. - M.] + +[Footnote !: The Romans, as well in the first ages of the +republic as later, allowed to their slaves a kind of marriage, +(contubernium: ) notwithstanding this, luxury made a greater +number of slaves in demand. The increase in their population was +not sufficient, and recourse was had to the purchase of slaves, +which was made even in the provinces of the East subject to the +Romans. It is, moreover, known that slavery is a state little +favorable to population. (See Hume's Essay, and Malthus on +population, i. 334. - G.) The testimony of Appian (B.C. l. i. c. +7) is decisive in favor of the rapid multiplication of the +agricultural slaves; it is confirmed by the numbers engaged in +the servile wars. Compare also Blair, p. 119; likewise Columella +l. viii. - M.] + +[Footnote 49: See in Gruter, and the other collectors, a great +number of inscriptions addressed by slaves to their wives, +children, fellow-servants, masters, &c. They are all most +probably of the Imperial age.] +[Footnote 50: See the Augustan History, and a Dissertation of M. +de Burigny, in the xxxvth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions, +upon the Roman slaves.] + + Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition, was not +denied to the Roman slave; and if he had any opportunity of +rendering himself either useful or agreeable, he might very +naturally expect that the diligence and fidelity of a few years +would be rewarded with the inestimable gift of freedom. The +benevolence of the master was so frequently prompted by the +meaner suggestions of vanity and avarice, that the laws found it +more necessary to restrain than to encourage a profuse and +undistinguishing liberality, which might degenerate into a very +dangerous abuse. ^51 It was a maxim of ancient jurisprudence, +that a slave had not any country of his own; he acquired with his +liberty an admission into the political society of which his +patron was a member. The consequences of this maxim would have +prostituted the privileges of the Roman city to a mean and +promiscuous multitude. Some seasonable exceptions were therefore +provided; and the honorable distinction was confined to such +slaves only as, for just causes, and with the approbation of the +magistrate, should receive a solemn and legal manumission. Even +these chosen freedmen obtained no more than the private rights of +citizens, and were rigorously excluded from civil or military +honors. Whatever might be the merit or fortune of their sons, +they likewise were esteemed unworthy of a seat in the senate; nor +were the traces of a servile origin allowed to be completely +obliterated till the third or fourth generation. ^52 Without +destroying the distinction of ranks, a distant prospect of +freedom and honors was presented, even to those whom pride and +prejudice almost disdained to number among the human species. +[Footnote 51: See another Dissertation of M. de Burigny, in the +xxxviith volume, on the Roman freedmen.] + +[Footnote 52: Spanheim, Orbis Roman. l. i. c. 16, p. 124, &c.] + It was once proposed to discriminate the slaves by a +peculiar habit; but it was justly apprehended that there might be +some danger in acquainting them with their own numbers. ^53 +Without interpreting, in their utmost strictness, the liberal +appellations of legions and myriads, ^54 we may venture to +pronounce, that the proportion of slaves, who were valued as +property, was more considerable than that of servants, who can be +computed only as an expense. ^55 The youths of a promising genius +were instructed in the arts and sciences, and their price was +ascertained by the degree of their skill and talents. ^56 Almost +every profession, either liberal ^57 or mechanical, might be +found in the household of an opulent senator. The ministers of +pomp and sensuality were multiplied beyond the conception of +modern luxury. ^58 It was more for the interest of the merchant +or manufacturer to purchase, than to hire his workmen; and in the +country, slaves were employed as the cheapest and most laborious +instruments of agriculture. To confirm the general observation, +and to display the multitude of slaves, we might allege a variety +of particular instances. It was discovered, on a very melancholy +occasion, that four hundred slaves were maintained in a single +palace of Rome. ^59 The same number of four hundred belonged to +an estate which an African widow, of a very private condition, +resigned to her son, whilst she reserved for herself a much +larger share of her property. ^60 A freedman, under the name of +Augustus, though his fortune had suffered great losses in the +civil wars, left behind him three thousand six hundred yoke of +oxen, two hundred and fifty thousand head of smaller cattle, and +what was almost included in the description of cattle, four +thousand one hundred and sixteen slaves. ^61 + +[Footnote 53: Seneca de Clementia, l. i. c. 24. The original is +much stronger, "Quantum periculum immineret si servi nostri +numerare nos coepissent."] + +[Footnote 54: See Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii.) and Athenaeus +(Deipnosophist. l. vi. p. 272.) The latter boldly asserts, that +he knew very many Romans who possessed, not for use, but +ostentation, ten and even twenty thousand slaves.] + +[Footnote 55: In Paris there are not more than 43,000 domestics +of every sort, and not a twelfth part of the inhabitants. +Messange, Recherches sui la Population, p. 186.] + +[Footnote 56: A learned slave sold for many hundred pounds +sterling: Atticus always bred and taught them himself. Cornel. +Nepos in Vit. c. 13, [on the prices of slaves. Blair, 149.] - +M.] + +[Footnote 57: Many of the Roman physicians were slaves. See Dr. +Middleton's Dissertation and Defence.] + +[Footnote 58: Their ranks and offices are very copiously +enumerated by Pignorius de Servis.] + +[Footnote 59: Tacit. Annal. xiv. 43. They were all executed for +not preventing their master's murder. + + Note: The remarkable speech of Cassius shows the proud +feelings of the Roman aristocracy on this subject. - M] + +[Footnote 60: Apuleius in Apolog. p. 548. edit. Delphin] + +[Footnote 61: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. 47.] + + The number of subjects who acknowledged the laws of Rome, of +citizens, of provincials, and of slaves, cannot now be fixed with +such a degree of accuracy, as the importance of the object would +deserve. We are informed, that when the Emperor Claudius +exercised the office of censor, he took an account of six +millions nine hundred and forty-five thousand Roman citizens, +who, with the proportion of women and children, must have +amounted to about twenty millions of souls. The multitude of +subjects of an inferior rank was uncertain and fluctuating. But, +after weighing with attention every circumstance which could +influence the balance, it seems probable that there existed, in +the time of Claudius, about twice as many provincials as there +were citizens, of either sex, and of every age; and that the +slaves were at least equal in number to the free inhabitants of +the Roman world. ^* The total amount of this imperfect +calculation would rise to about one hundred and twenty millions +of persons; a degree of population which possibly exceeds that of +modern Europe, ^62 and forms the most numerous society that has +ever been united under the same system of government. + +[Footnote *: According to Robertson, there were twice as many +slaves as free citizens. - G. Mr. Blair (p. 15) estimates three +slaves to one freeman, between the conquest of Greece, B.C. 146, +and the reign of Alexander Severus, A. D. 222, 235. The +proportion was probably larger in Italy than in the provinces. - +M. On the other hand, Zumpt, in his Dissertation quoted below, +(p. 86,) asserts it to be a gross error in Gibbon to reckon the +number of slaves equal to that of the free population. The +luxury and magnificence of the great, (he observes,) at the +commencement of the empire, must not be taken as the groundwork +of calculations for the whole Roman world. The agricultural +laborer, and the artisan, in Spain, Gaul, Britain, Syria, and +Egypt, maintained himself, as in the present day, by his own +labor and that of his household, without possessing a single +slave." The latter part of my note was intended to suggest this +consideration. Yet so completely was slavery rooted in the +social system, both in the east and the west, that in the great +diffusion of wealth at this time, every one, I doubt not, who +could afford a domestic slave, kept one; and generally, the +number of slaves was in proportion to the wealth. I do not +believe that the cultivation of the soil by slaves was confined +to Italy; the holders of large estates in the provinces would +probably, either from choice or necessity, adopt the same mode of +cultivation. The latifundia, says Pliny, had ruined Italy, and +had begun to ruin the provinces. Slaves were no doubt employed +in agricultural labor to a great extent in Sicily, and were the +estates of those six enormous landholders who were said to have +possessed the whole province of Africa, cultivated altogether by +free coloni? Whatever may have been the case in the rural +districts, in the towns and cities the household duties were +almost entirely discharged by slaves, and vast numbers belonged +to the public establishments. I do not, however, differ so far +from Zumpt, and from M. Dureau de la Malle, as to adopt the +higher and bolder estimate of Robertson and Mr. Blair, rather +than the more cautious suggestions of Gibbon. I would reduce +rather than increase the proportion of the slave population. The +very ingenious and elaborate calculations of the French writer, +by which he deduces the amount of the population from the produce +and consumption of corn in Italy, appear to me neither precise +nor satisfactory bases for such complicated political arithmetic. + +I am least satisfied with his views as to the population of the +city of Rome; but this point will be more fitly reserved for a +note on the thirty-first chapter of Gibbon. The work, however, +of M. Dureau de la Malle is very curious and full on some of the +minuter points of Roman statistics. - M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 62: Compute twenty millions in France, twenty-two in +Germany, four in Hungary, ten in Italy with its islands, eight in +Great Britain and Ireland, eight in Spain and Portugal, ten or +twelve in the European Russia, six in Poland, six in Greece and +Turkey, four in Sweden, three in Denmark and Norway, four in the +Low Countries. The whole would amount to one hundred and five, +or one hundred and seven millions. See Voltaire, de l'Histoire +Generale. + + Note: The present population of Europe is estimated at +227,700,000. Malts Bran, Geogr. Trans edit. 1832 See details in +the different volumes Another authority, (Almanach de Gotha,) +quoted in a recent English publication, gives the following +details: - + + France, 32,897,521 + Germany, (including Hungary, Prussian and Austrian + + Poland,) 56,136,213 + Italy, 20,548,616 + Great Britain and Ireland, 24,062,947 + Spain and Portugal, 13,953,959 3,144,000 + Russia, including Poland, 44,220,600 + Cracow, 128,480 + Turkey, (including Pachalic of Dschesair,) + + 9,545,300 + Greece, 637,700 + Ionian Islands, 208,100 + Sweden and Norway, 3,914,963 + Denmark, 2,012,998 + Belgium, 3,533,538 + Holland, 2,444,550 + Switzerland, 985,000 + + Total, 219,344,116 + + Since the publication of my first annotated edition of +Gibbon, the subject of the population of the Roman empire has +been investigated by two writers of great industry and learning; +Mons. Dureau de la Malle, in his Economie Politique des Romains, +liv. ii. c. 1. to 8, and M. Zumpt, in a dissertation printed in +the Transactions of the Berlin Academy, 1840. M. Dureau de la +Malle confines his inquiry almost entirely to the city of Rome, +and Roman Italy. Zumpt examines at greater length the axiom, +which he supposes to have been assumed by Gibbon as +unquestionable, "that Italy and the Roman world was never so +populous as in the time of the Antonines." Though this probably +was Gibbon's opinion, he has not stated it so peremptorily as +asserted by Mr. Zumpt. It had before been expressly laid down by +Hume, and his statement was controverted by Wallace and by +Malthus. Gibbon says (p. 84) that there is no reason to believe +the country (of Italy) less populous in the age of the Antonines, +than in that of Romulus; and Zumpt acknowledges that we have no +satisfactory knowledge of the state of Italy at that early age. +Zumpt, in my opinion with some reason, takes the period just +before the first Punic war, as that in which Roman Italy (all +south of the Rubicon) was most populous. From that time, the +numbers began to diminish, at first from the enormous waste of +life out of the free population in the foreign, and afterwards in +the civil wars; from the cultivation of the soil by slaves; +towards the close of the republic, from the repugnance to +marriage, which resisted alike the dread of legal punishment and +the offer of legal immunity and privilege; and from the depravity +of manners, which interfered with the procreation, the birth, and +the rearing of children. The arguments and the authorities of +Zumpt are equally conclusive as to the decline of population in +Greece. Still the details, which he himself adduces as to the +prosperity and populousness of Asia Minor, and the whole of the +Roman East, with the advancement of the European provinces, +especially Gaul, Spain, and Britain, in civilization, and +therefore in populousness, (for I have no confidence in the vast +numbers sometimes assigned to the barbarous inhabitants of these +countries,) may, I think, fairly compensate for any deduction to +be made from Gibbon's general estimate on account of Greece and +Italy. Gibbon himself acknowledges his own estimate to be vague +and conjectural; and I may venture to recommend the dissertation +of Zumpt as deserving respectful consideration. - M 1815.] + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Part III. + + Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of +the moderate and comprehensive policy embraced by the Romans. If +we turn our eyes towards the monarchies of Asia, we shall behold +despotism in the centre, and weakness in the extremities; the +collection of the revenue, or the administration of justice, +enforced by the presence of an army; hostile barbarians +established in the heart of the country, hereditary satraps +usurping the dominion of the provinces, and subjects inclined to +rebellion, though incapable of freedom. But the obedience of the +Roman world was uniform, voluntary, and permanent. The vanquished +nations, blended into one great people, resigned the hope, nay, +even the wish, of resuming their independence, and scarcely +considered their own existence as distinct from the existence of +Rome. The established authority of the emperors pervaded without +an effort the wide extent of their dominions, and was exercised +with the same facility on the banks of the Thames, or of the +Nile, as on those of the Tyber. The legions were destined to +serve against the public enemy, and the civil magistrate seldom +required the aid of a military force. ^63 In this state of +general security, the leisure, as well as opulence, both of the +prince and people, were devoted to improve and to adorn the Roman +empire. + +[Footnote 63: Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. ii. c. 16. The +oration of Agrippa, or rather of the historian, is a fine picture +of the Roman empire.] + + Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed +by the Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history, how +few have resisted the ravages of time and barbarism! And yet, +even the majestic ruins that are still scattered over Italy and +the provinces, would be sufficient to prove that those countries +were once the seat of a polite and powerful empire. Their +greatness alone, or their beauty, might deserve our attention: +but they are rendered more interesting, by two important +circumstances, which connect the agreeable history of the arts +with the more useful history of human manners. Many of those +works were erected at private expense, and almost all were +intended for public benefit. + + It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well +as the most considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised by +the emperors, who possessed so unbounded a command both of men +and money. Augustus was accustomed to boast that he had found +his capital of brick, and that he had left it of marble. ^64 The +strict economy of Vespasian was the source of his magnificence. +The works of Trajan bear the stamp of his genius. The public +monuments with which Hadrian adorned every province of the +empire, were executed not only by his orders, but under his +immediate inspection. He was himself an artist; and he loved the +arts, as they conduced to the glory of the monarch. They were +encouraged by the Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness +of the people. But if the emperors were the first, they were not +the only architects of their dominions. Their example was +universally imitated by their principal subjects, who were not +afraid of declaring to the world that they had spirit to +conceive, and wealth to accomplish, the noblest undertakings. +Scarcely had the proud structure of the Coliseum been dedicated +at Rome, before the edifices, of a smaller scale indeed, but of +the same design and materials, were erected for the use, and at +the expense, of the cities of Capua and Verona. ^65 The +inscription of the stupendous bridge of Alcantara attests that it +was thrown over the Tagus by the contribution of a few Lusitanian +communities. When Pliny was intrusted with the government of +Bithynia and Pontus, provinces by no means the richest or most +considerable of the empire, he found the cities within his +jurisdiction striving with each other in every useful and +ornamental work, that might deserve the curiosity of strangers, +or the gratitude of their citizens. It was the duty of the +proconsul to supply their deficiencies, to direct their taste, +and sometimes to moderate their emulation. ^66 The opulent +senators of Rome and the provinces esteemed it an honor, and +almost an obligation, to adorn the splendor of their age and +country; and the influence of fashion very frequently supplied +the want of taste or generosity. Among a crowd of these private +benefactors, we may select Herodes Atticus, an Athenian citizen, +who lived in the age of the Antonines. Whatever might be the +motive of his conduct, his magnificence would have been worthy of +the greatest kings. + +[Footnote 64: Sueton. in August. c. 28. Augustus built in Rome +the temple and forum of Mars the Avenger; the temple of Jupiter +Tonans in the Capitol; that of Apollo Palatine, with public +libraries; the portico and basilica of Caius and Lucius; the +porticos of Livia and Octavia; and the theatre of Marcellus. The +example of the sovereign was imitated by his ministers and +generals; and his friend Agrippa left behind him the immortal +monument of the Pantheon.] + +[See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus built in Rome the theatre of +Marcellus.] + +[Footnote 65: See Maffei, Veroni Illustrata, l. iv. p. 68.] +[Footnote 66: See the xth book of Pliny's Epistles. He mentions +the following works carried on at the expense of the cities. At +Nicomedia, a new forum, an aqueduct, and a canal, left unfinished +by a king; at Nice, a gymnasium, and a theatre, which had already +cost near ninety thousand pounds; baths at Prusa and +Claudiopolis, and an aqueduct of sixteen miles in length for the +use of Sinope.] + + + The family of Herod, at least after it had been favored by +fortune, was lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Theseus +and Cecrops, Aeacus and Jupiter. But the posterity of so many +gods and heroes was fallen into the most abject state. His +grandfather had suffered by the hands of justice, and Julius +Atticus, his father, must have ended his life in poverty and +contempt, had he not discovered an immense treasure buried under +an old house, the last remains of his patrimony. According to +the rigor of the law, the emperor might have asserted his claim, +and the prudent Atticus prevented, by a frank confession, the +officiousness of informers. But the equitable Nerva, who then +filled the throne, refused to accept any part of it, and +commanded him to use, without scruple, the present of fortune. +The cautious Athenian still insisted, that the treasure was too +considerable for a subject, and that he knew not how to use it. +Abuse it then, replied the monarch, with a good- natured +peevishness; for it is your own. ^67 Many will be of opinion, +that Atticus literally obeyed the emperor's last instructions; +since he expended the greatest part of his fortune, which was +much increased by an advantageous marriage, in the service of the +public. He had obtained for his son Herod the prefecture of the +free cities of Asia; and the young magistrate, observing that the +town of Troas was indifferently supplied with water, obtained +from the munificence of Hadrian three hundred myriads of drachms, +(about a hundred thousand pounds,) for the construction of a new +aqueduct. But in the execution of the work, the charge amounted +to more than double the estimate, and the officers of the revenue +began to murmur, till the generous Atticus silenced their +complaints, by requesting that he might be permitted to take upon +himself the whole additional expense. ^68 + +[Footnote 67: Hadrian afterwards made a very equitable +regulation, which divided all treasure-trove between the right of +property and that of discovery. Hist. August. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 68: Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. l. ii. p. 548.] + The ablest preceptors of Greece and Asia had been invited by +liberal rewards to direct the education of young Herod. Their +pupil soon became a celebrated orator, according to the useless +rhetoric of that age, which, confining itself to the schools, +disdained to visit either the Forum or the Senate. + + He was honored with the consulship at Rome: but the greatest +part of his life was spent in a philosophic retirement at Athens, +and his adjacent villas; perpetually surrounded by sophists, who +acknowledged, without reluctance, the superiority of a rich and +generous rival. ^69 The monuments of his genius have perished; +some considerable ruins still preserve the fame of his taste and +munificence: modern travellers have measured the remains of the +stadium which he constructed at Athens. It was six hundred feet +in length, built entirely of white marble, capable of admitting +the whole body of the people, and finished in four years, whilst +Herod was president of the Athenian games. To the memory of his +wife Regilla he dedicated a theatre, scarcely to be paralleled in +the empire: no wood except cedar, very curiously carved, was +employed in any part of the building. The Odeum, ^* designed by +Pericles for musical performances, and the rehearsal of new +tragedies, had been a trophy of the victory of the arts over +barbaric greatness; as the timbers employed in the construction +consisted chiefly of the masts of the Persian vessels. +Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed on that ancient edifice by a +king of Cappadocia, it was again fallen to decay. Herod restored +its ancient beauty and magnificence. Nor was the liberality of +that illustrious citizen confined to the walls of Athens. The +most splendid ornaments bestowed on the temple of Neptune in the +Isthmus, a theatre at Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at +Thermopylae, and an aqueduct at Canusium in Italy, were +insufficient to exhaust his treasures. The people of Epirus, +Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus, experienced his +favors; and many inscriptions of the cities of Greece and Asia +gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and benefactor. ^70 + +[Footnote 69: Aulus Gellius, in Noct. Attic. i. 2, ix. 2, xviii. +10, xix. 12. Phil ostrat. p. 564.] + +[Footnote *: The Odeum served for the rehearsal of new comedies +as well as tragedies; they were read or repeated, before +representation, without music or decorations, &c. No piece could +be represented in the theatre if it had not been previously +approved by judges for this purpose. The king of Cappadocia who +restored the Odeum, which had been burnt by Sylla, was +Araobarzanes. See Martini, Dissertation on the Odeons of the +Ancients, Leipsic. 1767, p. 10 - 91. - W.] + +[Footnote 70: See Philostrat. l. ii. p. 548, 560. Pausanias, l. +i. and vii. 10. The life of Herodes, in the xxxth volume of the +Memoirs of the Academy of Inscriptions.] + + In the commonwealths of Athens and Rome, the modest +simplicity of private houses announced the equal condition of +freedom; whilst the sovereignty of the people was represented in +the majestic edifices designed to the public use; ^71 nor was +this republican spirit totally extinguished by the introduction +of wealth and monarchy. It was in works of national honor and +benefit, that the most virtuous of the emperors affected to +display their magnificence. The golden palace of Nero excited a +just indignation, but the vast extent of ground which had been +usurped by his selfish luxury was more nobly filled under the +succeeding reigns by the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the +Claudian portico, and the temples dedicated to the goddess of +Peace, and to the genius of Rome. ^72 These monuments of +architecture, the property of the Roman people, were adorned with +the most beautiful productions of Grecian painting and sculpture; +and in the temple of Peace, a very curious library was open to +the curiosity of the learned. ^* At a small distance from thence +was situated the Forum of Trajan. It was surrounded by a lofty +portico, in the form of a quadrangle, into which four triumphal +arches opened a noble and spacious entrance: in the centre arose +a column of marble, whose height, of one hundred and ten feet, +denoted the elevation of the hill that had been cut away. This +column, which still subsists in its ancient beauty, exhibited an +exact representation of the Dacian victories of its founder. The +veteran soldier contemplated the story of his own campaigns, and +by an easy illusion of national vanity, the peaceful citizen +associated himself to the honors of the triumph. All the other +quarters of the capital, and all the provinces of the empire, +were embellished by the same liberal spirit of public +magnificence, and were filled with amphi theatres, theatres, +temples, porticoes, triumphal arches, baths and aqueducts, all +variously conducive to the health, the devotion, and the +pleasures of the meanest citizen. The last mentioned of those +edifices deserve our peculiar attention. The boldness of the +enterprise, the solidity of the execution, and the uses to which +they were subservient, rank the aqueducts among the noblest +monuments of Roman genius and power. The aqueducts of the +capital claim a just preeminence; but the curious traveller, who, +without the light of history, should examine those of Spoleto, of +Metz, or of Segovia, would very naturally conclude that those +provincial towns had formerly been the residence of some potent +monarch. The solitudes of Asia and Africa were once covered with +flourishing cities, whose populousness, and even whose existence, +was derived from such artificial supplies of a perennial stream +of fresh water. ^73 + +[Footnote 71: It is particularly remarked of Athens by +Dicaearchus, de Statu Graeciae, p. 8, inter Geographos Minores, +edit. Hudson.] + +[Footnote 72: Donatus de Roma Vetere, l. iii. c. 4, 5, 6. +Nardini Roma Antica, l. iii. 11, 12, 13, and a Ms. description of +ancient Rome, by Bernardus Oricellarius, or Rucellai, of which I +obtained a copy from the library of the Canon Ricardi at +Florence. Two celebrated pictures of Timanthes and of Protogenes +are mentioned by Pliny, as in the Temple of Peace; and the +Laocoon was found in the baths of Titus.] + +[Footnote *: The Emperor Vespasian, who had caused the Temple of +Peace to be built, transported to it the greatest part of the +pictures, statues, and other works of art which had escaped the +civil tumults. It was there that every day the artists and the +learned of Rome assembled; and it is on the site of this temple +that a multitude of antiques have been dug up. See notes of +Reimar on Dion Cassius, lxvi. c. 15, p. 1083. - W.] + +[Footnote 73: Montfaucon l'Antiquite Expliquee, tom. iv. p. 2, l. +i. c. 9. Fabretti has composed a very learned treatise on the +aqueducts of Rome.] + + We have computed the inhabitants, and contemplated the +public works, of the Roman empire. The observation of the number +and greatness of its cities will serve to confirm the former, and +to multiply the latter. It may not be unpleasing to collect a +few scattered instances relative to that subject without +forgetting, however, that from the vanity of nations and the +poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has been +indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum. + + I. Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred +and ninety- seven cities; and for whatsoever aera of antiquity +the expression might be intended, ^74 there is not any reason to +believe the country less populous in the age of the Antonines, +than in that of Romulus. The petty states of Latium were +contained within the metropolis of the empire, by whose superior +influence they had been attracted. ^* Those parts of Italy which +have so long languished under the lazy tyranny of priests and +viceroys, had been afflicted only by the more tolerable +calamities of war; and the first symptoms of decay which they +experienced, were amply compensated by the rapid improvements of +the Cisalpine Gaul. The splendor of Verona may be traced in its +remains: yet Verona was less celebrated than Aquileia or Padua, +Milan or Ravenna. II. The spirit of improvement had passed the +Alps, and been felt even in the woods of Britain, which were +gradually cleared away to open a free space for convenient and +elegant habitations. York was the seat of government; London was +already enriched by commerce; and Bath was celebrated for the +salutary effects of its medicinal waters. Gaul could boast of +her twelve hundred cities; ^75 and though, in the northern parts, +many of them, without excepting Paris itself, were little more +than the rude and imperfect townships of a rising people, the +southern provinces imitated the wealth and elegance of Italy. ^76 +Many were the cities of Gaul, Marseilles, Arles, Nismes, +Narbonne, Thoulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, Vienna, Lyons, Langres, +and Treves, whose ancient condition might sustain an equal, and +perhaps advantageous comparison with their present state. With +regard to Spain, that country flourished as a province, and has +declined as a kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her strength, +by America, and by superstition, her pride might possibly be +confounded, if we required such a list of three hundred and sixty +cities, as Pliny has exhibited under the reign of Vespasian. ^77 +III. Three hundred African cities had once acknowledged the +authority of Carthage, ^78 nor is it likely that their numbers +diminished under the administration of the emperors: Carthage +itself rose with new splendor from its ashes; and that capital, +as well as Capua and Corinth, soon recovered all the advantages +which can be separated from independent sovereignty. IV. The +provinces of the East present the contrast of Roman magnificence +with Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity scattered over +uncultivated fields, and ascribed, by ignorance to the power of +magic, scarcely afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or +wandering Arab. Under the reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia +alone contained five hundred populous cities, ^79 enriched with +all the gifts of nature, and adorned with all the refinements of +art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed the honor of +dedicating a temple of Tiberius, and their respective merits were +examined by the senate. ^80 Four of them were immediately +rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, +whose splendor is still displayed in its ruins. ^81 Laodicea +collected a very considerable revenue from its flocks of sheep, +celebrated for the fineness of their wool, and had received, a +little before the contest, a legacy of above four hundred +thousand pounds by the testament of a generous citizen. ^82 If +such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must have been the wealth +of those cities, whose claim appeared preferable, and +particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long +disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia? ^83 The +capitals of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank in the +empire; Antioch and Alexandria looked down with disdain on a +crowd of dependent cities, ^84 and yielded, with reluctance, to +the majesty of Rome itself. + +[Footnote 74: Aelian. Hist. Var. lib. ix. c. 16. He lived in the +time of Alexander Severus. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, l. +iv. c. 21.] + +[Footnote *: This may in some degree account for the difficulty +started by Livy, as to the incredibly numerous armies raised by +the small states around Rome where, in his time, a scanty stock +of free soldiers among a larger population of Roman slaves broke +the solitude. Vix seminario exiguo militum relicto servitia +Romana ab solitudine vindicant, Liv. vi. vii. Compare Appian Bel +Civ. i. 7. - M. subst. for G.] + +[Footnote 75: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. The number, however, +is mentioned, and should be received with a degree of latitude. + Note: Without doubt no reliance can be placed on this +passage of Josephus. The historian makes Agrippa give advice to +the Jews, as to the power of the Romans; and the speech is full +of declamation which can furnish no conclusions to history. +While enumerating the nations subject to the Romans, he speaks of +the Gauls as submitting to 1200 soldiers, (which is false, as +there were eight legions in Gaul, Tac. iv. 5,) while there are +nearly twelve hundred cities. - G. Josephus (infra) places these +eight legions on the Rhine, as Tacitus does. - M.] + +[Footnote 76: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.] + +[Footnote 77: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4, iv. 35. The list +seems authentic and accurate; the division of the provinces, and +the different condition of the cities, are minutely +distinguished.] + +[Footnote 78: Strabon. Geograph. l. xvii. p. 1189.] + +[Footnote 79: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Philostrat. in Vit. +Sophist. l. ii. p. 548, edit. Olear.] + +[Footnote 80: Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. I have taken some pains in +consulting and comparing modern travellers, with regard to the +fate of those eleven cities of Asia. Seven or eight are totally +destroyed: Hypaepe, Tralles, Laodicea, Hium, Halicarnassus, +Miletus, Ephesus, and we may add Sardes. Of the remaining three, +Pergamus is a straggling village of two or three thousand +inhabitants; Magnesia, under the name of Guzelhissar, a town of +some consequence; and Smyrna, a great city, peopled by a hundred +thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the Franks have +maintained a commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.] + +[Footnote 81: See a very exact and pleasing description of the +ruins of Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. +225, &c.] + +[Footnote 82: Strabo, l. xii. p. 866. He had studied at +Tralles.] + +[Footnote 83: See a Dissertation of M. de Boze, Mem. de +l'Academie, tom. xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which +is still extant, to recommend concord to the rival cities.] +[Footnote 84: The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, +amounted to seven millions and a half, (Joseph. de Bell. Jud. +ii. 16.) Under the military government of the Mamelukes, Syria +was supposed to contain sixty thousand villages, (Histoire de +Timur Bec, l. v. c. 20.)] + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. +Part IV. + + All these cities were connected with each other, and with +the capital, by the public highways, which, issuing from the +Forum of Rome, traversed Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were +terminated only by the frontiers of the empire. If we carefully +trace the distance from the wall of Antoninus to Rome, and from +thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that the great chain of +communication, from the north-west to the south-east point of the +empire, was drawn out to the length if four thousand and eighty +Roman miles. ^85 The public roads were accurately divided by +mile-stones, and ran in a direct line from one city to another, +with very little respect for the obstacles either of nature or +private property. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches +thrown over the broadest and most rapid streams. ^86 The middle +part of the road was raised into a terrace which commanded the +adjacent country, consisted of several strata of sand, gravel, +and cement, and was paved with large stones, or, in some places +near the capital, with granite. ^87 Such was the solid +construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not +entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen centuries. They united +the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy and +familiar intercourse; out their primary object had been to +facilitate the marches of the legions; nor was any country +considered as completely subdued, till it had been rendered, in +all its parts, pervious to the arms and authority of the +conqueror. The advantage of receiving the earliest intelligence, +and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the emperors +to establish, throughout their extensive dominions, the regular +institution of posts. ^88 Houses were every where erected at the +distance only of five or six miles; each of them was constantly +provided with forty horses, and by the help of these relays, it +was easy to travel a hundred miles in a day along the Roman +roads. ^89 ^* The use of posts was allowed to those who claimed +it by an Imperial mandate; but though originally intended for the +public service, it was sometimes indulged to the business or +conveniency of private citizens. ^90 Nor was the communication of +the Roman empire less free and open by sea than it was by land. +The provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean: and +Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the +midst of that great lake. The coasts of Italy are, in general, +destitute of safe harbors; but human industry had corrected the +deficiencies of nature; and the artificial port of Ostia, in +particular, situate at the mouth of the Tyber, and formed by the +emperor Claudius, was a useful monument of Roman greatness. ^91 +From this port, which was only sixteen miles from the capital, a +favorable breeze frequently carried vessels in seven days to the +columns of Hercules, and in nine or ten, to Alexandria in Egypt. +^92 + +[See Remains Of Claudian Aquaduct] + +[Footnote 85: The following Itinerary may serve to convey some +idea of the direction of the road, and of the distance between +the principal towns. I. From the wall of Antoninus to York, 222 +Roman miles. II. London, 227. III. Rhutupiae or Sandwich, 67. +IV. The navigation to Boulogne, 45. V. Rheims, 174. VI. +Lyons, 330. VII. Milan, 324. VIII. Rome, 426. IX. +Brundusium, 360. X. The navigation to Dyrrachium, 40. XI. +Byzantium, 711. XII. Ancyra, 283. XIII. Tarsus, 301. XIV. +Antioch, 141. XV. Tyre, 252. XVI. Jerusalem, 168. In all 4080 +Roman, or 3740 English miles. See the Itineraries published by +Wesseling, his annotations; Gale and Stukeley for Britain, and M. +d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.] + +[Footnote 86: Montfaucon, l'Antiquite Expliquee, (tom. 4, p. 2, +l. i. c. 5,) has described the bridges of Narni, Alcantara, +Nismes, &c.] +[Footnote 87: Bergier, Histoire des grands Chemins de l'Empire +Romain, l. ii. c. l. l - 28.] + +[Footnote 88: Procopius in Hist. Arcana, c. 30. Bergier, Hist. +des grands Chemins, l. iv. Codex Theodosian. l. viii. tit. v. +vol. ii. p. 506 - 563 with Godefroy's learned commentary.] + +[Footnote 89: In the time of Theodosius, Caesarius, a magistrate +of high rank, went post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began +his journey at night, was in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) +the ensuing evening, and arrived at Constantinople the sixth day +about noon. The whole distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English +miles. See Libanius, Orat. xxii., and the Itineria, p. 572 - +581. + Note: A courier is mentioned in Walpole's Travels, ii. 335, +who was to travel from Aleppo to Constantinople, more than 700 +miles, in eight days, an unusually short journey. - M.] + +[Footnote *: Posts for the conveyance of intelligence were +established by Augustus. Suet. Aug. 49. The couriers travelled +with amazing speed. Blair on Roman Slavery, note, p. 261. It is +probable that the posts, from the time of Augustus, were confined +to the public service, and supplied by impressment Nerva, as it +appears from a coin of his reign, made an important change; "he +established posts upon all the public roads of Italy, and made +the service chargeable upon his own exchequer. * * Hadrian, +perceiving the advantage of this improvement, extended it to all +the provinces of the empire." Cardwell on Coins, p. 220. - M.] + +[Footnote 90: Pliny, though a favorite and a minister, made an +apology for granting post-horses to his wife on the most urgent +business. Epist. x. 121, 122.] + +[Footnote 91: Bergier, Hist. des grands Chemins, l. iv. c. 49.] +[Footnote 92: Plin. Hist. Natur. xix. i. [In Prooem.] + + Note: Pliny says Puteoli, which seems to have been the usual +landing place from the East. See the voyages of St. Paul, Acts +xxviii. 13, and of Josephus, Vita, c. 3 - M.] + + Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to +extensive empire, the power of Rome was attended with some +beneficial consequences to mankind; and the same freedom of +intercourse which extended the vices, diffused likewise the +improvements, of social life. In the more remote ages of +antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The East was in the +immemorial possession of arts and luxury; whilst the West was +inhabited by rude and warlike barbarians, who either disdained +agriculture, or to whom it was totally unknown. Under the +protection of an established government, the productions of +happier climates, and the industry of more civilized nations, +were gradually introduced into the western countries of Europe; +and the natives were encouraged, by an open and profitable +commerce, to multiply the former, as well as to improve the +latter. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the +articles, either of the animal or the vegetable reign, which were +successively imported into Europe from Asia and Egypt: ^93 but it +will not be unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the +utility, of an historical work, slightly to touch on a few of the +principal heads. 1. Almost all the flowers, the herbs, and the +fruits, that grow in our European gardens, are of foreign +extraction, which, in many cases, is betrayed even by their +names: the apple was a native of Italy, and when the Romans had +tasted the richer flavor of the apricot, the peach, the +pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented +themselves with applying to all these new fruits the common +denomination of apple, discriminating them from each other by the +additional epithet of their country. 2. In the time of Homer, +the vine grew wild in the island of Sicily, and most probably in +the adjacent continent; but it was not improved by the skill, nor +did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, of the savage +inhabitants. ^94 A thousand years afterwards, Italy could boast, +that of the fourscore most generous and celebrated wines, more +than two thirds were produced from her soil. ^95 The blessing was +soon communicated to the Narbonnese province of Gaul; but so +intense was the cold to the north of the Cevennes, that, in the +time of Strabo, it was thought impossible to ripen the grapes in +those parts of Gaul. ^96 This difficulty, however, was gradually +vanquished; and there is some reason to believe, that the +vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age of the Antonines. ^97 +3. The olive, in the western world, followed the progress of +peace, of which it was considered as the symbol. Two centuries +after the foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were +strangers to that useful plant: it was naturalized in those +countries; and at length carried into the heart of Spain and +Gaul. The timid errors of the ancients, that it required a +certain degree of heat, and could only flourish in the +neighborhood of the sea, were insensibly exploded by industry and +experience. ^98 4. The cultivation of flax was transported from +Egypt to Gaul, and enriched the whole country, however it might +impoverish the particular lands on which it was sown. ^99 5. The +use of artificial grasses became familiar to the farmers both of +Italy and the provinces, particularly the Lucerne, which derived +its name and origin from Media. ^100 The assured supply of +wholesome and plentiful food for the cattle during winter, +multiplied the number of the docks and herds, which in their turn +contributed to the fertility of the soil. To all these +improvements may be added an assiduous attention to mines and +fisheries, which, by employing a multitude of laborious hands, +serve to increase the pleasures of the rich and the subsistence +of the poor. The elegant treatise of Columella describes the +advanced state of the Spanish husbandry under the reign of +Tiberius; and it may be observed, that those famines, which so +frequently afflicted the infant republic, were seldom or never +experienced by the extensive empire of Rome. The accidental +scarcity, in any single province, was immediately relieved by the +plenty of its more fortunate neighbors. + +[Footnote 93: It is not improbable that the Greeks and +Phoenicians introduced some new arts and productions into the +neighborhood of Marseilles and Gades.] +[Footnote 94: See Homer, Odyss. l. ix. v. 358.] + +[Footnote 95: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xiv.] + +[Footnote 96: Strab. Geograph. l. iv. p. 269. The intense cold +of a Gallic winter was almost proverbial among the ancients. + + Note: Strabo only says that the grape does not ripen. +Attempts had been made in the time of Augustus to naturalize the +vine in the north of Gaul; but the cold was too great. Diod. +Sic. edit. Rhodom. p. 304. - W. Diodorus (lib. v. 26) gives a +curious picture of the Italian traders bartering, with the +savages of Gaul, a cask of wine for a slave. - M. + + It appears from the newly discovered treatise of Cicero de +Republica, that there was a law of the republic prohibiting the +culture of the vine and olive beyond the Alps, in order to keep +up the value of those in Italy. Nos justissimi homines, qui +transalpinas gentes oleam et vitem serere non sinimus, quo pluris +sint nostra oliveta nostraeque vineae. Lib. iii. 9. The +restrictive law of Domitian was veiled under the decent pretext +of encouraging the cultivation of grain. Suet. Dom. vii. It was +repealed by Probus Vopis Strobus, 18. - M.] + +[Footnote 97: In the beginning of the fourth century, the orator +Eumenius (Panegyr. Veter. viii. 6, edit. Delphin.) speaks of the +vines in the territory of Autun, which were decayed through age, +and the first plantation of which was totally unknown. The Pagus +Arebrignus is supposed by M. d'Anville to be the district of +Beaune, celebrated, even at present for one of the first growths +of Burgundy. + + Note: This is proved by a passage of Pliny the Elder, where +he speaks of a certain kind of grape (vitis picata. vinum +picatum) which grows naturally to the district of Vienne, and had +recently been transplanted into the country of the Arverni, +(Auvergne,) of the Helvii, (the Vivarias.) and the Burgundy and +Franche Compte. Pliny wrote A.D. 77. Hist. Nat. xiv. 1. - W.] +[Footnote 98: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xv.] + +[Footnote 99: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xix.] + +[Footnote 100: See the agreeable Essays on Agriculture by Mr. +Harte, in which he has collected all that the ancients and +moderns have said of Lucerne.] + Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures; since the +productions of nature are the materials of art. Under the Roman +empire, the labor of an industrious and ingenious people was +variously, but incessantly, employed in the service of the rich. +In their dress, their table, their houses, and their furniture, +the favorites of fortune united every refinement of conveniency, +of elegance, and of splendor, whatever could soothe their pride +or gratify their sensuality. Such refinements, under the odious +name of luxury, have been severely arraigned by the moralists of +every age; and it might perhaps be more conducive to the virtue, +as well as happiness, of mankind, if all possessed the +necessaries, and none the superfluities, of life. But in the +present imperfect condition of society, luxury, though it may +proceed from vice or folly, seems to be the only means that can +correct the unequal distribution of property. The diligent +mechanic, and the skilful artist, who have obtained no share in +the division of the earth, receive a voluntary tax from the +possessors of land; and the latter are prompted, by a sense of +interest, to improve those estates, with whose produce they may +purchase additional pleasures. This operation, the particular +effects of which are felt in every society, acted with much more +diffusive energy in the Roman world. The provinces would soon +have been exhausted of their wealth, if the manufactures and +commerce of luxury had not insensibly restored to the industrious +subjects the sums which were exacted from them by the arms and +authority of Rome. As long as the circulation was confined +within the bounds of the empire, it impressed the political +machine with a new degree of activity, and its consequences, +sometimes beneficial, could never become pernicious. + + But it is no easy task to confine luxury within the limits +of an empire. The most remote countries of the ancient world were +ransacked to supply the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The forests +of Scythia afforded some valuable furs. Amber was brought over +land from the shores of the Baltic to the Danube; and the +barbarians were astonished at the price which they received in +exchange for so useless a commodity. ^101 There was a +considerable demand for Babylonian carpets, and other +manufactures of the East; but the most important and unpopular +branch of foreign trade was carried on with Arabia and India. +Every year, about the time of the summer solstice, a fleet of a +hundred and twenty vessels sailed from Myos-hormos, a port of +Egypt, on the Red Sea. By the periodical assistance of the +monsoons, they traversed the ocean in about forty days. The +coast of Malabar, or the island of Ceylon, ^102 was the usual +term of their navigation, and it was in those markets that the +merchants from the more remote countries of Asia expected their +arrival. The return of the fleet of Egypt was fixed to the months +of December or January; and as soon as their rich cargo had been +transported on the backs of camels, from the Red Sea to the Nile, +and had descended that river as far as Alexandria, it was poured, +without delay, into the capital of the empire. ^103 The objects +of oriental traffic were splendid and trifling; silk, a pound of +which was esteemed not inferior in value to a pound of gold; ^104 +precious stones, among which the pearl claimed the first rank +after the diamond; ^105 and a variety of aromatics, that were +consumed in religious worship and the pomp of funerals. The +labor and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost incredible +profit; but the profit was made upon Roman subjects, and a few +individuals were enriched at the expense of the public. As the +natives of Arabia and India were contented with the productions +and manufactures of their own country, silver, on the side of the +Romans, was the principal, if not the only ^* instrument of +commerce. It was a complaint worthy of the gravity of the +senate, that, in the purchase of female ornaments, the wealth of +the state was irrecoverably given away to foreign and hostile +nations. ^106 The annual loss is computed, by a writer of an +inquisitive but censorious temper, at upwards of eight hundred +thousand pounds sterling. ^107 Such was the style of discontent, +brooding over the dark prospect of approaching poverty. And yet, +if we compare the proportion between gold and silver, as it stood +in the time of Pliny, and as it was fixed in the reign of +Constantine, we shall discover within that period a very +considerable increase. ^108 There is not the least reason to +suppose that gold was become more scarce; it is therefore evident +that silver was grown more common; that whatever might be the +amount of the Indian and Arabian exports, they were far from +exhausting the wealth of the Roman world; and that the produce of +the mines abundantly supplied the demands of commerce. + +[Footnote 101: Tacit. Germania, c. 45. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxvii. +13. The latter observed, with some humor, that even fashion had +not yet found out the use of amber. Nero sent a Roman knight to +purchase great quantities on the spot where it was produced, the +coast of modern Prussia.] + +[Footnote 102: Called Taprobana by the Romans, and Serindib by +the Arabs. It was discovered under the reign of Claudius, and +gradually became the principal mart of the East.] + +[Footnote 103: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. vi. Strabo, l. xvii.] +[Footnote 104: Hist. August. p. 224. A silk garment was +considered as an ornament to a woman, but as a disgrace to a +man.] + +[Footnote 105: The two great pearl fisheries were the same as at +present, Ormuz and Cape Comorin. As well as we can compare +ancient with modern geography, Rome was supplied with diamonds +from the mine of Jumelpur, in Bengal, which is described in the +Voyages de Tavernier, tom. ii. p. 281.] +[Footnote *: Certainly not the only one. The Indians were not so +contented with regard to foreign productions. Arrian has a long +list of European wares, which they received in exchange for their +own; Italian and other wines, brass, tin, lead, coral, +chrysolith, storax, glass, dresses of one or many colors, zones, +&c. See Periplus Maris Erythraei in Hudson, Geogr. Min. i. p. +27. - W. The German translator observes that Gibbon has confined +the use of aromatics to religious worship and funerals. His +error seems the omission of other spices, of which the Romans +must have consumed great quantities in their cookery. Wenck, +however, admits that silver was the chief article of exchange. - +M. + + In 1787, a peasant (near Nellore in the Carnatic) struck, in +digging, on the remains of a Hindu temple; he found, also, a pot +which contained Roman coins and medals of the second century, +mostly Trajans, Adrians, and Faustinas, all of gold, many of them +fresh and beautiful, others defaced or perforated, as if they had +been worn as ornaments. (Asiatic Researches, ii. 19.) - M.] + +[Footnote 106: Tacit. Annal. iii. 53. In a speech of Tiberius.] +[Footnote 107: Plin. Hist. Natur. xii. 18. In another place he +computes half that sum; Quingenties H. S. for India exclusive of +Arabia.] +[Footnote 108: The proportion, which was 1 to 10, and 12 1/2, +rose to 14 2/5, the legal regulation of Constantine. See +Arbuthnot's Tables of ancient Coins, c. 5.] + + Notwithstanding the propensity of mankind to exalt the past, +and to depreciate the present, the tranquil and prosperous state +of the empire was warmly felt, and honestly confessed, by the +provincials as well as Romans. "They acknowledged that the true +principles of social life, laws, agriculture, and science, which +had been first invented by the wisdom of Athens, were now firmly +established by the power of Rome, under whose auspicious +influence the fiercest barbarians were united by an equal +government and common language. They affirm, that with the +improvement of arts, the human species were visibly multiplied. +They celebrate the increasing splendor of the cities, the +beautiful face of the country, cultivated and adorned like an +immense garden; and the long festival of peace which was enjoyed +by so many nations, forgetful of the ancient animosities, and +delivered from the apprehension of future danger." ^109 Whatever +suspicions may be suggested by the air of rhetoric and +declamation, which seems to prevail in these passages, the +substance of them is perfectly agreeable to historic truth. + +[Footnote 109: Among many other passages, see Pliny, (Hist. +Natur. iii. 5.) Aristides, (de Urbe Roma,) and Tertullian, (de +Anima, c. 30.)] + It was scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries +should discover in the public felicity the latent causes of decay +and corruption. This long peace, and the uniform government of +the Romans, introduced a slow and secret poison into the vitals +of the empire. The minds of men were gradually reduced to the +same level, the fire of genius was extinguished, and even the +military spirit evaporated. The natives of Europe were brave and +robust. Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum supplied the legions +with excellent soldiers, and constituted the real strength of the +monarchy. Their personal valor remained, but they no longer +possessed that public courage which is nourished by the love of +independence, the sense of national honor, the presence of +danger, and the habit of command. They received laws and +governors from the will of their sovereign, and trusted for their +defence to a mercenary army. The posterity of their boldest +leaders was contented with the rank of citizens and subjects. +The most aspiring spirits resorted to the court or standard of +the emperors; and the deserted provinces, deprived of political +strength or union, insensibly sunk into the languid indifference +of private life. + + The love of letters, almost inseparable from peace and +refinement, was fashionable among the subjects of Hadrian and the +Antonines, who were themselves men of learning and curiosity. It +was diffused over the whole extent of their empire; the most +northern tribes of Britons had acquired a taste for rhetoric; +Homer as well as Virgil were transcribed and studied on the banks +of the Rhine and Danube; and the most liberal rewards sought out +the faintest glimmerings of literary merit. ^110 The sciences of +physic and astronomy were successfully cultivated by the Greeks; +the observations of Ptolemy and the writings of Galen are studied +by those who have improved their discoveries and corrected their +errors; but if we except the inimitable Lucian, this age of +indolence passed away without having produced a single writer of +original genius, or who excelled in the arts of elegant +composition. ^! The authority of Plato and Aristotle, of Zeno and +Epicurus, still reigned in the schools; and their systems, +transmitted with blind deference from one generation of disciples +to another, precluded every generous attempt to exercise the +powers, or enlarge the limits, of the human mind. The beauties +of the poets and orators, instead of kindling a fire like their +own, inspired only cold and servile mitations: or if any ventured +to deviate from those models, they deviated at the same time from +good sense and propriety. On the revival of letters, the +youthful vigor of the imagination, after a long repose, national +emulation, a new religion, new languages, and a new world, called +forth the genius of Europe. But the provincials of Rome, trained +by a uniform artificial foreign education, were engaged in a very +unequal competition with those bold ancients, who, by expressing +their genuine feelings in their native tongue, had already +occupied every place of honor. The name of Poet was almost +forgotten; that of Orator was usurped by the sophists. A cloud +of critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the face of +learning, and the decline of genius was soon followed by the +corruption of taste. + +[Footnote 110: Herodes Atticus gave the sophist Polemo above +eight thousand pounds for three declamations. See Philostrat. l. +i. p. 538. The Antonines founded a school at Athens, in which +professors of grammar, rhetoric, politics, and the four great +sects of philosophy were maintained at the public expense for the +instruction of youth. The salary of a philosopher was ten +thousand drachmae, between three and four hundred pounds a year. +Similar establishments were formed in the other great cities of +the empire. See Lucian in Eunuch. tom. ii. p. 352, edit. Reitz. +Philostrat. l. ii. p. 566. Hist. August. p. 21. Dion Cassius, +l. lxxi. p. 1195. Juvenal himself, in a morose satire, which in +every line betrays his own disappointment and envy, is obliged, +however, to say, - + + " - O Juvenes, circumspicit et stimulat vos. + Materiamque sibi Ducis indulgentia quaerit." - Satir. vii. +20. + Note: Vespasian first gave a salary to professors: he +assigned to each professor of rhetoric, Greek and Roman, centena +sestertia. (Sueton. in Vesp. 18. Hadrian and the Antonines, +though still liberal, were less profuse. - G. from W. Suetonius +wrote annua centena L. 807, 5, 10. - M.] +[Footnote !: This judgment is rather severe: besides the +physicians, astronomers, and grammarians, among whom there were +some very distinguished men, there were still, under Hadrian, +Suetonius, Florus, Plutarch; under the Antonines, Arrian, +Pausanias, Appian, Marcus Aurelius himself, Sextus Empiricus, &c. + +Jurisprudence gained much by the labors of Salvius Julianus, +Julius Celsus, Sex. Pomponius, Caius, and others. - G. from W. +Yet where, among these, is the writer of original genius, unless, +perhaps Plutarch? or even of a style really elegant? - M.] + + The sublime Longinus, who, in somewhat a later period, and +in the court of a Syrian queen, preserved the spirit of ancient +Athens, observes and laments this degeneracy of his +contemporaries, which debased their sentiments, enervated their +courage, and depressed their talents. "In the same manner," says +he, "as some children always remain pygmies, whose infant limbs +have been too closely confined, thus our tender minds, fettered +by the prejudices and habits of a just servitude, are unable to +expand themselves, or to attain that well-proportioned greatness +which we admire in the ancients; who, living under a popular +government, wrote with the same freedom as they acted." ^111 This +diminutive stature of mankind, if we pursue the metaphor, was +daily sinking below the old standard, and the Roman world was +indeed peopled by a race of pygmies; when the fierce giants of +the north broke in, and mended the puny breed. They restored a +manly spirit of freedom; and after the revolution of ten +centuries, freedom became the happy parent of taste and science. + +[Footnote 111: Longin. de Sublim. c. 44, p. 229, edit. Toll. +Here, too, we may say of Longinus, "his own example strengthens +all his laws." Instead of proposing his sentiments with a manly +boldness, he insinuates them with the most guarded caution; puts +them into the mouth of a friend, and as far as we can collect +from a corrupted text, makes a show of refuting them himself.] + +Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Part I. + +Of The Constitution Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The +Antonines. + + The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a +state, in which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be +distinguished, is intrusted with the execution of the laws, the +management of the revenue, and the command of the army. But, +unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant +guardians, the authority of so formidable a magistrate will soon +degenerate into despotism. The influence of the clergy, in an +age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert the +rights of mankind; but so intimate is the connection between the +throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very +seldom been seen on the side of the people. ^* A martial nobility +and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, +and collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only +balance capable of preserving a free constitution against +enterprises of an aspiring prince. + +[Footnote *: Often enough in the ages of superstition, but not in +the interest of the people or the state, but in that of the +church to which all others were subordinate. Yet the power of +the pope has often been of great service in repressing the +excesses of sovereigns, and in softening manners. - W. The +history of the Italian republics proves the error of Gibbon, and +the justice of his German translator's comment. - M.] + + Every barrier of the Roman constitution had been levelled by +the vast ambition of the dictator; every fence had been +extirpated by the cruel hand of the triumvir. After the victory +of Actium, the fate of the Roman world depended on the will of +Octavianus, surnamed Caesar, by his uncle's adoption, and +afterwards Augustus, by the flattery of the senate. The +conqueror was at the head of forty-four veteran legions, ^1 +conscious of their own strength, and of the weakness of the +constitution, habituated, during twenty years' civil war, to +every act of blood and violence, and passionately devoted to the +house of Caesar, from whence alone they had received, and +expected the most lavish rewards. The provinces, long oppressed +by the ministers of the republic, sighed for the government of a +single person, who would be the master, not the accomplice, of +those petty tyrants. The people of Rome, viewing, with a secret +pleasure, the humiliation of the aristocracy, demanded only bread +and public shows; and were supplied with both by the liberal hand +of Augustus. The rich and polite Italians, who had almost +universally embraced the philosophy of Epicurus, enjoyed the +present blessings of ease and tranquillity, and suffered not the +pleasing dream to be interrupted by the memory of their old +tumultuous freedom. With its power, the senate had lost its +dignity; many of the most noble families were extinct. The +republicans of spirit and ability had perished in the field of +battle, or in the proscription . The door of the assembly had +been designedly left open, for a mixed multitude of more than a +thousand persons, who reflected disgrace upon their rank, instead +of deriving honor from it. ^2 + +[Footnote 1: Orosius, vi. 18. + + Note: Dion says twenty-five, (or three,) (lv. 23.) The +united triumvirs had but forty-three. (Appian. Bell. Civ. iv. +3.) The testimony of Orosius is of little value when more certain +may be had. - W. But all the legions, doubtless, submitted to +Augustus after the battle of Actium. - M.] +[Footnote 2: Julius Caesar introduced soldiers, strangers, and +half- barbarians into the senate (Sueton. in Caesar. c. 77, 80.) +The abuse became still more scandalous after his death.] + + The reformation of the senate was one of the first steps in +which Augustus laid aside the tyrant, and professed himself the +father of his country. He was elected censor; and, in concert +with his faithful Agrippa, he examined the list of the senators, +expelled a few members, ^* whose vices or whose obstinacy +required a public example, persuaded near two hundred to prevent +the shame of an expulsion by a voluntary retreat, raised the +qualification of a senator to about ten thousand pounds, created +a sufficient number of patrician families, and accepted for +himself the honorable title of Prince of the Senate, ^! which had +always been bestowed, by the censors, on the citizen the most +eminent for his honors and services. ^3 But whilst he thus +restored the dignity, he destroyed the independence, of the +senate. The principles of a free constitution are irrecoverably +lost, when the legislative power is nominated by the executive. + +[Footnote *: Of these Dion and Suetonius knew nothing. - W. Dion +says the contrary. - M.] + +[Footnote !: But Augustus, then Octavius, was censor, and in +virtue of that office, even according to the constitution of the +free republic, could reform the senate, expel unworthy members, +name the Princeps Senatus, &c. That was called, as is well known, +Senatum legere. It was customary, during the free republic, for +the censor to be named Princeps Senatus, (S. Liv. l. xxvii. c. +11, l. xl. c. 51;) and Dion expressly says, that this was done +according to ancient usage. He was empowered by a decree of the +senate to admit a number of families among the patricians. +Finally, the senate was not the legislative power. - W] + +[Footnote 3: Dion Cassius, l. liii. p. 693. Suetonius in August. +c. 35.] + Before an assembly thus modelled and prepared, Augustus +pronounced a studied oration, which displayed his patriotism, and +disguised his ambition. "He lamented, yet excused, his past +conduct. Filial piety had required at his hands the revenge of +his father's murder; the humanity of his own nature had sometimes +given way to the stern laws of necessity, and to a forced +connection with two unworthy colleagues: as long as Antony lived, +the republic forbade him to abandon her to a degenerate Roman, +and a barbarian queen. He was now at liberty to satisfy his duty +and his inclination. He solemnly restored the senate and people +to all their ancient rights; and wished only to mingle with the +crowd of his fellow-citizens, and to share the blessings which he +had obtained for his country." ^4 + +[Footnote 4: Dion (l. liii. p. 698) gives us a prolix and bombast +speech on this great occasion. I have borrowed from Suetonius +and Tacitus the general language of Augustus.] + + It would require the pen of Tacitus (if Tacitus had assisted +at this assembly) to describe the various emotions of the senate, +those that were suppressed, and those that were affected. It was +dangerous to trust the sincerity of Augustus; to seem to distrust +it was still more dangerous. The respective advantages of +monarchy and a republic have often divided speculative inquirers; +the present greatness of the Roman state, the corruption of +manners, and the license of the soldiers, supplied new arguments +to the advocates of monarchy; and these general views of +government were again warped by the hopes and fears of each +individual. Amidst this confusion of sentiments, the answer of +the senate was unanimous and decisive. They refused to accept the +resignation of Augustus; they conjured him not to desert the +republic, which he had saved. After a decent resistance, the +crafty tyrant submitted to the orders of the senate; and +consented to receive the government of the provinces, and the +general command of the Roman armies, under the well-known names +of Proconsul and Imperator. ^5 But he would receive them only for +ten years. Even before the expiration of that period, he hope +that the wounds of civil discord would be completely healed, and +that the republic, restored to its pristine health and vigor, +would no longer require the dangerous interposition of so +extraordinary a magistrate. The memory of this comedy, repeated +several times during the life of Augustus, was preserved to the +last ages of the empire, by the peculiar pomp with which the +perpetual monarchs of Rome always solemnized the tenth years of +their reign. ^6 + +[Footnote 5: Imperator (from which we have derived Emperor) +signified under her republic no more than general, and was +emphatically bestowed by the soldiers, when on the field of +battle they proclaimed their victorious leader worthy of that +title. When the Roman emperors assumed it in that sense, they +placed it after their name, and marked how often they had taken +it.] +[Footnote 6: Dion. l. liii. p. 703, &c.] + + Without any violation of the principles of the constitution, +the general of the Roman armies might receive and exercise an +authority almost despotic over the soldiers, the enemies, and the +subjects of the republic. With regard to the soldiers, the +jealousy of freedom had, even from the earliest ages of Rome, +given way to the hopes of conquest, and a just sense of military +discipline. The dictator, or consul, had a right to command the +service of the Roman youth; and to punish an obstinate or +cowardly disobedience by the most severe and ignominious +penalties, by striking the offender out of the list of citizens, +by confiscating his property, and by selling his person into +slavery. ^7 The most sacred rights of freedom, confirmed by the +Porcian and Sempronian laws, were suspended by the military +engagement. In his camp the general exercise an absolute power +of life and death; his jurisdiction was not confined by any forms +of trial, or rules of proceeding, and the execution of the +sentence was immediate and without appeal. ^8 The choice of the +enemies of Rome was regularly decided by the legislative +authority. The most important resolutions of peace and war were +seriously debated in the senate, and solemnly ratified by the +people. But when the arms of the legions were carried to a great +distance from Italy, the general assumed the liberty of directing +them against whatever people, and in whatever manner, they judged +most advantageous for the public service. It was from the +success, not from the justice, of their enterprises, that they +expected the honors of a triumph. In the use of victory, +especially after they were no longer controlled by the +commissioners of the senate, they exercised the most unbounded +despotism. When Pompey commanded in the East, he rewarded his +soldiers and allies, dethroned princes, divided kingdoms, founded +colonies, and distributed the treasures of Mithridates. On his +return to Rome, he obtained, by a single act of the senate and +people, the universal ratification of all his proceedings. ^9 +Such was the power over the soldiers, and over the enemies of +Rome, which was either granted to, or assumed by, the generals of +the republic. They were, at the same time, the governors, or +rather monarchs, of the conquered provinces, united the civil +with the military character, administered justice as well as the +finances, and exercised both the executive and legislative power +of the state. +[Footnote 7: Livy Epitom. l. xiv. [c. 27.] Valer. Maxim. vi. 3.] +[Footnote 8: See, in the viiith book of Livy, the conduct of +Manlius Torquatus and Papirius Cursor. They violated the laws of +nature and humanity, but they asserted those of military +discipline; and the people, who abhorred the action, was obliged +to respect the principle.] +[Footnote 9: By the lavish but unconstrained suffrages of the +people, Pompey had obtained a military command scarcely inferior +to that of Augustus. Among the extraordinary acts of power +executed by the former we may remark the foundation of +twenty-nine cities, and the distribution of three or four +millions sterling to his troops. The ratification of his acts +met with some opposition and delays in the senate See Plutarch, +Appian, Dion Cassius, and the first book of the epistles to +Atticus.] + + From what has already been observed in the first chapter of +this work, some notion may be formed of the armies and provinces +thus intrusted to the ruling hand of Augustus. But as it was +impossible that he could personally command the regions of so +many distant frontiers, he was indulged by the senate, as Pompey +had already been, in the permission of devolving the execution of +his great office on a sufficient number of lieutenants. In rank +and authority these officers seemed not inferior to the ancient +proconsuls; but their station was dependent and precarious. They +received and held their commissions at the will of a superior, to +whose auspicious influence the merit of their action was legally +attributed. ^10 They were the representatives of the emperor. +The emperor alone was the general of the republic, and his +jurisdiction, civil as well as military, extended over all the +conquests of Rome. It was some satisfaction, however, to the +senate, that he always delegated his power to the members of +their body. The imperial lieutenants were of consular or +praetorian dignity; the legions were commanded by senators, and +the praefecture of Egypt was the only important trust committed +to a Roman knight. + +[Footnote 10: Under the commonwealth, a triumph could only be +claimed by the general, who was authorized to take the Auspices +in the name of the people. By an exact consequence, drawn from +this principle of policy and religion, the triumph was reserved +to the emperor; and his most successful lieutenants were +satisfied with some marks of distinction, which, under the name +of triumphal honors, were invented in their favor.] + + Within six days after Augustus had been compelled to accept +so very liberal a grant, he resolved to gratify the pride of the +senate by an easy sacrifice. He represented to them, that they +had enlarged his powers, even beyond that degree which might be +required by the melancholy condition of the times. They had not +permitted him to refuse the laborious command of the armies and +the frontiers; but he must insist on being allowed to restore the +more peaceful and secure provinces to the mild administration of +the civil magistrate. In the division of the provinces, Augustus +provided for his own power and for the dignity of the republic. +The proconsuls of the senate, particularly those of Asia, Greece, +and Africa, enjoyed a more honorable character than the +lieutenants of the emperor, who commanded in Gaul or Syria. The +former were attended by lictors, the latter by soldiers. ^* A law +was passed, that wherever the emperor was present, his +extraordinary commission should supersede the ordinary +jurisdiction of the governor; a custom was introduced, that the +new conquests belonged to the imperial portion; and it was soon +discovered that the authority of the Prtnce, the favorite epithet +of Augustus, was the same in every part of the empire. +[Footnote *: This distinction is without foundation. The +lieutenants of the emperor, who were called Propraetors, whether +they had been praetors or consuls, were attended by six lictors; +those who had the right of the sword, (of life and death over the +soldiers. - M.) bore the military habit (paludamentum) and the +sword. The provincial governors commissioned by the senate, who, +whether they had been consuls or not, were called Pronconsuls, +had twelve lictors when they had been consuls, and six only when +they had but been praetors. The provinces of Africa and Asia +were only given to ex- consuls. See, on the Organization of the +Provinces, Dion, liii. 12, 16 Strabo, xvii 840.- W] + + In return for this imaginary concession, Augustus obtained +an important privilege, which rendered him master of Rome and +Italy. By a dangerous exception to the ancient maxims, he was +authorized to preserve his military command, supported by a +numerous body of guards, even in time of peace, and in the heart +of the capital. His command, indeed, was confined to those +citizens who were engaged in the service by the military oath; +but such was the propensity of the Romans to servitude, that the +oath was voluntarily taken by the magistrates, the senators, and +the equestrian order, till the homage of flattery was insensibly +converted into an annual and solemn protestation of fidelity. + + Although Augustus considered a military force as the firmest +foundation, he wisely rejected it, as a very odious instrument of +government. It was more agreeable to his temper, as well as to +his policy, to reign under the venerable names of ancient +magistracy, and artfully to collect, in his own person, all the +scattered rays of civil jurisdiction. With this view, he +permitted the senate to confer upon him, for his life, the powers +of the consular ^11 and tribunitian offices, ^12 which were, in +the same manner, continued to all his successors. The consuls +had succeeded to the kings of Rome, and represented the dignity +of the state. They superintended the ceremonies of religion, +levied and commanded the legions, gave audience to foreign +ambassadors, and presided in the assemblies both of the senate +and people. The general control of the finances was intrusted to +their care; and though they seldom had leisure to administer +justice in person, they were considered as the supreme guardians +of law, equity, and the public peace. Such was their ordinary +jurisdiction; but whenever the senate empowered the first +magistrate to consult the safety of the commonwealth, he was +raised by that decree above the laws, and exercised, in the +defence of liberty, a temporary despotism. ^13 The character of +the tribunes was, in every respect, different from that of the +consuls. The appearance of the former was modest and humble; but +their persons were sacred and inviolable. Their force was suited +rather for opposition than for action. They were instituted to +defend the oppressed, to pardon offences, to arraign the enemies +of the people, and, when they judged it necessary, to stop, by a +single word, the whole machine of government. As long as the +republic subsisted, the dangerous influence, which either the +consul or the tribune might derive from their respective +jurisdiction, was diminished by several important restrictions. +Their authority expired with the year in which they were elected; +the former office was divided between two, the latter among ten +persons; and, as both in their private and public interest they +were averse to each other, their mutual conflicts contributed, +for the most part, to strengthen rather than to destroy the +balance of the constitution. ^* But when the consular and +tribunitian powers were united, when they were vested for life in +a single person, when the general of the army was, at the same +time, the minister of the senate and the representative of the +Roman people, it was impossible to resist the exercise, nor was +it easy to define the limits, of his imperial prerogative. + +[Footnote 11: Cicero (de Legibus, iii. 3) gives the consular +office the name of egia potestas; and Polybius (l. vi. c. 3) +observes three powers in the Roman constitution. The monarchical +was represented and exercised by the consuls.] + +[Footnote 12: As the tribunitian power (distinct from the annual +office) was first invented by the dictator Caesar, (Dion, l. +xliv. p. 384,) we may easily conceive, that it was given as a +reward for having so nobly asserted, by arms, the sacred rights +of the tribunes and people. See his own Commentaries, de Bell. +Civil. l. i.] + +[Footnote 13: Augustus exercised nine annual consulships without +interruption. He then most artfully refused the magistracy, as +well as the dictatorship, absented himself from Rome, and waited +till the fatal effects of tumult and faction forced the senate to +invest him with a perpetual consulship. Augustus, as well as his +successors, affected, however, to conceal so invidious a title.] + +[Footnote *: The note of M. Guizot on the tribunitian power +applies to the French translation rather than to the original. +The former has, maintenir la balance toujours egale, which +implies much more than Gibbon's general expression. The note +belongs rather to the history of the Republic than that of the +Empire. - M] + + To these accumulated honors, the policy of Augustus soon +added the splendid as well as important dignities of supreme +pontiff, and of censor. By the former he acquired the management +of the religion, and by the latter a legal inspection over the +manners and fortunes, of the Roman people. If so many distinct +and independent powers did not exactly unite with each other, the +complaisance of the senate was prepared to supply every +deficiency by the most ample and extraordinary concessions. The +emperors, as the first ministers of the republic, were exempted +from the obligation and penalty of many inconvenient laws: they +were authorized to convoke the senate, to make several motions in +the same day, to recommend candidates for the honors of the +state, to enlarge the bounds of the city, to employ the revenue +at their discretion, to declare peace and war, to ratify +treaties; and by a most comprehensive clause, they were empowered +to execute whatsoever they should judge advantageous to the +empire, and agreeable to the majesty of things private or public, +human of divine. ^14 + +[Footnote 14: See a fragment of a Decree of the Senate, +conferring on the emperor Vespasian all the powers granted to his +predecessors, Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius. This curious and +important monument is published in Gruter's Inscriptions, No. +ccxlii. + + Note: It is also in the editions of Tacitus by Ryck, (Annal. +p. 420, 421,) and Ernesti, (Excurs. ad lib. iv. 6;) but this +fragment contains so many inconsistencies, both in matter and +form, that its authenticity may be doubted - W.] + + When all the various powers of executive government were +committed to the Imperial magistrate, the ordinary magistrates of +the commonwealth languished in obscurity, without vigor, and +almost without business. The names and forms of the ancient +administration were preserved by Augustus with the most anxious +care. The usual number of consuls, praetors, and tribunes, ^15 +were annually invested with their respective ensigns of office, +and continued to discharge some of their least important +functions. Those honors still attracted the vain ambition of the +Romans; and the emperors themselves, though invested for life +with the powers of the consul ship, frequently aspired to the +title of that annual dignity, which they condescended to share +with the most illustrious of their fellow-citizens. ^16 In the +election of these magistrates, the people, during the reign of +Augustus, were permitted to expose all the inconveniences of a +wild democracy. That artful prince, instead of discovering the +least symptom of impatience, humbly solicited their suffrages for +himself or his friends, and scrupulously practised all the duties +of an ordinary candidate. ^17 But we may venture to ascribe to +his councils the first measure of the succeeding reign, by which +the elections were transferred to the senate. ^18 The assemblies +of the people were forever abolished, and the emperors were +delivered from a dangerous multitude, who, without restoring +liberty, might have disturbed, and perhaps endangered, the +established government. + +[Footnote 15: Two consuls were created on the Calends of January; +but in the course of the year others were substituted in their +places, till the annual number seems to have amounted to no less +than twelve. The praetors were usually sixteen or eighteen, +(Lipsius in Excurs. D. ad Tacit. Annal. l. i.) I have not +mentioned the Aediles or Quaestors Officers of the police or +revenue easily adapt themselves to any form of government. In +the time of Nero, the tribunes legally possessed the right of +intercession, though it might be dangerous to exercise it (Tacit. +Annal. xvi. 26.) In the time of Trajan, it was doubtful whether +the tribuneship was an office or a name, (Plin. Epist. i. 23.)] + +[Footnote 16: The tyrants themselves were ambitious of the +consulship. The virtuous princes were moderate in the pursuit, +and exact in the discharge of it. Trajan revived the ancient +oath, and swore before the consul's tribunal that he would +observe the laws, (Plin. Panegyric c. 64.)] + +[Footnote 17: Quoties Magistratuum Comitiis interesset. Tribus +cum candidatis suis circunbat: supplicabatque more solemni. +Ferebat et ipse suffragium in tribubus, ut unus e populo. +Suetonius in August c. 56.] +[Footnote 18: Tum primum Comitia e campo ad patres translata +sunt. Tacit. Annal. i. 15. The word primum seems to allude to +some faint and unsuccessful efforts which were made towards +restoring them to the people. + Note: The emperor Caligula made the attempt: he rest red the +Comitia to the people, but, in a short time, took them away +again. Suet. in Caio. c. 16. Dion. lix. 9, 20. Nevertheless, at +the time of Dion, they preserved still the form of the Comitia. +Dion. lviii. 20. - W.] + + By declaring themselves the protectors of the people, Marius +and Caesar had subverted the constitution of their country. But +as soon as the senate had been humbled and disarmed, such an +assembly, consisting of five or six hundred persons, was found a +much more tractable and useful instrument of dominion. It was on +the dignity of the senate that Augustus and his successors +founded their new empire; and they affected, on every occasion, +to adopt the language and principles of Patricians. In the +administration of their own powers, they frequently consulted the +great national council, and seemed to refer to its decision the +most important concerns of peace and war. Rome, Italy, and the +internal provinces, were subject to the immediate jurisdiction of +the senate. With regard to civil objects, it was the supreme +court of appeal; with regard to criminal matters, a tribunal, +constituted for the trial of all offences that were committed by +men in any public station, or that affected the peace and majesty +of the Roman people. The exercise of the judicial power became +the most frequent and serious occupation of the senate; and the +important causes that were pleaded before them afforded a last +refuge to the spirit of ancient eloquence. As a council of +state, and as a court of justice, the senate possessed very +considerable prerogatives; but in its legislative capacity, in +which it was supposed virtually to represent the people, the +rights of sovereignty were acknowledged to reside in that +assembly. Every power was derived from their authority, every +law was ratified by their sanction. Their regular meetings were +held on three stated days in every month, the Calends, the Nones, +and the Ides. The debates were conducted with decent freedom; +and the emperors themselves, who gloried in the name of senators, +sat, voted, and divided with their equals. + To resume, in a few words, the system of the Imperial +government; as it was instituted by Augustus, and maintained by +those princes who understood their own interest and that of the +people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by the +forms of a commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world +surrounded their throne with darkness, concealed their +irresistible strength, and humbly professed themselves the +accountable ministers of the senate, whose supreme decrees they +dictated and obeyed. ^19 +[Footnote 19: Dion Cassius (l. liii. p. 703 - 714) has given a +very loose and partial sketch of the Imperial system. To +illustrate and often to correct him, I have meditated Tacitus, +examined Suetonius, and consulted the following moderns: the Abbe +de la Bleterie, in the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, +tom. xix. xxi. xxiv. xxv. xxvii. Beaufort Republique Romaine, +tom. i. p. 255 - 275. The Dissertations of Noodt aad Gronovius +de lege Regia, printed at Leyden, in the year 1731 Gravina de +Imperio Romano, p. 479 - 544 of his Opuscula. Maffei, Verona +Illustrata, p. i. p. 245, &c.] + The face of the court corresponded with the forms of the +administration. The emperors, if we except those tyrants whose +capricious folly violated every law of nature and decency, +disdained that pomp and ceremony which might offend their +countrymen, but could add nothing to their real power. In all +the offices of life, they affected to confound themselves with +their subjects, and maintained with them an equal intercourse of +visits and entertainments. Their habit, their palace, their +table, were suited only to the rank of an opulent senator. Their +family, however numerous or splendid, was composed entirely of +their domestic slaves and freedmen. ^20 Augustus or Trajan would +have blushed at employing the meanest of the Romans in those +menial offices, which, in the household and bedchamber of a +limited monarch, are so eagerly solicited by the proudest nobles +of Britain. +[Footnote 20: A weak prince will always be governed by his +domestics. The power of slaves aggravated the shame of the +Romans; and the senate paid court to a Pallas or a Narcissus. +There is a chance that a modern favorite may be a gentleman.] + + The deification of the emperors ^21 is the only instance in +which they departed from their accustomed prudence and modesty. +The Asiatic Greeks were the first inventors, the successors of +Alexander the first objects, of this servile and impious mode of +adulation. ^* It was easily transferred from the kings to the +governors of Asia; and the Roman magistrates very frequently were +adored as provincial deities, with the pomp of altars and +temples, of festivals and sacrifices. ^22 It was natural that the +emperors should not refuse what the proconsuls had accepted; and +the divine honors which both the one and the other received from +the provinces, attested rather the despotism than the servitude +of Rome. But the conquerors soon imitated the vanquished nations +in the arts of flattery; and the imperious spirit of the first +Caesar too easily consented to assume, during his lifetime, a +place among the tutelar deities of Rome. The milder temper of +his successor declined so dangerous an ambition, which was never +afterwards revived, except by the madness of Caligula and +Domitian. Augustus permitted indeed some of the provincial +cities to erect temples to his honor, on condition that they +should associate the worship of Rome with that of the sovereign; +he tolerated private superstition, of which he might be the +object; ^23 but he contented himself with being revered by the +senate and the people in his human character, and wisely left to +his successor the care of his public deification. A regular +custom was introduced, that on the decease of every emperor who +had neither lived nor died like a tyrant, the senate by a solemn +decree should place him in the number of the gods: and the +ceremonies of his apotheosis were blended with those of his +funeral. ^! This legal, and, as it should seem, injudicious +profanation, so abhorrent to our stricter principles, was +received with a very faint murmur, ^24 by the easy nature of +Polytheism; but it was received as an institution, not of +religion, but of policy. We should disgrace the virtues of the +Antonines by comparing them with the vices of Hercules or +Jupiter. Even the characters of Caesar or Augustus were far +superior to those of the popular deities. But it was the +misfortune of the former to live in an enlightened age, and their +actions were too faithfully recorded to admit of such a mixture +of fable and mystery, as the devotion of the vulgar requires. As +soon as their divinity was established by law, it sunk into +oblivion, without contributing either to their own fame, or to +the dignity of succeeding princes. + +[Footnote 21: See a treatise of Vandale de Consecratione +Principium. It would be easier for me to copy, than it has been +to verify, the quotations of that learned Dutchman.] + +[Footnote *: This is inaccurate. The successors of Alexander +were not the first deified sovereigns; the Egyptians had deified +and worshipped many of their kings; the Olympus of the Greeks was +peopled with divinities who had reigned on earth; finally, +Romulus himself had received the honors of an apotheosis (Tit. +Liv. i. 16) a long time before Alexander and his successors. It +is also an inaccuracy to confound the honors offered in the +provinces to the Roman governors, by temples and altars, with the +true apotheosis of the emperors; it was not a religious worship, +for it had neither priests nor sacrifices. Augustus was severely +blamed for having permitted himself to be worshipped as a god in +the provinces, (Tac. Ann. i. 10: ) he would not have incurred +that blame if he had only done what the governors were accustomed +to do. - G. from W. M. Guizot has been guilty of a still greater +inaccuracy in confounding the deification of the living with the +apotheosis of the dead emperors. The nature of the king-worship +of Egypt is still very obscure; the hero-worship of the Greeks +very different from the adoration of the "praesens numen" in the +reigning sovereign. - M.] + +[Footnote 22: See a dissertation of the Abbe Mongault in the +first volume of the Academy of Inscriptions.] + +[Footnote 23: Jurandasque tuum per nomen ponimus aras, says +Horace to the emperor himself, and Horace was well acquainted +with the court of Augustus. + Note: The good princes were not those who alone obtained the +honors of an apotheosis: it was conferred on many tyrants. See +an excellent treatise of Schaepflin, de Consecratione Imperatorum +Romanorum, in his Commentationes historicae et criticae. Bale, +1741, p. 184. - W.] + +[Footnote !: The curious satire in the works of Seneca, is the +strongest remonstrance of profaned religion. - M.] + +[Footnote 24: See Cicero in Philippic. i. 6. Julian in +Caesaribus. Inque Deum templis jurabit Roma per umbras, is the +indignant expression of Lucan; but it is a patriotic rather than +a devout indignation.] + + In the consideration of the Imperial government, we have +frequently mentioned the artful founder, under his well-known +title of Augustus, which was not, however, conferred upon him +till the edifice was almost completed. The obscure name of +Octavianus he derived from a mean family, in the little town of +Aricia. ^! It was stained with the blood of the proscription; and +he was desirous, had it been possible, to erase all memory of his +former life. The illustrious surname of Caesar he had assumed, as +the adopted son of the dictator: but he had too much good sense, +either to hope to be confounded, or to wish to be compared with +that extraordinary man. It was proposed in the senate to dignify +their minister with a new appellation; and after a serious +discussion, that of Augustus was chosen, among several others, as +being the most expressive of the character of peace and sanctity, +which he uniformly affected. ^25 Augustus was therefore a +personal, Caesar a family distinction. The former should +naturally have expired with the prince on whom it was bestowed; +and however the latter was diffused by adoption and female +alliance, Nero was the last prince who could allege any +hereditary claim to the honors of the Julian line. But, at the +time of his death, the practice of a century had inseparably +connected those appellations with the Imperial dignity, and they +have been preserved by a long succession of emperors, Romans, +Greeks, Franks, and Germans, from the fall of the republic to the +present time. A distinction was, however, soon introduced. The +sacred title of Augustus was always reserved for the monarch, +whilst the name of Caesar was more freely communicated to his +relations; and, from the reign of Hadrian, at least, was +appropriated to the second person in the state, who was +considered as the presumptive heir of the empire. ^* + +[Footnote !: Octavius was not of an obscure family, but of a +considerable one of the equestrian order. His father, C. +Octavius, who possessed great property, had been praetor, +governor of Macedonia, adorned with the title of Imperator, and +was on the point of becoming consul when he died. His mother +Attia, was daughter of M. Attius Balbus, who had also been +praetor. M. Anthony reproached Octavius with having been born in +Aricia, which, nevertheless, was a considerable municipal city: +he was vigorously refuted by Cicero. Philip. iii. c. 6. - W. +Gibbon probably meant that the family had but recently emerged +into notice. - M.] + +[Footnote 25: Dion. Cassius, l. liii. p. 710, with the curious +Annotations of Reimar.] + +[Footnote *: The princes who by their birth or their adoption +belonged to the family of the Caesars, took the name of Caesar. +After the death of Nero, this name designated the Imperial +dignity itself, and afterwards the appointed successor. The time +at which it was employed in the latter sense, cannot be fixed +with certainty. Bach (Hist. Jurisprud. Rom. 304) affirms from +Tacitus, H. i. 15, and Suetonius, Galba, 17, that Galba conferred +on Piso Lucinianus the title of Caesar, and from that time the +term had this meaning: but these two historians simply say that +he appointed Piso his successor, and do not mention the word +Caesar. Aurelius Victor (in Traj. 348, ed. Artzen) says that +Hadrian first received this title on his adoption; but as the +adoption of Hadrian is still doubtful, and besides this, as +Trajan, on his death-bed, was not likely to have created a new +title for his successor, it is more probable that Aelius Verus +was the first who was called Caesar when adopted by Hadrian. +Spart. in Aelio Vero, 102.- W.] + +Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines. + +Part II. + + The tender respect of Augustus for a free constitution which +he had destroyed, can only be explained by an attentive +consideration of the character of that subtle tyrant. A cool +head, an unfeeling heart, and a cowardly disposition, prompted +him at the age of nineteen to assume the mask of hypocrisy, which +he never afterwards laid aside. With the same hand, and probably +with the same temper, he signed the proscription of Cicero, and +the pardon of Cinna. His virtues, and even his vices, were +artificial; and according to the various dictates of his +interest, he was at first the enemy, and at last the father, of +the Roman world. ^26 When he framed the artful system of the +Imperial authority, his moderation was inspired by his fears. He +wished to deceive the people by an image of civil liberty, and +the armies by an image of civil government. + +[Footnote 26: As Octavianus advanced to the banquet of the +Caesars, his color changed like that of the chameleon; pale at +first, then red, afterwards black, he at last assumed the mild +livery of Venus and the Graces, (Caesars, p. 309.) This image, +employed by Julian in his ingenious fiction, is just and elegant; +but when he considers this change of character as real and +ascribes it to the power of philosophy, he does too much honor to +philosophy and to Octavianus.] + + I. The death of Caesar was ever before his eyes. He had +lavished wealth and honors on his adherents; but the most favored +friends of his uncle were in the number of the conspirators. The +fidelity of the legions might defend his authority against open +rebellion; but their vigilance could not secure his person from +the dagger of a determined republican; and the Romans, who +revered the memory of Brutus, ^27 would applaud the imitation of +his virtue. Caesar had provoked his fate, as much as by the +ostentation of his power, as by his power itself. The consul or +the tribune might have reigned in peace. The title of king had +armed the Romans against his life. Augustus was sensible that +mankind is governed by names; nor was he deceived in his +expectation, that the senate and people would submit to slavery, +provided they were respectfully assured that they still enjoyed +their ancient freedom. A feeble senate and enervated people +cheerfully acquiesced in the pleasing illusion, as long as it was +supported by the virtue, or even by the prudence, of the +successors of Augustus. It was a motive of self-preservation, +not a principle of liberty, that animated the conspirators +against Caligula, Nero, and Domitian. They attacked the person +of the tyrant, without aiming their blow at the authority of the +emperor. + +[Footnote 27: Two centuries after the establishment of monarchy, +the emperor Marcus Antoninus recommends the character of Brutus +as a perfect model of Roman virtue. + + Note: In a very ingenious essay, Gibbon has ventured to call +in question the preeminent virtue of Brutus. Misc Works, iv. 95. +- M.] + There appears, indeed, one memorable occasion, in which the +senate, after seventy years of patience, made an ineffectual +attempt to re-assume its long-forgotten rights. When the throne +was vacant by the murder of Caligula, the consuls convoked that +assembly in the Capitol, condemned the memory of the Caesars, +gave the watchword liberty to the few cohorts who faintly adhered +to their standard, and during eight-and-forty hours acted as the +independent chiefs of a free commonwealth. But while they +deliberated, the praetorian guards had resolved. The stupid +Claudius, brother of Germanicus, was already in their camp, +invested with the Imperial purple, and prepared to support his +election by arms. The dream of liberty was at an end; and the +senate awoke to all the horrors of inevitable servitude. +Deserted by the people, and threatened by a military force, that +feeble assembly was compelled to ratify the choice of the +praetorians, and to embrace the benefit of an amnesty, which +Claudius had the prudence to offer, and the generosity to +observe. ^28 + +[See The Capitol: When the throne was vacant by the murder of +Caligula, the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol.] + +[Footnote 28: It is much to be regretted that we have lost the +part of Tacitus which treated of that transaction. We are forced +to content ourselves with the popular rumors of Josephus, and the +imperfect hints of Dion and Suetonius.] + + II. The insolence of the armies inspired Augustus with +fears of a still more alarming nature. The despair of the +citizens could only attempt, what the power of the soldiers was, +at any time, able to execute. How precarious was his own +authority over men whom he had taught to violate every social +duty! He had heard their seditious clamors; he dreaded their +calmer moments of reflection. One revolution had been purchased +by immense rewards; but a second revolution might double those +rewards. The troops professed the fondest attachment to the +house of Caesar; but the attachments of the multitude are +capricious and inconstant. Augustus summoned to his aid whatever +remained in those fierce minds of Roman prejudices; enforced the +rigor of discipline by the sanction of law; and, interposing the +majesty of the senate between the emperor and the army, boldly +claimed their allegiance, as the first magistrate of the +republic. + + During a long period of two hundred and twenty years from +the establishment of this artful system to the death of Commodus, +the dangers inherent to a military government were, in a great +measure, suspended. The soldiers were seldom roused to that +fatal sense of their own strength, and of the weakness of the +civil authority, which was, before and afterwards, productive of +such dreadful calamities. Caligula and Domitian were +assassinated in their palace by their own domestics: ^* the +convulsions which agitated Rome on the death of the former, were +confined to the walls of the city. But Nero involved the whole +empire in his ruin. In the space of eighteen months, four +princes perished by the sword; and the Roman world was shaken by +the fury of the contending armies. Excepting only this short, +though violent eruption of military license, the two centuries +from Augustus ^29 to Commodus passed away unstained with civil +blood, and undisturbed by revolutions. The emperor was elected +by the authority of the senate, and the consent of the soldiers. +^30 The legions respected their oath of fidelity; and it requires +a minute inspection of the Roman annals to discover three +inconsiderable rebellions, which were all suppressed in a few +months, and without even the hazard of a battle. ^31 + +[Footnote *: Caligula perished by a conspiracy formed by the +officers of the praetorian troops, and Domitian would not, +perhaps, have been assassinated without the participation of the +two chiefs of that guard in his death. - W.] +[Footnote 29: Augustus restored the ancient severity of +discipline. After the civil wars, he dropped the endearing name +of Fellow-Soldiers, and called them only Soldiers, (Sueton. in +August. c. 25.) See the use Tiberius made of the Senate in the +mutiny of the Pannonian legions, (Tacit. Annal. i.)] +[Footnote 30: These words seem to have been the constitutional +language. See Tacit. Annal. xiii. 4. + + Note: This panegyric on the soldiery is rather too liberal. +Claudius was obliged to purchase their consent to his coronation: +the presents which he made, and those which the praetorians +received on other occasions, considerably embarrassed the +finances. Moreover, this formidable guard favored, in general, +the cruelties of the tyrants. The distant revolts were more +frequent than Gibbon thinks: already, under Tiberius, the legions +of Germany would have seditiously constrained Germanicus to +assume the Imperial purple. On the revolt of Claudius Civilis, +under Vespasian, the legions of Gaul murdered their general, and +offered their assistance to the Gauls who were in insurrection. +Julius Sabinus made himself be proclaimed emperor, &c. The wars, +the merit, and the severe discipline of Trajan, Hadrian, and the +two Antonines, established, for some time, a greater degree of +subordination. - W] +[Footnote 31: The first was Camillus Scribonianus, who took up +arms in Dalmatia against Claudius, and was deserted by his own +troops in five days, the second, L. Antonius, in Germany, who +rebelled against Domitian; and the third, Avidius Cassius, in the +reign of M. Antoninus. The two last reigned but a few months, +and were cut off by their own adherents. We may observe, that +both Camillus and Cassius colored their ambition with the design +of restoring the republic; a task, said Cassius peculiarly +reserved for his name and family.] + + In elective monarchies, the vacancy of the throne is a +moment big with danger and mischief. The Roman emperors, +desirous to spare the legions that interval of suspense, and the +temptation of an irregular choice, invested their designed +successor with so large a share of present power, as should +enable him, after their decease, to assume the remainder, without +suffering the empire to perceive the change of masters. Thus +Augustus, after all his fairer prospects had been snatched from +him by untimely deaths, rested his last hopes on Tiberius, +obtained for his adopted son the censorial and tribunitian +powers, and dictated a law, by which the future prince was +invested with an authority equal to his own, over the provinces +and the armies. ^32 Thus Vespasian subdued the generous mind of +his eldest son. Titus was adored by the eastern legions, which, +under his command, had recently achieved the conquest of Judaea. +His power was dreaded, and, as his virtues were clouded by the +intemperance of youth, his designs were suspected. Instead of +listening to such unworthy suspicions, the prudent monarch +associated Titus to the full powers of the Imperial dignity; and +the grateful son ever approved himself the humble and faithful +minister of so indulgent a father. ^33 + +[Footnote 32: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 121. Sueton. in +Tiber. c. 26.] +[Footnote 33: Sueton. in Tit. c. 6. Plin. in Praefat. Hist. +Natur.] + The good sense of Vespasian engaged him indeed to embrace +every measure that might confirm his recent and precarious +elevation. The military oath, and the fidelity of the troops, +had been consecrated, by the habits of a hundred years, to the +name and family of the Caesars; and although that family had been +continued only by the fictitious rite of adoption, the Romans +still revered, in the person of Nero, the grandson of Germanicus, +and the lineal successor of Augustus. It was not without +reluctance and remorse, that the praetorian guards had been +persuaded to abandon the cause of the tyrant. ^34 The rapid +downfall of Galba, Otho, and Vitellus, taught the armies to +consider the emperors as the creatures of their will, and the +instruments of their license. The birth of Vespasian was mean: +his grandfather had been a private soldier, his father a petty +officer of the revenue; ^35 his own merit had raised him, in an +advanced age, to the empire; but his merit was rather useful than +shining, and his virtues were disgraced by a strict and even +sordid parsimony. Such a prince consulted his true interest by +the association of a son, whose more splendid and amiable +character might turn the public attention from the obscure +origin, to the future glories, of the Flavian house. Under the +mild administration of Titus, the Roman world enjoyed a transient +felicity, and his beloved memory served to protect, above fifteen +years, the vices of his brother Domitian. +[Footnote 34: This idea is frequently and strongly inculcated by +Tacitus. See Hist. i. 5, 16, ii. 76.] + +[Footnote 35: The emperor Vespasian, with his usual good sense, +laughed at the genealogists, who deduced his family from Flavius, +the founder of Reate, (his native country,) and one of the +companions of Hercules Suet in Vespasian, c. 12.] + + Nerva had scarcely accepted the purple from the assassins of +Domitian, before he discovered that his feeble age was unable to +stem the torrent of public disorders, which had multiplied under +the long tyranny of his predecessor. His mild disposition was +respected by the good; but the degenerate Romans required a more +vigorous character, whose justice should strike terror into the +guilty. Though he had several relations, he fixed his choice on +a stranger. He adopted Trajan, then about forty years of age, +and who commanded a powerful army in the Lower Germany; and +immediately, by a decree of the senate, declared him his +colleague and successor in the empire. ^36 It is sincerely to be +lamented, that whilst we are fatigued with the disgustful +relation of Nero's crimes and follies, we are reduced to collect +the actions of Trajan from the glimmerings of an abridgment, or +the doubtful light of a panegyric. There remains, however, one +panegyric far removed beyond the suspicion of flattery. Above +two hundred and fifty years after the death of Trajan, the +senate, in pouring out the customary acclamations on the +accession of a new emperor, wished that he might surpass the +felicity of Augustus, and the virtue of Trajan. ^37 + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxviii. p. 1121. Plin. Secund. in +Panegyric.] +[Footnote 37: Felicior Augusto, Melior Trajano. Eutrop. viii. +5.] + We may readily believe, that the father of his country +hesitated whether he ought to intrust the various and doubtful +character of his kinsman Hadrian with sovereign power. In his +last moments the arts of the empress Plotina either fixed the +irresolution of Trajan, or boldly supposed a fictitious adoption; +^38 the truth of which could not be safely disputed, and Hadrian +was peaceably acknowledged as his lawful successor. Under his +reign, as has been already mentioned, the empire flourished in +peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed the laws, +asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces in +person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the +most enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy. But +the ruling passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As +they prevailed, and as they were attracted by different objects, +Hadrian was, by turns, an excellent prince, a ridiculous sophist, +and a jealous tyrant. The general tenor of his conduct deserved +praise for its equity and moderation. Yet in the first days of +his reign, he put to death four consular senators, his personal +enemies, and men who had been judged worthy of empire; and the +tediousness of a painful illness rendered him, at last, peevish +and cruel. The senate doubted whether they should pronounce him a +god or a tyrant; and the honors decreed to his memory were +granted to the prayers of the pious Antoninus. ^39 + +[Footnote 38: Dion (l. lxix. p. 1249) affirms the whole to have +been a fiction, on the authority of his father, who, being +governor of the province where Trajan died, had very good +opportunities of sifting this mysterious transaction. Yet +Dodwell (Praelect. Camden. xvii.) has maintained that Hadrian was +called to the certain hope of the empire, during the lifetime of +Trajan.] + +[Footnote 39: Dion, (l. lxx. p. 1171.) Aurel. Victor.] + + The caprice of Hadrian influenced his choice of a successor. + +After revolving in his mind several men of distinguished merit, +whom he esteemed and hated, he adopted Aelius Verus a gay and +voluptuous nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty to the lover +of Antinous. ^40 But whilst Hadrian was delighting himself with +his own applause, and the acclamations of the soldiers, whose +consent had been secured by an immense donative, the new Caesar +^41 was ravished from his embraces by an untimely death. He left +only one son. Hadrian commended the boy to the gratitude of the +Antonines. He was adopted by Pius; and, on the accession of +Marcus, was invested with an equal share of sovereign power. +Among the many vices of this younger Verus, he possessed one +virtue; a dutiful reverence for his wiser colleague, to whom he +willingly abandoned the ruder cares of empire. The philosophic +emperor dissembled his follies, lamented his early death, and +cast a decent veil over his memory. + +[Footnote 40: The deification of Antinous, his medals, his +statues, temples, city, oracles, and constellation, are well +known, and still dishonor the memory of Hadrian. Yet we may +remark, that of the first fifteen emperors, Claudius was the only +one whose taste in love was entirely correct. For the honors of +Antinous, see Spanheim, Commentaire sui les Caesars de Julien, p. +80.] + +[Footnote 41: Hist. August. p. 13. Aurelius Victor in Epitom.] + As soon as Hadrian's passion was either gratified or +disappointed, he resolved to deserve the thanks of posterity, by +placing the most exalted merit on the Roman throne. His +discerning eye easily discovered a senator about fifty years of +age, clameless in all the offices of life; and a youth of about +seventeen, whose riper years opened a fair prospect of every +virtue: the elder of these was declared the son and successor of +Hadrian, on condition, however, that he himself should +immediately adopt the younger. The two Antonines (for it is of +them that we are now peaking,) governed the Roman world forty-two +years, with the same invariable spirit of wisdom and virtue. +Although Pius had two sons, ^42 he preferred the welfare of Rome +to the interest of his family, gave his daughter Faustina, in +marriage to young Marcus, obtained from the senate the +tribunitian and proconsular powers, and, with a noble disdain, or +rather ignorance of jealousy, associated him to all the labors of +government. Marcus, on the other hand, revered the character of +his benefactor, loved him as a parent, obeyed him as his +sovereign, ^43 and, after he was no more, regulated his own +administration by the example and maxims of his predecessor. +Their united reigns are possibly the only period of history in +which the happiness of a great people was the sole object of +government. + +[Footnote 42: Without the help of medals and inscriptions, we +should be ignorant of this fact, so honorable to the memory of +Pius. + Note: Gibbon attributes to Antoninus Pius a merit which he +either did not possess, or was not in a situation to display. + +1. He was adopted only on the condition that he would adopt, in +his turn, Marcus Aurelius and L. Verus. + +2. His two sons died children, and one of them, M. Galerius, +alone, appears to have survived, for a few years, his father's +coronation. Gibbon is also mistaken when he says (note 42) that +"without the help of medals and inscriptions, we should be +ignorant that Antoninus had two sons." +Capitolinus says expressly, (c. 1,) Filii mares duo, +duae-foeminae; we only owe their names to he medals. Pagi. Cont. +Baron, i. 33, edit Paris. - W.] +[Footnote 43: During the twenty-three years of Pius's reign, +Marcus was only two nights absent from the palace, and even those +were at different times. Hist. August. p. 25.] + + Titus Antoninus Pius has been justly denominated a second +Numa. The same love of religion, justice, and peace, was the +distinguishing characteristic of both princes. But the situation +of the latter opened a much larger field for the exercise of +those virtues. Numa could only prevent a few neighboring +villages from plundering each other's harvests. Antoninus +diffused order and tranquillity over the greatest part of the +earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of furnishing +very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more +than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of +mankind. In private life, he was an amiable, as well as a good +man. The native simplicity of his virtue was a stranger to +vanity or affectation. He enjoyed with moderation the +conveniences of his fortune, and the innocent pleasures of +society; ^44 and the benevolence of his soul displayed itself in +a cheerful serenity of temper. +[Footnote 44: He was fond of the theatre, and not insensible to +the charms of the fair sex. Marcus Antoninus, i. 16. Hist. +August. p. 20, 21. Julian in Caesar.] + + The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of severer and +more laborious kind. ^45 It was the well-earned harvest of many a +learned conference, of many a patient lecture, and many a +midnight lucubration. At the age of twelve years he embraced the +rigid system of the Stoics, which taught him to submit his body +to his mind, his passions to his reason; to consider virtue as +the only good, vice as the only evil, all things external as +things indifferent. ^46 His meditations, composed in the tumult +of the camp, are still extant; and he even condescended to give +lessons of philosophy, in a more public manner than was perhaps +consistent with the modesty of sage, or the dignity of an +emperor. ^47 But his life was the noblest commentary on the +precepts of Zeno. He was severe to himself, indulgent to the +imperfections of others, just and beneficent to all mankind. He +regretted that Avidius Cassius, who excited a rebellion in Syria, +had disappointed him, by a voluntary death, ^* of the pleasure of +converting an enemy into a friend;; and he justified the +sincerity of that sentiment, by moderating the zeal of the senate +against the adherents of the traitor. ^48 War he detested, as the +disgrace and calamity of human nature; ^!! but when the necessity +of a just defence called upon him to take up arms, he readily +exposed his person to eight winter campaigns, on the frozen banks +of the Danube, the severity of which was at last fatal to the +weakness of his constitution. His memory was revered by a +grateful posterity, and above a century after his death, many +persons preserved the image of Marcus Antoninus among those of +their household gods. ^49 + +[Footnote 45: The enemies of Marcus charged him with hypocrisy, +and with a want of that simplicity which distinguished Pius and +even Verus. (Hist. August. 6, 34.) This suspicions, unjust as it +was, may serve to account for the superior applause bestowed upon +personal qualifications, in preference to the social virtues. +Even Marcus Antoninus has been called a hypocrite; but the +wildest scepticism never insinuated that Caesar might probably be +a coward, or Tully a fool. Wit and valor are qualifications more +easily ascertained than humanity or the love of justice.] + +[Footnote 46: Tacitus has characterized, in a few words, the +principles of the portico: Doctores sapientiae secutus est, qui +sola bona quae honesta, main tantum quae turpia; potentiam, +nobilitatem, aeteraque extra... bonis neque malis adnumerant. +Tacit. Hist. iv. 5.] + +[Footnote 47: Before he went on the second expedition against the +Germans, he read lectures of philosophy to the Roman people, +during three days. He had already done the same in the cities of +Greece and Asia. Hist. August. in Cassio, c. 3.] + +[Footnote *: Cassius was murdered by his own partisans. Vulcat. +Gallic. in Cassio, c. 7. Dion, lxxi. c. 27. - W.] + +[Footnote 48: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1190. Hist. August. in Avid. +Cassio. + Note: See one of the newly discovered passages of Dion +Cassius. Marcus wrote to the senate, who urged the execution of +the partisans of Cassius, in these words: "I entreat and beseech +you to preserve my reign unstained by senatorial blood. None of +your order must perish either by your desire or mine." Mai. +Fragm. Vatican. ii. p. 224. - M.] + +[Footnote !!: Marcus would not accept the services of any of the +barbarian allies who crowded to his standard in the war against +Avidius Cassius. "Barbarians," he said, with wise but vain +sagacity, "must not become acquainted with the dissensions of the +Roman people." Mai. Fragm Vatican l. 224. - M.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. in Marc. Antonin. c. 18.] + + If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the +world, during which the condition of the human race was most +happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that +which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of +Commodus. The vast extent of the Roman empire was governed by +absolute power, under the guidance of virtue and wisdom. The +armies were restrained by the firm but gentle hand of four +successive emperors, whose characters and authority commanded +involuntary respect. The forms of the civil administration were +carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, +who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with +considering themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. +Such princes deserved the honor of restoring the republic, had +the Romans of their days been capable of enjoying a rational +freedom. + + The labors of these monarchs were overpaid by the immense +reward that inseparably waited on their success; by the honest +pride of virtue, and by the exquisite delight of beholding the +general happiness of which they were the authors. A just but +melancholy reflection imbittered, however, the noblest of human +enjoyments. They must often have recollected the instability of +a happiness which depended on the character of single man. The +fatal moment was perhaps approaching, when some licentious youth, +or some jealous tyrant, would abuse, to the destruction, that +absolute power, which they had exerted for the benefit of their +people. The ideal restraints of the senate and the laws might +serve to display the virtues, but could never correct the vices, +of the emperor. The military force was a blind and irresistible +instrument of oppression; and the corruption of Roman manners +would always supply flatterers eager to applaud, and ministers +prepared to serve, the fear or the avarice, the lust or the +cruelty, of their master. + These gloomy apprehensions had been already justified by the +experience of the Romans. The annals of the emperors exhibit a +strong and various picture of human nature, which we should +vainly seek among the mixed and doubtful characters of modern +history. In the conduct of those monarchs we may trace the +utmost lines of vice and virtue; the most exalted perfection, and +the meanest degeneracy of our own species. The golden age of +Trajan and the Antonines had been preceded by an age of iron. It +is almost superfluous to enumerate the unworthy successors of +Augustus. Their unparalleled vices, and the splendid theatre on +which they were acted, have saved them from oblivion. The dark, +unrelenting Tiberius, the furious Caligula, the feeble Claudius, +the profligate and cruel Nero, the beastly Vitellius, ^50 and the +timid, inhuman Domitian, are condemned to everlasting infamy. +During fourscore years (excepting only the short and doubtful +respite of Vespasian's reign) ^51 Rome groaned beneath an +unremitting tyranny, which exterminated the ancient families of +the republic, and was fatal to almost every virtue and every +talent that arose in that unhappy period. + +[Footnote 50: Vitellius consumed in mere eating at least six +millions of our money in about seven months. It is not easy to +express his vices with dignity, or even decency. Tacitus fairly +calls him a hog, but it is by substituting for a coarse word a +very fine image. "At Vitellius, umbraculis hortorum abditus, ut +ignava animalia, quibus si cibum suggeras, jacent torpentque, +praeterita, instantia, futura, pari oblivione dimiserat. Atque +illum nemore Aricino desidem et marcentum," &c. Tacit. Hist. +iii. 36, ii. 95. Sueton. in Vitell. c. 13. Dion. Cassius, l xv. +p. 1062.] +[Footnote 51: The execution of Helvidius Priscus, and of the +virtuous Eponina, disgraced the reign of Vespasian.] + + Under the reign of these monsters, the slavery of the Romans +was accompanied with two peculiar circumstances, the one +occasioned by their former liberty, the other by their extensive +conquests, which rendered their condition more completely +wretched than that of the victims of tyranny in any other age or +country. From these causes were derived, 1. The exquisite +sensibility of the sufferers; and, 2. The impossibility of +escaping from the hand of the oppressor. + + I. When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a +race of princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, +their table, and their bed, with the blood of their favorites, +there is a saying recorded of a young nobleman, that he never +departed from the sultan's presence, without satisfying himself +whether his head was still on his shoulders. The experience of +every day might almost justify the scepticism of Rustan. ^52 Yet +the fatal sword, suspended above him by a single thread, seems +not to have disturbed the slumbers, or interrupted the +tranquillity, of the Persian. The monarch's frown, he well knew, +could level him with the dust; but the stroke of lightning or +apoplexy might be equally fatal; and it was the part of a wise +man to forget the inevitable calamities of human life in the +enjoyment of the fleeting hour. He was dignified with the +appellation of the king's slave; had, perhaps, been purchased +from obscure parents, in a country which he had never known; and +was trained up from his infancy in the severe discipline of the +seraglio. ^53 His name, his wealth,his honors, were the gift of a +master, who might, without injustice, resume what he had +bestowed. Rustan's knowledge, if he possessed any, could only +serve to confirm his habits by prejudices. His language afforded +not words for any form of government, except absolute monarchy. +The history of the East informed him, that such had ever been the +condition of mankind. ^54 The Koran, and the interpreters of that +divine book, inculcated to him, that the sultan was the +descendant of the prophet, and the vicegerent of heaven; that +patience was the first virtue of a Mussulman, and unlimited +obedience the great duty of a subject. + +[Footnote 52: Voyage de Chardin en Perse, vol. iii. p. 293.] +[Footnote 53: The practice of raising slaves to the great offices +of state is still more common among the Turks than among the +Persians. The miserable countries of Georgia and Circassia +supply rulers to the greatest part of the East.] + +[Footnote 54: Chardin says, that European travellers have +diffused among the Persians some ideas of the freedom and +mildness of our governments. They have done them a very ill +office.] + + The minds of the Romans were very differently prepared for +slavery. Oppressed beneath the weight of their own corruption and +of military violence, they for a long while preserved the +sentiments, or at least the ideas, of their free-born ancestors. +The education of Helvidius and Thrasea, of Tacitus and Pliny, was +the same as that of Cato and Cicero. From Grecian philosophy, +they had imbibed the justest and most liberal notions of the +dignity of human nature, and the origin of civil society. The +history of their own country had taught them to revere a free, a +virtuous, and a victorious commonwealth; to abhor the successful +crimes of Caesar and Augustus; and inwardly to despise those +tyrants whom they adored with the most abject flattery. As +magistrates and senators they were admitted into the great +council, which had once dictated laws to the earth, whose +authority was so often prostituted to the vilest purposes of +tyranny. Tiberius, and those emperors who adopted his maxims, +attempted to disguise their murders by the formalities of +justice, and perhaps enjoyed a secret pleasure in rendering the +senate their accomplice as well as their victim. By this +assembly, the last of the Romans were condemned for imaginary +crimes and real virtues. Their infamous accusers assumed the +language of independent patriots, who arraigned a dangerous +citizen before the tribunal of his country; and the public +service was rewarded by riches and honors. ^55 The servile judges +professed to assert the majesty of the commonwealth, violated in +the person of its first magistrate, ^56 whose clemency they most +applauded when they trembled the most at his inexorable and +impending cruelty. ^57 The tyrant beheld their baseness with just +contempt, and encountered their secret sentiments of detestation +with sincere and avowed hatred for the whole body of the senate. + +[Footnote 55: They alleged the example of Scipio and Cato, +(Tacit. Annal. iii. 66.) Marcellus Epirus and Crispus Vibius had +acquired two millions and a half under Nero. Their wealth, which +aggravated their crimes, protected them under Vespasian. See +Tacit. Hist. iv. 43. Dialog. de Orator. c. 8. For one +accusation, Regulus, the just object of Pliny's satire, received +from the senate the consular ornaments, and a present of sixty +thousand pounds.] +[Footnote 56: The crime of majesty was formerly a treasonable +offence against the Roman people. As tribunes of the people, +Augustus and Tiberius applied tit to their own persons, and +extended it to an infinite latitude. + Note: It was Tiberius, not Augustus, who first took in this +sense the words crimen laesae majestatis. Bachii Trajanus, 27. - +W.] +[Footnote 57: After the virtuous and unfortunate widow of +Germanicus had been put to death, Tiberius received the thanks of +the senate for his clemency. she had not been publicly strangled; +nor was the body drawn with a hook to the Gemoniae, where those +of common male factors were exposed. See Tacit. Annal. vi. 25. +Sueton. in Tiberio c. 53.] + + II. The division of Europe into a number of independent +states, connected, however, with each other by the general +resemblance of religion, language, and manners, is productive of +the most beneficial consequences to the liberty of mankind. A +modern tyrant, who should find no resistance either in his own +breast, or in his people, would soon experience a gentle restrain +form the example of his equals, the dread of present censure,d +the advice of his allies, and the apprehension of his enemies. +The object of his displeasure, escaping from the narrow limits of +his dominions, would easily obtain, in a happier climate, a +secure refuge, a new fortune adequate to his merit, the freedom +of complaint, and perhaps the means of revenge. But the empire +of the Romans filled the world, and when the empire fell into the +hands of a single person, he wold became a safe and dreary prison +for his enemies. The slave of Imperial despotism, whether he was +condemned to drags his gilded chain in rome and the senate, or to +were out a life of exile on the barren rock of Seriphus, or the +frozen bank of the Danube, expected his fate in silent despair. +^58 To resist was fatal, and it was impossible to fly. On every +side he was encompassed with a vast extent of sea and land, which +he could never hope to traverse without being discovered, seized, +and restored to his irritated master. Beyond the frontiers, his +anxious view could discover nothing, except the ocean, +inhospitable deserts, hostile tribes of barbarians, of fierce +manners and unknown language, or dependent kings, who would +gladly purchase the emperor's protection by the sacrifice of an +obnoxious fugitive. ^59 "Wherever you are," said Cicero to the +exiled Marcellus, "remember that you are equally within the power +of the conqueror." ^60 + +[Footnote 58: Seriphus was a small rocky island in the Aegean +Sea, the inhabitants of which were despised for their ignorance +and obscurity. The place of Ovid's exile is well known, by his +just, but unmanly lamentations. It should seem, that he only +received an order to leave rome in so many days, and to transport +himself to Tomi. Guards and jailers were unnecessary.] +[Footnote 59: Under Tiberius, a Roman knight attempted to fly to +the Parthians. He was stopped in the straits of Sicily; but so +little danger did there appear in the example, that the most +jealous of tyrants disdained to punish it. Tacit. Annal. vi. +14.] + +[Footnote 60: Cicero ad Familiares, iv. 7.] + +Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus. + +Part I. + +The Cruelty, Follies, And Murder Of Commodus - Election Of +Pertinax - His Attempts To Reform The State - His Assassination +By The Praetorian Guards. + + The mildness of Marcus, which the rigid discipline of the +Stoics was unable to eradicate, formed, at the same time, the +most amiable, and the only defective part of his character. His +excellent understanding was often deceived by the unsuspecting +goodness of his heart. Artful men, who study the passions of +princes, and conceal their own, approached his person in the +disguise of philosophic sanctity, and acquired riches and honors +by affecting to despise them. ^1 His excessive indulgence to his +brother, ^* his wife, and his son, exceeded the bounds of private +virtue, and became a public injury, by the example and +consequences of their vices. + +[Footnote 1: See the complaints of Avidius Cassius, Hist. August. +p. 45. These are, it is true, the complaints of faction; but even +faction exaggerates, rather than invents.] + +[Footnote *: His brother by adoption, and his colleague, L. +Verus. Marcus Aurelius had no other brother. - W.] + + Faustina, the daughter of Pius and the wife of Marcus, has +been as much celebrated for her gallantries as for her beauty. +The grave simplicity of the philosopher was ill calculated to +engage her wanton levity, or to fix that unbounded passion for +variety, which often discovered personal merit in the meanest of +mankind. ^2 The Cupid of the ancients was, in general, a very +sensual deity; and the amours of an empress, as they exact on her +side the plainest advances, are seldom susceptible of much +sentimental delicacy. Marcus was the only man in the empire who +seemed ignorant or insensible of the irregularities of Faustina; +which, according to the prejudices of every age, reflected some +disgrace on the injured husband. He promoted several of her +lovers to posts of honor and profit, ^3 and during a connection +of thirty years, invariably gave her proofs of the most tender +confidence, and of a respect which ended not with her life. In +his Meditations, he thanks the gods, who had bestowed on him a +wife so faithful, so gentle, and of such a wonderful simplicity +of manners. ^4 The obsequious senate, at his earnest request, +declared her a goddess. She was represented in her temples, with +the attributes of Juno, Venus, and Ceres; and it was decreed, +that, on the day of their nuptials, the youth of either sex +should pay their vows before the altar of their chaste patroness. +^5 + +[Footnote 2: Faustinam satis constat apud Cajetam conditiones +sibi et nauticas et gladiatorias, elegisse. Hist. August. p. 30. + +Lampridius explains the sort of merit which Faustina chose, and +the conditions which she exacted. Hist. August. p. 102.] + +[Footnote 3: Hist. August. p. 34.] + +[Footnote 4: Meditat. l. i. The world has laughed at the +credulity of Marcus but Madam Dacier assures us, (and we may +credit a lady,) that the husband will always be deceived, if the +wife condescends to dissemble.] +[Footnote 5: Dion Cassius, l. lxxi. [c. 31,] p. 1195. Hist. +August. p. 33. Commentaire de Spanheim sur les Caesars de Julien, +p. 289. The deification of Faustina is the only defect which +Julian's criticism is able to discover in the all-accomplished +character of Marcus.] + + The monstrous vices of the son have cast a shade on the +purity of the father's virtues. It has been objected to Marcus, +that he sacrificed the happiness of millions to a fond partiality +for a worthless boy; and that he chose a successor in his own +family, rather than in the republic. Nothing however, was +neglected by the anxious father, and by the men of virtue and +learning whom he summoned to his assistance, to expand the narrow +mind of young Commodus, to correct his growing vices, and to +render him worthy of the throne for which he was designed. But +the power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in +those happy dispositions where it is almost superfluous. The +distasteful lesson of a grave philosopher was, in a moment, +obliterated by the whisper of a profligate favorite; and Marcus +himself blasted the fruits of this labored education, by +admitting his son, at the age of fourteen or fifteen, to a full +participation of the Imperial power. He lived but four years +afterwards: but he lived long enough to repent a rash measure, +which raised the impetuous youth above the restraint of reason +and authority. + + Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of +society, are produced by the restraints which the necessary but +unequal laws of property have imposed on the appetites of +mankind, by confining to a few the possession of those objects +that are coveted by many. Of all our passions and appetites, the +love of power is of the most imperious and unsociable nature, +since the pride of one man requires the submission of the +multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society +lose their force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of +humanity. The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the +despair of success, the memory of past injuries, and the fear of +future dangers, all contribute to inflame the mind, and to +silence the voice of pity. From such motives almost every page +of history has been stained with civil blood; but these motives +will not account for the unprovoked cruelties of Commodus, who +had nothing to wish and every thing to enjoy. The beloved son of +Marcus succeeded to his father, amidst the acclamations of the +senate and armies; ^6 and when he ascended the throne, the happy +youth saw round him neither competitor to remove, nor enemies to +punish. In this calm, elevated station, it was surely natural +that he should prefer the love of mankind to their detestation, +the mild glories of his five predecessors to the ignominious fate +of Nero and Domitian. + +[Footnote 6: Commodus was the first Porphyrogenitus, (born since +his father's accession to the throne.) By a new strain of +flattery, the Egyptian medals date by the years of his life; as +if they were synonymous to those of his reign. Tillemont, Hist. +des Empereurs, tom. ii. p. 752.] + + Yet Commodus was not, as he has been represented, a tiger +born with an insatiate thirst of human blood, and capable, from +his infancy, of the most inhuman actions. ^7 Nature had formed +him of a weak rather than a wicked disposition. His simplicity +and timidity rendered him the slave of his attendants, who +gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty, which at first obeyed +the dictates of others, degenerated into habit, and at length +became the ruling passion of his soul. ^8 + +[Footnote 7: Hist. August. p. 46.] + +[Footnote 8: Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1203.] + + Upon the death of his father, Commodus found himself +embarrassed with the command of a great army, and the conduct of +a difficult war against the Quadi and Marcomanni. ^9 The servile +and profligate youths whom Marcus had banished, soon regained +their station and influence about the new emperor. They +exaggerated the hardships and dangers of a campaign in the wild +countries beyond the Danube; and they assured the indolent prince +that the terror of his name, and the arms of his lieutenants, +would be sufficient to complete the conquest of the dismayed +barbarians, or to impose such conditions as were more +advantageous than any conquest. By a dexterous application to +his sensual appetites, they compared the tranquillity, the +splendor, the refined pleasures of Rome, with the tumult of a +Pannonian camp, which afforded neither leisure nor materials for +luxury. ^10 Commodus listened to the pleasing advice; but whilst +he hesitated between his own inclination and the awe which he +still retained for his father's counsellors, the summer +insensibly elapsed, and his triumphal entry into the capital was +deferred till the autumn. His graceful person, ^11 popular +address, and imagined virtues, attracted the public favor; the +honorable peace which he had recently granted to the barbarians, +diffused a universal joy; ^12 his impatience to revisit Rome was +fondly ascribed to the love of his country; and his dissolute +course of amusements was faintly condemned in a prince of +nineteen years of age. + +[Footnote 9: According to Tertullian, Apolog. c. 25,) he died at +Sirmium. But the situation of Vindobona, or Vienna, where both +the Victors place his death, is better adapted to the operations +of the war against the Marcomanni and Quadi.] + +[Footnote 10: Herodian, l. i. p. 12.] + +[Footnote 11: Herodian, l. i. p. 16.] + +[Footnote 12: This universal joy is well described (from the +medals as well as historians) by Mr. Wotton, Hist. of Rome, p. +192, 193.] + During the three first years of his reign, the forms, and +even the spirit, of the old administration, were maintained by +those faithful counsellors, to whom Marcus had recommended his +son, and for whose wisdom and integrity Commodus still +entertained a reluctant esteem. The young prince and his +profligate favorites revelled in all the license of sovereign +power; but his hands were yet unstained with blood; and he had +even displayed a generosity of sentiment, which might perhaps +have ripened into solid virtue. ^13 A fatal incident decided his +fluctuating character. + +[Footnote 13: Manilius, the confidential secretary of Avidius +Cassius, was discovered after he had lain concealed several +years. The emperor nobly relieved the public anxiety by refusing +to see him, and burning his papers without opening them. Dion +Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1209.] + + One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace, +through a dark and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, ^14 an +assassin, who waited his passage, rushed upon him with a drawn +sword, loudly exclaiming, "The senate sends you this." The menace +prevented the deed; the assassin was seized by the guards, and +immediately revealed the authors of the conspiracy. It had been +formed, not in the state, but within the walls of the palace. +Lucilla, the emperor's sister, and widow of Lucius Verus, +impatient of the second rank, and jealous of the reigning +empress, had armed the murderer against her brother's life. She +had not ventured to communicate the black design to her second +husband, Claudius Pompeiarus, a senator of distinguished merit +and unshaken loyalty; but among the crowd of her lovers (for she +imitated the manners of Faustina) she found men of desperate +fortunes and wild ambition, who were prepared to serve her more +violent, as well as her tender passions. The conspirators +experienced the rigor of justice, and the abandoned princess was +punished, first with exile, and afterwards with death. ^15 +[Footnote 14: See Maffei degli Amphitheatri, p. 126.] + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1205 Herodian, l. i. p. 16 Hist. +August p. 46.] + + But the words of the assassin sunk deep into the mind of +Commodus, and left an indelible impression of fear and hatred +against the whole body of the senate. ^* Those whom he had +dreaded as importunate ministers, he now suspected as secret +enemies. The Delators, a race of men discouraged, and almost +extinguished, under the former reigns, again became formidable, +as soon as they discovered that the emperor was desirous of +finding disaffection and treason in the senate. That assembly, +whom Marcus had ever considered as the great council of the +nation, was composed of the most distinguished of the Romans; and +distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession +of wealth stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue +implied a tacit censure of the irregularities of Commodus; +important services implied a dangerous superiority of merit; and +the friendship of the father always insured the aversion of the +son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; trial to condemnation. +The execution of a considerable senator was attended with the +death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and when +Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of pity +or remorse. +[Footnote *: The conspirators were senators, even the assassin +himself. Herod. 81. - G.] + + Of these innocent victims of tyranny, none died more +lamented than the two brothers of the Quintilian family, Maximus +and Condianus; whose fraternal love has saved their names from +oblivion, and endeared their memory to posterity. Their studies +and their occupations, their pursuits and their pleasures, were +still the same. In the enjoyment of a great estate, they never +admitted the idea of a separate interest: some fragments are now +extant of a treatise which they composed in common; ^* and in +every action of life it was observed that their two bodies were +animated by one soul. The Antonines, who valued their virtues, +and delighted in their union, raised them, in the same year, to +the consulship; and Marcus afterwards intrusted to their joint +care the civil administration of Greece, and a great military +command, in which they obtained a signal victory over the +Germans. The kind cruelty of Commodus united them in death. ^16 + +[Footnote *: This work was on agriculture, and is often quoted by +later writers. See P. Needham, Proleg. ad Geoponic. Camb. 1704. +- W.] +[Footnote 16: In a note upon the Augustan History, Casaubon has +collected a number of particulars concerning these celebrated +brothers. See p. 96 of his learned commentary.] + + The tyrant's rage, after having shed the noblest blood of +the senate, at length recoiled on the principal instrument of his +cruelty. Whilst Commodus was immersed in blood and luxury, he +devolved the detail of the public business on Perennis, a servile +and ambitious minister, who had obtained his post by the murder +of his predecessor, but who possessed a considerable share of +vigor and ability. By acts of extortion, and the forfeited +estates of the nobles sacrificed to his avarice, he had +accumulated an immense treasure. The Praetorian guards were under +his immediate command; and his son, who already discovered a +military genius, was at the head of the Illyrian legions. +Perennis aspired to the empire; or what, in the eyes of Commodus, +amounted to the same crime, he was capable of aspiring to it, had +he not been prevented, surprised, and put to death. The fall of +a minister is a very trifling incident in the general history of +the empire; but it was hastened by an extraordinary circumstance, +which proved how much the nerves of discipline were already +relaxed. The legions of Britain, discontented with the +administration of Perennis, formed a deputation of fifteen +hundred select men, with instructions to march to Rome, and lay +their complaints before the emperor. These military petitioners, +by their own determined behaviour, by inflaming the divisions of +the guards, by exaggerating the strength of the British army, and +by alarming the fears of Commodus, exacted and obtained the +minister's death, as the only redress of their grievances. ^17 +This presumption of a distant army, and their discovery of the +weakness of government, was a sure presage of the most dreadful +convulsions. +[Footnote 17: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1210. Herodian, l. i. p. 22. +Hist. August. p. 48. Dion gives a much less odious character of +Perennis, than the other historians. His moderation is almost a +pledge of his veracity. + Note: Gibbon praises Dion for the moderation with which he +speaks of Perennis: he follows, nevertheless, in his own +narrative, Herodian and Lampridius. Dion speaks of Perennis not +only with moderation, but with admiration; he represents him as a +great man, virtuous in his life, and blameless in his death: +perhaps he may be suspected of partiality; but it is singular +that Gibbon, having adopted, from Herodian and Lampridius, their +judgment on this minister, follows Dion's improbable account of +his death. What likelihood, in fact, that fifteen hundred men +should have traversed Gaul and Italy, and have arrived at Rome +without any understanding with the Praetorians, or without +detection or opposition from Perennis, the Praetorian praefect? +Gibbon, foreseeing, perhaps, this difficulty, has added, that the +military deputation inflamed the divisions of the guards; but +Dion says expressly that they did not reach Rome, but that the +emperor went out to meet them: he even reproaches him for not +having opposed them with the guards, who were superior in number. + +Herodian relates that Commodus, having learned, from a soldier, +the ambitious designs of Perennis and his son, caused them to be +attacked and massacred by night. - G. from W. Dion's narrative +is remarkably circumstantial, and his authority higher than +either of the other writers. He hints that Cleander, a new +favorite, had already undermined the influence of Perennis. - M.] + + The negligence of the public administration was betrayed, +soon afterwards, by a new disorder, which arose from the smallest +beginnings. A spirit of desertion began to prevail among the +troops: and the deserters, instead of seeking their safety in +flight or concealment, infested the highways. Maternus, a +private soldier, of a daring boldness above his station, +collected these bands of robbers into a little army, set open the +prisons, invited the slaves to assert their freedom, and +plundered with impunity the rich and defenceless cities of Gaul +and Spain. The governors of the provinces, who had long been the +spectators, and perhaps the partners, of his depredations, were, +at length, roused from their supine indolence by the threatening +commands of the emperor. Maternus found that he was encompassed, +and foresaw that he must be overpowered. A great effort of +despair was his last resource. He ordered his followers to +disperse, to pass the Alps in small parties and various +disguises, and to assemble at Rome, during the licentious tumult +of the festival of Cybele. ^18 To murder Commodus, and to ascend +the vacant throne, was the ambition of no vulgar robber. His +measures were so ably concerted that his concealed troops already +filled the streets of Rome. The envy of an accomplice discovered +and ruined this singular enterprise, in a moment when it was ripe +for execution. ^19 +[Footnote 18: During the second Punic war, the Romans imported +from Asia the worship of the mother of the gods. Her festival, +the Megalesia, began on the fourth of April, and lasted six days. + +The streets were crowded with mad processions, the theatres with +spectators, and the public tables with unbidden guests. Order +and police were suspended, and pleasure was the only serious +business of the city. See Ovid. de Fastis, l. iv. 189, &c.] +[Footnote 19: Herodian, l. i. p. 23, 23.] + + Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind, from a +vain persuasion, that those who have no dependence, except on +their favor, will have no attachment, except to the person of +their benefactor. Cleander, the successor of Perennis, was a +Phrygian by birth; of a nation over whose stubborn, but servile +temper, blows only could prevail. ^20 He had been sent from his +native country to Rome, in the capacity of a slave. As a slave +he entered the Imperial palace, rendered himself useful to his +master's passions, and rapidly ascended to the most exalted +station which a subject could enjoy. His influence over the mind +of Commodus was much greater than that of his predecessor; for +Cleander was devoid of any ability or virtue which could inspire +the emperor with envy or distrust. Avarice was the reigning +passion of his soul, and the great principle of his +administration. The rank of Consul, of Patrician, of Senator, was +exposed to public sale; and it would have been considered as +disaffection, if any one had refused to purchase these empty and +disgraceful honors with the greatest part of his fortune. ^21 In +the lucrative provincial employments, the minister shared with +the governor the spoils of the people. The execution of the laws +was penal and arbitrary. A wealthy criminal might obtain, not +only the reversal of the sentence by which he was justly +condemned, but might likewise inflict whatever punishment he +pleased on the accuser, the witnesses, and the judge. +[Footnote 20: Cicero pro Flacco, c. 27.] + +[Footnote 21: One of these dear-bought promotions occasioned a +current... that Julius Solon was banished into the senate.] + + By these means, Cleander, in the space of three years, had +accumulated more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any +freedman. ^22 Commodus was perfectly satisfied with the +magnificent presents which the artful courtier laid at his feet +in the most seasonable moments. To divert the public envy, +Cleander, under the emperor's name, erected baths, porticos, and +places of exercise, for the use of the people. ^23 He flattered +himself that the Romans, dazzled and amused by this apparent +liberality, would be less affected by the bloody scenes which +were daily exhibited; that they would forget the death of +Byrrhus, a senator to whose superior merit the late emperor had +granted one of his daughters; and that they would forgive the +execution of Arrius Antoninus, the last representative of the +name and virtues of the Antonines. The former, with more +integrity than prudence, had attempted to disclose, to his +brother-in-law, the true character of Cleander. An equitable +sentence pronounced by the latter, when proconsul of Asia, +against a worthless creature of the favorite, proved fatal to +him. ^24 After the fall of Perennis, the terrors of Commodus had, +for a short time, assumed the appearance of a return to virtue. +He repealed the most odious of his acts; loaded his memory with +the public execration, and ascribed to the pernicious counsels of +that wicked minister all the errors of his inexperienced youth. +But his repentance lasted only thirty days; and, under Cleander's +tyranny, the administration of Perennis was often regretted. +[Footnote 22: Dion (l. lxxii. p. 12, 13) observes, that no +freedman had possessed riches equal to those of Cleander. The +fortune of Pallas amounted, however, to upwards of five and +twenty hundred thousand pounds; Ter millies.] +[Footnote 23: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 12, 13. Herodian, l. i. p. 29. +Hist. August. p. 52. These baths were situated near the Porta +Capena. See Nardini Roma Antica, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 24: Hist. August. p. 79.] + +Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus. + +Part II. + + Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of +the calamities of Rome. ^25 The first could be only imputed to +the just indignation of the gods; but a monopoly of corn, +supported by the riches and power of the minister, was considered +as the immediate cause of the second. The popular discontent, +after it had long circulated in whispers, broke out in the +assembled circus. The people quitted their favorite amusements +for the more delicious pleasure of revenge, rushed in crowds +towards a palace in the suburbs, one of the emperor's +retirements, and demanded, with angry clamors, the head of the +public enemy. Cleander, who commanded the Praetorian guards, ^26 +ordered a body of cavalry to sally forth, and disperse the +seditious multitude. The multitude fled with precipitation +towards the city; several were slain, and many more were trampled +to death; but when the cavalry entered the streets, their pursuit +was checked by a shower of stones and darts from the roofs and +windows of the houses. The foot guards, ^27 who had been long +jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the Praetorian +cavalry, embraced the party of the people. The tumult became a +regular engagement, and threatened a general massacre. The +Praetorians, at length, gave way, oppressed with numbers; and the +tide of popular fury returned with redoubled violence against the +gates of the palace, where Commodus lay, dissolved in luxury, and +alone unconscious of the civil war. It was death to approach his +person with the unwelcome news. He would have perished in this +supine security, had not two women, his eldest sister Fadilla, +and Marcia, the most favored of his concubines, ventured to break +into his presence. Bathed in tears, and with dishevelled hair, +they threw themselves at his feet; and with all the pressing +eloquence of fear, discovered to the affrighted emperor the +crimes of the minister, the rage of the people, and the impending +ruin, which, in a few minutes, would burst over his palace and +person. Commodus started from his dream of pleasure, and +commanded that the head of Cleander should be thrown out to the +people. The desired spectacle instantly appeased the tumult; and +the son of Marcus might even yet have regained the affection and +confidence of his subjects. ^28 + +[Footnote 25: Herodian, l. i. p. 28. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1215. +The latter says that two thousand persons died every day at Rome, +during a considerable length of time.] + +[Footnote 26: Tuneque primum tres praefecti praetorio fuere: +inter quos libertinus. From some remains of modesty, Cleander +declined the title, whilst he assumed the powers, of Praetorian +praefect. As the other freedmen were styled, from their several +departments, a rationibus, ab epistolis, Cleander called himself +a pugione, as intrusted with the defence of his master's person. +Salmasius and Casaubon seem to have talked very idly upon this +passage. + + Note: M. Guizot denies that Lampridius means Cleander as +praefect a pugione. The Libertinus seems to me to mean him. - +M.] + +[Footnote 27: Herodian, l. i. p. 31. It is doubtful whether he +means the Praetorian infantry, or the cohortes urbanae, a body of +six thousand men, but whose rank and discipline were not equal to +their numbers. Neither Tillemont nor Wotton choose to decide this +question.] + +[Footnote 28: Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1215. Herodian, l. i. +p. 32. Hist. August. p. 48.] + + But every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in +the mind of Commodus. Whilst he thus abandoned the reins of +empire to these unworthy favorites, he valued nothing in +sovereign power, except the unbounded license of indulging his +sensual appetites. His hours were spent in a seraglio of three +hundred beautiful women, and as many boys, of every rank, and of +every province; and, wherever the arts of seduction proved +ineffectual, the brutal lover had recourse to violence. The +ancient historians ^29 have expatiated on these abandoned scenes +of prostitution, which scorned every restraint of nature or +modesty; but it would not be easy to translate their too faithful +descriptions into the decency of modern language. The intervals +of lust were filled up with the basest amusements. The influence +of a polite age, and the labor of an attentive education, had +never been able to infuse into his rude and brutish mind the +least tincture of learning; and he was the first of the Roman +emperors totally devoid of taste for the pleasures of the +understanding. Nero himself excelled, or affected to excel, in +the elegant arts of music and poetry: nor should we despise his +pursuits, had he not converted the pleasing relaxation of a +leisure hour into the serious business and ambition of his life. +But Commodus, from his earliest infancy, discovered an aversion +to whatever was rational or liberal, and a fond attachment to the +amusements of the populace; the sports of the circus and +amphitheatre, the combats of gladiators, and the hunting of wild +beasts. The masters in every branch of learning, whom Marcus +provided for his son, were heard with inattention and disgust; +whilst the Moors and Parthians, who taught him to dart the +javelin and to shoot with the bow, found a disciple who delighted +in his application, and soon equalled the most skilful of his +instructors in the steadiness of the eye and the dexterity of the +hand. +[Footnote 29: Sororibus suis constupratis. Ipsas concubinas suas +sub oculis ...stuprari jubebat. Nec irruentium in se juvenum +carebat infamia, omni parte corporis atque ore in sexum utrumque +pollutus. Hist. Aug. p. 47.] + The servile crowd, whose fortune depended on their master's +vices, applauded these ignoble pursuits. The perfidious voice of +flattery reminded him, that by exploits of the same nature, by +the defeat of the Nemaean lion, and the slaughter of the wild +boar of Erymanthus, the Grecian Hercules had acquired a place +among the gods, and an immortal memory among men. They only +forgot to observe, that, in the first ages of society, when the +fiercer animals often dispute with man the possession of an +unsettled country, a successful war against those savages is one +of the most innocent and beneficial labors of heroism. In the +civilized state of the Roman empire, the wild beasts had long +since retired from the face of man, and the neighborhood of +populous cities. To surprise them in their solitary haunts, and +to transport them to Rome, that they might be slain in pomp by +the hand of an emperor, was an enterprise equally ridiculous for +the prince and oppressive for the people. ^30 Ignorant of these +distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced the glorious resemblance, +and styled himself (as we still read on his medals ^31) the Roman +Hercules. ^* The club and the lion's hide were placed by the side +of the throne, amongst the ensigns of sovereignty; and statues +were erected, in which Commodus was represented in the character, +and with the attributes, of the god, whose valor and dexterity he +endeavored to emulate in the daily course of his ferocious +amusements. ^32 +[Footnote 30: The African lions, when pressed by hunger, infested +the open villages and cultivated country; and they infested them +with impunity. The royal beast was reserved for the pleasures of +the emperor and the capital; and the unfortunate peasant who +killed one of them though in his own defence, incurred a very +heavy penalty. This extraordinary game-law was mitigated by +Honorius, and finally repealed by Justinian. Codex Theodos. tom. +v. p. 92, et Comment Gothofred.] + +[Footnote 31: Spanheim de Numismat. Dissertat. xii. tom. ii. p. +493.] +[Footnote *: Commodus placed his own head on the colossal statue +of Hercules with the inscription, Lucius Commodus Hercules. The +wits of Rome, according to a new fragment of Dion, published an +epigram, of which, like many other ancient jests, the point is +not very clear. It seems to be a protest of the god against being +confounded with the emperor. Mai Fragm. Vatican. ii. 225. - M.] + +[Footnote 32: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1216. Hist. August. p. 49.] + Elated with these praises, which gradually extinguished the +innate sense of shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the +eyes of the Roman people those exercises, which till then he had +decently confined within the walls of his palace, and to the +presence of a few favorites. On the appointed day, the various +motives of flattery, fear, and curiosity, attracted to the +amphitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators; and some +degree of applause was deservedly bestowed on the uncommon skill +of the Imperial performer. Whether he aimed at the head or heart +of the animal, the wound was alike certain and mortal. With +arrows whose point was shaped into the form of crescent, Commodus +often intercepted the rapid career, and cut asunder the long, +bony neck of the ostrich. ^33 A panther was let loose; and the +archer waited till he had leaped upon a trembling malefactor. In +the same instant the shaft flew, the beast dropped dead, and the +man remained unhurt. The dens of the amphitheatre disgorged at +once a hundred lions: a hundred darts from the unerring hand of +Commodus laid them dead as they run raging round the Arena. +Neither the huge bulk of the elephant, nor the scaly hide of the +rhinoceros, could defend them from his stroke. Aethiopia and +India yielded their most extraordinary productions; and several +animals were slain in the amphitheatre, which had been seen only +in the representations of art, or perhaps of fancy. ^34 In all +these exhibitions, the securest precautions were used to protect +the person of the Roman Hercules from the desperate spring of any +savage, who might possibly disregard the dignity of the emperor +and the sanctity of the god. ^35 + +[Footnote 33: The ostrich's neck is three feet long, and composed +of seventeen vertebrae. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle.] + +[Footnote 34: Commodus killed a camelopardalis or Giraffe, (Dion, +l. lxxii. p. 1211,) the tallest, the most gentle, and the most +useless of the large quadrupeds. This singular animal, a native +only of the interior parts of Africa, has not been seen in Europe +since the revival of letters; and though M. de Buffon (Hist. +Naturelle, tom. xiii.) has endeavored to describe, he has not +ventured to delineate, the Giraffe. + + Note: The naturalists of our days have been more fortunate. +London probably now contains more specimens of this animal than +have been seen in Europe since the fall of the Roman empire, +unless in the pleasure gardens of the emperor Frederic II., in +Sicily, which possessed several. Frederic's collections of wild +beasts were exhibited, for the popular amusement, in many parts +of Italy. Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, v. iii. p. 571. +Gibbon, moreover, is mistaken; as a giraffe was presented to +Lorenzo de Medici, either by the sultan of Egypt or the king of +Tunis. Contemporary authorities are quoted in the old work, +Gesner de Quadrupedibum p. 162. - M.] +[Footnote 35: Herodian, l. i. p. 37. Hist. August. p. 50.] + But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame and +indignation when they beheld their sovereign enter the lists as a +gladiator, and glory in a profession which the laws and manners +of the Romans had branded with the justest note of infamy. ^36 He +chose the habit and arms of the Secutor, whose combat with the +Retiarius formed one of the most lively scenes in the bloody +sports of the amphitheatre. The Secutor was armed with a helmet, +sword, and buckler; his naked antagonist had only a large net and +a trident; with the one he endeavored to entangle, with the other +to despatch his enemy. If he missed the first throw, he was +obliged to fly from the pursuit of the Secutor, till he had +prepared his net for a second cast. ^37 The emperor fought in +this character seven hundred and thirty-five several times. +These glorious achievements were carefully recorded in the public +acts of the empire; and that he might omit no circumstance of +infamy, he received from the common fund of gladiators a stipend +so exorbitant that it became a new and most ignominious tax upon +the Roman people. ^38 It may be easily supposed, that in these +engagements the master of the world was always successful; in the +amphitheatre, his victories were not often sanguinary; but when +he exercised his skill in the school of gladiators, or his own +palace, his wretched antagonists were frequently honored with a +mortal wound from the hand of Commodus, and obliged to seal their +flattery with their blood. ^39 He now disdained the appellation +of Hercules. The name of Paulus, a celebrated Secutor, was the +only one which delighted his ear. It was inscribed on his +colossal statues, and repeated in the redoubled acclamations ^40 +of the mournful and applauding senate. ^41 Claudius Pompeianus, +the virtuous husband of Lucilla, was the only senator who +asserted the honor of his rank. As a father, he permitted his +sons to consult their safety by attending the amphitheatre. As a +Roman, he declared, that his own life was in the emperor's hands, +but that he would never behold the son of Marcus prostituting his +person and dignity. Notwithstanding his manly resolution +Pompeianus escaped the resentment of the tyrant, and, with his +honor, had the good fortune to preserve his life. ^42 + +[Footnote 36: The virtuous and even the wise princes forbade the +senators and knights to embrace this scandalous profession, under +pain of infamy, or, what was more dreaded by those profligate +wretches, of exile. The tyrants allured them to dishonor by +threats and rewards. Nero once produced in the arena forty +senators and sixty knights. See Lipsius, Saturnalia, l. ii. c. +2. He has happily corrected a passage of Suetonius in Nerone, c. +12.] +[Footnote 37: Lipsius, l. ii. c. 7, 8. Juvenal, in the eighth +satire, gives a picturesque description of this combat.] + +[Footnote 38: Hist. August. p. 50. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1220. He +received, for each time, decies, about 8000l. sterling.] + +[Footnote 39: Victor tells us, that Commodus only allowed his +antagonists a ...weapon, dreading most probably the consequences +of their despair.] +[Footnote 40: They were obliged to repeat, six hundred and +twenty-six times, Paolus first of the Secutors, &c.] + +[Footnote 41: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1221. He speaks of his own +baseness and danger.] + +[Footnote 42: He mixed, however, some prudence with his courage, +and passed the greatest part of his time in a country retirement; +alleging his advanced age, and the weakness of his eyes. "I +never saw him in the senate," says Dion, "except during the short +reign of Pertinax." All his infirmities had suddenly left him, +and they returned as suddenly upon the murder of that excellent +prince. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1227.] + + Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy. +Amidst the acclamations of a flattering court, he was unable to +disguise from himself, that he had deserved the contempt and +hatred of every man of sense and virtue in his empire. His +ferocious spirit was irritated by the consciousness of that +hatred, by the envy of every kind of merit, by the just +apprehension of danger, and by the habit of slaughter, which he +contracted in his daily amusements. History has preserved a long +list of consular senators sacrificed to his wanton suspicion, +which sought out, with peculiar anxiety, those unfortunate +persons connected, however remotely, with the family of the +Antonines, without sparing even the ministers of his crimes or +pleasures. ^43 His cruelty proved at last fatal to himself. He +had shed with impunity the noblest blood of Rome: he perished as +soon as he was dreaded by his own domestics. Marcia, his +favorite concubine, Eclectus, his chamberlain, and Laetus, his +Praetorian praefect, alarmed by the fate of their companions and +predecessors, resolved to prevent the destruction which every +hour hung over their heads, either from the mad caprice of the +tyrant, ^* or the sudden indignation of the people. Marcia +seized the occasion of presenting a draught of wine to her lover, +after he had fatigued himself with hunting some wild beasts. +Commodus retired to sleep; but whilst he was laboring with the +effects of poison and drunkenness, a robust youth, by profession +a wrestler, entered his chamber, and strangled him without +resistance. The body was secretly conveyed out of the palace, +before the least suspicion was entertained in the city, or even +in the court, of the emperor's death. Such was the fate of the +son of Marcus, and so easy was it to destroy a hated tyrant, who, +by the artificial powers of government, had oppressed, during +thirteen years, so many millions of subjects, each of whom was +equal to their master in personal strength and personal +abilities. ^44 + +[Footnote 43: The prefects were changed almost hourly or daily; +and the caprice of Commodus was often fatal to his most favored +chamberlains. Hist. August. p. 46, 51.] + +[Footnote *: Commodus had already resolved to massacre them the +following night they determined o anticipate his design. Herod. +i. 17. - W.] +[Footnote 44: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1222. Herodian, l. i. p. 43. +Hist. August. p. 52.] + + The measures of he conspirators were conducted with the +deliberate coolness and celerity which the greatness of the +occasion required. They resolved instantly to fill the vacant +throne with an emperor whose character would justify and maintain +the action that had been committed. They fixed on Pertinax, +praefect of the city, an ancient senator of consular rank, whose +conspicuous merit had broke through the obscurity of his birth, +and raised him to the first honors of the state. He had +successively governed most of the provinces of the empire; and in +all his great employments, military as well as civil, he had +uniformly distinguished himself by the firmness, the prudence, +and the integrity of his conduct. ^45 He now remained almost +alone of the friends and ministers of Marcus; and when, at a late +hour of the night, he was awakened with the news, that the +chamberlain and the praefect were at his door, he received them +with intrepid resignation, and desired they would execute their +master's orders. Instead of death, they offered him the throne +of the Roman world. During some moments he distrusted their +intentions and assurances. Convinced at length of the death of +Commodus, he accepted the purple with a sincere reluctance, the +natural effect of his knowledge both of the duties and of the +dangers of the supreme rank. ^46 +[Footnote 45: Pertinax was a native of Alba Pompeia, in Piedmont, +and son of a timber merchant. The order of his employments (it +is marked by Capitolinus) well deserves to be set down, as +expressive of the form of government and manners of the age. 1. +He was a centurion. 2. Praefect of a cohort in Syria, in the +Parthian war, and in Britain. 3. He obtained an Ala, or squadron +of horse, in Maesia. 4. He was commissary of provisions on the +Aemilian way. 5. He commanded the fleet upon the Rhine. 6. He +was procurator of Dacia, with a salary of about 1600l. a year. +7. He commanded the veterans of a legion. 8. He obtained the +rank of senator. 9. Of praetor. 10. With the command of the +first legion in Rhaetia and Noricum. 11. He was consul about the +year 175. 12. He attended Marcus into the East. 13. He commanded +an army on the Danube. 14. He was consular legate of Maesia. +15. Of Dacia. 16. Of Syria. 17. Of Britain. 18. He had the +care of the public provisions at Rome. 19. He was proconsul of +Africa. 20. Praefect of the city. Herodian (l. i. p. 48) does +justice to his disinterested spirit; but Capitolinus, who +collected every popular rumor, charges him with a great fortune +acquired by bribery and corruption.] +[Footnote 46: Julian, in the Caesars, taxes him with being +accessory to the death of Commodus.] + + Laetus conducted without delay his new emperor to the camp +of the Praetorians, diffusing at the same time through the city a +seasonable report that Commodus died suddenly of an apoplexy; and +that the virtuous Pertinax had already succeeded to the throne. +The guards were rather surprised than pleased with the suspicious +death of a prince, whose indulgence and liberality they alone had +experienced; but the emergency of the occasion, the authority of +their praefect, the reputation of Pertinax, and the clamors of +the people, obliged them to stifle their secret discontents, to +accept the donative promised by the new emperor, to swear +allegiance to him, and with joyful acclamations and laurels in +their hands to conduct him to the senate house, that the military +consent might be ratified by the civil authority. + This important night was now far spent; with the dawn of +day, and the commencement of the new year, the senators expected +a summons to attend an ignominious ceremony. ^* In spite of all +remonstrances, even of those of his creatures who yet preserved +any regard for prudence or decency, Commodus had resolved to pass +the night in the gladiators' school, and from thence to take +possession of the consulship, in the habit and with the +attendance of that infamous crew. On a sudden, before the break +of day, the senate was called together in the temple of Concord, +to meet the guards, and to ratify the election of a new emperor. +For a few minutes they sat in silent suspense, doubtful of their +unexpected deliverance, and suspicious of the cruel artifices of +Commodus: but when at length they were assured that the tyrant +was no more, they resigned themselves to all the transports of +joy and indignation. Pertinax, who modestly represented the +meanness of his extraction, and pointed out several noble +senators more deserving than himself of the empire, was +constrained by their dutiful violence to ascend the throne, and +received all the titles of Imperial power, confirmed by the most +sincere vows of fidelity. The memory of Commodus was branded +with eternal infamy. The names of tyrant, of gladiator, of +public enemy resounded in every corner of the house. They +decreed in tumultuous votes, ^* that his honors should be +reversed, his titles erased from the public monuments, his +statues thrown down, his body dragged with a hook into the +stripping room of the gladiators, to satiate the public fury; and +they expressed some indignation against those officious servants +who had already presumed to screen his remains from the justice +of the senate. But Pertinax could not refuse those last rites to +the memory of Marcus, and the tears of his first protector +Claudius Pompeianus, who lamented the cruel fate of his +brother-in- law, and lamented still more that he had deserved it. +^47 + +[Footnote *: The senate always assembled at the beginning of the +year, on the night of the 1st January, (see Savaron on Sid. +Apoll. viii. 6,) and this happened the present year, as usual, +without any particular order. - G from W.] + +[Footnote *: What Gibbon improperly calls, both here and in the +note, tumultuous decrees, were no more than the applauses and +acclamations which recur so often in the history of the emperors. + +The custom passed from the theatre to the forum, from the forum +to the senate. Applauses on the adoption of the Imperial decrees +were first introduced under Trajan. (Plin. jun. Panegyr. 75.) +One senator read the form of the decree, and all the rest +answered by acclamations, accompanied with a kind of chant or +rhythm. These were some of the acclamations addressed to +Pertinax, and against the memory of Commodus. Hosti patriae +honores detrahantur. Parricidae honores detrahantur. Ut salvi +simus, Jupiter, optime, maxime, serva nobis Pertinacem. This +custom prevailed not only in the councils of state, but in all +the meetings of the senate. However inconsistent it may appear +with the solemnity of a religious assembly, the early Christians +adopted and introduced it into their synods, notwithstanding the +opposition of some of the Fathers, particularly of St. +Chrysostom. See the Coll. of Franc. Bern. Ferrarius de veterum +acclamatione in Graevii Thesaur. Antiq. Rom. i. 6. - W. + This note is rather hypercritical, as regards Gibbon, but +appears to be worthy of preservation. - M.] + +[Footnote 47: Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these +tumultuary votes, which were moved by one senator, and repeated, +or rather chanted by the whole body. Hist. August. p. 52.] + + These effusions of impotent rage against a dead emperor, +whom the senate had flattered when alive with the most abject +servility, betrayed a just but ungenerous spirit of revenge. + + The legality of these decrees was, however, supported by the +principles of the Imperial constitution. To censure, to depose, +or to punish with death, the first magistrate of the republic, +who had abused his delegated trust, was the ancient and undoubted +prerogative of the Roman senate; ^48 but the feeble assembly was +obliged to content itself with inflicting on a fallen tyrant that +public justice, from which, during his life and reign, he had +been shielded by the strong arm of military despotism. ^* + +[Footnote 48: The senate condemned Nero to be put to death more +majorum. Sueton. c. 49.] + +[Footnote *: No particular law assigned this right to the senate: +it was deduced from the ancient principles of the republic. +Gibbon appears to infer, from the passage of Suetonius, that the +senate, according to its ancient right, punished Nero with death. + +The words, however, more majerum refer not to the decree of the +senate, but to the kind of death, which was taken from an old law +of Romulus. (See Victor. Epit. Ed. Artzen p. 484, n. 7. - W.] + + Pertinax found a nobler way of condemning his predecessor's +memory; by the contrast of his own virtues with the vices of +Commodus. On the day of his accession, he resigned over to his +wife and son his whole private fortune; that they might have no +pretence to solicit favors at the expense of the state. He +refused to flatter the vanity of the former with the title of +Augusta; or to corrupt the inexperienced youth of the latter by +the rank of Caesar. Accurately distinguishing between the duties +of a parent and those of a sovereign, he educated his son with a +severe simplicity, which, while it gave him no assured prospect +of the throne, might in time have rendered him worthy of it. In +public, the behavior of Pertinax was grave and affable. He lived +with the virtuous part of the senate, (and, in a private station, +he had been acquainted with the true character of each +individual,) without either pride or jealousy; considered them as +friends and companions, with whom he had shared the danger of the +tyranny, and with whom he wished to enjoy the security of the +present time. He very frequently invited them to familiar +entertainments, the frugality of which was ridiculed by those who +remembered and regretted the luxurious prodigality of Commodus. +^49 +[Footnote 49: Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1223) speaks of these +entertainments, as a senator who had supped with the emperor; +Capitolinus, (Hist. August. p. 58,) like a slave, who had +received his intelligence from one the scullions.] + To heal, as far as I was possible, the wounds inflicted by +the hand of tyranny, was the pleasing, but melancholy, task of +Pertinax. The innocent victims, who yet survived, were recalled +from exile, released from prison, and restored to the full +possession of their honors and fortunes. The unburied bodies of +murdered senators (for the cruelty of Commodus endeavored to +extend itself beyond death) were deposited in the sepulchres of +their ancestors; their memory was justified and every consolation +was bestowed on their ruined and afflicted families. Among these +consolations, one of the most grateful was the punishment of the +Delators; the common enemies of their master, of virtue, and of +their country. Yet even in the inquisition of these legal +assassins, Pertinax proceeded with a steady temper, which gave +every thing to justice, and nothing to popular prejudice and +resentment. + The finances of the state demanded the most vigilant care of +the emperor. Though every measure of injustice and extortion had +been adopted, which could collect the property of the subject +into the coffers of the prince, the rapaciousness of Commodus had +been so very inadequate to his extravagance, that, upon his +death, no more than eight thousand pounds were found in the +exhausted treasury, ^50 to defray the current expenses of +government, and to discharge the pressing demand of a liberal +donative, which the new emperor had been obliged to promise to +the Praetorian guards. Yet under these distressed circumstances, +Pertinax had the generous firmness to remit all the oppressive +taxes invented by Commodus, and to cancel all the unjust claims +of the treasury; declaring, in a decree of the senate, "that he +was better satisfied to administer a poor republic with +innocence, than to acquire riches by the ways of tyranny and +dishonor. "Economy and industry he considered as the pure and +genuine sources of wealth; and from them he soon derived a +copious supply for the public necessities. The expense of the +household was immediately reduced to one half. All the +instruments of luxury Pertinax exposed to public auction, ^51 +gold and silver plate, chariots of a singular construction, a +superfluous wardrobe of silk and embroidery, and a great number +of beautiful slaves of both sexes; excepting only, with attentive +humanity, those who were born in a state of freedom, and had been +ravished from the arms of their weeping parents. At the same +time that he obliged the worthless favorites of the tyrant to +resign a part of their ill- gotten wealth, he satisfied the just +creditors of the state, and unexpectedly discharged the long +arrears of honest services. He removed the oppressive +restrictions which had been laid upon commerce, and granted all +the uncultivated lands in Italy and the provinces to those who +would improve them; with an exemption from tribute during the +term of ten years. ^52 +[Footnote 50: Decies. The blameless economy of Pius left his +successors a treasure of vicies septies millies, above two and +twenty millions sterling. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.] + +[Footnote 51: Besides the design of converting these useless +ornaments into money, Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1229) assigns two +secret motives of Pertinax. He wished to expose the vices of +Commodus, and to discover by the purchasers those who most +resembled him.] + +[Footnote 52: Though Capitolinus has picked up many idle tales of +the private life of Pertinax, he joins with Dion and Herodian in +admiring his public conduct.] + + Such a uniform conduct had already secured to Pertinax the +noblest reward of a sovereign, the love and esteem of his people. + +Those who remembered the virtues of Marcus were happy to +contemplate in their new emperor the features of that bright +original; and flattered themselves, that they should long enjoy +the benign influence of his administration. A hasty zeal to +reform the corrupted state, accompanied with less prudence than +might have been expected from the years and experience of +Pertinax, proved fatal to himself and to his country. His honest +indiscretion united against him the servile crowd, who found +their private benefit in the public disorders, and who preferred +the favor of a tyrant to the inexorable equality of the laws. ^53 + +[Footnote 53: Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse. T. Liv. ii. +3.] + Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of +the Praetorian guards betrayed their inward dissatisfaction. +They had reluctantly submitted to Pertinax; they dreaded the +strictness of the ancient discipline, which he was preparing to +restore; and they regretted the license of the former reign. +Their discontents were secretly fomented by Laetus, their +praefect, who found, when it was too late, that his new emperor +would reward a servant, but would not be ruled by a favorite. On +the third day of his reign, the soldiers seized on a noble +senator, with a design to carry him to the camp, and to invest +him with the Imperial purple. Instead of being dazzled by the +dangerous honor, the affrighted victim escaped from their +violence, and took refuge at the feet of Pertinax. A short time +afterwards, Sosius Falco, one of the consuls of the year, a rash +youth, ^54 but of an ancient and opulent family, listened to the +voice of ambition; and a conspiracy was formed during a short +absence of Pertinax, which was crushed by his sudden return to +Rome, and his resolute behavior. Falco was on the point of being +justly condemned to death as a public enemy had he not been saved +by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the injured emperor, who +conjured the senate, that the purity of his reign might not be +stained by the blood even of a guilty senator. + +[Footnote 54: If we credit Capitolinus, (which is rather +difficult,) Falco behaved with the most petulant indecency to +Pertinax, on the day of his accession. The wise emperor only +admonished him of his youth and in experience. Hist. August. p. +55.] + + These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of +the Praetorian guards. On the twenty-eighth of March, eighty-six +days only after the death of Commodus, a general sedition broke +out in the camp, which the officers wanted either power or +inclination to suppress. Two or three hundred of the most +desperate soldiers marched at noonday, with arms in their hands +and fury in their looks, towards the Imperial palace. The gates +were thrown open by their companions upon guard, and by the +domestics of the old court, who had already formed a secret +conspiracy against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the +news of their approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or +concealment, advanced to meet his assassins; and recalled to +their minds his own innocence, and the sanctity of their recent +oath. For a few moments they stood in silent suspense, ashamed +of their atrocious design, and awed by the venerable aspect and +majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at length, the despair +of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the country of +Tongress ^55 levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who was +instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, +separated from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in +triumph to the Praetorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and +indignant people, who lamented the unworthy fate of that +excellent prince, and the transient blessings of a reign, the +memory of which could serve only to aggravate their approaching +misfortunes. ^56 + +[Footnote 55: The modern bishopric of Liege. This soldier +probably belonged to the Batavian horse-guards, who were mostly +raised in the duchy of Gueldres and the neighborhood, and were +distinguished by their valor, and by the boldness with which they +swam their horses across the broadest and most rapid rivers. +Tacit. Hist. iv. 12 Dion, l. lv p. 797 Lipsius de magnitudine +Romana, l. i. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 56: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1232. Herodian, l. ii. p. 60. +Hist. August. p. 58. Victor in Epitom. et in Caesarib. +Eutropius, viii. 16.] + +Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus. + +Part I. + +Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The Praetorian +Guards - Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius Niger In Syria, +And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare Against The Murderers +Of Pertinax - Civil Wars And Victory Of Severus Over His Three +Rivals - Relaxation Of Discipline - New Maxims Of Government. + + The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensive +monarchy, than in a small community. It has been calculated by +the ablest politicians, that no state, without being soon +exhausted, can maintain above the hundredth part of its members +in arms and idleness. But although this relative proportion may +be uniform, the influence of the army over the rest of the +society will vary according to the degree of its positive +strength. The advantages of military science and discipline +cannot be exerted, unless a proper number of soldiers are united +into one body, and actuated by one soul. With a handful of men, +such a union would be ineffectual; with an unwieldy host, it +would be impracticable; and the powers of the machine would be +alike destroyed by the extreme minuteness or the excessive weight +of its springs. To illustrate this observation, we need only +reflect, that there is no superiority of natural strength, +artificial weapons, or acquired skill, which could enable one man +to keep in constant subjection one hundred of his +fellow-creatures: the tyrant of a single town, or a small +district, would soon discover that a hundred armed followers were +a weak defence against ten thousand peasants or citizens; but a +hundred thousand well-disciplined soldiers will command, with +despotic sway, ten millions of subjects; and a body of ten or +fifteen thousand guards will strike terror into the most numerous +populace that ever crowded the streets of an immense capital. + The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the first +symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcely +amounted to the last- mentioned number ^1 They derived their +institution from Augustus. That crafty tyrant, sensible that +laws might color, but that arms alone could maintain, his usurped +dominion, had gradually formed this powerful body of guards, in +constant readiness to protect his person, to awe the senate, and +either to prevent or to crush the first motions of rebellion. He +distinguished these favored troops by a double pay and superior +privileges; but, as their formidable aspect would at once have +alarmed and irritated the Roman people, three cohorts only were +stationed in the capital, whilst the remainder was dispersed in +the adjacent towns of Italy. ^2 But after fifty years of peace +and servitude, Tiberius ventured on a decisive measure, which +forever rivetted the fetters of his country. Under the fair +pretences of relieving Italy from the heavy burden of military +quarters, and of introducing a stricter discipline among the +guards, he assembled them at Rome, in a permanent camp, ^3 which +was fortified with skilful care, ^4 and placed on a commanding +situation. ^5 + +[Footnote 1: They were originally nine or ten thousand men, (for +Tacitus and son are not agreed upon the subject,) divided into as +many cohorts. Vitellius increased them to sixteen thousand, and +as far as we can learn from inscriptions, they never afterwards +sunk much below that number. See Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, +i. 4.] + +[Footnote 2: Sueton. in August. c. 49.] + +[Footnote 3: Tacit. Annal. iv. 2. Sueton. in Tiber. c. 37. Dion +Cassius, l. lvii. p. 867.] + +[Footnote 4: In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian, +the Praetorian camp was attacked and defended with all the +machines used in the siege of the best fortified cities. Tacit. +Hist. iii. 84.] + +[Footnote 5: Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summit +of the Quirinal and Viminal hills. See Nardini Roma Antica, p. +174. Donatus de Roma Antiqua, p. 46. + + Note: Not on both these hills: neither Donatus nor Nardini +justify this position. (Whitaker's Review. p. 13.) At the +northern extremity of this hill (the Viminal) are some +considerable remains of a walled enclosure which bears all the +appearance of a Roman camp, and therefore is generally thought to +correspond with the Castra Praetoria. Cramer's Italy 390. - M.] + Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often +fatal to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing the +Praetorian guards as it were into the palace and the senate, the +emperors taught them to perceive their own strength, and the +weakness of the civil government; to view the vices of their +masters with familiar contempt, and to lay aside that reverential +awe, which distance only, and mystery, can preserve towards an +imaginary power. In the luxurious idleness of an opulent city, +their pride was nourished by the sense of their irresistible +weight; nor was it possible to conceal from them, that the person +of the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the public +treasure, and the seat of empire, were all in their hands. To +divert the Praetorian bands from these dangerous reflections, the +firmest and best established princes were obliged to mix +blandishments with commands, rewards with punishments, to flatter +their pride, indulge their pleasures, connive at their +irregularities, and to purchase their precarious faith by a +liberal donative; which, since the elevation of Claudius, was +enacted as a legal claim, on the accession of every new emperor. +^6 + +[Footnote 6: Claudius, raised by the soldiers to the empire, was +the first who gave a donative. He gave quina dena, 120l. +(Sueton. in Claud. c. 10: ) when Marcus, with his colleague +Lucius Versus, took quiet possession of the throne, he gave +vicena, 160l. to each of the guards. Hist. August. p. 25, (Dion, +l. lxxiii. p. 1231.) We may form some idea of the amount of these +sums, by Hadrian's complaint that the promotion of a Caesar had +cost him ter millies, two millions and a half sterling.] + + The advocate of the guards endeavored to justify by +arguments the power which they asserted by arms; and to maintain +that, according to the purest principles of the constitution, +their consent was essentially necessary in the appointment of an +emperor. The election of consuls, of generals, and of +magistrates, however it had been recently usurped by the senate, +was the ancient and undoubted right of the Roman people. ^7 But +where was the Roman people to be found? Not surely amongst the +mixed multitude of slaves and strangers that filled the streets +of Rome; a servile populace, as devoid of spirit as destitute of +property. The defenders of the state, selected from the flower +of the Italian youth, ^8 and trained in the exercise of arms and +virtue, were the genuine representatives of the people, and the +best entitled to elect the military chief of the republic. These +assertions, however defective in reason, became unanswerable when +the fierce Praetorians increased their weight, by throwing, like +the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords into the scale. ^9 + +[Footnote 7: Cicero de Legibus, iii. 3. The first book of Livy, +and the second of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, show the authority +of the people, even in the election of the kings.] + +[Footnote 8: They were originally recruited in Latium, Etruria, +and the old colonies, (Tacit. Annal. iv. 5.) The emperor Otho +compliments their vanity with the flattering titles of Italiae, +Alumni, Romana were juventus. Tacit. Hist. i. 84.] + +[Footnote 9: In the siege of Rome by the Gauls. See Livy, v. 48. + +Plutarch. in Camill. p. 143.] + The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne by +the atrocious murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the majesty of +it by their subsequent conduct. The camp was without a leader, +for even the praefect Laetus, who had excited the tempest, +prudently declined the public indignation. Amidst the wild +disorder, Sulpicianus, the emperor's father-in-law, and governor +of the city, who had been sent to the camp on the first alarm of +mutiny, was endeavoring to calm the fury of the multitude, when +he was silenced by the clamorous return of the murderers, bearing +on a lance the head of Pertinax. Though history has accustomed us +to observe every principle and every passion yielding to the +imperious dictates of ambition, it is scarcely credible that, in +these moments of horror, Sulpicianus should have aspired to +ascend a throne polluted with the recent blood of so near a +relation and so excellent a prince. He had already begun to use +the only effectual argument, and to treat for the Imperial +dignity; but the more prudent of the Praetorians, apprehensive +that, in this private contract, they should not obtain a just +price for so valuable a commodity, ran out upon the ramparts; +and, with a loud voice, proclaimed that the Roman world was to be +disposed of to the best bidder by public auction. ^10 + +[Footnote 10: Dion, L. lxxiii. p. 1234. Herodian, l. ii. p. 63. +Hist. August p. 60. Though the three historians agree that it +was in fact an auction, Herodian alone affirms that it was +proclaimed as such by the soldiers.] + + This infamous offer, the most insolent excess of military +license, diffused a universal grief, shame, and indignation +throughout the city. It reached at length the ears of Didius +Julianus, a wealthy senator, who, regardless of the public +calamities, was indulging himself in the luxury of the table. ^11 +His wife and his daughter, his freedmen and his parasites, easily +convinced him that he deserved the throne, and earnestly conjured +him to embrace so fortunate an opportunity. The vain old man +hastened to the Praetorian camp, where Sulpicianus was still in +treaty with the guards, and began to bid against him from the +foot of the rampart. The unworthy negotiation was transacted by +faithful emissaries, who passed alternately from one candidate to +the other, and acquainted each of them with the offers of his +rival. Sulpicianus had already promised a donative of five +thousand drachms (above one hundred and sixty pounds) to each +soldier; when Julian, eager for the prize, rose at once to the +sum of six thousand two hundred and fifty drachms, or upwards of +two hundred pounds sterling. The gates of the camp were +instantly thrown open to the purchaser; he was declared emperor, +and received an oath of allegiance from the soldiers, who +retained humanity enough to stipulate that he should pardon and +forget the competition of Sulpicianus. ^* + +[Footnote 11: Spartianus softens the most odious parts of the +character and elevation of Julian.] + +[Footnote *: One of the principal causes of the preference of +Julianus by the soldiers, was the dexterty dexterity with which +he reminded them that Sulpicianus would not fail to revenge on +them the death of his son-in-law. (See Dion, p. 1234, 1234. c. +11. Herod. ii. 6.) - W.] + + It was now incumbent on the Praetorians to fulfil the +conditions of the sale. They placed their new sovereign, whom +they served and despised, in the centre of their ranks, +surrounded him on every side with their shields, and conducted +him in close order of battle through the deserted streets of the +city. The senate was commanded to assemble; and those who had +been the distinguished friends of Pertinax, or the personal +enemies of Julian, found it necessary to affect a more than +common share of satisfaction at this happy revolution. ^12 After +Julian had filled the senate house with armed soldiers, he +expatiated on the freedom of his election, his own eminent +virtues, and his full assurance of the affections of the senate. +The obsequious assembly congratulated their own and the public +felicity; engaged their allegiance, and conferred on him all the +several branches of the Imperial power. ^13 From the senate +Julian was conducted, by the same military procession, to take +possession of the palace. The first objects that struck his +eyes, were the abandoned trunk of Pertinax, and the frugal +entertainment prepared for his supper. The one he viewed with +indifference, the other with contempt. A magnificent feast was +prepared by his order, and he amused himself, till a very late +hour, with dice, and the performances of Pylades, a celebrated +dancer. Yet it was observed, that after the crowd of flatterers +dispersed, and left him to darkness, solitude, and terrible +reflection, he passed a sleepless night; revolving most probably +in his mind his own rash folly, the fate of his virtuous +predecessor, and the doubtful and dangerous tenure of an empire +which had not been acquired by merit, but purchased by money. ^14 + +[Footnote 12: Dion Cassius, at that time praetor, had been a +personal enemy to Julian, i. lxxiii. p. 1235.] + +[Footnote 13: Hist. August. p. 61. We learn from thence one +curious circumstance, that the new emperor, whatever had been his +birth, was immediately aggregated to the number of patrician +families. + Note: A new fragment of Dion shows some shrewdness in the +character of Julian. When the senate voted him a golden statue, +he preferred one of brass, as more lasting. He "had always +observed," he said, "that the statues of former emperors were +soon destroyed. Those of brass alone remained." The indignant +historian adds that he was wrong. The virtue of sovereigns alone +preserves their images: the brazen statue of Julian was broken to +pieces at his death. Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 226. - M.] + +[Footnote 14: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235. Hist. August. p. 61. I +have endeavored to blend into one consistent story the seeming +contradictions of the two writers. + + Note: The contradiction as M. Guizot observed, is +irreconcilable. He quotes both passages: in one Julianus is +represented as a miser, in the other as a voluptuary. In the one +he refuses to eat till the body of Pertinax has been buried; in +the other he gluts himself with every luxury almost in the sight +of his headless remains. - M.] + + He had reason to tremble. On the throne of the world he +found himself without a friend, and even without an adherent. +The guards themselves were ashamed of the prince whom their +avarice had persuaded them to accept; nor was there a citizen who +did not consider his elevation with horror, as the last insult on +the Roman name. The nobility, whose conspicuous station, and +ample possessions, exacted the strictest caution, dissembled +their sentiments, and met the affected civility of the emperor +with smiles of complacency and professions of duty. But the +people, secure in their numbers and obscurity, gave a free vent +to their passions. The streets and public places of Rome +resounded with clamors and imprecations. The enraged multitude +affronted the person of Julian, rejected his liberality, and, +conscious of the impotence of their own resentment, they called +aloud on the legions of the frontiers to assert the violated +majesty of the Roman empire. + The public discontent was soon diffused from the centre to +the frontiers of the empire. The armies of Britain, of Syria, +and of Illyricum, lamented the death of Pertinax, in whose +company, or under whose command, they had so often fought and +conquered. They received with surprise, with indignation, and +perhaps with envy, the extraordinary intelligence, that the +Praetorians had disposed of the empire by public auction; and +they sternly refused to ratify the ignominious bargain. Their +immediate and unanimous revolt was fatal to Julian, but it was +fatal at the same time to the public peace, as the generals of +the respective armies, Clodius Albinus, Pescennius Niger, and +Septimius Severus, were still more anxious to succeed than to +revenge the murdered Pertinax. Their forces were exactly +balanced. Each of them was at the head of three legions, ^15 +with a numerous train of auxiliaries; and however different in +their characters, they were all soldiers of experience and +capacity. + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235.] + + Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, surpassed both his +competitors in the nobility of his extraction, which he derived +from some of the most illustrious names of the old republic. ^16 +But the branch from which he claimed his descent was sunk into +mean circumstances, and transplanted into a remote province. It +is difficult to form a just idea of his true character. Under +the philosophic cloak of austerity, he stands accused of +concealing most of the vices which degrade human nature. ^17 But +his accusers are those venal writers who adored the fortune of +Severus, and trampled on the ashes of an unsuccessful rival. +Virtue, or the appearances of virtue, recommended Albinus to the +confidence and good opinion of Marcus; and his preserving with +the son the same interest which he had acquired with the father, +is a proof at least that he was possessed of a very flexible +disposition. The favor of a tyrant does not always suppose a +want of merit in the object of it; he may, without intending it, +reward a man of worth and ability, or he may find such a man +useful to his own service. It does not appear that Albinus +served the son of Marcus, either as the minister of his +cruelties, or even as the associate of his pleasures. He was +employed in a distant honorable command, when he received a +confidential letter from the emperor, acquainting him of the +treasonable designs of some discontented generals, and +authorizing him to declare himself the guardian and successor of +the throne, by assuming the title and ensigns of Caesar. ^18 The +governor of Britain wisely declined the dangerous honor, which +would have marked him for the jealousy, or involved him in the +approaching ruin, of Commodus. He courted power by nobler, or, +at least, by more specious arts. On a premature report of the +death of the emperor, he assembled his troops; and, in an +eloquent discourse, deplored the inevitable mischiefs of +despotism, described the happiness and glory which their +ancestors had enjoyed under the consular government, and declared +his firm resolution to reinstate the senate and people in their +legal authority. This popular harangue was answered by the loud +acclamations of the British legions, and received at Rome with a +secret murmur of applause. Safe in the possession of his little +world, and in the command of an army less distinguished indeed +for discipline than for numbers and valor, ^19 Albinus braved the +menaces of Commodus, maintained towards Pertinax a stately +ambiguous reserve, and instantly declared against the usurpation +of Julian. The convulsions of the capital added new weight to +his sentiments, or rather to his professions of patriotism. A +regard to decency induced him to decline the lofty titles of +Augustus and Emperor; and he imitated perhaps the example of +Galba, who, on a similar occasion, had styled himself the +Lieutenant of the senate and people. ^20 + +[Footnote 16: The Posthumian and the Ce'onian; the former of whom +was raised to the consulship in the fifth year after its +institution.] +[Footnote 17: Spartianus, in his undigested collections, mixes up +all the virtues and all the vices that enter into the human +composition, and bestows them on the same object. Such, indeed +are many of the characters in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 18: Hist. August. p. 80, 84.] + +[Footnote 19: Pertinax, who governed Britain a few years before, +had been left for dead, in a mutiny of the soldiers. Hist. +August. p 54. Yet they loved and regretted him; admirantibus eam +virtutem cui irascebantur.] +[Footnote 20: Sueton. in Galb. c. 10.] + + Personal merit alone had raised Pescennius Niger, from an +obscure birth and station, to the government of Syria; a +lucrative and important command, which in times of civil +confusion gave him a near prospect of the throne. Yet his parts +seem to have been better suited to the second than to the first +rank; he was an unequal rival, though he might have approved +himself an excellent lieutenant, to Severus, who afterwards +displayed the greatness of his mind by adopting several useful +institutions from a vanquished enemy. ^21 In his government Niger +acquired the esteem of the soldiers and the love of the +provincials. His rigid discipline foritfied the valor and +confirmed the obedience of the former, whilst the voluptuous +Syrians were less delighted with the mild firmness of his +administration, than with the affability of his manners, and the +apparent pleasure with which he attended their frequent and +pompous festivals. ^22 As soon as the intelligence of the +atrocious murder of Pertinax had reached Antioch, the wishes of +Asia invited Niger to assume the Imperial purple and revenge his +death. The legions of the eastern frontier embraced his cause; +the opulent but unarmed provinces, from the frontiers of +Aethiopia ^23 to the Hadriatic, cheerfully submitted to his +power; and the kings beyond the Tigris and the Euphrates +congratulated his election, and offered him their homage and +services. The mind of Niger was not capable of receiving this +sudden tide of fortune: he flattered himself that his accession +would be undisturbed by competition and unstained by civil blood; +and whilst he enjoyed the vain pomp of triumph, he neglected to +secure the means of victory. Instead of entering into an +effectual negotiation with the powerful armies of the West, whose +resolution might decide, or at least must balance, the mighty +contest; instead of advancing without delay towards Rome and +Italy, where his presence was impatiently expected, ^24 Niger +trifled away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments +which were diligently improved by the decisive activity of +Severus. ^25 [Footnote 21: Hist. August. p. 76.] + +[Footnote 22: Herod. l. ii. p. 68. The Chronicle of John Malala, +of Antioch, shows the zealous attachment of his countrymen to +these festivals, which at once gratified their superstition, and +their love of pleasure.] +[Footnote 23: A king of Thebes, in Egypt, is mentioned, in the +Augustan History, as an ally, and, indeed, as a personal friend +of Niger. If Spartianus is not, as I strongly suspect, mistaken, +he has brought to light a dynasty of tributary princes totally +unknown to history.] +[Footnote 24: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1238. Herod. l. ii. p. 67. A +verse in every one's mouth at that time, seems to express the +general opinion of the three rivals; Optimus est Niger, [Fuscus, +which preserves the quantity. - M.] bonus After, pessimus Albus. +Hist. August. p. 75.] + +[Footnote 25: Herodian, l. ii. p. 71.] + + The country of Pannonia and Dalmatia, which occupied the +space between the Danube and the Hadriatic, was one of the last +and most difficult conquests of the Romans. In the defence of +national freedom, two hundred thousand of these barbarians had +once appeared in the field, alarmed the declining age of +Augustus, and exercised the vigilant prudence of Tiberius at the +head of the collected force of the empire. ^26 The Pannonians +yielded at length to the arms and institutions of Rome. Their +recent subjection, however, the neighborhood, and even the +mixture, of the unconquered tribes, and perhaps the climate, +adapted, as it has been observed, to the production of great +bodies and slow minds, ^27 all contributed to preserve some +remains of their original ferocity, and under the tame and +uniform countenance of Roman provincials, the hardy features of +the natives were still to be discerned. Their warlike youth +afforded an inexhaustible supply of recruits to the legions +stationed on the banks of the Danube, and which, from a perpetual +warfare against the Germans and Sarmazans, were deservedly +esteemed the best troops in the service. + +[Footnote 26: See an account of that memorable war in Velleius +Paterculus, is 110, &c., who served in the army of Tiberius.] + +[Footnote 27: Such is the reflection of Herodian, l. ii. p. 74. +Will the modern Austrians allow the influence?] + + The Pannonian army was at this time commanded by Septimius +Severus, a native of Africa, who, in the gradual ascent of +private honors, had concealed his daring ambition, which was +never diverted from its steady course by the allurements of +pleasure, the apprehension of danger, or the feelings of +humanity. ^28 On the first news of the murder of Pertinax, he +assembled his troops, painted in the most lively colors the +crime, the insolence, and the weakness of the Praetorian guards, +and animated the legions to arms and to revenge. He concluded +(and the peroration was thought extremely eloquent) with +promising every soldier about four hundred pounds; an honorable +donative, double in value to the infamous bribe with which Julian +had purchased the empire. ^29 The acclamations of the army +immediately saluted Severus with the names of Augustus, Pertinax, +and Emperor; and he thus attained the lofty station to which he +was invited, by conscious merit and a long train of dreams and +omens, the fruitful offsprings either of his superstition or +policy. ^30 + +[Footnote 28: In the letter to Albinus, already mentioned, +Commodus accuses Severus, as one of the ambitious generals who +censured his conduct, and wished to occupy his place. Hist. +August. p. 80.] + +[Footnote 29: Pannonia was too poor to supply such a sum. It was +probably promised in the camp, and paid at Rome, after the +victory. In fixing the sum, I have adopted the conjecture of +Casaubon. See Hist. August. p. 66. Comment. p. 115.] + +[Footnote 30: Herodian, l. ii. p. 78. Severus was declared +emperor on the banks of the Danube, either at Carnuntum, +according to Spartianus, (Hist. August. p. 65,) or else at +Sabaria, according to Victor. Mr. Hume, in supposing that the +birth and dignity of Severus were too much inferior to the +Imperial crown, and that he marched into Italy as general only, +has not considered this transaction with his usual accuracy, +(Essay on the original contract.) + + Note: Carnuntum, opposite to the mouth of the Morava: its +position is doubtful, either Petronel or Haimburg. A little +intermediate village seems to indicate by its name (Altenburg) +the site of an old town. D'Anville Geogr. Anc. Sabaria, now +Sarvar. - G. Compare note 37. - M.] + + The new candidate for empire saw and improved the peculiar +advantage of his situation. His province extended to the Julian +Alps, which gave an easy access into Italy; and he remembered the +saying of Augustus, That a Pannonian army might in ten days +appear in sight of Rome. ^31 By a celerity proportioned to the +greatness of the occasion, he might reasonably hope to revenge +Pertinax, punish Julian, and receive the homage of the senate and +people, as their lawful emperor, before his competitors, +separated from Italy by an immense tract of sea and land, were +apprised of his success, or even of his election. During the +whole expedition, he scarcely allowed himself any moments for +sleep or food; marching on foot, and in complete armor, at the +head of his columns, he insinuated himself into the confidence +and affection of his troops, pressed their diligence, revived +their spirits, animated their hopes, and was well satisfied to +share the hardships of the meanest soldier, whilst he kept in +view the infinite superiority of his reward. +[Footnote 31: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 3. We must reckon +the march from the nearest verge of Pannonia, and extend the +sight of the city as far as two hundred miles.] + + The wretched Julian had expected, and thought himself +prepared, to dispute the empire with the governor of Syria; but +in the invincible and rapid approach of the Pannonian legions, he +saw his inevitable ruin. The hasty arrival of every messenger +increased his just apprehensions. He was successively informed, +that Severus had passed the Alps; that the Italian cities, +unwilling or unable to oppose his progress, had received him with +the warmest professions of joy and duty; that the important place +of Ravenna had surrendered without resistance, and that the +Hadriatic fleet was in the hands of the conqueror. The enemy was +now within two hundred and fifty miles of Rome; and every moment +diminished the narrow span of life and empire allotted to Julian. + + He attempted, however, to prevent, or at least to protract, +his ruin. He implored the venal faith of the Praetorians, filled +the city with unavailing preparations for war, drew lines round +the suburbs, and even strengthened the fortifications of the +palace; as if those last intrenchments could be defended, without +hope of relief, against a victorious invader. Fear and shame +prevented the guards from deserting his standard; but they +trembled at the name of the Pannonian legions, commanded by an +experienced general, and accustomed to vanquish the barbarians on +the frozen Danube. ^32 They quitted, with a sigh, the pleasures +of the baths and theatres, to put on arms, whose use they had +almost forgotten, and beneath the weight of which they were +oppressed. The unpractised elephants, whose uncouth appearance, +it was hoped, would strike terror into the army of the north, +threw their unskilful riders; and the awkward evolutions of the +marines, drawn from the fleet of Misenum, were an object of +ridicule to the populace; whilst the senate enjoyed, with secret +pleasure, the distress and weakness of the usurper. ^33 + +[Footnote 32: This is not a puerile figure of rhetoric, but an +allusion to a real fact recorded by Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1181. It +probably happened more than once.] + +[Footnote 33: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1233. Herodian, l. ii. p. 81. +There is no surer proof of the military skill of the Romans, than +their first surmounting the idle terror, and afterwards +disdaining the dangerous use, of elephants in war. + + Note: These elephants were kept for processions, perhaps for +the games. Se Herod. in loc. - M.] + + Every motion of Julian betrayed his trembling perplexity. +He insisted that Severus should be declared a public enemy by the +senate. He entreated that the Pannonian general might be +associated to the empire. He sent public ambassadors of consular +rank to negotiate with his rival; he despatched private assassins +to take away his life. He designed that the Vestal virgins, and +all the colleges of priests, in their sacerdotal habits, and +bearing before them the sacred pledges of the Roman religion, +should advance in solemn procession to meet the Pannonian +legions; and, at the same time, he vainly tried to interrogate, +or to appease, the fates, by magic ceremonies and unlawful +sacrifices. ^34 + +[Footnote 34: Hist. August. p. 62, 63. + + Note: Quae ad speculum dicunt fieri in quo pueri praeligatis +oculis, incantate..., respicere dicuntur. * * * Tuncque puer +vidisse dicitur et adventun Severi et Juliani decessionem. This +seems to have been a practice somewhat similar to that of which +our recent Egyptian travellers relate such extraordinary +circumstances. See also Apulius, Orat. de Magia. - M.] + +Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus. + +Part II. + + Severus, who dreaded neither his arms nor his enchantments, +guarded himself from the only danger of secret conspiracy, by the +faithful attendance of six hundred chosen men, who never quitted +his person or their cuirasses, either by night or by day, during +the whole march. Advancing with a steady and rapid course, he +passed, without difficulty, the defiles of the Apennine, received +into his party the troops and ambassadors sent to retard his +progress, and made a short halt at Interamnia, about seventy +miles from Rome. His victory was already secure, but the despair +of the Praetorians might have rendered it bloody; and Severus had +the laudable ambition of ascending the throne without drawing the +sword. ^35 His emissaries, dispersed in the capital, assured the +guards, that provided they would abandon their worthless prince, +and the perpetrators of the murder of Pertinax, to the justice of +the conqueror, he would no longer consider that melancholy event +as the act of the whole body. The faithless Praetorians, whose +resistance was supported only by sullen obstinacy, gladly +complied with the easy conditions, seized the greatest part of +the assassins, and signified to the senate, that they no longer +defended the cause of Julian. That assembly, convoked by the +consul, unanimously acknowledged Severus as lawful emperor, +decreed divine honors to Pertinax, and pronounced a sentence of +deposition and death against his unfortunate successor. Julian +was conducted into a private apartment of the baths of the +palace, and beheaded as a common criminal, after having +purchased, with an immense treasure, an anxious and precarious +reign of only sixty-six days. ^36 The almost incredible +expedition of Severus, who, in so short a space of time, +conducted a numerous army from the banks of the Danube to those +of the Tyber, proves at once the plenty of provisions produced by +agriculture and commerce, the goodness of the roads, the +discipline of the legions, and the indolent, subdued temper of +the provinces. ^37 +[Footnote 35: Victor and Eutropius, viii. 17, mention a combat +near the Milvian bridge, the Ponte Molle, unknown to the better +and more ancient writers.] + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1240. Herodian, l. ii. p. 83. +Hist. August. p. 63.] + +[Footnote 37: From these sixty-six days, we must first deduct +sixteen, as Pertinax was murdered on the 28th of March, and +Severus most probably elected on the 13th of April, (see Hist. +August. p. 65, and Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. +393, note 7.) We cannot allow less than ten days after his +election, to put a numerous army in motion. Forty days remain +for this rapid march; and as we may compute about eight hundred +miles from Rome to the neighborhood of Vienna, the army of +Severus marched twenty miles every day, without halt or +intermission.] + + The first cares of Severus were bestowed on two measures the +one dictated by policy, the other by decency; the revenge, and +the honors, due to the memory of Pertinax. Before the new +emperor entered Rome, he issued his commands to the Praetorian +guards, directing them to wait his arrival on a large plain near +the city, without arms, but in the habits of ceremony, in which +they were accustomed to attend their sovereign. He was obeyed by +those haughty troops, whose contrition was the effect of their +just terrors. A chosen part of the Illyrian army encompassed +them with levelled spears. Incapable of flight or resistance, +they expected their fate in silent consternation. Severus +mounted the tribunal, sternly reproached them with perfidy and +cowardice, dismissed them with ignominy from the trust which they +had betrayed, despoiled them of their splendid ornaments, and +banished them, on pain of death, to the distance of a hundred +miles from the capital. During the transaction, another +detachment had been sent to seize their arms, occupy their camp, +and prevent the hasty consequences of their despair. ^38 +[Footnote 38: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1241. Herodian, l. ii. p. 84.] + The funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized +with every circumstance of sad magnificence. ^39 The senate, with +a melancholy pleasure, performed the last rites to that excellent +prince, whom they had loved, and still regretted. The concern of +his successor was probably less sincere; he esteemed the virtues +of Pertinax, but those virtues would forever have confined his +ambition to a private station. Severus pronounced his funeral +oration with studied eloquence, inward satisfaction, and +well-acted sorrow; and by this pious regard to his memory, +convinced the credulous multitude, that he alone was worthy to +supply his place. Sensible, however, that arms, not ceremonies, +must assert his claim to the empire, he left Rome at the end of +thirty days, and without suffering himself to be elated by this +easy victory, prepared to encounter his more formidable rivals. +[Footnote 39: Dion, (l. lxxiv. p. 1244,) who assisted at the +ceremony as a senator, gives a most pompous description of it.] + + The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced +an elegant historian to compare him with the first and greatest +of the Caesars. ^40 The parallel is, at least, imperfect. Where +shall we find, in the character of Severus, the commanding +superiority of soul, the generous clemency, and the various +genius, which could reconcile and unite the love of pleasure, the +thirst of knowledge, and the fire of ambition? ^41 In one +instance only, they may be compared, with some degree of +propriety, in the celerity of their motions, and their civil +victories. In less than four years, ^42 Severus subdued the +riches of the East, and the valor of the West. He vanquished two +competitors of reputation and ability, and defeated numerous +armies, provided with weapons and discipline equal to his own. +In that age, the art of fortification, and the principles of +tactics, were well understood by all the Roman generals; and the +constant superiority of Severus was that of an artist, who uses +the same instruments with more skill and industry than his +rivals. I shall not, however, enter into a minute narrative of +these military operations; but as the two civil wars against +Niger and against Albinus were almost the same in their conduct, +event, and consequences, I shall collect into one point of view +the most striking circumstances, tending to develop the character +of the conqueror and the state of the empire. +[Footnote 40: Herodian, l. iii. p. 112] + +[Footnote 41: Though it is not, most assuredly, the intention of +Lucan to exalt the character of Caesar, yet the idea he gives of +that hero, in the tenth book of the Pharsalia, where he describes +him, at the same time, making love to Cleopatra, sustaining a +siege against the power of Egypt, and conversing with the sages +of the country, is, in reality, the noblest panegyric. + + Note: Lord Byron wrote, no doubt, from a reminiscence of +that passage - "It is possible to be a very great man, and to be +still very inferior to Julius Caesar, the most complete +character, so Lord Bacon thought, of all antiquity. Nature seems +incapable of such extraordinary combinations as composed his +versatile capacity, which was the wonder even of the Romans +themselves. The first general; the only triumphant politician; +inferior to none in point of eloquence; comparable to any in the +attainments of wisdom, in an age made up of the greatest +commanders, statesmen, orators, and philosophers, that ever +appeared in the world; an author who composed a perfect specimen +of military annals in his travelling carriage; at one time in a +controversy with Cato, at another writing a treatise on punuing, +and collecting a set of good sayings; fighting and making love at +the same moment, and willing to abandon both his empire and his +mistress for a sight of the fountains of the Nile. Such did +Julius Caesar appear to his contemporaries, and to those of the +subsequent ages who were the most inclined to deplore and +execrate his fatal genius." Note 47 to Canto iv. of Childe +Harold. - M.] +[Footnote 42: Reckoning from his election, April 13, 193, to the +death of Albinus, February 19, 197. See Tillemont's Chronology.] + + Falsehood and insincerity, unsuitable as they seem to the +dignity of public transactions, offend us with a less degrading +idea of meanness, than when they are found in the intercourse of +private life. In the latter, they discover a want of courage; in +the other, only a defect of power: and, as it is impossible for +the most able statesmen to subdue millions of followers and +enemies by their own personal strength, the world, under the name +of policy, seems to have granted them a very liberal indulgence +of craft and dissimulation. Yet the arts of Severus cannot be +justified by the most ample privileges of state reason. He +promised only to betray, he flattered only to ruin; and however +he might occasionally bind himself by oaths and treaties, his +conscience, obsequious to his interest, always released him from +the inconvenient obligation. ^43 + +[Footnote 43: Herodian, l. ii. p. 85.] + + If his two competitors, reconciled by their common danger, +had advanced upon him without delay, perhaps Severus would have +sunk under their united effort. Had they even attacked him, at +the same time, with separate views and separate armies, the +contest might have been long and doubtful. But they fell, singly +and successively, an easy prey to the arts as well as arms of +their subtle enemy, lulled into security by the moderation of his +professions, and overwhelmed by the rapidity of his action. He +first marched against Niger, whose reputation and power he the +most dreaded: but he declined any hostile declarations, +suppressed the name of his antagonist, and only signified to the +senate and people his intention of regulating the eastern +provinces. In private, he spoke of Niger, his old friend and +intended successor, ^44 with the most affectionate regard, and +highly applauded his generous design of revenging the murder of +Pertinax. To punish the vile usurper of the throne, was the duty +of every Roman general. To persevere in arms, and to resist a +lawful emperor, acknowledged by the senate, would alone render +him criminal. ^45 The sons of Niger had fallen into his hands +among the children of the provincial governors, detained at Rome +as pledges for the loyalty of their parents. ^46 As long as the +power of Niger inspired terror, or even respect, they were +educated with the most tender care, with the children of Severus +himself; but they were soon involved in their father's ruin, and +removed first by exile, and afterwards by death, from the eye of +public compassion. ^47 +[Footnote 44: Whilst Severus was very dangerously ill, it was +industriously given out, that he intended to appoint Niger and +Albinus his successors. As he could not be sincere with respect +to both, he might not be so with regard to either. Yet Severus +carried his hypocrisy so far, as to profess that intention in the +memoirs of his own life.] + +[Footnote 45: Hist. August. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 46: This practice, invented by Commodus, proved very +useful to Severus. He found at Rome the children of many of the +principal adherents of his rivals; and he employed them more than +once to intimidate, or seduce, the parents.] + +[Footnote 47: Herodian, l. iii. p. 95. Hist. August. p. 67, 68.] + + Whilst Severus was engaged in his eastern war, he had reason +to apprehend that the governor of Britain might pass the sea and +the Alps, occupy the vacant seat of empire, and oppose his return +with the authority of the senate and the forces of the West. The +ambiguous conduct of Albinus, in not assuming the Imperial title, +left room for negotiation. Forgetting, at once, his professions +of patriotism, and the jealousy of sovereign power, he accepted +the precarious rank of Caesar, as a reward for his fatal +neutrality. Till the first contest was decided, Severus treated +the man, whom he had doomed to destruction, with every mark of +esteem and regard. Even in the letter, in which he announced his +victory over Niger, he styles Albinus the brother of his soul and +empire, sends him the affectionate salutations of his wife Julia, +and his young family, and entreats him to preserve the armies and +the republic faithful to their common interest. The messengers +charged with this letter were instructed to accost the Caesar +with respect, to desire a private audience, and to plunge their +daggers into his heart. ^48 The conspiracy was discovered, and +the too credulous Albinus, at length, passed over to the +continent, and prepared for an unequal contest with his rival, +who rushed upon him at the head of a veteran and victorious army. + +[Footnote 48: Hist. August. p. 84. Spartianus has inserted this +curious letter at full length.] + + The military labors of Severus seem inadequate to the +importance of his conquests. Two engagements, ^* the one near +the Hellespont, the other in the narrow defiles of Cilicia, +decided the fate of his Syrian competitor; and the troops of +Europe asserted their usual ascendant over the effeminate natives +of Asia. ^49 The battle of Lyons, where one hundred and fifty +thousand Romans ^50 were engaged, was equally fatal to Albinus. +The valor of the British army maintained, indeed, a sharp and +doubtful contest, with the hardy discipline of the Illyrian +legions. The fame and person of Severus appeared, during a few +moments, irrecoverably lost, till that warlike prince rallied his +fainting troops, and led them on to a decisive victory. ^51 The +war was finished by that memorable day. ^* + +[Footnote *: There were three actions; one near Cyzicus, on the +Hellespont, one near Nice, in Bithynia, the third near the Issus, +in Cilicia, where Alexander conquered Darius. (Dion, lxiv. c. 6. + +Herodian, iii. 2, 4.) - W Herodian represents the second battle +as of less importance than Dion - M.] +[Footnote 49: Consult the third book of Herodian, and the +seventy-fourth book of Dion Cassius.] + +[Footnote 50: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1260.] + +[Footnote 51: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1261. Herodian, l. iii. p. 110. +Hist. August. p. 68. The battle was fought in the plain of +Trevoux, three or four leagues from Lyons. See Tillemont, tom. +iii. p. 406, note 18.] +[Footnote *: According to Herodian, it was his lieutenant Laetus +who led back the troops to the battle, and gained the day, which +Severus had almost lost. Dion also attributes to Laetus a great +share in the victory. Severus afterwards put him to death, +either from fear or jealousy. - W. and G. Wenck and M. Guizot +have not given the real statement of Herodian or of Dion. +According to the former, Laetus appeared with his own army +entire, which he was suspected of having designedly kept +disengaged when the battle was still doudtful, or rather after +the rout of severus. Dion says that he did not move till Severus +had won the victory. - M.] + + The civil wars of modern Europe have been distinguished, not +only by the fierce animosity, but likewise by the obstinate +perseverance, of the contending factions. They have generally +been justified by some principle, or, at least, colored by some +pretext, of religion, freedom, or loyalty. The leaders were +nobles of independent property and hereditary influence. The +troops fought like men interested in the decision of the quarrel; +and as military spirit and party zeal were strongly diffused +throughout the whole community, a vanquished chief was +immediately supplied with new adherents, eager to shed their +blood in the same cause. But the Romans, after the fall of the +republic, combated only for the choice of masters. Under the +standard of a popular candidate for empire, a few enlisted from +affection, some from fear, many from interest, none from +principle. The legions, uninflamed by party zeal, were allured +into civil war by liberal donatives, and still more liberal +promises. A defeat, by disabling the chief from the performance +of his engagements, dissolved the mercenary allegiance of his +followers, and left them to consult their own safety by a timely +desertion of an unsuccessful cause. It was of little moment to +the provinces, under whose name they were oppressed or governed; +they were driven by the impulsion of the present power, and as +soon as that power yielded to a superior force, they hastened to +implore the clemency of the conqueror, who, as he had an immense +debt to discharge, was obliged to sacrifice the most guilty +countries to the avarice of his soldiers. In the vast extent of +the Roman empire, there were few fortified cities capable of +protecting a routed army; nor was there any person, or family, or +order of men, whose natural interest, unsupported by the powers +of government, was capable of restoring the cause of a sinking +party. ^52 + +[Footnote 52: Montesquieu, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la +Decadence des Romains, c. xiii.] + + Yet, in the contest between Niger and Severus, a single city +deserves an honorable exception. As Byzantium was one of the +greatest passages from Europe into Asia, it had been provided +with a strong garrison, and a fleet of five hundred vessels was +anchored in the harbor. ^53 The impetuosity of Severus +disappointed this prudent scheme of defence; he left to his +generals the siege of Byzantium, forced the less guarded passage +of the Hellespont, and, impatient of a meaner enemy, pressed +forward to encounter his rival. Byzantium, attacked by a numerous +and increasing army, and afterwards by the whole naval power of +the empire, sustained a siege of three years, and remained +faithful to the name and memory of Niger. The citizens and +soldiers (we know not from what cause) were animated with equal +fury; several of the principal officers of Niger, who despaired +of, or who disdained, a pardon, had thrown themselves into this +last refuge: the fortifications were esteemed impregnable, and, +in the defence of the place, a celebrated engineer displayed all +the mechanic powers known to the ancients. ^54 Byzantium, at +length, surrendered to famine. The magistrates and soldiers were +put to the sword, the walls demolished, the privileges +suppressed, and the destined capital of the East subsisted only +as an open village, subject to the insulting jurisdiction of +Perinthus. The historian Dion, who had admired the flourishing, +and lamented the desolate, state of Byzantium, accused the +revenge of Severus, for depriving the Roman people of the +strongest bulwark against the barbarians of Pontus and Asia ^55 +The truth of this observation was but too well justified in the +succeeding age, when the Gothic fleets covered the Euxine, and +passed through the undefined Bosphorus into the centre of the +Mediterranean. + +[Footnote 53: Most of these, as may be supposed, were small open +vessels; some, however, were galleys of two, and a few of three +ranks of oars.] +[Footnote 54: The engineer's name was Priscus. His skill saved +his life, and he was taken into the service of the conqueror. +For the particular facts of the siege, consult Dion Cassius (l. +lxxv. p. 1251) and Herodian, (l. iii. p. 95;) for the theory of +it, the fanciful chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See +Polybe, tom. i. p. 76.] + +[Footnote 55 : Notwithstanding the authority of Spartianus, and +some modern Greeks, we may be assured, from Dion and Herodian, +that Byzantium, many years after the death of Severus, lay in +ruins. + + Footnote *: There is no contradiction between the relation +of Dion and that of Spartianus and the modern Greeks. Dion does +not say that Severus destroyed Byzantium, but that he deprived it +of its franchises and privileges, stripped the inhabitants of +their property, razed the fortifications, and subjected the city +to the jurisdiction of Perinthus. Therefore, when Spartian, +Suidas, Cedrenus, say that Severus and his son Antoninus restored +to Byzantium its rights and franchises, ordered temples to be +built, &c., this is easily reconciled with the relation of Dion. +Perhaps the latter mentioned it in some of the fragments of his +history which have been lost. As to Herodian, his expressions +are evidently exaggerated, and he has been guilty of so many +inaccuracies in the history of Severus, that we have a right to +suppose one in this passage. - G. from W Wenck and M. Guizot have +omitted to cite Zosimus, who mentions a particular portico built +by Severus, and called, apparently, by his name. Zosim. Hist. +ii. c. xxx. p. 151, 153, edit Heyne. - M.] + Both Niger and Albinus were discovered and put to death in +their flight from the field of battle. Their fate excited +neither surprise nor compassion. They had staked their lives +against the chance of empire, and suffered what they would have +inflicted; nor did Severus claim the arrogant superiority of +suffering his rivals to live in a private station. But his +unforgiving temper, stimulated by avarice, indulged a spirit of +revenge, where there was no room for apprehension. The most +considerable of the provincials, who, without any dislike to the +fortunate candidate, had obeyed the governor under whose +authority they were accidentally placed, were punished by death, +exile, and especially by the confiscation of their estates. Many +cities of the East were stripped of their ancient honors, and +obliged to pay, into the treasury of Severus, four times the +amount of the sums contributed by them for the service of Niger. +^56 + +[Footnote 56: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1250.] + + Till the final decision of the war, the cruelty of Severus +was, in some measure, restrained by the uncertainty of the event, +and his pretended reverence for the senate. The head of Albinus, +accompanied with a menacing letter, announced to the Romans that +he was resolved to spare none of the adherents of his unfortunate +competitors. He was irritated by the just auspicion that he had +never possessed the affections of the senate, and he concealed +his old malevolence under the recent discovery of some +treasonable correspondences. Thirty-five senators, however, +accused of having favored the party of Albinus, he freely +pardoned, and, by his subsequent behavior, endeavored to convince +them, that he had forgotten, as well as forgiven, their supposed +offences. But, at the same time, he condemned forty-one ^57 +other senators, whose names history has recorded; their wives, +children, and clients attended them in death, ^* and the noblest +provincials of Spain and Gaul were involved in the same ruin. ^! +Such rigid justice - for so he termed it - was, in the opinion of +Severus, the only conduct capable of insuring peace to the people +or stability to the prince; and he condescended slightly to +lament, that to be mild, it was necessary that he should first be +cruel. ^58 +[Footnote 57: Dion, (l. lxxv. p. 1264;) only twenty-nine senators +are mentioned by him, but forty-one are named in the Augustan +History, p. 69, among whom were six of the name of Pescennius. +Herodian (l. iii. p. 115) speaks in general of the cruelties of +Severus.] + +[Footnote *: Wenck denies that there is any authority for this +massacre of the wives of the senators. He adds, that only the +children and relatives of Niger and Albinus were put to death. +This is true of the family of Albinus, whose bodies were thrown +into the Rhone; those of Niger, according to Lampridius, were +sent into exile, but afterwards put to death. Among the +partisans of Albinus who were put to death were many women of +rank, multae foeminae illustres. Lamprid. in Sever. - M.] + +[Footnote !: A new fragment of Dion describes the state of Rome +during this contest. All pretended to be on the side of Severus; +but their secret sentiments were often betrayed by a change of +countenance on the arrival of some sudden report. Some were +detected by overacting their loyalty, Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 227 +Severus told the senate he would rather have their hearts than +their votes. - Ibid. - M.] + +[Footnote 58: Aurelius Victor.] + + The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides +with that of his people. Their numbers, their wealth, their +order, and their security, are the best and only foundations of +his real greatness; and were he totally devoid of virtue, +prudence might supply its place, and would dictate the same rule +of conduct. Severus considered the Roman empire as his property, +and had no sooner secured the possession, than he bestowed his +care on the cultivation and improvement of so valuable an +acquisition. Salutary laws, executed with inflexible firmness, +soon corrected most of the abuses with which, since the death of +Marcus, every part of the government had been infected. In the +administration of justice, the judgments of the emperor were +characterized by attention, discernment, and impartiality; and +whenever he deviated from the strict line of equity, it was +generally in favor of the poor and oppressed; not so much indeed +from any sense of humanity, as from the natural propensity of a +despot to humble the pride of greatness, and to sink all his +subjects to the same common level of absolute dependence. His +expensive taste for building, magnificent shows, and above all a +constant and liberal distribution of corn and provisions, were +the surest means of captivating the affection of the Roman +people. ^59 The misfortunes of civil discord were obliterated. +The clam of peace and prosperity was once more experienced in the +provinces; and many cities, restored by the munificence of +Severus, assumed the title of his colonies, and attested by +public monuments their gratitude and felicity. ^60 The fame of +the Roman arms was revived by that warlike and successful +emperor, ^61 and he boasted, with a just pride, that, having +received the empire oppressed with foreign and domestic wars, he +left it established in profound, universal, and honorable peace. +^62 +[Footnote 59: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1272. Hist. August. p. 67. +Severus celebrated the secular games with extraordinary +magnificence, and he left in the public granaries a provision of +corn for seven years, at the rate of 75,000 modii, or about 2500 +quarters per day. I am persuaded that the granaries of Severus +were supplied for a long term, but I am not less persuaded, that +policy on one hand, and admiration on the other, magnified the +hoard far beyond its true contents.] + +[Footnote 60: See Spanheim's treatise of ancient medals, the +inscriptions, and our learned travellers Spon and Wheeler, Shaw, +Pocock, &c, who, in Africa, Greece, and Asia, have found more +monuments of Severus than of any other Roman emperor whatsoever.] + +[Footnote 61: He carried his victorious arms to Seleucia and +Ctesiphon, the capitals of the Parthian monarchy. I shall have +occasion to mention this war in its proper place.] + +[Footnote 62: Etiam in Britannis, was his own just and emphatic +expression Hist. August. 73.] + + Although the wounds of civil war appeared completely healed, +its mortal poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitution. + +Severus possessed a considerable share of vigor and ability; but +the daring soul of the first Caesar, or the deep policy of +Augustus, were scarcely equal to the task of curbing the +insolence of the victorious legions. By gratitude, by misguided +policy, by seeming necessity, Severus was reduced to relax the +nerves of discipline. ^63 The vanity of his soldiers was +flattered with the honor of wearing gold rings their ease was +indulged in the permission of living with their wives in the +idleness of quarters. He increased their pay beyond the example +of former times, and taught them to expect, and soon to claim, +extraordinary donatives on every public occasion of danger or +festivity. Elated by success, enervated by luxury, and raised +above the level of subjects by their dangerous privileges, ^64 +they soon became incapable of military fatigue, oppressive to the +country, and impatient of a just subordination. Their officers +asserted the superiority of rank by a more profuse and elegant +luxury. There is still extant a letter of Severus, lamenting the +licentious stage of the army, ^* and exhorting one of his +generals to begin the necessary reformation from the tribunes +themselves; since, as he justly observes, the officer who has +forfeited the esteem, will never command the obedience, of his +soldiers. ^65 Had the emperor pursued the train of reflection, he +would have discovered, that the primary cause of this general +corruption might be ascribed, not indeed to the example, but to +the pernicious indulgence, however, of the commander-in-chief. +[Footnote 63: Herodian, l. iii. p. 115. Hist. August. p. 68.] +[Footnote 64: Upon the insolence and privileges of the soldier, +the 16th satire, falsely ascribed to Juvenal, may be consulted; +the style and circumstances of it would induce me to believe, +that it was composed under the reign of Severus, or that of his +son.] + +[Footnote *: Not of the army, but of the troops in Gaul. The +contents of this letter seem to prove that Severus was really +anxious to restore discipline Herodian is the only historian who +accuses him of being the first cause of its relaxation. - G. from +W Spartian mentions his increase of the pays. - M.] + +[Footnote 65: Hist. August. p. 73.] + + The Praetorians, who murdered their emperor and sold the +empire, had received the just punishment of their treason; but +the necessary, though dangerous, institution of guards was soon +restored on a new model by Severus, and increased to four times +the ancient number. ^66 Formerly these troops had been recruited +in Italy; and as the adjacent provinces gradually imbibed the +softer manners of Rome, the levies were extended to Macedonia, +Noricum, and Spain. In the room of these elegant troops, better +adapted to the pomp of courts than to the uses of war, it was +established by Severus, that from all the legions of the +frontiers, the soldiers most distinguished for strength, valor, +and fidelity, should be occasionally draughted; and promoted, as +an honor and reward, into the more eligible service of the +guards. ^67 By this new institution, the Italian youth were +diverted from the exercise of arms, and the capital was terrified +by the strange aspect and manners of a multitude of barbarians. +But Severus flattered himself, that the legions would consider +these chosen Praetorians as the representatives of the whole +military order; and that the present aid of fifty thousand men, +superior in arms and appointments to any force that could be +brought into the field against them, would forever crush the +hopes of rebellion, and secure the empire to himself and his +posterity. + +[Footnote 66: Herodian, l. iii. p. 131.] + +[Footnote 67: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1243.] + + The command of these favored and formidable troops soon +became the first office of the empire. As the government +degenerated into military despotism, the Praetorian Praefect, who +in his origin had been a simple captain of the guards, ^* was +placed not only at the head of the army, but of the finances, and +even of the law. In every department of administration, he +represented the person, and exercised the authority, of the +emperor. The first praefect who enjoyed and abused this immense +power was Plautianus, the favorite minister of Severus. His +reign lasted above then years, till the marriage of his daughter +with the eldest son of the emperor, which seemed to assure his +fortune, proved the occasion of his ruin. ^68 The animosities of +the palace, by irritating the ambition and alarming the fears of +Plautianus, ^* threatened to produce a revolution, and obliged +the emperor, who still loved him, to consent with reluctance to +his death. ^69 After the fall of Plautianus, an eminent lawyer, +the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to execute the motley +office of Praetorian Praefect. + +[Footnote *: The Praetorian Praefect had never been a simple +captain of the guards; from the first creation of this office, +under Augustus, it possessed great power. That emperor, +therefore, decreed that there should be always two Praetorian +Praefects, who could only be taken from the equestrian order +Tiberius first departed from the former clause of this edict; +Alexander Severus violated the second by naming senators +praefects. It appears that it was under Commodus that the +Praetorian Praefects obtained the province of civil jurisdiction. + +it extended only to Italy, with the exception of Rome and its +district, which was governed by the Praefectus urbi. As to the +control of the finances, and the levying of taxes, it was not +intrusted to them till after the great change that Constantine I. +made in the organization of the empire at least, I know no +passage which assigns it to them before that time; and +Drakenborch, who has treated this question in his Dissertation de +official praefectorum praetorio, vi., does not quote one. - W.] +[Footnote 68: One of his most daring and wanton acts of power, +was the castration of a hundred free Romans, some of them married +men, and even fathers of families; merely that his daughter, on +her marriage with the young emperor, might be attended by a train +of eunuchs worthy of an eastern queen. Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1271.] + +[Footnote *: Plautianus was compatriot, relative, and the old +friend, of Severus; he had so completely shut up all access to +the emperor, that the latter was ignorant how far he abused his +powers: at length, being informed of it, he began to limit his +authority. The marriage of Plautilla with Caracalla was +unfortunate; and the prince who had been forced to consent to it, +menaced the father and the daughter with death when he should +come to the throne. It was feared, after that, that Plautianus +would avail himself of the power which he still possessed, +against the Imperial family; and Severus caused him to be +assassinated in his presence, upon the pretext of a conspiracy, +which Dion considers fictitious. - W. This note is not, perhaps, +very necessary and does not contain the whole facts. Dion +considers the conspiracy the invention of Caracalla, by whose +command, almost by whose hand, Plautianus was slain in the +presence of Severus. - M.] +[Footnote 69: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1274. Herodian, l. iii. p. 122, +129. The grammarian of Alexander seems, as is not unusual, much +better acquainted with this mysterious transaction, and more +assured of the guilt of Plautianus than the Roman senator +ventures to be.] + + Till the reign of Severus, the virtue and even the good +sense of the emperors had been distinguished by their zeal or +affected reverence for the senate, and by a tender regard to the +nice frame of civil policy instituted by Augustus. But the youth +of Severus had been trained in the implicit obedience of camps, +and his riper years spent in the despotism of military command. +His haughty and inflexible spirit cou' not discover, or would not +acknowledge, the advantage of preserving an intermediate power, +however imaginary, between the emperor and the army. He +disdained to profess himself the servant of an assembly that +detested his person and trembled at his frown; he issued his +commands, where his requests would have proved as effectual; +assumed the conduct and style of a sovereign and a conqueror, and +exercised, without disguise, the whole legislative, as well as +the executive power. + + The victory over the senate was easy and inglorious. Every +eye and every passion were directed to the supreme magistrate, +who possessed the arms and treasure of the state; whilst the +senate, neither elected by the people, nor guarded by military +force, nor animated by public spirit, rested its declining +authority on the frail and crumbling basis of ancient opinion. +The fine theory of a republic insensibly vanished, and made way +for the more natural and substantial feelings of monarchy. As +the freedom and honors of Rome were successively communicated to +the provinces, in which the old government had been either +unknown, or was remembered with abhorrence, the tradition of +republican maxims was gradually obliterated. The Greek +historians of the age of the Antonines ^70 observe, with a +malicious pleasure, that although the sovereign of Rome, in +compliance with an obsolete prejudice, abstained from the name of +king, he possessed the full measure of regal power. In the reign +of Severus, the senate was filled with polished and eloquent +slaves from the eastern provinces, who justified personal +flattery by speculative principles of servitude. These new +advocates of prerogative were heard with pleasure by the court, +and with patience by the people, when they inculcated the duty of +passive obedience, and descanted on the inevitable mischiefs of +freedom. The lawyers and historians concurred in teaching, that +the Imperial authority was held, not by the delegated commission, +but by the irrevocable resignation of the senate; that the +emperor was freed from the restraint of civil laws, could command +by his arbitrary will the lives and fortunes of his subjects, and +might dispose of the empire as of his private patrimony. ^71 The +most eminent of the civil lawyers, and particularly Papinian, +Paulus, and Ulpian, flourished under the house of Severus; and +the Roman jurisprudence, having closely united itself with the +system of monarchy, was supposed to have attained its full +majority and perfection. + +[Footnote 70: Appian in Prooem.] + +[Footnote 71: Dion Cassius seems to have written with no other +view than to form these opinions into an historical system. The +Pandea's will how how assiduously the lawyers, on their side, +laboree in the cause of prerogative.] + + The contemporaries of Severus in the enjoyment of the peace +and glory of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had +been introduced. Posterity, who experienced the fatal effects of +his maxims and example, justly considered him as the principal +author of the decline of the Roman empire. + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of +Marcinus. + +Part I. + +The Death Of Severus. - Tyranny Of Caracalla. - Usurpation Of +Macrinus. - Follies Of Elagabalus. - Virtues Of Alexander +Severus. - Licentiousness Of The Army. - General State Of The +Roman Finances. + + The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may +entertain an active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of +its own powers: but the possession of a throne could never yet +afford a lasting satisfaction to an ambitious mind. This +melancholy truth was felt and acknowledged by Severus. Fortune +and merit had, from an humble station, elevated him to the first +place among mankind. "He had been all things," as he said +himself, "and all was of little value" ^1 Distracted with the +care, not of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed +with age and infirmities, careless of fame, ^2 and satiated with +power, all his prospects of life were closed. The desire of +perpetuating the greatness of his family was the only remaining +wish of his ambition and paternal tenderness. + +[Footnote 1: Hist. August. p. 71. "Omnia fui, et nihil +expedit."] +[Footnote 2: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvi. p. 1284.] + + Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted +to the vain studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the +interpretation of dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with +the science of judicial astrology; which, in almost every age +except the present, has maintained its dominion over the mind of +man. He had lost his first wife, while he was governor of the +Lionnese Gaul. ^3 In the choice of a second, he sought only to +connect himself with some favorite of fortune; and as soon as he +had discovered that the young lady of Emesa in Syria had a royal +nativity, he solicited and obtained her hand. ^4 Julia Domna (for +that was her name) deserved all that the stars could promise her. + +She possessed, even in advanced age, the attractions of beauty, +^5 and united to a lively imagination a firmness of mind, and +strength of judgment, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable +qualities never made any deep impression on the dark and jealous +temper of her husband; but in her son's reign, she administered +the principal affairs of the empire, with a prudence that +supported his authority, and with a moderation that sometimes +corrected his wild extravagancies. ^6 Julia applied herself to +letters and philosophy, with some success, and with the most +splendid reputation. She was the patroness of every art, and the +friend of every man of genius. ^7 The grateful flattery of the +learned has celebrated her virtues; but, if we may credit the +scandal of ancient history, chastity was very far from being the +most conspicuous virtue of the empress Julia. ^8 + +[Footnote 3: About the year 186. M. de Tillemont is miserably +embarrassed with a passage of Dion, in which the empress +Faustina, who died in the year 175, is introduced as having +contributed to the marriage of Severus and Julia, (l. lxxiv. p. +1243.) The learned compiler forgot that Dion is relating not a +real fact, but a dream of Severus; and dreams are circumscribed +to no limits of time or space. Did M. de Tillemont imagine that +marriages were consummated in the temple of Venus at Rome? Hist. +des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 389. Note 6.] + +[Footnote 4: Hist. August. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 6: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvii. p. 1304, 1314.] + +[Footnote 7: See a dissertation of Menage, at the end of his +edition of Diogenes Laertius, de Foeminis Philosophis.] + +[Footnote 8: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1285. Aurelius Victor.] + + Two sons, Caracalla ^9 and Geta, were the fruit of this +marriage, and the destined heirs of the empire. The fond hopes +of the father, and of the Roman world, were soon disappointed by +these vain youths, who displayed the indolent security of +hereditary princes; and a presumption that fortune would supply +the place of merit and application. Without any emulation of +virtue or talents, they discovered, almost from their infancy, a +fixed and implacable antipathy for each other. + +[Footnote 9: Bassianus was his first name, as it had been that of +his maternal grandfather. During his reign, he assumed the +appellation of Antoninus, which is employed by lawyers and +ancient historians. After his death, the public indignation +loaded him with the nicknames of Tarantus and Caracalla. The +first was borrowed from a celebrated Gladiator, the second from a +long Gallic gown which he distributed to the people of Rome.] + Their aversion, confirmed by years, and fomented by the arts +of their interested favorites, broke out in childish, and +gradually in more serious competitions; and, at length, divided +the theatre, the circus, and the court, into two factions, +actuated by the hopes and fears of their respective leaders. The +prudent emperor endeavored, by every expedient of advice and +authority, to allay this growing animosity. The unhappy discord +of his sons clouded all his prospects, and threatened to overturn +a throne raised with so much labor, cemented with so much blood, +and guarded with every defence of arms and treasure. With an +impartial hand he maintained between them an exact balance of +favor, conferred on both the rank of Augustus, with the revered +name of Antoninus; and for the first time the Roman world beheld +three emperors. ^10 Yet even this equal conduct served only to +inflame the contest, whilst the fierce Caracalla asserted the +right of primogeniture, and the milder Geta courted the +affections of the people and the soldiers. In the anguish of a +disappointed father, Severus foretold that the weaker of his sons +would fall a sacrifice to the stronger; who, in his turn, would +be ruined by his own vices. ^11 + +[Footnote 10: The elevation of Caracalla is fixed by the accurate +M. de Tillemont to the year 198; the association of Geta to the +year 208.] +[Footnote 11: Herodian, l. iii. p. 130. The lives of Caracalla +and Geta, in the Augustan History.] + + In these circumstances the intelligence of a war in Britain, +and of an invasion of the province by the barbarians of the +North, was received with pleasure by Severus. Though the +vigilance of his lieutenants might have been sufficient to repel +the distant enemy, he resolved to embrace the honorable pretext +of withdrawing his sons from the luxury of Rome, which enervated +their minds and irritated their passions; and of inuring their +youth to the toils of war and government. Notwithstanding his +advanced age, (for he was above threescore,) and his gout, which +obliged him to be carried in a litter, he transported himself in +person into that remote island, attended by his two sons, his +whole court, and a formidable army. He immediately passed the +walls of Hadrian and Antoninus, and entered the enemy's country, +with a design of completing the long attempted conquest of +Britain. He penetrated to the northern extremity of the island, +without meeting an enemy. But the concealed ambuscades of the +Caledonians, who hung unseen on the rear and flanks of his army, +the coldness of the climate and the severity of a winter march +across the hills and morasses of Scotland, are reported to have +cost the Romans above fifty thousand men. The Caledonians at +length yielded to the powerful and obstinate attack, sued for +peace, and surrendered a part of their arms, and a large tract of +territory. But their apparent submission lasted no longer than +the present terror. As soon as the Roman legions had retired, +they resumed their hostile independence. Their restless spirit +provoked Severus to send a new army into Caledonia, with the most +bloody orders, not to subdue, but to extirpate the natives. They +were saved by the death of their haughty enemy. ^12 + +[Footnote 12: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1280, &c. Herodian, l. iii. p. +132, &c.] + This Caledonian war, neither marked by decisive events, nor +attended with any important consequences, would ill deserve our +attention; but it is supposed, not without a considerable degree +of probability, that the invasion of Severus is connected with +the most shining period of the British history or fable. Fingal, +whose fame, with that of his heroes and bards, has been revived +in our language by a recent publication, is said to have +commanded the Caledonians in that memorable juncture, to have +eluded the power of Severus, and to have obtained a signal +victory on the banks of the Carun, in which the son of the King +of the World, Caracul, fled from his arms along the fields of his +pride. ^13 Something of a doubtful mist still hangs over these +Highland traditions; nor can it be entirely dispelled by the most +ingenious researches of modern criticism; ^14 but if we could, +with safety, indulge the pleasing supposition, that Fingal lived, +and that Ossian sung, the striking contrast of the situation and +manners of the contending nations might amuse a philosophic mind. + +The parallel would be little to the advantage of the more +civilized people, if we compared the unrelenting revenge of +Severus with the generous clemency of Fingal; the timid and +brutal cruelty of Caracalla with the bravery, the tenderness, the +elegant genius of Ossian; the mercenary chiefs, who, from motives +of fear or interest, served under the imperial standard, with the +free-born warriors who started to arms at the voice of the king +of Morven; if, in a word, we contemplated the untutored +Caledonians, glowing with the warm virtues of nature, and the +degenerate Romans, polluted with the mean vices of wealth and +slavery. + +[Footnote 13: Ossian's Poems, vol. i. p. 175.] + +[Footnote 14: That the Caracul of Ossian is the Caracalla of the +Roman History, is, perhaps, the only point of British antiquity +in which Mr. Macpherson and Mr. Whitaker are of the same opinion; +and yet the opinion is not without difficulty. In the Caledonian +war, the son of Severus was known only by the appellation of +Antoninus, and it may seem strange that the Highland bard should +describe him by a nickname, invented four years afterwards, +scarcely used by the Romans till after the death of that emperor, +and seldom employed by the most ancient historians. See Dion, l. +lxxvii. p. 1317. Hist. August. p. 89 Aurel. Victor. Euseb. in +Chron. ad ann. 214. + Note: The historical authority of Macpherson's Ossian has +not increased since Gibbon wrote. We may, indeed, consider it +exploded. Mr. Whitaker, in a letter to Gibbon (Misc. Works, vol. +ii. p. 100,) attempts, not very successfully, to weaken this +objection of the historian. - M.] + The declining health and last illness of Severus inflamed +the wild ambition and black passions of Caracalla's soul. +Impatient of any delay or division of empire, he attempted, more +than once, to shorten the small remainder of his father's days, +and endeavored, but without success, to excite a mutiny among the +troops. ^15 The old emperor had often censured the misguided +lenity of Marcus, who, by a single act of justice, might have +saved the Romans from the tyranny of his worthless son. Placed +in the same situation, he experienced how easily the rigor of a +judge dissolves away in the tenderness of a parent. He +deliberated, he threatened, but he could not punish; and this +last and only instance of mercy was more fatal to the empire than +a long series of cruelty. ^16 The disorder of his mind irritated +the pains of his body; he wished impatiently for death, and +hastened the instant of it by his impatience. He expired at York +in the sixty-fifth year of his life, and in the eighteenth of a +glorious and successful reign. In his last moments he +recommended concord to his sons, and his sons to the army. The +salutary advice never reached the heart, or even the +understanding, of the impetuous youths; but the more obedient +troops, mindful of their oath of allegiance, and of the authority +of their deceased master, resisted the solicitations of +Caracalla, and proclaimed both brothers emperors of Rome. The new +princes soon left the Caledonians in peace, returned to the +capital, celebrated their father's funeral with divine honors, +and were cheerfully acknowledged as lawful sovereigns, by the +senate, the people, and the provinces. Some preeminence of rank +seems to have been allowed to the elder brother; but they both +administered the empire with equal and independent power. ^17 + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1282. Hist. August. p. 71. +Aurel. Victor.] +[Footnote 16: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1283. Hist. August. p. 89] +[Footnote 17: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Herodian, l. iii. p. +135.] + Such a divided form of government would have proved a source +of discord between the most affectionate brothers. It was +impossible that it could long subsist between two implacable +enemies, who neither desired nor could trust a reconciliation. +It was visible that one only could reign, and that the other must +fall; and each of them, judging of his rival's designs by his +own, guarded his life with the most jealous vigilance from the +repeated attacks of poison or the sword. Their rapid journey +through Gaul and Italy, during which they never ate at the same +table, or slept in the same house, displayed to the provinces the +odious spectacle of fraternal discord. On their arrival at Rome, +they immediately divided the vast extent of the imperial palace. +^18 No communication was allowed between their apartments; the +doors and passages were diligently fortified, and guards posted +and relieved with the same strictness as in a besieged place. +The emperors met only in public, in the presence of their +afflicted mother; and each surrounded by a numerous train of +armed followers. Even on these occasions of ceremony, the +dissimulation of courts could ill disguise the rancor of their +hearts. ^19 +[Footnote 18: Mr. Hume is justly surprised at a passage of +Herodian, (l. iv. p. 139,) who, on this occasion, represents the +Imperial palace as equal in extent to the rest of Rome. The +whole region of the Palatine Mount, on which it was built, +occupied, at most, a circumference of eleven or twelve thousand +feet, (see the Notitia and Victor, in Nardini's Roma Antica.) But +we should recollect that the opulent senators had almost +surrounded the city with their extensive gardens and suburb +palaces, the greatest part of which had been gradually +confiscated by the emperors. If Geta resided in the gardens that +bore his name on the Janiculum, and if Caracalla inhabited the +gardens of Maecenas on the Esquiline, the rival brothers were +separated from each other by the distance of several miles; and +yet the intermediate space was filled by the Imperial gardens of +Sallust, of Lucullus, of Agrippa, of Domitian, of Caius, &c., all +skirting round the city, and all connected with each other, and +with the palace, by bridges thrown over the Tiber and the +streets. But this explanation of Herodian would require, though +it ill deserves, a particular dissertation, illustrated by a map +of ancient Rome. (Hume, Essay on Populousness of Ancient +Nations. - M.)] + +[Footnote 19: Herodian, l. iv. p. 139] + + This latent civil war already distracted the whole +government, when a scheme was suggested that seemed of mutual +benefit to the hostile brothers. It was proposed, that since it +was impossible to reconcile their minds, they should separate +their interest, and divide the empire between them. The +conditions of the treaty were already drawn with some accuracy. +It was agreed that Caracalla, as the elder brother should remain +in possession of Europe and the western Africa; and that he +should relinquish the sovereignty of Asia and Egypt to Geta, who +might fix his residence at Alexandria or Antioch, cities little +inferior to Rome itself in wealth and greatness; that numerous +armies should be constantly encamped on either side of the +Thracian Bosphorus, to guard the frontiers of the rival +monarchies; and that the senators of European extraction should +acknowledge the sovereign of Rome, whilst the natives of Asia +followed the emperor of the East. The tears of the empress Julia +interrupted the negotiation, the first idea of which had filled +every Roman breast with surprise and indignation. The mighty +mass of conquest was so intimately united by the hand of time and +policy, that it required the most forcible violence to rend it +asunder. The Romans had reason to dread, that the disjointed +members would soon be reduced by a civil war under the dominion +of one master; but if the separation was permanent, the division +of the provinces must terminate in the dissolution of an empire +whose unity had hitherto remained inviolate. ^20 + +[Footnote 20: Herodian, l. iv. p. 144.] + + Had the treaty been carried into execution, the sovereign of +Europe might soon have been the conqueror of Asia; but Caracalla +obtained an easier, though a more guilty, victory. He artfully +listened to his mother's entreaties, and consented to meet his +brother in her apartment, on terms of peace and reconciliation. +In the midst of their conversation, some centurions, who had +contrived to conceal themselves, rushed with drawn swords upon +the unfortunate Geta. His distracted mother strove to protect +him in her arms; but, in the unavailing struggle, she was wounded +in the hand, and covered with the blood of her younger son, while +she saw the elder animating and assisting ^21 the fury of the +assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla, with +hasty steps, and horror in his countenance, ran towards the +Praetorian camp, as his only refuge, and threw himself on the +ground before the statues of the tutelar deities. ^22 The +soldiers attempted to raise and comfort him. In broken and +disordered words he informed them of his imminent danger, and +fortunate escape; insinuating that he had prevented the designs +of his enemy, and declared his resolution to live and die with +his faithful troops. Geta had been the favorite of the soldiers; +but complaint was useless, revenge was dangerous, and they still +reverenced the son of Severus. Their discontent died away in +idle murmurs, and Caracalla soon convinced them of the justice of +his cause, by distributing in one lavish donative the accumulated +treasures of his father's reign. ^23 The real sentiments of the +soldiers alone were of importance to his power or safety. Their +declaration in his favor commanded the dutiful professions of the +senate. The obsequious assembly was always prepared to ratify +the decision of fortune; ^* but as Caracalla wished to assuage +the first emotions of public indignation, the name of Geta was +mentioned with decency, and he received the funeral honors of a +Roman emperor. ^24 Posterity, in pity to his misfortune, has cast +a veil over his vices. We consider that young prince as the +innocent victim of his brother's ambition, without recollecting +that he himself wanted power, rather than inclination, to +consummate the same attempts of revenge and murder. ^! + +[Footnote 21: Caracalla consecrated, in the temple of Serapis, +the sword with which, as he boasted, he had slain his brother +Geta. Dion, l. lxxvii p. 1307.] + +[Footnote 22: Herodian, l. iv. p. 147. In every Roman camp there +was a small chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues +of the tutelar deities were preserved and adored; and we may +remark that the eagles, and other military ensigns, were in the +first rank of these deities; an excellent institution, which +confirmed discipline by the sanction of religion. See Lipsius de +Militia Romana, iv. 5, v. 2.] + +[Footnote 23: Herodian, l. iv. p. 148. Dion, l. lxxvii. p. +1289.] +[Footnote *: The account of this transaction, in a new passage of +Dion, varies in some degree from this statement. It adds that +the next morning, in the senate, Antoninus requested their +indulgence, not because he had killed his brother, but because he +was hoarse, and could not address them. Mai. Fragm. p. 228. - +M.] + +[Footnote 24: Geta was placed among the gods. Sit divus, dum non +sit vivus said his brother. Hist. August. p. 91. Some marks of +Geta's consecration are still found upon medals.] + +[Footnote !: The favorable judgment which history has given of +Geta is not founded solely on a feeling of pity; it is supported +by the testimony of contemporary historians: he was too fond of +the pleasures of the table, and showed great mistrust of his +brother; but he was humane, well instructed; he often endeavored +to mitigate the rigorous decrees of Severus and Caracalla. Herod +iv. 3. Spartian in Geta. - W.] + + The crime went not unpunished. Neither business, nor +pleasure, nor flattery, could defend Caracalla from the stings of +a guilty conscience; and he confessed, in the anguish of a +tortured mind, that his disordered fancy often beheld the angry +forms of his father and his brother rising into life, to threaten +and upbraid him. ^25 The consciousness of his crime should have +induced him to convince mankind, by the virtues of his reign, +that the bloody deed had been the involuntary effect of fatal +necessity. But the repentance of Caracalla only prompted him to +remove from the world whatever could remind him of his guilt, or +recall the memory of his murdered brother. On his return from +the senate to the palace, he found his mother in the company of +several noble matrons, weeping over the untimely fate of her +younger son. The jealous emperor threatened them with instant +death; the sentence was executed against Fadilla, the last +remaining daughter of the emperor Marcus; ^* and even the +afflicted Julia was obliged to silence her lamentations, to +suppress her sighs, and to receive the assassin with smiles of +joy and approbation. It was computed that, under the vague +appellation of the friends of Geta, above twenty thousand persons +of both sexes suffered death. His guards and freedmen, the +ministers of his serious business, and the companions of his +looser hours, those who by his interest had been promoted to any +commands in the army or provinces, with the long connected chain +of their dependants, were included in the proscription; which +endeavored to reach every one who had maintained the smallest +correspondence with Geta, who lamented his death, or who even +mentioned his name. ^26 Helvius Pertinax, son to the prince of +that name, lost his life by an unseasonable witticism. ^27 It was +a sufficient crime of Thrasea Priscus to be descended from a +family in which the love of liberty seemed an hereditary quality. +^28 The particular causes of calumny and suspicion were at length +exhausted; and when a senator was accused of being a secret enemy +to the government, the emperor was satisfied with the general +proof that he was a man of property and virtue. From this +well-grounded principle he frequently drew the most bloody +inferences. ^! +[Footnote 25: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307] + +[Footnote *: The most valuable paragraph of dion, which the +industry of M. Manas recovered, relates to this daughter of +Marcus, executed by Caracalla. Her name, as appears from Fronto, +as well as from Dion, was Cornificia. When commanded to choose +the kind of death she was to suffer, she burst into womanish +tears; but remembering her father Marcus, she thus spoke: - "O my +hapless soul, (... animula,) now imprisoned in the body, burst +forth! be free! show them, however reluctant to believe it, that +thou art the daughter of Marcus." She then laid aside all her +ornaments, and preparing herself for death, ordered her veins to +be opened. Mai. Fragm. Vatican ii p. 220. - M.] +[Footnote 26: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1290. Herodian, l. iv. p. 150. + +Dion (p. 2298) says, that the comic poets no longer durst employ +the name of Geta in their plays, and that the estates of those +who mentioned it in their testaments were confiscated.] + +[Footnote 27: Caracalla had assumed the names of several +conquered nations; Pertinax observed, that the name of Geticus +(he had obtained some advantage over the Goths, or Getae) would +be a proper addition to Parthieus, Alemannicus, &c. Hist. +August. p. 89.] + +[Footnote 28: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1291. He was probably +descended from Helvidius Priscus, and Thrasea Paetus, those +patriots, whose firm, but useless and unseasonable, virtue has +been immortalized by Tacitus. + Note: M. Guizot is indignant at this "cold" observation of +Gibbon on the noble character of Thrasea; but he admits that his +virtue was useless to the public, and unseasonable amidst the +vices of his age. - M.] +[Footnote !: Caracalla reproached all those who demanded no +favors of him. "It is clear that if you make me no requests, you +do not trust me; if you do not trust me, you suspect me; if you +suspect me, you fear me; if you fear me, you hate me." And +forthwith he condemned them as conspirators, a good specimen of +the sorites in a tyrant's logic. See Fragm. Vatican p. - M.] + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of +Marcinus. + +Part II. + + The execution of so many innocent citizens was bewailed by +the secret tears of their friends and families. The death of +Papinian, the Praetorian Praefect, was lamented as a public +calamity. ^!! During the last seven years of Severus, he had +exercised the most important offices of the state, and, by his +salutary influence, guided the emperor's steps in the paths of +justice and moderation. In full assurance of his virtue and +abilities, Severus, on his death-bed, had conjured him to watch +over the prosperity and union of the Imperial family. ^29 The +honest labors of Papinian served only to inflame the hatred which +Caracalla had already conceived against his father's minister. +After the murder of Geta, the Praefect was commanded to exert the +powers of his skill and eloquence in a studied apology for that +atrocious deed. The philosophic Seneca had condescended to +compose a similar epistle to the senate, in the name of the son +and assassin of Agrippina. ^30 "That it was easier to commit than +to justify a parricide," was the glorious reply of Papinian; ^31 +who did not hesitate between the loss of life and that of honor. +Such intrepid virtue, which had escaped pure and unsullied from +the intrigues courts, the habits of business, and the arts of his +profession, reflects more lustre on the memory of Papinian, than +all his great employments, his numerous writings, and the +superior reputation as a lawyer, which he has preserved through +every age of the Roman jurisprudence. ^32 + +[Footnote !!: Papinian was no longer Praetorian Praefect. +Caracalla had deprived him of that office immediately after the +death of Severus. Such is the statement of Dion; and the +testimony of Spartian, who gives Papinian the Praetorian +praefecture till his death, is of little weight opposed to that +of a senator then living at Rome. - W.] + +[Footnote 29: It is said that Papinian was himself a relation of +the empress Julia.] + +[Footnote 30: Tacit. Annal. xiv. 2.] +[Footnote 31: Hist. August. p. 88.] + +[Footnote 32: With regard to Papinian, see Heineccius's Historia +Juris Roma ni, l. 330, &c.] + + It had hitherto been the peculiar felicity of the Romans, +and in the worst of times the consolation, that the virtue of the +emperors was active, and their vice indolent. Augustus, Trajan, +Hadrian, and Marcus visited their extensive dominions in person, +and their progress was marked by acts of wisdom and beneficence. +The tyranny of Tiberius, Nero, and Domitian, who resided almost +constantly at Rome, or in the adjacent was confined to the +senatorial and equestrian orders. ^33 But Caracalla was the +common enemy of mankind. He left capital (and he never returned +to it) about a year after the murder of Geta. The rest of his +reign was spent in the several provinces of the empire, +particularly those of the East, and province was by turns the +scene of his rapine and cruelty. The senators, compelled by fear +to attend his capricious motions,were obliged to provide daily +entertainments at an immense expense, which he abandoned with +contempt to his guards; and to erect, in every city, magnificent +palaces and theatres, which he either disdained to visit, or +ordered immediately thrown down. The most wealthy families +ruined by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of +his subjects oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes. ^34 In +the midst of peace, and upon the slightest provocation, he issued +his commands, at Alexandria, in Egypt for a general massacre. +From a secure post in the temple of Serapis, he viewed and +directed the slaughter of many thousand citizens, as well as +strangers, without distinguishing the number or the crime of the +sufferers; since as he coolly informed the senate, all the +Alexandrians, those who perished, and those who had escaped, were +alike guilty. ^35 + +[Footnote 33: Tiberius and Domitian never moved from the +neighborhood of Rome. Nero made a short journey into Greece. +"Et laudatorum Principum usus ex aequo, quamvis procul agentibus. + +Saevi proximis ingruunt." Tacit. Hist. iv. 74.] + +[Footnote 34: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1294.] + +[Footnote 35: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307. Herodian, l. iv. p. 158. + +The former represents it as a cruel massacre, the latter as a +perfidious one too. It seems probable that the Alexandrians has +irritated the tyrant by their railleries, and perhaps by their +tumults. + + Note: After these massacres, Caracalla also deprived the +Alexandrians of their spectacles and public feasts; he divided +the city into two parts by a wall with towers at intervals, to +prevent the peaceful communications of the citizens. Thus was +treated the unhappy Alexandria, says Dion, by the savage beast of +Ausonia. This, in fact, was the epithet which the oracle had +applied to him; it is said, indeed, that he was much pleased with +the name and often boasted of it. Dion, lxxvii. p. 1307. - G.] + + The wise instructions of Severus never made any lasting +impression on the mind of his son, who, although not destitute of +imagination and eloquence, was equally devoid of judgment and +humanity. ^36 One dangerous maxim, worthy of a tyrant, was +remembered and abused by Caracalla. "To secure the affections of +the army, and to esteem the rest of his subjects as of little +moment." ^37 But the liberality of the father had been restrained +by prudence, and his indulgence to the troops was tempered by +firmness and authority. The careless profusion of the son was +the policy of one reign, and the inevitable ruin both of the army +and of the empire. The vigor of the soldiers, instead of being +confirmed by the severe discipline of camps, melted away in the +luxury of cities. The excessive increase of their pay and +donatives ^38 exhausted the state to enrich the military order, +whose modesty in peace, and service in war, is best secured by an +honorable poverty. The demeanor of Caracalla was haughty and +full of pride; but with the troops he forgot even the proper +dignity of his rank, encouraged their insolent familiarity, and, +neglecting the essential duties of a general, affected to imitate +the dress and manners of a common soldier. + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1296.] + +[Footnote 37: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Mr. Wotton (Hist. of +Rome, p. 330) suspects that this maxim was invented by Caracalla +himself, and attributed to his father.] + +[Footnote 38: Dion (l. lxxviii. p. 1343) informs us that the +extraordinary gifts of Caracalla to the army amounted annually to +seventy millions of drachmae (about two millions three hundred +and fifty thousand pounds.) There is another passage in Dion, +concerning the military pay, infinitely curious, were it not +obscure, imperfect, and probably corrupt. The best sense seems +to be, that the Praetorian guards received twelve hundred and +fifty drachmae, (forty pounds a year,) (Dion, l. lxxvii. p. +1307.) Under the reign of Augustus, they were paid at the rate of +two drachmae, or denarii, per day, 720 a year, (Tacit. Annal. i. +17.) Domitian, who increased the soldiers' pay one fourth, must +have raised the Praetorians to 960 drachmae, (Gronoviue de +Pecunia Veteri, l. iii. c. 2.) These successive augmentations +ruined the empire; for, with the soldiers' pay, their numbers too +were increased. We have seen the Praetorians alone increased +from 10,000 to 50,000 men. + Note: Valois and Reimar have explained in a very simple and +probable manner this passage of Dion, which Gibbon seems to me +not to have understood. He ordered that the soldiers should +receive, as the reward of their services the Praetorians 1250 +drachms, the other 5000 drachms. Valois thinks that the numbers +have been transposed, and that Caracalla added 5000 drachms to +the donations made to the Praetorians, 1250 to those of the +legionaries. The Praetorians, in fact, always received more than +the others. The error of Gibbon arose from his considering that +this referred to the annual pay of the soldiers, while it relates +to the sum they received as a reward for their services on their +discharge: donatives means recompense for service. Augustus had +settled that the Praetorians, after sixteen campaigns, should +receive 5000 drachms: the legionaries received only 3000 after +twenty years. Caracalla added 5000 drachms to the donative of +the Praetorians, 1250 to that of the legionaries. Gibbon appears +to have been mistaken both in confounding this donative on +discharge with the annual pay, and in not paying attention to the +remark of Valois on the transposition of the numbers in the text. +- G] + It was impossible that such a character, and such conduct as +that of Caracalla, could inspire either love or esteem; but as +long as his vices were beneficial to the armies, he was secure +from the danger of rebellion. A secret conspiracy, provoked by +his own jealousy, was fatal to the tyrant. The Praetorian +praefecture was divided between two ministers. The military +department was intrusted to Adventus, an experienced rather than +able soldier; and the civil affairs were transacted by Opilius +Macrinus, who, by his dexterity in business, had raised himself, +with a fair character, to that high office. But his favor varied +with the caprice of the emperor, and his life might depend on the +slightest suspicion, or the most casual circumstance. Malice or +fanaticism had suggested to an African, deeply skilled in the +knowledge of futurity, a very dangerous prediction, that Macrinus +and his son were destined to reign over the empire. The report +was soon diffused through the province; and when the man was sent +in chains to Rome, he still asserted, in the presence of the +praefect of the city, the faith of his prophecy. That +magistrate, who had received the most pressing instructions to +inform himself of the successors of Caracalla, immediately +communicated the examination of the African to the Imperial +court, which at that time resided in Syria. But, notwithstanding +the diligence of the public messengers, a friend of Macrinus +found means to apprise him of the approaching danger. The +emperor received the letters from Rome; and as he was then +engaged in the conduct of a chariot race, he delivered them +unopened to the Praetorian Praefect, directing him to despatch +the ordinary affairs, and to report the more important business +that might be contained in them. Macrinus read his fate, and +resolved to prevent it. He inflamed the discontents of some +inferior officers, and employed the hand of Martialis, a +desperate soldier, who had been refused the rank of centurion. +The devotion of Caracalla prompted him to make a pilgrimage from +Edessa to the celebrated temple of the Moon at Carrhae. ^* He was +attended by a body of cavalry: but having stopped on the road for +some necessary occasion, his guards preserved a respectful +distance, and Martialis, approaching his person under a presence +of duty, stabbed him with a dagger. The bold assassin was +instantly killed by a Scythian archer of the Imperial guard. +Such was the end of a monster whose life disgraced human nature, +and whose reign accused the patience of the Romans. ^39 The +grateful soldiers forgot his vices, remembered only his partial +liberality, and obliged the senate to prostitute their own +dignity and that of religion, by granting him a place among the +gods. Whilst he was upon earth, Alexander the Great was the only +hero whom this god deemed worthy his admiration. He assumed the +name and ensigns of Alexander, formed a Macedonian phalanx of +guards, persecuted the disciples of Aristotle, and displayed, +with a puerile enthusiasm, the only sentiment by which he +discovered any regard for virtue or glory. We can easily +conceive, that after the battle of Narva, and the conquest of +Poland, Charles XII. (though he still wanted the more elegant +accomplishments of the son of Philip) might boast of having +rivalled his valor and magnanimity; but in no one action of his +life did Caracalla express the faintest resemblance of the +Macedonian hero, except in the murder of a great number of his +own and of his father's friends. ^40 + +[Footnote *: Carrhae, now Harran, between Edessan and Nisibis, +famous for the defeat of Crassus - the Haran from whence Abraham +set out for the land of Canaan. This city has always been +remarkable for its attachment to Sabaism - G] + +[Footnote 39: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1312. Herodian, l. iv. p. +168.] +[Footnote 40: The fondness of Caracalla for the name and ensigns +of Alexander is still preserved on the medals of that emperor. +See Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum, Dissertat. xii. Herodian (l. +iv. p. 154) had seen very ridiculous pictures, in which a figure +was drawn with one side of the face like Alexander, and the other +like Caracalla.] + + After the extinction of the house of Severus, the Roman +world remained three days without a master. The choice of the +army (for the authority of a distant and feeble senate was little +regarded) hung in anxious suspense, as no candidate presented +himself whose distinguished birth and merit could engage their +attachment and unite their suffrages. The decisive weight of the +Praetorian guards elevated the hopes of their praefects, and +these powerful ministers began to assert their legal claim to +fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however, the +senior praefect, conscious of his age and infirmities, of his +small reputation, and his smaller abilities, resigned the +dangerous honor to the crafty ambition of his colleague Macrinus, +whose well-dissembled grief removed all suspicion of his being +accessary to his master's death. ^41 The troops neither loved nor +esteemed his character. They cast their eyes around in search of +a competitor, and at last yielded with reluctance to his promises +of unbounded liberality and indulgence. A short time after his +accession, he conferred on his son Diadumenianus, at the age of +only ten years, the Imperial title, and the popular name of +Antoninus. The beautiful figure of the youth, assisted by an +additional donative, for which the ceremony furnished a pretext, +might attract, it was hoped, the favor of the army, and secure +the doubtful throne of Macrinus. + +[Footnote 41: Herodian, l. iv. p. 169. Hist. August. p. 94.] + The authority of the new sovereign had been ratified by the +cheerful submission of the senate and provinces. They exulted in +their unexpected deliverance from a hated tyrant, and it seemed +of little consequence to examine into the virtues of the +successor of Caracalla. But as soon as the first transports of +joy and surprise had subsided, they began to scrutinize the +merits of Macrinus with a critical severity, and to arraign the +nasty choice of the army. It had hitherto been considered as a +fundamental maxim of the constitution, that the emperor must be +always chosen in the senate, and the sovereign power, no longer +exercised by the whole body, was always delegated to one of its +members. But Macrinus was not a senator. ^42 The sudden +elevation of the Praetorian praefects betrayed the meanness of +their origin; and the equestrian order was still in possession of +that great office, which commanded with arbitrary sway the lives +and fortunes of the senate. A murmur of indignation was heard, +that a man, whose obscure ^43 extraction had never been +illustrated by any signal service, should dare to invest himself +with the purple, instead of bestowing it on some distinguished +senator, equal in birth and dignity to the splendor of the +Imperial station. As soon as the character of Macrinus was +surveyed by the sharp eye of discontent, some vices, and many +defects, were easily discovered. The choice of his ministers was +in many instances justly censured, and the dissastified +dissatisfied people, with their usual candor, accused at once his +indolent tameness and his excessive severity. ^44 + +[Footnote 42: Dion, l. lxxxviii. p. 1350. Elagabalus reproached +his predecessor with daring to seat himself on the throne; +though, as Praetorian praefect, he could not have been admitted +into the senate after the voice of the crier had cleared the +house. The personal favor of Plautianus and Sejanus had broke +through the established rule. They rose, indeed, from the +equestrian order; but they preserved the praefecture, with the +rank of senator and even with the annulship.] + +[Footnote 43: He was a native of Caesarea, in Numidia, and began +his fortune by serving in the household of Plautian, from whose +ruin he narrowly escaped. His enemies asserted that he was born a +slave, and had exercised, among other infamous professions, that +of Gladiator. The fashion of aspersing the birth and condition +of an adversary seems to have lasted from the time of the Greek +orators to the learned grammarians of the last age.] + +[Footnote 44: Both Dion and Herodian speak of the virtues and +vices of Macrinus with candor and impartiality; but the author of +his life, in the Augustan History, seems to have implicitly +copied some of the venal writers, employed by Elagabalus, to +blacken the memory of his predecessor.] + His rash ambition had climbed a height where it was +difficult to stand with firmness, and impossible to fall without +instant destruction. Trained in the arts of courts and the forms +of civil business, he trembled in the presence of the fierce and +undisciplined multitude, over whom he had assumed the command; +his military talents were despised, and his personal courage +suspected; a whisper that circulated in the camp, disclosed the +fatal secret of the conspiracy against the late emperor, +aggravated the guilt of murder by the baseness of hypocrisy, and +heightened contempt by detestation. To alienate the soldiers, +and to provoke inevitable ruin, the character of a reformer was +only wanting; and such was the peculiar hardship of his fate, +that Macrinus was compelled to exercise that invidious office. +The prodigality of Caracalla had left behind it a long train of +ruin and disorder; and if that worthless tyrant had been capable +of reflecting on the sure consequences of his own conduct, he +would perhaps have enjoyed the dark prospect of the distress and +calamities which he bequeathed to his successors. + + In the management of this necessary reformation, Macrinus +proceeded with a cautious prudence, which would have restored +health and vigor to the Roman army in an easy and almost +imperceptible manner. To the soldiers already engaged in the +service, he was constrained to leave the dangerous privileges and +extravagant pay given by Caracalla; but the new recruits were +received on the more moderate though liberal establishment of +Severus, and gradually formed to modesty and obedience. ^45 One +fatal error destroyed the salutary effects of this judicious +plan. The numerous army, assembled in the East by the late +emperor, instead of being immediately dispersed by Macrinus +through the several provinces, was suffered to remain united in +Syria, during the winter that followed his elevation. In the +luxurious idleness of their quarters, the troops viewed their +strength and numbers, communicated their complaints, and revolved +in their minds the advantages of another revolution. The +veterans, instead of being flattered by the advantageous +distinction, were alarmed by the first steps of the emperor, +which they considered as the presage of his future intentions. +The recruits, with sullen reluctance, entered on a service, whose +labors were increased while its rewards were diminished by a +covetous and unwarlike sovereign. The murmurs of the army +swelled with impunity into seditious clamors; and the partial +mutinies betrayed a spirit of discontent and disaffection that +waited only for the slightest occasion to break out on every side +into a general rebellion. To minds thus disposed, the occasion +soon presented itself. + +[Footnote 45: Dion, l. lxxxiii. p. 1336. The sense of the author +is as the intention of the emperor; but Mr. Wotton has mistaken +both, by understanding the distinction, not of veterans and +recruits, but of old and new legions. History of Rome, p. 347.] + + The empress Julia had experienced all the vicissitudes of +fortune. From an humble station she had been raised to +greatness, only to taste the superior bitterness of an exalted +rank. She was doomed to weep over the death of one of her sons, +and over the life of the other. The cruel fate of Caracalla, +though her good sense must have long taught' er to expect it, +awakened the feelings of a mother and of an empress. +Notwithstanding the respectful civility expressed by the usurper +towards the widow of Severus, she descended with a painful +struggle into the condition of a subject, and soon withdrew +herself, by a voluntary death, from the anxious and humiliating +dependence. ^46 ^* Julia Maesa, her sister, was ordered to leave +the court and Antioch. She retired to Emesa with an immense +fortune, the fruit of twenty years' favor accompanied by her two +daughters, Soaemias and Mamae, each of whom was a widow, and each +had an only son. Bassianus, ^! for that was the name of the son +of Soaemias, was consecrated to the honorable ministry of high +priest of the Sun; and this holy vocation, embraced either from +prudence or superstition, contributed to raise the Syrian youth +to the empire of Rome. A numerous body of troops was stationed +at Emesa; and as the severe discipline of Macrinus had +constrained them to pass the winter encamped, they were eager to +revenge the cruelty of such unaccustomed hardships. The +soldiers, who resorted in crowds to the temple of the Sun, beheld +with veneration and delight the elegant dress and figure of the +young pontiff; they recognized, or they thought that they +recognized, the features of Caracalla, whose memory they now +adored. The artful Maesa saw and cherished their rising +partiality, and readily sacrificing her daughter's reputation to +the fortune of her grandson, she insinuated that Bassianus was +the natural son of their murdered sovereign. The sums +distributed by her emissaries with a lavish hand silenced every +objection, and the profusion sufficiently proved the affinity, or +at least the resemblance, of Bassianus with the great original. +The young Antoninus (for he had assumed and polluted that +respectable name) was declared emperor by the troops of Emesa, +asserted his hereditary right, and called aloud on the armies to +follow the standard of a young and liberal prince, who had taken +up arms to revenge his father's death and the oppression of the +military order. ^47 +[Footnote 46: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1330. The abridgment of +Xiphilin, though less particular, is in this place clearer than +the original.] +[Footnote *: As soon as this princess heard of the death of +Caracalla, she wished to starve herself to death: the respect +shown to her by Macrinus, in making no change in her attendants +or her court, induced her to prolong her life. But it appears, +as far as the mutilated text of Dion and the imperfect epitome of +Xiphilin permit us to judge, that she conceived projects of +ambition, and endeavored to raise herself to the empire. She +wished to tread in the steps of Semiramis and Nitocris, whose +country bordered on her own. Macrinus sent her an order +immediately to leave Antioch, and to retire wherever she chose. +She returned to her former purpose, and starved herself to death. +- G.] + +[Footnote !: He inherited this name from his great-grandfather of +the mother's side, Bassianus, father of Julia Maesa, his +grandmother, and of Julia Domna, wife of Severus. Victor (in his +epitome) is perhaps the only historian who has given the key to +this genealogy, when speaking of Caracalla. His Bassianus ex avi +materni nomine dictus. Caracalla, Elagabalus, and Alexander +Seyerus, bore successively this name. - G.] + +[Footnote 47: According to Lampridius, (Hist. August. p. 135,) +Alexander Severus lived twenty-nine years three months and seven +days. As he was killed March 19, 235, he was born December 12, +205 and was consequently about this time thirteen years old, as +his elder cousin might be about seventeen. This computation suits +much better the history of the young princes than that of +Herodian, (l. v. p. 181,) who represents them as three years +younger; whilst, by an opposite error of chronology, he lengthens +the reign of Elagabalus two years beyond its real duration. For +the particulars of the conspiracy, see Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1339. + +Herodian, l. v. p. 184.] + Whilst a conspiracy of women and eunuchs was concerted with +prudence, and conducted with rapid vigor, Macrinus, who, by a +decisive motion, might have crushed his infant enemy, floated +between the opposite extremes of terror and security, which alike +fixed him inactive at Antioch. A spirit of rebellion diffused +itself through all the camps and garrisons of Syria, successive +detachments murdered their officers, ^48 and joined the party of +the rebels; and the tardy restitution of military pay and +privileges was imputed to the acknowledged weakness of Macrinus. +At length he marched out of Antioch, to meet the increasing and +zealous army of the young pretender. His own troops seemed to +take the field with faintness and reluctance; but, in the heat of +the battle, ^49 the Praetorian guards, almost by an involuntary +impulse, asserted the superiority of their valor and discipline. +The rebel ranks were broken; when the mother and grandmother of +the Syrian prince, who, according to their eastern custom, had +attended the army, threw themselves from their covered chariots, +and, by exciting the compassion of the soldiers, endeavored to +animate their drooping courage. Antoninus himself, who, in the +rest of his life, never acted like a man, in this important +crisis of his fate, approved himself a hero, mounted his horse, +and, at the head of his rallied troops, charged sword in hand +among the thickest of the enemy; whilst the eunuch Gannys, ^* +whose occupations had been confined to female cares and the soft +luxury of Asia, displayed the talents of an able and experienced +general. The battle still raged with doubtful violence, and +Macrinus might have obtained the victory, had he not betrayed his +own cause by a shameful and precipitate flight. His cowardice +served only to protract his life a few days, and to stamp +deserved ignominy on his misfortunes. It is scarcely necessary +to add, that his son Diadumenianus was involved in the same fate. + +As soon as the stubborn Praetorians could be convinced that they +fought for a prince who had basely deserted them, they +surrendered to the conqueror: the contending parties of the Roman +army, mingling tears of joy and tenderness, united under the +banners of the imagined son of Caracalla, and the East +acknowledged with pleasure the first emperor of Asiatic +extraction. + +[Footnote 48: By a most dangerous proclamation of the pretended +Antoninus, every soldier who brought in his officer's head became +entitled to his private estate, as well as to his military +commission.] + +[Footnote 49: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1345. Herodian, l. v. p. 186. + +The battle was fought near the village of Immae, about +two-and-twenty miles from Antioch.] + +[Footnote *: Gannys was not a eunuch. Dion, p. 1355. - W] + The letters of Macrinus had condescended to inform the +senate of the slight disturbance occasioned by an impostor in +Syria, and a decree immediately passed, declaring the rebel and +his family public enemies; with a promise of pardon, however, to +such of his deluded adherents as should merit it by an immediate +return to their duty. During the twenty days that elapsed from +the declaration of the victory of Antoninus, (for in so short an +interval was the fate of the Roman world decided,) the capital +and the provinces, more especially those of the East, were +distracted with hopes and fears, agitated with tumult, and +stained with a useless effusion of civil blood, since whosoever +of the rivals prevailed in Syria must reign over the empire. The +specious letters in which the young conqueror announced his +victory to the obedient senate were filled with professions of +virtue and moderation; the shining examples of Marcus and +Augustus, he should ever consider as the great rule of his +administration; and he affected to dwell with pride on the +striking resemblance of his own age and fortunes with those of +Augustus, who in the earliest youth had revenged, by a successful +war, the murder of his father. By adopting the style of Marcus +Aurelius Antoninus, son of Antoninus and grandson of Severus, he +tacitly asserted his hereditary claim to the empire; but, by +assuming the tribunitian and proconsular powers before they had +been conferred on him by a decree of the senate, he offended the +delicacy of Roman prejudice. This new and injudicious violation +of the constitution was probably dictated either by the ignorance +of his Syrian courtiers, or the fierce disdain of his military +followers. ^50 +[Footnote 50: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1353.] + + As the attention of the new emperor was diverted by the most +trifling amusements, he wasted many months in his luxurious +progress from Syria to Italy, passed at Nicomedia his first +winter after his victory, and deferred till the ensuing summer +his triumphal entry into the capital. A faithful picture, +however, which preceded his arrival, and was placed by his +immediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate house, +conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his +person and manners. He was drawn in his sacerdotal robes of silk +and gold, after the loose flowing fashion of the Medes and +Phoenicians; his head was covered with a lofty tiara, his +numerous collars and bracelets were adorned with gems of an +inestimable value. His eyebrows were tinged with black, and his +cheeks painted with an artificial red and white. ^51 The grave +senators confessed with a sigh, that, after having long +experienced the stern tyranny of their own countrymen, Rome was +at length humbled beneath the effeminate luxury of Oriental +despotism. +[Footnote 51: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1363. Herodian, l. v. p. 189.] + The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of +Elagabalus, ^52 and under the form of a black conical stone, +which, as it was universally believed, had fallen from heaven on +that sacred place. To this protecting deity, Antoninus, not +without some reason, ascribed his elevation to the throne. The +display of superstitious gratitude was the only serious business +of his reign. The triumph of the god of Emesa over all the +religions of the earth, was the great object of his zeal and +vanity; and the appellation of Elagabalus (for he presumed as +pontiff and favorite to adopt that sacred name) was dearer to him +than all the titles of Imperial greatness. In a solemn +procession through the streets of Rome, the way was strewed with +gold dust; the black stone, set in precious gems, was placed on a +chariot drawn by six milk-white horses richly caparisoned. The +pious emperor held the reins, and, supported by his ministers, +moved slowly backwards, that he might perpetually enjoy the +felicity of the divine presence. In a magnificent temple raised +on the Palatine Mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus were +celebrated with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The +richest wines, the most extraordinary victims, and the rarest +aromatics, were profusely consumed on his altar. Around the +altar, a chorus of Syrian damsels performed their lascivious +dances to the sound of barbarian music, whilst the gravest +personages of the state and army, clothed in long Phoenician +tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected zeal +and secret indignation. ^53 + +[Footnote 52: This name is derived by the learned from two Syrian +words, Ela a God, and Gabal, to form, the forming or plastic god, +a proper, and even happy epithet for the sun. Wotton's History of +Rome, p. 378 + Note: The name of Elagabalus has been disfigured in various +ways. Herodian calls him; Lampridius, and the more modern +writers, make him Heliogabalus. Dion calls him Elegabalus; but +Elegabalus was the true name, as it appears on the medals. +(Eckhel. de Doct. num. vet. t. vii. p. 250.) As to its etymology, +that which Gibbon adduces is given by Bochart, Chan. ii. 5; but +Salmasius, on better grounds. (not. in Lamprid. in Elagab.,) +derives the name of Elagabalus from the idol of that god, +represented by Herodian and the medals in the form of a mountain, +(gibel in Hebrew,) or great stone cut to a point, with marks +which represent the sun. As it was not permitted, at Hierapolis, +in Syria, to make statues of the sun and moon, because, it was +said, they are themselves sufficiently visible, the sun was +represented at Emesa in the form of a great stone, which, as it +appeared, had fallen from heaven. Spanheim, Caesar. notes, p. +46. - G. The name of Elagabalus, in "nummis rarius legetur." +Rasche, Lex. Univ. Ref. Numm. Rasche quotes two. - M] + +[Footnote 53: Herodian, l. v. p. 190.] + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of +Marcinus. + + +Part III. + + To this temple, as to the common centre of religious +worship, the Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, +the Palladium, ^54 and all the sacred pledges of the faith of +Numa. A crowd of inferior deities attended in various stations +the majesty of the god of Emesa; but his court was still +imperfect, till a female of distinguished rank was admitted to +his bed. Pallas had been first chosen for his consort; but as it +was dreaded lest her warlike terrors might affright the soft +delicacy of a Syrian deity, the Moon, adorned by the Africans +under the name of Astarte, was deemed a more suitable companion +for the Sun. Her image, with the rich offerings of her temple as +a marriage portion, was transported with solemn pomp from +Carthage to Rome, and the day of these mystic nuptials was a +general festival in the capital and throughout the empire. ^55 + +[Footnote 54: He broke into the sanctuary of Vesta, and carried +away a statue, which he supposed to be the palladium; but the +vestals boasted that, by a pious fraud, they had imposed a +counterfeit image on the profane intruder. Hist. August., p. +103.] + +[Footnote 55: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1360. Herodian, l. v. p. 193. +The subjects of the empire were obliged to make liberal presents +to the new married couple; and whatever they had promised during +the life of Elagabalus was carefully exacted under the +administration of Mamaea.] + + A rational voluptuary adheres with invariable respect to the +temperate dictates of nature, and improves the gratifications of +sense by social intercourse, endearing connections, and the soft +coloring of taste and the imagination. But Elagabalus, (I speak +of the emperor of that name,) corrupted by his youth, his +country, and his fortune, abandoned himself to the grossest +pleasures with ungoverned fury, and soon found disgust and +satiety in the midst of his enjoyments. The inflammatory powers +of art were summoned to his aid: the confused multitude of women, +of wines, and of dishes, and the studied variety of attitude and +sauces, served to revive his languid appetites. New terms and +new inventions in these sciences, the only ones cultivated and +patronized by the monarch, ^56 signalized his reign, and +transmitted his infamy to succeeding times. A capricious +prodigality supplied the want of taste and elegance; and whilst +Elagabalus lavished away the treasures of his people in the +wildest extravagance, his own voice and that of his flatterers +applauded a spirit of magnificence unknown to the tameness of his +predecessors. To confound the order of seasons and climates, ^57 +to sport with the passions and prejudices of his subjects, and to +subvert every law of nature and decency, were in the number of +his most delicious amusements. A long train of concubines, and a +rapid succession of wives, among whom was a vestal virgin, +ravished by force from her sacred asylum, ^58 were insufficient +to satisfy the impotence of his passions. The master of the +Roman world affected to copy the dress and manners of the female +sex, preferred the distaff to the sceptre, and dishonored the +principal dignities of the empire by distributing them among his +numerous lovers; one of whom was publicly invested with the title +and authority of the emperor's, or, as he more properly styled +himself, of the empress's husband. ^59 +[Footnote 56: The invention of a new sauce was liberally +rewarded; but if it was not relished, the inventor was confined +to eat of nothing else till he had discoveredanother more +agreeable to the Imperial palate Hist. August. p. 111.] + +[Footnote 57: He never would eat sea-fish except at a great +distance from the sea; he then would distribute vast quantities +of the rarest sorts, brought at an immense expense, to the +peasants of the inland country. Hist. August. p. 109.] + +[Footnote 58: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1358. Herodian, l. v. p. 192.] +[Footnote 59: Hierocles enjoyed that honor; but he would have +been supplanted by one Zoticus, had he not contrived, by a +potion, to enervate the powers of his rival, who, being found on +trial unequal to his reputation, was driven with ignominy from +the palace. Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1363, 1364. A dancer was made +praefect of the city, a charioteer praefect of the watch, a +barber praefect of the provisions. These three ministers, with +many inferior officers, were all recommended enormitate +membrorum. Hist. August. p. 105.] + It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus +have been adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. ^60 Yet, +confining ourselves to the public scenes displayed before the +Roman people, and attested by grave and contemporary historians, +their inexpressible infamy surpasses that of any other age or +country. The license of an eastern monarch is secluded from the +eye of curiosity by the inaccessible walls of his seraglio. The +sentiments of honor and gallantry have introduced a refinement of +pleasure, a regard for decency, and a respect for the public +opinion, into the modern courts of Europe; ^* but the corrupt and +opulent nobles of Rome gratified every vice that could be +collected from the mighty conflux of nations and manners. Secure +of impunity, careless of censure, they lived without restraint in +the patient and humble society of their slaves and parasites. +The emperor, in his turn, viewing every rank of his subjects with +the same contemptuous indifference, asserted without control his +sovereign privilege of lust and luxury. + +[Footnote 60: Even the credulous compiler of his life, in the +Augustan History (p. 111) is inclined to suspect that his vices +may have been exaggerated.] + +[Footnote *: Wenck has justly observed that Gibbon should have +reckoned the influence of Christianity in this great change. In +the most savage times, and the most corrupt courts, since the +introduction of Christianity there have been no Neros or +Domitians, no Commodus or Elagabalus. - M.] + The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn in +others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can +readily discover some nice difference of age, character, or +station, to justify the partial distinction. The licentious +soldiers, who had raised to the throne the dissolute son of +Caracalla, blushed at their ignominious choice, and turned with +disgust from that monster, to contemplate with pleasure the +opening virtues of his cousin Alexander, the son of Mamaea. The +crafty Maesa, sensible that her grandson Elagabalus must +inevitably destroy himself by his own vices, had provided another +and surer support of her family. Embracing a favorable moment of +fondness and devotion, she had persuaded the young emperor to +adopt Alexander, and to invest him with the title of Caesar, that +his own divine occupations might be no longer interrupted by the +care of the earth. In the second rank that amiable prince soon +acquired the affections of the public, and excited the tyrant's +jealousy, who resolved to terminate the dangerous competition, +either by corrupting the manners, or by taking away the life, of +his rival. His arts proved unsuccessful; his vain designs were +constantly discovered by his own loquacious folly, and +disappointed by those virtuous and faithful servants whom the +prudence of Mamaea had placed about the person of her son. In a +hasty sally of passion, Elagabalus resolved to execute by force +what he had been unable to compass by fraud, and by a despotic +sentence degraded his cousin from the rank and honors of Caesar. +The message was received in the senate with silence, and in the +camp with fury. The Praetorian guards swore to protect +Alexander, and to revenge the dishonored majesty of the throne. +The tears and promises of the trembling Elagabalus, who only +begged them to spare his life, and to leave him in the possession +of his beloved Hierocles, diverted their just indignation; and +they contented themselves with empowering their praefects to +watch over the safety of Alexander, and the conduct of the +emperor. ^61 +[Footnote 61: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1365. Herodian, l. v. p. 195 - +201. Hist. August. p. 105. The last of the three historians +seems to have followed the best authors in his account of the +revolution.] + + It was impossible that such a reconciliation should last, or +that even the mean soul of Elagabalus could hold an empire on +such humiliating terms of dependence. He soon attempted, by a +dangerous experiment, to try the temper of the soldiers. The +report of the death of Alexander, and the natural suspicion that +he had been murdered, inflamed their passions into fury, and the +tempest of the camp could only be appeased by the presence and +authority of the popular youth. Provoked at this new instance of +their affection for his cousin, and their contempt for his +person, the emperor ventured to punish some of the leaders of the +mutiny. His unseasonable severity proved instantly fatal to his +minions, his mother, and himself. Elagabalus was massacred by +the indignant Praetorians, his mutilated corpse dragged through +the streets of the city, and thrown into the Tiber. His memory +was branded with eternal infamy by the senate; the justice of +whose decree has been ratified by posterity. ^62 + +[See Island In The Tiber: Elagabalus was thrown into the Tiber +[Footnote 62: The aera of the death of Elagabalus, and of the +accession of Alexander, has employed the learning and ingenuity +of Pagi, Tillemont, Valsecchi, Vignoli, and Torre, bishop of +Adria. The question is most assuredly intricate; but I still +adhere to the authority of Dion, the truth of whose calculations +is undeniable, and the purity of whose text is justified by the +agreement of Xiphilin, Zonaras, and Cedrenus. Elagabalus reigned +three years nine months and four days, from his victory over +Macrinus, and was killed March 10, 222. But what shall we reply +to the medals, undoubtedly genuine, which reckon the fifth year +of his tribunitian power? We shall reply, with the learned +Valsecchi, that the usurpation of Macrinus was annihilated, and +that the son of Caracalla dated his reign from his father's +death? After resolving this great difficulty, the smaller knots +of this question may be easily untied, or cut asunder. Note: +This opinion of Valsecchi has been triumphantly contested by +Eckhel, who has shown the impossibility of reconciling it with +the medals of Elagabalus, and has given the most satisfactory +explanation of the five tribunates of that emperor. He ascended +the throne and received the tribunitian power the 16th of May, in +the year of Rome 971; and on the 1st January of the next year, +972, he began a new tribunate, according to the custom +established by preceding emperors. During the years 972, 973, +974, he enjoyed the tribunate, and commenced his fifth in the +year 975, during which be was killed on the 10th March. Eckhel de +Doct. Num. viii. 430 &c. - G.] In the room of Elagabalus, his +cousin Alexander was raised to the throne by the Praetorian +guards. His relation to the family of Severus, whose name he +assumed, was the same as that of his predecessor; his virtue and +his danger had already endeared him to the Romans, and the eager +liberality of the senate conferred upon him, in one day, the +various titles and powers of the Imperial dignity. ^63 But as +Alexander was a modest and dutiful youth, of only seventeen years +of age, the reins of government were in the hands of two women, +of his mother, Mamaea, and of Maesa, his grandmother. After the +death of the latter, who survived but a short time the elevation +of Alexander, Mamaea remained the sole regent of her son and of +the empire. [Footnote 63: Hist. August. p. 114. By this unusual +precipitation, the senate meant to confound the hopes of +pretenders, and prevent the factions of the armies.] In every age +and country, the wiser, or at least the stronger, of the two +sexes, has usurped the powers of the state, and confined the +other to the cares and pleasures of domestic life. In hereditary +monarchies, however, and especially in those of modern Europe, +the gallant spirit of chivalry, and the law of succession, have +accustomed us to allow a singular exception; and a woman is often +acknowledged the absolute sovereign of a great kingdom, in which +she would be deemed incapable of exercising the smallest +employment, civil or military. But as the Roman emperors were +still considered as the generals and magistrates of the republic, +their wives and mothers, although distinguished by the name of +Augusta were never associated to their personal honors; and a +female reign would have appeared an inexpiable prodigy in the +eyes of those primitive Romans, who married without love, or +loved without delicacy and respect. ^64 The haughty Agripina +aspired, indeed, to share the honors of the empire which she had +conferred on her son; but her mad ambition, detested by every +citizen who felt for the dignity of Rome, was disappointed by the +artful firmness of Seneca and Burrhus. ^65 The good sense, or the +indifference, of succeeding princes, restrained them from +offending the prejudices of their subjects; and it was reserved +for the profligate Elagabalus to discharge the acts of the senate +with the name of his mother Soaemias, who was placed by the side +of the consuls, and subscribed, as a regular member, the decrees +of the legislative assembly. Her more prudent sister, Mamaea, +declined the useless and odious prerogative, and a solemn law was +enacted, excluding women forever from the senate, and devoting to +the infernal gods the head of the wretch by whom this sanction +should be violated. ^66 The substance, not the pageantry, of +power. was the object of Mamaea's manly ambition. She maintained +an absolute and lasting empire over the mind of her son, and in +his affection the mother could not brook a rival. Alexander, with +her consent, married the daughter of a patrician; but his respect +for his father-in-law, and love for the empress, were +inconsistent with the tenderness of interest of Mamaea. The +patrician was executed on the ready accusation of treason, and +the wife of Alexander driven with ignominy from the palace, and +banished into Africa. ^67 [Footnote 64: Metellus Numidicus, the +censor, acknowledged to the Roman people, in a public oration, +that had kind nature allowed us to exist without the help of +women, we should be delivered from a very troublesome companion; +and he could recommend matrimony only as the sacrifice of private +pleasure to public duty. Aulus Gellius, i. 6.] [Footnote 65: +Tacit. Annal. xiii. 5.] [Footnote 66: Hist. August. p. 102, +107.] [Footnote 67: Dion, l. lxxx. p. 1369. Herodian, l. vi. p. +206. Hist. August. p. 131. Herodian represents the patrician as +innocent. The Augustian History, on the authority of Dexippus, +condemns him, as guilty of a conspiracy against the life of +Alexander. It is impossible to pronounce between them; but Dion +is an irreproachable witness of the jealousy and cruelty of +Mamaea towards the young empress, whose hard fate Alexander +lamented, but durst not oppose.] Notwithstanding this act of +jealous cruelty, as well as some instances of avarice, with which +Mamaea is charged, the general tenor of her administration was +equally for the benefit of her son and of the empire. With the +approbation of the senate, she chose sixteen of the wisest and +most virtuous senators as a perpetual council of state, before +whom every public business of moment was debated and determined. +The celebrated Ulpian, equally distinguished by his knowledge of, +and his respect for, the laws of Rome, was at their head; and the +prudent firmness of this aristocracy restored order and authority +to the government. As soon as they had purged the city from +foreign superstition and luxury, the remains of the capricious +tyranny of Elagabalus, they applied themselves to remove his +worthless creatures from every department of the public +administration, and to supply their places with men of virtue and +ability. Learning, and the love of justice, became the only +recommendations for civil offices; valor, and the love of +discipline, the only qualifications for military employments. ^68 + +[Footnote 68: Herodian, l. vi. p. 203. Hist. August. p. 119. The +latter insinuates, that when any law was to be passed, the +council was assisted by a number of able lawyers and experienced +senators, whose opinions were separately given, and taken down in +writing.] But the most important care of Mamaea and her wise +counsellors, was to form the character of the young emperor, on +whose personal qualities the happiness or misery of the Roman +world must ultimately depend. The fortunate soil assisted, and +even prevented, the hand of cultivation. An excellent +understanding soon convinced Alexander of the advantages of +virtue, the pleasure of knowledge, and the necessity of labor. A +natural mildness and moderation of temper preserved him from the +assaults of passion, and the allurements of vice. His unalterable +regard for his mother, and his esteem for the wise Ulpian, +guarded his unexperienced youth from the poison of flattery. ^* +[Footnote *: Alexander received into his chapel all the religions +which prevailed in the empire; he admitted Jesus Christ, Abraham, +Orpheus, Apollonius of Tyana, &c. It was almost certain that his +mother Mamaea had instructed him in the morality of Christianity. +Historians in general agree in calling her a Christian; there is +reason to believe that she had begun to have a taste for the +principles of Christianity. (See Tillemont, Alexander Severus) +Gibbon has not noticed this circumstance; he appears to have +wished to lower the character of this empress; he has throughout +followed the narrative of Herodian, who, by the acknowledgment of +Capitolinus himself, detested Alexander. Without believing the +exaggerated praises of Lampridius, he ought not to have followed +the unjust severity of Herodian, and, above all, not to have +forgotten to say that the virtuous Alexander Severus had insured +to the Jews the preservation of their privileges, and permitted +the exercise of Christianity. Hist. Aug. p. 121. The Christians +had established their worship in a public place, of which the +victuallers (cauponarii) claimed, not the property, but +possession by custom. Alexander answered, that it was better that +the place should be used for the service of God, in any form, +than for victuallers. - G. I have scrupled to omit this note, as +it contains some points worthy of notice; but it is very unjust +to Gibbon, who mentions almost all the circumstances, which he is +accused of omitting, in another, and, according to his plan, a +better place, and, perhaps, in stronger terms than M. Guizot. See +Chap. xvi. - M.] The simple journal of his ordinary occupations +exhibits a pleasing picture of an accomplished emperor, ^69 and, +with some allowance for the difference of manners, might well +deserve the imitation of modern princes. Alexander rose early: +the first moments of the day were consecrated to private +devotion, and his domestic chapel was filled with the images of +those heroes, who, by improving or reforming human life, had +deserved the grateful reverence of posterity. But as he deemed +the service of mankind the most acceptable worship of the gods, +the greatest part of his morning hours was employed in his +council, where he discussed public affairs, and determined +private causes, with a patience and discretion above his years. +The dryness of business was relieved by the charms of literature; +and a portion of time was always set apart for his favorite +studies of poetry, history, and philosophy. The works of Virgil +and Horace, the republics of Plato and Cicero, formed his taste, +enlarged his understanding, and gave him the noblest ideas of man +and government. The exercises of the body succeeded to those of +the mind; and Alexander, who was tall, active, and robust, +surpassed most of his equals in the gymnastic arts. Refreshed by +the use of the bath and a slight dinner, he resumed, with new +vigor, the business of the day; and, till the hour of supper, the +principal meal of the Romans, he was attended by his secretaries, +with whom he read and answered the multitude of letters, +memorials, and petitions, that must have been addressed to the +master of the greatest part of the world. His table was served +with the most frugal simplicity, and whenever he was at liberty +to consult his own inclination, the company consisted of a few +select friends, men of learning and virtue, amongst whom Ulpian +was constantly invited. Their conversation was familiar and +instructive; and the pauses were occasionally enlivened by the +recital of some pleasing composition, which supplied the place of +the dancers, comedians, and even gladiators, so frequently +summoned to the tables of the rich and luxurious Romans. ^70 The +dress of Alexander was plain and modest, his demeanor courteous +and affable: at the proper hours his palace was open to all his +subjects, but the voice of a crier was heard, as in the +Eleusinian mysteries, pronouncing the same salutary admonition: +"Let none enter these holy walls, unless he is conscious of a +pure and innocent mind." ^71 [Footnote 69: See his life in the +Augustan History. The undistinguishing compiler has buried these +interesting anecdotes under a load of trivial unmeaning +circumstances.] [Footnote 70: See the 13th Satire of Juvenal.] +[Footnote 71: Hist. August. p. 119.] Such a uniform tenor of +life, which left not a moment for vice or folly, is a better +proof of the wisdom and justice of Alexander's government, than +all the trifling details preserved in the compilation of +Lampridius. Since the accession of Commodus, the Roman world had +experienced, during the term of forty years, the successive and +various vices of four tyrants. From the death of Elagabalus, it +enjoyed an auspicious calm of thirteen years. ^* The provinces, +relieved from the oppressive taxes invented by Caracalla and his +pretended son, flourished in peace and prosperity, under the +administration of magistrates, who were convinced by experience +that to deserve the love of the subjects, was their best and only +method of obtaining the favor of their sovereign. While some +gentle restraints were imposed on the innocent luxury of the +Roman people, the price of provisions and the interest of money, +were reduced by the paternal care of Alexander, whose prudent +liberality, without distressing the industrious, supplied the +wants and amusements of the populace. The dignity, the freedom, +the authority of the senate was restored; and every virtuous +senator might approach the person of the emperor without a fear +and without a blush. [Footnote *: Wenck observes that Gibbon, +enchanted with the virtue of Alexander has heightened, +particularly in this sentence, its effect on the state of the +world. His own account, which follows, of the insurrections and +foreign wars, is not in harmony with this beautiful picture. - +M.] The name of Antoninus, ennobled by the virtues of Pius and +Marcus, had been communicated by adoption to the dissolute Verus, +and by descent to the cruel Commodus. It became the honorable +appellation of the sons of Severus, was bestowed on young +Diadumenianus, and at length prostituted to the infamy of the +high priest of Emesa. Alexander, though pressed by the studied, +and, perhaps, sincere importunity of the senate, nobly refused +the borrowed lustre of a name; whilst in his whole conduct he +labored to restore the glories and felicity of the age of the +genuine Antonines. ^72 [Footnote 72: See, in the Hist. August. +p. 116, 117, the whole contest between Alexander and the senate, +extracted from the journals of that assembly. It happened on the +sixth of March, probably of the year 223, when the Romans had +enjoyed, almost a twelvemonth, the blessings of his reign. Before +the appellation of Antoninus was offered him as a title of honor, +the senate waited to see whether Alexander would not assume it as +a family name.] In the civil administration of Alexander, +wisdom was enforced by power, and the people, sensible of the +public felicity, repaid their benefactor with their love and +gratitude. There still remained a greater, a more necessary, but +a more difficult enterprise; the reformation of the military +order, whose interest and temper, confirmed by long impunity, +rendered them impatient of the restraints of discipline, and +careless of the blessings of public tranquillity. In the +execution of his design, the emperor affected to display his +love, and to conceal his fear of the army. The most rigid economy +in every other branch of the administration supplied a fund of +gold and silver for the ordinary pay and the extraordinary +rewards of the troops. In their marches he relaxed the severe +obligation of carrying seventeen days' provision on their +shoulders. Ample magazines were formed along the public roads, +and as soon as they entered the enemy's country, a numerous train +of mules and camels waited on their haughty laziness. As +Alexander despaired of correcting the luxury of his soldiers, he +attempted, at least, to direct it to objects of martial pomp and +ornament, fine horses, splendid armor, and shields enriched with +silver and gold. He shared whatever fatigues he was obliged to +impose, visited, in person, the sick and wounded, preserved an +exact register of their services and his own gratitude, and +expressed on every occasion, the warmest regard for a body of +men, whose welfare, as he affected to declare, was so closely +connected with that of the state. ^73 By the most gentle arts he +labored to inspire the fierce multitude with a sense of duty, and +to restore at least a faint image of that discipline to which the +Romans owed their empire over so many other nations, as warlike +and more powerful than themselves. But his prudence was vain, his +courage fatal, and the attempt towards a reformation served only +to inflame the ills it was meant to cure. [Footnote 73: It was a +favorite saying of the emperor's Se milites magis servare, quam +seipsum, quod salus publica in his esset. Hist. Aug. p. 130.] +The Praetorian guards were attached to the youth of Alexander. +They loved him as a tender pupil, whom they had saved from a +tyrant's fury, and placed on the Imperial throne. That amiable +prince was sensible of the obligation; but as his gratitude was +restrained within the limits of reason and justice, they soon +were more dissatisfied with the virtues of Alexander, than they +had ever been with the vices of Elagabalus. Their praefect, the +wise Ulpian, was the friend of the laws and of the people; he was +considered as the enemy of the soldiers, and to his pernicious +counsels every scheme of reformation was imputed. Some trifling +accident blew up their discontent into a furious mutiny; and the +civil war raged, during three days, in Rome, whilst the life of +that excellent minister was defended by the grateful people. +Terrified, at length, by the sight of some houses in flames, and +by the threats of a general conflagration, the people yielded +with a sigh, and left the virtuous but unfortunate Ulpian to his +fate. He was pursued into the Imperial palace, and massacred at +the feet of his master, who vainly strove to cover him with the +purple, and to obtain his pardon from the inexorable soldiers. ^* +Such was the deplorable weakness of government, that the emperor +was unable to revenge his murdered friend and his insulted +dignity, without stooping to the arts of patience and +dissimulation. Epagathus, the principal leader of the mutiny, was +removed from Rome, by the honorable employment of praefect of +Egypt: from that high rank he was gently degraded to the +government of Crete; and when at length, his popularity among the +guards was effaced by time and absence, Alexander ventured to +inflict the tardy but deserved punishment of his crimes. ^74 +Under the reign of a just and virtuous prince, the tyranny of the +army threatened with instant death his most faithful ministers, +who were suspected of an intention to correct their intolerable +disorders. The historian Dion Cassius had commanded the Pannonian +legions with the spirit of ancient discipline. Their brethren of +Rome, embracing the common cause of military license, demanded +the head of the reformer. Alexander, however, instead of yielding +to their seditious clamors, showed a just sense of his merit and +services, by appointing him his colleague in the consulship, and +defraying from his own treasury the expense of that vain dignity: +but as was justly apprehended, that if the soldiers beheld him +with the ensigns of his office, they would revenge the insult in +his blood, the nominal first magistrate of the state retired, by +the emperor's advice, from the city, and spent the greatest part +of his consulship at his villas in Campania. ^75 ^* [Footnote *: +Gibbon has confounded two events altogether different - the +quarrel of the people with the Praetorians, which lasted three +days, and the assassination of Ulpian by the latter. Dion relates +first the death of Ulpian, afterwards, reverting back according +to a manner which is usual with him, he says that during the life +of Ulpian, there had been a war of three days between the +Praetorians and the people. But Ulpian was not the cause. Dion +says, on the contrary, that it was occasioned by some unimportant +circumstance; whilst he assigns a weighty reason for the murder +of Ulpian, the judgment by which that Praetorian praefect had +condemned his predecessors, Chrestus and Flavian, to death, whom +the soldiers wished to revenge. Zosimus (l. 1, c. xi.) attributes +this sentence to Mamaera; but, even then, the troops might have +imputed it to Ulpian, who had reaped all the advantage and was +otherwise odious to them. - W.] [Footnote 74: Though the author +of the life of Alexander (Hist. August. p. 182) mentions the +sedition raised against Ulpian by the soldiers, he conceals the +catastrophe, as it might discover a weakness in the +administration of his hero. From this designed omission, we may +judge of the weight and candor of that author.] [Footnote 75: +For an account of Ulpian's fate and his own danger, see the +mutilated conclusion of Dion's History, l. lxxx. p. 1371.] +[Footnote *: Dion possessed no estates in Campania, and was not +rich. He only says that the emperor advised him to reside, during +his consulate, in some place out of Rome; that he returned to +Rome after the end of his consulate, and had an interview with +the emperor in Campania. He asked and obtained leave to pass the +rest of his life in his native city, (Nice, in Bithynia: ) it was +there that he finished his history, which closes with his second +consulship. - W.]] + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of +Marcinus. + +Part IV. + + The lenity of the emperor confirmed the insolence of the +troops; the legions imitated the example of the guards, and +defended their prerogative of licentiousness with the same +furious obstinacy. The administration of Alexander was an +unavailing struggle against the corruption of his age. In +llyricum, in Mauritania, in Armenia, in Mesopotamia, in Germany, +fresh mutinies perpetually broke out; his officers were murdered, +his authority was insulted, and his life at last sacrificed to +the fierce discontents of the army. ^76 One particular fact well +deserves to be recorded, as it illustrates the manners of the +troops, and exhibits a singular instance of their return to a +sense of duty and obedience. Whilst the emperor lay at Antioch, +in his Persian expedition, the particulars of which we shall +hereafter relate, the punishment of some soldiers, who had been +discovered in the baths of women, excited a sedition in the +legion to which they belonged. Alexander ascended his tribunal, +and with a modest firmness represented to the armed multitude the +absolute necessity, as well as his inflexible resolution, of +correcting the vices introduced by his impure predecessor, and of +maintaining the discipline, which could not be relaxed without +the ruin of the Roman name and empire. Their clamors interrupted +his mild expostulation. "Reserve your shout," said the undaunted +emperor, "till you take the field against the Persians, the +Germans, and the Sarmatians. Be silent in the presence of your +sovereign and benefactor, who bestows upon you the corn, the +clothing, and the money of the provinces. Be silent, or I shall +no longer style you solders, but citizens, ^77 if those indeed +who disclaim the laws of Rome deserve to be ranked among the +meanest of the people." His menaces inflamed the fury of the +legion, and their brandished arms already threatened his person. +"Your courage," resumed the intrepid Alexander, "would be more +nobly displayed in the field of battle; me you may destroy, you +cannot intimidate; and the severe justice of the republic would +punish your crime and revenge my death." The legion still +persisted in clamorous sedition, when the emperor pronounced, +with a cud voice, the decisive sentence, "Citizens! lay down +your arms, and depart in peace to your respective habitations." +The tempest was instantly appeased: the soldiers, filled with +grief and shame, silently confessed the justice of their +punishment, and the power of discipline, yielded up their arms +and military ensigns, and retired in confusion, not to their +camp, but to the several inns of the city. Alexander enjoyed, +during thirty days, the edifying spectacle of their repentance; +nor did he restore them to their former rank in the army, till he +had punished with death those tribunes whose connivance had +occasioned the mutiny. The grateful legion served the emperor +whilst living, and revenged him when dead. ^78 +[Footnote 76: Annot. Reimar. ad Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. p. 1369.] +[Footnote 77: Julius Caesar had appeased a sedition with the same +word, Quirites; which, thus opposed to soldiers, was used in a +sense of contempt, and reduced the offenders to the less +honorable condition of mere citizens. Tacit. Annal. i. 43.] + +[Footnote 78: Hist. August. p. 132.] + + The resolutions of the multitude generally depend on a +moment; and the caprice of passion might equally determine the +seditious legion to lay down their arms at the emperor's feet, or +to plunge them into his breast. Perhaps, if this singular +transaction had been investigated by the penetration of a +philosopher, we should discover the secret causes which on that +occasion authorized the boldness of the prince, and commanded the +obedience of the troops; and perhaps, if it had been related by a +judicious historian, we should find this action, worthy of Caesar +himself, reduced nearer to the level of probability and the +common standard of the character of Alexander Severus. The +abilities of that amiable prince seem to have been inadequate to +the difficulties of his situation, the firmness of his conduct +inferior to the purity of his intentions. His virtues, as well +as the vices of Elagabalus, contracted a tincture of weakness and +effeminacy from the soft climate of Syria, of which he was a +native; though he blushed at his foreign origin, and listened +with a vain complacency to the flattering genealogists, who +derived his race from the ancient stock of Roman nobility. ^79 +The pride and avarice of his mother cast a shade on the glories +of his reign; an by exacting from his riper years the same +dutiful obedience which she had justly claimed from his +unexperienced youth, Mamaea exposed to public ridicule both her +son's character and her own. ^80 The fatigues of the Persian war +irritated the military discontent; the unsuccessful event ^* +degraded the reputation of the emperor as a general, and even as +a soldier. Every cause prepared, and every circumstance +hastened, a revolution, which distracted the Roman empire with a +long series of intestine calamities. + +[Footnote 79: From the Metelli. Hist. August. p. 119. The +choice was judicious. In one short period of twelve years, the +Metelli could reckon seven consulships and five triumphs. See +Velleius Paterculus, ii. 11, and the Fasti.] + +[Footnote 80: The life of Alexander, in the Augustan History, is +the mere idea of a perfect prince, an awkward imitation of the +Cyropaedia. The account of his reign, as given by Herodian, is +rational and moderate, consistent with the general history of the +age; and, in some of the most invidious particulars, confirmed by +the decisive fragments of Dion. Yet from a very paltry +prejudice, the greater number of our modern writers abuse +Herodian, and copy the Augustan History. See Mess de Tillemont +and Wotton. From the opposite prejudice, the emperor Julian (in +Caesarib. p. 315) dwells with a visible satisfaction on the +effeminate weakness of the Syrian, and the ridiculous avarice of +his mother.] + +[Footnote *: Historians are divided as to the success of the +campaign against the Persians; Herodian alone speaks of defeat. +Lampridius, Eutropius, Victor, and others, say that it was very +glorious to Alexander; that he beat Artaxerxes in a great battle, +and repelled him from the frontiers of the empire. This much is +certain, that Alexander, on his return to Rome, (Lamp. Hist. Aug. +c. 56, 133, 134,) received the honors of a triumph, and that he +said, in his oration to the people. Quirites, vicimus Persas, +milites divites reduximus, vobis congiarium pollicemur, cras +ludos circenses Persicos donabimus. Alexander, says Eckhel, had +too much modesty and wisdom to permit himself to receive honors +which ought only to be the reward of victory, if he had not +deserved them; he would have contented himself with dissembling +his losses. Eckhel, Doct. Num. vet. vii. 276. The medals +represent him as in triumph; one, among others, displays him +crowned by Victory between two rivers, the Euphrates and the +Tigris. P. M. TR. P. xii. Cos. iii. PP. Imperator paludatus D. +hastam. S. parazonium, stat inter duos fluvios humi jacentes, et +ab accedente retro Victoria coronatur. Ae. max. mod. (Mus. Reg. +Gall.) Although Gibbon treats this question more in detail when +he speaks of the Persian monarchy, I have thought fit to place +here what contradicts his opinion. - G] + + The dissolute tyranny of Commodus, the civil wars occasioned +by his death, and the new maxims of policy introduced by the +house of Severus, had all contributed to increase the dangerous +power of the army, and to obliterate the faint image of laws and +liberty that was still impressed on the minds of the Romans. The +internal change, which undermined the foundations of the empire, +we have endeavored to explain with some degree of order and +perspicuity. The personal characters of the emperors, their +victories, laws, follies, and fortunes, can interest us no +farther than as they are connected with the general history of +the Decline and Fall of the monarchy. Our constant attention to +that great object will not suffer us to overlook a most important +edict of Antoninus Caracalla, which communicated to all the free +inhabitants of the empire the name and privileges of Roman +citizens. His unbounded liberality flowed not, however, from the +sentiments of a generous mind; it was the sordid result of +avarice, and will naturally be illustrated by some observations +on the finances of that state, from the victorious ages of the +commonwealth to the reign of Alexander Severus. + The siege of Veii in Tuscany, the first considerable +enterprise of the Romans, was protracted to the tenth year, much +less by the strength of the place than by the unskillfulness of +the besiegers. The unaccustomed hardships of so many winter +campaigns, at the distance of near twenty miles from home, ^81 +required more than common encouragements; aud the senate wisely +prevented the clamors of the people, by the institution of a +regular pay for the soldiers, which was levied by a general +tribute, assessed according to an equitable proportion on the +property of the citizens. ^82 During more than two hundred years +after the conquest of Veii, the victories of the republic added +less to the wealth than to the power of Rome. The states of +Italy paid their tribute in military service only, and the vast +force, both by sea and land, which was exerted in the Punic wars, +was maintained at the expense of the Romans themselves. That +high-spirited people (such is often the generous enthusiasm of +freedom) cheerfully submitted to the most excessive but voluntary +burdens, in the just confidence that they should speedily enjoy +the rich harvest of their labors. Their expectations were not +disappointed. In the course of a few years, the riches of +Syracuse, of Carthage, of Macedonia, and of Asia, were brought in +triumph to Rome. The treasures of Perseus alone amounted to near +two millions sterling, and the Roman people, the sovereign of so +many nations, was forever delivered from the weight of taxes. ^83 +The increasing revenue of the provinces was found sufficient to +defray the ordinary establishment of war and government, and the +superfluous mass of gold and silver was deposited in the temple +of Saturn, and reserved for any unforeseen emergency of the +state. ^84 + +[Footnote 81: According to the more accurate Dionysius, the city +itself was only a hundred stadia, or twelve miles and a half, +from Rome, though some out-posts might be advanced farther on the +side of Etruria. Nardini, in a professed treatise, has combated +the popular opinion and the authority of two popes, and has +removed Veii from Civita Castellana, to a little spot called +Isola, in the midway between Rome and the Lake Bracianno. + + Note: See the interesting account of the site and ruins of +Veii in Sir W Gell's topography of Rome and its Vicinity. v. ii. +p. 303. - M.] +[Footnote 82: See the 4th and 5th books of Livy. In the Roman +census, property, power, and taxation were commensurate with each +other.] +[Footnote 83: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. Cicero de +Offic. ii. 22. Plutarch, P. Aemil. p. 275.] + +[Footnote 84: See a fine description of this accumulated wealth +of ages in Phars. l. iii. v. 155, &c.] + + History has never, perhaps, suffered a greater or more +irreparable injury than in the loss of the curious register ^* +bequeathed by Augustus to the senate, in which that experienced +prince so accurately balanced the revenues and expenses of the +Roman empire. ^85 Deprived of this clear and comprehensive +estimate, we are reduced to collect a few imperfect hints from +such of the ancients as have accidentally turned aside from the +splendid to the more useful parts of history. We are informed +that, by the conquests of Pompey, the tributes of Asia were +raised from fifty to one hundred and thirty-five millions of +drachms; or about four millions and a half sterling. ^86 ^! Under +the last and most indolent of the Ptolemies, the revenue of Egypt +is said to have amounted to twelve thousand five hundred talents; +a sum equivalent to more than two millions and a half of our +money, but which was afterwards considerably improved by the more +exact economy of the Romans, and the increase of the trade of +Aethiopia and India. ^87 Gaul was enriched by rapine, as Egypt +was by commerce, and the tributes of those two great provinces +have been compared as nearly equal to each other in value. ^88 +The ten thousand Euboic or Phoenician talents, about four +millions sterling, ^89 which vanquished Carthage was condemned to +pay within the term of fifty years, were a slight acknowledgment +of the superiority of Rome, ^90 and cannot bear the least +proportion with the taxes afterwards raised both on the lands and +on the persons of the inhabitants, when the fertile coast of +Africa was reduced into a province. ^91 + +[Footnote *: See Rationarium imperii. Compare besides Tacitus, +Suet. Aug. c. ult. Dion, p. 832. Other emperors kept and +published similar registers. See a dissertation of Dr. Wolle, de +Rationario imperii Rom. Leipsig, 1773. The last book of Appian +also contained the statistics of the Roman empire, but it is +lost. - W.] + +[Footnote 85: Tacit. in Annal. i. ll. It seems to have existed +in the time of Appian.] + +[Footnote 86: Plutarch, in Pompeio, p. 642.] + +[Footnote !: Wenck contests the accuracy of Gibbon's version of +Plutarch, and supposes that Pompey only raised the revenue from +50,000,000 to 85,000,000 of drachms; but the text of Plutarch +seems clearly to mean that his conquests added 85,000,000 to the +ordinary revenue. Wenck adds, "Plutarch says in another part, +that Antony made Asia pay, at one time, 200,000 talents, that is +to say, 38,875,000l. sterling." But Appian explains this by +saying that it was the revenue of ten years, which brings the +annual revenue, at the time of Antonv, to 3,875 000l. sterling. - +M.] + +[Footnote 87: Strabo, l. xvii. p. 798.] + +[Footnote 88: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 39. He seems to +give the preference to the revenue of Gaul.] + +[Footnote 89: The Euboic, the Phoenician, and the Alexandrian +talents were double in weight to the Attic. See Hooper on +ancient weights and measures, p. iv. c. 5. It is very probable +that the same talent was carried from Tyre to Carthage.] + +[Footnote 90: Polyb. l. xv. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 91: Appian in Punicis, p. 84.] + + Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexico +of the old world. The discovery of the rich western continent by +the Phoenicians, and the oppression of the simple natives, who +were compelled to labor in their own mines for the benefit of +strangers, form an exact type of the more recent history of +Spanish America. ^92 The Phoenicians were acquainted only with +the sea-coast of Spain; avarice, as well as ambition, carried the +arms of Rome and Carthage into the heart of the country, and +almost every part of the soil was found pregnant with copper, +silver, and gold. ^* Mention is made of a mine near Carthagena +which yielded every day twenty-five thousand drachmns of silver, +or about three hundred thousand pounds a year. ^93 Twenty +thousand pound weight of gold was annually received from the +provinces of Asturia, Gallicia, and Lusitania. ^94 + +[Footnote 92: Diodorus Siculus, l. 5. Oadiz was built by the +Phoenicians a little more than a thousand years before Christ. +See Vell. Pa ter. i.2.] +[Footnote *: Compare Heeren's Researches vol. i. part ii. p.] +[Footnote 93: Strabo, l. iii. p. 148.] + +[Footnote 94: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. He mentions +likewise a silver mine in Dalmatia, that yielded every day fifty +pounds to the state.] + We want both leisure and materials to pursue this curious +inquiry through the many potent states that were annihilated in +the Roman empire. Some notion, however, may be formed of the +revenue of the provinces where considerable wealth had been +deposited by nature, or collected by man, if we observe the +severe attention that was directed to the abodes of solitude and +sterility. Augustus once received a petition from the +inhabitants of Gyarus, humbly praying that they might be relieved +from one third of their excessive impositions. Their whole tax +amounted indeed to no more than one hundred and fifty drachms, or +about five pounds: but Gyarus was a little island, or rather a +rock, of the Aegean Sea, destitute of fresh water and every +necessary of life, and inhabited only by a few wretched +fishermen. ^95 +[Footnote 95: Strabo, l. x. p. 485. Tacit. Annal. iu. 69, and +iv. 30. See Tournefort (Voyages au Levant, Lettre viii.) a very +lively picture of the actual misery of Gyarus.] + + From the faint glimmerings of such doubtful and scattered +lights, we should be inclined to believe, 1st, That (with every +fair allowance for the differences of times and circumstances) +the general income of the Roman provinces could seldom amount to +less than fifteen or twenty millions of our money; ^96 and, 2dly, +That so ample a revenue must have been fully adequate to all the +expenses of the moderate government instituted by Augustus, whose +court was the modest family of a private senator, and whose +military establishment was calculated for the defence of the +frontiers, without any aspiring views of conquest, or any serious +apprehension of a foreign invasion. + +[Footnote 96: Lipsius de magnitudine Romana (l. ii. c. 3) +computes the revenue at one hundred and fifty millions of gold +crowns; but his whole book, though learned and ingenious, betrays +a very heated imagination. + Note: If Justus Lipsius has exaggerated the revenue of the +Roman empire Gibbon, on the other hand, has underrated it. He +fixes it at fifteen or twenty millions of our money. But if we +take only, on a moderate calculation, the taxes in the provinces +which he has already cited, they will amount, considering the +augmentations made by Augustus, to nearly that sum. There remain +also the provinces of Italy, of Rhaetia, of Noricum, Pannonia, +and Greece, &c., &c. Let us pay attention, besides, to the +prodigious expenditure of some emperors, (Suet. Vesp. 16;) we +shall see that such a revenue could not be sufficient. The +authors of the Universal History, part xii., assign forty +millions sterling as the sum to about which the public revenue +might amount. - G. from W.] + + Notwithstanding the seeming probability of both these +conclusions, the latter of them at least is positively disowned +by the language and conduct of Augustus. It is not easy to +determine whether, on this occasion, he acted as the common +father of the Roman world, or as the oppressor of liberty; +whether he wished to relieve the provinces, or to impoverish the +senate and the equestrian order. But no sooner had he assumed +the reins of government, than he frequently intimated the +insufficiency of the tributes, and the necessity of throwing an +equitable proportion of the public burden upon Rome and Italy. ^! +In the prosecution of this unpopular design, he advanced, +however, by cautious and well-weighed steps. The introduction of +customs was followed by the establishment of an excise, and the +scheme of taxation was completed by an artful assessment on the +real and personal property of the Roman citizens, who had been +exempted from any kind of contribution above a century and a +half. +[Footnote !: It is not astonishing that Augustus held this +language. The senate declared also under Nero, that the state +could not exist without the imposts as well augmented as founded +by Augustus. Tac. Ann. xiii. 50. After the abolition of the +different tributes paid by Italy, an abolition which took place +A. U. 646, 694, and 695, the state derived no revenues from that +great country, but the twentieth part of the manumissions, +(vicesima manumissionum,) and Ciero laments this in many places, +particularly in his epistles to ii. 15. - G. from W.] + + I. In a great empire like that of Rome, a natural balance +of money must have gradually established itself. It has been +already observed, that as the wealth of the provinces was +attracted to the capital by the strong hand of conquest and +power, so a considerable part of it was restored to the +industrious provinces by the gentle influence of commerce and +arts. In the reign of Augustus and his successors, duties were +imposed on every kind of merchandise, which through a thousand +channels flowed to the great centre of opulence and luxury; and +in whatsoever manner the law was expressed, it was the Roman +purchaser, and not the provincial merchant, who paid the tax. ^97 +The rate of the customs varied from the eighth to the fortieth +part of the value of the commodity; and we have a right to +suppose that the variation was directed by the unalterable maxims +of policy; that a higher duty was fixed on the articles of luxury +than on those of necessity, and that the productions raised or +manufactured by the labor of the subjects of the empire were +treated with more indulgence than was shown to the pernicious, or +at least the unpopular commerce of Arabia and India. ^98 There is +still extant a long but imperfect catalogue of eastern +commodities, which about the time of Alexander Severus were +subject to the payment of duties; cinnamon, myrrh, pepper, +ginger, and the whole tribe of aromatics a great variety of +precious stones, among which the diamond was the most remarkable +for its price, and the emerald for its beauty; ^99 Parthian and +Babylonian leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, +ebony ivory, and eunuchs. ^100 We may observe that the use and +value of those effeminate slaves gradually rose with the decline +of the empire. + +[Footnote 97: Tacit. Annal. xiii. 31. + + Note: The customs (portoria) existed in the times of the +ancient kings of Rome. They were suppressed in Italy, A. U. 694, +by the Praetor, Cecilius Matellus Nepos. Augustus only +reestablished them. See note above. - W.] +[Footnote 98: See Pliny, (Hist. Natur. l. vi. c. 23, lxii. c. +18.) His observation that the Indian commodities were sold at +Rome at a hundred times their original price, may give us some +notion of the produce of the customs, since that original price +amounted to more than eight hundred thousand pounds.] + +[Footnote 99: The ancients were unacquainted with the art of +cutting diamonds.] + +[Footnote 100: M. Bouchaud, in his treatise de l'Impot chez les +Romains, has transcribed this catalogue from the Digest, and +attempts to illustrate it by a very prolix commentary. + + Note: In the Pandects, l. 39, t. 14, de Publican. Compare +Cicero in Verrem. c. 72 - 74. - W.] + + II. The excise, introduced by Augustus after the civil +wars, was extremely moderate, but it was general. It seldom +exceeded one per cent.; but it comprehended whatever was sold in +the markets or by public auction, from the most considerable +purchases of lands and houses, to those minute objects which can +only derive a value from their infinite multitude and daily +consumption. Such a tax, as it affects the body of the people, +has ever been the occasion of clamor and discontent. An emperor +well acquainted with the wants and resources of the state was +obliged to declare, by a public edict, that the support of the +army depended in a great measure on the produce of the excise. +^101 + +[Footnote 101: Tacit. Annal. i. 78. Two years afterwards, the +reduction of the poor kingdom of Cappadocia gave Tiberius a +pretence for diminishing the excise of one half, but the relief +was of very short duration.] + III. When Augustus resolved to establish a permanent +military force for the defence of his government against foreign +and domestic enemies, he instituted a peculiar treasury for the +pay of the soldiers, the rewards of the veterans, and the +extra-ordinary expenses of war. The ample revenue of the excise, +though peculiarly appropriated to those uses, was found +inadequate. To supply the deficiency, the emperor suggested a +new tax of five per cent. on all legacies and inheritances. But +the nobles of Rome were more tenacious of property than of +freedom. Their indignant murmurs were received by Augustus with +his usual temper. He candidly referred the whole business to the +senate, and exhorted them to provide for the public service by +some other expedient of a less odious nature. They were divided +and perplexed. He insinuated to them, that their obstinacy would +oblige him to propose a general land tax and capitation. They +acquiesced in silence. ^102. The new imposition on legacies and +inheritances was, however, mitigated by some restrictions. It +did not take place unless the object was of a certain value, most +probably of fifty or a hundred pieces of gold; ^103 nor could it +be exacted from the nearest of kin on the father's side. ^104 +When the rights of nature and poverty were thus secured, it +seemed reasonable, that a stranger, or a distant relation, who +acquired an unexpected accession of fortune, should cheerfully +resign a twentieth part of it, for the benefit of the state. ^105 + +[Footnote 102: Dion Cassius, l. lv. p. 794, l. lvi. p. 825. + Note: Dion neither mentions this proposition nor the +capitation. He only says that the emperor imposed a tax upon +landed property, and sent every where men employed to make a +survey, without fixing how much, and for how much each was to +pay. The senators then preferred giving the tax on legacies and +inheritances. - W.] + +[Footnote 103: The sum is only fixed by conjecture.] + +[Footnote 104: As the Roman law subsisted for many ages, the +Cognati, or relations on the mother's side, were not called to +the succession. This harsh institution was gradually undermined +by humanity, and finally abolished by Justinian.] + +[Footnote 105: Plin. Panegyric. c. 37.] + + Such a tax, plentiful as it must prove in every wealthy +community, was most happily suited to the situation of the +Romans, who could frame their arbitrary wills, according to the +dictates of reason or caprice, without any restraint from the +modern fetters of entails and settlements. From various causes, +the partiality of paternal affection often lost its influence +over the stern patriots of the commonwealth, and the dissolute +nobles of the empire; and if the father bequeathed to his son the +fourth part of his estate, he removed all ground of legal +complaint. ^106 But a rich childish old man was a domestic +tyrant, and his power increased with his years and infirmities. +A servile crowd, in which he frequently reckoned praetors and +consuls, courted his smiles, pampered his avarice, applauded his +follies, served his passions, and waited with impatience for his +death. The arts of attendance and flattery were formed into a +most lucrative science; those who professed it acquired a +peculiar appellation; and the whole city, according to the lively +descriptions of satire, was divided between two parties, the +hunters and their game. ^107 Yet, while so many unjust and +extravagant wills were every day dictated by cunning and +subscribed by folly, a few were the result of rational esteem and +virtuous gratitude. Cicero, who had so often defended the lives +and fortunes of his fellow-citizens, was rewarded with legacies +to the amount of a hundred and seventy thousand pounds; ^108 nor +do the friends of the younger Pliny seem to have been less +generous to that amiable orator. ^109 Whatever was the motive of +the testator, the treasury claimed, without distinction, the +twentieth part of his estate: and in the course of two or three +generations, the whole property of the subject must have +gradually passed through the coffers of the state. + +[Footnote 106: See Heineccius in the Antiquit. Juris Romani, l. +ii.] +[Footnote 107: Horat. l. ii. Sat. v. Potron. c. 116, &c. Plin. +l. ii. Epist. 20.] + +[Footnote 108: Cicero in Philip. ii. c. 16.] + +[Footnote 109: See his epistles. Every such will gave him an +occasion of displaying his reverence to the dead, and his justice +to the living. He reconciled both in his behavior to a son who +had been disinherited by his mother, (v.l.)] + + In the first and golden years of the reign of Nero, that +prince, from a desire of popularity, and perhaps from a blind +impulse of benevolence, conceived a wish of abolishing the +oppression of the customs and excise. The wisest senators +applauded his magnanimity: but they diverted him from the +execution of a design which would have dissolved the strength and +resources of the republic. ^110 Had it indeed been possible to +realize this dream of fancy, such princes as Trajan and the +Antonines would surely have embraced with ardor the glorious +opportunity of conferring so signal an obligation on mankind. +Satisfied, however, with alleviating the public burden, they +attempted not to remove it. The mildness and precision of their +laws ascertained the rule and measure of taxation, and protected +the subject of every rank against arbitrary interpretations, +antiquated claims, and the insolent vexation of the farmers of +the revenue. ^111 For it is somewhat singular, that, in every +age, the best and wisest of the Roman governors persevered in +this pernicious method of collecting the principal branches at +least of the excise and customs. ^112 + +[Footnote 110: Tacit. Annal. xiii. 50. Esprit des Loix, l. xii. +c. 19.] +[Footnote 111: See Pliny's Panegyric, the Augustan History, and +Burman de Vectigal. passim.] + +[Footnote 112: The tributes (properly so called) were not farmed; +since the good princes often remitted many millions of arrears.] + + The sentiments, and, indeed, the situation, of Caracalla +were very different from those of the Antonines. Inattentive, or +rather averse, to the welfare of his people, he found himself +under the necessity of gratifying the insatiate avarice which he +had excited in the army. Of the several impositions introduced +by Augustus, the twentieth on inheritances and legacies was the +most fruitful, as well as the most comprehensive. As its +influence was not confined to Rome or Italy, the produce +continually increased with the gradual extension of the Roman +City. The new citizens, though charged, on equal terms, ^113 +with the payment of new taxes, which had not affected them as +subjects, derived an ample compensation from the rank they +obtained, the privileges they acquired, and the fair prospect of +honors and fortune that was thrown open to their ambition. But +the favor which implied a distinction was lost in the prodigality +of Caracalla, and the reluctant provincials were compelled to +assume the vain title, and the real obligations, of Roman +citizens. ^* Nor was the rapacious son of Severus contented with +such a measure of taxation as had appeared sufficient to his +moderate predecessors. Instead of a twentieth, he exacted a +tenth of all legacies and inheritances; and during his reign (for +the ancient proportion was restored after his death) he crushed +alike every part of the empire under the weight of his iron +sceptre. ^114 + +[Footnote 113: The situation of the new citizens is minutely +described by Pliny, (Panegyric, c. 37, 38, 39). Trajan published +a law very much in their favor.] + +[Footnote *: Gibbon has adopted the opinion of Spanheim and of +Burman, which attributes to Caracalla this edict, which gave the +right of the city to all the inhabitants of the provinces. This +opinion may be disputed. Several passages of Spartianus, of +Aurelius Victor, and of Aristides, attribute this edict to Marc. +Aurelius. See a learned essay, entitled Joh. P. Mahneri Comm. de +Marc. Aur. Antonino Constitutionis de Civitate Universo Orbi +Romano data auctore. Halae, 1772, 8vo. It appears that Marc. +Aurelius made some modifications of this edict, which released +the provincials from some of the charges imposed by the right of +the city, and deprived them of some of the advantages which it +conferred. Caracalla annulled these modifications. - W.] +[Footnote 114: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1295.] + + When all the provincials became liable to the peculiar +impositions of Roman citizens, they seemed to acquire a legal +exemption from the tributes which they had paid in their former +condition of subjects. Such were not the maxims of government +adopted by Caracalla and his pretended son. The old as well as +the new taxes were, at the same time, levied in the provinces. +It was reserved for the virtue of Alexander to relieve them in a +great measure from this intolerable grievance, by reducing the +tributes to a thirteenth part of the sum exacted at the time of +his accession. ^115 It is impossible to conjecture the motive +that engaged him to spare so trifling a remnant of the public +evil; but the noxious weed, which had not been totally +eradicated, again sprang up with the most luxuriant growth, and +in the succeeding age darkened the Roman world with its deadly +shade. In the course of this history, we shall be too often +summoned to explain the land tax, the capitation, and the heavy +contributions of corn, wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted +from the provinces for the use of the court, the army, and the +capital. + +[Footnote 115: He who paid ten aurei, the usual tribute, was +charged with no more than the third part of an aureus, and +proportional pieces of gold were coined by Alexander's order. +Hist. August. p. 127, with the commentary of Salmasius.] + + As long as Rome and Italy were respected as the centre of +government, a national spirit was preserved by the ancient, and +insensibly imbibed by the adopted, citizens. The principal +commands of the army were filled by men who had received a +liberal education, were well instructed in the advantages of laws +and letters, and who had risen, by equal steps, through the +regular succession of civil and military honors. ^116 To their +influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience +of the legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial +history. + +[Footnote 116: See the lives of Agricola, Vespasian, Trajan, +Severus, and his three competitors; and indeed of all the eminent +men of those times.] + But when the last enclosure of the Roman constitution was +trampled down by Caracalla, the separation of professions +gradually succeeded to the distinction of ranks. The more +polished citizens of the internal provinces were alone qualified +to act as lawyers and magistrates. The rougher trade of arms was +abandoned to the peasants and barbarians of the frontiers, who +knew no country but their camp, no science but that of war no +civil laws, and scarcely those of military discipline. With +bloody hands, savage manners, and desperate resolutions, they +sometimes guarded, but much oftener subverted, the throne of the +emperors. + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of +Maximin. + +Part I. + +The Elevation And Tyranny Of Maximin. - Rebellion In Africa And +Italy, Under The Authority Of The Senate. - Civil Wars And +Seditions. - Violent Deaths Of Maximin And His Son, Of Maximus +And Balbinus, And Of The Three Gordians. - Usurpation And Secular +Games Of Philip. + + Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in +the world, an hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest +scope for ridicule. Is it possible to relate without an +indignant smile, that, on the father's decease, the property of a +nation, like that of a drove of oxen, descends to his infant son, +as yet unknown to mankind and to himself; and that the bravest +warriors and the wisest statesmen, relinquishing their natural +right to empire, approach the royal cradle with bended knees and +protestations of inviolable fidelity? Satire and declamation may +paint these obvious topics in the most dazzling colors, but our +more serious thoughts will respect a useful prejudice, that +establishes a rule of succession, independent of the passions of +mankind; and we shall cheerfully acquiesce in any expedient which +deprives the multitude of the dangerous, and indeed the ideal, +power of giving themselves a master. + + In the cool shade of retirement, we may easily devise +imaginary forms of government, in which the sceptre shall be +constantly bestowed on the most worthy, by the free and incorrupt +suffrage of the whole community. Experience overturns these airy +fabrics, and teaches us, that in a large society, the election of +a monarch can never devolve to the wisest, or to the most +numerous part of the people. The army is the only order of men +sufficiently united to concur in the same sentiments, and +powerful enough to impose them on the rest of their +fellow-citizens; but the temper of soldiers, habituated at once +to violence and to slavery, renders them very unfit guardians of +a legal, or even a civil constitution. Justice, humanity, or +political wisdom, are qualities they are too little acquainted +with in themselves, to appreciate them in others. Valor will +acquire their esteem, and liberality will purchase their +suffrage; but the first of these merits is often lodged in the +most savage breasts; the latter can only exert itself at the +expense of the public; and both may be turned against the +possessor of the throne, by the ambition of a daring rival. + + The superior prerogative of birth, when it has obtained the +sanction of time and popular opinion, is the plainest and least +invidious of all distinctions among mankind. The acknowledged +right extinguishes the hopes of faction, and the conscious +security disarms the cruelty of the monarch. To the firm +establishment of this idea we owe the peaceful succession and +mild administration of European monarchies. To the defect of it +we must attribute the frequent civil wars, through which an +Asiatic despot is obliged to cut his way to the throne of his +fathers. Yet, even in the East, the sphere of contention is +usually limited to the princes of the reigning house, and as soon +as the more fortunate competitor has removed his brethren by the +sword and the bowstring, he no longer entertains any jealousy of +his meaner subjects. But the Roman empire, after the authority +of the senate had sunk into contempt, was a vast scene of +confusion. The royal, and even noble, families of the provinces +had long since been led in triumph before the car of the haughty +republicans. The ancient families of Rome had successively +fallen beneath the tyranny of the Caesars; and whilst those +princes were shackled by the forms of a commonwealth, and +disappointed by the repeated failure of their posterity, ^1 it +was impossible that any idea of hereditary succession should have +taken root in the minds of their subjects. The right to the +throne, which none could claim from birth, every one assumed from +merit. The daring hopes of ambition were set loose from the +salutary restraints of law and prejudice; and the meanest of +mankind might, without folly, entertain a hope of being raised by +valor and fortune to a rank in the army, in which a single crime +would enable him to wrest the sceptre of the world from his +feeble and unpopular master. After the murder of Alexander +Severus, and the elevation of Maximin, no emperor could think +himself safe upon the throne, and every barbarian peasant of the +frontier might aspire to that august, but dangerous station. + +[Footnote 1: There had been no example of three successive +generations on the throne; only three instances of sons who +succeeded their fathers. The marriages of the Caesars +(notwithstanding the permission, and the frequent practice of +divorces) were generally unfruitful.] + + About thirty-two years before that event, the emperor +Severus, returning from an eastern expedition, halted in Thrace, +to celebrate, with military games, the birthday of his younger +son, Geta. The country flocked in crowds to behold their +sovereign, and a young barbarian of gigantic stature earnestly +solicited, in his rude dialect, that he might be allowed to +contend for the prize of wrestling. As the pride of discipline +would have been disgraced in the overthrow of a Roman soldier by +a Thracian peasant, he was matched with the stoutest followers of +the camp, sixteen of whom he successively laid on the ground. +His victory was rewarded by some trifling gifts, and a permission +to enlist in the troops. The next day, the happy barbarian was +distinguished above a crowd of recruits, dancing and exulting +after the fashion of his country. As soon as he perceived that +he had attracted the emperor's notice, he instantly ran up to his +horse, and followed him on foot, without the least appearance of +fatigue, in a long and rapid career. "Thracian," said Severus +with astonishment, "art thou disposed to wrestle after thy race?" +"Most willingly, sir," replied the unwearied youth; and, almost +in a breath, overthrew seven of the strongest soldiers in the +army. A gold collar was the prize of his matchless vigor and +activity, and he was immediately appointed to serve in the +horseguards who always attended on the person of the sovereign. +^2 + +[Footnote 2: Hist. August p. 138.] + + Maximin, for that was his name, though born on the +territories of the empire, descended from a mixed race of +barbarians. His father was a Goth, and his mother of the nation +of the Alani. He displayed on every occasion a valor equal to +his strength; and his native fierceness was soon tempered or +disguised by the knowledge of the world. Under the reign of +Severus and his son, he obtained the rank of centurion, with the +favor and esteem of both those princes, the former of whom was an +excellent judge of merit. Gratitude forbade Maximin to serve +under the assassin of Caracalla. Honor taught him to decline the +effeminate insults of Elagabalus. On the accession of Alexander +he returned to court, and was placed by that prince in a station +useful to the service, and honorable to himself. The fourth +legion, to which he was appointed tribune, soon became, under his +care, the best disciplined of the whole army. With the general +applause of the soldiers, who bestowed on their favorite hero the +names of Ajax and Hercules, he was successively promoted to the +first military command; ^3 and had not he still retained too much +of his savage origin, the emperor might perhaps have given his +own sister in marriage to the son of Maximin. ^4 + +[Footnote 3: Hist. August. p. 140. Herodian, l. vi. p. 223. +Aurelius Victor. By comparing these authors, it should seem that +Maximin had the particular command of the Tribellian horse, with +the general commission of disciplining the recruits of the whole +army. His biographer ought to have marked, with more care, his +exploits, and the successive steps of his military promotions.] + +[Footnote 4: See the original letter of Alexander Severus, Hist. +August. p. 149.] + + Instead of securing his fidelity, these favors served only +to inflame the ambition of the Thracian peasant, who deemed his +fortune inadequate to his merit, as long as he was constrained to +acknowledge a superior. Though a stranger to rea wisdom, he was +not devoid of a selfish cunning, which showed him that the +emperor had lost the affection of the army, and taught him to +improve their discontent to his own advantage. It is easy for +faction and calumny to shed their poison on the administration of +the best of princes, and to accuse even their virtues by artfully +confounding them with those vices to which they bear the nearest +affinity. The troops listened with pleasure to the emissaries of +Maximin. They blushed at their own ignominious patience, which, +during thirteen years, had supported the vexatious discipline +imposed by an effeminate Syrian, the timid slave of his mother +and of the senate. It was time, they cried, to cast away that +useless phantom of the civil power, and to elect for their prince +and general a real soldier, educated in camps, exercised in war, +who would assert the glory, and distribute among his companions +the treasures, of the empire. A great army was at that time +assembled on the banks of the Rhine, under the command of the +emperor himself, who, almost immediately after his return from +the Persian war, had been obliged to march against the barbarians +of Germany. The important care of training and reviewing the new +levies was intrusted to Maximin. One day, as he entered the +field of exercise, the troops either from a sudden impulse, or a +formed conspiracy, saluted him emperor, silenced by their loud +acclamations his obstinate refusal, and hastened to consummate +their rebellion by the murder of Alexander Severus. + + The circumstances of his death are variously related. The +writers, who suppose that he died in ignorance of the ingratitude +and ambition of Maximin, affirm, that, after taking a frugal +repast in the sight of the army, he retired to sleep, and that, +about the seventh hour of the day, a part of his own guards broke +into the imperial tent, and, with many wounds, assassinated their +virtuous and unsuspecting prince. ^5 If we credit another, and +indeed a more probable account, Maximin was invested with the +purple by a numerous detachment, at the distance of several miles +from the head-quarters; and he trusted for success rather to the +secret wishes than to the public declarations of the great army. +Alexander had sufficient time to awaken a faint sense of loyalty +among the troops; but their reluctant professions of fidelity +quickly vanished on the appearance of Maximin, who declared +himself the friend and advocate of the military order, and was +unanimously acknowledged emperor of the Romans by the applauding +legions. The son of Mamaea, betrayed and deserted, withdrew into +his tent, desirous at least to conceal his approaching fate from +the insults of the multitude. He was soon followed by a tribune +and some centurions, the ministers of death; but instead of +receiving with manly resolution the inevitable stroke, his +unavailing cries and entreaties disgraced the last moments of his +life, and converted into contempt some portion of the just pity +which his innocence and misfortunes must inspire. His mother, +Mamaea, whose pride and avarice he loudly accused as the cause of +his ruin, perished with her son. The most faithful of his +friends were sacrificed to the first fury of the soldiers. Others +were reserved for the more deliberate cruelty of the usurper; and +those who experienced the mildest treatment, were stripped of +their employments, and ignominiously driven from the court and +army. ^6 +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 135. I have softened some of the +most improbable circumstances of this wretched biographer. From +his ill-worded narration, it should seem that the prince's +buffoon having accidentally entered the tent, and awakened the +slumbering monarch, the fear of punishment urged him to persuade +the disaffected soldiers to commit the murder.] +[Footnote 6: Herodian, l. vi. 223-227.] + + The former tyrants, Caligula and Nero, Commodus, and +Caracalla, were all dissolute and unexperienced youths, ^7 +educated in the purple, and corrupted by the pride of empire, the +luxury of Rome, and the perfidious voice of flattery. The +cruelty of Maximin was derived from a different source, the fear +of contempt. Though he depended on the attachment of the +soldiers, who loved him for virtues like their own, he was +conscious that his mean and barbarian origin, his savage +appearance, and his total ignorance of the arts and institutions +of civil life, ^8 formed a very unfavorable contrast with the +amiable manners of the unhappy Alexander. He remembered, that, +in his humbler fortune, he had often waited before the door of +the haughty nobles of Rome, and had been denied admittance by the +insolence of their slaves. He recollected too the friendship of +a few who had relieved his poverty, and assisted his rising +hopes. But those who had spurned, and those who had protected, +the Thracian, were guilty of the same crime, the knowledge of his +original obscurity. For this crime many were put to death; and +by the execution of several of his benefactors, Maximin +published, in characters of blood, the indelible history of his +baseness and ingratitude. ^9 +[Footnote 7: Caligula, the eldest of the four, was only +twenty-five years of age when he ascended the throne; Caracalla +was twenty-three, Commodus nineteen, and Nero no more than +seventeen.] + +[Footnote 8: It appears that he was totally ignorant of the Greek +language; which, from its universal use in conversation and +letters, was an essential part of every liberal education.] + +[Footnote 9: Hist. August. p. 141. Herodian, l. vii. p. 237. +The latter of these historians has been most unjustly censured +for sparing the vices of Maximin.] + + The dark and sanguinary soul of the tyrant was open to every +suspicion against those among his subjects who were the most +distinguished by their birth or merit. Whenever he was alarmed +with the sound of treason, his cruelty was unbounded and +unrelenting. A conspiracy against his life was either discovered +or imagined, and Magnus, a consular senator, was named as the +principal author of it. Without a witness, without a trial, and +without an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with four thousand of +his supposed accomplices, was put to death. Italy and the whole +empire were infested with innumerable spies and informers. On +the slightest accusation, the first of the Roman nobles, who had +governed provinces, commanded armies, and been adorned with the +consular and triumphal ornaments, were chained on the public +carriages, and hurried away to the emperor's presence. +Confiscation, exile, or simple death, were esteemed uncommon +instances of his lenity. Some of the unfortunate sufferers he +ordered to be sewed up in the hides of slaughtered animals, +others to be exposed to wild beasts, others again to be beaten to +death with clubs. During the three years of his reign, he +disdained to visit either Rome or Italy. His camp, occasionally +removed from the banks of the Rhine to those of the Danube, was +the seat of his stern despotism, which trampled on every +principle of law and justice, and was supported by the avowed +power of the sword. ^10 No man of noble birth, elegant +accomplishments, or knowledge of civil business, was suffered +near his person; and the court of a Roman emperor revived the +idea of those ancient chiefs of slaves and gladiators, whose +savage power had left a deep impression of terror and +detestation. ^11 + +[Footnote 10: The wife of Maximin, by insinuating wise counsels +with female gentleness, sometimes brought back the tyrant to the +way of truth and humanity. See Ammianus Marcellinus, l. xiv. c. +l, where he alludes to the fact which he had more fully related +under the reign of the Gordians. We may collect from the medals, +that Paullina was the name of this benevolent empress; and from +the title of Diva, that she died before Maximin. (Valesius ad +loc. cit. Ammian.) Spanheim de U. et P. N. tom. ii. p. 300. + Note: If we may believe Syrcellus and Zonaras, in was +Maximin himself who ordered her death - G] + +[Footnote 11: He was compared to Spartacus and Athenio. Hist. +August p. 141.] + + As long as the cruelty of Maximin was confined to the +illustrious senators, or even to the bold adventurers, who in the +court or army expose themselves to the caprice of fortune, the +body of the people viewed their sufferings with indifference, or +perhaps with pleasure. But the tyrant's avarice, stimulated by +the insatiate desires of the soldiers, at length attacked the +public property. Every city of the empire was possessed of an +independent revenue, destined to purchase corn for the multitude, +and to supply the expenses of the games and entertainments. By a +single act of authority, the whole mass of wealth was at once +confiscated for the use of the Imperial treasury. The temples +were stripped of their most valuable offerings of gold and +silver, and the statues of gods, heroes, and emperors, were +melted down and coined into money. These impious orders could +not be executed without tumults and massacres, as in many places +the people chose rather to die in the defence of their altars, +than to behold in the midst of peace their cities exposed to the +rapine and cruelty of war. The soldiers themselves, among whom +this sacrilegious plunder was distributed, received it with a +blush; and hardened as they were in acts of violence, they +dreaded the just reproaches of their friends and relations. +Throughout the Roman world a general cry of indignation was +heard, imploring vengeance on the common enemy of human kind; and +at length, by an act of private oppression, a peaceful and +unarmed province was driven into rebellion against him. ^12 +[Footnote 12: Herodian, l. vii. p. 238. Zosim. l. i. p. 15.] + The procurator of Africa was a servant worthy of such a +master, who considered the fines and confiscations of the rich as +one of the most fruitful branches of the Imperial revenue. An +iniquitous sentence had been pronounced against some opulent +youths of that country, the execution of which would have +stripped them of far the greater part of their patrimony. In this +extremity, a resolution that must either complete or prevent +their ruin, was dictated by despair. A respite of three days, +obtained with difficulty from the rapacious treasurer, was +employed in collecting from their estates a great number of +slaves and peasants blindly devoted to the commands of their +lords, and armed with the rustic weapons of clubs and axes. The +leaders of the conspiracy, as they were admitted to the audience +of the procurator, stabbed him with the daggers concealed under +their garments, and, by the assistance of their tumultuary train, +seized on the little town of Thysdrus, ^13 and erected the +standard of rebellion against the sovereign of the Roman empire. +They rested their hopes on the hatred of mankind against Maximin, +and they judiciously resolved to oppose to that detested tyrant +an emperor whose mild virtues had already acquired the love and +esteem of the Romans, and whose authority over the province would +give weight and stability to the enterprise. Gordianus, their +proconsul, and the object of their choice, refused, with +unfeigned reluctance, the dangerous honor, and begged with tears, +that they would suffer him to terminate in peace a long and +innocent life, without staining his feeble age with civil blood. +Their menaces compelled him to accept the Imperial purple, his +only refuge, indeed, against the jealous cruelty of Maximin; +since, according to the reasoning of tyrants, those who have been +esteemed worthy of the throne deserve death, and those who +deliberate have already rebelled. ^14 + +[Footnote 13: In the fertile territory of Byzacium, one hundred +and fifty miles to the south of Carthage. This city was +decorated, probably by the Gordians, with the title of colony, +and with a fine amphitheatre, which is still in a very perfect +state. See Intinerar. Wesseling, p. 59; and Shaw's Travels, p. +117.] + +[Footnote 14: Herodian, l. vii. p. 239. Hist. August. p. 153.] + The family of Gordianus was one of the most illustrious of +the Roman senate. On the father's side he was descended from the +Gracchi; on his mother's, from the emperor Trajan. A great +estate enabled him to support the dignity of his birth, and in +the enjoyment of it, he displayed an elegant taste and beneficent +disposition. The palace in Rome, formerly inhabited by the great +Pompey, had been, during several generations, in the possession +of Gordian's family. ^15 It was distinguished by ancient trophies +of naval victories, and decorated with the works of modern +painting. His villa on the road to Praeneste was celebrated for +baths of singular beauty and extent, for three stately rooms of a +hundred feet in length, and for a magnificent portico, supported +by two hundred columns of the four most curious and costly sorts +of marble. ^16 The public shows exhibited at his expense, and in +which the people were entertained with many hundreds of wild +beasts and gladiators, ^17 seem to surpass the fortune of a +subject; and whilst the liberality of other magistrates was +confined to a few solemn festivals at Rome, the magnificence of +Gordian was repeated, when he was aedile, every month in the +year, and extended, during his consulship, to the principal +cities of Italy. He was twice elevated to the last-mentioned +dignity, by Caracalla and by Alexander; for he possessed the +uncommon talent of acquiring the esteem of virtuous princes, +without alarming the jealousy of tyrants. His long life was +innocently spent in the study of letters and the peaceful honors +of Rome; and, till he was named proconsul of Africa by the voice +of the senate and the approbation of Alexander, ^18 he appears +prudently to have declined the command of armies and the +government of provinces. ^* As long as that emperor lived, Africa +was happy under the administration of his worthy representative: +after the barbarous Maximin had usurped the throne, Gordianus +alleviated the miseries which he was unable to prevent. When he +reluctantly accepted the purple, he was above fourscore years +old; a last and valuable remains of the happy age of the +Antonines, whose virtues he revived in his own conduct, and +celebrated in an elegant poem of thirty books. With the +venerable proconsul, his son, who had accompanied him into Africa +as his lieutenant, was likewise declared emperor. His manners +were less pure, but his character was equally amiable with that +of his father. Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library +of sixty-two thousand volumes, attested the variety of his +inclinations; and from the productions which he left behind him, +it appears that the former as well as the latter were designed +for use rather than for ostentation. ^19 The Roman people +acknowledged in the features of the younger Gordian the +resemblance of Scipio Africanus, ^! recollected with pleasure +that his mother was the granddaughter of Antoninus Pius, and +rested the public hope on those latent virtues which had +hitherto, as they fondly imagined, lain concealed in the +luxurious indolence of private life. + +[Footnote 15: Hist. Aug. p. 152. The celebrated house of Pompey +in carinis was usurped by Marc Antony, and consequently became, +after the Triumvir's death, a part of the Imperial domain. The +emperor Trajan allowed, and even encouraged, the rich senators to +purchase those magnificent and useless places, (Plin. Panegyric. +c. 50;) and it may seem probable, that, on this occasion, +Pompey's house came into the possession of Gordian's great- +grandfather.] + +[Footnote 16: The Claudian, the Numidian, the Carystian, and the +Synnadian. The colors of Roman marbles have been faintly +described and imperfectly distinguished. It appears, however, +that the Carystian was a sea-green, and that the marble of +Synnada was white mixed with oval spots of purple. See Salmasius +ad Hist. August. p. 164.] + +[Footnote 17: Hist. August. p. 151, 152. He sometimes gave five +hundred pair of gladiators, never less than one hundred and +fifty. He once gave for the use of the circus one hundred +Sicilian, and as many Cappaecian Cappadecian horses. The animals +designed for hunting were chiefly bears, boars, bulls, stags, +elks, wild asses, &c. Elephants and lions seem to have been +appropriated to Imperial magnificence.] + +[Footnote 18: See the original letter, in the Augustan History, +p. 152, which at once shows Alexander's respect for the authority +of the senate, and his esteem for the proconsul appointed by that +assembly.] + +[Footnote *: Herodian expressly says that he had administered +many provinces, lib. vii. 10. - W.] + +[Footnote 19: By each of his concubines, the younger Gordian left +three or four children. His literary productions, though less +numerous, were by no means contemptible.] + +[Footnote !: Not the personal likeness, but the family descent +from the Scipiod. - W.] + + As soon as the Gordians had appeased the first tumult of a +popular election, they removed their court to Carthage. They +were received with the acclamations of the Africans, who honored +their virtues, and who, since the visit of Hadrian, had never +beheld the majesty of a Roman emperor. But these vain +acclamations neither strengthened nor confirmed the title of the +Gordians. They were induced by principle, as well as interest, +to solicit the approbation of the senate; and a deputation of the +noblest provincials was sent, without delay, to Rome, to relate +and justify the conduct of their countrymen, who, having long +suffered with patience, were at length resolved to act with +vigor. The letters of the new princes were modest and +respectful, excusing the necessity which had obliged them to +accept the Imperial title; but submitting their election and +their fate to the supreme judgment of the senate. ^20 + +[Footnote 20: Herodian, l. vii. p. 243. Hist. August. p. 144.] + The inclinations of the senate were neither doubtful nor +divided. The birth and noble alliances of the Gordians had +intimately connected them with the most illustrious houses of +Rome. Their fortune had created many dependants in that +assembly, their merit had acquired many friends. Their mild +administration opened the flattering prospect of the restoration, +not only of the civil but even of the republican government. The +terror of military violence, which had first obliged the senate +to forget the murder of Alexander, and to ratify the election of +a barbarian peasant, ^21 now produced a contrary effect, and +provoked them to assert the injured rights of freedom and +humanity. The hatred of Maximin towards the senate was declared +and implacable; the tamest submission had not appeased his fury, +the most cautious innocence would not remove his suspicions; and +even the care of their own safety urged them to share the fortune +of an enterprise, of which (if unsuccessful) they were sure to be +the first victims. These considerations, and perhaps others of a +more private nature, were debated in a previous conference of the +consuls and the magistrates. As soon as their resolution was +decided, they convoked in the temple of Castor the whole body of +the senate, according to an ancient form of secrecy, ^22 +calculated to awaken their attention, and to conceal their +decrees. "Conscript fathers," said the consul Syllanus, "the two +Gordians, both of consular dignity, the one your proconsul, the +other your lieutenant, have been declared emperors by the general +consent of Africa. Let us return thanks," he boldly continued, +"to the youth of Thysdrus; let us return thanks to the faithful +people of Carthage, our generous deliverers from a horrid monster +- Why do you hear me thus coolly, thus timidly? Why do you cast +those anxious looks on each other? Why hesitate? Maximin is a +public enemy! may his enmity soon expire with him, and may we +long enjoy the prudence and felicity of Gordian the father, the +valor and constancy of Gordian the son!" ^23 The noble ardor of +the consul revived the languid spirit of the senate. By a +unanimous decree, the election of the Gordians was ratified, +Maximin, his son, and his adherents, were pronounced enemies of +their country, and liberal rewards were offered to whomsoever had +the courage and good fortune to destroy them. +[See Temple Of Castor and Pollux] + +[Footnote 21: Quod. tamen patres dum periculosum existimant; +inermes armato esistere approbaverunt. - Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 22: Even the servants of the house, the scribes, &c., +were excluded, and their office was filled by the senators +themselves. We are obliged to the Augustan History. p. 159, for +preserving this curious example of the old discipline of the +commonwealth.] + +[Footnote 23: This spirited speech, translated from the Augustan +historian, p. 156, seems transcribed by him from the origina +registers of the senate] + During the emperor's absence, a detachment of the Praetorian +guards remained at Rome, to protect, or rather to command, the +capital. The praefect Vitalianus had signalized his fidelity to +Maximin, by the alacrity with which he had obeyed, and even +prevented the cruel mandates of the tyrant. His death alone +could rescue the authority of the senate, and the lives of the +senators from a state of danger and suspense. Before their +resolves had transpired, a quaestor and some tribunes were +commissioned to take his devoted life. They executed the order +with equal boldness and success; and, with their bloody daggers +in their hands, ran through the streets, proclaiming to the +people and the soldiers the news of the happy revolution. The +enthusiasm of liberty was seconded by the promise of a large +donative, in lands and money; the statues of Maximin were thrown +down; the capital of the empire acknowledged, with transport, the +authority of the two Gordians and the senate; ^24 and the example +of Rome was followed by the rest of Italy. + +[Footnote 24: Herodian, l. vii. p. 244] + + A new spirit had arisen in that assembly, whose long +patience had been insulted by wanton despotism and military +license. The senate assumed the reins of government, and, with a +calm intrepidity, prepared to vindicate by arms the cause of +freedom. Among the consular senators recommended by their merit +and services to the favor of the emperor Alexander, it was easy +to select twenty, not unequal to the command of an army, and the +conduct of a war. To these was the defence of Italy intrusted. +Each was appointed to act in his respective department, +authorized to enroll and discipline the Italian youth; and +instructed to fortify the ports and highways, against the +impending invasion of Maximin. A number of deputies, chosen from +the most illustrious of the senatorian and equestrian orders, +were despatched at the same time to the governors of the several +provinces, earnestly conjuring them to fly to the assistance of +their country, and to remind the nations of their ancient ties of +friendship with the Roman senate and people. The general respect +with which these deputies were received, and the zeal of Italy +and the provinces in favor of the senate, sufficiently prove that +the subjects of Maximin were reduced to that uncommon distress, +in which the body of the people has more to fear from oppression +than from resistance. The consciousness of that melancholy +truth, inspires a degree of persevering fury, seldom to be found +in those civil wars which are artificially supported for the +benefit of a few factious and designing leaders. ^25 [Footnote +25: Herodian, l. vii. p. 247, l. viii. p. 277. Hist. August. p +156-158.] + + For while the cause of the Gordians was embraced with such +diffusive ardor, the Gordians themselves were no more. The +feeble court of Carthage was alarmed by the rapid approach of +Capelianus, governor of Mauritania, who, with a small band of +veterans, and a fierce host of barbarians, attacked a faithful, +but unwarlike province. The younger Gordian sallied out to meet +the enemy at the head of a few guards, and a numerous +undisciplined multitude, educated in the peaceful luxury of +Carthage. His useless valor served only to procure him an +honorable death on the field of battle. His aged father, whose +reign had not exceeded thirty-six days, put an end to his life on +the first news of the defeat. Carthage, destitute of defence, +opened her gates to the conqueror, and Africa was exposed to the +rapacious cruelty of a slave, obliged to satisfy his unrelenting +master with a large account of blood and treasure. ^26 + +[Footnote 26: Herodian, l. vii. p. 254. Hist. August. p. +150-160. We may observe, that one month and six days, for the +reign of Gordian, is a just correction of Casaubon and Panvinius, +instead of the absurd reading of one year and six months. See +Commentar. p. 193. Zosimus relates, l. i. p. 17, that the two +Gordians perished by a tempest in the midst of their navigation. +A strange ignorance of history, or a strange abuse of metaphors!] + + The fate of the Gordians filled Rome with just but +unexpected terror. The senate, convoked in the temple of Concord, +affected to transact the common business of the day; and seemed +to decline, with trembling anxiety, the consideration of their +own and the public danger. A silent consternation prevailed in +the assembly, till a senator, of the name and family of Trajan, +awakened his brethren from their fatal lethargy. He represented +to them that the choice of cautious, dilatory measures had been +long since out of their power; that Maximin, implacable by +nature, and exasperated by injuries, was advancing towards Italy, +at the head of the military force of the empire; and that their +only remaining alternative was either to meet him bravely in the +field, or tamely to expect the tortures and ignominious death +reserved for unsuccessful rebellion. "We have lost," continued +he, "two excellent princes; but unless we desert ourselves, the +hopes of the republic have not perished with the Gordians. Many +are the senators whose virtues have deserved, and whose abilities +would sustain, the Imperial dignity. Let us elect two emperors, +one of whom may conduct the war against the public enemy, whilst +his colleague remains at Rome to direct the civil administration. + +I cheerfully expose myself to the danger and envy of the +nomination, and give my vote in favor of Maximus and Balbinus. +Ratify my choice, conscript fathers, or appoint in their place, +others more worthy of the empire." The general apprehension +silenced the whispers of jealousy; the merit of the candidates +was universally acknowledged; and the house resounded with the +sincere acclamations of "Long life and victory to the emperors +Maximus and Balbinus. You are happy in the judgment of the +senate; may the republic be happy under your administration!" ^27 + +[Footnote 27: See the Augustan History, p. 166, from the +registers of the senate; the date is confessedly faulty but the +coincidence of the Apollinatian games enables us to correct it.] + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of +Maximin. + +Part II. + + The virtues and the reputation of the new emperors justified +the most sanguine hopes of the Romans. The various nature of +their talents seemed to appropriate to each his peculiar +department of peace and war, without leaving room for jealous +emulation. Balbinus was an admired orator, a poet of +distinguished fame, and a wise magistrate, who had exercised with +innocence and applause the civil jurisdiction in almost all the +interior provinces of the empire. His birth was noble, ^28 his +fortune affluent, his manners liberal and affable. In him the +love of pleasure was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the +habits of ease deprived him of a capacity for business. The mind +of Maximus was formed in a rougher mould. By his valor and +abilities he had raised himself from the meanest origin to the +first employments of the state and army. His victories over the +Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his life, and the +rigid impartiality of his justice, while he was a Praefect of the +city, commanded the esteem of a people whose affections were +engaged in favor of the more amiable Balbinus. The two colleagues +had both been consuls, (Balbinus had twice enjoyed that honorable +office,) both had been named among the twenty lieutenants of the +senate; and since the one was sixty and the other seventy-four +years old, ^29 they had both attained the full maturity of age +and experience. +[Footnote 28: He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble +Spaniard, and the adopted son of Theophanes, the Greek historian. + +Balbus obtained the freedom of Rome by the favor of Pompey, and +preserved it by the eloquence of Cicero. (See Orat. pro Cornel. +Balbo.) The friendship of Caesar, (to whom he rendered the most +important secret services in the civil war) raised him to the +consulship and the pontificate, honors never yet possessed by a +stranger. The nephew of this Balbus triumphed over the +Garamantes. See Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus, where he +distinguishes the several persons of that name, and rectifies, +with his usual accuracy, the mistakes of former writers +concerning them.] + +[Footnote 29: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 622. But little dependence is +to be had on the authority of a modern Greek, so grossly ignorant +of the history of the third century, that he creates several +imaginary emperors, and confounds those who really existed.] + + After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Balbinus an +equal portion of the consular and tribunitian powers, the title +of Fathers of their country, and the joint office of Supreme +Pontiff, they ascended to the Capitol to return thanks to the +gods, protectors of Rome. ^30 The solemn rites of sacrifice were +disturbed by a sedition of the people. The licentious multitude +neither loved the rigid Maximus, nor did they sufficiently fear +the mild and humane Balbinus. Their increasing numbers +surrounded the temple of Jupiter; with obstinate clamors they +asserted their inherent right of consenting to the election of +their sovereign; and demanded, with an apparent moderation, that, +besides the two emperors, chosen by the senate, a third should be +added of the family of the Gordians, as a just return of +gratitude to those princes who had sacrificed their lives for the +republic. At the head of the city-guards, and the youth of the +equestrian order, Maximus and Balbinus attempted to cut their way +through the seditious multitude. The multitude, armed with +sticks and stones, drove them back into the Capitol. It is +prudent to yield when the contest, whatever may be the issue of +it, must be fatal to both parties. A boy, only thirteen years of +age, the grandson of the elder, and nephew ^* of the younger +Gordian, was produced to the people, invested with the ornaments +and title of Caesar. The tumult was appeased by this easy +condescension; and the two emperors, as soon as they had been +peaceably acknowledged in Rome, prepared to defend Italy against +the common enemy. + +[Footnote 30: Herodian, l. vii. p. 256, supposes that the senate +was at first convoked in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the +occasion. The Augustar History p. 116, seems much more +authentic.] + +[Footnote *: According to some, the son. - G.] + + Whilst in Rome and Africa, revolutions succeeded each other +with such amazing rapidity, that the mind of Maximin was agitated +by the most furious passions. He is said to have received the +news of the rebellion of the Gordians, and of the decree of the +senate against him, not with the temper of a man, but the rage of +a wild beast; which, as it could not discharge itself on the +distant senate, threatened the life of his son, of his friends, +and of all who ventured to approach his person. The grateful +intelligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed by +the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon +or accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors, +with whose merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was the +only consolation left to Maximin, and revenge could only be +obtained by arms. The strength of the legions had been assembled +by Alexander from all parts of the empire. Three successful +campaigns against the Germans and the Sarmatians, had raised +their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even increased their +numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of the barbarian +youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in war, and the candid +severity of history cannot refuse him the valor of a soldier, or +even the abilities of an experienced general. ^31 It might +naturally be expected, that a prince of such a character, instead +of suffering the rebellion to gain stability by delay, should +immediately have marched from the banks of the Danube to those of +the Tyber, and that his victorious army, instigated by contempt +for the senate, and eager to gather the spoils of Italy, should +have burned with impatience to finish the easy and lucrative +conquest. Yet as far as we can trust to the obscure chronology +of that period, ^32 it appears that the operations of some +foreign war deferred the Italian expedition till the ensuing +spring. From the prudent conduct of Maximin, we may learn that +the savage features of his character have been exaggerated by the +pencil of party, that his passions, however impetuous, submitted +to the force of reason, and that the barbarian possessed +something of the generous spirit of Sylla, who subdued the +enemies of Rome before he suffered himself to revenge his private +injuries. ^33 + +[Footnote 31: In Herodian, l. vii. p. 249, and in the Augustan +History, we have three several orations of Maximin to his army, +on the rebellion of Africa and Rome: M. de Tillemont has very +justly observed that they neither agree with each other nor with +truth. Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 799.] + +[Footnote 32: The carelessness of the writers of that age, leaves +us in a singular perplexity. 1. We know that Maximus and +Balbinus were killed during the Capitoline games. Herodian, l. +viii. p. 285. The authority of Censorinus (de Die Natali, c. 18) +enables us to fix those games with certainty to the year 238, but +leaves us in ignorance of the month or day. 2. The election of +Gordian by the senate is fixed with equal certainty to the 27th +of May; but we are at a loss to discover whether it was in the +same or the preceding year. Tillemont and Muratori, who maintain +the two opposite opinions, bring into the field a desultory troop +of authorities, conjectures and probabilities. The one seems to +draw out, the other to contract the series of events between +those periods, more than can be well reconciled to reason and +history. Yet it is necessary to choose between them. + Note: Eckhel has more recently treated these chronological +questions with a perspicuity which gives great probability to his +conclusions. Setting aside all the historians, whose +contradictions are irreconcilable, he has only consulted the +medals, and has arranged the events before us in the following +order: - + + Maximin, A. U. 990, after having conquered the Germans, +reenters Pannonia, establishes his winter quarters at Sirmium, +and prepares himself to make war against the people of the North. + +In the year 991, in the cal ends of January, commences his fourth +tribunate. The Gordians are chosen emperors in Africa, probably +at the beginning of the month of March. The senate confirms this +election with joy, and declares Maximin the enemy of Rome. Five +days after he had heard of this revolt, Maximin sets out from +Sirmium on his march to Italy. These events took place about the +beginning of April; a little after, the Gordians are slain in +Africa by Capellianus, procurator of Mauritania. The senate, in +its alarm, names as emperors Balbus and Maximus Pupianus, and +intrusts the latter with the war against Maximin. Maximin is +stopped on his road near Aquileia, by the want of provisions, and +by the melting of the snows: he begins the siege of Aquileia at +the end of April. Pupianus assembles his army at Ravenna. +Maximin and his son are assassinated by the soldiers enraged at +the resistance of Aquileia: and this was probably in the middle +of May. Pupianus returns to Rome, and assumes the government +with Balbinus; they are assassinated towards the end of July +Gordian the younger ascends the throne. Eckhel de Doct. Vol vii +295. - G.] +[Footnote 33: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 24. The president +de Montesquieu (in his dialogue between Sylla and Eucrates) +expresses the sentiments of the dictator in a spirited, and even +a sublime manner.] + + When the troops of Maximin, advancing in excellent order, +arrived at the foot of the Julian Alps, they were terrified by +the silence and desolation that reigned on the frontiers of +Italy. The villages and open towns had been abandoned on their +approach by the inhabitants, the cattle was driven away, the +provisions removed or destroyed, the bridges broken down, nor was +any thing left which could afford either shelter or subsistence +to an invader. Such had been the wise orders of the generals of +the senate: whose design was to protract the war, to ruin the +army of Maximin by the slow operation of famine, and to consume +his strength in the sieges of the principal cities of Italy, +which they had plentifully stored with men and provisions from +the deserted country. Aquileia received and withstood the first +shock of the invasion. The streams that issue from the head of +the Hadriatic Gulf, swelled by the melting of the winter snows, +^34 opposed an unexpected obstacle to the arms of Maximin. At +length, on a singular bridge, constructed with art and +difficulty, of large hogsheads, he transported his army to the +opposite bank, rooted up the beautiful vineyards in the +neighborhood of Aquileia, demolished the suburbs, and employed +the timber of the buildings in the engines and towers, with which +on every side he attacked the city. The walls, fallen to decay +during the security of a long peace, had been hastily repaired on +this sudden emergency: but the firmest defence of Aquileia +consisted in the constancy of the citizens; all ranks of whom, +instead of being dismayed, were animated by the extreme danger, +and their knowledge of the tyrant's unrelenting temper. Their +courage was supported and directed by Crispinus and Menophilus, +two of the twenty lieutenants of the senate, who, with a small +body of regular troops, had thrown themselves into the besieged +place. The army of Maximin was repulsed in repeated attacks, his +machines destroyed by showers of artificial fire; and the +generous enthusiasm of the Aquileians was exalted into a +confidence of success, by the opinion that Belenus, their tutelar +deity, combated in person in the defence of his distressed +worshippers. ^35 + +[Footnote 34: Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. ii. p. 294) thinks +the melting of the snows suits better with the months of June or +July, than with those of February. The opinion of a man who +passed his life between the Alps and the Apennines, is +undoubtedly of great weight; yet I observe, 1. That the long +winter, of which Muratori takes advantage, is to be found only in +the Latin version, and not in the Greek text of Herodian. 2. +That the vicissitudes of suns and rains, to which the soldiers of +Maximin were exposed, (Herodian, l. viii. p. 277,) denote the +spring rather than the summer. We may observe, likewise, that +these several streams, as they melted into one, composed the +Timavus, so poetically (in every sense of the word) described by +Virgil. They are about twelve miles to the east of Aquileia. See +Cluver. Italia Antiqua, tom. i. p. 189, &c.] + +[Footnote 35: Herodian, l. viii. p. 272. The Celtic deity was +supposed to be Apollo, and received under that name the thanks of +the senate. A temple was likewise built to Venus the Bald, in +honor of the women of Aquileia, who had given up their hair to +make ropes for the military engines.] + The emperor Maximus, who had advanced as far as Ravenna, to +secure that important place, and to hasten the military +preparations, beheld the event of the war in the more faithful +mirror of reason and policy. He was too sensible, that a single +town could not resist the persevering efforts of a great army; +and he dreaded, lest the enemy, tired with the obstinate +resistance of Aquileia, should on a sudden relinquish the +fruitless siege, and march directly towards Rome. The fate of +the empire and the cause of freedom must then be committed to the +chance of a battle; and what arms could he oppose to the veteran +legions of the Rhine and Danube? Some troops newly levied among +the generous but enervated youth of Italy; and a body of German +auxiliaries, on whose firmness, in the hour of trial, it was +dangerous to depend. In the midst of these just alarms, the +stroke of domestic conspiracy punished the crimes of Maximin, and +delivered Rome and the senate from the calamities that would +surely have attended the victory of an enraged barbarian. + + The people of Aquileia had scarcely experienced any of the +common miseries of a siege; their magazines were plentifully +supplied, and several fountains within the walls assured them of +an inexhaustible resource of fresh water. The soldiers of +Maximin were, on the contrary, exposed to the inclemency of the +season, the contagion of disease, and the horrors of famine. The +open country was ruined, the rivers filled with the slain, and +polluted with blood. A spirit of despair and disaffection began +to diffuse itself among the troops; and as they were cut off from +all intelligence, they easily believed that the whole empire had +embraced the cause of the senate, and that they were left as +devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of +Aquileia. The fierce temper of the tyrant was exasperated by +disappointments, which he imputed to the cowardice of his army; +and his wanton and ill-timed cruelty, instead of striking terror, +inspired hatred, and a just desire of revenge. A party of +Praetorian guards, who trembled for their wives and children in +the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the sentence of the senate. + +Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his tent, with his +son, (whom he had associated to the honors of the purple,) +Anulinus the praefect, and the principal ministers of his +tyranny. ^36 The sight of their heads, borne on the point of +spears, convinced the citizens of Aquileia that the siege was at +an end; the gates of the city were thrown open, a liberal market +was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, and the whole army +joined in solemn protestations of fidelity to the senate and the +people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and +Balbinus. Such was the deserved fate of a brutal savage, +destitute, as he has generally been represented, of every +sentiment that distinguishes a civilized, or even a human being. +The body was suited to the soul. The stature of Maximin exceeded +the measure of eight feet, and circumstances almost incredible +are related of his matchless strength and appetite. ^37 Had he +lived in a less enlightened age, tradition and poetry might well +have described him as one of those monstrous giants, whose +supernatural power was constantly exerted for the destruction of +mankind. + +[Footnote 36: Herodian, l. viii. p. 279. Hist. August. p. 146. +The duration of Maximin's reign has not been defined with much +accuracy, except by Eutropius, who allows him three years and a +few days, (l. ix. 1;) we may depend on the integrity of the text, +as the Latin original is checked by the Greek version of +Paeanius.] + +[Footnote 37: Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to +above eight English feet, as the two measures are to each other +in the proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves's discourse on the +Roman foot. We are told that Maximin could drink in a day an +amphora (or about seven gallons) of wine, and eat thirty or forty +pounds of meat. He could move a loaded wagon, break a horse's +leg with his fist, crumble stones in his hand, and tear up small +trees by the roots. See his life in the Augustan History.] + It is easier to conceive than to describe the universal joy +of the Roman world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which +is said to have been carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. +The return of Maximus was a triumphal procession; his colleague +and young Gordian went out to meet him, and the three princes +made their entry into the capital, attended by the ambassadors of +almost all the cities of Italy, saluted with the splendid +offerings of gratitude and superstition, and received with the +unfeigned acclamations of the senate and people, who persuaded +themselves that a golden age would succeed to an age of iron. ^38 +The conduct of the two emperors corresponded with these +expectations. They administered justice in person; and the rigor +of the one was tempered by the other's clemency. The oppressive +taxes with which Maximin had loaded the rights of inheritance and +succession, were repealed, or at least moderated. Discipline was +revived, and with the advice of the senate many wise laws were +enacted by their imperial ministers, who endeavored to restore a +civil constitution on the ruins of military tyranny. "What +reward may we expect for delivering Rome from a monster?" was the +question asked by Maximus, in a moment of freedom and confidence. + +Balbinus answered it without hesitation - "The love of the +senate, of the people, and of all mankind." "Alas!" replied his +more penetrating colleague - "alas! I dread the hatred of the +soldiers, and the fatal effects of their resentment." ^39 His +apprehensions were but too well justified by the event. + +[Footnote 38: See the congratulatory letter of Claudius Julianus, +the consul to the two emperors, in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 39: Hist. August. p. 171.] + + Whilst Maximus was preparing to defend Italy against the +common foe, Balbinus, who remained at Rome, had been engaged in +scenes of blood and intestine discord. Distrust and jealousy +reigned in the senate; and even in the temples where they +assembled, every senator carried either open or concealed arms. +In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans of the guards, +actuated either by curiosity or a sinister motive, audaciously +thrust themselves into the house, and advanced by degrees beyond +the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a consular, and Maecenas, a +Praetorian senator, viewed with indignation their insolent +intrusion: drawing their daggers, they laid the spies (for such +they deemed them) dead at the foot of the altar, and then, +advancing to the door of the senate, imprudently exhorted the +multitude to massacre the Praetorians, as the secret adherents of +the tyrant. Those who escaped the first fury of the tumult took +refuge in the camp, which they defended with superior advantage +against the reiterated attacks of the people, assisted by the +numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent nobles. +The civil war lasted many days, with infinite loss and confusion +on both sides. When the pipes were broken that supplied the camp +with water, the Praetorians were reduced to intolerable distress; +but in their turn they made desperate sallies into the city, set +fire to a great number of houses, and filled the streets with the +blood of the inhabitants. The emperor Balbinus attempted, by +ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, to reconcile the +factions at Rome. But their animosity, though smothered for a +while, burnt with redoubled violence. The soldiers, detesting +the senate and the people, despised the weakness of a prince, who +wanted either the spirit or the power to command the obedience of +his subjects. ^40 + +[Footnote 40: Herodian, l. viii. p. 258.] + + After the tyrant's death, his formidable army had +acknowledged, from necessity rather than from choice, the +authority of Maximus, who transported himself without delay to +the camp before Aquileia. As soon as he had received their oath +of fidelity, he addressed them in terms full of mildness and +moderation; lamented, rather than arraigned the wild disorders of +the times, and assured the soldiers, that of all their past +conduct the senate would remember only their generous desertion +of the tyrant, and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus +enforced his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the +camp by a solemn sacrifice of expiation, and then dismissed the +legions to their several provinces, impressed, as he hoped, with +a lively sense of gratitude and obedience. ^41 But nothing could +reconcile the haughty spirit of the Praetorians. They attended +the emperors on the memorable day of their public entry into +Rome; but amidst the general acclamations, the sullen, dejected +countenance of the guards sufficiently declared that they +considered themselves as the object, rather than the partners, of +the triumph. When the whole body was united in their camp, those +who had served under Maximin, and those who had remained at Rome, +insensibly communicated to each other their complaints and +apprehensions. The emperors chosen by the army had perished with +ignominy; those elected by the senate were seated on the throne. +^42 The long discord between the civil and military powers was +decided by a war, in which the former had obtained a complete +victory. The soldiers must now learn a new doctrine of +submission to the senate; and whatever clemency was affected by +that politic assembly, they dreaded a slow revenge, colored by +the name of discipline, and justified by fair pretences of the +public good. But their fate was still in their own hands; and if +they had courage to despise the vain terrors of an impotent +republic, it was easy to convince the world, that those who were +masters of the arms, were masters of the authority, of the state. + +[Footnote 41: Herodian, l. viii. p. 213.] + +[Footnote 42: The observation had been made imprudently enough in +the acclamations of the senate, and with regard to the soldiers +it carried the appearance of a wanton insult. Hist. August. p. +170.] + + When the senate elected two princes, it is probable that, +besides the declared reason of providing for the various +emergencies of peace and war, they were actuated by the secret +desire of weakening by division the despotism of the supreme +magistrate. Their policy was effectual, but it proved fatal both +to their emperors and to themselves. The jealousy of power was +soon exasperated by the difference of character. Maximus +despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was in his turn +disdained by his colleague as an obscure soldier. Their silent +discord was understood rather than seen; ^43 but the mutual +consciousness prevented them from uniting in any vigorous +measures of defence against their common enemies of the +Praetorian camp. The whole city was employed in the Capitoline +games, and the emperors were left almost alone in the palace. On +a sudden, they were alarmed by the approach of a troop of +desperate assassins. Ignorant of each other's situation or +designs, (for they already occupied very distant apartments,) +afraid to give or to receive assistance, they wasted the +important moments in idle debates and fruitless recriminations. +The arrival of the guards put an end to the vain strife. They +seized on these emperors of the senate, for such they called them +with malicious contempt, stripped them of their garments, and +dragged them in insolent triumph through the streets of Rome, +with the design of inflicting a slow and cruel death on these +unfortunate princes. The fear of a rescue from the faithful +Germans of the Imperial guards, shortened their tortures; and +their bodies, mangled with a thousand wounds, were left exposed +to the insults or to the pity of the populace. ^44 + +[Footnote 43: Discordiae tacitae, et quae intelligerentur potius +quam viderentur. Hist. August. p. 170. This well-chosen +expression is probably stolen from some better writer.] + +[Footnote 44: Herodian, l. viii. p. 287, 288.] + + In the space of a few months, six princes had been cut off +by the sword. Gordian, who had already received the title of +Caesar, was the only person that occurred to the soldiers as +proper to fill the vacant throne. ^45 They carried him to the +camp, and unanimously saluted him Augustus and Emperor. His name +was dear to the senate and people; his tender age promised a long +impunity of military license; and the submission of Rome and the +provinces to the choice of the Praetorian guards, saved the +republic, at the expense indeed of its freedom and dignity, from +the horrors of a new civil war in the heart of the capital. ^46 + +[Footnote 45: Quia non alius erat in praesenti, is the expression +of the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 46: Quintus Curtius (l. x. c. 9,) pays an elegant +compliment to the emperor of the day, for having, by his happy +accession, extinguished so many firebrands, sheathed so many +swords, and put an end to the evils of a divided government. +After weighing with attention every word of the passage, I am of +opinion, that it suits better with the elevation of Gordian, than +with any other period of the Roman history. In that case, it may +serve to decide the age of Quintus Curtius. Those who place him +under the first Caesars, argue from the purity of his style but +are embarrassed by the silence of Quintilian, in his accurate +list of Roman historians. + + Note: This conjecture of Gibbon is without foundation. Many +passages in the work of Quintus Curtius clearly place him at an +earlier period. Thus, in speaking of the Parthians, he says, +Hinc in Parthicum perventum est, tunc ignobilem gentem: nunc +caput omnium qui post Euphratem et Tigrim amnes siti Rubro mari +terminantur. The Parthian empire had this extent only in the +first age of the vulgar aera: to that age, therefore, must be +assigned the date of Quintus Curtius. Although the critics (says +M. de Sainte Croix) have multiplied conjectures on this subject, +most of them have ended by adopting the opinion which places +Quintus Curtius under the reign of Claudius. See Just. Lips. ad +Ann. Tac. ii. 20. Michel le Tellier Praef. in Curt. Tillemont +Hist. des Emp. i. p. 251. Du Bos Reflections sur la Poesie, 2d +Partie. Tiraboschi Storia della, Lett. Ital. ii. 149. Examen. +crit. des Historiens d'Alexandre, 2d ed. p. 104, 849, 850. - G. + + This interminable question seems as much perplexed as ever. +The first argument of M. Guizot is a strong one, except that +Parthian is often used by later writers for Persian. Cunzius, in +his preface to an edition published at Helmstadt, (1802,) +maintains the opinion of Bagnolo, which assigns Q. Curtius to the +time of Constantine the Great. Schmieder, in his edit. Gotting. +1803, sums up in this sentence, aetatem Curtii ignorari pala +mest. - M.] + As the third Gordian was only nineteen years of age at the +time of his death, the history of his life, were it known to us +with greater accuracy than it really is, would contain little +more than the account of his education, and the conduct of the +ministers, who by turns abused or guided the simplicity of his +unexperienced youth. Immediately after his accession, he fell +into the hands of his mother's eunuchs, that pernicious vermin of +the East, who, since the days of Elagabalus, had infested the +Roman palace. By the artful conspiracy of these wretches, an +impenetrable veil was drawn between an innocent prince and his +oppressed subjects, the virtuous disposition of Gordian was +deceived, and the honors of the empire sold without his +knowledge, though in a very public manner, to the most worthless +of mankind. We are ignorant by what fortunate accident the +emperor escaped from this ignominious slavery, and devolved his +confidence on a minister, whose wise counsels had no object +except the glory of his sovereign and the happiness of the +people. It should seem that love and learning introduced +Misitheus to the favor of Gordian. The young prince married the +daughter of his master of rhetoric, and promoted his +father-in-law to the first offices of the empire. Two admirable +letters that passed between them are still extant. The minister, +with the conscious dignity of virtue, congratulates Gordian that +he is delivered from the tyranny of the eunuchs, ^47 and still +more that he is sensible of his deliverance. The emperor +acknowledges, with an amiable confusion, the errors of his past +conduct; and laments, with singular propriety, the misfortune of +a monarch, from whom a venal tribe of courtiers perpetually labor +to conceal the truth. ^48 + +[Footnote 47: Hist. August. p. 161. From some hints in the two +letters, I should expect that the eunuchs were not expelled the +palace without some degree of gentle violence, and that the young +Gordian rather approved of, than consented to, their disgrace.] + +[Footnote 48: Duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, quem causa +eloquentiae dignum parentela sua putavit; et praefectum statim +fecit; post quod, non puerile jam et contemptibile videbatur +imperium.] + + The life of Misitheus had been spent in the profession of +letters, not of arms; yet such was the versatile genius of that +great man, that, when he was appointed Praetorian Praefect, he +discharged the military duties of his place with vigor and +ability. The Persians had invaded Mesopotamia, and threatened +Antioch. By the persuasion of his father-in-law, the young +emperor quitted the luxury of Rome, opened, for the last time +recorded in history, the temple of Janus, and marched in person +into the East. On his approach, with a great army, the Persians +withdrew their garrisons from the cities which they had already +taken, and retired from the Euphrates to the Tigris. Gordian +enjoyed the pleasure of announcing to the senate the first +success of his arms, which he ascribed, with a becoming modesty +and gratitude, to the wisdom of his father and Praefect. During +the whole expedition, Misitheus watched over the safety and +discipline of the army; whilst he prevented their dangerous +murmurs by maintaining a regular plenty in the camp, and by +establishing ample magazines of vinegar, bacon, straw, barley, +and wheat in all the cities of the frontier. ^49 But the +prosperity of Gordian expired with Misitheus, who died of a flux, +not with out very strong suspicions of poison. Philip, his +successor in the praefecture, was an Arab by birth, and +consequently, in the earlier part of his life, a robber by +profession. His rise from so obscure a station to the first +dignities of the empire, seems to prove that he was a bold and +able leader. But his boldness prompted him to aspire to the +throne, and his abilities were employed to supplant, not to +serve, his indulgent master. The minds of the soldiers were +irritated by an artificial scarcity, created by his contrivance +in the camp; and the distress of the army was attributed to the +youth and incapacity of the prince. It is not in our power to +trace the successive steps of the secret conspiracy and open +sedition, which were at length fatal to Gordian. A sepulchral +monument was erected to his memory on the spot ^50 where he was +killed, near the conflux of the Euphrates with the little river +Aboras. ^51 The fortunate Philip, raised to the empire by the +votes of the soldiers, found a ready obedience from the senate +and the provinces. ^52 +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 162. Aurelius Victor. Porphyrius +in Vit Plotin. ap. Fabricium, Biblioth. Graec. l. iv. c. 36. +The philosopher Plotinus accompanied the army, prompted by the +love of knowledge, and by the hope of penetrating as far as +India.] + +[Footnote 50: About twenty miles from the little town of +Circesium, on the frontier of the two empires. + + Note: Now Kerkesia; placed in the angle formed by the +juncture of the Chaboras, or al Khabour, with the Euphrates. +This situation appeared advantageous to Diocletian, that he +raised fortifications to make it the but wark of the empire on +the side of Mesopotamia. D'Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 196. - G. It +is the Carchemish of the Old Testament, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. ler. +xlvi. 2. - M.] + +[Footnote 51: The inscription (which contained a very singular +pun) was erased by the order of Licinius, who claimed some degree +of relationship to Philip, (Hist. August. p. 166;) but the +tumulus, or mound of earth which formed the sepulchre, still +subsisted in the time of Julian. See Ammian Marcellin. xxiii. +5.] + +[Footnote 52: Aurelius Victor. Eutrop. ix. 2. Orosius, vii. 20. + +Ammianus Marcellinus, xxiii. 5. Zosimus, l. i. p. 19. Philip, +who was a native of Bostra, was about forty years of age. + + Note: Now Bosra. It was once the metropolis of a province +named Arabia, and the chief city of Auranitis, of which the name +is preserved in Beled Hauran, the limits of which meet the +desert. D'Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 188. According to Victor, (in +Caesar.,) Philip was a native of Tracbonitis another province of +Arabia. - G.] + + We cannot forbear transcribing the ingenious, though +somewhat fanciful description, which a celebrated writer of our +own times has traced of the military government of the Roman +empire. "What in that age was called the Roman empire, was only +an irregular republic, not unlike the aristocracy ^53 of Algiers, +^54 where the militia, possessed of the sovereignty, creates and +deposes a magistrate, who is styled a Dey. Perhaps, indeed, it +may be laid down as a general rule, that a military government +is, in some respects, more republican than monarchical. Nor can +it be said that the soldiers only partook of the government by +their disobedience and rebellions. The speeches made to them by +the emperors, were they not at length of the same nature as those +formerly pronounced to the people by the consuls and the +tribunes? And although the armies had no regular place or forms +of assembly; though their debates were short, their action +sudden, and their resolves seldom the result of cool reflection, +did they not dispose, with absolute sway, of the public fortune? +What was the emperor, except the minister of a violent +government, elected for the private benefit of the soldiers? + +[Footnote 53: Can the epithet of Aristocracy be applied, with any +propriety, to the government of Algiers? Every military +government floats between two extremes of absolute monarchy and +wild democracy.] + +[Footnote 54: The military republic of the Mamelukes in Egypt +would have afforded M. de Montesquieu (see Considerations sur la +Grandeur et la Decadence des Romains, c. 16) a juster and more +noble parallel.] + "When the army had elected Philip, who was Praetorian +praefect to the third Gordian, the latter demanded that he might +remain sole emperor; he was unable to obtain it. He requested +that the power might be equally divided between them; the army +would not listen to his speech. He consented to be degraded to +the rank of Caesar; the favor was refused him. He desired, at +least, he might be appointed Praetorian praefect; his prayer was +rejected. Finally, he pleaded for his life. The army, in these +several judgments, exercised the supreme magistracy." According +to the historian, whose doubtful narrative the President De +Montesquieu has adopted, Philip, who, during the whole +transaction, had preserved a sullen silence, was inclined to +spare the innocent life of his benefactor; till, recollecting +that his innocence might excite a dangerous compassion in the +Roman world, he commanded, without regard to his suppliant cries, +that he should be seized, stripped, and led away to instant +death. After a moment's pause, the inhuman sentence was +executed. ^55 + +[Footnote 55: The Augustan History (p. 163, 164) cannot, in this +instance, be reconciled with itself or with probability. How +could Philip condemn his predecessor, and yet consecrate his +memory? How could he order his public execution, and yet, in his +letters to the senate, exculpate himself from the guilt of his +death? Philip, though an ambitious usurper, was by no means a +mad tyrant. Some chronological difficulties have likewise been +discovered by the nice eyes of Tillemont and Muratori, in this +supposed association of Philip to the empire. + + Note: Wenck endeavors to reconcile these discrepancies. He +supposes that Gordian was led away, and died a natural death in +prison. This is directly contrary to the statement of +Capitolinus and of Zosimus, whom he adduces in support of his +theory. He is more successful in his precedents of usurpers +deifying the victims of their ambition. Sit divus, dummodo non +sit vivus. - M.] + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of +Maximin. + +Part III. + + On his return from the East to Rome, Philip, desirous of +obliterating the memory of his crimes, and of captivating the +affections of the people, solemnized the secular games with +infinite pomp and magnificence. Since their institution or +revival by Augustus, ^56 they had been celebrated by Claudius, by +Domitian, and by Severus, and were now renewed the fifth time, on +the accomplishment of the full period of a thousand years from +the foundation of Rome. Every circumstance of the secular games +was skillfully adapted to inspire the superstitious mind with +deep and solemn reverence. The long interval between them ^57 +exceeded the term of human life; and as none of the spectators +had already seen them, none could flatter themselves with the +expectation of beholding them a second time. The mystic +sacrifices were performed, during three nights, on the banks of +the Tyber; and the Campus Martius resounded with music and +dances, and was illuminated with innumerable lamps and torches. +Slaves and strangers were excluded from any participation in +these national ceremonies. A chorus of twenty-seven youths, and +as many virgins, of noble families, and whose parents were both +alive, implored the propitious gods in favor of the present, and +for the hope of the rising generation; requesting, in religious +hymns, that according to the faith of their ancient oracles, they +would still maintain the virtue, the felicity, and the empire of +the Roman people. ^58 The magnificence of Philip's shows and +entertainments dazzled the eyes of the multitude. The devout +were employed in the rites of superstition, whilst the reflecting +few revolved in their anxious minds the past history and the +future fate of the empire. + +[Footnote 56: The account of the last supposed celebration, +though in an enlightened period of history, was so very doubtful +and obscure, that the alternative seems not doubtful. When the +popish jubilees, the copy of the secular games, were invented by +Boniface VII., the crafty pope pretended that he only revived an +ancient institution. See M. le Chais, Lettres sur les Jubiles.] + +[Footnote 57: Either of a hundred or a hundred and ten years. +Varro and Livy adopted the former opinion, but the infallible +authority of the Sybil consecrated the latter, (Censorinus de Die +Natal. c. 17.) The emperors Claudius and Philip, however, did not +treat the oracle with implicit respect.] + +[Footnote 58: The idea of the secular games is best understood +from the poem of Horace, and the description of Zosimus, 1. l. +ii. p. 167, &c.] + Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws, +fortified himself on the hills near the Tyber, ten centuries had +already elapsed. ^59 During the four first ages, the Romans, in +the laborious school of poverty, had acquired the virtues of war +and government: by the vigorous exertion of those virtues, and by +the assistance of fortune, they had obtained, in the course of +the three succeeding centuries, an absolute empire over many +countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The last three hundred +years had been consumed in apparent prosperity and internal +decline. The nation of soldiers, magistrates, and legislators, +who composed the thirty-five tribes of the Roman people, were +dissolved into the common mass of mankind, and confounded with +the millions of servile provincials, who had received the name, +without adopting the spirit, of Romans. A mercenary army, levied +among the subjects and barbarians of the frontier, was the only +order of men who preserved and abused their independence. By +their tumultuary election, a Syrian, a Goth, or an Arab, was +exalted to the throne of Rome, and invested with despotic power +over the conquests and over the country of the Scipios. +[Footnote 59: The received calculation of Varro assigns to the +foundation of Rome an aera that corresponds with the 754th year +before Christ. But so little is the chronology of Rome to be +depended on, in the more early ages, that Sir Isaac Newton has +brought the same event as low as the year 627 (Compare Niebuhr +vol. i. p. 271. - M.)] + + The limits of the Roman empire still extended from the +Western Ocean to the Tigris, and from Mount Atlas to the Rhine +and the Danube. To the undiscerning eye of the vulgar, Philip +appeared a monarch no less powerful than Hadrian or Augustus had +formerly been. The form was still the same, but the animating +health and vigor were fled. The industry of the people was +discouraged and exhausted by a long series of oppression. The +discipline of the legions, which alone, after the extinction of +every other virtue, had propped the greatness of the state, was +corrupted by the ambition, or relaxed by the weakness, of the +emperors. The strength of the frontiers, which had always +consisted in arms rather than in fortifications, was insensibly +undermined; and the fairest provinces were left exposed to the +rapaciousness or ambition of the barbarians, who soon discovered +the decline of the Roman empire. + +Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The Monarchy. + +Part I. + +Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy By +Artaxerxes. + + Whenever Tacitus indulges himself in those beautiful +episodes, in which he relates some domestic transaction of the +Germans or of the Parthians, his principal object is to relieve +the attention of the reader from a uniform scene of vice and +misery. From the reign of Augustus to the time of Alexander +Severus, the enemies of Rome were in her bosom - the tyrants and +the soldiers; and her prosperity had a very distant and feeble +interest in the revolutions that might happen beyond the Rhine +and the Euphrates. But when the military order had levelled, in +wild anarchy, the power of the prince, the laws of the senate, +and even the discipline of the camp, the barbarians of the North +and of the East, who had long hovered on the frontier, boldly +attacked the provinces of a declining monarchy. Their vexatious +inroads were changed into formidable irruptions, and, after a +long vicissitude of mutual calamities, many tribes of the +victorious invaders established themselves in the provinces of +the Roman Empire. To obtain a clearer knowledge of these great +events, we shall endeavor to form a previous idea of the +character, forces, and designs of those nations who avenged the +cause of Hannibal and Mithridates. + + In the more early ages of the world, whilst the forest that +covered Europe afforded a retreat to a few wandering savages, the +inhabitants of Asia were already collected into populous cities, +and reduced under extensive empires, the seat of the arts, of +luxury, and of despotism. The Assyrians reigned over the East, +^1 till the sceptre of Ninus and Semiramis dropped from the hands +of their enervated successors. The Medes and the Babylonians +divided their power, and were themselves swallowed up in the +monarchy of the Persians, whose arms could not be confined within +the narrow limits of Asia. Followed, as it is said, by two +millions of men, Xerxes, the descendant of Cyrus, invaded Greece. + +Thirty thousand soldiers, under the command of Alexander, the son +of Philip, who was intrusted by the Greeks with their glory and +revenge, were sufficient to subdue Persia. The princes of the +house of Seleucus usurped and lost the Macedonian command over +the East. About the same time, that, by an ignominious treaty, +they resigned to the Romans the country on this side Mount Tarus, +they were driven by the Parthians, ^* an obscure horde of +Scythian origin, from all the provinces of Upper Asia. The +formidable power of the Parthians, which spread from India to the +frontiers of Syria, was in its turn subverted by Ardshir, or +Artaxerxes; the founder of a new dynasty, which, under the name +of Sassanides, governed Persia till the invasion of the Arabs. +This great revolution, whose fatal influence was soon experienced +by the Romans, happened in the fourth year of Alexander Severus, +two hundred and twenty-six years after the Christian era. ^2 ^! +[Footnote 1: An ancient chronologist, quoted by Valleius +Paterculus, (l. i. c. 6,) observes, that the Assyrians, the +Medes, the Persians, and the Macedonians, reigned over Asia one +thousand nine hundred and ninety-five years, from the accession +of Ninus to the defeat of Antiochus by the Romans. As the latter +of these great events happened 289 years before Christ, the +former may be placed 2184 years before the same aera. The +Astronomical Observations, found at Babylon, by Alexander, went +fifty years higher.] +[Footnote *: The Parthians were a tribe of the Indo-Germanic +branch which dwelt on the south-east of the Caspian, and belonged +to the same race as the Getae, the Massagetae, and other nations, +confounded by the ancients under the vague denomination of +Scythians. Klaproth, Tableaux Hist. d l'Asie, p. 40. Strabo (p. +747) calls the Parthians Carduchi, i.e., the inhabitants of +Curdistan. - M.] + +[Footnote 2: In the five hundred and thirty-eighth year of the +aera of Seleucus. See Agathias, l. ii. p. 63. This great event +(such is the carelessness of the Orientals) is placed by +Eutychius as high as the tenth year of Commodus, and by Moses of +Chorene as low as the reign of Philip. Ammianus Marcellinus has +so servilely copied (xxiii. 6) his ancient materials, which are +indeed very good, that he describes the family of the Arsacides +as still seated on the Persian throne in the middle of the fourth +century.] + +[Footnote !: The Persian History, if the poetry of the Shah +Nameh, the Book of Kings, may deserve that name mentions four +dynasties from the earliest ages to the invasion of the Saracens. + +The Shah Nameh was composed with the view of perpetuating the +remains of the original Persian records or traditions which had +survived the Saracenic invasion. The task was undertaken by the +poet Dukiki, and afterwards, under the patronage of Mahmood of +Ghazni, completed by Ferdusi. The first of these dynasties is +that of Kaiomors, as Sir W. Jones observes, the dark and fabulous +period; the second, that of the Kaianian, the heroic and +poetical, in which the earned have discovered some curious, and +imagined some fanciful, analogies with the Jewish, the Greek, and +the Roman accounts of the eastern world. See, on the Shah Nameh, +Translation by Goerres, with Von Hammer's Review, Vienna Jahrbuch +von Lit. 17, 75, 77. Malcolm's Persia, 8vo. ed. i. 503. Macan's +Preface to his Critical Edition of the Shah Nameh. On the early +Persian History, a very sensible abstract of various opinions in +Malcolm's Hist. of Persian. - M.] + + Artaxerxes had served with great reputation in the armies of +Artaban, the last king of the Parthians, and it appears that he +was driven into exile and rebellion by royal ingratitude, the +customary reward for superior merit. His birth was obscure, and +the obscurity equally gave room to the aspersions of his enemies, +and the flattery of his adherents. If we credit the scandal of +the former, Artaxerxes sprang from the illegitimate commerce of a +tanner's wife with a common soldier. ^3 The latter represent him +as descended from a branch of the ancient kings of Persian, +though time and misfortune had gradually reduced his ancestors to +the humble station of private citizens. ^4 As the lineal heir of +the monarchy, he asserted his right to the throne, and challenged +the noble task of delivering the Persians from the oppression +under which they groaned above five centuries since the death of +Darius. The Parthians were defeated in three great battles. ^* +In the last of these their king Artaban was slain, and the spirit +of the nation was forever broken. ^5 The authority of Artaxerxes +was solemnly acknowledged in a great assembly held at Balch in +Khorasan. ^! Two younger branches of the royal house of Arsaces +were confounded among the prostrate satraps. A third, more +mindful of ancient grandeur than of present necessity, attempted +to retire, with a numerous train of vessels, towards their +kinsman, the king of Armenia; but this little army of deserters +was intercepted, and cut off, by the vigilance of the conqueror, +^6 who boldly assumed the double diadem, and the title of King of +Kings, which had been enjoyed by his predecessor. But these +pompous titles, instead of gratifying the vanity of the Persian, +served only to admonish him of his duty, and to inflame in his +soul and should the ambition of restoring in their full splendor, +the religion and empire of Cyrus. + +[Footnote 3: The tanner's name was Babec; the soldier's, Sassan: +from the former Artaxerxes obtained the surname of Babegan, from +the latter all his descendants have been styled Sassanides.] + +[Footnote 4: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Ardshir.] +[Footnote *: In the plain of Hoormuz, the son of Babek was hailed +in the field with the proud title of Shahan Shah, king of kings - +a name ever since assumed by the sovereigns of Persia. Malcolm, +i. 71. - M.] +[Footnote 5: Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. Herodian, l. vi. p. 207. +Abulpharagins Dynast. p. 80.] + +[Footnote !: See the Persian account of the rise of Ardeschir +Babegan in Malcolm l 69. - M.] + +[Footnote 6: See Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 65 - 71.] + + I. During the long servitude of Persia under the Macedonian +and the Parthian yoke, the nations of Europe and Asia had +mutually adopted and corrupted each other's superstitions. The +Arsacides, indeed, practised the worship of the Magi; but they +disgraced and polluted it with a various mixture of foreign +idolatry. ^* The memory of Zoroaster, the ancient prophet and +philosopher of the Persians, ^7 was still revered in the East; +but the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the Zendavesta +was composed, ^8 opened a field of dispute to seventy sects, who +variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion, +and were all indifferently devided by a crowd of infidels, who +rejected the divine mission and miracles of the prophet. To +suppress the idolaters, reunite the schismatics, and confute the +unbelievers, by the infallible decision of a general council, the +pious Artaxerxes summoned the Magi from all parts of his +dominions. These priests, who had so long sighed in contempt and +obscurity obeyed the welcome summons; and, on the appointed day, +appeared, to the number of about eighty thousand. But as the +debates of so tumultuous an assembly could not have been directed +by the authority of reason, or influenced by the art of policy, +the Persian synod was reduced, by successive operations, to forty +thousand, to four thousand, to four hundred, to forty, and at +last to seven Magi, the most respected for their learning and +piety. One of these, Erdaviraph, a young but holy prelate, +received from the hands of his brethren three cups of +soporiferous wine. He drank them off, and instantly fell into a +long and profound sleep. As soon as he waked, he related to the +king and to the believing multitude, his journey to heaven, and +his intimate conferences with the Deity. Every doubt was +silenced by this supernatural evidence; and the articles of the +faith of Zoroaster were fixed with equal authority and precision. +^9 A short delineation of that celebrated system will be found +useful, not only to display the character of the Persian nation, +but to illustrate many of their most important transactions, both +in peace and war, with the Roman empire. ^10 + +[Footnote *: Silvestre de Sacy (Antiquites de la Perse) had +proved the neglect of the Zoroastrian religion under the Parthian +kings. - M.] +[Footnote 7: Hyde and Prideaux, working up the Persian legends +and their own conjectures into a very agreeable story, represent +Zoroaster as a contemporary of Darius Hystaspes. But it is +sufficient to observe, that the Greek writers, who lived almost +in the age of Darius, agree in placing the aera of Zoroaster many +hundred, or even thousand, years before their own time. The +judicious criticisms of Mr. Moyle perceived, and maintained +against his uncle, Dr. Prideaux, the antiquity of the Persian +prophet. See his work, vol. ii. + + Note: There are three leading theories concerning the age of +Zoroaster: 1. That which assigns him to an age of great and +almost indefinite antiquity - it is that of Moyle, adopted by +Gibbon, Volney, Recherches sur l'Histoire, ii. 2. Rhode, also, +(die Heilige Sage, &c.,) in a very ingenious and ably-developed +theory, throws the Bactrian prophet far back into antiquity 2. +Foucher, (Mem. de l'Acad. xxvii. 253,) Tychsen, (in Com. Soc. +Gott. ii. 112), Heeren, (ldeen. i. 459,) and recently Holty, +identify the Gushtasp of the Persian mythological history with +Cyaxares the First, the king of the Medes, and consider the +religion to be Median in its origin. M. Guizot considers this +opinion most probable, note in loc. 3. Hyde, Prideaux, Anquetil +du Perron, Kleuker, Herder, Goerres, (Mythen-Geschichte,) Von +Hammer. (Wien. Jahrbuch, vol. ix.,) Malcolm, (i. 528,) De +Guigniaut, (Relig. de l'Antiq. 2d part, vol. iii.,) Klaproth, +(Tableaux de l'Asie, p. 21,) make Gushtasp Darius Hystaspes, and +Zoroaster his contemporary. The silence of Herodotus appears the +great objection to this theory. Some writers, as M. Foucher +(resting, as M. Guizot observes, on the doubtful authority of +Pliny,) make more than one Zoroaster, and so attempt to reconcile +the conflicting theories. - M.] +[Footnote 8: That ancient idiom was called the Zend. The +language of the commentary, the Pehlvi, though much more modern, +has ceased many ages ago to be a living tongue. This fact alone +(if it is allowed as authentic) sufficiently warrants the +antiquity of those writings which M d'Anquetil has brought into +Europe, and translated into French. + + Note: Zend signifies life, living. The word means, either +the collection of the canonical books of the followers of +Zoroaster, or the language itself in which they are written. +They are the books that contain the word of life whether the +language was originally called Zend, or whether it was so called +from the contents of the books. Avesta means word, oracle, +revelation: this term is not the title of a particular work, but +of the collection of the books of Zoroaster, as the revelation of +Ormuzd. This collection is sometimes called Zendavesta, +sometimes briefly Zend. + + The Zend was the ancient language of Media, as is proved by +its affinity with the dialects of Armenia and Georgia; it was +already a dead language under the Arsacides in the country which +was the scene of the events recorded in the Zendavesta. Some +critics, among others Richardson and Sir W. Jones, have called in +question the antiquity of these books. The former pretended that +Zend had never been a written or spoken language, but had been +invented in the later times by the Magi, for the purposes of +their art; but Kleuker, in the dissertations which he added to +those of Anquetil and the Abbe Foucher, has proved that the Zend +was a living and spoken language. - G. Sir W. Jones appears to +have abandoned his doubts, on discovering the affinity between +the Zend and the Sanskrit. Since the time of Kleuker, this +question has been investigated by many learned scholars. Sir W. +Jones, Leyden, (Asiat. Research. x. 283,) and Mr. Erskine, +(Bombay Trans. ii. 299,) consider it a derivative from the +Sanskrit. The antiquity of the Zendavesta has likewise been +asserted by Rask, the great Danish linguist, who, according to +Malcolm, brought back from the East fresh transcripts and +additions to those published by Anquetil. According to Rask, the +Zend and Sanskrit are sister dialects; the one the parent of the +Persian, the other of the Indian family of languages. - G. and M. + +But the subject is more satisfactorily illustrated in Bopp's +comparative Grammar of the Sanscrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, +Lithuanian, Gothic, and German languages. Berlin. 1833-5. +According to Bopp, the Zend is, in some respects, of a more +remarkable structure than the Sanskrit. Parts of the Zendavesta +have been published in the original, by M. Bournouf, at Paris, +and M. Ol. shausen, in Hamburg. - M. + + The Pehlvi was the language of the countries bordering on +Assyria, and probably of Assyria itself. Pehlvi signifies valor, +heroism; the Pehlvi, therefore, was the language of the ancient +heroes and kings of Persia, the valiant. (Mr. Erskine prefers +the derivation from Pehla, a border. - M.) It contains a number +of Aramaic roots. Anquetil considered it formed from the Zend. +Kleuker does not adopt this opinion. The Pehlvi, he says, is +much more flowing, and less overcharged with vowels, than the +Zend. The books of Zoroaster, first written in Zend, were +afterwards translated into Pehlvi and Parsi. The Pehlvi had +fallen into disuse under the dynasty of the Sassanides, but the +learned still wrote it. The Parsi, the dialect of Pars or +Farristan, was then prevailing dialect. Kleuker, Anhang zum Zend +Avesta, 2, ii. part i. p. 158, part ii. 31. - G. + + Mr. Erskine (Bombay Transactions) considers the existing +Zendavesta to have been compiled in the time of Ardeschir +Babegan. - M.] +[Footnote 9: Hyde de Religione veterum Pers. c. 21.] + +[Footnote 10: I have principally drawn this account from the +Zendavesta of M. d'Anquetil, and the Sadder, subjoined to Dr. +Hyde's treatise. It must, however, be confessed, that the +studied obscurity of a prophet, the figurative style of the East, +and the deceitful medium of a French or Latin version may have +betrayed us into error and heresy, in this abridgment of Persian +theology. + + Note: It is to be regretted that Gibbon followed the post- +Mahometan Sadder of Hyde. - M.] + + The great and fundamental article of the system, was the +celebrated doctrine of the two principles; a bold and injudicious +attempt of Eastern philosophy to reconcile the existence of moral +and physical evil with the attributes of a beneficent Creator and +Governor of the world. The first and original Being, in whom, or +by whom, the universe exists, is denominated in the writings of +Zoroaster, Time without bounds; ^! but it must be confessed, that +this infinite substance seems rather a metaphysical, abstraction +of the mind, than a real object endowed with self-consciousness, +or possessed of moral perfections. From either the blind or the +intelligent operation of this infinite Time, which bears but too +near an affinity with the chaos of the Greeks, the two secondary +but active principles of the universe, were from all eternity +produced, Ormusd and Ahriman, each of them possessed of the +powers of creation, but each disposed, by his invariable nature, +to exercise them with different designs. ^* The principle of good +is eternally aborbed in light; the principle of evil eternally +buried in darkness. The wise benevolence of Ormusd formed man +capable of virtue, and abundantly provided his fair habitation +with the materials of happiness. By his vigilant providence, the +motion of the planets, the order of the seasons, and the +temperate mixture of the elements, are preserved. But the malice +of Ahriman has long since pierced Ormusd's egg; or, in other +words, has violated the harmony of his works. Since that fatal +eruption, the most minute articles of good and evil are +intimately intermingled and agitated together; the rankest +poisons spring up amidst the most salutary plants; deluges, +earthquakes, and conflagrations attest the conflict of Nature, +and the little world of man is perpetually shaken by vice and +misfortune. Whilst the rest of human kind are led away captives +in the chains of their infernal enemy, the faithful Persian alone +reserves his religious adoration for his friend and protector +Ormusd, and fights under his banner of light, in the full +confidence that he shall, in the last day, share the glory of his +triumph. At that decisive period, the enlightened wisdom of +goodness will render the power of Ormusd superior to the furious +malice of his rival. Ahriman and his followers, disarmed and +subdued, will sink into their native darkness; and virtue will +maintain the eternal peace and harmony of the universe. ^11 ^!! + +[Footnote !: Zeruane Akerene, so translated by Anquetil and +Kleuker. There is a dissertation of Foucher on this subject, Mem. +de l'Acad. des Inscr. t. xxix. According to Bohlen (das alte +Indien) it is the Sanskrit Sarvan Akaranam, the Uncreated Whole; +or, according to Fred. Schlegel, Sarvan Akharyam the Uncreate +Indivisible. - M.] + +[Footnote *: This is an error. Ahriman was not forced by his +invariable nature to do evil; the Zendavesta expressly recognizes +(see the Izeschne) that he was born good, that in his origin he +was light; envy rendered him evil; he became jealous of the power +and attributes of Ormuzd; then light was changed into darkness, +and Ahriman was precipitated into the abyss. See the Abridgment +of the Doctrine of the Ancient Persians, by Anquetil, c. ii +Section 2. - G.] + +[Footnote 11: The modern Parsees (and in some degree the Sadder) +exalt Ormusd into the first and omnipotent cause, whilst they +degrade Ahriman into an inferior but rebellious spirit. Their +desire of pleasing the Mahometans may have contributed to refine +their theological systems.] + +[Footnote !!: According to the Zendavesta, Ahriman will not be +annihilated or precipitated forever into darkness: at the +resurrection of the dead he will be entirely defeated by Ormuzd, +his power will be destroyed, his kingdom overthrown to its +foundations, he will himself be purified in torrents of melting +metal; he will change his heart and his will, become holy, +heavenly establish in his dominions the law and word of Ormuzd, +unite himself with him in everlasting friendship, and both will +sing hymns in honor of the Great Eternal. See Anquetil's +Abridgment. Kleuker, Anhang part iii. p 85, 36; and the +Izeschne, one of the books of the Zendavesta. According to the +Sadder Bun-Dehesch, a more modern work, Ahriman is to be +annihilated: but this is contrary to the text itself of the +Zendavesta, and to the idea its author gives of the kingdom of +Eternity, after the twelve thousand years assigned to the contest +between Good and Evil. - G.] + +Chapter VIII: State Of Persion And Restoration Of The Monarchy. + +Part II. + + The theology of Zoroaster was darkly comprehended by +foreigners, and even by the far greater number of his disciples; +but the most careless observers were struck with the philosophic +simplicity of the Persian worship. "That people," said Herodotus, +^12 "rejects the use of temples, of altars, and of statues, and +smiles at the folly of those nations who imagine that the gods +are sprung from, or bear any affinity with, the human nature. +The tops of the highest mountains are the places chosen for +sacrifices. Hymns and prayers are the principal worship; the +Supreme God, who fills the wide circle of heaven, is the object +to whom they are addressed." Yet, at the same time, in the true +spirit of a polytheist, he accuseth them of adoring Earth, Water, +Fire, the Winds, and the Sun and Moon. But the Persians of every +age have denied the charge, and explained the equivocal conduct, +which might appear to give a color to it. The elements, and more +particularly Fire, Light, and the Sun, whom they called Mithra, +^! were the objects of their religious reverence, because they +considered them as the purest symbols, the noblest productions, +and the most powerful agents of the Divine Power and Nature. ^13 +[Footnote 12: Herodotus, l. i. c. 131. But Dr. Prideaux thinks, +with reason, that the use of temples was afterwards permitted in +the Magian religion. + Note: The Pyraea, or fire temples of the Zoroastrians, +(observes Kleuker, Persica, p. 16,) were only to be found in +Media or Aderbidjan, provinces into which Herodotus did not +penetrate. - M.] + +[Footnote !: Among the Persians Mithra is not the Sun: Anquetil +has contested and triumphantly refuted the opinion of those who +confound them, and it is evidently contrary to the text of the +Zendavesta. Mithra is the first of the genii, or jzeds, created +by Ormuzd; it is he who watches over all nature. Hence arose the +misapprehension of some of the Greeks, who have said that Mithra +was the summus deus of the Persians: he has a thousand ears and +ten thousand eyes. The Chaldeans appear to have assigned him a +higher rank than the Persians. It is he who bestows upon the +earth the light of the sun. The sun. named Khor, (brightness,) +is thus an inferior genius, who, with many other genii, bears a +part in the functions of Mithra. These assistant genii to +another genius are called his kamkars; but in the Zendavesta they +are never confounded. On the days sacred to a particular genius, +the Persian ought to recite, not only the prayers addressed to +him, but those also which are addressed to his kamkars; thus the +hymn or iescht of Mithra is recited on the day of the sun, +(Khor,) and vice versa. It is probably this which has sometimes +caused them to be confounded; but Anquetil had himself exposed +this error, which Kleuker, and all who have studied the +Zendavesta, have noticed. See viii. Diss. of Anquetil. Kleuker's +Anhang, part iii. p. 132. - G. + M. Guizot is unquestionably right, according to the pure and +original doctrine of the Zend. The Mithriac worship, which was +so extensively propagated in the West, and in which Mithra and +the sun were perpetually confounded, seems to have been formed +from a fusion of Zoroastrianism and Chaldaism, or the Syrian +worship of the sun. An excellent abstract of the question, with +references to the works of the chief modern writers on his +curious subject, De Sacy, Kleuker, Von Hammer, &c., may be found +in De Guigniaut's translation of Kreuzer. Relig. d'Antiquite, +notes viii. ix. to book ii. vol. i. 2d part, page 728. - M.] + +[Footnote 13: Hyde de Relig. Pers. c. 8. Notwithstanding all +their distinctions and protestations, which seem sincere enough, +their tyrants, the Mahometans, have constantly stigmatized them +as idolatrous worshippers of the fire.] + + Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting +impression on the human mind, must exercise our obedience, by +enjoining practices of devotion, for which we can assign no +reason; and must acquire our esteem, by inculcating moral duties +analogous to the dictates of our own hearts. The religion of +Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the former and possessed a +sufficient portion of the latter. At the age of puberty, the +faithful Persian was invested with a mysterious girdle, the badge +of the divine protection; and from that moment all the actions of +his life, even the most indifferent, or the most necessary, were +sanctified by their peculiar prayers, ejaculations, or +genuflections; the omission of which, under any circumstances, +was a grievous sin, not inferior in guilt to the violation of the +moral duties. The moral duties, however, of justice, mercy, +liberality, &c., were in their turn required of the disciple of +Zoroaster, who wished to escape the persecution of Ahriman, and +to live with Ormusd in a blissful eternity, where the degree of +felicity will be exactly proportioned to the degree of virtue and +piety. ^14 + +[Footnote 14: See the Sadder, the smallest part of which consists +of moral precepts. The ceremonies enjoined are infinite and +trifling. Fifteen genuflections, prayers, &c., were required +whenever the devout Persian cut his nails or made water; or as +often as he put on the sacred girdle Sadder, Art. 14, 50, 60. + + Note: Zoroaster exacted much less ceremonial observance, +than at a later period, the priests of his doctrines. This is +the progress of all religions the worship, simple in its origin, +is gradually overloaded with minute superstitions. The maxim of +the Zendavesta, on the relative merit of sowing the earth and of +prayers, quoted below by Gibbon, proves that Zoroaster did not +attach too much importance to these observances. Thus it is not +from the Zendavesta that Gibbon derives the proof of his +allegation, but from the Sadder, a much later work. - G] + + But there are some remarkable instances in which Zoroaster +lays aside the prophet, assumes the legislator, and discovers a +liberal concern for private and public happiness, seldom to be +found among the grovelling or visionary schemes of superstition. +Fasting and celibacy, the common means of purchasing the divine +favor, he condemns with abhorrence, as a criminal rejection of +the best gifts of Providence. The saint, in the Magian religion, +is obliged to beget children, to plant useful trees, to destroy +noxious animals, to convey water to the dry lands of Persia, and +to work out his salvation by pursuing all the labors of +agriculture. ^* We may quote from the Zendavesta a wise and +benevolent maxim, which compensates for many an absurdity. "He +who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater +stock of religious merit than he could gain by the repetition of +ten thousand prayers." ^15 In the spring of every year a festival +was celebrated, destined to represent the primitive equality, and +the present connection, of mankind. The stately kings of Persia, +exchanging their vain pomp for more genuine greatness, freely +mingled with the humblest but most useful of their subjects. On +that day the husbandmen were admitted, without distinction, to +the table of the king and his satraps. The monarch accepted +their petitions, inquired into their grievances, and conversed +with them on the most equal terms. "From your labors," was he +accustomed to say, (and to say with truth, if not with +sincerity,) "from your labors we receive our subsistence; you +derive your tranquillity from our vigilance: since, therefore, we +are mutually necessary to each other, let us live together like +brothers in concord and love." ^16 Such a festival must indeed +have degenerated, in a wealthy and despotic empire, into a +theatrical representation; but it was at least a comedy well +worthy of a royal audience, and which might sometimes imprint a +salutary lesson on the mind of a young prince. + +[Footnote *: See, on Zoroaster's encouragement of agriculture, +the ingenious remarks of Heeren, Ideen, vol. i. p. 449, &c., and +Rhode, Heilige Sage, p. 517 - M.] + +[Footnote 15: Zendavesta, tom. i. p. 224, and Precis du Systeme +de Zoroastre, tom. iii.] + +[Footnote 16: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 19.] + + Had Zoroaster, in all his institutions, invariably supported +this exalted character, his name would deserve a place with those +of Numa and Confucius, and his system would be justly entitled to +all the applause, which it has pleased some of our divines, and +even some of our philosophers, to bestow on it. But in that +motley composition, dictated by reason and passion, by enthusiasm +and by selfish motives, some useful and sublime truths were +disgraced by a mixture of the most abject and dangerous +superstition. The Magi, or sacerdotal order, were extremely +numerous, since, as we have already seen, fourscore thousand of +them were convened in a general council. Their forces were +multiplied by discipline. A regular hierarchy was diffused +through all the provinces of Persia; and the Archimagus, who +resided at Balch, was respected as the visible head of the +church, and the lawful successor of Zoroaster. ^17 The property +of the Magi was very considerable. Besides the less invidious +possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of Media, +^18 they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of +the Persians. ^19 "Though your good works," says the interested +prophet, "exceed in number the leaves of the trees, the drops of +rain, the stars in the heaven, or the sands on the sea-shore, +they will all be unprofitable to you, unless they are accepted by +the destour, or priest. To obtain the acceptation of this guide +to salvation, you must faithfully pay him tithes of all you +possess, of your goods, of your lands, and of your money. If the +destour be satisfied, your soul will escape hell tortures; you +will secure praise in this world and happiness in the next. For +the destours are the teachers of religion; they know all things, +and they deliver all men." ^20 ^* + +[Footnote 17: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 28. Both Hyde and +Prideaux affect to apply to the Magian the terms consecrated to +the Christian hierarchy.] + +[Footnote 18: Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 6. He informs us (as far +as we may credit him) of two curious particulars: 1. That the +Magi derived some of their most secret doctrines from the Indian +Brachmans; and 2. That they were a tribe, or family, as well as +order.] + +[Footnote 19: The divine institution of tithes exhibits a +singular instance of conformity between the law of Zoroaster and +that of Moses. Those who cannot otherwise account for it, may +suppose, if they please that the Magi of the latter times +inserted so useful an interpolation into the writings of their +prophet.] + +[Footnote 20: Sadder, Art. viii.] + +[Footnote *: The passage quoted by Gibbon is not taken from the +writings of Zoroaster, but from the Sadder, a work, as has been +before said, much later than the books which form the Zendavesta. +and written by a Magus for popular use; what it contains, +therefore, cannot be attributed to Zoroaster. It is remarkable +that Gibbon should fall into this error, for Hyde himself does +not ascribe the Sadder to Zoroaster; he remarks that it is +written inverse, while Zoroaster always wrote in prose. Hyde, i. +p. 27. Whatever may be the case as to the latter assertion, for +which there appears little foundation, it is unquestionable that +the Sadder is of much later date. The Abbe Foucher does not even +believe it to be an extract from the works of Zoroaster. See his +Diss. before quoted. Mem. de l'Acad. des Ins. t. xxvii. - G. +Perhaps it is rash to speak of any part of the Zendavesta as the +writing of Zoroaster, though it may be a genuine representation +of his. As to the Sadder, Hyde (in Praef.) considered it not +above 200 years old. It is manifestly post-Mahometan. See Art. +xxv. on fasting. - M.] + + These convenient maxims of reverence and implicit were +doubtless imprinted with care on the tender minds of youth; since +the Magi were the masters of education in Persia, and to their +hands the children even of the royal family were intrusted. ^21 +The Persian priests, who were of a speculative genius, preserved +and investigated the secrets of Oriental philosophy; and +acquired, either by superior knowledge, or superior art, the +reputation of being well versed in some occult sciences, which +have derived their appellation from the Magi. ^22 Those of more +active dispositions mixed with the world in courts and cities; +and it is observed, that the administration of Artaxerxes was in +a great measure directed by the counsels of the sacerdotal order, +whose dignity, either from policy or devotion, that prince +restored to its ancient splendor. ^23 + +[Footnote 21: Plato in Alcibiad.] + +[Footnote 22: Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. xxx. c. 1) observes, that +magic held mankind by the triple chain of religion, of physic, +and of astronomy.] [Footnote 23: Agathias, l. iv. p. 134.] + + The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the +unsociable genius of their faith, ^24 to the practice of ancient +kings, ^25 and even to the example of their legislator, who had a +victim to a religious war, excited by his own intolerant zeal. +^26 By an edict of Artaxerxes, the exercise of every worship, +except that of Zoroaster, was severely prohibited. The temples of +the Parthians, and the statues of their deified monarchs, were +thrown down with ignominy. ^27 The sword of Aristotle (such was +the name given by the Orientals to the polytheism and philosophy +of the Greeks) was easily broken; ^28 the flames of persecution +soon reached the more stubborn Jews and Christians; ^29 nor did +they spare the heretics of their own nation and religion. The +majesty of Ormusd, who was jealous of a rival, was seconded by +the despotism of Artaxerxes, who could not suffer a rebel; and +the schismatics within his vast empire were soon reduced to the +inconsiderable number of eighty thousand. ^30 ^* This spirit of +persecution reflects dishonor on the religion of Zoroaster; but +as it was not productive of any civil commotion, it served to +strengthen the new monarchy, by uniting all the various +inhabitants of Persia in the bands of religious zeal. ^! + +[Footnote 24: Mr. Hume, in the Natural History of Religion, +sagaciously remarks, that the most refined and philosophic sects +are constantly the most intolerant. + + Note: Hume's comparison is rather between theism and +polytheism. In India, in Greece, and in modern Europe, +philosophic religion has looked down with contemptuous toleration +on the superstitions of the vulgar. - M.] +[Footnote 25: Cicero de Legibus, ii. 10. Xerxes, by the advice +of the Magi, destroyed the temples of Greece.] + +[Footnote 26: Hyde de Relig. Persar. c. 23, 24. D'Herbelot, +Bibliotheque Orientale, Zurdusht. Life of Zoroaster in tom. ii. +of the Zendavesta.] +[Footnote 27: Compare Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 74, with +Ammian. Marcel lin. xxiii. 6. Hereafter I shall make use of +these passages.] +[Footnote 28: Rabbi Abraham, in the Tarikh Schickard, p. 108, +109.] +[Footnote 29: Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. viii. c. 3. +Sozomen, l. ii. c. 1 Manes, who suffered an ignominious death, +may be deemed a Magian as well as a Christian heretic.] + +[Footnote 30: Hyde de Religione Persar. c. 21.] + +[Footnote *: It is incorrect to attribute these persecutions to +Artaxerxes. The Jews were held in honor by him, and their schools +flourished during his reign. Compare Jost, Geschichte der +Israeliter, b. xv. 5, with Basnage. Sapor was forced by the +people to temporary severities; but their real persecution did +not begin till the reigns of Yezdigerd and Kobad. Hist. of Jews, +iii. 236. According to Sozomen , i. viii., Sapor first +persecuted the Christians. Manes was put to death by Varanes the +First, A. D. 277. Beausobre, Hist. de Man. i. 209. - M.] + +[Footnote !: In the testament of Ardischer in Ferdusi, the poet +assigns these sentiments to the dying king, as he addresses his +son: Never forget that as a king, you are at once the protector +of religion and of your country. Consider the altar and the +throne as inseparable; they must always sustain each other. +Malcolm's Persia. i. 74 - M] + + II. Artaxerxes, by his valor and conduct, had wrested the +sceptre of the East from the ancient royal family of Parthia. +There still remained the more difficult task of establishing, +throughout the vast extent of Persia, a uniform and vigorous +administration. The weak indulgence of the Arsacides had +resigned to their sons and brothers the principal provinces, and +the greatest offices of the kingdom in the nature of hereditary +possessions. The vitaxoe, or eighteen most powerful satraps, +were permitted to assume the regal title; and the vain pride of +the monarch was delighted with a nominal dominion over so many +vassal kings. Even tribes of barbarians in their mountains, and +the Greek cities of Upper Asia, ^31 within their walls, scarcely +acknowledged, or seldom obeyed. any superior; and the Parthian +empire exhibited, under other names, a lively image of the feudal +system ^32 which has since prevailed in Europe. But the active +victor, at the head of a numerous and disciplined army, visited +in person every province of Persia. The defeat of the boldest +rebels, and the reduction of the strongest fortifications, ^33 +diffused the terror of his arms, and prepared the way for the +peaceful reception of his authority. An obstinate resistance was +fatal to the chiefs; but their followers were treated with +lenity. ^34 A cheerful submission was rewarded with honors and +riches, but the prudent Artaxerxes suffering no person except +himself to assume the title of king, abolished every intermediate +power between the throne and the people. His kingdom, nearly +equal in extent to modern Persia, was, on every side, bounded by +the sea, or by great rivers; by the Euphrates, the Tigris, the +Araxes, the Oxus, and the Indus, by the Caspian Sea, and the Gulf +of Persia. ^35 That country was computed to contain, in the last +century, five hundred and fifty-four cities, sixty thousand +villages, and about forty millions of souls. ^36 If we compare +the administration of the house of Sassan with that of the house +of Sefi, the political influence of the Magian with that of the +Mahometan religion, we shall probably infer, that the kingdom of +Artaxerxes contained at least as great a number of cities, +villages, and inhabitants. But it must likewise be confessed, +that in every age the want of harbors on the sea- coast, and the +scarcity of fresh water in the inland provinces, have been very +unfavorable to the commerce and agriculture of the Persians; who, +in the calculation of their numbers, seem to have indulged one of +the nearest, though most common, artifices of national vanity. + +[Footnote 31: These colonies were extremely numerous. Seleucus +Nicator founded thirty-nine cities, all named from himself, or +some of his relations, (see Appian in Syriac. p. 124.) The aera +of Seleucus (still in use among the eastern Christians) appears +as late as the year 508, of Christ 196, on the medals of the +Greek cities within the Parthian empire. See Moyle's works, vol. +i. p. 273, &c., and M. Freret, Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xix.] +[Footnote 32: The modern Persians distinguish that period as the +dynasty of the kings of the nations. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. +25.] + +[Footnote 33: Eutychius (tom. i. p. 367, 371, 375) relates the +siege of the island of Mesene in the Tigris, with some +circumstances not unlike the story of Nysus and Scylla.] + +[Footnote 34: Agathias, ii. 64, [and iv. p. 260.] The princes of +Segestan de fended their independence during many years. As +romances generally transport to an ancient period the events of +their own time, it is not impossible that the fabulous exploits +of Rustan, Prince of Segestan, many have been grafted on this +real history.] + +[Footnote 35: We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy +the sea-coast of Gedrosia or Macran, which extends along the +Indian Ocean from Cape Jask (the promontory Capella) to Cape +Goadel. In the time of Alexander, and probably many ages +afterwards, it was thinly inhabited by a savage people of +Icthyophagi, or Fishermen, who knew no arts, who acknowledged no +master, and who were divided by in-hospitable deserts from the +rest of the world. (See Arrian de Reb. Indicis.) In the twelfth +century, the little town of Taiz (supposed by M. d'Anville to be +the Teza of Ptolemy) was peopled and enriched by the resort of +the Arabian merchants. (See Geographia Nubiens, p. 58, and +d'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 283.) In the last +age, the whole country was divided between three princes, one +Mahometan and two Idolaters, who maintained their independence +against the successors of Shah Abbas. (Voyages de Tavernier, part +i. l. v. p. 635.] + +[Footnote 36: Chardin, tom. iii c 1 2, 3.] + + As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed +ever the resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the +neighboring states, who, during the long slumber of his +predecessors, had insulted Persia with impunity. He obtained +some easy victories over the wild Scythians and the effeminate +Indians; but the Romans were an enemy, who, by their past +injuries and present power, deserved the utmost efforts of his +arms. A forty years' tranquillity, the fruit of valor and +moderation, had succeeded the victories of Trajan. During the +period that elapsed from the accession of Marcus to the reign of +Alexander, the Roman and the Parthian empires were twice engaged +in war; and although the whole strength of the Arsacides +contended with a part only of the forces of Rome, the event was +most commonly in favor of the latter. Macrinus, indeed, prompted +by his precarious situation and pusillanimous temper, purchased a +peace at the expense of near two millions of our money; ^37 but +the generals of Marcus, the emperor Severus, and his son, erected +many trophies in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Among their +exploits, the imperfect relation of which would have unseasonably +interrupted the more important series of domestic revolutions, we +shall only mention the repeated calamities of the two great +cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon. +[Footnote 37: Dion, l. xxviii. p. 1335.] + + Seleucia, on the western bank of the Tigris, about +forty-five miles to the north of ancient Babylon, was the capital +of the Macedonian conquests in Upper Asia. ^38 Many ages after +the fall of their empire, Seleucia retained the genuine +characters of a Grecian colony, arts, military virtue, and the +love of freedom. The independent republic was governed by a +senate of three hundred nobles; the people consisted of six +hundred thousand citizens; the walls were strong, and as long as +concord prevailed among the several orders of the state, they +viewed with contempt the power of the Parthian: but the madness +of faction was sometimes provoked to implore the dangerous aid of +the common enemy, who was posted almost at the gates of the +colony. ^39 The Parthian monarchs, like the Mogul sovereigns of +Hindostan, delighted in the pastoral life of their Scythian +ancestors; and the Imperial camp was frequently pitched in the +plain of Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, at the +distance of only three miles from Seleucia. ^40 The innumerable +attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and the +little village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great city. +^41 Under the reign of Marcus, the Roman generals penetrated as +far as Ctesiphon and Seleucia. They were received as friends by +the Greek colony; they attacked as enemies the seat of the +Parthian kings; yet both cities experienced the same treatment. +The sack and conflagration of Seleucia, with the massacre of +three hundred thousand of the inhabitants, tarnished the glory of +the Roman triumph. ^42 Seleucia, already exhausted by the +neighborhood of a too powerful rival, sunk under the fatal blow; +but Ctesiphon, in about thirty- three years, had sufficiently +recovered its strength to maintain an obstinate siege against the +emperor Severus. The city was, however, taken by assault; the +king, who defended it in person, escaped with precipitation; a +hundred thousand captives, and a rich booty, rewarded the +fatigues of the Roman soldiers. ^43 Notwithstanding these +misfortunes, Ctesiphon succeeded to Babylon and to Seleucia, as +one of the great capitals of the East. In summer, the monarch of +Persia enjoyed at Ecbatana the cool breezes of the mountains of +Media; but the mildness of the climate engaged him to prefer +Ctesiphon for his winter residence. + +[Footnote 38: For the precise situation of Babylon, Seleucia, +Ctesiphon, Moiain, and Bagdad, cities often confounded with each +other, see an excellent Geographical Tract of M. d'Anville, in +Mem. de l'Academie, tom. xxx.] +[Footnote 39: Tacit. Annal. xi. 42. Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 26.] +[Footnote 40: This may be inferred from Strabo, l. xvi. p. 743.] +[Footnote 41: That most curious traveller, Bernier, who followed +the camp of Aurengzebe from Delhi to Cashmir, describes with +great accuracy the immense moving city. The guard of cavalry +consisted of 35,000 men, that of infantry of 10,000. It was +computed that the camp contained 150,000 horses, mules, and +elephants; 50,000 camels, 50,000 oxen, and between 300,000 and +400,000 persons. Almost all Delhi followed the court, whose +magnificence supported its industry.] + +[Footnote 42: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1178. Hist. August. p. 38. +Eutrop. viii. 10 Euseb. in Chronic. Quadratus (quoted in the +Augustan History) attempted to vindicate the Romans by alleging +that the citizens of Seleucia had first violated their faith.] + +[Footnote 43: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1263. Herodian, l. iii. p. 120. +Hist. August. p. 70.] + + From these successful inroads the Romans derived no real or +lasting benefit; nor did they attempt to preserve such distant +conquests, separated from the provinces of the empire by a large +tract of intermediate desert. The reduction of the kingdom of +Osrhoene was an acquisition of less splendor indeed, but of a far +more solid advantage. That little state occupied the northern +and most fertile part of Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and +the Tigris. Edessa, its capital, was situated about twenty miles +beyond the former of those rivers; and the inhabitants, since the +time of Alexander, were a mixed race of Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, +and Armenians. ^44 The feeble sovereigns of Osrhoene, placed on +the dangerous verge of two contending empires, were attached from +inclination to the Parthian cause; but the superior power of Rome +exacted from them a reluctant homage, which is still attested by +their medals. After the conclusion of the Parthian war under +Marcus, it was judged prudent to secure some substantia, pledges +of their doubtful fidelity. Forts were constructed in several +parts of the country, and a Roman garrison was fixed in the +strong town of Nisibis. During the troubles that followed the +death of Commodus, the princes of Osrhoene attempted to shake off +the yoke; but the stern policy of Severus confirmed their +dependence, ^45 and the perfidy of Caracalla completed the easy +conquest. Abgarus, the last king of Edessa, was sent in chains +to Rome, his dominions reduced into a province, and his capital +dignified with the rank of colony; and thus the Romans, about ten +years before the fall of the Parthian monarchy, obtained a firm +and permanent establishment beyond the Euphrates. ^46 + +[Footnote 44: The polished citizens of Antioch called those of +Edessa mixed barbarians. It was, however, some praise, that of +the three dialects of the Syriac, the purest and most elegant +(the Aramaean) was spoken at Edessa. This remark M. Bayer (Hist. +Edess. p 5) has borrowed from George of Malatia, a Syrian +writer.] + +[Footnote 45: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1248, 1249, 1250. M. Bayer has +neglected to use this most important passage.] + +[Footnote 46: This kingdom, from Osrhoes, who gave a new name to +the country, to the last Abgarus, had lasted 353 years. See the +learned work of M. Bayer, Historia Osrhoena et Edessena.] + + Prudence as well as glory might have justified a war on the +side of Artaxerxes, had his views been confined to the defence or +acquisition of a useful frontier. but the ambitious Persian +openly avowed a far more extensive design of conquest; and he +thought himself able to support his lofty pretensions by the arms +of reason as well as by those of power. Cyrus, he alleged, had +first subdued, and his successors had for a long time possessed, +the whole extent of Asia, as far as the Propontis and the Aegean +Sea; the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their empire, had +been governed by Persian satraps, and all Egypt, to the confines +of Aethiopia, had acknowledged their sovereignty. ^47 Their +rights had been suspended, but not destroyed, by a long +usurpation; and as soon as he received the Persian diadem, which +birth and successful valor had placed upon his head, the first +great duty of his station called upon him to restore the ancient +limits and splendor of the monarchy. The Great King, therefore, +(such was the haughty style of his embassies to the emperor +Alexander,) commanded the Romans instantly to depart from all the +provinces of his ancestors, and, yielding to the Persians the +empire of Asia, to content themselves with the undisturbed +possession of Europe. This haughty mandate was delivered by four +hundred of the tallest and most beautiful of the Persians; who, +by their fine horses, splendid arms, and rich apparel, displayed +the pride and greatness of their master. ^48 Such an embassy was +much less an offer of negotiation than a declaration of war. +Both Alexander Severus and Artaxerxes, collecting the military +force of the Roman and Persian monarchies, resolved in this +important contest to lead their armies in person. + +[Footnote 47: Xenophon, in the preface to the Cyropaedia, gives a +clear and magnificent idea of the extent of the empire of Cyrus. +Herodotus (l. iii. c. 79, &c.) enters into a curious and +particular description of the twenty great Satrapies into which +the Persian empire was divided by Darius Hystaspes.] +[Footnote 48: Herodian, vi. 209, 212.] + + If we credit what should seem the most authentic of all +records, an oration, still extant, and delivered by the emperor +himself to the senate, we must allow that the victory of +Alexander Severus was not inferior to any of those formerly +obtained over the Persians by the son of Philip. The army of the +Great King consisted of one hundred and twenty thousand horse, +clothed in complete armor of steel; of seven hundred elephants, +with towers filled with archers on their backs, and of eighteen +hundred chariots armed with scythes. This formidable host, the +like of which is not to be found in eastern history, and has +scarcely been imagined in eastern romance, ^49 was discomfited in +a great battle, in which the Roman Alexander proved himself an +intrepid soldier and a skilful general. The Great King fled +before his valor; an immense booty, and the conquest of +Mesopotamia, were the immediate fruits of this signal victory. +Such are the circumstances of this ostentatious and improbable +relation, dictated, as it too plainly appears, by the vanity of +the monarch, adorned by the unblushing servility of his +flatterers, and received without contradiction by a distant and +obsequious senate. ^50 Far from being inclined to believe that +the arms of Alexander obtained any memorable advantage over the +Persians, we are induced to suspect that all this blaze of +imaginary glory was designed to conceal some real disgrace. + +[Footnote 49: There were two hundred scythed chariots at the +battle of Arbela, in the host of Darius. In the vast army of +Tigranes, which was vanquished by Lucullus, seventeen thousand +horse only were completely armed. Antiochus brought fifty-four +elephants into the field against the Romans: by his frequent wars +and negotiations with the princes of India, he had once collected +a hundred and fifty of those great animals; but it may be +questioned whether the most powerful monarch of Hindostan evci +formed a line of battle of seven hundred elephants. Instead of +three or four thousand elephants, which the Great Mogul was +supposed to possess, Tavernier (Voyages, part ii. l. i. p. 198) +discovered, by a more accurate inquiry, that he had only five +hundred for his baggage, and eighty or ninety for the service of +war. The Greeks have varied with regard to the number which +Porus brought into the field; but Quintus Curtius, (viii. 13,) in +this instance judicious and moderate, is contented with +eighty-five elephants, distinguished by their size and strength. +In Siam, where these animals are the most numerous and the most +esteemed, eighteen elephants are allowed as a sufficient +proportion for each of the nine brigades into which a just army +is divided. The whole number, of one hundred and sixty-two +elephants of war, may sometimes be doubled. Hist. des Voyages, +tom. ix. p. 260. + + Note: Compare Gibbon's note 10 to ch. lvii - M.] + +[Footnote 50: Hist. August. p. 133. + + Note: See M. Guizot's note, p. 267. According to the +Persian authorities Ardeschir extended his conquests to the +Euphrates. Malcolm i. 71. - M.] + Our suspicious are confirmed by the authority of a +contemporary historian, who mentions the virtues of Alexander +with respect, and his faults with candor. He describes the +judicious plan which had been formed for the conduct of the war. +Three Roman armies were destined to invade Persia at the same +time, and by different roads. But the operations of the +campaign, though wisely concerted, were not executed either with +ability or success. The first of these armies, as soon as it had +entered the marshy plains of Babylon, towards the artificial +conflux of the Euphrates and the Tigris, ^51 was encompassed by +the superior numbers, and destroyed by the arrows of the enemy. +The alliance of Chosroes, king of Armenia, ^52 and the long tract +of mountainous country, in which the Persian cavalry was of +little service, opened a secure entrance into the heart of Media, +to the second of the Roman armies. These brave troops laid waste +the adjacent provinces, and by several successful actions against +Artaxerxes, gave a faint color to the emperor's vanity. But the +retreat of this victorious army was imprudent, or at least +unfortunate. In repassing the mountains, great numbers of +soldiers perished by the badness of the roads, and the severity +of the winter season. It had been resolved, that whilst these +two great detachments penetrated into the opposite extremes of +the Persian dominions, the main body, under the command of +Alexander himself, should support their attack, by invading the +centre of the kingdom. But the unexperienced youth, influenced +by his mother's counsels, and perhaps by his own fears, deserted +the bravest troops, and the fairest prospect of victory; and +after consuming in Mesopotamia an inactive and inglorious summer, +he led back to Antioch an army diminished by sickness, and +provoked by disappointment. The behavior of Artaxerxes had been +very different. Flying with rapidity from the hills of Media to +the marshes of the Euphrates, he had everywhere opposed the +invaders in person; and in either fortune had united with the +ablest conduct the most undaunted resolution. But in several +obstinate engagements against the veteran legions of Rome, the +Persian monarch had lost the flower of his troops. Even his +victories had weakened his power. The favorable opportunities of +the absence of Alexander, and of the confusions that followed +that emperor's death, presented themselves in vain to his +ambition. Instead of expelling the Romans, as he pretended, from +the continent of Asia, he found himself unable to wrest from +their hands the little province of Mesopotamia. ^53 +[Footnote 51: M. de Tillemont has already observed, that +Herodian's geography is somewhat confused.] + +[Footnote 52: Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 71) +illustrates this invasion of Media, by asserting that Chosroes, +king of Armenia, defeated Artaxerxes, and pursued him to the +confines of India. The exploits of Chosroes have been magnified; +and he acted as a dependent ally to the Romans.] + +[Footnote 53: For the account of this war, see Herodian, l. vi. +p. 209, 212. The old abbreviators and modern compilers have +blindly followed the Augustan History.] + + The reign of Artaxerxes, which, from the last defeat of the +Parthians, lasted only fourteen years, forms a memorable aera in +the history of the East, and even in that of Rome. His character +seems to have been marked by those bold and commanding features, +that generally distinguish the princes who conquer, from those +who inherit an empire. Till the last period of the Persian +monarchy, his code of laws was respected as the groundwork of +their civil and religious policy. ^54 Several of his sayings are +preserved. One of them in particular discovers a deep insight +into the constitution of government. "The authority of the +prince," said Artaxerxes, "must be defended by a military force; +that force can only be maintained by taxes; all taxes must, at +last, fall upon agriculture; and agriculture can never flourish +except under the protection of justice and moderation." ^55 +Artaxerxes bequeathed his new empire, and his ambitious designs +against the Romans, to Sapor, a son not unworthy of his great +father; but those designs were too extensive for the power of +Persia, and served only to involve both nations in a long series +of destructive wars and reciprocal calamities. +[Footnote 54: Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 180, vers. Pocock. The +great Chosroes Noushirwan sent the code of Artaxerxes to all his +satraps, as the invariable rule of their conduct.] + +[Footnote 55: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, au mot Ardshir. + +We may observe, that after an ancient period of fables, and a +long interval of darkness, the modern histories of Persia begin +to assume an air of truth with the dynasty of Sassanides. +[Compare Malcolm, i. 79. - M.] + The Persians, long since civilized and corrupted, were very +far from possessing the martial independence, and the intrepid +hardiness, both of mind and body, which have rendered the +northern barbarians masters of the world. The science of war, +that constituted the more rational force of Greece and Rome, as +it now does of Europe, never made any considerable progress in +the East. Those disciplined evolutions which harmonize and +animate a confused multitude, were unknown to the Persians. They +were equally unskilled in the arts of constructing, besieging, or +defending regular fortifications. They trusted more to their +numbers than to their courage; more to their courage than to +their discipline. The infantry was a half-armed, spiritless +crowd of peasants, levied in haste by the allurements of plunder, +and as easily dispersed by a victory as by a defeat. The monarch +and his nobles transported into the camp the pride and luxury of +the seraglio. Their military operations were impeded by a +useless train of women, eunuchs, horses, and camels; and in the +midst of a successful campaign, the Persian host was often +separated or destroyed by an unexpected famine. ^56 +[Footnote 56: Herodian, l. vi. p. 214. Ammianus Marcellinus, l. +xxiii. c. 6. Some differences may be observed between the two +historians, the natural effects of the changes produced by a +century and a half.] + + But the nobles of Persia, in the bosom of luxury and +despotism, preserved a strong sense of personal gallantry and +national honor. From the age of seven years they were taught to +speak truth, to shoot with the bow, and to ride; and it was +universally confessed, that in the two last of these arts, they +had made a more than common proficiency. ^57 The most +distinguished youth were educated under the monarch's eye, +practised their exercises in the gate of his palace, and were +severely trained up to the habits of temperance and obedience, in +their long and laborious parties of hunting. In every province, +the satrap maintained a like school of military virtue. The +Persian nobles (so natural is the idea of feudal tenures) +received from the king's bounty lands and houses, on the +condition of their service in war. They were ready on the first +summons to mount on horseback, with a martial and splendid train +of followers, and to join the numerous bodies of guards, who were +carefully selected from among the most robust slaves, and the +bravest adventures of Asia. These armies, both of light and of +heavy cavalry, equally formidable by the impetuosity of their +charge and the rapidity of their motions, threatened, as an +impending cloud, the eastern provinces of the declining empire of +Rome. ^58 + +[Footnote 57: The Persians are still the most skilful horsemen, +and their horses the finest in the East.] + +[Footnote 58: From Herodotus, Xenophon, Herodian, Ammianus, +Chardin, &c., I have extracted such probable accounts of the +Persian nobility, as seem either common to every age, or +particular to that of the Sassanides.] + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians. + + +Part I. + +The State Of Germany Till The Invasion Of The Barbarians In The +Time Of The Emperor Decius. + + The government and religion of Persia have deserved some +notice, from their connection with the decline and fall of the +Roman empire. We shall occasionally mention the Scythian or +Sarmatian tribes, ^* which, with their arms and horses, their +flocks and herds, their wives and families, wandered over the +immense plains which spread themselves from the Caspian Sea to +the Vistula, from the confines of Persia to those of Germany. +But the warlike Germans, who first resisted, then invaded, and at +length overturned the Western monarchy of Rome, will occupy a +much more important place in this history, and possess a +stronger, and, if we may use the expression, a more domestic, +claim to our attention and regard. The most civilized nations of +modern Europe issued from the woods of Germany; and in the rude +institutions of those barbarians we may still distinguish the +original principles of our present laws and manners. In their +primitive state of simplicity and independence, the Germans were +surveyed by the discerning eye, and delineated by the masterly +pencil, of Tacitus, ^* the first of historians who applied the +science of philosophy to the study of facts. The expressive +conciseness of his descriptions has served to exercise the +diligence of innumerable antiquarians, and to excite the genius +and penetration of the philosophic historians of our own times. +The subject, however various and important, has already been so +frequently, so ably, and so successfully discussed, that it is +now grown familiar to the reader, and difficult to the writer. +We shall therefore content ourselves with observing, and indeed +with repeating, some of the most important circumstances of +climate, of manners, and of institutions, which rendered the wild +barbarians of Germany such formidable enemies to the Roman power. + +[Footnote *: The Scythians, even according to the ancients, are +not Sarmatians. It may be doubted whether Gibbon intended to +confound them. - M.] The Greeks, after having divided the world +into Greeks and barbarians. divided the barbarians into four +great classes, the Celts, the Scythians, the Indians, and the +Ethiopians. They called Celts all the inhabitants of Gaul. +Scythia extended from the Baltic Sea to the Lake Aral: the people +enclosed in the angle to the north-east, between Celtica and +Scythia, were called Celto- Scythians, and the Sarmatians were +placed in the southern part of that angle. But these names of +Celts, of Scythians, of Celto-Scythians, and Sarmatians, were +invented, says Schlozer, by the profound cosmographical ignorance +of the Greeks, and have no real ground; they are purely +geographical divisions, without any relation to the true +affiliation of the different races. Thus all the inhabitants of +Gaul are called Celts by most of the ancient writers; yet Gaul +contained three totally distinct nations, the Belgae, the +Aquitani, and the Gauls, properly so called. Hi omnes lingua +institutis, legibusque inter se differunt. Caesar. Com. c. i. +It is thus the Turks call all Europeans Franks. Schlozer, +Allgemeine Nordische Geschichte, p. 289. 1771. Bayer (de Origine +et priscis Sedibus Scytharum, in Opusc. p. 64) says, Primus +eorum, de quibus constat, Ephorus, in quarto historiarum libro, +orbem terrarum inter Scythas, Indos, Aethiopas et Celtas divisit. + +Fragmentum ejus loci Cosmas Indicopleustes in topographia +Christiana, f. 148, conservavit. Video igitur Ephorum, cum +locorum positus per certa capita distribuere et explicare +constitueret, insigniorum nomina gentium vastioribus spatiis +adhibuisse, nulla mala fraude et successu infelici. Nam Ephoro +quoquomodo dicta pro exploratis habebant Graeci plerique et +Romani: ita gliscebat error posteritate. Igitur tot tamque +diversae stirpis gentes non modo intra communem quandam regionem +definitae, unum omnes Scytharum nomen his auctoribus subierunt, +sed etiam ab illa regionis adpellatione in eandem nationem sunt +conflatae. Sic Cimmeriorum res cum Scythicis, Scytharum cum +Sarmaticis, Russicis, Hunnicis, Tataricis commiscentur. - G.] +[Footnote *: The Germania of Tacitus has been a fruitful source +of hypothesis to the ingenuity of modern writers, who have +endeavored to account for the form of the work and the views of +the author. According to Luden, (Geschichte des T. V. i. 432, +and note,) it contains the unfinished and disarranged for a +larger work. An anonymous writer, supposed by Luden to be M. +Becker, conceives that it was intended as an episode in his +larger history. According to M. Guizot, "Tacite a peint les +Germains comme Montaigne et Rousseau les sauvages, dans un acces +d'humeur contre sa patrie: son livre est une satire des moeurs +Romaines, l'eloquente boutade d'un patriote philosophe qui veut +voir la vertu la, ou il ne rencontre pas la mollesse honteuse et +la depravation savante d'une vielle societe." Hist. de la +Civilisation Moderne, i. 258. - M.] + + Ancient Germany, excluding from its independent limits the +province westward of the Rhine, which had submitted to the Roman +yoke, extended itself over a third part of Europe. ^1 Almost the +whole of modern Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, +Livonia, Prussia, and the greater part of Poland, were peopled by +the various tribes of one great nation, whose complexion, +manners, and language denoted a common origin, and preserved a +striking resemblance. On the west, ancient Germany was divided +by the Rhine from the Gallic, and on the south, by the Danube, +from the Illyrian, provinces of the empire. A ridge of hills, +rising from the Danube, and called the Carpathian Mountains, +covered Germany on the side of Dacia or Hungary. The eastern +frontier was faintly marked by the mutual fears of the Germans +and the Sarmatians, and was often confounded by the mixture of +warring and confederating tribes of the two nations. In the +remote darkness of the north, the ancients imperfectly descried a +frozen ocean that lay beyond the Baltic Sea, and beyond the +Peninsula, or islands ^1 of Scandinavia. + +[Footnote 1: Germany was not of such vast extent. It is from +Caesar, and more particularly from Ptolemy, (says Gatterer,) that +we can know what was the state of ancient Germany before the wars +with the Romans had changed the positions of the tribes. +Germany, as changed by these wars, has been described by Strabo, +Pliny, and Tacitus. Germany, properly so called, was bounded on +the west by the Rhine, on the east by the Vistula, on the north +by the southern point of Norway, by Sweden, and Esthonia. On the +south, the Maine and the mountains to the north of Bohemia formed +the limits. Before the time of Caesar, the country between the +Maine and the Danube was partly occupied by the Helvetians and +other Gauls, partly by the Hercynian forest but, from the time of +Caesar to the great migration, these boundaries were advanced as +far as the Danube, or, what is the same thing, to the Suabian +Alps, although the Hercynian forest still occupied, from north to +south, a space of nine days' journey on both banks of the Danube. + +"Gatterer, Versuch einer all-gemeinen Welt-Geschichte," p. 424, +edit. de 1792. This vast country was far from being inhabited by +a single nation divided into different tribes of the same origin. + +We may reckon three principal races, very distinct in their +language, their origin, and their customs. 1. To the east, the +Slaves or Vandals. 2. To the west, the Cimmerians or Cimbri. 3. +Between the Slaves and Cimbrians, the Germans, properly so +called, the Suevi of Tacitus. The South was inhabited, before +Julius Caesar, by nations of Gaulish origin, afterwards by the +Suevi. - G. On the position of these nations, the German +antiquaries differ. I. The Slaves, or Sclavonians, or Wendish +tribes, according to Schlozer, were originally settled in parts +of Germany unknown to the Romans, Mecklenburgh, Pomerania, +Brandenburgh, Upper Saxony; and Lusatia. According to Gatterer, +they remained to the east of the Theiss, the Niemen, and the +Vistula, till the third century. The Slaves, according to +Procopius and Jornandes, formed three great divisions. 1. The +Venedi or Vandals, who took the latter name, (the Wenden,) having +expelled the Vandals, properly so called, (a Suevian race, the +conquerors of Africa,) from the country between the Memel and the +Vistula. 2. The Antes, who inhabited between the Dneister and +the Dnieper. 3. The Sclavonians, properly so called, in the +north of Dacia. During the great migration, these races advanced +into Germany as far as the Saal and the Elbe. The Sclavonian +language is the stem from which have issued the Russian, the +Polish, the Bohemian, and the dialects of Lusatia, of some parts +of the duchy of Luneburgh, of Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, +&c.; those of Croatia, Bosnia, and Bulgaria. Schlozer, Nordische +Geschichte, p. 323, 335. II. The Cimbric race. Adelung calls +by this name all who were not Suevi. This race had passed the +Rhine, before the time of Caesar, occupied Belgium, and are the +Belgae of Caesar and Pliny. The Cimbrians also occupied the Isle +of Jutland. The Cymri of Wales and of Britain are of this race. +Many tribes on the right bank of the Rhine, the Guthini in +Jutland, the Usipeti in Westphalia, the Sigambri in the duchy of +Berg, were German Cimbrians. III. The Suevi, known in very +early times by the Romans, for they are mentioned by L. Corn. +Sisenna, who lived 123 years before Christ, (Nonius v. Lancea.) +This race, the real Germans, extended to the Vistula, and from +the Baltic to the Hercynian forest. The name of Suevi was +sometimes confined to a single tribe, as by Caesar to the Catti. +The name of the Suevi has been preserved in Suabia. + + These three were the principal races which inhabited +Germany; they moved from east to west, and are the parent stem of +the modern natives. But northern Europe, according to Schlozer, +was not peopled by them alone; other races, of different origin, +and speaking different languages, have inhabited and left +descendants in these countries. + + The German tribes called themselves, from very remote times, +by the generic name of Teutons, (Teuten, Deutschen,) which +Tacitus derives from that of one of their gods, Tuisco. It +appears more probable that it means merely men, people. Many +savage nations have given themselves no other name. Thus the +Laplanders call themselves Almag, people; the Samoiedes Nilletz, +Nissetsch, men, &c. As to the name of Germans, (Germani,) Caesar +found it in use in Gaul, and adopted it as a word already known +to the Romans. Many of the learned (from a passage of Tacitus, +de Mor Germ. c. 2) have supposed that it was only applied to the +Teutons after Caesar's time; but Adelung has triumphantly refuted +this opinion. The name of Germans is found in the Fasti +Capitolini. See Gruter, Iscrip. 2899, in which the consul +Marcellus, in the year of Rome 531, is said to have defeated the +Gauls, the Insubrians, and the Germans, commanded by Virdomar. +See Adelung, Aelt. Geschichte der Deutsch, p. 102. - Compressed +from G.] + +[Footnote 1: The modern philosophers of Sweden seem agreed that +the waters of the Baltic gradually sink in a regular proportion, +which they have ventured to estimate at half an inch every year. +Twenty centuries ago the flat country of Scandinavia must have +been covered by the sea; while the high lands rose above the +waters, as so many islands of various forms and dimensions. +Such, indeed, is the notion given us by Mela, Pliny, and Tacitus, +of the vast countries round the Baltic. See in the Bibliotheque +Raisonnee, tom. xl. and xlv. a large abstract of Dalin's History +of Sweden, composed in the Swedish language. + + Note: Modern geologists have rejected this theory of the +depression of the Baltic, as inconsistent with recent +observation. The considerable changes which have taken place on +its shores, Mr. Lyell, from actual observation now decidedly +attributes to the regular and uniform elevation of the land. - +Lyell's Geology, b. ii. c. 17 - M.] + + Some ingenious writers ^2 have suspected that Europe was +much colder formerly than it is at present; and the most ancient +descriptions of the climate of Germany tend exceedingly to +confirm their theory. The general complaints of intense frost +and eternal winter, are perhaps little to be regarded, since we +have no method of reducing to the accurate standard of the +thermometer, the feelings, or the expressions, of an orator born +in the happier regions of Greece or Asia. But I shall select two +remarkable circumstances of a less equivocal nature. 1. The +great rivers which covered the Roman provinces, the Rhine and the +Danube, were frequently frozen over, and capable of supporting +the most enormous weights. The barbarians, who often chose that +severe season for their inroads, transported, without +apprehension or danger, their numerous armies, their cavalry, and +their heavy wagons, over a vast and solid bridge of ice. ^3 +Modern ages have not presented an instance of a like phenomenon. +2. The reindeer, that useful animal, from whom the savage of the +North derives the best comforts of his dreary life, is of a +constitution that supports, and even requires, the most intense +cold. He is found on the rock of Spitzberg, within ten degrees +of the Pole; he seems to delight in the snows of Lapland and +Siberia: but at present he cannot subsist, much less multiply, in +any country to the south of the Baltic. ^4 In the time of Caesar +the reindeer, as well as the elk and the wild bull, was a native +of the Hercynian forest, which then overshadowed a great part of +Germany and Poland. ^5 The modern improvements sufficiently +explain the causes of the diminution of the cold. These immense +woods have been gradually cleared, which intercepted from the +earth the rays of the sun. ^6 The morasses have been drained, +and, in proportion as the soil has been cultivated, the air has +become more temperate. Canada, at this day, is an exact picture +of ancient Germany. Although situated in the same parallel with +the finest provinces of France and England, that country +experiences the most rigorous cold. The reindeer are very +numerous, the ground is covered with deep and lasting snow, and +the great river of St. Lawrence is regularly frozen, in a season +when the waters of the Seine and the Thames are usually free from +ice. ^7 +[Footnote 2: In particular, Mr. Hume, the Abbe du Bos, and M. +Pelloutier. Hist. des Celtes, tom. i.] + +[Footnote 3: Diodorus Siculus, l. v. p. 340, edit. Wessel. +Herodian, l. vi. p. 221. Jornandes, c. 55. On the banks of the +Danube, the wine, when brought to table, was frequently frozen +into great lumps, frusta vini. Ovid. Epist. ex Ponto, l. iv. 7, +9, 10. Virgil. Georgic. l. iii. 355. The fact is confirmed by a +soldier and a philosopher, who had experienced the intense cold +of Thrace. See Xenophon, Anabasis, l. vii. p. 560, edit. +Hutchinson. + Note: The Danube is constantly frozen over. At Pesth the +bridge is usually taken up, and the traffic and communication +between the two banks carried on over the ice. The Rhine is +likewise in many parts passable at least two years out of five. +Winter campaigns are so unusual, in modern warfare, that I +recollect but one instance of an army crossing either river on +the ice. In the thirty years' war, (1635,) Jan van Werth, an +Imperialist partisan, crossed the Rhine from Heidelberg on the +ice with 5000 men, and surprised Spiers. Pichegru's memorable +campaign, (1794-5,) when the freezing of the Meuse and Waal +opened Holland to his conquests, and his cavalry and artillery +attacked the ships frozen in, on the Zuyder Zee, was in a winter +of unprecedented severity. - M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 4: Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, tom. xii. p. 79, 116.] +[Footnote 5: Caesar de Bell. Gallic. vi. 23, &c. The most +inquisitive of the Germans were ignorant of its utmost limits, +although some of them had travelled in it more than sixty days' +journey. + + Note: The passage of Caesar, "parvis renonum tegumentis +utuntur," is obscure, observes Luden, (Geschichte des Teutschen +Volkes,) and insufficient to prove the reindeer to have existed +in Germany. It is supported however, by a fragment of Sallust. +Germani intectum rhenonibus corpus tegunt. - M. It has been +suggested to me that Caesar (as old Gesner supposed) meant the +reindeer in the following description. Est bos cervi figura +cujus a media fronte inter aures unum cornu existit, excelsius +magisque directum (divaricatum, qu ?) his quae nobis nota sunt +cornibus. At ejus summo, sicut palmae, rami quam late +diffunduntur. Bell. vi. - M. 1845.] +[Footnote 6: Cluverius (Germania Antiqua, l. iii. c. 47) +investigates the small and scattered remains of the Hercynian +wood.] + +[Footnote 7: Charlevoix, Histoire du Canada.] + + It is difficult to ascertain, and easy to exaggerate, the +influence of the climate of ancient Germany over the minds and +bodies of the natives. Many writers have supposed, and most have +allowed, though, as it should seem, without any adequate proof, +that the rigorous cold of the North was favorable to long life +and generative vigor, that the women were more fruitful, and the +human species more prolific, than in warmer or more temperate +climates. ^8 We may assert, with greater confidence, that the +keen air of Germany formed the large and masculine limbs of the +natives, who were, in general, of a more lofty stature than the +people of the South, ^9 gave them a kind of strength better +adapted to violent exertions than to patient labor, and inspired +them with constitutional bravery, which is the result of nerves +and spirits. The severity of a winter campaign, that chilled the +courage of the Roman troops, was scarcely felt by these hardy +children of the North, ^10 who, in their turn, were unable to +resist the summer heats, and dissolved away in languor and +sickness under the beams of an Italian sun. ^11 + +[Footnote 8: Olaus Rudbeck asserts that the Swedish women often +bear ten or twelve children, and not uncommonly twenty or thirty; +but the authority of Rudbeck is much to be suspected.] + +[Footnote 9: In hos artus, in haec corpora, quae miramur, +excrescunt. Taeit Germania, 3, 20. Cluver. l. i. c. 14.] + +[Footnote 10: Plutarch. in Mario. The Cimbri, by way of +amusement, often did down mountains of snow on their broad +shields.] + +[Footnote 11: The Romans made war in all climates, and by their +excellent discipline were in a great measure preserved in health +and vigor. It may be remarked, that man is the only animal which +can live and multiply in every country from the equator to the +poles. The hog seems to approach the nearest to our species in +that privilege.] + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians. + +Part II. + + There is not any where upon the globe a large tract of +country, which we have discovered destitute of inhabitants, or +whose first population can be fixed with any degree of historical +certainty. And yet, as the most philosophic minds can seldom +refrain from investigating the infancy of great nations, our +curiosity consumes itself in toilsome and disappointed efforts. +When Tacitus considered the purity of the German blood, and the +forbidding aspect of the country, he was disposed to pronounce +those barbarians Indigence, or natives of the soil. We may allow +with safety, and perhaps with truth, that ancient Germany was not +originally peopled by any foreign colonies already formed into a +political society; ^12 but that the name and nation received +their existence from the gradual union of some wandering savages +of the Hercynian woods. To assert those savages to have been the +spontaneous production of the earth which they inhabited would be +a rash inference, condemned by religion, and unwarranted by +reason. +[Footnote 12: Facit. Germ. c. 3. The emigration of the Gauls +followed the course of the Danube, and discharged itself on +Greece and Asia. Tacitus could discover only one inconsiderable +tribe that retained any traces of a Gallic origin. + + Note: The Gothini, who must not be confounded with the +Gothi, a Suevian tribe. In the time of Caesar many other tribes +of Gaulish origin dwelt along the course of the Danube, who could +not long resist the attacks of the Suevi. The Helvetians, who +dwelt on the borders of the Black Forest, between the Maine and +the Danube, had been expelled long before the time of Caesar. He +mentions also the Volci Tectosagi, who came from Languedoc and +settled round the Black Forest. The Boii, who had penetrated +into that forest, and also have left traces of their name in +Bohemia, were subdued in the first century by the Marcomanni. +The Boii settled in Noricum, were mingled afterwards with the +Lombards, and received the name of Boio Arii (Bavaria) or +Boiovarii: var, in some German dialects, appearing to mean +remains, descendants. Compare Malte B-m, Geography, vol. i. p. +410, edit 1832 - M.] + + Such rational doubt is but ill suited with the genius of +popular vanity. Among the nations who have adopted the Mosaic +history of the world, the ark of Noah has been of the same use, +as was formerly to the Greeks and Romans the siege of Troy. On a +narrow basis of acknowledged truth, an immense but rude +superstructure of fable has been erected; and the wild Irishman, +^13 as well as the wild Tartar, ^14 could point out the +individual son of Japhet, from whose loins his ancestors were +lineally descended. The last century abounded with antiquarians +of profound learning and easy faith, who, by the dim light of +legends and traditions, of conjectures and etymologies, conducted +the great grandchildren of Noah from the Tower of Babel to the +extremities of the globe. Of these judicious critics, one of the +most entertaining was Oaus Rudbeck, professor in the university +of Upsal. ^15 Whatever is celebrated either in history or fable, +this zealous patriot ascribes to his country. From Sweden (which +formed so considerable a part of ancient Germany) the Greeks +themselves derived their alphabetical characters, their +astronomy, and their religion. Of that delightful region (for +such it appeared to the eyes of a native) the Atlantis of Plato, +the country of the Hyperboreans, the gardens of the Hesperides, +the Fortunate Islands, and even the Elysian Fields, were all but +faint and imperfect transcripts. A clime so profusely favored by +Nature could not long remain desert after the flood. The learned +Rudbeck allows the family of Noah a few years to multiply from +eight to about twenty thousand persons. He then disperses them +into small colonies to replenish the earth, and to propagate the +human species. The German or Swedish detachment (which marched, +if I am not mistaken, under the command of Askenaz, the son of +Gomer, the son of Japhet) distinguished itself by a more than +common diligence in the prosecution of this great work. The +northern hive cast its swarms over the greatest part of Europe, +Africa, and Asia; and (to use the author's metaphor) the blood +circulated from the extremities to the heart. + +[Footnote 13: According to Dr. Keating, (History of Ireland, p. +13, 14,) the giant Portholanus, who was the son of Seara, the son +of Esra, the son of Sru, the son of Framant, the son of +Fathaclan, the son of Magog, the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, +landed on the coast of Munster the 14th day of May, in the year +of the world one thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight. Though +he succeeded in his great enterprise, the loose behavior of his +wife rendered his domestic life very unhappy, and provoked him to +such a degree, that he killed - her favorite greyhound. This, as +the learned historian very properly observes, was the first +instance of female falsehood and infidelity ever known in +Ireland.] + +[Footnote 14: Genealogical History of the Tartars, by Abulghazi +Bahadur Khan.] + +[Footnote 15: His work, entitled Atlantica, is uncommonly scarce. + +Bayle has given two most curious extracts from it. Republique +des Lettres Janvier et Fevrier, 1685.] + + But all this well-labored system of German antiquities is +annihilated by a single fact, too well attested to admit of any +doubt, and of too decisive a nature to leave room for any reply. +The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the +use of letters; ^16 and the use of letters is the principal +circumstance that distinguishes a civilized people from a herd of +savages incapable of knowledge or reflection. Without that +artificial help, the human memory soon dissipates or corrupts the +ideas intrusted to her charge; and the nobler faculties of the +mind, no longer supplied with models or with materials, gradually +forget their powers; the judgment becomes feeble and lethargic, +the imagination languid or irregular. Fully to apprehend this +important truth, let us attempt, in an improved society, to +calculate the immense distance between the man of learning and +the illiterate peasant. The former, by reading and reflection, +multiplies his own experience, and lives in distant ages and +remote countries; whilst the latter, rooted to a single spot, and +confined to a few years of existence, surpasses but very little +his fellow-laborer, the ox, in the exercise of his mental +faculties. The same, and even a greater, difference will be +found between nations than between individuals; and we may safely +pronounce, that without some species of writing, no people has +ever preserved the faithful annals of their history, ever made +any considerable progress in the abstract sciences, or ever +possessed, in any tolerable degree of perfection, the useful and +agreeable arts of life. + +[Footnote 16: Tacit. Germ. ii. 19. Literarum secreta viri +pariter ac foeminae ignorant. We may rest contented with this +decisive authority, without entering into the obscure disputes +concerning the antiquity of the Runic characters. The learned +Celsius, a Swede, a scholar, and a philosopher, was of opinion, +that they were nothing more than the Roman letters, with the +curves changed into straight lines for the ease of engraving. +See Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, l. ii. c. 11. Dictionnaire +Diplomatique, tom. i. p. 223. We may add, that the oldest Runic +inscriptions are supposed to be of the third century, and the +most ancient writer who mentions the Runic characters is Venan +tius Frotunatus, (Carm. vii. 18,) who lived towards the end of +the sixth century. + + Barbara fraxineis pingatur Runa tabellis. + + Note: The obscure subject of the Runic characters has +exercised the industry and ingenuity of the modern scholars of +the north. There are three distinct theories; one, maintained by +Schlozer, (Nordische Geschichte, p. 481, &c.,) who considers +their sixteen letters to be a corruption of the Roman alphabet, +post-Christian in their date, and Schlozer would attribute their +introduction into the north to the Alemanni. The second, that of +Frederick Schlegel, (Vorlesungen uber alte und neue Literatur,) +supposes that these characters were left on the coasts of the +Mediterranean and Northern Seas by the Phoenicians, preserved by +the priestly castes, and employed for purposes of magic. Their +common origin from the Phoenician would account for heir +similarity to the Roman letters. The last, to which we incline, +claims much higher and more venerable antiquity for the Runic, +and supposes them to have been the original characters of the +Indo-Teutonic tribes, brought from the East, and preserved among +the different races of that stock. See Ueber Deutsche Runen von +W. C. Grimm, 1821. A Memoir by Dr. Legis. Fundgruben des alten +Nordens. Foreign Quarterly Review vol. ix. p. 438. - M.] + Of these arts, the ancient Germans were wretchedly +destitute. They passed their lives in a state of ignorance and +poverty, which it has pleased some declaimers to dignify with the +appellation of virtuous simplicity. Modern Germany is said to +contain about two thousand three hundred walled towns. ^17 In a +much wider extent of country, the geographer Ptolemy could +discover no more than ninety places which he decorates with the +name of cities; ^18 though, according to our ideas, they would +but ill deserve that splendid title. We can only suppose them to +have been rude fortifications, constructed in the centre of the +woods, and designed to secure the women, children, and cattle, +whilst the warriors of the tribe marched out to repel a sudden +invasion. ^19 But Tacitus asserts, as a well-known fact, that the +Germans, in his time, had no cities; ^20 and that they affected +to despise the works of Roman industry, as places of confinement +rather than of security. ^21 Their edifices were not even +contiguous, or formed into regular villas; ^22 each barbarian +fixed his independent dwelling on the spot to which a plain, a +wood, or a stream of fresh water, had induced him to give the +preference. Neither stone, nor brick, nor tiles, were employed +in these slight habitations. ^23 They were indeed no more than +low huts, of a circular figure, built of rough timber, thatched +with straw, and pierced at the top to leave a free passage for +the smoke. In the most inclement winter, the hardy German was +satisfied with a scanty garment made of the skin of some animal. +The nations who dwelt towards the North clothed themselves in +furs; and the women manufactured for their own use a coarse kind +of linen. ^24 The game of various sorts, with which the forests +of Germany were plentifully stocked, supplied its inhabitants +with food and exercise. ^25 Their monstrous herds of cattle, less +remarkable indeed for their beauty than for their utility, ^26 +formed the principal object of their wealth. A small quantity of +corn was the only produce exacted from the earth; the use of +orchards or artificial meadows was unknown to the Germans; nor +can we expect any improvements in agriculture from a people, +whose prosperity every year experienced a general change by a new +division of the arable lands, and who, in that strange operation, +avoided disputes, by suffering a great part of their territory to +lie waste and without tillage. ^27 + +[Footnote *: Luden (the author of the Geschichte des Teutschen +Volkes) has surpassed most writers in his patriotic enthusiasm +for the virtues and noble manners of his ancestors. Even the +cold of the climate, and the want of vines and fruit trees, as +well as the barbarism of the inhabitants, are calumnies of the +luxurious Italians. M. Guizot, on the other side, (in his +Histoire de la Civilisation, vol. i. p. 272, &c.,) has drawn a +curious parallel between the Germans of Tacitus and the North +American Indians. - M.] [Footnote 17: Recherches Philosophiques +sur les Americains, tom. iii. p. 228. The author of that very +curious work is, if I am not misinformed, a German by birth. (De +Pauw.)] + +[Footnote 18: The Alexandrian Geographer is often criticized by +the accurate Cluverius.] + +[Footnote 19: See Caesar, and the learned Mr. Whitaker in his +History of Manchester, vol. i.] + +[Footnote 20: Tacit. Germ. 15.] + +[Footnote 21: When the Germans commanded the Ubii of Cologne to +cast off the Roman yoke, and with their new freedom to resume +their ancient manners, they insisted on the immediate demolition +of the walls of the colony. "Postulamus a vobis, muros coloniae, +munimenta servitii, detrahatis; etiam fera animalia, si clausa +teneas, virtutis obliviscuntur." Tacit. Hist. iv. 64.] +[Footnote 22: The straggling villages of Silesia are several +miles in length. See Cluver. l. i. c. 13.] + +[Footnote 23: One hundred and forty years after Tacitus, a few +more regular structures were erected near the Rhine and Danube. +Herodian, l. vii. p. 234.] + +[Footnote 24: Tacit. Germ. 17.] + +[Footnote 25: Tacit. Germ. 5.] + +[Footnote 26: Caesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 21.] + +[Footnote 27: Tacit. Germ. 26. Caesar, vi. 22.] + + Gold, silver, and iron, were extremely scarce in Germany. +Its barbarous inhabitants wanted both skill and patience to +investigate those rich veins of silver, which have so liberally +rewarded the attention of the princes of Brunswick and Saxony. +Sweden, which now supplies Europe with iron, was equally ignorant +of its own riches; and the appearance of the arms of the Germans +furnished a sufficient proof how little iron they were able to +bestow on what they must have deemed the noblest use of that +metal. The various transactions of peace and war had introduced +some Roman coins (chiefly silver) among the borderers of the +Rhine and Danube; but the more distant tribes were absolutely +unacquainted with the use of money, carried on their confined +traffic by the exchange of commodities, and prized their rude +earthen vessels as of equal value with the silver vases, the +presents of Rome to their princes and ambassadors. ^28 To a mind +capable of reflection, such leading facts convey more +instruction, than a tedious detail of subordinate circumstances. +The value of money has been settled by general consent to express +our wants and our property, as letters were invented to express +our ideas; and both these institutions, by giving a more active +energy to the powers and passions of human nature, have +contributed to multiply the objects they were designed to +represent. The use of gold and silver is in a great measure +factitious; but it would be impossible to enumerate the important +and various services which agriculture, and all the arts, have +received from iron, when tempered and fashioned by the operation +of fire, and the dexterous hand of man. Money, in a word, is the +most universal incitement, iron the most powerful instrument, of +human industry; and it is very difficult to conceive by what +means a people, neither actuated by the one, nor seconded by the +other, could emerge from the grossest barbarism. ^29 + +[Footnote 28: Tacit. Germ. 6.] + +[Footnote 29: It is said that the Mexicans and Peruvians, without +the use of either money or iron, had made a very great progress +in the arts. Those arts, and the monuments they produced, have +been strangely magnified. See Recherches sur les Americains, +tom. ii. p. 153, &c] + + If we contemplate a savage nation in any part of the globe, +a supine indolence and a carelessness of futurity will be found +to constitute their general character. In a civilized state, +every faculty of man is expanded and exercised; and the great +chain of mutual dependence connects and embraces the several +members of society. The most numerous portion of it is employed +in constant and useful labor. The select few, placed by fortune +above that necessity, can, however, fill up their time by the +pursuits of interest or glory, by the improvement of their estate +or of their understanding, by the duties, the pleasures, and even +the follies of social life. The Germans were not possessed of +these varied resources. The care of the house and family, the +management of the land and cattle, were delegated to the old and +the infirm, to women and slaves. The lazy warrior, destitute of +every art that might employ his leisure hours, consumed his days +and nights in the animal gratifications of sleep and food. And +yet, by a wonderful diversity of nature, (according to the remark +of a writer who had pierced into its darkest recesses,) the same +barbarians are by turns the most indolent and the most restless +of mankind. They delight in sloth, they detest tranquility. ^30 +The languid soul, oppressed with its own weight, anxiously +required some new and powerful sensation; and war and danger were +the only amusements adequate to its fierce temper. The sound +that summoned the German to arms was grateful to his ear. It +roused him from his uncomfortable lethargy, gave him an active +pursuit, and, by strong exercise of the body, and violent +emotions of the mind, restored him to a more lively sense of his +existence. In the dull intervals of peace, these barbarians were +immoderately addicted to deep gaming and excessive drinking; both +of which, by different means, the one by inflaming their +passions, the other by extinguishing their reason, alike relieved +them from the pain of thinking. They gloried in passing whole +days and nights at table; and the blood of friends and relations +often stained their numerous and drunken assemblies. ^31 Their +debts of honor (for in that light they have transmitted to us +those of play) they discharged with the most romantic fidelity. +The desperate gamester, who had staked his person and liberty on +a last throw of the dice, patiently submitted to the decision of +fortune, and suffered himself to be bound, chastised, and sold +into remote slavery, by his weaker but more lucky antagonist. ^32 + +[Footnote 30: Tacit. Germ. 15.] + +[Footnote 31: Tacit. Germ. 22, 23.] + +[Footnote 32: Id. 24. The Germans might borrow the arts of play +from the Romans, but the passion is wonderfully inherent in the +human species.] Strong beer, a liquor extracted with very +little art from wheat or barley, and corrupted (as it is strongly +expressed by Tacitus) into a certain semblance of wine, was +sufficient for the gross purposes of German debauchery. But +those who had tasted the rich wines of Italy, and afterwards of +Gaul, sighed for that more delicious species of intoxication. +They attempted not, however, (as has since been executed with so +much success,) to naturalize the vine on the banks of the Rhine +and Danube; nor did they endeavor to procure by industry the +materials of an advantageous commerce. To solicit by labor what +might be ravished by arms, was esteemed unworthy of the German +spirit. ^33 The intemperate thirst of strong liquors often urged +the barbarians to invade the provinces on which art or nature had +bestowed those much envied presents. The Tuscan who betrayed his +country to the Celtic nations, attracted them into Italy by the +prospect of the rich fruits and delicious wines, the productions +of a happier climate. ^34 And in the same manner the German +auxiliaries, invited into France during the civil wars of the +sixteenth century, were allured by the promise of plenteous +quarters in the provinces of Champaigne and Burgundy. ^35 +Drunkenness, the most illiberal, but not the most dangerous of +our vices, was sometimes capable, in a less civilized state of +mankind, of occasioning a battle, a war, or a revolution. + +[Footnote 33: Tacit. Germ. 14.] + +[Footnote 34: Plutarch. in Camillo. T. Liv. v. 33.] + +[Footnote 35: Dubos. Hist. de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. i. p. +193.] + The climate of ancient Germany has been modified, and the +soil fertilized, by the labor of ten centuries from the time of +Charlemagne. The same extent of ground which at present +maintains, in ease and plenty, a million of husbandmen and +artificers, was unable to supply a hundred thousand lazy warriors +with the simple necessaries of life. ^36 The Germans abandoned +their immense forests to the exercise of hunting, employed in +pasturage the most considerable part of their lands, bestowed on +the small remainder a rude and careless cultivation, and then +accused the scantiness and sterility of a country that refused to +maintain the multitude of its inhabitants. When the return of +famine severely admonished them of the importance of the arts, +the national distress was sometimes alleviated by the emigration +of a third, perhaps, or a fourth part of their youth. ^37 The +possession and the enjoyment of property are the pledges which +bind a civilized people to an improved country. But the Germans, +who carried with them what they most valued, their arms, their +cattle, and their women, cheerfully abandoned the vast silence of +their woods for the unbounded hopes of plunder and conquest. The +innumerable swarms that issued, or seemed to issue, from the +great storehouse of nations, were multiplied by the fears of the +vanquished, and by the credulity of succeeding ages. And from +facts thus exaggerated, an opinion was gradually established, and +has been supported by writers of distinguished reputation, that, +in the age of Caesar and Tacitus, the inhabitants of the North +were far more numerous than they are in our days. ^38 A more +serious inquiry into the causes of population seems to have +convinced modern philosophers of the falsehood, and indeed the +impossibility, of the supposition. To the names of Mariana and +of Machiavel, ^39 we can oppose the equal names of Robertson and +Hume. ^40 + +[Footnote 36: The Helvetian nation, which issued from a country +called Switzerland, contained, of every age and sex, 368,000 +persons, (Caesar de Bell. Gal. i. 29.) At present, the number of +people in the Pays de Vaud (a small district on the banks of the +Leman Lake, much more distinguished for politeness than for +industry) amounts to 112,591. See an excellent tract of M. +Muret, in the Memoires de la Societe de Born.] + +[Footnote 37: Paul Diaconus, c. 1, 2, 3. Machiavel, Davila, and +the rest of Paul's followers, represent these emigrations too +much as regular and concerted measures.] + +[Footnote 38: Sir William Temple and Montesquieu have indulged, +on this subject, the usual liveliness of their fancy.] + +[Footnote 39: Machiavel, Hist. di Firenze, l. i. Mariana, Hist. +Hispan. l. v. c. 1] + +[Footnote 40: Robertson's Charles V. Hume's Political Essays. + Note: It is a wise observation of Malthus, that these +nations "were not populous in proportion to the land they +occupied, but to the food they produced. They were prolific from +their pure morals and constitutions, but their institutions were +not calculated to produce food for those whom they brought into +being. - M - 1845.] + + A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, +letters, arts, or money, found some compensation for this savage +state in the enjoyment of liberty. Their poverty secured their +freedom, since our desires and our possessions are the strongest +fetters of despotism. "Among the Suiones (says Tacitus) riches +are held in honor. They are therefore subject to an absolute +monarch, who, instead of intrusting his people with the free use +of arms, as is practised in the rest of Germany, commits them to +the safe custody, not of a citizen, or even of a freedman, but of +a slave. The neighbors of the Suiones, the Sitones, are sunk +even below servitude; they obey a woman." ^41 In the mention of +these exceptions, the great historian sufficiently acknowledges +the general theory of government. We are only at a loss to +conceive by what means riches and despotism could penetrate into +a remote corner of the North, and extinguish the generous flame +that blazed with such fierceness on the frontier of the Roman +provinces, or how the ancestors of those Danes and Norwegians, so +distinguished in latter ages by their unconquered spirit, could +thus tamely resign the great character of German liberty. ^42 +Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic, acknowledged +the authority of kings, though without relinquishing the rights +of men, ^43 but in the far greater part of Germany, the form of +government was a democracy, tempered, indeed, and controlled, not +so much by general and positive laws, as by the occasional +ascendant of birth or valor, of eloquence or superstition. ^44 + +[Footnote 41: Tacit. German. 44, 45. Freinshemius (who dedicated +his supplement to Livy to Christina of Sweden) thinks proper to +be very angry with the Roman who expressed so very little +reverence for Northern queens. + Note: The Suiones and the Sitones are the ancient +inhabitants of Scandinavia, their name may be traced in that of +Sweden; they did not belong to the race of the Suevi, but that of +the non-Suevi or Cimbri, whom the Suevi, in very remote times, +drove back part to the west, part to the north; they were +afterwards mingled with Suevian tribes, among others the Goths, +who have traces of their name and power in the isle of Gothland. +- G] +[Footnote 42: May we not suspect that superstition was the parent +of despotism? The descendants of Odin, (whose race was not +extinct till the year 1060) are said to have reigned in Sweden +above a thousand years. The temple of Upsal was the ancient seat +of religion and empire. In the year 1153 I find a singular law, +prohibiting the use and profession of arms to any except the +king's guards. Is it not probable that it was colored by the +pretence of reviving an old institution? See Dalin's History of +Sweden in the Bibliotheque Raisonneo tom. xl. and xlv.] + +[Footnote 43: Tacit. Germ. c. 43.] + +[Footnote 44: Id. c. 11, 12, 13, & c.] + + Civil governments, in their first institution, are voluntary +associations for mutual defence. To obtain the desired end, it +is absolutely necessary that each individual should conceive +himself obliged to submit his private opinions and actions to the +judgment of the greater number of his associates. The German +tribes were contented with this rude but liberal outline of +political society. As soon as a youth, born of free parents, had +attained the age of manhood, he was introduced into the general +council of his countrymen, solemnly invested with a shield and +spear, and adopted as an equal and worthy member of the military +commonwealth. The assembly of the warriors of the tribe was +convened at stated seasons, or on sudden emergencies. The trial +of public offences, the election of magistrates, and the great +business of peace and war, were determined by its independent +voice. Sometimes indeed, these important questions were +previously considered and prepared in a more select council of +the principal chieftains. ^45 The magistrates might deliberate +and persuade, the people only could resolve and execute; and the +resolutions of the Germans were for the most part hasty and +violent. Barbarians accustomed to place their freedom in +gratifying the present passion, and their courage in overlooking +all future consequences, turned away with indignant contempt from +the remonstrances of justice and policy, and it was the practice +to signify by a hollow murmur their dislike of such timid +counsels. But whenever a more popular orator proposed to +vindicate the meanest citizen from either foreign or domestic +injury, whenever he called upon his fellow-countrymen to assert +the national honor, or to pursue some enterprise full of danger +and glory, a loud clashing of shields and spears expressed the +eager applause of the assembly. For the Germans always met in +arms, and it was constantly to be dreaded, lest an irregular +multitude, inflamed with faction and strong liquors, should use +those arms to enforce, as well as to declare, their furious +resolves. We may recollect how often the diets of Poland have +been polluted with blood, and the more numerous party has been +compelled to yield to the more violent and seditious. ^46 + +[Footnote 45: Grotius changes an expression of Tacitus, +pertractantur into Proetractantur. The correction is equally +just and ingenious.] +[Footnote 46: Even in our ancient parliament, the barons often +carried a question, not so much by the number of votes, as by +that of their armed followers.] + + A general of the tribe was elected on occasions of danger; +and, if the danger was pressing and extensive, several tribes +concurred in the choice of the same general. The bravest warrior +was named to lead his countrymen into the field, by his example +rather than by his commands. But this power, however limited, +was still invidious. It expired with the war, and in time of +peace the German tribes acknowledged not any supreme chief. ^47 +Princes were, however, appointed, in the general assembly, to +administer justice, or rather to compose differences, ^48 in +their respective districts. In the choice of these magistrates, +as much regard was shown to birth as to merit. ^49 To each was +assigned, by the public, a guard, and a council of a hundred +persons, and the first of the princes appears to have enjoyed a +preeminence of rank and honor which sometimes tempted the Romans +to compliment him with the regal title. ^50 + +[Footnote 47: Caesar de Bell. Gal. vi. 23.] + +[Footnote 48: Minuunt controversias, is a very happy expression +of Caesar's.] +[Footnote 49: Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. +Tacit Germ. 7] +[Footnote 50: Cluver. Germ. Ant. l. i. c. 38.] + + The comparative view of the powers of the magistrates, in +two remarkable instances, is alone sufficient to represent the +whole system of German manners. The disposal of the landed +property within their district was absolutely vested in their +hands, and they distributed it every year according to a new +division. ^51 At the same time they were not authorized to punish +with death, to imprison, or even to strike a private citizen. ^52 +A people thus jealous of their persons, and careless of their +possessions, must have been totally destitute of industry and the +arts, but animated with a high sense of honor and independence. + +[Footnote 51: Caesar, vi. 22. Tacit Germ. 26.] + +[Footnote 52: Tacit. Germ. 7.] + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians. + +Part III. + + The Germans respected only those duties which they imposed +on themselves. The most obscure soldier resisted with disdain +the authority of the magistrates. "The noblest youths blushed +not to be numbered among the faithful companions of some renowned +chief, to whom they devoted their arms and service. A noble +emulation prevailed among the companions, to obtain the first +place in the esteem of their chief; amongst the chiefs, to +acquire the greatest number of valiant companions. To be ever +surrounded by a band of select youths was the pride and strength +of the chiefs, their ornament in peace, their defence in war. +The glory of such distinguished heroes diffused itself beyond the +narrow limits of their own tribe. Presents and embassies +solicited their friendship, and the fame of their arms often +insured victory to the party which they espoused. In the hour of +danger it was shameful for the chief to be surpassed in valor by +his companions; shameful for the companions not to equal the +valor of their chief. To survive his fall in battle, was +indelible infamy. To protect his person, and to adorn his glory +with the trophies of their own exploits, were the most sacred of +their duties. The chiefs combated for victory, the companions +for the chief. The noblest warriors, whenever their native +country was sunk into the laziness of peace, maintained their +numerous bands in some distant scene of action, to exercise their +restless spirit, and to acquire renown by voluntary dangers. +Gifts worthy of soldiers - the warlike steed, the bloody and even +victorious lance - were the rewards which the companions claimed +from the liberality of their chief. The rude plenty of his +hospitable board was the only pay that he could bestow, or they +would accept. War, rapine, and the free-will offerings of his +friends, supplied the materials of this munificence. ^53 This +institution, however it might accidentally weaken the several +republics, invigorated the general character of the Germans, and +even ripened amongst them all the virtues of which barbarians are +susceptible; the faith and valor, the hospitality and the +courtesy, so conspicuous long afterwards in the ages of chivalry. + +The honorable gifts, bestowed by the chief on his brave +companions, have been supposed, by an ingenious writer, to +contain the first rudiments of the fiefs, distributed after the +conquest of the Roman provinces, by the barbarian lords among +their vassals, with a similar duty of homage and military +service. ^54 These conditions are, however, very repugnant to the +maxims of the ancient Germans, who delighted in mutual presents; +but without either imposing, or accepting, the weight of +obligations. ^55 + +[Footnote 53: Tacit. Germ. 13, 14.] + +[Footnote 54: Esprit des Loix, l. xxx. c. 3. The brilliant +imagination of Montesquieu is corrected, however, by the dry, +cold reason of the Abbe de Mably. Observations sur l'Histoire de +France, tom. i. p. 356.] +[Footnote 55: Gaudent muneribus, sed nec data imputant, nec +acceptis obligautur. Tacit. Germ. c. 21.] + + "In the days of chivalry, or more properly of romance, all +the men were brave, and all the women were chaste;" and +notwithstanding the latter of these virtues is acquired and +preserved with much more difficulty than the former, it is +ascribed, almost without exception, to the wives of the ancient +Germans. Polygamy was not in use, except among the princes, and +among them only for the sake of multiplying their alliances. +Divorces were prohibited by manners rather than by laws. +Adulteries were punished as rare and inexpiable crimes; nor was +seduction justified by example and fashion. ^56 We may easily +discover that Tacitus indulges an honest pleasure in the contrast +of barbarian virtue with the dissolute conduct of the Roman +ladies; yet there are some striking circumstances that give an +air of truth, or at least probability, to the conjugal faith and +chastity of the Germans. +[Footnote 56: The adulteress was whipped through the village. +Neither wealth nor beauty could inspire compassion, or procure +her a second husband. 18, 19.] + + Although the progress of civilization has undoubtedly +contributed to assuage the fiercer passions of human nature, it +seems to have been less favorable to the virtue of chastity, +whose most dangerous enemy is the softness of the mind. The +refinements of life corrupt while they polish the intercourse of +the sexes. The gross appetite of love becomes most dangerous +when it is elevated, or rather, indeed, disguised by sentimental +passion. The elegance of dress, of motion, and of manners, gives +a lustre to beauty, and inflames the senses through the +imagination. Luxurious entertainments, midnight dances, and +licentious spectacles, present at once temptation and opportunity +to female frailty. ^57 From such dangers the unpolished wives of +the barbarians were secured by poverty, solitude, and the painful +cares of a domestic life. The German huts, open, on every side, +to the eye of indiscretion or jealousy, were a better safeguard +of conjugal fidelity, than the walls, the bolts, and the eunuchs +of a Persian haram. To this reason another may be added, of a +more honorable nature. The Germans treated their women with +esteem and confidence, consulted them on every occasion of +importance, and fondly believed, that in their breasts resided a +sanctity and wisdom more than human. Some of the interpreters of +fate, such as Velleda, in the Batavian war, governed, in the name +of the deity, the fiercest nations of Germany. ^58 The rest of +the sex, without being adored as goddesses, were respected as the +free and equal companions of soldiers; associated even by the +marriage ceremony to a life of toil, of danger, and of glory. ^59 +In their great invasions, the camps of the barbarians were filled +with a multitude of women, who remained firm and undaunted amidst +the sound of arms, the various forms of destruction, and the +honorable wounds of their sons and husbands. ^60 Fainting armies +of Germans have, more than once, been driven back upon the enemy, +by the generous despair of the women, who dreaded death much less +than servitude. If the day was irrecoverably lost, they well +knew how to deliver themselves and their children, with their own +hands, from an insulting victor. ^61 Heroines of such a cast may +claim our admiration; but they were most assuredly neither +lovely, nor very susceptible of love. Whilst they affected to +emulate the stern virtues of man, they must have resigned that +attractive softness, in which principally consist the charm and +weakness of woman. Conscious pride taught the German females to +suppress every tender emotion that stood in competition with +honor, and the first honor of the sex has ever been that of +chastity. The sentiments and conduct of these high-spirited +matrons may, at once, be considered as a cause, as an effect, and +as a proof of the general character of the nation. Female +courage, however it may be raised by fanaticism, or confirmed by +habit, can be only a faint and imperfect imitation of the manly +valor that distinguishes the age or country in which it may be +found. + +[Footnote 57: Ovid employs two hundred lines in the research of +places the most favorable to love. Above all, he considers the +theatre as the best adapted to collect the beauties of Rome, and +to melt them into tenderness and sensuality,] + +[Footnote 58: Tacit. Germ. iv. 61, 65.] + +[Footnote 59: The marriage present was a yoke of oxen, horses, +and arms. See Germ. c. 18. Tacitus is somewhat too florid on +the subject.] +[Footnote 60: The change of exigere into exugere is a most +excellent correction.] + +[Footnote 61: Tacit. Germ. c. 7. Plutarch in Mario. Before the +wives of the Teutones destroyed themselves and their children, +they had offered to surrender, on condition that they should be +received as the slaves of the vestal virgins.] + The religious system of the Germans (if the wild opinions of +savages can deserve that name) was dictated by their wants, their +fears, and their ignorance. ^62 They adored the great visible +objects and agents of nature, the Sun and the Moon, the Fire and +the Earth; together with those imaginary deities, who were +supposed to preside over the most important occupations of human +life. They were persuaded, that, by some ridiculous arts of +divination, they could discover the will of the superior beings, +and that human sacrifices were the most precious and acceptable +offering to their altars. Some applause has been hastily +bestowed on the sublime notion, entertained by that people, of +the Deity, whom they neither confined within the walls of the +temple, nor represented by any human figure; but when we +recollect, that the Germans were unskilled in architecture, and +totally unacquainted with the art of sculpture, we shall readily +assign the true reason of a scruple, which arose not so much from +a superiority of reason, as from a want of ingenuity. The only +temples in Germany were dark and ancient groves, consecrated by +the reverence of succeeding generations. Their secret gloom, the +imagined residence of an invisible power, by presenting no +distinct object of fear or worship, impressed the mind with a +still deeper sense of religious horror; ^63 and the priests, rude +and illiterate as they were, had been taught by experience the +use of every artifice that could preserve and fortify impressions +so well suited to their own interest. +[Footnote 62: Tacitus has employed a few lines, and Cluverius one +hundred and twenty-four pages, on this obscure subject. The +former discovers in Germany the gods of Greece and Rome. The +latter is positive, that, under the emblems of the sun, the moon, +and the fire, his pious ancestors worshipped the Trinity in +unity] + +[Footnote 63: The sacred wood, described with such sublime horror +by Lucan, was in the neighborhood of Marseilles; but there were +many of the same kind in Germany. + + Note: The ancient Germans had shapeless idols, and, when +they began to build more settled habitations, they raised also +temples, such as that to the goddess Teufana, who presided over +divination. See Adelung, Hist. of Ane Germans, p 296 - G] + + The same ignorance, which renders barbarians incapable of +conceiving or embracing the useful restraints of laws, exposes +them naked and unarmed to the blind terrors of superstition. The +German priests, improving this favorable temper of their +countrymen, had assumed a jurisdiction even in temporal concerns, +which the magistrate could not venture to exercise; and the +haughty warrior patiently submitted to the lash of correction, +when it was inflicted, not by any human power, but by the +immediate order of the god of war. ^64 The defects of civil +policy were sometimes supplied by the interposition of +ecclesiastical authority. The latter was constantly exerted to +maintain silence and decency in the popular assemblies; and was +sometimes extended to a more enlarged concern for the national +welfare. A solemn procession was occasionally celebrated in the +present countries of Mecklenburgh and Pomerania. The unknown +symbol of the Earth, covered with a thick veil, was placed on a +carriage drawn by cows; and in this manner the goddess, whose +common residence was in the Isles of Rugen, visited several +adjacent tribes of her worshippers. During her progress the +sound of war was hushed, quarrels were suspended, arms laid +aside, and the restless Germans had an opportunity of tasting the +blessings of peace and harmony. ^65 The truce of God, so often +and so ineffectually proclaimed by the clergy of the eleventh +century, was an obvious imitation of this ancient custom. ^66 +[Footnote 64: Tacit. Germania, c. 7.] + +[Footnote 65: Tacit. Germania, c. 40.] + +[Footnote 66: See Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. +note 10.] + But the influence of religion was far more powerful to +inflame, than to moderate, the fierce passions of the Germans. +Interest and fanaticism often prompted its ministers to sanctify +the most daring and the most unjust enterprises, by the +approbation of Heaven, and full assurances of success. The +consecrated standards, long revered in the groves of +superstition, were placed in the front of the battle; ^67 and the +hostile army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war +and of thunder. ^68 In the faith of soldiers (and such were the +Germans) cowardice is the most unpardonable of sins. A brave man +was the worthy favorite of their martial deities; the wretch who +had lost his shield was alike banished from the religious and +civil assemblies of his countrymen. Some tribes of the north +seem to have embraced the doctrine of transmigration, ^69 others +imagined a gross paradise of immortal drunkenness. ^70 All +agreed, that a life spent in arms, and a glorious death in +battle, were the best preparations for a happy futurity, either +in this or in another world. + +[Footnote 67: Tacit. Germania, c. 7. These standards were only +the heads of wild beasts.] + +[Footnote 68: See an instance of this custom, Tacit. Annal. xiii. +57.] +[Footnote 69: Caesar Diodorus, and Lucan, seem to ascribe this +doctrine to the Gauls, but M. Pelloutier (Histoire des Celtes, l. +iii. c. 18) labors to reduce their expressions to a more orthodox +sense.] + +[Footnote 70: Concerning this gross but alluring doctrine of the +Edda, see Fable xx. in the curious version of that book, +published by M. Mallet, in his Introduction to the History of +Denmark.] + + The immortality so vainly promised by the priests, was, in +some degree, conferred by the bards. That singular order of men +has most deservedly attracted the notice of all who have +attempted to investigate the antiquities of the Celts, the +Scandinavians, and the Germans. Their genius and character, as +well as the reverence paid to that important office, have been +sufficiently illustrated. But we cannot so easily express, or +even conceive, the enthusiasm of arms and glory which they +kindled in the breast of their audience. Among a polished +people, a taste for poetry is rather an amusement of the fancy, +than a passion of the soul. And yet, when in calm retirement we +peruse the combats described by Homer or Tasso, we are insensibly +seduced by the fiction, and feel a momentary glow of martial +ardor. But how faint, how cold is the sensation which a peaceful +mind can receive from solitary study! It was in the hour of +battle, or in the feast of victory, that the bards celebrated the +glory of the heroes of ancient days, the ancestors of those +warlike chieftains, who listened with transport to their artless +but animated strains. The view of arms and of danger heightened +the effect of the military song; and the passions which it tended +to excite, the desire of fame, and the contempt of death, were +the habitual sentiments of a German mind. ^71 ^* + +[Footnote 71: See Tacit. Germ. c. 3. Diod. Sicul. l. v. Strabo, +l. iv. p. 197. The classical reader may remember the rank of +Demodocus in the Phaeacian court, and the ardor infused by +Tyrtaeus into the fainting Spartans. Yet there is little +probability that the Greeks and the Germans were the same people. + +Much learned trifling might be spared, if our antiquarians would +condescend to reflect, that similar manners will naturally be +produced by similar situations.] + +[Footnote *: Besides these battle songs, the Germans sang at +their festival banquets, (Tac. Ann. i. 65,) and around the bodies +of their slain heroes. King Theodoric, of the tribe of the Goths, +killed in a battle against Attila, was honored by songs while he +was borne from the field of battle. Jornandes, c. 41. The same +honor was paid to the remains of Attila. Ibid. c. 49. According +to some historians, the Germans had songs also at their weddings; +but this appears to me inconsistent with their customs, in which +marriage was no more than the purchase of a wife. Besides, there +is but one instance of this, that of the Gothic king, Ataulph, +who sang himself the nuptial hymn when he espoused Placidia, +sister of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, (Olympiodor. p. 8.) +But this marriage was celebrated according to the Roman rites, of +which the nuptial songs formed a part. Adelung, p. 382. - G. + Charlemagne is said to have collected the national songs of +the ancient Germans. Eginhard, Vit. Car. Mag. - M.] + + Such was the situation, and such were the manners of the +ancient Germans. Their climate, their want of learning, of arts, +and of laws, their notions of honor, of gallantry, and of +religion, their sense of freedom, impatience of peace, and thirst +of enterprise, all contributed to form a people of military +heroes. And yet we find, that during more than two hundred and +fifty years that elapsed from the defeat of Varus to the reign of +Decius, these formidable barbarians made few considerable +attempts, and not any material impression on the luxurious and +enslaved provinces of the empire. Their progress was checked by +their want of arms and discipline, and their fury was diverted by +the intestine divisions of ancient Germany. + I. It has been observed, with ingenuity, and not without +truth, that the command of iron soon gives a nation the command +of gold. But the rude tribes of Germany, alike destitute of both +those valuable metals, were reduced slowly to acquire, by their +unassisted strength, the possession of the one as well as the +other. The face of a German army displayed their poverty of +iron. Swords, and the longer kind of lances, they could seldom +use. Their frameoe (as they called them in their own language) +were long spears headed with a sharp but narrow iron point, and +which, as occasion required, they either darted from a distance, +or pushed in close onset. With this spear, and with a shield, +their cavalry was contented. A multitude of darts, scattered ^72 +with incredible force, were an additional resource of the +infantry. Their military dress, when they wore any, was nothing +more than a loose mantle. A variety of colors was the only +ornament of their wooden or osier shields. Few of the chiefs +were distinguished by cuirasses, scarcely any by helmets. Though +the horses of Germany were neither beautiful, swift, nor +practised in the skilful evolutions of the Roman manege, several +of the nations obtained renown by their cavalry; but, in general, +the principal strength of the Germans consisted in their +infantry, ^73 which was drawn up in several deep columns, +according to the distinction of tribes and families. Impatient +of fatigue and delay, these half-armed warriors rushed to battle +with dissonant shouts and disordered ranks; and sometimes, by the +effort of native valor, prevailed over the constrained and more +artificial bravery of the Roman mercenaries. But as the +barbarians poured forth their whole souls on the first onset, +they knew not how to rally or to retire. A repulse was a sure +defeat; and a defeat was most commonly total destruction. When +we recollect the complete armor of the Roman soldiers, their +discipline, exercises, evolutions, fortified camps, and military +engines, it appears a just matter of surprise, how the naked and +unassisted valor of the barbarians could dare to encounter, in +the field, the strength of the legions, and the various troops of +the auxiliaries, which seconded their operations. The contest +was too unequal, till the introduction of luxury had enervated +the vigor, and a spirit of disobedience and sedition had relaxed +the discipline, of the Roman armies. The introduction of +barbarian auxiliaries into those armies, was a measure attended +with very obvious dangers, as it might gradually instruct the +Germans in the arts of war and of policy. Although they were +admitted in small numbers and with the strictest precaution, the +example of Civilis was proper to convince the Romans, that the +danger was not imaginary, and that their precautions were not +always sufficient. ^74 During the civil wars that followed the +death of Nero, that artful and intrepid Batavian, whom his +enemies condescended to compare with Hannibal and Sertorius, ^75 +formed a great design of freedom and ambition. Eight Batavian +cohorts renowned in the wars of Britain and Italy, repaired to +his standard. He introduced an army of Germans into Gaul, +prevailed on the powerful cities of Treves and Langres to embrace +his cause, defeated the legions, destroyed their fortified camps, +and employed against the Romans the military knowledge which he +had acquired in their service. When at length, after an +obstinate struggle, he yielded to the power of the empire, +Civilis secured himself and his country by an honorable treaty. +The Batavians still continued to occupy the islands of the Rhine, +^76 the allies, not the servants, of the Roman monarchy. +[Footnote 72: Missilia spargunt, Tacit. Germ. c. 6. Either that +historian used a vague expression, or he meant that they were +thrown at random.] +[Footnote 73: It was their principal distinction from the +Sarmatians, who generally fought on horseback.] + +[Footnote 74: The relation of this enterprise occupies a great +part of the fourth and fifth books of the History of Tacitus, and +is more remarkable for its eloquence than perspicuity. Sir Henry +Saville has observed several inaccuracies.] + +[Footnote 75: Tacit. Hist. iv. 13. Like them he had lost an +eye.] +[Footnote 76: It was contained between the two branches of the +old Rhine, as they subsisted before the face of the country was +changed by art and nature. See Cluver German. Antiq. l. iii. c. +30, 37.] + + II. The strength of ancient Germany appears formidable, +when we consider the effects that might have been produced by its +united effort. The wide extent of country might very possibly +contain a million of warriors, as all who were of age to bear +arms were of a temper to use them. But this fierce multitude, +incapable of concerting or executing any plan of national +greatness, was agitated by various and often hostile intentions. +Germany was divided into more than forty independent states; and, +even in each state, the union of the several tribes was extremely +loose and precarious. The barbarians were easily provoked; they +knew not how to forgive an injury, much less an insult; their +resentments were bloody and implacable. The casual disputes that +so frequently happened in their tumultuous parties of hunting or +drinking, were sufficient to inflame the minds of whole nations; +the private feuds of any considerable chieftains diffused itself +among their followers and allies. To chastise the insolent, or +to plunder the defenceless, were alike causes of war. The most +formidable states of Germany affected to encompass their +territories with a wide frontier of solitude and devastation. +The awful distance preserved by their neighbors attested the +terror of their arms, and in some measure defended them from the +danger of unexpected incursions. ^77 + +[Footnote 77: Caesar de Bell. Gal. l. vi. 23.] + + "The Bructeri ^* (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally +exterminated by the neighboring tribes, ^78 provoked by their +insolence, allured by the hopes of spoil, and perhaps inspired by +the tutelar deities of the empire. Above sixty thousand +barbarians were destroyed; not by the Roman arms, but in our +sight, and for our entertainment. May the nations, enemies of +Rome, ever preserve this enmity to each other! We have now +attained the utmost verge of prosperity, ^79 and have nothing +left to demand of fortune, except the discord of the barbarians." +^80 - These sentiments, less worthy of the humanity than of the +patriotism of Tacitus, express the invariable maxims of the +policy of his countrymen. They deemed it a much safer expedient +to divide than to combat the barbarians, from whose defeat they +could derive neither honor nor advantage. The money and +negotiations of Rome insinuated themselves into the heart of +Germany; and every art of seduction was used with dignity, to +conciliate those nations whom their proximity to the Rhine or +Danube might render the most useful friends as well as the most +troublesome enemies. Chiefs of renown and power were flattered +by the most trifling presents, which they received either as +marks of distinction, or as the instruments of luxury. In civil +dissensions the weaker faction endeavored to strengthen its +interest by entering into secret connections with the governors +of the frontier provinces. Every quarrel among the Germans was +fomented by the intrigues of Rome; and every plan of union and +public good was defeated by the stronger bias of private jealousy +and interest. ^81 + +[Footnote *: The Bructeri were a non-Suevian tribe, who dwelt +below the duchies of Oldenburgh, and Lauenburgh, on the borders +of the Lippe, and in the Hartz Mountains. It was among them that +the priestess Velleda obtained her renown. - G.] + +[Footnote 78: They are mentioned, however, in the ivth and vth +centuries by Nazarius, Ammianus, Claudian, &c., as a tribe of +Franks. See Cluver. Germ. Antiq. l. iii. c. 13.] +[Footnote 79: Urgentibus is the common reading; but good sense, +Lipsius, and some Mss. declare for Vergentibus.] + +[Footnote 80: Tacit Germania, c. 33. The pious Abbe de la +Bleterie is very angry with Tacitus, talks of the devil, who was +a murderer from the beginning, &c., &c.] + +[Footnote 81: Many traces of this policy may be discovered in +Tacitus and Dion: and many more may be inferred from the +principles of human nature.] + The general conspiracy which terrified the Romans under the +reign of Marcus Antoninus, comprehended almost all the nations of +Germany, and even Sarmatia, from the mouth of the Rhine to that +of the Danube. ^82 It is impossible for us to determine whether +this hasty confederation was formed by necessity, by reason, or +by passion; but we may rest assured, that the barbarians were +neither allured by the indolence, nor provoked by the ambition, +of the Roman monarch. This dangerous invasion required all the +firmness and vigilance of Marcus. He fixed generals of ability +in the several stations of attack, and assumed in person the +conduct of the most important province on the Upper Danube. +After a long and doubtful conflict, the spirit of the barbarians +was subdued. The Quadi and the Marcomanni, ^83 who had taken the +lead in the war, were the most severely punished in its +catastrophe. They were commanded to retire five miles ^84 from +their own banks of the Danube, and to deliver up the flower of +the youth, who were immediately sent into Britain, a remote +island, where they might be secure as hostages, and useful as +soldiers. ^85 On the frequent rebellions of the Quadi and +Marcomanni, the irritated emperor resolved to reduce their +country into the form of a province. His designs were +disappointed by death. This formidable league, however, the only +one that appears in the two first centuries of the Imperial +history, was entirely dissipated, without leaving any traces +behind in Germany. + +[Footnote 82: Hist. Aug. p. 31. Ammian. Marcellin. l. xxxi. c. +5. Aurel. Victor. The emperor Marcus was reduced to sell the +rich furniture of the palace, and to enlist slaves and robbers.] + +[Footnote 83: The Marcomanni, a colony, who, from the banks of +the Rhine occupied Bohemia and Moravia, had once erected a great +and formidable monarchy under their king Maroboduus. See Strabo, +l. vii. [p. 290.] Vell. Pat. ii. 108. Tacit. Annal. ii. 63. + + Note: The Mark-manaen, the March-men or borderers. There +seems little doubt that this was an appellation, rather than a +proper name of a part of the great Suevian or Teutonic race. - +M.] + +[Footnote 84: Mr. Wotton (History of Rome, p. 166) increases the +prohibition to ten times the distance. His reasoning is +specious, but not conclusive. Five miles were sufficient for a +fortified barrier.] + +[Footnote 85: Dion, l. lxxi. and lxxii.] + + In the course of this introductory chapter, we have confined +ourselves to the general outlines of the manners of Germany, +without attempting to describe or to distinguish the various +tribes which filled that great country in the time of Caesar, of +Tacitus, or of Ptolemy. As the ancient, or as new tribes +successively present themselves in the series of this history, we +shall concisely mention their origin, their situation, and their +particular character. Modern nations are fixed and permanent +societies, connected among themselves by laws and government, +bound to their native soil by arts and agriculture. The German +tribes were voluntary and fluctuating associations of soldiers, +almost of savages. The same territory often changed its +inhabitants in the tide of conquest and emigration. The same +communities, uniting in a plan of defence or invasion, bestowed a +new title on their new confederacy. The dissolution of an +ancient confederacy restored to the independent tribes their +peculiar but long-forgotten appellation. A victorious state +often communicated its own name to a vanquished people. Sometimes +crowds of volunteers flocked from all parts to the standard of a +favorite leader; his camp became their country, and some +circumstance of the enterprise soon gave a common denomination to +the mixed multitude. The distinctions of the ferocious invaders +were perpetually varied by themselves, and confounded by the +astonished subjects of the Roman empire. ^86 +[Footnote 86: See an excellent dissertation on the origin and +migrations of nations, in the Memoires de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. xviii. p. 48 - 71. It is seldom that the +antiquarian and the philosopher are so happily blended.] + + Wars, and the administration of public affairs, are the +principal subjects of history; but the number of persons +interested in these busy scenes is very different, according to +the different condition of mankind. In great monarchies, millions +of obedient subjects pursue their useful occupations in peace and +obscurity. The attention of the writer, as well as of the +reader, is solely confined to a court, a capital, a regular army, +and the districts which happen to be the occasional scene of +military operations. But a state of freedom and barbarism, the +season of civil commotions, or the situation of petty republics, +^87 raises almost every member of the community into action, and +consequently into notice. The irregular divisions, and the +restless motions, of the people of Germany, dazzle our +imagination, and seem to multiply their numbers. The profuse +enumeration of kings, of warriors, of armies and nations, +inclines us to forget that the same objects are continually +repeated under a variety of appellations, and that the most +splendid appellations have been frequently lavished on the most +inconsiderable objects. + +[Footnote 87: Should we suspect that Athens contained only 21,000 +citizens, and Sparta no more than 39,000? See Hume and Wallace +on the number of mankind in ancient and modern times. + + Note: This number, though too positively stated, is probably +not far wrong, as an average estimate. On the subject of +Athenian population, see St. Croix, Acad. des Inscrip. xlviii. +Boeckh, Public Economy of Athens, i. 47. Eng Trans, Fynes +Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, vol. i. p. 381. The latter author +estimates the citizens of Sparta at 33,000 - M.] + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And +Gallienus. + +Part I. + +The Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian, And Gallienus. +- The General Irruption Of The Barbari Ans. - The Thirty Tyrants. + + From the great secular games celebrated by Philip, to the +death of the emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of +shame and misfortune. During that calamitous period, every +instant of time was marked, every province of the Roman world was +afflicted, by barbarous invaders, and military tyrants, and the +ruined empire seemed to approach the last and fatal moment of its +dissolution. The confusion of the times, and the scarcity of +authentic memorials, oppose equal difficulties to the historian, +who attempts to preserve a clear and unbroken thread of +narration. Surrounded with imperfect fragments, always concise, +often obscure, and sometimes contradictory, he is reduced to +collect, to compare, and to conjecture: and though he ought never +to place his conjectures in the rank of facts, yet the knowledge +of human nature, and of the sure operation of its fierce and +unrestrained passions, might, on some occasions, supply the want +of historical materials. + + There is not, for instance, any difficulty in conceiving, +that the successive murders of so many emperors had loosened all +the ties of allegiance between the prince and people; that all +the generals of Philip were disposed to imitate the example of +their master; and that the caprice of armies, long since +habituated to frequent and violent revolutions, might every day +raise to the throne the most obscure of their fellow-soldiers. +History can only add, that the rebellion against the emperor +Philip broke out in the summer of the year two hundred and +forty-nine, among the legions of Maesia; and that a subaltern +officer, ^1 named Marinus, was the object of their seditious +choice. Philip was alarmed. He dreaded lest the treason of the +Maesian army should prove the first spark of a general +conflagration. Distracted with the consciousness of his guilt and +of his danger, he communicated the intelligence to the senate. A +gloomy silence prevailed, the effect of fear, and perhaps of +disaffection; till at length Decius, one of the assembly, +assuming a spirit worthy of his noble extraction, ventured to +discover more intrepidity than the emperor seemed to possess. He +treated the whole business with contempt, as a hasty and +inconsiderate tumult, and Philip's rival as a phantom of royalty, +who in a very few days would be destroyed by the same inconstancy +that had created him. The speedy completion of the prophecy +inspired Philip with a just esteem for so able a counsellor; and +Decius appeared to him the only person capable of restoring peace +and discipline to an army whose tumultuous spirit did not +immediately subside after the murder of Marinus. Decius, ^2 who +long resisted his own nomination, seems to have insinuated the +danger of presenting a leader of merit to the angry and +apprehensive minds of the soldiers; and his prediction was again +confirmed by the event. The legions of Maesia forced their judge +to become their accomplice. They left him only the alternative +of death or the purple. His subsequent conduct, after that +decisive measure, was unavoidable. He conducted, or followed, +his army to the confines of Italy, whither Philip, collecting all +his force to repel the formidable competitor whom he had raised +up, advanced to meet him. The Imperial troops were superior in +number; but the rebels formed an army of veterans, commanded by +an able and experienced leader. Philip was either killed in the +battle, or put to death a few days afterwards at Verona. His son +and associate in the empire was massacred at Rome by the +Praetorian guards; and the victorious Decius, with more favorable +circumstances than the ambition of that age can usually plead, +was universally acknowledged by the senate and provinces. It is +reported, that, immediately after his reluctant acceptance of the +title of Augustus, he had assured Philip, by a private message, +of his innocence and loyalty, solemnly protesting, that, on his +arrival on Italy, he would resign the Imperial ornaments, and +return to the condition of an obedient subject. His professions +might be sincere; but in the situation where fortune had placed +him, it was scarcely possible that he could either forgive or be +forgiven. ^3 + +[Footnote 1: The expression used by Zosimus and Zonaras may +signify that Marinus commanded a century, a cohort, or a legion.] + +[Footnote 2: His birth at Bubalia, a little village in Pannonia, +(Eutrop. ix. Victor. in Caesarib. et Epitom.,) seems to +contradict, unless it was merely accidental, his supposed descent +from the Decii. Six hundred years had bestowed nobility on the +Decii: but at the commencement of that period, they were only +plebeians of merit, and among the first who shared the consulship +with the haughty patricians. Plebeine Deciorum animae, &c. +Juvenal, Sat. viii. 254. See the spirited speech of Decius, in +Livy. x. 9, 10.] +[Footnote 3: Zosimus, l. i. p. 20, c. 22. Zonaras, l. xii. p. +624, edit. Louvre.] + + The emperor Decius had employed a few months in the works of +peace and the administration of justice, when he was summoned to +the banks of the Danube by the invasion of the Goths. This is +the first considerable occasion in which history mentions that +great people, who afterwards broke the Roman power, sacked the +Capitol, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, and Italy. So memorable was +the part which they acted in the subversion of the Western +empire, that the name of Goths is frequently but improperly used +as a general appellation ef rude and warlike barbarism. + + In the beginning of the sixth century, and after the +conquest of Italy, the Goths, in possession of present greatness, +very naturally indulged themselves in the prospect of past and of +future glory. They wished to preserve the memory of their +ancestors, and to transmit to posterity their own achievements. +The principal minister of the court of Ravenna, the learned +Cassiodorus, gratified the inclination of the conquerors in a +Gothic history, which consisted of twelve books, now reduced to +the imperfect abridgment of Jornandes. ^4 These writers passed +with the most artful conciseness over the misfortunes of the +nation, celebrated its successful valor, and adorned the triumph +with many Asiatic trophies, that more properly belonged to the +people of Scythia. On the faith of ancient songs, the uncertain, +but the only memorials of barbarians, they deduced the first +origin of the Goths from the vast island, or peninsula, of +Scandinavia. ^5 ^* That extreme country of the North was not +unknown to the conquerors of Italy: the ties of ancient +consanguinity had been strengthened by recent offices of +friendship; and a Scandinavian king had cheerfully abdicated his +savage greatness, that he might pass the remainder of his days in +the peaceful and polished court of Ravenna. ^6 Many vestiges, +which cannot be ascribed to the arts of popular vanity, attest +the ancient residence of the Goths in the countries beyond the +Rhine. From the time of the geographer Ptolemy, the southern +part of Sweden seems to have continued in the possession of the +less enterprising remnant of the nation, and a large territory is +even at present divided into east and west Gothland. During the +middle ages, (from the ninth to the twelfth century,) whilst +Christianity was advancing with a slow progress into the North, +the Goths and the Swedes composed two distinct and sometimes +hostile members of the same monarchy. ^7 The latter of these two +names has prevailed without extinguishing the former. The +Swedes, who might well be satisfied with their own fame in arms, +have, in every age, claimed the kindred glory of the Goths. In a +moment of discontent against the court of Rome, Charles the +Twelfth insinuated, that his victorious troops were not +degenerated from their brave ancestors, who had already subdued +the mistress of the world. ^8 + +[Footnote 4: See the prefaces of Cassiodorus and Jornandes; it is +surprising that the latter should be omitted in the excellent +edition, published by Grotius, of the Gothic writers.] + +[Footnote 5: On the authority of Ablavius, Jornandes quotes some +old Gothic chronicles in verse. De Reb. Geticis, c. 4.] + +[Footnote *: The Goths have inhabited Scandinavia, but it was not +their original habitation. This great nation was anciently of +the Suevian race; it occupied, in the time of Tacitus, and long +before, Mecklenburgh, Pomerania Southern Prussia and the +north-west of Poland. A little before the birth of J. C., and in +the first years of that century, they belonged to the kingdom of +Marbod, king of the Marcomanni: but Cotwalda, a young Gothic +prince, delivered them from that tyranny, and established his own +power over the kingdom of the Marcomanni, already much weakened +by the victories of Tiberius. The power of the Goths at that +time must have been great: it was probably from them that the +Sinus Codanus (the Baltic) took this name, as it was afterwards +called Mare Suevicum, and Mare Venedicum, during the superiority +of the proper Suevi and the Venedi. The epoch in which the Goths +passed into Scandinavia is unknown. See Adelung, Hist. of Anc. +Germany, p. 200. Gatterer, Hist. Univ. 458. - G. + + M. St. Martin observes, that the Scandinavian descent of the +Goths rests on the authority of Jornandes, who professed to +derive it from the traditions of the Goths. He is supported by +Procopius and Paulus Diaconus. Yet the Goths are unquestionably +the same with the Getae of the earlier historians. St. Martin, +note on Le Beau, Hist. du bas Empire, iii. 324. The identity of +the Getae and Goths is by no means generally admitted. On the +whole, they seem to be one vast branch of the Indo-Teutonic race, +who spread irregularly towards the north of Europe, and at +different periods, and in different regions, came in contact with +the more civilized nations of the south. At this period, there +seems to have been a reflux of these Gothic tribes from the +North. + + Malte Brun considers that there are strong grounds for +receiving the Islandic traditions commented by the Danish Varro, +M. Suhm. From these, and the voyage of Pytheas, which Malte Brun +considers genuine, the Goths were in possession of Scandinavia, +Ey-Gothland, 250 years before J. C., and of a tract on the +continent (Reid-Gothland) between the mouths of the Vistula and +the Oder. In their southern migration, they followed the course +of the Vistula; afterwards, of the Dnieper. Malte Brun, Geogr. +i. p. 387, edit. 1832. Geijer, the historian of Sweden, ably +maintains the Scandinavian origin of the Goths. The Gothic +language, according to Bopp, is the link between the Sanscrit and +the modern Teutonic dialects: "I think that I am reading Sanscrit +when I am reading Olphilas." Bopp, Conjugations System der +Sanscrit Sprache, preface, p. x - M.] + +[Footnote 6: Jornandes, c. 3.] + +[Footnote 7: See in the Prolegomena of Grotius some large +extracts from Adam of Bremen, and Saxo-Grammaticus. The former +wrote in the year 1077, the latter flourished about the year +1200.] + +[Footnote 8: Voltaire, Histoire de Charles XII. l. iii. When the +Austrians desired the aid of the court of Rome against Gustavus +Adolphus, they always represented that conqueror as the lineal +successor of Alaric. Harte's History of Gustavus, vol. ii. p. +123.] + + Till the end of the eleventh century, a celebrated temple +subsisted at Upsal, the most considerable town of the Swedes and +Goths. It was enriched with the gold which the Scandinavians had +acquired in their piratical adventures, and sanctified by the +uncouth representations of the three principal deities, the god +of war, the goddess of generation, and the god of thunder. In +the general festival, that was solemnized every ninth year, nine +animals of every species (without excepting the human) were +sacrificed, and their bleeding bodies suspended in the sacred +grove adjacent to the temple. ^9 The only traces that now subsist +of this barbaric superstition are contained in the Edda, ^* a +system of mythology, compiled in Iceland about the thirteenth +century, and studied by the learned of Denmark and Sweden, as the +most valuable remains of their ancient traditions. + +[Footnote 9: See Adam of Bremen in Grotii Prolegomenis, p. 105. +The temple of Upsal was destroyed by Ingo, king of Sweden, who +began his reign in the year 1075, and about fourscore years +afterwards, a Christian cathedral was erected on its ruins. See +Dalin's History of Sweden, in the Bibliotheque Raisonee.] + +[Footnote *: The Eddas have at length been made accessible to +European scholars by the completion of the publication of the +Saemundine Edda by the Arna Magnaean Commission, in 3 vols. 4to., +with a copious lexicon of northern mythology. - M.] + + Notwithstanding the mysterious obscurity of the Edda, we can +easily distinguish two persons confounded under the name of Odin; +the god of war, and the great legislator of Scandinavia. The +latter, the Mahomet of the North, instituted a religion adapted +to the climate and to the people. Numerous tribes on either side +of the Baltic were subdued by the invincible valor of Odin, by +his persuasive eloquence, and by the fame which he acquired of a +most skilful magician. The faith that he had propagated, during +a long and prosperous life, he confirmed by a voluntary death. +Apprehensive of the ignominious approach of disease and +infirmity, he resolved to expire as became a warrior. In a +solemn assembly of the Swedes and Goths, he wounded himself in +nine mortal places, hastening away (as he asserted with his dying +voice) to prepare the feast of heroes in the palace of the God of +war. ^10 +[Footnote 10: Mallet, Introduction a l'Histoire du Dannemarc.] + The native and proper habitation of Odin is distinguished by +the appellation of As-gard. The happy resemblance of that name +with As-burg, or As-of, ^11 words of a similar signification, has +given rise to an historical system of so pleasing a contexture, +that we could almost wish to persuade ourselves of its truth. It +is supposed that Odin was the chief of a tribe of barbarians +which dwelt on the banks of the Lake Maeotis, till the fall of +Mithridates and the arms of Pompey menaced the North with +servitude. That Odin, yielding with indignant fury to a power +which he was unable to resist, conducted his tribe from the +frontiers of the Asiatic Sarmatia into Sweden, with the great +design of forming, in that inaccessible retreat of freedom, a +religion and a people, which, in some remote age, might be +subservient to his immortal revenge; when his invincible Goths, +armed with martial fanaticism, should issue in numerous swarms +from the neighborhood of the Polar circle, to chastise the +oppressors of mankind. ^12 + +[Footnote 11: Mallet, c. iv. p. 55, has collected from Strabo, +Pliny, Ptolemy, and Stephanus Byzantinus, the vestiges of such a +city and people.] +[Footnote 12: This wonderful expedition of Odin, which, by +deducting the enmity of the Goths and Romans from so memorable a +cause, might supply the noble groundwork of an epic poem, cannot +safely be received as authentic history. According to the +obvious sense of the Edda, and the interpretation of the most +skilful critics, As-gard, instead of denoting a real city of the +Asiatic Sarmatia, is the fictitious appellation of the mystic +abode of the gods, the Olympus of Scandinavia; from whence the +prophet was supposed to descend, when he announced his new +religion to the Gothic nations, who were already seated in the +southern parts of Sweden. + + Note: A curious letter may be consulted on this subject from +the Swede, Ihre counsellor in the Chancery of Upsal, printed at +Upsal by Edman, in 1772 and translated into German by M. +Schlozer. Gottingen, printed for Dietericht, 1779. - G. + + Gibbon, at a later period of his work, recanted his opinion +of the truth of this expedition of Odin. The Asiatic origin of +the Goths is almost certain from the affinity of their language +to the Sanscrit and Persian; but their northern writers, when all +mythology was reduced to hero worship. - M.] + If so many successive generations of Goths were capable of +preserving a faint tradition of their Scandinavian origin, we +must not expect, from such unlettered barbarians, any distinct +account of the time and circumstances of their emigration. To +cross the Baltic was an easy and natural attempt. The +inhabitants of Sweden were masters of a sufficient number of +large vessels, with oars, ^13 and the distance is little more +than one hundred miles from Carlscroon to the nearest ports of +Pomerania and Prussia. Here, at length, we land on firm and +historic ground. At least as early as the Christian aera, ^14 +and as late as the age of the Antonines, ^15 the Goths were +established towards the mouth of the Vistula, and in that fertile +province where the commercial cities of Thorn, Elbing, +Koningsberg, and Dantzick, were long afterwards founded. ^16 +Westward of the Goths, the numerous tribes of the Vandals were +spread along the banks of the Oder, and the sea-coast of +Pomerania and Mecklenburgh. A striking resemblance of manners, +complexion, religion, and language, seemed to indicate that the +Vandals and the Goths were originally one great people. ^17 The +latter appear to have been subdivided into Ostrogoths, Visigoths, +and Gepidae. ^18 The distinction among the Vandals was more +strongly marked by the independent names of Heruli, Burgundians, +Lombards, and a variety of other petty states, many of which, in +a future age, expanded themselves into powerful monarchies. ^* +[Footnote 13: Tacit. Germania, c. 44.] + +[Footnote 14: Tacit. Annal. ii. 62. If we could yield a firm +assent to the navigations of Pytheas of Marseilles, we must allow +that the Goths had passed the Baltic at least three hundred years +before Christ.] + +[Footnote 15: Ptolemy, l. ii.] + +[Footnote 16: By the German colonies who followed the arms of the +Teutonic knights. The conquest and conversion of Prussia were +completed by those adventurers in the thirteenth century.] + +[Footnote 17: Pliny (Hist. Natur. iv. 14) and Procopius (in Bell. + +Vandal. l. i. c. l) agree in this opinion. They lived in distant +ages, and possessed different means of investigating the truth.] + +[Footnote 18: The Ostro and Visi, the eastern and western Goths, +obtained those denominations from their original seats in +Scandinavia. In all their future marches and settlements they +preserved, with their names, the same relative situation. When +they first departed from Sweden, the infant colony was contained +in three vessels. The third, being a heavy sailer, lagged +behind, and the crew, which afterwards swelled into a nation, +received from that circumstance the appellation of Gepidae or +Loiterers. Jornandes, c. 17. + Note: It was not in Scandinavia that the Goths were divided +into Ostrogoths and Visigoths; that division took place after +their irruption into Dacia in the third century: those who came +from Mecklenburgh and Pomerania were called Visigoths; those who +came from the south of Prussia, and the northwest of Poland, +called themselves Ostrogoths. Adelung, Hist. All. p. 202 +Gatterer, Hist. Univ. 431. - G.] + +[Footnote *: This opinion is by no means probable. The Vandals +and the Goths equally belonged to the great division of the +Suevi, but the two tribes were very different. Those who have +treated on this part of history, appear to me to have neglected +to remark that the ancients almost always gave the name of the +dominant and conquering people to all the weaker and conquered +races. So Pliny calls Vindeli, Vandals, all the people of the +north-east of Europe, because at that epoch the Vandals were +doubtless the conquering tribe. Caesar, on the contrary, ranges +under the name of Suevi, many of the tribes whom Pliny reckons as +Vandals, because the Suevi, properly so called, were then the +most powerful tribe in Germany. When the Goths, become in their +turn conquerors, had subjugated the nations whom they encountered +on their way, these nations lost their name with their liberty, +and became of Gothic origin. The Vandals themselves were then +considered as Goths; the Heruli, the Gepidae, &c., suffered the +same fate. A common origin was thus attributed to tribes who had +only been united by the conquests of some dominant nation, and +this confusion has given rise to a number of historical errors. - +G. + + M. St. Martin has a learned note (to Le Beau, v. 261) on the +origin of the Vandals. The difficulty appears to be in rejecting +the close analogy of the name with the Vend or Wendish race, who +were of Sclavonian, not of Suevian or German, origin. M. St. +Martin supposes that the different races spread from the head of +the Adriatic to the Baltic, and even the Veneti, on the shores of +the Adriatic, the Vindelici, the tribes which gave their name to +Vindobena, Vindoduna, Vindonissa, were branches of the same stock +with the Sclavonian Venedi, who at one time gave their name to +the Baltic; that they all spoke dialects of the Wendish language, +which still prevails in Carinthia, Carniola, part of Bohemia, and +Lusatia, and is hardly extinct in Mecklenburgh and Pomerania. +The Vandal race, once so fearfully celebrated in the annals of +mankind, has so utterly perished from the face of the earth, that +we are not aware that any vestiges of their language can be +traced, so as to throw light on the disputed question of their +German, their Sclavonian, or independent origin. The weight of +ancient authority seems against M. St. Martin's opinion. +Compare, on the Vandals, Malte Brun. 394. Also Gibbon's note, c. +xli. n. 38. - M.] + + In the age of the Antonines, the Goths were still seated in +Prussia. About the reign of Alexander Severus, the Roman province +of Dacia had already experienced their proximity by frequent and +destructive inroads. ^19 In this interval, therefore, of about +seventy years, we must place the second migration of about +seventy years, we must place the second migration of the Goths +from the Baltic to the Euxine; but the cause that produced it +lies concealed among the various motives which actuate the +conduct of unsettled barbarians. Either a pestilence or a +famine, a victory or a defeat, an oracle of the gods or the +eloquence of a daring leader, were sufficient to impel the Gothic +arms on the milder climates of the south. Besides the influence +of a martial religion, the numbers and spirit of the Goths were +equal to the most dangerous adventures. The use of round +bucklers and short swords rendered them formidable in a close +engagement; the manly obedience which they yielded to hereditary +kings, gave uncommon union and stability to their councils; ^20 +and the renowned Amala, the hero of that age, and the tenth +ancestor of Theodoric, king of Italy, enforced, by the ascendant +of personal merit, the prerogative of his birth, which he derived +from the Anses, or demi gods of the Gothic nation. ^21 + +[Footnote 19: See a fragment of Peter Patricius in the Excerpta +Legationum and with regard to its probable date, see Tillemont, +Hist, des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 346.] + +[Footnote 20: Omnium harum gentium insigne, rotunda scuta, breves +gladii, et erga rages obsequium. Tacit. Germania, c. 43. The +Goths probably acquired their iron by the commerce of amber.] + +[Footnote 21: Jornandes, c. 13, 14.] + + The fame of a great enterprise excited the bravest warriors +from all the Vandalic states of Germany, many of whom are seen a +few years afterwards combating under the common standard of the +Goths. ^22 The first motions of the emigrants carried them to the +banks of the Prypec, a river universally conceived by the +ancients to be the southern branch of the Borysthenes. ^23 The +windings of that great stream through the plains of Poland and +Russia gave a direction to their line of march, and a constant +supply of fresh water and pasturage to their numerous herds of +cattle. They followed the unknown course of the river, confident +in their valor, and careless of whatever power might oppose their +progress. The Bastarnae and the Venedi were the first who +presented themselves; and the flower of their youth, either from +choice or compulsion, increased the Gothic army. The Bastarnae +dwelt on the northern side of the Carpathian Mountains: the +immense tract of land that separated the Bastarnae from the +savages of Finland was possessed, or rather wasted, by the +Venedi; ^24 we have some reason to believe that the first of +these nations, which distinguished itself in the Macedonian war, +^25 and was afterwards divided into the formidable tribes of the +Peucini, the Borani, the Carpi, &c., derived its origin from the +Germans. ^* With better authority, a Sarmatian extraction may be +assigned to the Venedi, who rendered themselves so famous in the +middle ages. ^26 But the confusion of blood and manners on that +doubtful frontier often perplexed the most accurate observers. +^27 As the Goths advanced near the Euxine Sea, they encountered a +purer race of Sarmatians, the Jazyges, the Alani, ^!! and the +Roxolani; and they were probably the first Germans who saw the +mouths of the Borysthenes, and of the Tanais. If we inquire into +the characteristic marks of the people of Germany and of +Sarmatia, we shall discover that those two great portions of +human kind were principally distinguished by fixed huts or +movable tents, by a close dress or flowing garments, by the +marriage of one or of several wives, by a military force, +consisting, for the most part, either of infantry or cavalry; and +above all, by the use of the Teutonic, or of the Sclavonian +language; the last of which has been diffused by conquest, from +the confines of Italy to the neighborhood of Japan. + +[Footnote 22: The Heruli, and the Uregundi or Burgundi, are +particularly mentioned. See Mascou's History of the Germans, l. +v. A passage in the Augustan History, p. 28, seems to allude to +this great emigration. The Marcomannic war was partly occasioned +by the pressure of barbarous tribes, who fled before the arms of +more northern barbarians.] + +[Footnote 23: D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, and the third part +of his incomparable map of Europe.] + +[Footnote 24: Tacit. Germania, c. 46.] + +[Footnote 25: Cluver. Germ. Antiqua, l. iii. c. 43.] + +[Footnote *: The Bastarnae cannot be considered original +inhabitants of Germany Strabo and Tacitus appear to doubt it; +Pliny alone calls them Germans: Ptolemy and Dion treat them as +Scythians, a vague appellation at this period of history; Livy, +Plutarch, and Diodorus Siculus, call them Gauls, and this is the +most probable opinion. They descended from the Gauls who entered +Germany under Signoesus. They are always found associated with +other Gaulish tribes, such as the Boll, the Taurisci, &c., and +not to the German tribes. The names of their chiefs or princes, +Chlonix, Chlondicus. Deldon, are not German names. Those who +were settled in the island of Peuce in the Danube, took the name +of Peucini. + + The Carpi appear in 237 as a Suevian tribe who had made an +irruption into Maesia. Afterwards they reappear under the +Ostrogoths, with whom they were probably blended. Adelung, p. +236, 278. - G.] + +[Footnote 26: The Venedi, the Slavi, and the Antes, were the +three great tribes of the same people. Jornandes, 24. + + Note Dagger: They formed the great Sclavonian nation. - G.] +[Footnote 27: Tacitus most assuredly deserves that title, and +even his cautious suspense is a proof of his diligent inquiries.] + +[Footnote !!: Jac. Reineggs supposed that he had found, in the +mountains of Caucasus, some descendants of the Alani. The +Tartars call them Edeki-Alan: they speak a peculiar dialect of +the ancient language of the Tartars of Caucasus. See J. +Reineggs' Descr. of Caucasus, p. 11, 13. - G. + According to Klaproth, they are the Ossetes of the present +day in Mount Caucasus and were the same with the Albanians of +antiquity. Klaproth, Hist. de l'Asie, p. 180. - M.] + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And +Gallienus. + +Part II. + + The Goths were now in possession of the Ukraine, a country +of considerable extent and uncommon fertility, intersected with +navigable rivers, which, from either side, discharge themselves +into the Borysthenes; and interspersed with large and leafy +forests of oaks. The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable +bee-hives deposited in the hollow of old trees, and in the +cavities of rocks, and forming, even in that rude age, a valuable +branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, the temperature of +the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of gain, and +the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all displayed the liberality of +Nature, and tempted the industry of man. ^28 But the Goths +withstood all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of +idleness, of poverty, and of rapine. + +[Footnote 28: Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 593. Mr. +Bell (vol. ii. p 379) traversed the Ukraine, in his journey from +Petersburgh to Constantinople. The modern face of the country is +a just representation of the ancient, since, in the hands of the +Cossacks, it still remains in a state of nature.] + + The Scythian hordes, which, towards the east, bordered on +the new settlements of the Goths, presented nothing to their +arms, except the doubtful chance of an unprofitable victory. But +the prospect of the Roman territories was far more alluring; and +the fields of Dacia were covered with rich harvests, sown by the +hands of an industrious, and exposed to be gathered by those of a +warlike, people. It is probable that the conquests of Trajan, +maintained by his successors, less for any real advantage than +for ideal dignity, had contributed to weaken the empire on that +side. The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither strong +enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate, the rapaciousness +of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the Niester +were considered as the boundary of the Roman power, the +fortifications of the Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded, +and the inhabitants of Maesia lived in supine security, fondly +conceiving themselves at an inaccessible distance from any +barbarian invaders. The irruptions of the Goths, under the reign +of Philip, fatally convinced them of their mistake. The king, or +leader, of that fierce nation, traversed with contempt the +province of Dacia, and passed both the Niester and the Danube +without encountering any opposition capable of retarding his +progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops betrayed +the most important posts, where they were stationed, and the fear +of deserved punishment induced great numbers of them to enlist +under the Gothic standard. The various multitude of barbarians +appeared, at length, under the walls of Marcianopolis, a city +built by Trajan in honor of his sister, and at that time the +capital of the second Maesia. ^29 The inhabitants consented to +ransom their lives and property by the payment of a large sum of +money, and the invaders retreated back into their deserts, +animated, rather than satisfied, with the first success of their +arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelligence was +soon transmitted to the emperor Decius, that Cniva, king of the +Goths, had passed the Danube a second time, with more +considerable forces; that his numerous detachments scattered +devastation over the province of Maesia, whilst the main body of +the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans and Sarmatians, +a force equal to the most daring achievements, required the +presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion of his military +power. +[Footnote 29: In the sixteenth chapter of Jornandes, instead of +secundo Maesiam we may venture to substitute secundam, the second +Maesia, of which Marcianopolis was certainly the capital. (See +Hierocles de Provinciis, and Wesseling ad locum, p. 636. +Itinerar.) It is surprising how this palpable error of the scribe +should escape the judicious correction of Grotius. + Note: Luden has observed that Jornandes mentions two +passages over the Danube; this relates to the second irruption +into Maesia. Geschichte des T V. ii. p. 448. - M.] + + Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, one of the +many monuments of Trajan's victories. ^30 On his approach they +raised the siege, but with a design only of marching away to a +conquest of greater importance, the siege of Philippopolis, a +city of Thrace, founded by the father of Alexander, near the foot +of Mount Haemus. ^31 Decius followed them through a difficult +country, and by forced marches; but when he imagined himself at a +considerable distance from the rear of the Goths, Cniva turned +with rapid fury on his pursuers. The camp of the Romans was +surprised and pillaged, and, for the first time, their emperor +fled in disorder before a troop of half-armed barbarians. After +a long resistance, Philoppopolis, destitute of succor, was taken +by storm. A hundred thousand persons are reported to have been +massacred in the sack of that great city. ^32 Many prisoners of +consequence became a valuable accession to the spoil; and +Priscus, a brother of the late emperor Philip, blushed not to +assume the purple, under the protection of the barbarous enemies +of Rome. ^33 The time, however, consumed in that tedious siege, +enabled Decius to revive the courage, restore the discipline, and +recruit the numbers of his troops. He intercepted several +parties of Carpi, and other Germans, who were hastening to share +the victory of their countrymen, ^34 intrusted the passes of the +mountains to officers of approved valor and fidelity, ^35 +repaired and strengthened the fortifications of the Danube, and +exerted his utmost vigilance to oppose either the progress or the +retreat of the Goths. Encouraged by the return of fortune, he +anxiously waited for an opportunity to retrieve, by a great and +decisive blow, his own glory, and that of the Roman arms. ^36 + +[Footnote 30: The place is still called Nicop. D'Anville, +Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 307. The little stream, on whose +banks it stood, falls into the Danube.] + +[Footnote 31: Stephan. Byzant. de Urbibus, p. 740. Wesseling, +Itinerar. p. 136. Zonaras, by an odd mistake, ascribes the +foundation of Philippopolis to the immediate predecessor of +Decius. + + Note: Now Philippopolis or Philiba; its situation among the +hills caused it to be also called Trimontium. D'Anville, Geog. +Anc. i. 295. - G.] +[Footnote 32: Ammian. xxxi. 5.] + +[Footnote 33: Aurel. Victor. c. 29.] + +[Footnote 34: Victorioe Carpicoe, on some medals of Decius, +insinuate these advantages.] + +[Footnote 35: Claudius (who afterwards reigned with so much +glory) was posted in the pass of Thermopylae with 200 Dardanians, +100 heavy and 160 light horse, 60 Cretan archers, and 1000 +well-armed recruits. See an original letter from the emperor to +his officer, in the Augustan History, p. 200.] +[Footnote 36: Jornandes, c. 16 - 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 22. In +the general account of this war, it is easy to discover the +opposite prejudices of the Gothic and the Grecian writer. In +carelessness alone they are alike.] + At the same time when Decius was struggling with the +violence of the tempest, his mind, calm and deliberate amidst the +tumult of war, investigated the more general causes, that, since +the age of the Antonines, had so impetuously urged the decline of +the Roman greatness. He soon discovered that it was impossible +to replace that greatness on a permanent basis, without restoring +public virtue, ancient principles and manners, and the oppressed +majesty of the laws. To execute this noble but arduous design, +he first resolved to revive the obsolete office of censor; an +office which, as long as it had subsisted in its pristine +integrity, had so much contributed to the perpetuity of the +state, ^37 till it was usurped and gradually neglected by the +Caesars. ^38 Conscious that the favor of the sovereign may confer +power, but that the esteem of the people can alone bestow +authority, he submitted the choice of the censor to the unbiased +voice of the senate. By their unanimous votes, or rather +acclamations, Valerian, who was afterwards emperor, and who then +served with distinction in the army of Decius, was declared the +most worthy of that exalted honor. As soon as the decree of the +senate was transmitted to the emperor, he assembled a great +council in his camp, and before the investiture of the censor +elect, he apprised him of the difficulty and importance of his +great office. "Happy Valerian," said the prince to his +distinguished subject, "happy in the general approbation of the +senate and of the Roman republic! Accept the censorship of +mankind; and judge of our manners. You will select those who +deserve to continue members of the senate; you will restore the +equestrian order to its ancient splendor; you will improve the +revenue, yet moderate the public burdens. You will distinguish +into regular classes the various and infinite multitude of +citizens, and accurately view the military strength, the wealth, +the virtue, and the resources of Rome. Your decisions shall +obtain the force of laws. The army, the palace, the ministers of +justice, and the great officers of the empire, are all subject to +your tribunal. None are exempted, excepting only the ordinary +consuls, ^39 the praefect of the city, the king of the +sacrifices, and (as long as she preserves her chastity inviolate) +the eldest of the vestal virgins. Even these few, who may not +dread the severity, will anxiously solicit the esteem, of the +Roman censor." ^40 + +[Footnote 37: Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadence des Romains, c. +viii. He illustrates the nature and use of the censorship with +his usual ingenuity, and with uncommon precision.] + +[Footnote 38: Vespasian and Titus were the last censors, (Pliny, +Hist. Natur vii. 49. Censorinus de Die Natali.) The modesty of +Trajan refused an honor which he deserved, and his example became +a law to the Antonines. See Pliny's Panegyric, c. 45 and 60.] + +[Footnote 39: Yet in spite of his exemption, Pompey appeared +before that tribunal during his consulship. The occasion, +indeed, was equally singular and honorable. Plutarch in Pomp. p. +630.] + +[Footnote 40: See the original speech in the Augustan Hist. p. +173-174.] + A magistrate, invested with such extensive powers, would +have appeared not so much the minister, as the colleague of his +sovereign. ^41 Valerian justly dreaded an elevation so full of +envy and of suspicion. He modestly argued the alarming greatness +of the trust, his own insufficiency, and the incurable corruption +of the times. He artfully insinuated, that the office of censor +was inseparable from the Imperial dignity, and that the feeble +hands of a subject were unequal to the support of such an immense +weight of cares and of power. ^42 The approaching event of war +soon put an end to the prosecution of a project so specious, but +so impracticable; and whilst it preserved Valerian from the +danger, saved the emperor Decius from the disappointment, which +would most probably have attended it. A censor may maintain, he +can never restore, the morals of a state. It is impossible for +such a magistrate to exert his authority with benefit, or even +with effect, unless he is supported by a quick sense of honor and +virtue in the minds of the people, by a decent reverence for the +public opinion, and by a train of useful prejudices combating on +the side of national manners. In a period when these principles +are annihilated, the censorial jurisdiction must either sink into +empty pageantry, or be converted into a partial instrument of +vexatious oppression. ^43 It was easier to vanquish the Goths +than to eradicate the public vices; yet even in the first of +these enterprises, Decius lost his army and his life. + +[Footnote 41: This transaction might deceive Zonaras, who +supposes that Valerian was actually declared the colleague of +Decius, l. xii. p. 625.] +[Footnote 42: Hist. August. p. 174. The emperor's reply is +omitted.] +[Footnote 43: Such as the attempts of Augustus towards a +reformation of manness. Tacit. Annal. iii. 24.] + + The Goths were now, on every side, surrounded and pursued by +the Roman arms. The flower of their troops had perished in the +long siege of Philippopolis, and the exhausted country could no +longer afford subsistence for the remaining multitude of +licentious barbarians. Reduced to this extremity, the Goths +would gladly have purchased, by the surrender of all their booty +and prisoners, the permission of an undisturbed retreat. But the +emperor, confident of victory, and resolving, by the chastisement +of these invaders, to strike a salutary terror into the nations +of the North, refused to listen to any terms of accommodation. +The high-spirited barbarians preferred death to slavery. An +obscure town of Maesia, called Forum Terebronii, ^44 was the +scene of the battle. The Gothic army was drawn up in three +lines, and either from choice or accident, the front of the third +line was covered by a morass. In the beginning of the action, +the son of Decius, a youth of the fairest hopes, and already +associated to the honors of the purple, was slain by an arrow, in +the sight of his afflicted father; who, summoning all his +fortitude, admonished the dismayed troops, that the loss of a +single soldier was of little importance to the republic. ^45 The +conflict was terrible; it was the combat of despair against grief +and rage. The first line of the Goths at length gave way in +disorder; the second, advancing to sustain it, shared its fate; +and the third only remained entire, prepared to dispute the +passage of the morass, which was imprudently attempted by the +presumption of the enemy. "Here the fortune of the day turned, +and all things became adverse to the Romans; the place deep with +ooze, sinking under those who stood, slippery to such as +advanced; their armor heavy, the waters deep; nor could they +wield, in that uneasy situation, their weighty javelins. The +barbarians, on the contrary, were inured to encounter in the +bogs, their persons tall, their spears long, such as could wound +at a distance." ^46 In this morass the Roman army, after an +ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably lost; nor could the body +of the emperor ever be found. ^47 Such was the fate of Decius, in +the fiftieth year of his age; an accomplished prince, active in +war and affable in peace; ^48 who, together with his son, has +deserved to be compared, both in life and death, with the +brightest examples of ancient virtue. ^49 + +[Footnote 44: Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. +598. As Zosimus and some of his followers mistake the Danube for +the Tanais, they place the field of battle in the plains of +Scythia.] + +[Footnote 45: Aurelius Victor allows two distinct actions for the +deaths of the two Decii; but I have preferred the account of +Jornandes.] +[Footnote 46: I have ventured to copy from Tacitus (Annal. i. 64) +the picture of a similar engagement between a Roman army and a +German tribe.] +[Footnote 47: Jornandes, c. 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 22, [c. 23.] +Zonaras, l. xii. p. 627. Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 48: The Decii were killed before the end of the year +two hundred and fifty-one, since the new princes took possession +of the consulship on the ensuing calends of January.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 223, gives them a very honorable +place among the small number of good emperors who reigned between +Augustus and Diocletian.] + + This fatal blow humbled, for a very little time, she +insolence of the legions. They appeared to have patiently +expected, and submissively obeyed, the decree of the senate which +regulated the succession to the throne. From a just regard for +the memory of Decius, the Imperial title was conferred on +Hostilianus, his only surviving son; but an equal rank, with more +effectual power, was granted to Gallus, whose experience and +ability seemed equal to the great trust of guardian to the young +prince and the distressed empire. ^50 The first care of the new +emperor was to deliver the Illyrian provinces from the +intolerable weight of the victorious Goths. He consented to +leave in their hands the rich fruits of their invasion, an +immense booty, and what was still more disgraceful, a great +number of prisoners of the highest merit and quality. He +plentifully supplied their camp with every conveniency that could +assuage their angry spirits or facilitate their so much +wished-for departure; and he even promised to pay them annually a +large sum of gold, on condition they should never afterwards +infest the Roman territories by their incursions. ^51 + +[Footnote 50: Haec ubi Patres comperere . . . . decernunt. +Victor in Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 51: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 628.] + + In the age of the Scipios, the most opulent kings of the +earth, who courted the protection of the victorious commonwealth, +were gratified with such trifling presents as could only derive a +value from the hand that bestowed them; an ivory chair, a coarse +garment of purple, an inconsiderable piece of plate, or a +quantity of copper coin. ^52 After the wealth of nations had +centred in Rome, the emperors displayed their greatness, and even +their policy, by the regular exercise of a steady and moderate +liberality towards the allies of the state. They relieved the +poverty of the barbarians, honored their merit, and recompensed +their fidelity. These voluntary marks of bounty were understood +to flow, not from the fears, but merely from the generosity or +the gratitude of the Romans; and whilst presents and subsidies +were liberally distributed among friends and suppliants, they +were sternly refused to such as claimed them as a debt. ^53 But +this stipulation, of an annual payment to a victorious enemy, +appeared without disguise in the light of an ignominious tribute; +the minds of the Romans were not yet accustomed to accept such +unequal laws from a tribe of barbarians; and the prince, who by a +necessary concession had probably saved his country, became the +object of the general contempt and aversion. The death of +Hostiliamus, though it happened in the midst of a raging +pestilence, was interpreted as the personal crime of Gallus; ^54 +and even the defeat of the later emperor was ascribed by the +voice of suspicion to the perfidious counsels of his hated +successor. ^55 The tranquillity which the empire enjoyed during +the first year of his administration, ^56 served rather to +inflame than to appease the public discontent; and as soon as the +apprehensions of war were removed, the infamy of the peace was +more deeply and more sensibly felt. + +[Footnote 52: A Sella, a Toga, and a golden Patera of five pounds +weight, were accepted with joy and gratitude by the wealthy king +of Egypt. (Livy, xxvii. 4.) Quina millia Aeris, a weight of +copper, in value about eighteen pounds sterling, was the usual +present made to foreign are ambassadors. (Livy, xxxi. 9.)] + +[Footnote 53: See the firmness of a Roman general so late as the +time of Alexander Severus, in the Excerpta Legationum, p. 25, +edit. Louvre.] +[Footnote 54: For the plague, see Jornandes, c. 19, and Victor in +Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 55: These improbable accusations are alleged by +Zosimus, l. i. p. 28, 24.] + +[Footnote 56: Jornandes, c. 19. The Gothic writer at least +observed the peace which his victorious countrymen had sworn to +Gallus.] + But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when +they discovered that they had not even secured their repose, +though at the expense of their honor. The dangerous secret of +the wealth and weakness of the empire had been revealed to the +world. New swarms of barbarians, encouraged by the success, and +not conceiving themselves bound by the obligation of their +brethren, spread devastation though the Illyrian provinces, and +terror as far as the gates of Rome. The defence of the monarchy, +which seemed abandoned by the pusillanimous emperor, was assumed +by Aemilianus, governor of Pannonia and Maesia; who rallied the +scattered forces, and revived the fainting spirits of the troops. + +The barbarians were unexpectedly attacked, routed, chased, and +pursued beyond the Danube. The victorious leader distributed as +a donative the money collected for the tribute, and the +acclamations of the soldiers proclaimed him emperor on the field +of battle. ^57 Gallus, who, careless of the general welfare, +indulged himself in the pleasures of Italy, was almost in the +same instant informed of the success, of the revolt, and of the +rapid approach of his aspiring lieutenant. He advanced to meet +him as far as the plains of Spoleto. When the armies came in +right of each other, the soldiers of Gallus compared the +ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the glory of his +rival. They admired the valor of Aemilianus; they were attracted +by his liberality, for he offered a considerable increase of pay +to all deserters. ^58 The murder of Gallus, and of his son +Volusianus, put an end to the civil war; and the senate gave a +legal sanction to the rights of conquest. The letters of +Aemilianus to that assembly displayed a mixture of moderation and +vanity. He assured them, that he should resign to their wisdom +the civil administration; and, contenting himself with the +quality of their general, would in a short time assert the glory +of Rome, and deliver the empire from all the barbarians both of +the North and of the East. ^59 His pride was flattered by the +applause of the senate; and medals are still extant, representing +him with the name and attributes of Hercules the Victor, and Mars +the Avenger. ^60 +[Footnote 57: Zosimus, l. i. p. 25, 26.] + +[Footnote 58: Victor in Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 59: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 628.] + +[Footnote 60: Banduri Numismata, p. 94.] + + If the new monarch possessed the abilities, he wanted the +time, necessary to fulfil these splendid promises. Less than +four months intervened between his victory and his fall. ^61 He +had vanquished Gallus: he sunk under the weight of a competitor +more formidable than Gallus. That unfortunate prince had sent +Valerian, already distinguished by the honorable title of censor, +to bring the legions of Gaul and Germany ^62 to his aid. Valerian +executed that commission with zeal and fidelity; and as he +arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved to revenge +him. The troops of Aemilianus, who still lay encamped in the +plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his character, +but much more by the superior strength of his army; and as they +were now become as incapable of personal attachment as they had +always been of constitutional principle, they readily imbrued +their hands in the blood of a prince who so lately had been the +object of their partial choice. The guilt was theirs, ^* but the +advantage of it was Valerian's; who obtained the possession of +the throne by the means indeed of a civil war, but with a degree +of innocence singular in that age of revolutions; since he owed +neither gratitude nor allegiance to his predecessor, whom he +dethroned. +[Footnote 61: Eutropius, l. ix. c. 6, says tertio mense. Eusebio +this emperor.] + +[Footnote 62: Zosimus, l. i. p. 28. Eutropius and Victor station +Valerian's army in Rhaetia.] + +[Footnote *: Aurelius Victor says that Aemilianus died of a +natural disorder. Tropius, in speaking of his death, does not say +that he was assassinated - G.] + Valerian was about sixty years of age ^63 when he was +invested with the purple, not by the caprice of the populace, or +the clamors of the army, but by the unanimous voice of the Roman +world. In his gradual ascent through the honors of the state, he +had deserved the favor of virtuous princes, and had declared +himself the enemy of tyrants. ^64 His noble birth, his mild but +unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and experience, were +revered by the senate and people; and if mankind (according to +the observation of an ancient writer) had been left at liberty to +choose a master, their choice would most assuredly have fallen on +Valerian. ^65 Perhaps the merit of this emperor was inadequate to +his reputation; perhaps his abilities, or at least his spirit, +were affected by the languor and coldness of old age. The +consciousness of his decline engaged him to share the throne with +a younger and more active associate; ^66 the emergency of the +times demanded a general no less than a prince; and the +experience of the Roman censor might have directed him where to +bestow the Imperial purple, as the reward of military merit. But +instead of making a judicious choice, which would have confirmed +his reign and endeared his memory, Valerian, consulting only the +dictates of affection or vanity, immediately invested with the +supreme honors his son Gallienus, a youth whose effeminate vices +had been hitherto concealed by the obscurity of a private +station. The joint government of the father and the son +subsisted about seven, and the sole administration of Gallien +continued about eight, years. But the whole period was one +uninterrupted series of confusion and calamity. As the Roman +empire was at the same time, and on every side, attacked by the +blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild ambition of domestic +usurpers, we shall consult order and perspicuity, by pursuing, +not so much the doubtful arrangement of dates, as the more +natural distribution of subjects. The most dangerous enemies of +Rome, during the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, were, 1. The +Franks; 2. The Alemanni; 3. The Goths; and, 4. The Persians. +Under these general appellations, we may comprehend the +adventures of less considerable tribes, whose obscure and uncouth +names would only serve to oppress the memory and perplex the +attention of the reader. +[Footnote 63: He was about seventy at the time of his accession, +or, as it is more probable, of his death. Hist. August. p. 173. +Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 893, note 1.] + +[Footnote 64: Inimicus tyrannorum. Hist. August. p. 173. In the +glorious struggle of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a +very spirited part. Hist. August. p. 156.] + +[Footnote 65: According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to +have received the title of Imperator from the army, and that of +Augustus from the senate.] + +[Footnote 66: From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (tom. +iii. p. 710) very justly infers, that Gallienus was associated to +the empire about the month of August of the year 253.] + + I. As the posterity of the Franks compose one of the +greatest and most enlightened nations of Europe, the powers of +learning and ingenuity have been exhausted in the discovery of +their unlettered ancestors. To the tales of credulity have +succeeded the systems of fancy. Every passage has been sifted, +every spot has been surveyed, that might possibly reveal some +faint traces of their origin. It has been supposed that +Pannonia, ^67 that Gaul, that the northern parts of Germany, ^68 +gave birth to that celebrated colony of warriors. At length the +most rational critics, rejecting the fictitious emigrations of +ideal conquerors, have acquiesced in a sentiment whose simplicity +persuades us of its truth. ^69 They suppose, that about the year +two hundred and forty, ^70 a new confederacy was formed under the +name of Franks, by the old inhabitants of the Lower Rhine and the +Weser. ^* The present circle of Westphalia, the Landgraviate of +Hesse, and the duchies of Brunswick and Luneburg, were the +ancient of the Chauci who, in their inaccessible morasses, defied +the Roman arms; ^71 of the Cherusci, proud of the fame of +Arminius; of the Catti, formidable by their firm and intrepid +infantry; and of several other tribes of inferior power and +renown. ^72 The love of liberty was the ruling passion of these +Germans; the enjoyment of it their best treasure; the word that +expressed that enjoyment, the most pleasing to their ear. They +deserved, they assumed, they maintained the honorable appellation +of Franks, or Freemen; which concealed, though it did not +extinguish, the peculiar names of the several states of the +confederacy. ^73 Tacit consent, and mutual advantage, dictated +the first laws of the union; it was gradually cemented by habit +and experience. The league of the Franks may admit of some +comparison with the Helvetic body; in which every canton, +retaining its independent sovereignty, consults with its brethren +in the common cause, without acknowledging the authority of any +supreme head, or representative assembly. ^74 But the principle +of the two confederacies was extremely different. A peace of two +hundred years has rewarded the wise and honest policy of the +Swiss. An inconstant spirit, the thirst of rapine, and a +disregard to the most solemn treaties, disgraced the character of +the Franks. +[Footnote 67: Various systems have been formed to explain a +difficult passage in Gregory of Tours, l. ii. c. 9.] + +[Footnote 68: The Geographer of Ravenna, i. 11, by mentioning +Mauringania, on the confines of Denmark, as the ancient seat of +the Franks, gave birth to an ingenious system of Leibritz.] + +[Footnote 69: See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, l. iii. c. 20. M. +Freret, in the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. +xviii.] + +[Footnote 70: Most probably under the reign of Gordian, from an +accidental circumstance fully canvassed by Tillemont, tom. iii. +p. 710, 1181.] +[Footnote *: The confederation of the Franks appears to have been +formed, 1. Of the Chauci. 2. Of the Sicambri, the inhabitants of +the duchy of Berg. 3. Of the Attuarii, to the north of the +Sicambri, in the principality of Waldeck, between the Dimel and +the Eder. 4. Of the Bructeri, on the banks of the Lippe, and in +the Hartz. 5. Of the Chamavii, the Gambrivii of Tacitua, who were +established, at the time of the Frankish confederation, in the +country of the Bructeri. 6. Of the Catti, in Hessia. - G. The +Salii and Cherasci are added. Greenwood's Hist. of Germans, i +193. - M.] +[Footnote 71: Plin. Hist. Natur. xvi. l. The Panegyrists +frequently allude to the morasses of the Franks.] + +[Footnote 72: Tacit. Germania, c. 30, 37.] + +[Footnote 73: In a subsequent period, most of those old names are +occasionally mentioned. See some vestiges of them in Cluver. +Germ. Antiq. l. iii.] + +[Footnote 74: Simler de Republica Helvet. cum notis Fuselin.] + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And +Gallienus. + +Part III. + + The Romans had long experienced the daring valor of the +people of Lower Germany. The union of their strength threatened +Gaul with a more formidable invasion, and required the presence +of Gallienus, the heir and colleague of Imperial power. ^75 +Whilst that prince, and his infant son Salonius, displayed, in +the court of Treves, the majesty of the empire its armies were +ably conducted by their general, Posthumus, who, though he +afterwards betrayed the family of Valerian, was ever faithful to +the great interests of the monarchy. The treacherous language of +panegyrics and medals darkly announces a long series of +victories. Trophies and titles attest (if such evidence can +attest) the fame of Posthumus, who is repeatedly styled the +Conqueror of the Germans, and the Savior of Gaul. ^76 + +[Footnote 75: Zosimus, l. i. p. 27.] + +[Footnote 76: M. de Brequigny (in the Memoires de l'Academie, +tom. xxx.) has given us a very curious life of Posthumus. A +series of the Augustan History from Medals and Inscriptions has +been more than once planned, and is still much wanted. + + Note: M. Eckhel, Keeper of the Cabinet of Medals, and +Professor of Antiquities at Vienna, lately deceased, has supplied +this want by his excellent work, Doctrina veterum Nummorum, +conscripta a Jos. Eckhel, 8 vol. in 4to Vindobona, 1797. - G. +Captain Smyth has likewise printed (privately) a valuable +Descriptive Catologue of a series of Large Brass Medals of this +period Bedford, 1834. - M. 1845.] + + But a single fact, the only one indeed of which we have any +distinct knowledge, erases, in a great measure, these monuments +of vanity and adulation. The Rhine, though dignified with the +title of Safeguard of the provinces, was an imperfect barrier +against the daring spirit of enterprise with which the Franks +were actuated. Their rapid devastations stretched from the river +to the foot of the Pyrenees; nor were they stopped by those +mountains. Spain, which had never dreaded, was unable to resist, +the inroads of the Germans. During twelve years, the greatest +part of the reign of Gallie nus, that opulent country was the +theatre of unequal and destructive hostilities. Tarragona, the +flourishing capital of a peaceful province, was sacked and almost +destroyed; ^77 and so late as the days of Orosius, who wrote in +the fifth century, wretched cottages, scattered amidst the ruins +of magnificent cities, still recorded the rage of the barbarians. +^78 When the exhausted country no longer supplied a variety of +plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels in the ports of Spain, +^79 and transported themselves into Mauritania. The distant +province was astonished with the fury of these barbarians, who +seemed to fall from a new world, as their name, manners, and +complexion, were equally unknown on the coast of Africa. ^80 +[Footnote 77: Aurel. Victor, c. 33. Instead of Poene direpto, +both the sense and the expression require deleto; though indeed, +for different reasons, it is alike difficult to correct the text +of the best, and of the worst, writers.] + +[Footnote 78: In the time of Ausonius (the end of the fourth +century) Ilerda or Lerida was in a very ruinous state, (Auson. +Epist. xxv. 58,) which probably was the consequence of this +invasion.] + +[Footnote 79: Valesius is therefore mistaken in supposing that +the Franks had invaded Spain by sea.] + +[Footnote 80: Aurel. Victor. Eutrop. ix. 6.] + + II. In that part of Upper Saxony, beyond the Elbe, which is +at present called the Marquisate of Lusace, there existed, in +ancient times, a sacred wood, the awful seat of the superstition +of the Suevi. None were permitted to enter the holy precincts, +without confessing, by their servile bonds and suppliant posture, +the immediate presence of the sovereign Deity. ^81 Patriotism +contributed, as well as devotion, to consecrate the Sonnenwald, +or wood of the Semnones. ^82 It was universally believed, that +the nation had received its first existence on that sacred spot. +At stated periods, the numerous tribes who gloried in the Suevic +blood, resorted thither by their ambassadors; and the memory of +their common extraction was perpetrated by barbaric rites and +human sacrifices. The wide-extended name of Suevi filled the +interior countries of Germany, from the banks of the Oder to +those of the Danube. They were distinguished from the other +Germans by their peculiar mode of dressing their long hair, which +they gathered into a rude knot on the crown of the head; and they +delighted in an ornament that showed their ranks more lofty and +terrible in the eyes of the enemy. ^83 Jealous as the Germans +were of military renown, they all confessed the superior valor of +the Suevi; and the tribes of the Usipetes and Tencteri, who, with +a vast army, encountered the dictator Caesar, declared that they +esteemed it not a disgrace to have fled before a people to whose +arms the immortal gods themselves were unequal. ^84 +[Footnote 81: Tacit. Germania, 38.] + +[Footnote 82: Cluver. Germ. Antiq. iii. 25.] + +[Footnote 83: Sic Suevi a ceteris Germanis, sic Suerorum ingenui +a servis separantur. A proud separation!] + +[Footnote 84: Caesar in Bello Gallico, iv. 7.] + + In the reign of the emperor Caracalla, an innumerable swarm +of Suevi appeared on the banks of the Mein, and in the +neighborhood of the Roman provinces, in quest either of food, of +plunder, or of glory. ^85 The hasty army of volunteers gradually +coalesced into a great and permanent nation, and as it was +composed from so many different tribes, assumed the name of +Alemanni, ^* or Allmen; to denote at once their various lineage +and their common bravery. ^86 The latter was soon felt by the +Romans in many a hostile inroad. The Alemanni fought chiefly on +horseback; but their cavalry was rendered still more formidable +by a mixture of light infantry, selected from the bravest and +most active of the youth, whom frequent exercise had inured to +accompany the horsemen in the longest march, the most rapid +charge, or the most precipitate retreat. ^87 + +[Footnote 85: Victor in Caracal. Dion Cassius, lxvii. p. 1350.] +[Footnote *: The nation of the Alemanni was not originally formed +by the Suavi properly so called; these have always preserved +their own name. Shortly afterwards they made (A. D. 357) an +irruption into Rhaetia, and it was not long after that they were +reunited with the Alemanni. Still they have always been a +distinct people; at the present day, the people who inhabit the +north-west of the Black Forest call themselves Schwaben, +Suabians, Sueves, while those who inhabit near the Rhine, in +Ortenau, the Brisgaw, the Margraviate of Baden, do not consider +themselves Suabians, and are by origin Alemanni. + + The Teucteri and the Usipetae, inhabitants of the interior +and of the north of Westphalia, formed, says Gatterer, the +nucleus of the Alemannic nation; they occupied the country where +the name of the Alemanni first appears, as conquered in 213, by +Caracalla. They were well trained to fight on horseback, +(according to Tacitus, Germ. c. 32;) and Aurelius Victor gives +the same praise to the Alemanni: finally, they never made part of +the Frankish league. The Alemanni became subsequently a centre +round which gathered a multitude of German tribes, See Eumen. +Panegyr. c. 2. Amm. Marc. xviii. 2, xxix. 4. - G. + + The question whether the Suevi was a generic name +comprehending the clans which peopled central Germany, is rather +hastily decided by M. Guizot Mr. Greenwood, who has studied the +modern German writers on their own origin, supposes the Suevi, +Alemanni, and Marcomanni, one people, under different +appellations. History of Germany, vol i. - M.] + +[Footnote 86: This etymology (far different from those which +amuse the fancy of the learned) is preserved by Asinius +Quadratus, an original historian, quoted by Agathias, i. c. 5.] + +[Footnote 87: The Suevi engaged Caesar in this manner, and the +manoeuvre deserved the approbation of the conqueror, (in Bello +Gallico, i. 48.)] + This warlike people of Germans had been astonished by the +immense preparations of Alexander Severus; they were dismayed by +the arms of his successor, a barbarian equal in valor and +fierceness to themselves. But still hovering on the frontiers of +the empire, they increased the general disorder that ensued after +the death of Decius. They inflicted severe wounds on the rich +provinces of Gaul; they were the first who removed the veil that +covered the feeble majesty of Italy. A numerous body of the +Alemanni penetrated across the Danube and through the Rhaetian +Alps into the plains of Lombardy, advanced as far as Ravenna, and +displayed the victorious banners of barbarians almost in sight of +Rome. ^88 + +[Footnote 88: Hist. August. p. 215, 216. Dexippus in the +Excerpts. Legationam, p. 8. Hieronym. Chron. Orosius, vii. 22.] + + The insult and the danger rekindled in the senate some +sparks of their ancient virtue. Both the emperors were engaged +in far distant wars, Valerian in the East, and Gallienus on the +Rhine. All the hopes and resources of the Romans were in +themselves. In this emergency, the senators resumed he defence +of the republic, drew out the Praetorian guards, who had been +left to garrison the capital, and filled up their numbers, by +enlisting into the public service the stoutest and most willing +of the Plebeians. The Alemanni, astonished with the sudden +appearance of an army more numerous than their own, retired into +Germany, laden with spoil; and their retreat was esteemed as a +victory by the unwarlike Romans. ^89 + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus, l. i. p. 34.] + + When Gallienus received the intelligence that his capital +was delivered from the barbarians, he was much less delighted +than alarmed with the courage of the senate, since it might one +day prompt them to rescue the public from domestic tyranny as +well as from foreign invasion. His timid ingratitude was +published to his subjects, in an edict which prohibited the +senators from exercising any military employment, and even from +approaching the camps of the legions. But his fears were +groundless. The rich and luxurious nobles, sinking into their +natural character, accepted, as a favor, this disgraceful +exemption from military service; and as long as they were +indulged in the enjoyment of their baths, their theatres, and +their villas, they cheerfully resigned the more dangerous cares +of empire to the rough hands of peasants and soldiers. ^90 + +[Footnote 90: Aurel. Victor, in Gallieno et Probo. His +complaints breathe as uncommon spirit of freedom.] + + Another invasion of the Alemanni, of a more formidable +aspect, but more glorious event, is mentioned by a writer of the +lower empire. Three hundred thousand are said to have been +vanquished, in a battle near Milan, by Gallienus in person, at +the head of only ten thousand Romans. ^91 We may, however, with +great probability, ascribe this incredible victory either to the +credulity of the historian, or to some exaggerated exploits of +one of the emperor's lieutenants. It was by arms of a very +different nature, that Gallienus endeavored to protect Italy from +the fury of the Germans. He espoused Pipa, the daughter of a +king of the Marcomanni, a Suevic tribe, which was often +confounded with the Alemanni in their wars and conquests. ^92 To +the father, as the price of his alliance, he granted an ample +settlement in Pannonia. The native charms of unpolished beauty +seem to have fixed the daughter in the affections of the +inconstant emperor, and the bands of policy were more firmly +connected by those of love. But the haughty prejudice of Rome +still refused the name of marriage to the profane mixture of a +citizen and a barbarian; and has stigmatized the German princess +with the opprobrious title of concubine of Gallienus. ^93 + +[Footnote 91: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 631.] + +[Footnote 92: One of the Victors calls him king of the +Marcomanni; the other of the Germans.] + +[Footnote 93: See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. +398, &c.] + III. We have already traced the emigration of the Goths +from Scandinavia, or at least from Prussia, to the mouth of the +Borysthenes, and have followed their victorious arms from the +Borysthenes to the Danube. Under the reigns of Valerian and +Gallienus, the frontier of the last- mentioned river was +perpetually infested by the inroads of Germans and Sarmatians; +but it was defended by the Romans with more than usual firmness +and success. The provinces that were the seat of war, recruited +the armies of Rome with an inexhaustible supply of hardy +soldiers; and more than one of these Illyrian peasants attained +the station, and displayed the abilities, of a general. Though +flying parties of the barbarians, who incessantly hovered on the +banks of the Danube, penetrated sometimes to the confines of +Italy and Macedonia, their progress was commonly checked, or +their return intercepted, by the Imperial lieutenants. ^94 But +the great stream of the Gothic hostilities was diverted into a +very different channel. The Goths, in their new settlement of +the Ukraine, soon became masters of the northern coast of the +Euxine: to the south of that inland sea were situated the soft +and wealthy provinces of Asia Minor, which possessed all that +could attract, and nothing that could resist, a barbarian +conqueror. + +[Footnote 94: See the lives of Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus, in +the Augustan History.] + + The banks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant +from the narrow entrance ^95 of the peninsula of Crim Tartary, +known to the ancients under the name of Chersonesus Taurica. ^96 +On that inhospitable shore, Euripides, embellishing with +exquisite art the tales of antiquity, has placed the scene of one +of his most affecting tragedies. ^97 The bloody sacrifices of +Diana, the arrival of Orestes and Pylades, and the triumph of +virtue and religion over savage fierceness, serve to represent an +historical truth, that the Tauri, the original inhabitants of the +peninsula, were, in some degree, reclaimed from their brutal +manners by a gradual intercourse with the Grecian colonies, which +settled along the maritime coast. The little kingdom of +Bosphorus, whose capital was situated on the Straits, through +which the Maeotis communicates itself to the Euxine, was composed +of degenerate Greeks and half-civilized barbarians. It +subsisted, as an independent state, from the time of the +Peloponnesian war, ^98 was at last swallowed up by the ambition +of Mithridates, ^99 and, with the rest of his dominions, sunk +under the weight of the Roman arms. From the reign of Augustus, +^100 the kings of Bosphorus were the humble, but not useless, +allies of the empire. By presents, by arms, and by a slight +fortification drawn across the Isthmus, they effectually guarded +against the roving plunderers of Sarmatia, the access of a +country, which, from its peculiar situation and convenient +harbors, commanded the Euxine Sea and Asia Minor. ^101 As long as +the sceptre was possessed by a lineal succession of kings, they +acquitted themselves of their important charge with vigilance and +success. Domestic factions, and the fears, or private interest, +of obscure usurpers, who seized on the vacant throne, admitted +the Goths into the heart of Bosphorus. With the acquisition of a +superfluous waste of fertile soil, the conquerors obtained the +command of a naval force, sufficient to transport their armies to +the coast of Asia. ^102 This ships used in the navigation of the +Euxine were of a very singular construction. They were slight +flat-bottomed barks framed of timber only, without the least +mixture of iron, and occasionally covered with a shelving roof, +on the appearance of a tempest. ^103 In these floating houses, +the Goths carelessly trusted themselves to the mercy of an +unknown sea, under the conduct of sailors pressed into the +service, and whose skill and fidelity were equally suspicious. +But the hopes of plunder had banished every idea of danger, and a +natural fearlessness of temper supplied in their minds the more +rational confidence, which is the just result of knowledge and +experience. Warriors of such a daring spirit must have often +murmured against the cowardice of their guides, who required the +strongest assurances of a settled calm before they would venture +to embark; and would scarcely ever be tempted to lose sight of +the land. Such, at least, is the practice of the modern Turks; +^104 and they are probably not inferior, in the art of +navigation, to the ancient inhabitants of Bosphorus. + +[Footnote 95: It is about half a league in breadth. Genealogical +History of the Tartars, p 598.] + +[Footnote 96: M. de Peyssonel, who had been French Consul at +Caffa, in his Observations sur les Peuples Barbares, que ont +habite les bords du Danube] +[Footnote 97: Eeripides in Iphigenia in Taurid.] + +[Footnote 98: Strabo, l. vii. p. 309. The first kings of +Bosphorus were the allies of Athens.] + +[Footnote 99: Appian in Mithridat.] + +[Footnote 100: It was reduced by the arms of Agrippa. Orosius, +vi. 21. Eu tropius, vii. 9. The Romans once advanced within +three days' march of the Tanais. Tacit. Annal. xii. 17.] + +[Footnote 101: See the Toxaris of Lucian, if we credit the +sincerity and the virtues of the Scythian, who relates a great +war of his nation against the kings of Bosphorus.] + +[Footnote 102: Zosimus, l. i. p. 28.] + +[Footnote 103: Strabo, l. xi. Tacit. Hist. iii. 47. They were +called Camaroe.] + +[Footnote 104: See a very natural picture of the Euxine +navigation, in the xvith letter of Tournefort.] + + The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on +the left hand, first appeared before Pityus, ^105 the utmost +limits of the Roman provinces; a city provided with a convenient +port, and fortified with a strong wall. Here they met with a +resistance more obstinate than they had reason to expect from the +feeble garrison of a distant fortress. They were repulsed; and +their disappointment seemed to diminish the terror of the Gothic +name. As long as Successianus, an officer of superior rank and +merit, defended that frontier, all their efforts were +ineffectual; but as soon as he was removed by Valerian to a more +honorable but less important station, they resumed the attack of +Pityus; and by the destruction of that city, obliterated the +memory of their former disgrace. ^106 + +[Footnote 105: Arrian places the frontier garrison at Dioscurias, +or Sebastopolis, forty-four miles to the east of Pityus. The +garrison of Phasis consisted in his time of only four hundred +foot. See the Periplus of the Euxine. + + Note: Pityus is Pitchinda, according to D'Anville, ii. 115. +- G. Rather Boukoun. - M. Dioscurias is Iskuriah. - G.] + +[Footnote 106: Zosimus, l. i. p. 30.] + + Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the +navigation from Pityus to Trebizond is about three hundred miles. +^107 The course of the Goths carried them in sight of the country +of Colchis, so famous by the expedition of the Argonauts; and +they even attempted, though without success, to pillage a rich +temple at the mouth of the River Phasis. Trebizond, celebrated +in the retreat of the ten thousand as an ancient colony of +Greeks, ^108 derived its wealth and splendor from the +magnificence of the emperor Hadrian, who had constructed an +artificial port on a coast left destitute by nature of secure +harbors. ^109 The city was large and populous; a double enclosure +of walls seemed to defy the fury of the Goths, and the usual +garrison had been strengthened by a reenforcement of ten thousand +men. But there are not any advantages capable of supplying the +absence of discipline and vigilance. The numerous garrison of +Trebizond, dissolved in riot and luxury, disdained to guard their +impregnable fortifications. The Goths soon discovered the supine +negligence of the besieged, erected a lofty pile of fascines, +ascended the walls in the silence of the night, and entered the +defenceless city sword in hand. A general massacre of the people +ensued, whilst the affrighted soldiers escaped through the +opposite gates of the town. The most holy temples, and the most +splendid edifices, were involved in a common destruction. The +booty that fell into the hands of the Goths was immense: the +wealth of the adjacent countries had been deposited in Trebizond, +as in a secure place of refuge. The number of captives was +incredible, as the victorious barbarians ranged without +opposition through the extensive province of Pontus. ^110 The +rich spoils of Trebizond filled a great fleet of ships that had +been found in the port. The robust youth of the sea-coast were +chained to the oar; and the Goths, satisfied with the success of +their first naval expedition, returned in triumph to their new +establishment in the kingdom of Bosphorus. ^111 + +[Footnote 107: Arrian (in Periplo Maris Euxine, p. 130) calls the +distance 2610 stadia.] + +[Footnote 108: Xenophon, Anabasis, l. iv. p. 348, edit. +Hutchinson. + Note: Fallmerayer (Geschichte des Kaiserthums von Trapezunt, +p. 6, &c) assigns a very ancient date to the first (Pelasgic) +foundation of Trapezun (Trebizond) - M.] + +[Footnote 109: Arrian, p. 129. The general observation is +Tournefort's.] +[Footnote 110: See an epistle of Gregory Thaumaturgus, bishop of +Neo- Caeoarea, quoted by Mascou, v. 37.] + +[Footnote 111: Zosimus, l. i. p. 32, 33.] + + The second expedition of the Goths was undertaken with +greater powers of men and ships; but they steered a different +course, and, disdaining the exhausted provinces of Pontus, +followed the western coast of the Euxine, passed before the wide +mouths of the Borysthenes, the Niester, and the Danube, and +increasing their fleet by the capture of a great number of +fishing barks, they approached the narrow outlet through which +the Euxine Sea pours its waters into the Mediterranean, and +divides the continents of Europe and Asia. The garrison of +Chalcedon was encamped near the temple of Jupiter Urius, on a +promontory that commanded the entrance of the Strait; and so +inconsiderable were the dreaded invasions of the barbarians that +this body of troops surpassed in number the Gothic army. But it +was in numbers alone that they surpassed it. They deserted with +precipitation their advantageous post, and abandoned the town of +Chalcedon, most plentifully stored with arms and money, to the +discretion of the conquerors. Whilst they hesitated whether they +should prefer the sea or land Europe or Asia, for the scene of +their hostilities, a perfidious fugitive pointed out Nicomedia, +^* once the capital of the kings of Bithynia, as a rich and easy +conquest. He guided the march which was only sixty miles from +the camp of Chalcedon, ^112 directed the resistless attack, and +partook of the booty; for the Goths had learned sufficient policy +to reward the traitor whom they detested. Nice, Prusa, Apamaea, +Cius, ^! cities that had sometimes rivalled, or imitated, the +splendor of Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity, which, +in a few weeks, raged without control through the whole province +of Bithynia. Three hundred years of peace, enjoyed by the soft +inhabitants of Asia, had abolished the exercise of arms, and +removed the apprehension of danger. The ancient walls were +suffered to moulder away, and all the revenue of the most opulent +cities was reserved for the construction of baths, temples, and +theatres. ^113 +[Footnote *: It has preserved its name, joined to the preposition +of place in that of Nikmid. D'Anv. Geog. Anc. ii. 28. - G.] + +[Footnote 112: Itiner. Hierosolym. p. 572. Wesseling.] + +[Footnote !: Now Isnik, Bursa, Mondania Ghio or Kemlik D'Anv. ii. +23. - G.] +[Footnote 113: Zosimus, l. . p. 32, 33.] + + When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of +Mithridates, ^114 it was distinguished by wise laws, a nava power +of two hundred galleys, and three arsenals, of arms, of military +engines, and of corn. ^115 It was still the seat of wealth and +luxury; but of its ancient strength, nothing remained except the +situation, in a little island of the Propontis, connected with +the continent of Asia only by two bridges. From the recent sack +of Prusa, the Goths advanced within eighteen miles. ^116 of the +city, which they had devoted to destruction; but the ruin of +Cyzicus was delayed by a fortunate accident. The season was +rainy, and the Lake Apolloniates, the reservoir of all the +springs of Mount Olympus, rose to an uncommon height. The little +river of Rhyndacus, which issues from the lake, swelled into a +broad and rapid stream, and stopped the progress of the Goths. +Their retreat to the maritime city of Heraclea, where the fleet +had probably been stationed, was attended by a long train of +wagons, laden with the spoils of Bithynia, and was marked by the +flames of Nico and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. ^117 +Some obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that +secured their retreat. ^118 But even a complete victory would +have been of little moment, as the approach of the autumnal +equinox summoned them to hasten their return. To navigate the +Euxine before the month of May, or after that of September, is +esteemed by the modern Turks the most unquestionable instance of +rashness and folly. ^119 + +[Footnote 114: He besieged the place with 400 galleys, 150,000 +foot, and a numerous cavalry. See Plutarch in Lucul. Appian in +Mithridat Cicero pro Lege Manilia, c. 8.] + +[Footnote 115: Strabo, l. xii. p. 573.] + +[Footnote 116: Pocock's Description of the East, l. ii. c. 23, +24.] +[Footnote 117: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33.] + +[Footnote 118: Syncellus tells an unintelligible story of Prince +Odenathus, who defeated the Goths, and who was killed by Prince +Odenathus.] +[Footnote 119: Voyages de Chardin, tom. i. p. 45. He sailed with +the Turks from Constantinople to Caffa.] + + When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the +Goths in the ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails +of ships, ^120 our ready imagination instantly computes and +multiplies the formidable armament; but, as we are assured by the +judicious Strabo, ^121 that the piratical vessels used by the +barbarians of Pontus and the Lesser Scythia, were not capable of +containing more than twenty-five or thirty men we may safely +affirm, that fifteen thousand warriors, at the most, embarked in +this great expedition. Impatient of the limits of the Euxine, +they steered their destructive course from the Cimmerian to the +Thracian Bosphorus. When they had almost gained the middle of +the Straits, they were suddenly driven back to the entrance of +them; till a favorable wind, springing up the next day, carried +them in a few hours into the placid sea, or rather lake, of the +Propontis. Their landing on the little island of Cyzicus was +attended with the ruin of that ancient and noble city. From +thence issuing again through the narrow passage of the +Hellespont, they pursued their winding navigation amidst the +numerous islands scattered over the Archipelago, or the Aegean +Sea. The assistance of captives and deserters must have been +very necessary to pilot their vessels, and to direct their +various incursions, as well on the coast of Greece as on that of +Asia. At length the Gothic fleet anchored in the port of +Piraeus, five miles distant from Athens, ^122 which had attempted +to make some preparations for a vigorous defence. Cleodamus, one +of the engineers employed by the emperor's orders to fortify the +maritime cities against the Goths, had already begun to repair +the ancient walls, fallen to decay since the time of Scylla. The +efforts of his skill were ineffectual, and the barbarians became +masters of the native seat of the muses and the arts. But while +the conquerors abandoned themselves to the license of plunder and +intemperance, their fleet, that lay with a slender guard in the +harbor of Piraeus, was unexpectedly attacked by the brave +Dexippus, who, flying with the engineer Cleodamus from the sack +of Athens, collected a hasty band of volunteers, peasants as well +as soldiers, and in some measure avenged the calamities of his +country. ^123 + +[Footnote 120: Syncellus (p. 382) speaks of this expedition, as +undertaken by the Heruli.] + +[Footnote 121: Strabo, l. xi. p. 495.] + +[Footnote 122: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 7.] + +[Footnote 123: Hist. August. p. 181. Victor, c. 33. Orosius, +vii. 42. Zosimus, l. i. p. 35. Zonaras, l. xii. 635. Syncellus, +p. 382. It is not without some attention, that we can explain +and conciliate their imperfect hints. We can still discover some +traces of the partiality of Dexippus, in the relation of his own +and his countrymen's exploits. + + Note: According to a new fragment of Dexippus, published by +Mai, he 2000 men. He took up a strong position in a mountainous +and woods district, and kept up a harassing warfare. He +expresses a hope of being speedily joined by the Imperial fleet. +Dexippus in rov. Byzantinorum Collect a Niebuhr, p. 26, 8 - M.] + + But this exploit, whatever lustre it might shed on the +declining age of Athens, served rather to irritate than to subdue +the undaunted spirit of the northern invaders. A general +conflagration blazed out at the same time in every district of +Greece. Thebes and Argos, Corinth and Sparta, which had formerly +waged such memorable wars against each other, were now unable to +bring an army into the field, or even to defend their ruined +fortifications. The rage of war, both by land and by sea, spread +from the eastern point of Sunium to the western coast of Epirus. +The Goths had already advanced within sight of Italy, when the +approach of such imminent danger awakened the indolent Gallienus +from his dream of pleasure. The emperor appeared in arms; and +his presence seems to have checked the ardor, and to have divided +the strength, of the enemy. Naulobatus, a chief of the Heruli, +accepted an honorable capitulation, entered with a large body of +his countrymen into the service of Rome, and was invested with +the ornaments of the consular dignity, which had never before +been profaned by the hands of a barbarian. ^124 Great numbers of +the Goths, disgusted with the perils and hardships of a tedious +voyage, broke into Maesia, with a design of forcing their way +over the Danube to their settlements in the Ukraine. The wild +attempt would have proved inevitable destruction, if the discord +of the Roman generals had not opened to the barbarians the means +of an escape. ^125 The small remainder of this destroying host +returned on board their vessels; and measuring back their way +through the Hellespont and the Bosphorus, ravaged in their +passage the shores of Troy, whose fame, immortalized by Homer, +will probably survive the memory of the Gothic conquests. As +soon as they found themselves in safety within the basin of the +Euxine, they landed at Anchialus in Thrace, near the foot of +Mount Haemus; and, after all their toils, indulged themselves in +the use of those pleasant and salutary hot baths. What remained +of the voyage was a short and easy navigation. ^126 Such was the +various fate of this third and greatest of their naval +enterprises. It may seem difficult to conceive how the original +body of fifteen thousand warriors could sustain the losses and +divisions of so bold an adventure. But as their numbers were +gradually wasted by the sword, by shipwrecks, and by the +influence of a warm climate, they were perpetually renewed by +troops of banditti and deserters, who flocked to the standard of +plunder, and by a crowd of fugitive slaves, often of German or +Sarmatian extraction, who eagerly seized the glorious opportunity +of freedom and revenge. In these expeditions, the Gothic nation +claimed a superior share of honor and danger; but the tribes that +fought under the Gothic banners are sometimes distinguished and +sometimes confounded in the imperfect histories of that age; and +as the barbarian fleets seemed to issue from the mouth of the +Tanais, the vague but familiar appellation of Scythians was +frequently bestowed on the mixed multitude. ^127 +[Footnote 124: Syncellus, p. 382. This body of Heruli was for a +long time faithful and famous.] + +[Footnote 125: Claudius, who commanded on the Danube, thought +with propriety and acted with spirit. His colleague was jealous +of his fame Hist. August. p. 181.] + +[Footnote 126: Jornandes, c. 20.] + +[Footnote 127: Zosimus and the Greeks (as the author of the +Philopatris) give the name of Scythians to those whom Jornandes, +and the Latin writers, constantly represent as Goths.] + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And +Gallienus. + +Part IV. + + In the general calamities of mankind, the death of an +individual, however exalted, the ruin of an edifice, however +famous, are passed over with careless inattention. Yet we cannot +forget that the temple of Diana at Ephesus, after having risen +with increasing splendor from seven repeated misfortunes, ^128 +was finally burnt by the Goths in their third naval invasion. +The arts of Greece, and the wealth of Asia, had conspired to +erect that sacred and magnificent structure. It was supported by +a hundred and twenty-seven marble columns of the Ionic order. +They were the gifts of devout monarchs, and each was sixty feet +high. The altar was adorned with the masterly sculptures of +Praxiteles, who had, perhaps, selected from the favorite legends +of the place the birth of the divine children of Latona, the +concealment of Apollo after the slaughter of the Cyclops, and the +clemency of Bacchus to the vanquished Amazons. ^129 Yet the +length of the temple of Ephesus was only four hundred and +twenty-five feet, about two thirds of the measure of the church +of St. Peter's at Rome. ^130 In the other dimensions, it was +still more inferior to that sublime production of modern +architecture. The spreading arms of a Christian cross require a +much greater breadth than the oblong temples of the Pagans; and +the boldest artists of antiquity would have been startled at the +proposal of raising in the air a dome of the size and proportions +of the Pantheon. The temple of Diana was, however, admired as +one of the wonders of the world. Successive empires, the +Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman, had revered its sanctity +and enriched its splendor. ^131 But the rude savages of the +Baltic were destitute of a taste for the elegant arts, and they +despised the ideal terrors of a foreign superstition. ^132 + +[Footnote 128: Hist. Aug. p. 178. Jornandes, c. 20.] + +[Footnote 129: Strabo, l. xiv. p. 640. Vitruvius, l. i. c. i. +praefat l vii. Tacit Annal. iii. 61. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxvi. +14.] + +[Footnote 130: The length of St. Peter's is 840 Roman palms; each +palm is very little short of nine English inches. See Greaves's +Miscellanies vol. i. p. 233; on the Roman Foot. + + Note: St. Paul's Cathedral is 500 feet. Dallaway on +Architecture - M.] +[Footnote 131: The policy, however, of the Romans induced them to +abridge the extent of the sanctuary or asylum, which by +successive privileges had spread itself two stadia round the +temple. Strabo, l. xiv. p. 641. Tacit. Annal. iii. 60, &c.] + +[Footnote 132: They offered no sacrifices to the Grecian gods. +See Epistol Gregor. Thaumat.] + + Another circumstance is related of these invasions, which +might deserve our notice, were it not justly to be suspected as +the fanciful conceit of a recent sophist. We are told, that in +the sack of Athens the Goths had collected all the libraries, and +were on the point of setting fire to this funeral pile of Grecian +learning, had not one of their chiefs, of more refined policy +than his brethren, dissuaded them from the design; by the +profound observation, that as long as the Greeks were addicted to +the study of books, they would never apply themselves to the +exercise of arms. ^133 The sagacious counsellor (should the truth +of the fact be admitted) reasoned like an ignorant barbarian. In +the most polite and powerful nations, genius of every kind has +displayed itself about the same period; and the age of science +has generally been the age of military virtue and success. +[Footnote 133: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 635. Such an anecdote was +perfectly suited to the taste of Montaigne. He makes use of it +in his agreeable Essay on Pedantry, l. i. c. 24.] + + IV. The new sovereign of Persia, Artaxerxes and his son +Sapor, had triumphed (as we have already seen) over the house of +Arsaces. Of the many princes of that ancient race. Chosroes, +king of Armenia, had alone preserved both his life and his +independence. He defended himself by the natural strength of his +country; by the perpetual resort of fugitives and malecontents; +by the alliance of the Romans, and above all, by his own courage. + +Invincible in arms, during a thirty years' war, he was at length +assassinated by the emissaries of Sapor, king of Persia. The +patriotic satraps of Armenia, who asserted the freedom and +dignity of the crown, implored the protection of Rome in favor of +Tiridates, the lawful heir. But the son of Chosroes was an +infant, the allies were at a distance, and the Persian monarch +advanced towards the frontier at the head of an irresistible +force. Young Tiridates, the future hope of his country, was +saved by the fidelity of a servant, and Armenia continued above +twenty-seven years a reluctant province of the great monarchy of +Persia. ^134 Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the +distresses or the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the +strong garrisons of Carrhae and Nisibis ^* to surrender, and +spread devastation and terror on either side of the Euphrates. +[Footnote 134: Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 71, 73, 74. Zonaras, +l. xii. p. 628. The anthentic relation of the Armenian historian +serves to rectify the confused account of the Greek. The latter +talks of the children of Tiridates, who at that time was himself +an infant. (Compare St Martin Memoires sur l'Armenie, i. p. 301. +- M.)] + +[Footnote *: Nisibis, according to Persian authors, was taken by +a miracle, the wall fell, in compliance with the prayers of the +army. Malcolm's Persia, l. 76. - M] + + The loss of an important frontier, the ruin of a faithful +and natural ally, and the rapid success of Sapor's ambition, +affected Rome with a deep sense of the insult as well as of the +danger. Valerian flattered himself, that the vigilance of his +lieutenants would sufficiently provide for the safety of the +Rhine and of the Danube; but he resolved, notwithstanding his +advanced age, to march in person to the defence of the Euphrates. + +During his progress through Asia Minor, the naval enterprises of +the Goths were suspended, and the afflicted province enjoyed a +transient and fallacious calm. He passed the Euphrates, +encountered the Persian monarch near the walls of Edessa, was +vanquished, and taken prisoner by Sapor. The particulars of this +great event are darkly and imperfectly represented; yet, by the +glimmering light which is afforded us, we may discover a long +series of imprudence, of error, and of deserved misfortunes on +the side of the Roman emperor. He reposed an implicit confidence +in Macrianus, his Praetorian praefect. ^135 That worthless +minister rendered his master formidable only to the oppressed +subjects, and contemptible to the enemies of Rome. ^136 By his +weak or wicked counsels, the Imperial army was betrayed into a +situation where valor and military skill were equally unavailing. +^137 The vigorous attempt of the Romans to cut their way through +the Persian host was repulsed with great slaughter; ^138 and +Sapor, who encompassed the camp with superior numbers, patiently +waited till the increasing rage of famine and pestilence had +insured his victory. The licentious murmurs of the legions soon +accused Valerian as the cause of their calamities; their +seditious clamors demanded an instant capitulation. An immense +sum of gold was offered to purchase the permission of a +disgraceful retreat. But the Persian, conscious of his +superiority, refused the money with disdain; and detaining the +deputies, advanced in order of battle to the foot of the Roman +rampart, and insisted on a personal conference with the emperor. +Valerian was reduced to the necessity of intrusting his life and +dignity to the faith of an enemy. The interview ended as it was +natural to expect. The emperor was made a prisoner, and his +astonished troops laid down their arms. ^139 In such a moment of +triumph, the pride and policy of Sapor prompted him to fill the +vacant throne with a successor entirely dependent on his +pleasure. Cyriades, an obscure fugitive of Antioch, stained with +every vice, was chosen to dishonor the Roman purple; and the will +of the Persian victor could not fail of being ratified by the +acclamations, however reluctant, of the captive army. ^140 + +[Footnote 135: Hist. Aug. p. 191. As Macrianus was an enemy to +the Christians, they charged him with being a magician.] + +[Footnote 136: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33.] + +[Footnote 137: Hist. Aug. p. 174.] + +[Footnote 138: Victor in Caesar. Eutropius, ix. 7.] + +[Footnote 139: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 630. +Peter Patricius, in the Excerpta Legat. p. 29.] + +[Footnote 140: Hist. August. p. 185. The reign of Cyriades +appears in that collection prior to the death of Valerian; but I +have preferred a probable series of events to the doubtful +chronology of a most inaccurate writer] + The Imperial slave was eager to secure the favor of his +master by an act of treason to his native country. He conducted +Sapor over the Euphrates, and, by the way of Chalcis, to the +metropolis of the East. So rapid were the motions of the Persian +cavalry, that, if we may credit a very judicious historian, ^141 +the city of Antioch was surprised when the idle multitude was +fondly gazing on the amusements of the theatre. The splendid +buildings of Antioch, private as well as public, were either +pillaged or destroyed; and the numerous inhabitants were put to +the sword, or led away into captivity. ^142 The tide of +devastation was stopped for a moment by the resolution of the +high priest of Emesa. Arrayed in his sacerdotal robes, he +appeared at the head of a great body of fanatic peasants, armed +only with slings, and defended his god and his property from the +sacrilegious hands of the followers of Zoroaster. ^143 But the +ruin of Tarsus, and of many other cities, furnishes a melancholy +proof that, except in this singular instance, the conquest of +Syria and Cilicia scarcely interrupted the progress of the +Persian arms. The advantages of the narrow passes of Mount +Taurus were abandoned, in which an invader, whose principal force +consisted in his cavalry, would have been engaged in a very +unequal combat: and Sapor was permitted to form the siege of +Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia; a city, though of the second +rank, which was supposed to contain four hundred thousand +inhabitants. Demosthenes commanded in the place, not so much by +the commission of the emperor, as in the voluntary defence of his +country. For a long time he deferred its fate; and when at last +Caesarea was betrayed by the perfidy of a physician, he cut his +way through the Persians, who had been ordered to exert their +utmost diligence to take him alive. This heroic chief escaped +the power of a foe who might either have honored or punished his +obstinate valor; but many thousands of his fellow-citizens were +involved in a general massacre, and Sapor is accused of treating +his prisoners with wanton and unrelenting cruelty. ^144 Much +should undoubtedly be allowed for national animosity, much for +humbled pride and impotent revenge; yet, upon the whole, it is +certain, that the same prince, who, in Armenia, had displayed the +mild aspect of a legislator, showed himself to the Romans under +the stern features of a conqueror. He despaired of making any +permanent establishment in the empire, and sought only to leave +behind him a wasted desert, whilst he transported into Persia the +people and the treasures of the provinces. ^145 + +[Footnote 141: The sack of Antioch, anticipated by some +historians, is assigned, by the decisive testimony of Ammianus +Marcellinus, to the reign of Gallienus, xxiii. 5. + + Note: Heyne, in his note on Zosimus, contests this opinion +of Gibbon and observes, that the testimony of Ammianus is in fact +by no means clear, decisive. Gallienus and Valerian reigned +together. Zosimus, in a passage, l. iiii. 32, 8, distinctly +places this event before the capture of Valerian. - M.] + +[Footnote 142: Zosimus, l. i. p. 35.] + +[Footnote 143: John Malala, tom. i. p. 391. He corrupts this +probable event by some fabulous circumstances.] + +[Footnote 144: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 630. Deep valleys were filled +up with the slain. Crowds of prisoners were driven to water like +beasts, and many perished for want of food.] + +[Footnote 145: Zosimus, l. i. p. 25 asserts, that Sapor, had he +not preferred spoil to conquest, might have remained master of +Asia.] + + At the time when the East trembled at the name of Sapor, he +received a present not unworthy of the greatest kings; a long +train of camels, laden with the most rare and valuable +merchandises. The rich offering was accompanied with an epistle, +respectful, but not servile, from Odenathus, one of the noblest +and most opulent senators of Palmyra. "Who is this Odenathus," +(said the haughty victor, and he commanded that the present +should be cast into the Euphrates,) "that he thus insolently +presumes to write to his lord? If he entertains a hope of +mitigating his punishment, let him fall prostrate before the foot +of our throne, with his hands bound behind his back. Should he +hesitate, swift destruction shall be poured on his head, on his +whole race, and on his country." ^146 The desperate extremity to +which the Palmyrenian was reduced, called into action all the +latent powers of his soul. He met Sapor; but he met him in arms. + +Infusing his own spirit into a little army collected from the +villages of Syria ^147 and the tents of the desert, ^148 he +hovered round the Persian host, harassed their retreat, carried +off part of the treasure, and, what was dearer than any treasure, +several of the women of the great king; who was at last obliged +to repass the Euphrates with some marks of haste and confusion. +^149 By this exploit, Odenathus laid the foundations of his +future fame and fortunes. The majesty of Rome, oppressed by a +Persian, was protected by a Syrian or Arab of Palmyra. + +[Footnote 146: Peter Patricius in Excerpt. Leg. p. 29.] + +[Footnote 147: Syrorum agrestium manu. Sextus Rufus, c. 23. +Rufus Victor the Augustan History, (p. 192,) and several +inscriptions, agree in making Odenathus a citizen of Palmyra.] + +[Footnote 148: He possessed so powerful an interest among the +wandering tribes, that Procopius (Bell. Persic. l. ii. c. 5) and +John Malala, (tom. i. p. 391) style him Prince of the Saracens.] + +[Footnote 149: Peter Patricius, p. 25.] + + The voice of history, which is often little more than the +organ of hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse +of the rights of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, +but invested with the Imperial purple, was exposed to the +multitude, a constant spectacle of fallen greatness; and that +whenever the Persian monarch mounted on horseback, he placed his +foot on the neck of a Roman emperor. Notwithstanding all the +remonstrances of his allies, who repeatedly advised him to +remember the vicissitudes of fortune, to dread the returning +power of Rome, and to make his illustrious captive the pledge of +peace, not the object of insult, Sapor still remained inflexible. +When Valerian sunk under the weight of shame and grief, his skin, +stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness of a human +figure, was preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of +Persia; a more real monument of triumph, than the fancied +trophies of brass and marble so often erected by Roman vanity. +^150 The tale is moral and pathetic, but the truth ^! of it may +very fairly be called in question. The letters still extant from +the princes of the East to Sapor are manifest forgeries; ^151 nor +is it natural to suppose that a jealous monarch should, even in +the person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty of +kings. Whatever treatment the unfortunate Valerian might +experience in Persia, it is at least certain that the only +emperor of Rome who had ever fallen into the hands of the enemy, +languished away his life in hopeless captivity. + +[Footnote 150: The Pagan writers lament, the Christian insult, +the misfortunes of Valerian. Their various testimonies are +accurately collected by Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 739, &c. So +little has been preserved of eastern history before Mahomet, that +the modern Persians are totally ignorant of the victory Sapor, an +event so glorious to their nation. See Bibliotheque Orientale. + + Note: Malcolm appears to write from Persian authorities, i. +76. - M.] +[Footnote !: Yet Gibbon himself records a speech of the emperor +Galerius, which alludes to the cruelties exercised against the +living, and the indignities to which they exposed the dead +Valerian, vol. ii. ch. 13. Respect for the kingly character would +by no means prevent an eastern monarch from ratifying his pride +and his vengeance on a fallen foe. - M.] +[Footnote 151: One of these epistles is from Artavasdes, king of +Armenia; since Armenia was then a province of Persia, the king, +the kingdom, and the epistle must be fictitious.] + + The emperor Gallienus, who had long supported with +impatience the censorial severity of his father and colleague, +received the intelligence of his misfortunes with secret pleasure +and avowed indifference. "I knew that my father was a mortal," +said he; "and since he has acted as it becomes a brave man, I am +satisfied." Whilst Rome lamented the fate of her sovereign, the +savage coldness of his son was extolled by the servile courtiers +as the perfect firmness of a hero and a stoic. ^152 It is +difficult to paint the light, the various, the inconstant +character of Gallienus, which he displayed without constraint, as +soon as he became sole possessor of the empire. In every art +that he attempted, his lively genius enabled him to succeed; and +as his genius was destitute of judgment, he attempted every art, +except the important ones of war and government. He was a master +of several curious, but useless sciences, a ready orator, an +elegant poet, ^153 a skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and +most contemptible prince. When the great emergencies of the +state required his presence and attention, he was engaged in +conversation with the philosopher Plotinus, ^154 wasting his time +in trifling or licentious pleasures, preparing his initiation to +the Grecian mysteries, or soliciting a place in the Arcopagus of +Athens. His profuse magnificence insulted the general poverty; +the solemn ridicule of his triumphs impressed a deeper sense of +the public disgrace. ^155 The repeated intelligence of invasions, +defeats, and rebellions, he received with a careless smile; and +singling out, with affected contempt, some particular production +of the lost province, he carelessly asked, whether Rome must be +ruined, unless it was supplied with linen from Egypt, and arras +cloth from Gaul. There were, however, a few short moments in the +life of Gallienus, when, exasperated by some recent injury, he +suddenly appeared the intrepid soldier and the cruel tyrant; +till, satiated with blood, or fatigued by resistance, he +insensibly sunk into the natural mildness and indolence of his +character. ^156 + +[Footnote 152: See his life in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 153: There is still extant a very pretty Epithalamium, +composed by Gallienus for the nuptials of his nephews: - + + "Ite ait, O juvenes, pariter sudate medullis + Omnibus, inter vos: non murmura vestra columbae, + Brachia non hederae, non vincant oscula conchae."] + +[Footnote 154: He was on the point of giving Plotinus a ruined +city of Campania to try the experiment of realizing Plato's +Republic. See the Life of Plotinus, by Porphyry, in Fabricius's +Biblioth. Graec. l. iv.] +[Footnote 155: A medal which bears the head of Gallienus has +perplexed the antiquarians by its legend and reverse; the former +Gallienoe Augustoe, the latter Ubique Pax. M. Spanheim supposes +that the coin was struck by some of the enemies of Gallienus, and +was designed as a severe satire on that effeminate prince. But +as the use of irony may seem unworthy of the gravity of the Roman +mint, M. de Vallemont has deduced from a passage of Trebellius +Pollio (Hist. Aug. p. 198) an ingenious and natural solution. +Galliena was first cousin to the emperor. By delivering Africa +from the usurper Celsus, she deserved the title of Augusta. On a +medal in the French king's collection, we read a similar +inscription of Faustina Augusta round the head of Marcus +Aurelius. With regard to the Ubique Pax, it is easily explained +by the vanity of Gallienus, who seized, perhaps, the occasion of +some momentary calm. See Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, +Janvier, 1700, p. 21 - 34.] + +[Footnote 156: This singular character has, I believe, been +fairly transmitted to us. The reign of his immediate successor +was short and busy; and the historians who wrote before the +elevation of the family of Constantine could not have the most +remote interest to misrepresent the character of Gallienus.] + + At the time when the reins of government were held with so +loose a hand, it is not surprising, that a crowd of usurpers +should start up in every province of the empire against the son +of Valerian. It was probably some ingenious fancy, of comparing +the thirty tyrants of Rome with the thirty tyrants of Athens, +that induced the writers of the Augustan History to select that +celebrated number, which has been gradually received into a +popular appellation. ^157 But in every light the parallel is idle +and defective. What resemblance can we discover between a council +of thirty persons, the united oppressors of a single city, and an +uncertain list of independent rivals, who rose and fell in +irregular succession through the extent of a vast empire? Nor +can the number of thirty be completed, unless we include in the +account the women and children who were honored with the Imperial +title. The reign of Gallienus, distracted as it was, produced +only nineteen pretenders to the throne: Cyriades, Macrianus, +Balista, Odenathus, and Zenobia, in the East; in Gaul, and the +western provinces, Posthumus, Lollianus, Victorinus, and his +mother Victoria, Marius, and Tetricus; in Illyricum and the +confines of the Danube, Ingenuus, Regillianus, and Aureolus; in +Pontus, ^158 Saturninus; in Isauria, Trebellianus; Piso in +Thessaly; Valens in Achaia; Aemilianus in Egypt; and Celsus in +Africa. ^* To illustrate the obscure monuments of the life and +death of each individual, would prove a laborious task, alike +barren of instruction and of amusement. We may content ourselves +with investigating some general characters, that most strongly +mark the condition of the times, and the manners of the men, +their pretensions, their motives, their fate, and their +destructive consequences of their usurpation. ^159 + +[Footnote 157: Pollio expresses the most minute anxiety to +complete the number. + + Note: Compare a dissertation of Manso on the thirty tyrants +at the end of his Leben Constantius des Grossen. Breslau, 1817. +- M.] + +[Footnote 158: The place of his reign is somewhat doubtful; but +there was a tyrant in Pontus, and we are acquainted with the seat +of all the others.] +[Footnote *: Captain Smyth, in his "Catalogue of Medals," p. 307, +substitutes two new names to make up the number of nineteen, for +those of Odenathus and Zenobia. He subjoins this list: - + 1. 2. 3. Of +those whose coins Those whose coins Those of whom no +are undoubtedly true. are suspected. coins are +known. Posthumus. Cyriades. +Valens. Laelianus, (Lollianus, G.) Ingenuus. +Balista Victorinus Celsus. +Saturninus. Marius. Piso Frugi. +Trebellianus. Tetricus. + + - M. 1815 Macrianus. +Quietus. +Regalianus (Regillianus, G.) +Alex. Aemilianus. +Aureolus. +Sulpicius Antoninus] + +[Footnote 159: Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 1163, reckons them +somewhat differently.] + + It is sufficiently known, that the odious appellation of +Tyrant was often employed by the ancients to express the illegal +seizure of supreme power, without any reference to the abuse of +it. Several of the pretenders, who raised the standard of +rebellion against the emperor Gallienus, were shining models of +virtue, and almost all possessed a considerable share of vigor +and ability. Their merit had recommended them to the favor of +Valerian, and gradually promoted them to the most important +commands of the empire. The generals, who assumed the title of +Augustus, were either respected by their troops for their able +conduct and severe discipline, or admired for valor and success +in war, or beloved for frankness and generosity. The field of +victory was often the scene of their election; and even the +armorer Marius, the most contemptible of all the candidates for +the purple, was distinguished, however by intrepid courage, +matchless strength, and blunt honesty. ^160 His mean and recent +trade cast, indeed, an air of ridicule on his elevation; ^* but +his birth could not be more obscure than was that of the greater +part of his rivals, who were born of peasants, and enlisted in +the army as private soldiers. In times of confusion, every +active genius finds the place assigned him by nature: in a +general state of war, military merit is the road to glory and to +greatness. Of the nineteen tyrants Tetricus only was a senator; +Piso alone was a noble. The blood of Numa, through twenty-eight +successive generations, ran in the veins of Calphurnius Piso, +^161 who, by female alliances, claimed a right of exhibiting, in +his house, the images of Crassus and of the great Pompey. ^162 +His ancestors had been repeatedly dignified with all the honors +which the commonwealth could bestow; and of all the ancient +families of Rome, the Calphurnian alone had survived the tyranny +of the Caesars. The personal qualities of Piso added new lustre +to his race. The usurper Valens, by whose order he was killed, +confessed, with deep remorse, that even an enemy ought to have +respected the sanctity of Piso; and although he died in arms +against Gallienus, the senate, with the emperor's generous +permission, decreed the triumphal ornaments to the memory of so +virtuous a rebel. ^163 +[See Roman Coins: From The British Museum. Number four depicts +Crassus.] +[Footnote 160: See the speech of Marius in the Augustan History, +p. 197. The accidental identity of names was the only +circumstance that could tempt Pollio to imitate Sallust.] + +[Footnote *: Marius was killed by a soldier, who had formerly +served as a workman in his shop, and who exclaimed, as he struck, +"Behold the sword which thyself hast forged." Trob vita. - G.] + +[Footnote 161: "Vos, O Pompilius sanguis!" is Horace's address to +the Pisos See Art. Poet. v. 292, with Dacier's and Sanadon's +notes.] +[Footnote 162: Tacit. Annal. xv. 48. Hist. i. 15. In the former +of these passages we may venture to change paterna into materna. +In every generation from Augustus to Alexander Severus, one or +more Pisos appear as consuls. A Piso was deemed worthy of the +throne by Augustus, (Tacit. Annal. i. 13;) a second headed a +formidable conspiracy against Nero; and a third was adopted, and +declared Caesar, by Galba.] + +[Footnote 163: Hist. August. p. 195. The senate, in a moment of +enthusiasm, seems to have presumed on the approbation of +Gallienus.] + + The lieutenants of Valerian were grateful to the father, +whom they esteemed. They disdained to serve the luxurious +indolence of his unworthy son. The throne of the Roman world was +unsupported by any principle of loyalty; and treason against such +a prince might easily be considered as patriotism to the state. +Yet if we examine with candor the conduct of these usurpers, it +will appear, that they were much oftener driven into rebellion by +their fears, than urged to it by their ambition. They dreaded +the cruel suspicions of Gallienus; they equally dreaded the +capricious violence of their troops. If the dangerous favor of +the army had imprudently declared them deserving of the purple, +they were marked for sure destruction; and even prudence would +counsel them to secure a short enjoyment of empire, and rather to +try the fortune of war than to expect the hand of an executioner. + +When the clamor of the soldiers invested the reluctant victims +with the ensigns of sovereign authority, they sometimes mourned +in secret their approaching fate. "You have lost," said +Saturninus, on the day of his elevation, "you have lost a useful +commander, and you have made a very wretched emperor." ^164 +[Footnote 164: Hist. August p. 196.] + + The apprehensions of Saturninus were justified by the +repeated experience of revolutions. Of the nineteen tyrants who +started up under the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who +enjoyed a life of peace, or a natural death. As soon as they +were invested with the bloody purple, they inspired their +adherents with the same fears and ambition which had occasioned +their own revolt. Encompassed with domestic conspiracy, military +sedition, and civil war, they trembled on the edge of precipices, +in which, after a longer or shorter term of anxiety, they were +inevitably lost. These precarious monarchs received, however, +such honors as the flattery of their respective armies and +provinces could bestow; but their claim, founded on rebellion, +could never obtain the sanction of law or history. Italy, Rome, +and the senate, constantly adhered to the cause of Gallienus, and +he alone was considered as the sovereign of the empire. That +prince condescended, indeed, to acknowledge the victorious arms +of Odenathus, who deserved the honorable distinction, by the +respectful conduct which he always maintained towards the son of +Valerian. With the general applause of the Romans, and the +consent of Gallienus, the senate conferred the title of Augustus +on the brave Palmyrenian; and seemed to intrust him with the +government of the East, which he already possessed, in so +independent a manner, that, like a private succession, he +bequeathed it to his illustrious widow, Zenobia. ^165 +[Footnote 165: The association of the brave Palmyrenian was the +most popular act of the whole reign of Gallienus. Hist. August. +p. 180.] + The rapid and perpetual transitions from the cottage to the +throne, and from the throne to the grave, might have amused an +indifferent philosopher; were it possible for a philosopher to +remain indifferent amidst the general calamities of human kind. +The election of these precarious emperors, their power and their +death, were equally destructive to their subjects and adherents. +The price of their fatal elevation was instantly discharged to +the troops by an immense donative, drawn from the bowels of the +exhausted people. However virtuous was their character, however +pure their intentions, they found themselves reduced to the hard +necessity of supporting their usurpation by frequent acts of +rapine and cruelty. When they fell, they involved armies and +provinces in their fall. There is still extant a most savage +mandate from Gallienus to one of his ministers, after the +suppression of Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple in Illyricum. + +"It is not enough," says that soft but inhuman prince, "that you +exterminate such as have appeared in arms; the chance of battle +might have served me as effectually. The male sex of every age +must be extirpated; provided that, in the execution of the +children and old men, you can contrive means to save our +reputation. Let every one die who has dropped an expression, who +has entertained a thought against me, against me, the son of +Valerian, the father and brother of so many princes. ^166 +Remember that Ingenuus was made emperor: tear, kill, hew in +pieces. I write to you with my own hand, and would inspire you +with my own feelings." ^167 Whilst the public forces of the state +were dissipated in private quarrels, the defenceless provinces +lay exposed to every invader. The bravest usurpers were +compelled, by the perplexity of their situation, to conclude +ignominious treaties with the common enemy, to purchase with +oppressive tributes the neutrality or services of the Barbarians, +and to introduce hostile and independent nations into the heart +of the Roman monarchy. ^168 + +[Footnote 166: Gallienus had given the titles of Caesar and +Augustus to his son Saloninus, slain at Cologne by the usurper +Posthumus. A second son of Gallienus succeeded to the name and +rank of his elder brother Valerian, the brother of Gallienus, was +also associated to the empire: several other brothers, sisters, +nephews, and nieces of the emperor formed a very numerous royal +family. See Tillemont, tom iii, and M. de Brequigny in the +Memoires de l'Academie, tom xxxii p. 262.] + +[Footnote 167: Hist. August. p. 188.] + +[Footnote 168: Regillianus had some bands of Roxolani in his +service; Posthumus a body of Franks. It was, perhaps, in the +character of auxiliaries that the latter introduced themselves +into Spain.] + + Such were the barbarians, and such the tyrants, who, under +the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces, +and reduced the empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and ruin, +from whence it seemed impossible that it should ever emerge. As +far as the barrenness of materials would permit, we have +attempted to trace, with order and perspicuity, the general +events of that calamitous period. There still remain some +particular facts; I. The disorders of Sicily; II. The tumults +of Alexandria; and, III. The rebellion of the Isaurians, which +may serve to reflect a strong light on the horrid picture. + + I. Whenever numerous troops of banditti, multiplied by +success and impunity, publicly defy, instead of eluding the +justice of their country, we may safely infer, that the excessive +weakness of the government is felt and abused by the lowest ranks +of the community. The situation of Sicily preserved it from the +Barbarians; nor could the disarmed province have supported a +usurper. The sufferings of that once flourishing and still +fertile island were inflicted by baser hands. A licentious crowd +of slaves and peasants reigned for a while over the plundered +country, and renewed the memory of the servile wars of more +ancient times. ^169 Devastations, of which the husbandman was +either the victim or the accomplice, must have ruined the +agriculture of Sicily; and as the principal estates were the +property of the opulent senators of Rome, who often enclosed +within a farm the territory of an old republic, it is not +improbable, that this private injury might affect the capital +more deeply, than all the conquests of the Goths or the Persians. + +[Footnote 169: The Augustan History, p. 177. See Diodor. Sicul. +l. xxxiv.] + II. The foundation of Alexandria was a noble design, at +once conceived and executed by the son of Philip. The beautiful +and regular form of that great city, second only to Rome itself, +comprehended a circumference of fifteen miles; ^170 it was +peopled by three hundred thousand free inhabitants, besides at +least an equal number of slaves. ^171 The lucrative trade of +Arabia and India flowed through the port of Alexandria, to the +capital and provinces of the empire. ^* Idleness was unknown. +Some were employed in blowing of glass, others in weaving of +linen, others again manufacturing the papyrus. Either sex, and +every age, was engaged in the pursuits of industry, nor did even +the blind or the lame want occupations suited to their condition. +^172 But the people of Alexandria, a various mixture of nations, +united the vanity and inconstancy of the Greeks with the +superstition and obstinacy of the Egyptians. The most trifling +occasion, a transient scarcity of flesh or lentils, the neglect +of an accustomed salutation, a mistake of precedency in the +public baths, or even a religious dispute, ^173 were at any time +sufficient to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, whose +resentments were furious and implacable. ^174 After the captivity +of Valerian and the insolence of his son had relaxed the +authority of the laws, the Alexandrians abandoned themselves to +the ungoverned rage of their passions, and their unhappy country +was the theatre of a civil war, which continued (with a few short +and suspicious truces) above twelve years. ^175 All intercourse +was cut off between the several quarters of the afflicted city, +every street was polluted with blood, every building of strength +converted into a citadel; nor did the tumults subside till a +considerable part of Alexandria was irretrievably ruined. The +spacious and magnificent district of Bruchion, ^* with its +palaces and musaeum, the residence of the kings and philosophers +of Egypt, is described above a century afterwards, as already +reduced to its present state of dreary solitude. ^176 + +[Footnote 170: Plin. Hist. Natur. v. 10.] + +[Footnote 171: Diodor. Sicul. l. xvii. p. 590, edit. Wesseling.] + +[Footnote *: Berenice, or Myos-Hormos, on the Red Sea, received +the eastern commodities. From thence they were transported to +the Nile, and down the Nile to Alexandria. - M.] + +[Footnote 172: See a very curious letter of Hadrian, in the +Augustan History, p. 245.] + +[Footnote 173: Such as the sacrilegious murder of a divine cat. +See Diodor. Sicul. l. i. + + Note: The hostility between the Jewish and Grecian part of +the population afterwards between the two former and the +Christian, were unfailing causes of tumult, sedition, and +massacre. In no place were the religious disputes, after the +establishment of Christianity, more frequent or more sanguinary. +See Philo. de Legat. Hist. of Jews, ii. 171, iii. 111, 198. +Gibbon, iii c. xxi. viii. c. xlvii. - M.] + +[Footnote 174: Hist. August. p. 195. This long and terrible +sedition was first occasioned by a dispute between a soldier and +a townsman about a pair of shoes.] + +[Footnote 175: Dionysius apud. Euses. Hist. Eccles. vii. p. 21. +Ammian xxii. 16.] + +[Footnote *: The Bruchion was a quarter of Alexandria which +extended along the largest of the two ports, and contained many +palaces, inhabited by the Ptolemies. D'Anv. Geogr. Anc. iii. 10. +- G.] + +[Footnote 176: Scaliger. Animadver. ad Euseb. Chron. p. 258. +Three dissertations of M. Bonamy, in the Mem. de l'Academie, tom. +ix.] + III. The obscure rebellion of Trebellianus, who assumed the +purple in Isauria, a petty province of Asia Minor, was attended +with strange and memorable consequences. The pageant of royalty +was soon destroyed by an officer of Gallienus; but his followers, +despairing of mercy, resolved to shake off their allegiance, not +only to the emperor, but to the empire, and suddenly returned to +the savage manners from which they had never perfectly been +reclaimed. Their craggy rocks, a branch of the wide-extended +Taurus, protected their inaccessible retreat. The tillage of +some fertile valleys ^177 supplied them with necessaries, and a +habit of rapine with the luxuries of life. In the heart of the +Roman monarchy, the Isaurians long continued a nation of wild +barbarians. Succeeding princes, unable to reduce them to +obedience, either by arms or policy, were compelled to +acknowledge their weakness, by surrounding the hostile and +independent spot with a strong chain of fortifications, ^178 +which often proved insufficient to restrain the incursions of +these domestic foes. The Isaurians, gradually extending their +territory to the sea-coast, subdued the western and mountainous +part of Cilicia, formerly the nest of those daring pirates, +against whom the republic had once been obliged to exert its +utmost force, under the conduct of the great Pompey. ^179 + +[Footnote 177: Strabo, l. xiii. p. 569.] + +[Footnote 178: Hist. August. p. 197.] + +[Footnote 179: See Cellarius, Geogr Antiq. tom. ii. p. 137, upon +the limits of Isauria.] + + Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the +universe with the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history +has been decorated with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon +meteors, preternatural darkness, and a crowd of prodigies +fictitious or exaggerated. ^180 But a long and general famine was +a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the inevitable +consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the +produce of the present, and the hope of future harvests. Famine +is almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of +scanty and unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have +contributed to the furious plague, which, from the year two +hundred and fifty to the year two hundred and sixty-five, raged +without interruption in every province, every city, and almost +every family, of the Roman empire. During some time five +thousand persons died daily in Rome; and many towns, that had +escaped the hands of the Barbarians, were entirely depopulated. +^181 + +[Footnote 180: Hist August p 177.] + +[Footnote 181: Hist. August. p. 177. Zosimus, l. i. p. 24. +Zonaras, l. xii. p. 623. Euseb. Chronicon. Victor in Epitom. +Victor in Caesar. Eutropius, ix. 5. Orosius, vii. 21.] + + We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of +some use perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human +calamities. An exact register was kept at Alexandria of all the +citizens entitled to receive the distribution of corn. It was +found, that the ancient number of those comprised between the +ages of forty and seventy, had been equal to the whole sum of +claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, who remained +alive after the reign of Gallienus. ^182 Applying this authentic +fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently +proves, that above half the people of Alexandria had perished; +and could we venture to extend the analogy to the other +provinces, we might suspect, that war, pestilence, and famine, +had consumed, in a few years, the moiety of the human species. +^183 +[Footnote 182: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 21. The fact is taken +from the Letters of Dionysius, who, in the time of those +troubles, was bishop of Alexandria.] + +[Footnote 183: In a great number of parishes, 11,000 persons were +found between fourteen and eighty; 5365 between forty and +seventy. See Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, tom. ii. p. 590.] + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. + +Part I. + +Reign Of Claudius. - Defeat Of The Goths. - Victories, Triumph, +And Death Of Aurelian. + + Under the deplorable reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, the +empire was oppressed and almost destroyed by the soldiers, the +tyrants, and the barbarians. It was saved by a series of great +princes, who derived their obscure origin from the martial +provinces of Illyricum. Within a period of about thirty years, +Claudius, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian and his colleagues, +triumphed over the foreign and domestic enemies of the state, +reestablished, with the military discipline, the strength of the +frontiers, and deserved the glorious title of Restorers of the +Roman world. + The removal of an effeminate tyrant made way for a +succession of heroes. The indignation of the people imputed all +their calamities to Gallienus, and the far greater part were +indeed, the consequence of his dissolute manners and careless +administration. He was even destitute of a sense of honor, which +so frequently supplies the absence of public virtue; and as long +as he was permitted to enjoy the possession of Italy, a victory +of the barbarians, the loss of a province, or the rebellion of a +general, seldom disturbed the tranquil course of his pleasures. +At length, a considerable army, stationed on the Upper Danube, +invested with the Imperial purple their leader Aureolus; who, +disdaining a confined and barren reign over the mountains of +Rhaetia, passed the Alps, occupied Milan, threatened Rome, and +challenged Gallienus to dispute in the field the sovereignty of +Italy. The emperor, provoked by the insult, and alarmed by the +instant danger, suddenly exerted that latent vigor which +sometimes broke through the indolence of his temper. Forcing +himself from the luxury of the palace, he appeared in arms at the +head of his legions, and advanced beyond the Po to encounter his +competitor. The corrupted name of Pontirolo ^1 still preserves +the memory of a bridge over the Adda, which, during the action, +must have proved an object of the utmost importance to both +armies. The Rhaetian usurper, after receiving a total defeat and +a dangerous wound, retired into Milan. The siege of that great +city was immediately formed; the walls were battered with every +engine in use among the ancients; and Aureolus, doubtful of his +internal strength, and hopeless of foreign succors already +anticipated the fatal consequences of unsuccessful rebellion. + +[Footnote 1: Pons Aureoli, thirteen miles from Bergamo, and +thirty-two from Milan. See Cluver. Italia, Antiq. tom. i. p. +245. Near this place, in the year 1703, the obstinate battle of +Cassano was fought between the French and Austrians. The +excellent relation of the Chevalier de Folard, who was present, +gives a very distinct idea of the ground. See Polybe de Folard, +tom. iii. p. 233-248.] + + His last resource was an attempt to seduce the loyalty of +the besiegers. He scattered libels through the camp, inviting the +troops to desert an unworthy master, who sacrificed the public +happiness to his luxury, and the lives of his most valuable +subjects to the slightest suspicions. The arts of Aureolus +diffused fears and discontent among the principal officers of his +rival. A conspiracy was formed by Heraclianus the Praetorian +praefect, by Marcian, a general of rank and reputation, and by +Cecrops, who commanded a numerous body of Dalmatian guards. The +death of Gallienus was resolved; and notwithstanding their desire +of first terminating the siege of Milan, the extreme danger which +accompanied every moment's delay obliged them to hasten the +execution of their daring purpose. At a late hour of the night, +but while the emperor still protracted the pleasures of the +table, an alarm was suddenly given, that Aureolus, at the head of +all his forces, had made a desperate sally from the town; +Gallienus, who was never deficient in personal bravery, started +from his silken couch, and without allowing himself time either +to put on his armor, or to assemble his guards, he mounted on +horseback, and rode full speed towards the supposed place of the +attack. Encompassed by his declared or concealed enemies, he +soon, amidst the nocturnal tumult, received a mortal dart from an +uncertain hand. Before he expired, a patriotic sentiment using +in the mind of Gallienus, induced him to name a deserving +successor; and it was his last request, that the Imperial +ornaments should be delivered to Claudius, who then commanded a +detached army in the neighborhood of Pavia. The report at least +was diligently propagated, and the order cheerfully obeyed by the +conspirators, who had already agreed to place Claudius on the +throne. On the first news of the emperor's death, the troops +expressed some suspicion and resentment, till the one was +removed, and the other assuaged, by a donative of twenty pieces +of gold to each soldier. They then ratified the election, and +acknowledged the merit of their new sovereign. ^2 + +[Footnote 2: On the death of Gallienus, see Trebellius Pollio in +Hist. August. p. 181. Zosimus, l. i. p. 37. Zonaras, l. xii. p. +634. Eutrop. ix. ll. Aurelius Victor in Epitom. Victor in +Caesar. I have compared and blended them all, but have chiefly +followed Aurelius Victor, who seems to have had the best +memoirs.] + + The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius, though +it was afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions, ^3 +sufficiently betrays the meanness of his birth. We can only +discover that he was a native of one of the provinces bordering +on the Danube; that his youth was spent in arms, and that his +modest valor attracted the favor and confidence of Decius. The +senate and people already considered him as an excellent officer, +equal to the most important trusts; and censured the inattention +of Valerian, who suffered him to remain in the subordinate +station of a tribune. But it was not long before that emperor +distinguished the merit of Claudius, by declaring him general and +chief of the Illyrian frontier, with the command of all the +troops in Thrace, Maesia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the +appointments of the praefect of Egypt, the establishment of the +proconsul of Africa, and the sure prospect of the consulship. By +his victories over the Goths, he deserved from the senate the +honor of a statue, and excited the jealous apprehensions of +Gallienus. It was impossible that a soldier could esteem so +dissolute a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just contempt. +Some unguarded expressions which dropped from Claudius were +officiously transmitted to the royal ear. The emperor's answer +to an officer of confidence describes in very lively colors his +own character, and that of the times. "There is not any thing +capable of giving me more serious concern, than the intelligence +contained in your last despatch; ^4 that some malicious +suggestions have indisposed towards us the mind of our friend and +parent Claudius. As you regard your allegiance, use every means +to appease his resentment, but conduct your negotiation with +secrecy; let it not reach the knowledge of the Dacian troops; +they are already provoked, and it might inflame their fury. I +myself have sent him some presents: be it your care that he +accept them with pleasure. Above all, let him not suspect that I +am made acquainted with his imprudence. The fear of my anger +might urge him to desperate counsels." ^5 The presents which +accompanied this humble epistle, in which the monarch solicited a +reconciliation with his discontented subject, consisted of a +considerable sum of money, a splendid wardrobe, and a valuable +service of silver and gold plate. By such arts Gallienus +softened the indignation and dispelled the fears of his Illyrian +general; and during the remainder of that reign, the formidable +sword of Claudius was always drawn in the cause of a master whom +he despised. At last, indeed, he received from the conspirators +the bloody purple of Gallienus: but he had been absent from their +camp and counsels; and however he might applaud the deed, we may +candidly presume that he was innocent of the knowledge of it. ^6 +When Claudius ascended the throne, he was about fifty-four years +of age. +[Footnote 3: Some supposed him, oddly enough, to be a bastard of +the younger Gordian. Others took advantage of the province of +Dardania, to deduce his origin from Dardanus, and the ancient +kings of Troy.] + +[Footnote 4: Notoria, a periodical and official despatch which +the emperor received from the frumentarii, or agents dispersed +through the provinces. Of these we may speak hereafter.] + +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 208. Gallienus describes the +plate, vestments, etc., like a man who loved and understood those +splendid trifles.] +[Footnote 6: Julian (Orat. i. p. 6) affirms that Claudius +acquired the empire in a just and even holy manner. But we may +distrust the partiality of a kinsman.] + + The siege of Milan was still continued, and Aureolus soon +discovered that the success of his artifices had only raised up a +more determined adversary. He attempted to negotiate with +Claudius a treaty of alliance and partition. "Tell him," replied +the intrepid emperor, "that such proposals should have been made +to Gallienus; he, perhaps, might have listened to them with +patience, and accepted a colleague as despicable as himself." ^7 +This stern refusal, and a last unsuccessful effort, obliged +Aureolus to yield the city and himself to the discretion of the +conqueror. The judgment of the army pronounced him worthy of +death; and Claudius, after a feeble resistance, consented to the +execution of the sentence. Nor was the zeal of the senate less +ardent in the cause of their new sovereign. They ratified, +perhaps with a sincere transport of zeal, the election of +Claudius; and, as his predecessor had shown himself the personal +enemy of their order, they exercised, under the name of justice, +a severe revenge against his friends and family. The senate was +permitted to discharge the ungrateful office of punishment, and +the emperor reserved for himself the pleasure and merit of +obtaining by his intercession a general act of indemnity. ^8 +[Footnote 7: Hist. August. p. 203. There are some trifling +differences concerning the circumstances of the last defeat and +death of Aureolus] +[Footnote 8: Aurelius Victor in Gallien. The people loudly +prayed for the damnation of Gallienus. The senate decreed that +his relations and servants should be thrown down headlong from +the Gemonian stairs. An obnoxious officer of the revenue had his +eyes torn out whilst under examination. + Note: The expression is curious, "terram matrem deosque +inferos impias uti Gallieno darent." - M.] + + Such ostentatious clemency discovers less of the real +character of Claudius, than a trifling circumstance in which he +seems to have consulted only the dictates of his heart. The +frequent rebellions of the provinces had involved almost every +person in the guilt of treason, almost every estate in the case +of confiscation; and Gallienus often displayed his liberality by +distributing among his officers the property of his subjects. On +the accession of Claudius, an old woman threw herself at his +feet, and complained that a general of the late emperor had +obtained an arbitrary grant of her patrimony. This general was +Claudius himself, who had not entirely escaped the contagion of +the times. The emperor blushed at the reproach, but deserved the +confidence which she had reposed in his equity. The confession +of his fault was accompanied with immediate and ample +restitution. ^9 +[Footnote 9: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 137.] + + In the arduous task which Claudius had undertaken, of +restoring the empire to its ancient splendor, it was first +necessary to revive among his troops a sense of order and +obedience. With the authority of a veteran commander, he +represented to them that the relaxation of discipline had +introduced a long train of disorders, the effects of which were +at length experienced by the soldiers themselves; that a people +ruined by oppression, and indolent from despair, could no longer +supply a numerous army with the means of luxury, or even of +subsistence; that the danger of each individual had increased +with the despotism of the military order, since princes who +tremble on the throne will guard their safety by the instant +sacrifice of every obnoxious subject. The emperor expiated on +the mischiefs of a lawless caprice, which the soldiers could only +gratify at the expense of their own blood; as their seditious +elections had so frequently been followed by civil wars, which +consumed the flower of the legions either in the field of battle, +or in the cruel abuse of victory. He painted in the most lively +colors the exhausted state of the treasury, the desolation of the +provinces, the disgrace of the Roman name, and the insolent +triumph of rapacious barbarians. It was against those barbarians, +he declared, that he intended to point the first effort of their +arms. Tetricus might reign for a while over the West, and even +Zenobia might preserve the dominion of the East. ^10 These +usurpers were his personal adversaries; nor could he think of +indulging any private resentment till he had saved an empire, +whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented, crush +both the army and the people. + +[Footnote 10: Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus but the +registers of the senate (Hist. August. p. 203) prove that +Tetricus was already emperor of the western provinces.] + + The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia, who fought +under the Gothic standard, had already collected an armament more +formidable than any which had yet issued from the Euxine. On the +banks of the Niester, one of the great rivers that discharge +themselves into that sea, they constructed a fleet of two +thousand, or even of six thousand vessels; ^11 numbers which, +however incredible they may seem, would have been insufficient to +transport their pretended army of three hundred and twenty +thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of the +Goths, the vigor and success of the expedition were not adequate +to the greatness of the preparations. In their passage through +the Bosphorus, the unskilful pilots were overpowered by the +violence of the current; and while the multitude of their ships +were crowded in a narrow channel, many were dashed against each +other, or against the shore. The barbarians made several +descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia; but the open +country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with shame +and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted. A +spirit of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and +some of their chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and +Cyprus; but the main body, pursuing a more steady course, +anchored at length near the foot of Mount Athos, and assaulted +the city of Thessalonica, the wealthy capital of all the +Macedonian provinces. Their attacks, in which they displayed a +fierce but artless bravery, were soon interrupted by the rapid +approach of Claudius, hastening to a scene of action that +deserved the presence of a warlike prince at the head of the +remaining powers of the empire. Impatient for battle, the Goths +immediately broke up their camp, relinquished the siege of +Thessalonica, left their navy at the foot of Mount Athos, +traversed the hills of Macedonia, and pressed forwards to engage +the last defence of Italy. +[Footnote 11: The Augustan History mentions the smaller, Zonaras +the larger number; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to +prefer the latter.] + We still posses an original letter addressed by Claudius to +the senate and people on this memorable occasion. "Conscript +fathers," says the emperor, "know that three hundred and twenty +thousand Goths have invaded the Roman territory. If I vanquish +them, your gratitude will reward my services. Should I fall, +remember that I am the successor of Gallienus. The whole +republic is fatigued and exhausted. We shall fight after +Valerian, after Ingenuus, Regillianus, Lollianus, Posthumus, +Celsus, and a thousand others, whom a just contempt for Gallienus +provoked into rebellion. We are in want of darts, of spears, and +of shields. The strength of the empire, Gaul, and Spain, are +usurped by Tetricus, and we blush to acknowledge that the archers +of the East serve under the banners of Zenobia. Whatever we +shall perform will be sufficiently great." ^12 The melancholy +firmness of this epistle announces a hero careless of his fate, +conscious of his danger, but still deriving a well-grounded hope +from the resources of his own mind. +[Footnote 12: Trebell. Pollio in Hist. August. p. 204.] + + The event surpassed his own expectations and those of the +world. By the most signal victories he delivered the empire from +this host of barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity under +the glorious appellation of the Gothic Claudius. The imperfect +historians of an irregular war ^13 do not enable as to describe +the order and circumstances of his exploits; but, if we could be +indulged in the allusion, we might distribute into three acts +this memorable tragedy. I. The decisive battle was fought near +Naissus, a city of Dardania. The legions at first gave way, +oppressed by numbers, and dismayed by misfortunes. Their ruin +was inevitable, had not the abilities of their emperor prepared a +seasonable relief. A large detachment, rising out of the secret +and difficult passes of the mountains, which, by his order, they +had occupied, suddenly assailed the rear of the victorious Goths. + +The favorable instant was improved by the activity of Claudius. +He revived the courage of his troops, restored their ranks, and +pressed the barbarians on every side. Fifty thousand men are +reported to have been slain in the battle of Naissus. Several +large bodies of barbarians, covering their retreat with a movable +fortification of wagons, retired, or rather escaped, from the +field of slaughter. II. We may presume that some insurmountable +difficulty, the fatigue, perhaps, or the disobedience, of the +conquerors, prevented Claudius from completing in one day the +destruction of the Goths. The war was diffused over the province +of Maesia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and its operations drawn out +into a variety of marches, surprises, and tumultuary engagements, +as well by sea as by land. When the Romans suffered any loss, it +was commonly occasioned by their own cowardice or rashness; but +the superior talents of the emperor, his perfect knowledge of the +country, and his judicious choice of measures as well as +officers, assured on most occasions the success of his arms. The +immense booty, the fruit of so many victories, consisted for the +greater part of cattle and slaves. A select body of the Gothic +youth was received among the Imperial troops; the remainder was +sold into servitude; and so considerable was the number of female +captives, that every soldier obtained to his share two or three +women. A circumstance from which we may conclude, that the +invaders entertained some designs of settlement as well as of +plunder; since even in a naval expedition, they were accompanied +by their families. III. The loss of their fleet, which was +either taken or sunk, had intercepted the retreat of the Goths. +A vast circle of Roman posts, distributed with skill, supported +with firmness, and gradually closing towards a common centre, +forced the barbarians into the most inaccessible parts of Mount +Haemus, where they found a safe refuge, but a very scanty +subsistence. During the course of a rigorous winter in which +they were besieged by the emperor's troops, famine and +pestilence, desertion and the sword, continually diminished the +imprisoned multitude. On the return of spring, nothing appeared +in arms except a hardy and desperate band, the remnant of that +mighty host which had embarked at the mouth of the Niester. + +[Footnote 13: Hist. August. in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob. +Zosimus, l. i. p. 38-42. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638. Aurel. Victor +in Epitom. Victor Junior in Caesar. Eutrop. ix ll. Euseb. in +Chron.] + + The pestilence which swept away such numbers of the +barbarians, at length proved fatal to their conqueror. After a +short but glorious reign of two years, Claudius expired at +Sirmium, amidst the tears and acclamations of his subjects. In +his last illness, he convened the principal officers of the state +and army, and in their presence recommended Aurelian, ^14 one of +his generals, as the most deserving of the throne, and the best +qualified to execute the great design which he himself had been +permitted only to undertake. The virtues of Claudius, his valor, +affability, justice, and temperance, his love of fame and of his +country, place him in that short list of emperors who added +lustre to the Roman purple. Those virtues, however, were +celebrated with peculiar zeal and complacency by the courtly +writers of the age of Constantine, who was the great grandson of +Crispus, the elder brother of Claudius. The voice of flattery +was soon taught to repeat, that gods, who so hastily had snatched +Claudius from the earth, rewarded his merit and piety by the +perpetual establishment of the empire in his family. ^15 +[Footnote 14: According to Zonaras, (l. xii. p. 638,) Claudius, +before his death, invested him with the purple; but this singular +fact is rather contradicted than confirmed by other writers.] + +[Footnote 15: See the Life of Claudius by Pollio, and the +Orations of Mamertinus, Eumenius, and Julian. See likewise the +Caesars of Julian p. 318. In Julian it was not adulation, but +superstition and vanity.] + Notwithstanding these oracles, the greatness of the Flavian +family (a name which it had pleased them to assume) was deferred +above twenty years, and the elevation of Claudius occasioned the +immediate ruin of his brother Quintilius, who possessed not +sufficient moderation or courage to descend into the private +station to which the patriotism of the late emperor had condemned +him. Without delay or reflection, he assumed the purple at +Aquileia, where he commanded a considerable force; and though his +reign lasted only seventeen days, ^* he had time to obtain the +sanction of the senate, and to experience a mutiny of the troops. + +As soon as he was informed that the great army of the Danube had +invested the well-known valor of Aurelian with Imperial power, he +sunk under the fame and merit of his rival; and ordering his +veins to be opened, prudently withdrew himself from the unequal +contest. ^16 + +[Footnote *: Such is the narrative of the greater part of the +older historians; but the number and the variety of his medals +seem to require more time, and give probability to the report of +Zosimus, who makes him reign some months. - G.] + +[Footnote 16: Zosimus, l. i. p. 42. Pollio (Hist. August. p. +107) allows him virtues, and says, that, like Pertinax, he was +killed by the licentious soldiers. According to Dexippus, he +died of a disease.] + + The general design of this work will not permit us minutely +to relate the actions of every emperor after he ascended the +throne, much less to deduce the various fortunes of his private +life. We shall only observe, that the father of Aurelian was a +peasant of the territory of Sirmium, who occupied a small farm, +the property of Aurelius, a rich senator. His warlike son +enlisted in the troops as a common soldier, successively rose to +the rank of a centurion, a tribune, the praefect of a legion, the +inspector of the camp, the general, or, as it was then called, +the duke, of a frontier; and at length, during the Gothic war, +exercised the important office of commander- in-chief of the +cavalry. In every station he distinguished himself by matchless +valor, ^17 rigid discipline, and successful conduct. He was +invested with the consulship by the emperor Valerian, who styles +him, in the pompous language of that age, the deliverer of +Illyricum, the restorer of Gaul, and the rival of the Scipios. +At the recommendation of Valerian, a senator of the highest rank +and merit, Ulpius Crinitus, whose blood was derived from the same +source as that of Trajan, adopted the Pannonian peasant, gave him +his daughter in marriage, and relieved with his ample fortune the +honorable poverty which Aurelian had preserved inviolate. ^18 +[Footnote 17: Theoclius (as quoted in the Augustan History, p. +211) affirms that in one day he killed with his own hand +forty-eight Sarmatians, and in several subsequent engagements +nine hundred and fifty. This heroic valor was admired by the +soldiers, and celebrated in their rude songs, the burden of which +was, mille, mile, mille, occidit.] + +[Footnote 18: Acholius (ap. Hist. August. p. 213) describes the +ceremony of the adoption, as it was performed at Byzantium, in +the presence of the emperor and his great officers.] + + The reign of Aurelian lasted only four years and about nine +months; but every instant of that short period was filled by some +memorable achievement. He put an end to the Gothic war, chastised +the Germans who invaded Italy, recovered Gaul, Spain, and Britain +out of the hands of Tetricus, and destroyed the proud monarchy +which Zenobia had erected in the East on the ruins of the +afflicted empire. + + It was the rigid attention of Aurelian, even to the minutest +articles of discipline, which bestowed such uninterrupted success +on his arms. His military regulations are contained in a very +concise epistle to one of his inferior officers, who is commanded +to enforce them, as he wishes to become a tribune, or as he is +desirous to live. Gaming, drinking, and the arts of divination, +were severely prohibited. Aurelian expected that his soldiers +should be modest, frugal, and laborous; that their armor should +be constantly kept bright, their weapons sharp, their clothing +and horses ready for immediate service; that they should live in +their quarters with chastity and sobriety, without damaging the +cornfields, without stealing even a sheep, a fowl, or a bunch of +grapes, without exacting from their landlords, either salt, or +oil, or wood. "The public allowance," continues the emperor, "is +sufficient for their support; their wealth should be collected +from the spoils of the enemy, not from the tears of the +provincials." ^19 A single instance will serve to display the +rigor, and even cruelty, of Aurelian. One of the soldiers had +seduced the wife of his host. The guilty wretch was fastened to +two trees forcibly drawn towards each other, and his limbs were +torn asunder by their sudden separation. A few such examples +impressed a salutary consternation. The punishments of Aurelian +were terrible; but he had seldom occasion to punish more than +once the same offence. His own conduct gave a sanction to his +laws, and the seditious legions dreaded a chief who had learned +to obey, and who was worthy to command. +[Footnote 19: Hist. August, p. 211 This laconic epistle is truly +the work of a soldier; it abounds with military phrases and +words, some of which cannot be understood without difficulty. +Ferramenta samiata is well explained by Salmasius. The former of +the words means all weapons of offence, and is contrasted with +Arma, defensive armor The latter signifies keen and well +sharpened.] + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. + +Part II. + + The death of Claudius had revived the fainting spirit of the +Goths. The troops which guarded the passes of Mount Haemus, and +the banks of the Danube, had been drawn away by the apprehension +of a civil war; and it seems probable that the remaining body of +the Gothic and Vandalic tribes embraced the favorable +opportunity, abandoned their settlements of the Ukraine, +traversed the rivers, and swelled with new multitudes the +destroying host of their countrymen. Their united numbers were +at length encountered by Aurelian, and the bloody and doubtful +conflict ended only with the approach of night. ^20 Exhausted by +so many calamities, which they had mutually endured and inflicted +during a twenty years' war, the Goths and the Romans consented to +a lasting and beneficial treaty. It was earnestly solicited by +the barbarians, and cheerfully ratified by the legions, to whose +suffrage the prudence of Aurelian referred the decision of that +important question. The Gothic nation engaged to supply the +armies of Rome with a body of two thousand auxiliaries, +consisting entirely of cavalry, and stipulated in return an +undisturbed retreat, with a regular market as far as the Danube, +provided by the emperor's care, but at their own expense. The +treaty was observed with such religious fidelity, that when a +party of five hundred men straggled from the camp in quest of +plunder, the king or general of the barbarians commanded that the +guilty leader should be apprehended and shot to death with darts, +as a victim devoted to the sanctity of their engagements. ^* It +is, however, not unlikely, that the precaution of Aurelian, who +had exacted as hostages the sons and daughters of the Gothic +chiefs, contributed something to this pacific temper. The youths +he trained in the exercise of arms, and near his own person: to +the damsels he gave a liberal and Roman education, and by +bestowing them in marriage on some of his principal officers, +gradually introduced between the two nations the closest and most +endearing connections. ^21 +[Footnote 20: Zosimus, l. i. p. 45.] + +[Footnote *: The five hundred stragglers were all slain. - M.] +[Footnote 21: Dexipphus (ap. Excerpta Legat. p. 12) relates the +whole transaction under the name of Vandals. Aurelian married +one of the Gothic ladies to his general Bonosus, who was able to +drink with the Goths and discover their secrets. Hist. August. +p. 247.] + + But the most important condition of peace was understood +rather than expressed in the treaty. Aurelian withdrew the Roman +forces from Dacia, and tacitly relinquished that great province +to the Goths and Vandals. ^22 His manly judgment convinced him of +the solid advantages, and taught him to despise the seeming +disgrace, of thus contracting the frontiers of the monarchy. The +Dacian subjects, removed from those distant possessions which +they were unable to cultivate or defend, added strength and +populousness to the southern side of the Danube. A fertile +territory, which the repetition of barbarous inroads had changed +into a desert, was yielded to their industry, and a new province +of Dacia still preserved the memory of Trajan's conquests. The +old country of that name detained, however, a considerable number +of its inhabitants, who dreaded exile more than a Gothic master. +^23 These degenerate Romans continued to serve the empire, whose +allegiance they had renounced, by introducing among their +conquerors the first notions of agriculture, the useful arts, and +the conveniences of civilized life. An intercourse of commerce +and language was gradually established between the opposite banks +of the Danube; and after Dacia became an independent state, it +often proved the firmest barrier of the empire against the +invasions of the savages of the North. A sense of interest +attached these more settled barbarians to the alliance of Rome, +and a permanent interest very frequently ripens into sincere and +useful friendship. This various colony, which filled the ancient +province, and was insensibly blended into one great people, still +acknowledged the superior renown and authority of the Gothic +tribe, and claimed the fancied honor of a Scandinavian origin. +At the same time, the lucky though accidental resemblance of the +name of Getae, ^* infused among the credulous Goths a vain +persuasion, that in a remote age, their own ancestors, already +seated in the Dacian provinces, had received the instructions of +Zamolxis, and checked the victorious arms of Sesostris and +Darius. ^24 + +[Footnote 22: Hist. August. p. 222. Eutrop. ix. 15. Sextus +Rufus, c. 9. de Mortibus Persecutorum, c. 9.] + +[Footnote 23: The Walachians still preserve many traces of the +Latin language and have boasted, in every age, of their Roman +descent. They are surrounded by, but not mixed with, the +barbarians. See a Memoir of M. d'Anville on ancient Dacia, in +the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.] + +[Footnote *: The connection between the Getae and the Goths is +still in my opinion incorrectly maintained by some learned +writers - M.] +[Footnote 24: See the first chapter of Jornandes. The Vandals, +however, (c. 22,) maintained a short independence between the +Rivers Marisia and Crissia, (Maros and Keres,) which fell into +the Teiss.] + + While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored +the Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni ^25 violated +the conditions of peace, which either Gallienus had purchased, or +Claudius had imposed, and, inflamed by their impatient youth, +suddenly flew to arms. Forty thousand horse appeared in the +field, ^26 and the numbers of the infantry doubled those of the +cavalry. ^27 The first objects of their avarice were a few cities +of the Rhaetian frontier; but their hopes soon rising with +success, the rapid march of the Alemanni traced a line of +devastation from the Danube to the Po. ^28 + +[Footnote 25: Dexippus, p. 7 - 12. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43. +Vopiscus in Aurelian in Hist. August. However these historians +differ in names,) Alemanni Juthungi, and Marcomanni,) it is +evident that they mean the same people, and the same war; but it +requires some care to conciliate and explain them.] + +[Footnote 26: Cantoclarus, with his usual accuracy, chooses to +translate three hundred thousand: his version is equally +repugnant to sense and to grammar.] + +[Footnote 27: We may remark, as an instance of bad taste, that +Dexippus applies to the light infantry of the Alemanni the +technical terms proper only to the Grecian phalanx.] + +[Footnote 28: In Dexippus, we at present read Rhodanus: M. de +Valois very judiciously alters the word to Eridanus.] + + The emperor was almost at the same time informed of the +irruption, and of the retreat, of the barbarians. Collecting an +active body of troops, he marched with silence and celerity along +the skirts of the Hercynian forest; and the Alemanni, laden with +the spoils of Italy, arrived at the Danube, without suspecting, +that on the opposite bank, and in an advantageous post, a Roman +army lay concealed and prepared to intercept their return. +Aurelian indulged the fatal security of the barbarians, and +permitted about half their forces to pass the river without +disturbance and without precaution. Their situation and +astonishment gave him an easy victory; his skilful conduct +improved the advantage. Disposing the legions in a semicircular +form, he advanced the two horns of the crescent across the +Danube, and wheeling them on a sudden towards the centre, +enclosed the rear of the German host. The dismayed barbarians, +on whatsoever side they cast their eyes, beheld, with despair, a +wasted country, a deep and rapid stream, a victorious and +implacable enemy. + + Reduced to this distressed condition, the Alemanni no longer +disdained to sue for peace. Aurelian received their ambassadors +at the head of his camp, and with every circumstance of martial +pomp that could display the greatness and discipline of Rome. +The legions stood to their arms in well- ordered ranks and awful +silence. The principal commanders, distinguished by the ensigns +of their rank, appeared on horseback on either side of the +Imperial throne. Behind the throne the consecrated images of the +emperor, and his predecessors, ^29 the golden eagles, and the +various titles of the legions, engraved in letters of gold, were +exalted in the air on lofty pikes covered with silver. When +Aurelian assumed his seat, his manly grace and majestic figure +^30 taught the barbarians to revere the person as well as the +purple of their conqueror. The ambassadors fell prostrate on the +ground in silence. They were commanded to rise, and permitted to +speak. By the assistance of interpreters they extenuated their +perfidy, magnified their exploits, expatiated on the vicissitudes +of fortune and the advantages of peace, and, with an ill-timed +confidence, demanded a large subsidy, as the price of the +alliance which they offered to the Romans. The answer of the +emperor was stern and imperious. He treated their offer with +contempt, and their demand with indignation, reproached the +barbarians, that they were as ignorant of the arts of war as of +the laws of peace, and finally dismissed them with the choice +only of submitting to this unconditional mercy, or awaiting the +utmost severity of his resentment. ^31 Aurelian had resigned a +distant province to the Goths; but it was dangerous to trust or +to pardon these perfidious barbarians, whose formidable power +kept Italy itself in perpetual alarms. + +[Footnote 29: The emperor Claudius was certainly of the number; +but we are ignorant how far this mark of respect was extended; if +to Caesar and Augustus, it must have produced a very awful +spectacle; a long line of the masters of the world.] + +[Footnote 30: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 210.] + +[Footnote 31: Dexippus gives them a subtle and prolix oration, +worthy of a Grecian sophist.] + + Immediately after this conference, it should seem that some +unexpected emergency required the emperor's presence in Pannonia. + +He devolved on his lieutenants the care of finishing the +destruction of the Alemanni, either by the sword, or by the surer +operation of famine. But an active despair has often triumphed +over the indolent assurance of success. The barbarians, finding +it impossible to traverse the Danube and the Roman camp, broke +through the posts in their rear, which were more feebly or less +carefully guarded; and with incredible diligence, but by a +different road, returned towards the mountains of Italy. ^32 +Aurelian, who considered the war as totally extinguished, +received the mortifying intelligence of the escape of the +Alemanni, and of the ravage which they already committed in the +territory of Milan. The legions were commanded to follow, with +as much expedition as those heavy bodies were capable of +exerting, the rapid flight of an enemy whose infantry and cavalry +moved with almost equal swiftness. A few days afterwards, the +emperor himself marched to the relief of Italy, at the head of a +chosen body of auxiliaries, (among whom were the hostages and +cavalry of the Vandals,) and of all the Praetorian guards who had +served in the wars on the Danube. ^33 + +[Footnote 32: Hist. August. p. 215.] + +[Footnote 33: Dexippus, p. 12.] + + As the light troops of the Alemanni had spread themselves +from the Alps to the Apennine, the incessant vigilance of +Aurelian and his officers was exercised in the discovery, the +attack, and the pursuit of the numerous detachments. +Notwithstanding this desultory war, three considerable battles +are mentioned, in which the principal force of both armies was +obstinately engaged. ^34 The success was various. In the first, +fought near Placentia, the Romans received so severe a blow, +that, according to the expression of a writer extremely partial +to Aurelian, the immediate dissolution of the empire was +apprehended. ^35 The crafty barbarians, who had lined the woods, +suddenly attacked the legions in the dusk of the evening, and, it +is most probable, after the fatigue and disorder of a long march. + +The fury of their charge was irresistible; but, at length, after +a dreadful slaughter, the patient firmness of the emperor rallied +his troops, and restored, in some degree, the honor of his arms. +The second battle was fought near Fano in Umbria; on the spot +which, five hundred years before, had been fatal to the brother +of Hannibal. ^36 Thus far the successful Germans had advanced +along the Aemilian and Flaminian way, with a design of sacking +the defenceless mistress of the world. But Aurelian, who, +watchful for the safety of Rome, still hung on their rear, found +in this place the decisive moment of giving them a total and +irretrievable defeat. ^37 The flying remnant of their host was +exterminated in a third and last battle near Pavia; and Italy was +delivered from the inroads of the Alemanni. + +[Footnote 34: Victor Junior in Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 35: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216.] + +[Footnote 36: The little river, or rather torrent, of, Metaurus, +near Fano, has been immortalized, by finding such an historian as +Livy, and such a poet as Horace.] + +[Footnote 37: It is recorded by an inscription found at Pesaro. +See Gruter cclxxvi. 3.] + + Fear has been the original parent of superstition, and every +new calamity urges trembling mortals to deprecate the wrath of +their invisible enemies. Though the best hope of the republic +was in the valor and conduct of Aurelian, yet such was the public +consternation, when the barbarians were hourly expected at the +gates of Rome, that, by a decree of the senate the Sibylline +books were consulted. Even the emperor himself from a motive +either of religion or of policy, recommended this salutary +measure, chided the tardiness of the senate, ^38 and offered to +supply whatever expense, whatever animals, whatever captives of +any nation, the gods should require. Notwithstanding this liberal +offer, it does not appear, that any human victims expiated with +their blood the sins of the Roman people. The Sibylline books +enjoined ceremonies of a more harmless nature, processions of +priests in white robes, attended by a chorus of youths and +virgins; lustrations of the city and adjacent country; and +sacrifices, whose powerful influence disabled the barbarians from +passing the mystic ground on which they had been celebrated. +However puerile in themselves, these superstitious arts were +subservient to the success of the war; and if, in the decisive +battle of Fano, the Alemanni fancied they saw an army of spectres +combating on the side of Aurelian, he received a real and +effectual aid from this imaginary reenforcement. ^39 + +[Footnote 38: One should imagine, he said, that you were +assembled in a Christian church, not in the temple of all the +gods.] + +[Footnote 39: Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p. 215, 216, gives a +long account of these ceremonies from the Registers of the +senate.] + + But whatever confidence might be placed in ideal ramparts, +the experience of the past, and the dread of the future, induced +the Romans to construct fortifications of a grosser and more +substantial kind. The seven hills of Rome had been surrounded, +by the successors of Romulus, with an ancient wall of more than +thirteen miles. ^40 The vast enclosure may seem disproportioned +to the strength and numbers of the infant state. But it was +necessary to secure an ample extent of pasture and arable land, +against the frequent and sudden incursions of the tribes of +Latium, the perpetual enemies of the republic. With the progress +of Roman greatness, the city and its inhabitants gradually +increased, filled up the vacant space, pierced through the +useless walls, covered the field of Mars, and, on every side, +followed the public highways in long and beautiful suburbs. ^41 +The extent of the new walls, erected by Aurelian, and finished in +the reign of Probus, was magnified by popular estimation to near +fifty, ^42 but is reduced by accurate measurement to about +twenty-one miles. ^43 It was a great but a melancholy labor, +since the defence of the capital betrayed the decline of the +monarchy. The Romans of a more prosperous age, who trusted to the +arms of the legions the safety of the frontier camps, ^44 were +very far from entertaining a suspicion, that it would ever become +necessary to fortify the seat of empire against the inroads of +the barbarians. ^45 + +[Footnote 40: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. To confirm our idea, we +may observe, that for a long time Mount Caelius was a grove of +oaks, and Mount Viminal was overrun with osiers; that, in the +fourth century, the Aventine was a vacant and solitary +retirement; that, till the time of Augustus, the Esquiline was an +unwholesome burying-ground; and that the numerous inequalities, +remarked by the ancients in the Quirinal, sufficiently prove that +it was not covered with buildings. Of the seven hills, the +Capitoline and Palatine only, with the adjacent valleys, were the +primitive habitations of the Roman people. But this subject +would require a dissertation.] +[Footnote 41: Exspatiantia tecta multas addidere urbes, is the +expression of Pliny.] + +[Footnote 42: Hist. August. p. 222. Both Lipsius and Isaac +Vossius have eagerly embraced this measure.] + +[Footnote 43: See Nardini, Roman Antica, l. i. c. 8. + + Note: But compare Gibbon, ch. xli. note 77. - M.] + +[Footnote 44: Tacit. Hist. iv. 23.] + +[Footnote 45: For Aurelian's walls, see Vopiscus in Hist. August. +p. 216, 222. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43. Eutropius, ix. 15. Aurel. +Victor in Aurelian Victor Junior in Aurelian. Euseb. Hieronym. +et Idatius in Chronic] + The victory of Claudius over the Goths, and the success of +Aurelian against the Alemanni, had already restored to the arms +of Rome their ancient superiority over the barbarous nations of +the North. To chastise domestic tyrants, and to reunite the +dismembered parts of the empire, was a task reserved for the +second of those warlike emperors. Though he was acknowledged by +the senate and people, the frontiers of Italy, Africa, Illyricum, +and Thrace, confined the limits of his reign. Gaul, Spain, and +Britain, Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, were still possessed by +two rebels, who alone, out of so numerous a list, had hitherto +escaped the dangers of their situation; and to complete the +ignominy of Rome, these rival thrones had been usurped by women. + + A rapid succession of monarchs had arisen and fallen in the +provinces of Gaul. The rigid virtues of Posthumus served only to +hasten his destruction. After suppressing a competitor, who had +assumed the purple at Mentz, he refused to gratify his troops +with the plunder of the rebellious city; and in the seventh year +of his reign, became the victim of their disappointed avarice. +^46 The death of Victorinus, his friend and associate, was +occasioned by a less worthy cause. The shining accomplishments +^47 of that prince were stained by a licentious passion, which he +indulged in acts of violence, with too little regard to the laws +of society, or even to those of love. ^48 He was slain at +Cologne, by a conspiracy of jealous husbands, whose revenge would +have appeared more justifiable, had they spared the innocence of +his son. After the murder of so many valiant princes, it is +somewhat remarkable, that a female for a long time controlled the +fierce legions of Gaul, and still more singular, that she was the +mother of the unfortunate Victorinus. The arts and treasures of +Victoria enabled her successively to place Marius and Tetricus on +the throne, and to reign with a manly vigor under the name of +those dependent emperors. Money of copper, of silver, and of +gold, was coined in her name; she assumed the titles of Augusta +and Mother of the Camps: her power ended only with her life; but +her life was perhaps shortened by the ingratitude of Tetricus. +^49 + +[Footnote 46: His competitor was Lollianus, or Aelianus, if, +indeed, these names mean the same person. See Tillemont, tom. +iii. p. 1177. + Note: The medals which bear the name of Lollianus are +considered forgeries except one in the museum of the Prince of +Waldeck there are many extent bearing the name of Laelianus, +which appears to have been that of the competitor of Posthumus. +Eckhel. Doct. Num. t. vi. 149 - G.] +[Footnote 47: The character of this prince by Julius Aterianus +(ap. Hist. August. p. 187) is worth transcribing, as it seems +fair and impartial Victorino qui Post Junium Posthumium Gallias +rexit neminem existemo praeferendum; non in virtute Trajanum; non +Antoninum in clementia; non in gravitate Nervam; non in +gubernando aerario Vespasianum; non in Censura totius vitae ac +severitate militari Pertinacem vel Severum. Sed omnia haec +libido et cupiditas voluptatis mulierriae sic perdidit, ut nemo +audeat virtutes ejus in literas mittere quem constat omnium +judicio meruisse puniri.] + +[Footnote 48: He ravished the wife of Attitianus, an actuary, or +army agent, Hist. August. p. 186. Aurel. Victor in Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 49: Pollio assigns her an article among the thirty +tyrants. Hist. August. p. 200.] + + When, at the instigation of his ambitious patroness, +Tetricus assumed the ensigns of royalty, he was governor of the +peaceful province of Aquitaine, an employment suited to his +character and education. He reigned four or five years over +Gaul, Spain, and Britain, the slave and sovereign of a licentious +army, whom he dreaded, and by whom he was despised. The valor +and fortune of Aurelian at length opened the prospect of a +deliverance. He ventured to disclose his melancholy situation, +and conjured the emperor to hasten to the relief of his unhappy +rival. Had this secret correspondence reached the ears of the +soldiers, it would most probably have cost Tetricus his life; nor +could he resign the sceptre of the West without committing an act +of treason against himself. He affected the appearances of a +civil war, led his forces into the field, against Aurelian, +posted them in the most disadvantageous manner, betrayed his own +counsels to his enemy, and with a few chosen friends deserted in +the beginning of the action. The rebel legions, though +disordered and dismayed by the unexpected treachery of their +chief, defended themselves with desperate valor, till they were +cut in pieces almost to a man, in this bloody and memorable +battle, which was fought near Chalons in Champagne. ^50 The +retreat of the irregular auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians, ^51 +whom the conqueror soon compelled or persuaded to repass the +Rhine, restored the general tranquillity, and the power of +Aurelian was acknowledged from the wall of Antoninus to the +columns of Hercules. +[Footnote 50: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 196. Vopiscus in Hist. +August. p. 220. The two Victors, in the lives of Gallienus and +Aurelian. Eutrop. ix. 13. Euseb. in Chron. Of all these +writers, only the two last (but with strong probability) place +the fall of Tetricus before that of Zenobia. M. de Boze (in the +Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.) does not wish, and Tillemont +(tom. iii. p. 1189) does not dare to follow them. I have been +fairer than the one, and bolder than the other.] + +[Footnote 51: Victor Junior in Aurelian. Eumenius mentions +Batavicoe; some critics, without any reason, would fain alter the +word to Bagandicoe.] + As early as the reign of Claudius, the city of Autun, alone +and unassisted, had ventured to declare against the legions of +Gaul. After a siege of seven months, they stormed and plundered +that unfortunate city, already wasted by famine. ^52 Lyons, on +the contrary, had resisted with obstinate disaffection the arms +of Aurelian. We read of the punishment of Lyons, ^53 but there +is not any mention of the rewards of Autun. Such, indeed, is the +policy of civil war; severely to remember injuries, and to forget +the most important services. Revenge is profitable, gratitude is +expensive. + +[Footnote 52: Eumen. in Vet. Panegyr. iv. 8.] + +[Footnote 53: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246. Autun was not +restored till the reign of Diocletian. See Eumenius de +restaurandis scholis.] + Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of +Tetricus, than he turned his arms against Zenobia, the celebrated +queen of Palmyra and the East. Modern Europe has produced +several illustrious women who have sustained with glory the +weight of empire; nor is our own age destitute of such +distinguished characters. But if we except the doubtful +achievements of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female +whose superior genius broke through the servile indolence imposed +on her sex by the climate and manners of Asia. ^54 She claimed +her descent from the Macedonian kings of Egypt, ^* equalled in +beauty her ancestor Cleopatra, and far surpassed that princess in +chastity ^55 and valor. Zenobia was esteemed the most lovely as +well as the most heroic of her sex. She was of a dark +complexion, (for in speaking of a lady these trifles become +important.) Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and her large +black eyes sparkled with uncommon fire, tempered by the most +attractive sweetness. Her voice was strong and harmonious. Her +manly understanding was strengthened and adorned by study. She +was not ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed in equal +perfection the Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. +She had drawn up for her own use an epitome of oriental history, +and familiarly compared the beauties of Homer and Plato under the +tuition of the sublime Longinus. + +[Footnote 54: Almost everything that is said of the manners of +Odenathus and Zenobia is taken from their lives in the Augustan +History, by Trebeljus Pollio; see p. 192, 198.] + +[Footnote *: According to some Christian writers, Zenobia was a +Jewess. (Jost Geschichte der Israel. iv. 16. Hist. of Jews, iii. +175.) - M.] +[Footnote 55: She never admitted her husband's embraces but for +the sake of posterity. If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing +month she reiterated the experiment.] + + This accomplished woman gave her hand to Odenathus, ^! who, +from a private station, raised himself to the dominion of the +East. She soon became the friend and companion of a hero. In +the intervals of war, Odenathus passionately delighted in the +exercise of hunting; he pursued with ardor the wild beasts of the +desert, lions, panthers, and bears; and the ardor of Zenobia in +that dangerous amusement was not inferior to his own. She had +inured her constitution to fatigue, disdained the use of a +covered carriage, generally appeared on horseback in a military +habit, and sometimes marched several miles on foot at the head of +the troops. The success of Odenathus was in a great measure +ascribed to her incomparable prudence and fortitude. Their +splendid victories over the Great King, whom they twice pursued +as far as the gates of Ctesiphon, laid the foundations of their +united fame and power. The armies which they commanded, and the +provinces which they had saved, acknowledged not any other +sovereigns than their invincible chiefs. The senate and people of +Rome revered a stranger who had avenged their captive emperor, +and even the insensible son of Valerian accepted Odenathus for +his legitimate colleague. + +[Footnote !: According to Zosimus, Odenathus was of a noble +family in Palmyra and according to Procopius, he was prince of +the Saracens, who inhabit the ranks of the Euphrates. Echhel. +Doct. Num. vii. 489. - G.] + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths. + +Part III. + + After a successful expedition against the Gothic plunderers +of Asia, the Palmyrenian prince returned to the city of Emesa in +Syria. Invincible in war, he was there cut off by domestic +treason, and his favorite amusement of hunting was the cause, or +at least the occasion, of his death. ^56 His nephew Maeonius +presumed to dart his javelin before that of his uncle; and though +admonished of his error, repeated the same insolence. As a +monarch, and as a sportsman, Odenathus was provoked, took away +his horse, a mark of ignominy among the barbarians, and chastised +the rash youth by a short confinement. The offence was soon +forgot, but the punishment was remembered; and Maeonius, with a +few daring associates, assassinated his uncle in the midst of a +great entertainment. Herod, the son of Odenathus, though not of +Zenobia, a young man of a soft and effeminate temper, ^57 was +killed with his father. But Maeonius obtained only the pleasure +of revenge by this bloody deed. He had scarcely time to assume +the title of Augustus, before he was sacrificed by Zenobia to the +memory of her husband. ^58 + +[Footnote 56: Hist. August. p. 192, 193. Zosimus, l. i. p. 36. +Zonaras, l. xii p. 633. The last is clear and probable, the +others confused and inconsistent. The text of Syncellus, if not +corrupt, is absolute nonsense.] +[Footnote 57: Odenathus and Zenobia often sent him, from the +spoils of the enemy, presents of gems and toys, which he received +with infinite delight.] +[Footnote 58: Some very unjust suspicions have been cast on +Zenobia, as if she was accessory to her husband's death.] + + With the assistance of his most faithful friends, she +immediately filled the vacant throne, and governed with manly +counsels Palmyra, Syria, and the East, above five years. By the +death of Odenathus, that authority was at an end which the senate +had granted him only as a personal distinction; but his martial +widow, disdaining both the senate and Gallienus, obliged one of +the Roman generals, who was sent against her, to retreat into +Europe, with the loss of his army and his reputation. ^59 Instead +of the little passions which so frequently perplex a female +reign, the steady administration of Zenobia was guided by the +most judicious maxims of policy. If it was expedient to pardon, +she could calm her resentment; if it was necessary to punish, she +could impose silence on the voice of pity. Her strict economy +was accused of avarice; yet on every proper occasion she appeared +magnificent and liberal. The neighboring states of Arabia, +Armenia, and Persia, dreaded her enmity, and solicited her +alliance. To the dominions of Odenathus, which extended from the +Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia, his widow added the +inheritance of her ancestors, the populous and fertile kingdom of +Egypt. ^60 ^* The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit, and +was content, that, while he pursued the Gothic war, she should +assert the dignity of the empire in the East. ^61 The conduct, +however, of Zenobia, was attended with some ambiguity; not is it +unlikely that she had conceived the design of erecting an +independent and hostile monarchy. She blended with the popular +manners of Roman princes the stately pomp of the courts of Asia, +and exacted from her subjects the same adoration that was paid to +the successor of Cyrus. She bestowed on her three sons ^61 a +Latin education, and often showed them to the troops adorned with +the Imperial purple. For herself she reserved the diadem, with +the splendid but doubtful title of Queen of the East. +[Footnote 59: Hist. August. p. 180, 181.] + +[Footnote 60: See, in Hist. August. p. 198, Aurelian's testimony +to her merit; and for the conquest of Egypt, Zosimus, l. i. p. +39, 40.] +[Footnote *: This seems very doubtful. Claudius, during all his +reign, is represented as emperor on the medals of Alexandria, +which are very numerous. If Zenobia possessed any power in Egypt, +it could only have been at the beginning of the reign of +Aurelian. The same circumstance throws great improbability on +her conquests in Galatia. Perhaps Zenobia administered Egypt in +the name of Claudius, and emboldened by the death of that prince, +subjected it to her own power. - G.] + +[Footnote 61: Timolaus, Herennianus, and Vaballathus. It is +supposed that the two former were already dead before the war. +On the last, Aurelian bestowed a small province of Armenia, with +the title of King; several of his medals are still extant. See +Tillemont, tom. 3, p. 1190.] + When Aurelian passed over into Asia, against an adversary +whose sex alone could render her an object of contempt, his +presence restored obedience to the province of Bithynia, already +shaken by the arms and intrigues of Zenobia. ^62 Advancing at the +head of his legions, he accepted the submission of Ancyra, and +was admitted into Tyana, after an obstinate siege, by the help of +a perfidious citizen. The generous though fierce temper of +Aurelian abandoned the traitor to the rage of the soldiers; a +superstitious reverence induced him to treat with lenity the +countrymen of Apollonius the philosopher. ^63 Antioch was +deserted on his approach, till the emperor, by his salutary +edicts, recalled the fugitives, and granted a general pardon to +all, who, from necessity rather than choice, had been engaged in +the service of the Palmyrenian Queen. The unexpected mildness of +such a conduct reconciled the minds of the Syrians, and as far as +the gates of Emesa, the wishes of the people seconded the terror +of his arms. ^64 + +[Footnote 62: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44.] + +[Footnote 63: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) gives us an +authentic letter and a doubtful vision, of Aurelian. Apollonius +of Tyana was born about the same time as Jesus Christ. His life +(that of the former) is related in so fabulous a manner by his +disciples, that we are at a loss to discover whether he was a +sage, an impostor, or a fanatic.] + +[Footnote 64: Zosimus, l. i. p. 46.] + + Zenobia would have ill deserved her reputation, had she +indolently permitted the emperor of the West to approach within a +hundred miles of her capital. The fate of the East was decided +in two great battles; so similar in almost every circumstance, +that we can scarcely distinguish them from each other, except by +observing that the first was fought near Antioch, ^65 and the +second near Emesa. ^66 In both the queen of Palmyra animated the +armies by her presence, and devolved the execution of her orders +on Zabdas, who had already signalized his military talents by the +conquest of Egypt. The numerous forces of Zenobia consisted for +the most part of light archers, and of heavy cavalry clothed in +complete steel. The Moorish and Illyrian horse of Aurelian were +unable to sustain the ponderous charge of their antagonists. They +fled in real or affected disorder, engaged the Palmyrenians in a +laborious pursuit, harassed them by a desultory combat, and at +length discomfited this impenetrable but unwieldy body of +cavalry. The light infantry, in the mean time, when they had +exhausted their quivers, remaining without protection against a +closer onset, exposed their naked sides to the swords of the +legions. Aurelian had chosen these veteran troops, who were +usually stationed on the Upper Danube, and whose valor had been +severely tried in the Alemannic war. ^67 After the defeat of +Emesa, Zenobia found it impossible to collect a third army. As +far as the frontier of Egypt, the nations subject to her empire +had joined the standard of the conqueror, who detached Probus, +the bravest of his generals, to possess himself of the Egyptian +provinces. Palmyra was the last resource of the widow of +Odenathus. She retired within the walls of her capital, made +every preparation for a vigorous resistance, and declared, with +the intrepidity of a heroine, that the last moment of her reign +and of her life should be the same. +[Footnote 65: At a place called Immae. Eutropius, Sextus Rufus, +and Jerome, mention only this first battle.] + +[Footnote 66: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) mentions only +the second.] +[Footnote 67: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44 - 48. His account of the two +battles is clear and circumstantial.] + + Amid the barren deserts of Arabia, a few cultivated spots +rise like islands out of the sandy ocean. Even the name of +Tadmor, or Palmyra, by its signification in the Syriac as well as +in the Latin language, denoted the multitude of palm-trees which +afforded shade and verdure to that temperate region. The air was +pure, and the soil, watered by some invaluable springs, was +capable of producing fruits as well as corn. A place possessed +of such singular advantages, and situated at a convenient +distance ^68 between the Gulf of Persia and the Mediterranean, +was soon frequented by the caravans which conveyed to the nations +of Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities of India. +Palmyra insensibly increased into an opulent and independent +city, and connecting the Roman and the Parthian monarchies by the +mutual benefits of commerce, was suffered to observe an humble +neutrality, till at length, after the victories of Trajan, the +little republic sunk into the bosom of Rome, and flourished more +than one hundred and fifty years in the subordinate though +honorable rank of a colony. It was during that peaceful period, +if we may judge from a few remaining inscriptions, that the +wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those temples, palaces, and +porticos of Grecian architecture, whose ruins, scattered over an +extent of several miles, have deserved the curiosity of our +travellers. The elevation of Odenathus and Zenobia appeared to +reflect new splendor on their country, and Palmyra, for a while, +stood forth the rival of Rome: but the competition was fatal, and +ages of prosperity were sacrificed to a moment of glory. ^69 +[Footnote 68: It was five hundred and thirty-seven miles from +Seleucia, and two hundred and three from the nearest coast of +Syria, according to the reckoning of Pliny, who, in a few words, +(Hist. Natur. v. 21,) gives an excellent description of Palmyra. + + Note: Talmor, or Palmyra, was probably at a very early +period the connecting link between the commerce of Tyre and +Babylon. Heeren, Ideen, v. i. p. ii. p. 125. Tadmor was +probably built by Solomon as a commercial station. Hist. of +Jews, v. p. 271 - M.] + +[Footnote 69: Some English travellers from Aleppo discovered the +ruins of Palmyra about the end of the last century. Our +curiosity has since been gratified in a more splendid manner by +Messieurs Wood and Dawkins. For the history of Palmyra, we may +consult the masterly dissertation of Dr. Halley in the +Philosophical Transactions: Lowthorp's Abridgment, vol. iii. p. +518.] + In his march over the sandy desert between Emesa and +Palmyra, the emperor Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the +Arabs; nor could he always defend his army, and especially his +baggage, from those flying troops of active and daring robbers, +who watched the moment of surprise, and eluded the slow pursuit +of the legions. The siege of Palmyra was an object far more +difficult and important, and the emperor, who, with incessant +vigor, pressed the attacks in person, was himself wounded with a +dart. "The Roman people," says Aurelian, in an original letter, +"speak with contempt of the war which I am waging against a +woman. They are ignorant both of the character and of the power +of Zenobia. It is impossible to enumerate her warlike +preparations, of stones, of arrows, and of every species of +missile weapons. Every part of the walls is provided with two or +three balistoe and artificial fires are thrown from her military +engines. The fear of punishment has armed her with a desperate +courage. Yet still I trust in the protecting deities of Rome, +who have hitherto been favorable to all my undertakings." ^70 +Doubtful, however, of the protection of the gods, and of the +event of the siege, Aurelian judged it more prudent to offer +terms of an advantageous capitulation; to the queen, a splendid +retreat; to the citizens, their ancient privileges. His +proposals were obstinately rejected, and the refusal was +accompanied with insult. + +[Footnote 70: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 218.] + + The firmness of Zenobia was supported by the hope, that in a +very short time famine would compel the Roman army to repass the +desert; and by the reasonable expectation that the kings of the +East, and particularly the Persian monarch, would arm in the +defence of their most natural ally. But fortune, and the +perseverance of Aurelian, overcame every obstacle. The death of +Sapor, which happened about this time, ^71 distracted the +councils of Persia, and the inconsiderable succors that attempted +to relieve Palmyra, were easily intercepted either by the arms or +the liberality of the emperor. From every part of Syria, a +regular succession of convoys safely arrived in the camp, which +was increased by the return of Probus with his victorious troops +from the conquest of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia resolved to +fly. She mounted the fleetest of her dromedaries, ^72 and had +already reached the banks of the Euphrates, about sixty miles +from Palmyra, when she was overtaken by the pursuit of Aurelian's +light horse, seized, and brought back a captive to the feet of +the emperor. Her capital soon afterwards surrendered, and was +treated with unexpected lenity. The arms, horses, and camels, +with an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and precious +stones, were all delivered to the conqueror, who, leaving only a +garrison of six hundred archers, returned to Emesa, and employed +some time in the distribution of rewards and punishments at the +end of so memorable a war, which restored to the obedience of +Rome those provinces that had renounced their allegiance since +the captivity of Valerian. + +[Footnote 71: From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavored +to extract the most probable date.] + +[Footnote 72: Hist. August. p. 218. Zosimus, l. i. p. 50. +Though the camel is a heavy beast of burden, the dromedary, which +is either of the same or of a kindred species, is used by the +natives of Asia and Africa on all occasions which require +celerity. The Arabs affirm, that he will run over as much ground +in one day as their fleetest horses can perform in eight or ten. +See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. p. 222, and Shaw's Travels +p. 167] + When the Syrian queen was brought into the presence of +Aurelian, he sternly asked her, How she had presumed to rise in +arms against the emperors of Rome! The answer of Zenobia was a +prudent mixture of respect and firmness. "Because I disdained to +consider as Roman emperors an Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone +I acknowledge as my conqueror and my sovereign." ^73 But as +female fortitude is commonly artificial, so it is seldom steady +or consistent. The courage of Zenobia deserted her in the hour +of trial; she trembled at the angry clamors of the soldiers, who +called aloud for her immediate execution, forgot the generous +despair of Cleopatra, which she had proposed as her model, and +ignominiously purchased life by the sacrifice of her fame and her +friends. It was to their counsels, which governed the weakness +of her sex, that she imputed the guilt of her obstinate +resistance; it was on their heads that she directed the vengeance +of the cruel Aurelian. The fame of Longinus, who was included +among the numerous and perhaps innocent victims of her fear, will +survive that of the queen who betrayed, or the tyrant who +condemned him. Genius and learning were incapable of moving a +fierce unlettered soldier, but they had served to elevate and +harmonize the soul of Longinus. Without uttering a complaint, he +calmly followed the executioner, pitying his unhappy mistress, +and bestowing comfort on his afflicted friends. ^74 + +[Footnote 73: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 199.] + +[Footnote 74: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 219. Zosimus, l. i. +p. 51.] + Returning from the conquest of the East, Aurelian had +already crossed the Straits which divided Europe from Asia, when +he was provoked by the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had +massacred the governor and garrison which he had left among them, +and again erected the standard of revolt. Without a moment's +deliberation, he once more turned his face towards Syria. Antioch +was alarmed by his rapid approach, and the helpless city of +Palmyra felt the irresistible weight of his resentment. We have +a letter of Aurelian himself, in which he acknowledges, ^75 that +old men, women, children, and peasants, had been involved in that +dreadful execution, which should have been confined to armed +rebellion; and although his principal concern seems directed to +the reestablishment of a temple of the Sun, he discovers some +pity for the remnant of the Palmyrenians, to whom he grants the +permission of rebuilding and inhabiting their city. But it is +easier to destroy than to restore. The seat of commerce, of +arts, and of Zenobia, gradually sunk into an obscure town, a +trifling fortress, and at length a miserable village. The +present citizens of Palmyra, consisting of thirty or forty +families, have erected their mud cottages within the spacious +court of a magnificent temple. +[Footnote 75: Hist. August. p. 219.] + + Another and a last labor still awaited the indefatigable +Aurelian; to suppress a dangerous though obscure rebel, who, +during the revolt of Palmyra, had arisen on the banks of the +Nile. Firmus, the friend and ally, as he proudly styled himself, +of Odenathus and Zenobia, was no more than a wealthy merchant of +Egypt. In the course of his trade to India, he had formed very +intimate connections with the Saracens and the Blemmyes, whose +situation on either coast of the Red Sea gave them an easy +introduction into the Upper Egypt. The Egyptians he inflamed +with the hope of freedom, and, at the head of their furious +multitude, broke into the city of Alexandria, where he assumed +the Imperial purple, coined money, published edicts, and raised +an army, which, as he vainly boasted, he was capable of +maintaining from the sole profits of his paper trade. Such +troops were a feeble defence against the approach of Aurelian; +and it seems almost unnecessary to relate, that Firmus was +routed, taken, tortured, and put to death. ^76 Aurelian might now +congratulate the senate, the people, and himself, that in little +more than three years, he had restored universal peace and order +to the Roman world. +[Footnote 76: See Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 220, 242. As an +instance of luxury, it is observed, that he had glass windows. +He was remarkable for his strength and appetite, his courage and +dexterity. From the letter of Aurelian, we may justly infer, +that Firmus was the last of the rebels, and consequently that +Tetricus was already suppressed.] + + Since the foundation of Rome, no general had more nobly +deserved a triumph than Aurelian; nor was a triumph ever +celebrated with superior pride and magnificence. ^77 The pomp was +opened by twenty elephants, four royal tigers, and above two +hundred of the most curious animals from every climate of the +North, the East, and the South. They were followed by sixteen +hundred gladiators, devoted to the cruel amusement of the +amphitheatre. The wealth of Asia, the arms and ensigns of so +many conquered nations, and the magnificent plate and wardrobe of +the Syrian queen, were disposed in exact symmetry or artful +disorder. The ambassadors of the most remote parts of the earth, +of Aethiopia, Arabia, Persia, Bactriana, India, and China, all +remarkable by their rich or singular dresses, displayed the fame +and power of the Roman emperor, who exposed likewise to the +public view the presents that he had received, and particularly a +great number of crowns of gold, the offerings of grateful cities. + +The victories of Aurelian were attested by the long train of +captives who reluctantly attended his triumph, Goths, Vandals, +Sarmatians, Alemanni, Franks, Gauls, Syrians, and Egyptians. +Each people was distinguished by its peculiar inscription, and +the title of Amazons was bestowed on ten martial heroines of the +Gothie nation who had been taken in arms. ^78 But every eye, +disregarding the crowd of captives, was fixed on the emperor +Tetricus and the queen of the East. The former, as well as his +son, whom he had created Augustus, was dressed in Gallic +trousers, ^79 a saffron tunic, and a robe of purple. The +beauteous figure of Zenobia was confined by fetters of gold; a +slave supported the gold chain which encircled her neck, and she +almost fainted under the intolerable weight of jewels. She +preceded on foot the magnificent chariot, in which she once hoped +to enter the gates of Rome. It was followed by two other +chariots, still more sumptuous, of Odenathus and of the Persian +monarch. The triumphal car of Aurelian (it had formerly been +used by a Gothic king) was drawn, on this memorable occasion, +either by four stags or by four elephants. ^80 The most +illustrious of the senate, the people, and the army closed the +solemn procession. Unfeigned joy, wonder, and gratitude, swelled +the acclamations of the multitude; but the satisfaction of the +senate was clouded by the appearance of Tetricus; nor could they +suppress a rising murmur, that the haughty emperor should thus +expose to public ignominy the person of a Roman and a magistrate. +^81 +[Footnote 77: See the triumph of Aurelian, described by Vopiscus. + +He relates the particulars with his usual minuteness; and, on +this occasion, they happen to be interesting. Hist. August. p. +220.] + +[Footnote 78: Among barbarous nations, women have often combated +by the side of their husbands. But it is almost impossible that +a society of Amazons should ever have existed either in the old +or new world. + + Note: Klaproth's theory on the origin of such traditions is +at least recommended by its ingenuity. The males of a tribe +having gone out on a marauding expedition, and having been cut +off to a man, the females may have endeavored, for a time, to +maintain their independence in their camp village, till their +children grew up. Travels, ch. xxx. Eng. Trans - M.] +[Footnote 79: The use of braccoe, breeches, or trousers, was +still considered in Italy as a Gallic and barbarian fashion. The +Romans, however, had made great advances towards it. To encircle +the legs and thighs with fascioe, or bands, was understood, in +the time of Pompey and Horace, to be a proof of ill health or +effeminacy. In the age of Trajan, the custom was confined to the +rich and luxurious. It gradually was adopted by the meanest of +the people. See a very curious note of Casaubon, ad Sueton. in +August. c. 82.] +[Footnote 80: Most probably the former; the latter seen on the +medals of Aurelian, only denote (according to the learned +Cardinal Norris) an oriental victory.] + +[Footnote 81: The expression of Calphurnius, (Eclog. i. 50) +Nullos decet captiva triumphos, as applied to Rome, contains a +very manifest allusion and censure.] + + But however, in the treatment of his unfortunate rivals, +Aurelian might indulge his pride, he behaved towards them with a +generous clemency, which was seldom exercised by the ancient +conquerors. Princes who, without success, had defended their +throne or freedom, were frequently strangled in prison, as soon +as the triumphal pomp ascended the Capitol. These usurpers, whom +their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason, were +permitted to spend their lives in affluence and honorable repose. + +The emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or +Tivoli, about twenty miles from the capital; the Syrian queen +insensibly sunk into a Roman matron, her daughters married into +noble families, and her race was not yet extinct in the fifth +century. ^82 Tetricus and his son were reinstated in their rank +and fortunes. They erected on the Caelian hill a magnificent +palace, and as soon as it was finished, invited Aurelian to +supper. On his entrance, he was agreeably surprised with a +picture which represented their singular history. They were +delineated offering to the emperor a civic crown and the sceptre +of Gaul, and again receiving at his hands the ornaments of the +senatorial dignity. The father was afterwards invested with the +government of Lucania, ^83 and Aurelian, who soon admitted the +abdicated monarch to his friendship and conversation, familiarly +asked him, Whether it were not more desirable to administer a +province of Italy, than to reign beyond the Alps. The son long +continued a respectable member of the senate; nor was there any +one of the Roman nobility more esteemed by Aurelian, as well as +by his successors. ^84 +[Footnote 82: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 199. Hieronym. in +Chron. Prosper in Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius, +bishop of Florence in the time of St. Ambrose, was of her +family.] + +[Footnote 83: Vopisc. in Hist. August. p. 222. Eutropius, ix. +13. Victor Junior. But Pollio, in Hist. August. p. 196, says, +that Tetricus was made corrector of all Italy.] + +[Footnote 84: Hist. August. p. 197.] + + So long and so various was the pomp of Aurelian's triumph, +that although it opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty of +the procession ascended not the Capitol before the ninth hour; +and it was already dark when the emperor returned to the palace. +The festival was protracted by theatrical representations, the +games of the circus, the hunting of wild beasts, combats of +gladiators, and naval engagements. Liberal donatives were +distributed to the army and people, and several institutions, +agreeable or beneficial to the city, contributed to perpetuate +the glory of Aurelian. A considerable portion of his oriental +spoils was consecrated to the gods of Rome; the Capitol, and +every other temple, glittered with the offerings of his +ostentatious piety; and the temple of the Sun alone received +above fifteen thousand pounds of gold. ^85 This last was a +magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the side of the +Quirinal hill, and dedicated, soon after the triumph, to that +deity whom Aurelian adored as the parent of his life and +fortunes. His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel +of the Sun; a peculiar devotion to the god of Light was a +sentiment which the fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy; and +every step of his elevation, every victory of his reign, +fortified superstition by gratitude. ^86 +[Footnote 85: Vopiscus in Hist. August. 222. Zosimus, l. i. p. +56. He placed in it the images of Belus and of the Sun, which he +had brought from Palmyra. It was dedicated in the fourth year of +his reign, (Euseb in Chron.,) but was most assuredly begun +immediately on his accession.] +[Footnote 86: See, in the Augustan History, p. 210, the omens of +his fortune. His devotion to the Sun appears in his letters, on +his medals, and is mentioned in the Caesars of Julian. +Commentaire de Spanheim, p. 109.] + The arms of Aurelian had vanquished the foreign and domestic +foes of the republic. We are assured, that, by his salutary +rigor, crimes and factions, mischievous arts and pernicious +connivance, the luxurious growth of a feeble and oppressive +government, were eradicated throughout the Roman world. ^87 But +if we attentively reflect how much swifter is the progress of +corruption than its cure, and if we remember that the years +abandoned to public disorders exceeded the months allotted to the +martial reign of Aurelian, we must confess that a few short +intervals of peace were insufficient for the arduous work of +reformation. Even his attempt to restore the integrity of the +coin was opposed by a formidable insurrection. The emperor's +vexation breaks out in one of his private letters. "Surely," +says he, "the gods have decreed that my life should be a +perpetual warfare. A sedition within the walls has just now +given birth to a very serious civil war. The workmen of the +mint, at the instigation of Felicissimus, a slave to whom I had +intrusted an employment in the finances, have risen in rebellion. + +They are at length suppressed; but seven thousand of my soldiers +have been slain in the contest, of those troops whose ordinary +station is in Dacia, and the camps along the Danube." ^88 Other +writers, who confirm the same fact, add likewise, that it +happened soon after Aurelian's triumph; that the decisive +engagement was fought on the Caelian hill; that the workmen of +the mint had adulterated the coin; and that the emperor restored +the public credit, by delivering out good money in exchange for +the bad, which the people was commanded to bring into the +treasury. ^89 + +[Footnote 87: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221.] + +[Footnote 88: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurelian calls these +soldiers Hiberi Riporiences Castriani, and Dacisci.] + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus, l. i. p. 56. Eutropius, ix. 14. Aurel +Victor.] + We might content ourselves with relating this extraordinary +transaction, but we cannot dissemble how much in its present form +it appears to us inconsistent and incredible. The debasement of +the coin is indeed well suited to the administration of +Gallienus; nor is it unlikely that the instruments of the +corruption might dread the inflexible justice of Aurelian. But +the guilt, as well as the profit, must have been confined to a +very few; nor is it easy to conceive by what arts they could arm +a people whom they had injured, against a monarch whom they had +betrayed. We might naturally expect that such miscreants should +have shared the public detestation with the informers and the +other ministers of oppression; and that the reformation of the +coin should have been an action equally popular with the +destruction of those obsolete accounts, which by the emperor's +order were burnt in the forum of Trajan. ^90 In an age when the +principles of commerce were so imperfectly understood, the most +desirable end might perhaps be effected by harsh and injudicious +means; but a temporary grievance of such a nature can scarcely +excite and support a serious civil war. The repetition of +intolerable taxes, imposed either on the land or on the +necessaries of life, may at last provoke those who will not, or +who cannot, relinquish their country. But the case is far +otherwise in every operation which, by whatsoever expedients, +restores the just value of money. The transient evil is soon +obliterated by the permanent benefit, the loss is divided among +multitudes; and if a few wealthy individuals experience a +sensible diminution of treasure, with their riches, they at the +same time lose the degree of weight and importance which they +derived from the possession of them. However Aurelian might +choose to disguise the real cause of the insurrection, his +reformation of the coin could furnish only a faint pretence to a +party already powerful and discontented. Rome, though deprived +of freedom, was distracted by faction. The people, towards whom +the emperor, himself a plebeian, always expressed a peculiar +fondness, lived in perpetual dissension with the senate, the +equestrian order, and the Praetorian guards. ^91 Nothing less +than the firm though secret conspiracy of those orders, of the +authority of the first, the wealth of the second, and the arms of +the third, could have displayed a strength capable of contending +in battle with the veteran legions of the Danube, which, under +the conduct of a martial sovereign, had achieved the conquest of +the West and of the East. + +[Footnote 90: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurel Victor.] + +[Footnote 91: It already raged before Aurelian's return from +Egypt. See Vipiscus, who quotes an original letter. Hist. +August. p. 244.] + Whatever was the cause or the object of this rebellion, +imputed with so little probability to the workmen of the mint, +Aurelian used his victory with unrelenting rigor. ^92 He was +naturally of a severe disposition. A peasant and a soldier, his +nerves yielded not easily to the impressions of sympathy, and he +could sustain without emotion the sight of tortures and death. +Trained from his earliest youth in the exercise of arms, he set +too small a value on the life of a citizen, chastised by military +execution the slightest offences, and transferred the stern +discipline of the camp into the civil administration of the laws. + +His love of justice often became a blind and furious passion and +whenever he deemed his own or the public safety endangered, he +disregarded the rules of evidence, and the proportion of +punishments. The unprovoked rebellion with which the Romans +rewarded his services, exasperated his haughty spirit. The +noblest families of the capital were involved in the guilt or +suspicion of this dark conspiracy. A nasty spirit of revenge +urged the bloody prosecution, and it proved fatal to one of the +nephews of the emperor. The the executioners (if we may use the +expression of a contemporary poet) were fatigued, the prisons +were crowded, and the unhappy senate lamented the death or +absence of its most illustrious members. ^93 Nor was the pride of +Aurelian less offensive to that assembly than his cruelty. +Ignorant or impatient of the restraints of civil institutions, he +disdained to hold his power by any other title than that of the +sword, and governed by right of conquest an empire which he had +saved and subdued. ^94 + +[Footnote 92: Vopiscus in Hist. August p. 222. The two Victors. +Eutropius ix. 14. Zosimus (l. i. p. 43) mentions only three +senators, and placed their death before the eastern war.] + +[Footnote 93: Nulla catenati feralis pompa senatus + Carnificum lassabit opus; nec carcere pleno + Infelix raros numerabit curia Patres. + + Calphurn. Eclog. i. 60.] + +[Footnote 94: According to the younger Victor, he sometimes wore +the diadem, Deus and Dominus appear on his medals.] + + It was observed by one of the most sagacious of the Roman +princes, that the talents of his predecessor Aurelian were better +suited to the command of an army, than to the government of an +empire. ^95 Conscious of the character in which nature and +experience had enabled him to excel, he again took the field a +few months after his triumph. It was expedient to exercise the +restless temper of the legions in some foreign war, and the +Persian monarch, exulting in the shame of Valerian, still braved +with impunity the offended majesty of Rome. At the head of an +army, less formidable by its numbers than by its discipline and +valor, the emperor advanced as far as the Straits which divide +Europe from Asia. He there experienced that the most absolute +power is a weak defence against the effects of despair. He had +threatened one of his secretaries who was accused of extortion; +and it was known that he seldom threatened in vain. The last +hope which remained for the criminal, was to involve some of the +principal officers of the army in his danger, or at least in his +fears. Artfully counterfeiting his master's hand, he showed +them, in a long and bloody list, their own names devoted to +death. Without suspecting or examining the fraud, they resolved +to secure their lives by the murder of the emperor. On his +march, between Byzanthium and Heraclea, Aurelian was suddenly +attacked by the conspirators, whose stations gave them a right to +surround his person, and after a short resistance, fell by the +hand of Mucapor, a general whom he had always loved and trusted. +He died regretted by the army, detested by the senate, but +universally acknowledged as a warlike and fortunate prince, the +useful, though severe reformer of a degenerate state. ^96 + +[Footnote 95: It was the observation of Dioclatian. See Vopiscus +in Hist. August. p. 224.] + +[Footnote 96: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221. Zosimus, l. i. +p. 57. Eutrop ix. 15. The two Victors.] + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons. + +Part I. + +Conduct Of The Army And Senate After The Death Of Aurelian. - +Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons. + + Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors, that, +whatever might be their conduct, their fate was commonly the +same. A life of pleasure or virtue, of severity or mildness, of +indolence or glory, alike led to an untimely grave; and almost +every reign is closed by the same disgusting repetition of +treason and murder. The death of Aurelian, however, is +remarkable by its extraordinary consequences. The legions +admired, lamented, and revenged their victorious chief. The +artifice of his perfidious secretary was discovered and punished. + +The deluded conspirators attended the funeral of their injured +sovereign, with sincere or well-feigned contrition, and submitted +to the unanimous resolution of the military order, which was +signified by the following epistle: "The brave and fortunate +armies to the senate and people of Rome. - The crime of one man, +and the error of many, have deprived us of the late emperor +Aurelian. May it please you, venerable lords and fathers! to +place him in the number of the gods, and to appoint a successor +whom your judgment shall declare worthy of the Imperial purple! +None of those whose guilt or misfortune have contributed to our +loss, shall ever reign over us." ^1 The Roman senators heard, +without surprise, that another emperor had been assassinated in +his camp; they secretly rejoiced in the fall of Aurelian; and, +besides the recent notoriety of the facts, constantly draws his +materials from the Journals of the Senate, and the but the modest +and dutiful address of the legions, when it was communicated in +full assembly by the consul, diffused the most pleasing +astonishment. Such honors as fear and perhaps esteem could +extort, they liberally poured forth on the memory of their +deceased sovereign. Such acknowledgments as gratitude could +inspire, they returned to the faithful armies of the republic, +who entertained so just a sense of the legal authority of the +senate in the choice of an emperor. Yet, notwithstanding this +flattering appeal, the most prudent of the assembly declined +exposing their safety and dignity to the caprice of an armed +multitude. The strength of the legions was, indeed, a pledge of +their sincerity, since those who may command are seldom reduced +to the necessity of dissembling; but could it naturally be +expected, that a hasty repentance would correct the inveterate +habits of fourscore years? Should the soldiers relapse into their +accustomed seditions, their insolence might disgrace the majesty +of the senate, and prove fatal to the object of its choice. +Motives like these dictated a decree, by which the election of a +new emperor was referred to the suffrage of the military order. +[Footnote 1: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 222. Aurelius Victor +mentions a formal deputation from the troops to the senate.] + + The contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but +most improbable events in the history of mankind. ^2 The troops, +as if satiated with the exercise of power, again conjured the +senate to invest one of its own body with the Imperial purple. +The senate still persisted in its refusal; the army in its +request. The reciprocal offer was pressed and rejected at least +three times, and, whilst the obstinate modesty of either party +was resolved to receive a master from the hands of the other, +eight months insensibly elapsed; an amazing period of tranquil +anarchy, during which the Roman world remained without a +sovereign, without a usurper, and without a sedition. ^* The +generals and magistrates appointed by Aurelian continued to +execute their ordinary functions; and it is observed, that a +proconsul of Asia was the only considerable person removed from +his office in the whole course of the interregnum. + +[Footnote 2: Vopiscus, our principal authority, wrote at Rome, +sixteen years only after the death of Aurelian; and, besides the +recent notoriety of the facts, constantly draws his materials +from the Journals of the Senate, and the original papers of the +Ulpian library. Zosimus and Zonaras appear as ignorant of this +transaction as they were in general of the Roman constitution.] + +[Footnote *: The interregnum could not be more than seven months; +Aurelian was assassinated in the middle of March, the year of +Rome 1028. Tacitus was elected the 25th September in the same +year. - G.] + + An event somewhat similar, but much less authentic, is +supposed to have happened after the death of Romulus, who, in his +life and character, bore some affinity with Aurelian. The throne +was vacant during twelve months, till the election of a Sabine +philosopher, and the public peace was guarded in the same manner, +by the union of the several orders of the state. But, in the +time of Numa and Romulus, the arms of the people were controlled +by the authority of the Patricians; and the balance of freedom +was easily preserved in a small and virtuous community. ^3 The +decline of the Roman state, far different from its infancy, was +attended with every circumstance that could banish from an +interregnum the prospect of obedience and harmony: an immense and +tumultuous capital, a wide extent of empire, the servile equality +of despotism, an army of four hundred thousand mercenaries, and +the experience of frequent revolutions. Yet, notwithstanding all +these temptations, the discipline and memory of Aurelian still +restrained the seditious temper of the troops, as well as the +fatal ambition of their leaders. The flower of the legions +maintained their stations on the banks of the Bosphorus, and the +Imperial standard awed the less powerful camps of Rome and of the +provinces. A generous though transient enthusiasm seemed to +animate the military order; and we may hope that a few real +patriots cultivated the returning friendship of the army and the +senate, as the only expedient capable of restoring the republic +to its ancient beauty and vigor. + +[Footnote 3: Liv. i. 17 Dionys. Halicarn. l. ii. p. 115. +Plutarch in Numa, p. 60. The first of these writers relates the +story like an orator, the second like a lawyer, and the third +like a moralist, and none of them probably without some +intermixture of fable.] + + On the twenty-fifth of September, near eight months after +the murder of Aurelian, the consul convoked an assembly of the +senate, and reported the doubtful and dangerous situation of the +empire. He slightly insinuated, that the precarious loyalty of +the soldiers depended on the chance of every hour, and of every +accident; but he represented, with the most convincing eloquence, +the various dangers that might attend any further delay in the +choice of an emperor. Intelligence, he said, was already +received, that the Germans had passed the Rhine, and occupied +some of the strongest and most opulent cities of Gaul. The +ambition of the Persian king kept the East in perpetual alarms; +Egypt, Africa, and Illyricum, were exposed to foreign and +domestic arms, and the levity of Syria would prefer even a female +sceptre to the sanctity of the Roman laws. The consul, then +addressing himself to Tacitus, the first of the senators, ^4 +required his opinion on the important subject of a proper +candidate for the vacant throne. + +[Footnote 4: Vopiscus (in Hist. August p. 227) calls him "primae +sententia consularis;" and soon afterwards Princeps senatus. It +is natural to suppose, that the monarchs of Rome, disdaining that +humble title, resigned it to the most ancient of the senators.] + + If we can prefer personal merit to accidental greatness, we +shall esteem the birth of Tacitus more truly noble than that of +kings. He claimed his descent from the philosophic historian, +whose writings will instruct the last generations of mankind. ^5 +The senator Tacitus was then seventy-five years of age. ^6 The +long period of his innocent life was adorned with wealth and +honors. He had twice been invested with the consular dignity, ^7 +and enjoyed with elegance and sobriety his ample patrimony of +between two and three millions sterling. ^8 The experience of so +many princes, whom he had esteemed or endured, from the vain +follies of Elagabalus to the useful rigor of Aurelian, taught him +to form a just estimate of the duties, the dangers, and the +temptations of their sublime station. From the assiduous study +of his immortal ancestor, he derived the knowledge of the Roman +constitution, and of human nature. ^9 The voice of the people had +already named Tacitus as the citizen the most worthy of empire. +The ungrateful rumor reached his ears, and induced him to seek +the retirement of one of his villas in Campania. He had passed +two months in the delightful privacy of Baiae, when he +reluctantly obeyed the summons of the consul to resume his +honorable place in the senate, and to assist the republic with +his counsels on this important occasion. +[Footnote 5: The only objection to this genealogy is, that the +historian was named Cornelius, the emperor, Claudius. But under +the lower empire, surnames were extremely various and uncertain.] + +[Footnote 6: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 637. The Alexandrian Chronicle, +by an obvious mistake, transfers that age to Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 7: In the year 273, he was ordinary consul. But he +must have been Suffectus many years before, and most probably +under Valerian.] +[Footnote 8: Bis millies octingenties. Vopiscus in Hist. August +p. 229. This sum, according to the old standard, was equivalent +to eight hundred and forty thousand Roman pounds of silver, each +of the value of three pounds sterling. But in the age of +Tacitus, the coin had lost much of its weight and purity.] + +[Footnote 9: After his accession, he gave orders that ten copies +of the historian should be annually transcribed and placed in the +public libraries. The Roman libraries have long since perished, +and the most valuable part of Tacitus was preserved in a single +Ms., and discovered in a monastery of Westphalia. See Bayle, +Dictionnaire, Art. Tacite, and Lipsius ad Annal. ii. 9.] + + He arose to speak, when from every quarter of the house, he +was saluted with the names of Augustus and emperor. "Tacitus +Augustus, the gods preserve thee! we choose thee for our +sovereign; to thy care we intrust the republic and the world. +Accept the empire from the authority of the senate. It is due to +thy rank, to thy conduct, to thy manners." As soon as the tumult +of acclamations subsided, Tacitus attempted to decline the +dangerous honor, and to express his wonder, that they should +elect his age and infirmities to succeed the martial vigor of +Aurelian. "Are these limbs, conscript fathers! fitted to sustain +the weight of armor, or to practise the exercises of the camp? +The variety of climates, and the hardships of a military life, +would soon oppress a feeble constitution, which subsists only by +the most tender management. My exhausted strength scarcely +enables me to discharge the duty of a senator; how insufficient +would it prove to the arduous labors of war and government! Can +you hope, that the legions will respect a weak old man, whose +days have been spent in the shade of peace and retirement? Can +you desire that I should ever find reason to regret the favorable +opinion of the senate?" ^10 + +[Footnote 10: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 227.] + + The reluctance of Tacitus (and it might possibly be sincere) +was encountered by the affectionate obstinacy of the senate. +Five hundred voices repeated at once, in eloquent confusion, that +the greatest of the Roman princes, Numa, Trajan, Hadrian, and the +Antonines, had ascended the throne in a very advanced season of +life; that the mind, not the body, a sovereign, not a soldier, +was the object of their choice; and that they expected from him +no more than to guide by his wisdom the valor of the legions. +These pressing though tumultuary instances were seconded by a +more regular oration of Metius Falconius, the next on the +consular bench to Tacitus himself. He reminded the assembly of +the evils which Rome had endured from the vices of headstrong and +capricious youths, congratulated them on the election of a +virtuous and experienced senator, and, with a manly, though +perhaps a selfish, freedom, exhorted Tacitus to remember the +reasons of his elevation, and to seek a successor, not in his own +family, but in the republic. The speech of Falconius was +enforced by a general acclamation. The emperor elect submitted +to the authority of his country, and received the voluntary +homage of his equals. The judgment of the senate was confirmed +by the consent of the Roman people, and of the Praetorian guards. +^11 + +[Footnote 11: Hist. August. p. 228. Tacitus addressed the +Praetorians by the appellation of sanctissimi milites, and the +people by that of sacratissim. Quirites.] + + The administration of Tacitus was not unworthy of his life +and principles. A grateful servant of the senate, he considered +that national council as the author, and himself as the subject, +of the laws. ^12 He studied to heal the wounds which Imperial +pride, civil discord, and military violence, had inflicted on the +constitution, and to restore, at least, the image of the ancient +republic, as it had been preserved by the policy of Augustus, and +the virtues of Trajan and the Antonines. It may not be useless +to recapitulate some of the most important prerogatives which the +senate appeared to have regained by the election of Tacitus. ^13 +1. To invest one of their body, under the title of emperor, with +the general command of the armies, and the government of the +frontier provinces. 2. To determine the list, or, as it was then +styled, the College of Consuls. They were twelve in number, who, +in successive pairs, each, during the space of two months, filled +the year, and represented the dignity of that ancient office. +The authority of the senate, in the nomination of the consuls, +was exercised with such independent freedom, that no regard was +paid to an irregular request of the emperor in favor of his +brother Florianus. "The senate," exclaimed Tacitus, with the +honest transport of a patriot, "understand the character of a +prince whom they have chosen." 3. To appoint the proconsuls and +presidents of the provinces, and to confer on all the magistrates +their civil jurisdiction. 4. To receive appeals through the +intermediate office of the praefect of the city from all the +tribunals of the empire. 5. To give force and validity, by their +decrees, to such as they should approve of the emperor's edicts. +6. To these several branches of authority we may add some +inspection over the finances, since, even in the stern reign of +Aurelian, it was in their power to divert a part of the revenue +from the public service. ^14 + +[Footnote 12: In his manumissions he never exceeded the number of +a hundred, as limited by the Caninian law, which was enacted +under Augustus, and at length repealed by Justinian. See +Casaubon ad locum Vopisci.] +[Footnote 13: See the lives of Tacitus, Florianus, and Probus, in +the Augustan History; we may be well assured, that whatever the +soldier gave the senator had already given.] + +[Footnote 14: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216. The passage is +perfectly clear, both Casaubon and Salmasius wish to correct it.] + + Circular epistles were sent, without delay, to all the +principal cities of the empire, Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Thessalo +nica, Corinth, Athens, Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage, to +claim their obedience, and to inform them of the happy +revolution, which had restored the Roman senate to its ancient +dignity. Two of these epistles are still extant. We likewise +possess two very singular fragments of the private correspondence +of the senators on this occasion. They discover the most +excessive joy, and the most unbounded hopes. "Cast away your +indolence," it is thus that one of the senators addresses his +friend, "emerge from your retirements of Baiae and Puteoli. Give +yourself to the city, to the senate. Rome flourishes, the whole +republic flourishes. Thanks to the Roman army, to an army truly +Roman; at length we have recovered our just authority, the end of +all our desires. We hear appeals, we appoint proconsuls, we +create emperors; perhaps too we may restrain them - to the wise a +word is sufficient." ^15 These lofty expectations were, however, +soon disappointed; nor, indeed, was it possible that the armies +and the provinces should long obey the luxurious and unwarlike +nobles of Rome. On the slightest touch, the unsupported fabric +of their pride and power fell to the ground. The expiring senate +displayed a sudden lustre, blazed for a moment and was +extinguished forever. +[Footnote 15: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 230, 232, 233. The +senators celebrated the happy restoration with hecatombs and +public rejoicings.] + All that had yet passed at Rome was no more than a +theatrical representation, unless it was ratified by the more +substantial power of the legions. Leaving the senators to enjoy +their dream of freedom and ambition, Tacitus proceeded to the +Thracian camp, and was there, by the Praetorian praefect, +presented to the assembled troops, as the prince whom they +themselves had demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed. As +soon as the praefect was silent, the emperor addressed himself to +the soldiers with eloquence and propriety. He gratified their +avarice by a liberal distribution of treasure, under the names of +pay and donative. He engaged their esteem by a spirited +declaration, that although his age might disable him from the +performance of military exploits, his counsels should never be +unworthy of a Roman general, the successor of the brave Aurelian. +^16 +[Footnote 16: Hist. August. p. 228.] + + Whilst the deceased emperor was making preparations for a +second expedition into the East, he had negotiated with the +Alani, ^* a Scythian people, who pitched their tents in the +neighborhood of the Lake Moeotis. Those barbarians, allured by +presents and subsidies, had promised to invade Persia with a +numerous body of light cavalry. They were faithful to their +engagements; but when they arrived on the Roman frontier, +Aurelian was already dead, the design of the Persian war was at +least suspended, and the generals, who, during the interregnum, +exercised a doubtful authority, were unprepared either to receive +or to oppose them. Provoked by such treatment, which they +considered as trifling and perfidious, the Alani had recourse to +their own valor for their payment and revenge; and as they moved +with the usual swiftness of Tartars, they had soon spread +themselves over the provinces of Pontus, Cappadocia, Cilicia, and +Galatia. The legions, who from the opposite shores of the +Bosphorus could almost distinguish the flames of the cities and +villages, impatiently urged their general to lead them against +the invaders. The conduct of Tacitus was suitable to his age and +station. He convinced the barbarians of the faith, as well as the +power, of the empire. Great numbers of the Alani, appeased by +the punctual discharge of the engagements which Aurelian had +contracted with them, relinquished their booty and captives, and +quietly retreated to their own deserts, beyond the Phasis. +Against the remainder, who refused peace, the Roman emperor +waged, in person, a successful war. Seconded by an army of brave +and experienced veterans, in a few weeks he delivered the +provinces of Asia from the terror of the Scythian invasion. ^17 + +[Footnote *: On the Alani, see ch. xxvi. note 55. - M.] + +[Footnote 17: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 230. Zosimus, l. i. +p. 57. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 637. Two passages in the life of +Probus (p. 236, 238) convince me, that these Scythian invaders of +Pontus were Alani. If we may believe Zosimus, (l. i. p. 58,) +Florianus pursued them as far as the Cimmerian Bosphorus. But he +had scarcely time for so long and difficult an expedition.] + + But the glory and life of Tacitus were of short duration. +Transported, in the depth of winter, from the soft retirement of +Campania to the foot of Mount Caucasus, he sunk under the +unaccustomed hardships of a military life. The fatigues of the +body were aggravated by the cares of the mind. For a while, the +angry and selfish passions of the soldiers had been suspended by +the enthusiasm of public virtue. They soon broke out with +redoubled violence, and raged in the camp, and even in the tent +of the aged emperor. His mild and amiable character served only +to inspire contempt, and he was incessantly tormented with +factions which he could not assuage, and by demands which it was +impossible to satisfy. Whatever flattering expectations he had +conceived of reconciling the public disorders, Tacitus soon was +convinced that the licentiousness of the army disdained the +feeble restraint of laws, and his last hour was hastened by +anguish and disappointment. It may be doubtful whether the +soldiers imbrued their hands in the blood of this innocent +prince. ^18 It is certain that their insolences was the cause of +his death. He expired at Tyana in Cappadocia, after a reign of +only six months and about twenty days. ^19 + +[Footnote 18: Eutropius and Aurelius Victor only say that he +died; Victor Junior adds, that it was of a fever. Zosimus and +Zonaras affirm, that he was killed by the soldiers. Vopiscus +mentions both accounts, and seems to hesitate. Yet surely these +jarring opinions are easily reconciled.] +[Footnote 19: According to the two Victors, he reigned exactly +two hundred days.] + + The eyes of Tacitus were scarcely closed, before his brother +Florianus showed himself unworthy to reign, by the hasty +usurpation of the purple, without expecting the approbation of +the senate. The reverence for the Roman constitution, which yet +influenced the camp and the provinces, was sufficiently strong to +dispose them to censure, but not to provoke them to oppose, the +precipitate ambition of Florianus. The discontent would have +evaporated in idle murmurs, had not the general of the East, the +heroic Probus, boldly declared himself the avenger of the senate. + +The contest, however, was still unequal; nor could the most able +leader, at the head of the effeminate troops of Egypt and Syria, +encounter, with any hopes of victory, the legions of Europe, +whose irresistible strength appeared to support the brother of +Tacitus. But the fortune and activity of Probus triumphed over +every obstacle. The hardy veterans of his rival, accustomed to +cold climates, sickened and consumed away in the sultry heats of +Cilicia, where the summer proved remarkably unwholesome. Their +numbers were diminished by frequent desertion; the passes of the +mountains were feebly defended; Tarsus opened its gates; and the +soldiers of Florianus, when they had permitted him to enjoy the +Imperial title about three months, delivered the empire from +civil war by the easy sacrifice of a prince whom they despised. +^20 + +[Footnote 20: Hist. August, p. 231. Zosimus, l. i. p. 58, 59. +Zonaras, l. xii. p. 637. Aurelius Victor says, that Probus +assumed the empire in Illyricum; an opinion which (though adopted +by a very learned man) would throw that period of history into +inextricable confusion.] + The perpetual revolutions of the throne had so perfectly +erased every notion of hereditary title, that the family of an +unfortunate emperor was incapable of exciting the jealousy of his +successors. The children of Tacitus and Florianus were permitted +to descend into a private station, and to mingle with the general +mass of the people. Their poverty indeed became an additional +safeguard to their innocence. When Tacitus was elected by the +senate, he resigned his ample patrimony to the public service; +^21 an act of generosity specious in appearance, but which +evidently disclosed his intention of transmitting the empire to +his descendants. The only consolation of their fallen state was +the remembrance of transient greatness, and a distant hope, the +child of a flattering prophecy, that at the end of a thousand +years, a monarch of the race of Tacitus should arise, the +protector of the senate, the restorer of Rome, and the conqueror +of the whole earth. ^22 + +[Footnote 21: Hist. August. p. 229] + +[Footnote 22: He was to send judges to the Parthians, Persians, +and Sarmatians, a president to Taprobani, and a proconsul to the +Roman island, (supposed by Casaubon and Salmasius to mean +Britain.) Such a history as mine (says Vopiscus with proper +modesty) will not subsist a thousand years, to expose or justify +the prediction.] + + The peasants of Illyricum, who had already given Claudius +and Aurelian to the sinking empire, had an equal right to glory +in the elevation of Probus. ^23 Above twenty years before, the +emperor Valerian, with his usual penetration, had discovered the +rising merit of the young soldier, on whom he conferred the rank +of tribune, long before the age prescribed by the military +regulations. The tribune soon justified his choice, by a victory +over a great body of Sarmatians, in which he saved the life of a +near relation of Valerian; and deserved to receive from the +emperor's hand the collars, bracelets, spears, and banners, the +mural and the civic crown, and all the honorable rewards reserved +by ancient Rome for successful valor. The third, and afterwards +the tenth, legion were intrusted to the command of Probus, who, +in every step of his promotion, showed himself superior to the +station which he filled. Africa and Pontus, the Rhine, the +Danube, the Euphrates, and the Nile, by turns afforded him the +most splendid occasions of displaying his personal prowess and +his conduct in war. Aurelian was indebted for the honest courage +with which he often checked the cruelty of his master. Tacitus, +who desired by the abilities of his generals to supply his own +deficiency of military talents, named him commander-in-chief of +all the eastern provinces, with five times the usual salary, the +promise of the consulship, and the hope of a triumph. When +Probus ascended the Imperial throne, he was about forty-four +years of age; ^24 in the full possession of his fame, of the love +of the army, and of a mature vigor of mind and body. +[Footnote 23: For the private life of Probus, see Vopiscus in +Hist. August p. 234 - 237] + +[Footnote 24: According to the Alexandrian chronicle, he was +fifty at the time of his death.] + + His acknowledge merit, and the success of his arms against +Florianus, left him without an enemy or a competitor. Yet, if we +may credit his own professions, very far from being desirous of +the empire, he had accepted it with the most sincere reluctance. +"But it is no longer in my power," says Probus, in a private +letter, "to lay down a title so full of envy and of danger. I +must continue to personate the character which the soldiers have +imposed upon me." ^25 His dutiful address to the senate displayed +the sentiments, or at least the language, of a Roman patriot: +"When you elected one of your order, conscript fathers! to +succeed the emperor Aurelian, you acted in a manner suitable to +your justice and wisdom. For you are the legal sovereigns of the +world, and the power which you derive from your ancestors will +descend to your posterity. Happy would it have been, if +Florianus, instead of usurping the purple of his brother, like a +private inheritance, had expected what your majesty might +determine, either in his favor, or in that of other person. The +prudent soldiers have punished his rashness. To me they have +offered the title of Augustus. But I submit to your clemency my +pretensions and my merits." ^26 When this respectful epistle was +read by the consul, the senators were unable to disguise their +satisfaction, that Probus should condescend thus numbly to +solicit a sceptre which he already possessed. They celebrated +with the warmest gratitude his virtues, his exploits, and above +all his moderation. A decree immediately passed, without a +dissenting voice, to ratify the election of the eastern armies, +and to confer on their chief all the several branches of the +Imperial dignity: the names of Caesar and Augustus, the title of +Father of his country, the right of making in the same day three +motions in the senate, ^27 the office of Pontifex, Maximus, the +tribunitian power, and the proconsular command; a mode of +investiture, which, though it seemed to multiply the authority of +the emperor, expressed the constitution of the ancient republic. +The reign of Probus corresponded with this fair beginning. The +senate was permitted to direct the civil administration of the +empire. Their faithful general asserted the honor of the Roman +arms, and often laid at their feet crowns of gold and barbaric +trophies, the fruits of his numerous victories. ^28 Yet, whilst +he gratified their vanity, he must secretly have despised their +indolence and weakness. Though it was every moment in their +power to repeal the disgraceful edict of Gallienus, the proud +successors of the Scipios patiently acquiesced in their exclusion +from all military employments. They soon experienced, that those +who refuse the sword must renounce the sceptre. +[Footnote 25: This letter was addressed to the Praetorian +praefect, whom (on condition of his good behavior) he promised to +continue in his great office. See Hist. August. p. 237.] + +[Footnote 26: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 237. The date of the +letter is assuredly faulty. Instead of Nen. Februar. we may read +Non August.] +[Footnote 27: Hist. August. p. 238. It is odd that the senate +should treat Probus less favorably than Marcus Antoninus. That +prince had received, even before the death of Pius, Jus quintoe +relationis. See Capitolin. in Hist. August. p. 24.] + +[Footnote 28: See the dutiful letter of Probus to the senate, +after his German victories. Hist. August. p. 239.] + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons. + +Part II. + + The strength of Aurelian had crushed on every side the +enemies of Rome. After his death they seemed to revive with an +increase of fury and of numbers. They were again vanquished by +the active vigor of Probus, who, in a short reign of about six +years, ^29 equalled the fame of ancient heroes, and restored +peace and order to every province of the Roman world. The +dangerous frontier of Rhaetia he so firmly secured, that he left +it without the suspicion of an enemy. He broke the wandering +power of the Sarmatian tribes, and by the terror of his arms +compelled those barbarians to relinquish their spoil. The Gothic +nation courted the alliance of so warlike an emperor. ^30 He +attacked the Isaurians in their mountains, besieged and took +several of their strongest castles, ^31 and flattered himself +that he had forever suppressed a domestic foe, whose independence +so deeply wounded the majesty of the empire. The troubles +excited by the usurper Firmus in the Upper Egypt had never been +perfectly appeased, and the cities of Ptolemais and Coptos, +fortified by the alliance of the Blemmyes, still maintained an +obscure rebellion. The chastisement of those cities, and of +their auxiliaries the savages of the South, is said to have +alarmed the court of Persia, ^32 and the Great King sued in vain +for the friendship of Probus. Most of the exploits which +distinguished his reign were achieved by the personal valor and +conduct of the emperor, insomuch that the writer of his life +expresses some amazement how, in so short a time, a single man +could be present in so many distant wars. The remaining actions +he intrusted to the care of his lieutenants, the judicious choice +of whom forms no inconsiderable part of his glory. Carus, +Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius, Galerius, Asclepiodatus, +Annibalianus, and a crowd of other chiefs, who afterwards +ascended or supported the throne, were trained to arms in the +severe school of Aurelian and Probus. ^33 + +[Footnote 29: The date and duration of the reign of Probus are +very correctly ascertained by Cardinal Noris in his learned work, +De Epochis Syro-Macedonum, p. 96 - 105. A passage of Eusebius +connects the second year of Probus with the aeras of several of +the Syrian cities.] + +[Footnote 30: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 239.] + +[Footnote 31: Zosimus (l. i. p. 62 - 65) tells us a very long and +trifling story of Lycius, the Isaurian robber.] + +[Footnote 32: Zosim. l. i. p. 65. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. +239, 240. But it seems incredible that the defeat of the savages +of Aethiopia could affect the Persian monarch.] + +[Footnote 33: Besides these well-known chiefs, several others are +named by Vopiscus, (Hist. August. p. 241,) whose actions have not +reached knowledge.] + But the most important service which Probus rendered to the +republic was the deliverance of Gaul, and the recovery of seventy +flourishing cities oppressed by the barbarians of Germany, who, +since the death of Aurelian, had ravaged that great province with +impunity. ^34 Among the various multitude of those fierce +invaders we may distinguish, with some degree of clearness, three +great armies, or rather nations, successively vanquished by the +valor of Probus. He drove back the Franks into their morasses; a +descriptive circumstance from whence we may infer, that the +confederacy known by the manly appellation of Free, already +occupied the flat maritime country, intersected and almost +overflown by the stagnating waters of the Rhine, and that several +tribes of the Frisians and Batavians had acceded to their +alliance. He vanquished the Burgundians, a considerable people +of the Vandalic race. ^* They had wandered in quest of booty from +the banks of the Oder to those of the Seine. They esteemed +themselves sufficiently fortunate to purchase, by the restitution +of all their booty, the permission of an undisturbed retreat. +They attempted to elude that article of the treaty. Their +punishment was immediate and terrible. ^35 But of all the +invaders of Gaul, the most formidable were the Lygians, a distant +people, who reigned over a wide domain on the frontiers of Poland +and Silesia. ^36 In the Lygian nation, the Arii held the first +rank by their numbers and fierceness. "The Arii" (it is thus +that they are described by the energy of Tacitus) "study to +improve by art and circumstances the innate terrors of their +barbarism. Their shields are black, their bodies are painted +black. They choose for the combat the darkest hour of the night. + +Their host advances, covered as it were with a funeral shade; ^37 +nor do they often find an enemy capable of sustaining so strange +and infernal an aspect. Of all our senses, the eyes are the +first vanquished in battle." ^38 Yet the arms and discipline of +the Romans easily discomfited these horrid phantoms. The Lygii +were defeated in a general engagement, and Semno, the most +renowned of their chiefs, fell alive into the hands of Probus. +That prudent emperor, unwilling to reduce a brave people to +despair, granted them an honorable capitulation, and permitted +them to return in safety to their native country. But the losses +which they suffered in the march, the battle, and the retreat, +broke the power of the nation: nor is the Lygian name ever +repeated in the history either of Germany or of the empire. The +deliverance of Gaul is reported to have cost the lives of four +hundred thousand of the invaders; a work of labor to the Romans, +and of expense to the emperor, who gave a piece of gold for the +head of every barbarian. ^39 But as the fame of warriors is built +on the destruction of human kind, we may naturally suspect, that +the sanguinary account was multiplied by the avarice of the +soldiers, and accepted without any very severe examination by the +liberal vanity of Probus. +[Footnote 34: See the Caesars of Julian, and Hist. August. p. +238, 240, 241.] +[Footnote *: It was only under the emperors Diocletian and +Maximian, that the Burgundians, in concert with the Alemanni, +invaded the interior of Gaul; under the reign of Probus, they did +no more than pass the river which separated them from the Roman +Empire: they were repelled. Gatterer presumes that this river +was the Danube; a passage in Zosimus appears to me rather to +indicate the Rhine. Zos. l. i. p. 37, edit H. Etienne, 1581. - +G. + On the origin of the Burgundians may be consulted Malte +Brun, Geogr vi. p. 396, (edit. 1831,) who observes that all the +remains of the Burgundian language indicate that they spoke a +Gothic dialect. - M.] +[Footnote 35: Zosimus, l. i. p. 62. Hist. August. p. 240. But +the latter supposes the punishment inflicted with the consent of +their kings: if so, it was partial, like the offence.] + +[Footnote 36: See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, l. iii. Ptolemy +places in their country the city of Calisia, probably Calish in +Silesia. + + Note: Luden (vol ii. 501) supposes that these have been +erroneously identified with the Lygii of Tacitus. Perhaps one +fertile source of mistakes has been, that the Romans have turned +appellations into national names. Malte Brun observes of the +Lygii, "that their name appears Sclavonian, and signifies +'inhabitants of plains;' they are probably the Lieches of the +middle ages, and the ancestors of the Poles. We find among the +Arii the worship of the two twin gods known in the Sclavian +mythology." Malte Brun, vol. i. p. 278, (edit. 1831.) - M. + + But compare Schafarik, Slawische Alterthumer, 1, p. 406. +They were of German or Keltish descent, occupying the Wendish (or +Slavian) district, Luhy. - M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 37: Feralis umbra, is the expression of Tacitus: it is +surely a very bold one.] + +[Footnote 38: Tacit. Germania, (c. 43.)] + +[Footnote 39: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 238] + + Since the expedition of Maximin, the Roman generals had +confined their ambition to a defensive war against the nations of +Germany, who perpetually pressed on the frontiers of the empire. +The more daring Probus pursued his Gallic victories, passed the +Rhine, and displayed his invincible eagles on the banks of the +Elbe and the Necker. He was fully convinced that nothing could +reconcile the minds of the barbarians to peace, unless they +experienced, in their own country, the calamities of war. +Germany, exhausted by the ill success of the last emigration, was +astonished by his presence. Nine of the most considerable princes +repaired to his camp, and fell prostrate at his feet. Such a +treaty was humbly received by the Germans, as it pleased the +conqueror to dictate. He exacted a strict restitution of the +effects and captives which they had carried away from the +provinces; and obliged their own magistrates to punish the more +obstinate robbers who presumed to detain any part of the spoil. +A considerable tribute of corn, cattle, and horses, the only +wealth of barbarians, was reserved for the use of the garrisons +which Probus established on the limits of their territory. He +even entertained some thoughts of compelling the Germans to +relinquish the exercise of arms, and to trust their differences +to the justice, their safety to the power, of Rome. To +accomplish these salutary ends, the constant residence of an +Imperial governor, supported by a numerous army, was +indispensably requisite. Probus therefore judged it more +expedient to defer the execution of so great a design; which was +indeed rather of specious than solid utility. ^40 Had Germany +been reduced into the state of a province, the Romans, with +immense labor and expense, would have acquired only a more +extensive boundary to defend against the fiercer and more active +barbarians of Scythia. + +[Footnote 40: Hist. August. 238, 239. Vopiscus quotes a letter +from the emperor to the senate, in which he mentions his design +of reducing Germany into a province.] + + Instead of reducing the warlike natives of Germany to the +condition of subjects, Probus contented himself with the humble +expedient of raising a bulwark against their inroads. The +country which now forms the circle of Swabia had been left desert +in the age of Augustus by the emigration of its ancient +inhabitants. ^41 The fertility of the soil soon attracted a new +colony from the adjacent provinces of Gaul. Crowds of +adventurers, of a roving temper and of desperate fortunes, +occupied the doubtful possession, and acknowledged, by the +payment of tithes the majesty of the empire. ^42 To protect these +new subjects, a line of frontier garrisons was gradually extended +from the Rhine to the Danube. About the reign of Hadrian, when +that mode of defence began to be practised, these garrisons were +connected and covered by a strong intrenchment of trees and +palisades. In the place of so rude a bulwark, the emperor Probus +constructed a stone wall of a considerable height, and +strengthened it by towers at convenient distances. From the +neighborhood of Newstadt and Ratisbon on the Danube, it stretched +across hills, valleys, rivers, and morasses, as far as Wimpfen on +the Necker, and at length terminated on the banks of the Rhine, +after a winding course of near two hundred miles. ^43 This +important barrier, uniting the two mighty streams that protected +the provinces of Europe, seemed to fill up the vacant space +through which the barbarians, and particularly the Alemanni, +could penetrate with the greatest facility into the heart of the +empire. But the experience of the world, from China to Britain, +has exposed the vain attempt of fortifying any extensive tract of +country. ^44 An active enemy, who can select and vary his points +of attack, must, in the end, discover some feeble spot, on some +unguarded moment. The strength, as well as the attention, of the +defenders is divided; and such are the blind effects of terror on +the firmest troops, that a line broken in a single place is +almost instantly deserted. The fate of the wall which Probus +erected may confirm the general observation. Within a few years +after his death, it was overthrown by the Alemanni. Its +scattered ruins, universally ascribed to the power of the Daemon, +now serve only to excite the wonder of the Swabian peasant. +[Footnote 41: Strabo, l. vii. According to Valleius Paterculus, +(ii. 108,) Maroboduus led his Marcomanni into Bohemia; Cluverius +(German. Antiq. iii. 8) proves that it was from Swabia.] + +[Footnote 42: These settlers, from the payment of tithes, were +denominated Decunates. Tacit. Germania, c. 29] + +[Footnote 43: See notes de l'Abbe de la Bleterie a la Germanie de +Tacite, p. 183. His account of the wall is chiefly borrowed (as +he says himself) from the Alsatia Illustrata of Schoepflin.] + +[Footnote 44: See Recherches sur les Chinois et les Egyptiens, +tom. ii. p. 81 - 102. The anonymous author is well acquainted +with the globe in general, and with Germany in particular: with +regard to the latter, he quotes a work of M. Hanselman; but he +seems to confound the wall of Probus, designed against the +Alemanni, with the fortification of the Mattiaci, constructed in +the neighborhood of Frankfort against the Catti. + + Note: De Pauw is well known to have been the author of this +work, as of the Recherches sur les Americains before quoted. The +judgment of M. Remusat on this writer is in a very different, I +fear a juster tone. Quand au lieu de rechercher, d'examiner, +d'etudier, on se borne, comme cet ecrivain, a juger a prononcer, +a decider, sans connoitre ni l'histoire. ni les langues, sans +recourir aux sources, sans meme se douter de leur existence, on +peut en imposer pendant quelque temps a des lecteurs prevenus ou +peu instruits; mais le mepris qui ne manque guere de succeder a +cet engouement fait bientot justice de ces assertions hazardees, +et elles retombent dans l'oubli d'autant plus promptement, +qu'elles ont ete posees avec plus de confiance. Sur les l angues +Tartares, p. 231. - M.] + + Among the useful conditions of peace imposed by Probus on +the vanquished nations of Germany, was the obligation of +supplying the Roman army with sixteen thousand recruits, the +bravest and most robust of their youth. The emperor dispersed +them through all the provinces, and distributed this dangerous +reenforcement, in small bands of fifty or sixty each, among the +national troops; judiciously observing, that the aid which the +republic derived from the barbarians should be felt but not seen. +^45 Their aid was now become necessary. The feeble elegance of +Italy and the internal provinces could no longer support the +weight of arms. The hardy frontiers of the Rhine and Danube +still produced minds and bodies equal to the labors of the camp; +but a perpetual series of wars had gradually diminished their +numbers. The infrequency of marriage, and the ruin of +agriculture, affected the principles of population, and not only +destroyed the strength of the present, but intercepted the hope +of future, generations. The wisdom of Probus embraced a great +and beneficial plan of replenishing the exhausted frontiers, by +new colonies of captive or fugitive barbarians, on whom he +bestowed lands, cattle, instruments of husbandry, and every +encouragement that might engage them to educate a race of +soldiers for the service of the republic. Into Britain, and most +probably into Cambridgeshire, ^46 he transported a considerable +body of Vandals. The impossibility of an escape reconciled them +to their situation, and in the subsequent troubles of that +island, they approved themselves the most faithful servants of +the state. ^47 Great numbers of Franks and Gepidae were settled +on the banks of the Danube and the Rhine. A hundred thousand +Bastarnae, expelled from their own country, cheerfully accepted +an establishment in Thrace, and soon imbibed the manners and +sentiments of Roman subjects. ^48 But the expectations of Probus +were too often disappointed. The impatience and idleness of the +barbarians could ill brook the slow labors of agriculture. Their +unconquerable love of freedom, rising against despotism, provoked +them into hasty rebellions, alike fatal to themselves and to the +provinces; ^49 nor could these artificial supplies, however +repeated by succeeding emperors, restore the important limit of +Gaul and Illyricum to its ancient and native vigor. +[Footnote 45: He distributed about fifty or sixty barbarians to a +Numerus, as it was then called, a corps with whose established +number we are not exactly acquainted.] + +[Footnote 46: Camden's Britannia, Introduction, p. 136; but he +speaks from a very doubtful conjecture.] + +[Footnote 47: Zosimus, l. i. p. 62. According to Vopiscus, +another body of Vandals was less faithful.] +[Footnote 48: Hist. August. p. 240. They were probably expelled +by the Goths. Zosim. l. i. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 240.] + + Of all the barbarians who abandoned their new settlements, +and disturbed the public tranquillity, a very small number +returned to their own country. For a short season they might +wander in arms through the empire; but in the end they were +surely destroyed by the power of a warlike emperor. The +successful rashness of a party of Franks was attended, however, +with such memorable consequences, that it ought not to be passed +unnoticed. They had been established by Probus, on the sea-coast +of Pontus, with a view of strengthening the frontier against the +inroads of the Alani. A fleet stationed in one of the harbors of +the Euxine fell into the hands of the Franks; and they resolved, +through unknown seas, to explore their way from the mouth of the +Phasis to that of the Rhine. They easily escaped through the +Bosphorus and the Hellespont, and cruising along the +Mediterranean, indulged their appetite for revenge and plunder by +frequent descents on the unsuspecting shores of Asia, Greece, and +Africa. The opulent city of Syracuse, in whose port the natives +of Athens and Carthage had formerly been sunk, was sacked by a +handful of barbarians, who massacred the greatest part of the +trembling inhabitants. From the Island of Sicily, the Franks +proceeded to the columns of Hercules, trusted themselves to the +ocean, coasted round Spain and Gaul, and steering their +triumphant course through the British Channel, at length finished +their surprising voyage, by landing in safety on the Batavian or +Frisian shores. ^50 The example of their success, instructing +their countrymen to conceive the advantages and to despise the +dangers of the sea, pointed out to their enterprising spirit a +new road to wealth and glory. + +[Footnote 50: Panegyr. Vet. v. 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 66.] + Notwithstanding the vigilance and activity of Probus, it was +almost impossible that he could at once contain in obedience +every part of his wide- extended dominions. The barbarians, who +broke their chains, had seized the favorable opportunity of a +domestic war. When the emperor marched to the relief of Gaul, he +devolved the command of the East on Saturninus. That general, a +man of merit and experience, was driven into rebellion by the +absence of his sovereign, the levity of the Alexandrian people, +the pressing instances of his friends, and his own fears; but +from the moment of his elevation, he never entertained a hope of +empire, or even of life. "Alas!" he said, "the republic has lost +a useful servant, and the rashness of an hour has destroyed the +services of many years. You know not," continued he, "the misery +of sovereign power; a sword is perpetually suspended over our +head. We dread our very guards, we distrust our companions. The +choice of action or of repose is no longer in our disposition, +nor is there any age, or character, or conduct, that can protect +us from the censure of envy. In thus exalting me to the throne, +you have doomed me to a life of cares, and to an untimely fate. +The only consolation which remains is, the assurance that I shall +not fall alone." ^51 But as the former part of his prediction was +verified by the victory, so the latter was disappointed by the +clemency of Probus. That amiable prince attempted even to save +the unhappy Saturninus from the fury of the soldiers. He had +more than once solicited the usurper himself to place some +confidence in the mercy of a sovereign who so highly esteemed his +character, that he had punished, as a malicious informer, the +first who related the improbable news of his disaffection. ^52 +Saturninus might, perhaps, have embraced the generous offer, had +he not been restrained by the obstinate distrust of his +adherents. Their guilt was deeper, and their hopes more +sanguine, than those of their experienced leader. +[Footnote 51: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 245, 246. The +unfortunate orator had studied rhetoric at Carthage; and was +therefore more probably a Moor (Zosim. l. i. p. 60) than a Gaul, +as Vopiscus calls him.] + +[Footnote 52: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638.] + + The revolt of Saturninus was scarcely extinguished in the +East, before new troubles were excited in the West, by the +rebellion of Bonosus and Proculus, in Gaul. The most +distinguished merit of those two officers was their respective +prowess, of the one in the combats of Bacchus, of the other in +those of Venus, ^53 yet neither of them was destitute of courage +and capacity, and both sustained, with honor, the august +character which the fear of punishment had engaged them to +assume, till they sunk at length beneath the superior genius of +Probus. He used the victory with his accustomed moderation, and +spared the fortune, as well as the lives of their innocent +families. ^54 + +[Footnote 53: A very surprising instance is recorded of the +prowess of Procufus. He had taken one hundred Sarmatian virgins. + +The rest of the story he must relate in his own language: "Ex his +una necte decem inivi; omnes tamen, quod in me erat, mulieres +intra dies quindecim reddidi. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246.] + +[Footnote 54: Proculus, who was a native of Albengue, on the +Genoese coast armed two thousand of his own slaves. His riches +were great, but they were acquired by robbery. It was afterwards +a saying of his family, sibi non placere esse vel principes vel +latrones. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 247.] + The arms of Probus had now suppressed all the foreign and +domestic enemies of the state. His mild but steady +administration confirmed the reestablishment of the public +tranquillity; nor was there left in the provinces a hostile +barbarian, a tyrant, or even a robber, to revive the memory of +past disorders. It was time that the emperor should revisit +Rome, and celebrate his own glory and the general happiness. The +triumph due to the valor of Probus was conducted with a +magnificence suitable to his fortune, and the people who had so +lately admired the trophies of Aurelian, gazed with equal +pleasure on those of his heroic successor. ^55 We cannot, on this +occasion, forget the desperate courage of about fourscore +gladiators, reserved, with near six hundred others, for the +inhuman sports of the amphitheatre. Disdaining to shed their +blood for the amusement of the populace, they killed their +keepers, broke from the place of their confinement, and filled +the streets of Rome with blood and confusion. After an obstinate +resistance, they were overpowered and cut in pieces by the +regular forces; but they obtained at least an honorable death, +and the satisfaction of a just revenge. ^56 + +[Footnote 55: Hist. August. p. 240.] + +[Footnote 56: Zosim. l. i. p. 66.] + + The military discipline which reigned in the camps of Probus +was less cruel than that of Aurelian, but it was equally rigid +and exact. The latter had punished the irregularities of the +soldiers with unrelenting severity, the former prevented them by +employing the legions in constant and useful labors. When Probus +commanded in Egypt, he executed many considerable works for the +splendor and benefit of that rich country. The navigation of the +Nile, so important to Rome itself, was improved; and temples, +buildings, porticos, and palaces were constructed by the hands of +the soldiers, who acted by turns as architects, as engineers, and +as husbandmen. ^57 It was reported of Hannibal, that in order to +preserve his troops from the dangerous temptations of idleness, +he had obliged them to form large plantations of olive-trees +along the coast of Africa. ^58 From a similar principle, Probus +exercised his legions in covering with rich vineyards the hills +of Gaul and Pannonia, and two considerable spots are described, +which were entirely dug and planted by military labor. ^59 One of +these, known under the name of Mount Almo, was situated near +Sirmium, the country where Probus was born, for which he ever +retained a partial affection, and whose gratitude he endeavored +to secure, by converting into tillage a large and unhealthy tract +of marshy ground. An army thus employed constituted perhaps the +most useful, as well as the bravest, portion of Roman subjects. + +[Footnote 57: Hist. August. p. 236.] + +[Footnote 58: Aurel. Victor. in Prob. But the policy of +Hannibal, unnoticed by any more ancient writer, is irreconcilable +with the history of his life. He left Africa when he was nine +years old, returned to it when he was forty- five, and +immediately lost his army in the decisive battle of Zama. +Livilus, xxx. 37.] + +[Footnote 59: Hist. August. p. 240. Eutrop. ix. 17. Aurel. +Victor. in Prob. Victor Junior. He revoked the prohibition of +Domitian, and granted a general permission of planting vines to +the Gauls, the Britons, and the Pannonians.] + But in the prosecution of a favorite scheme, the best of +men, satisfied with the rectitude of their intentions, are +subject to forget the bounds of moderation; nor did Probus +himself sufficiently consult the patience and disposition of his +fierce legionaries. ^60 The dangers of the military profession +seem only to be compensated by a life of pleasure and idleness; +but if the duties of the soldier are incessantly aggravated by +the labors of the peasant, he will at last sink under the +intolerable burden, or shake it off with indignation. The +imprudence of Probus is said to have inflamed the discontent of +his troops. More attentive to the interests of mankind than to +those of the army, he expressed the vain hope, that, by the +establishment of universal peace, he should soon abolish the +necessity of a standing and mercenary force. ^61 The unguarded +expression proved fatal to him. In one of the hottest days of +summer, as he severely urged the unwholesome labor of draining +the marshes of Sirmium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, on a +sudden threw down their tools, grasped their arms, and broke out +into a furious mutiny. The emperor, conscious of his danger, +took refuge in a lofty tower, constructed for the purpose of +surveying the progress of the work. ^62 The tower was instantly +forced, and a thousand swords were plunged at once into the bosom +of the unfortunate Probus. The rage of the troops subsided as +soon as it had been gratified. They then lamented their fatal +rashness, forgot the severity of the emperor, whom they had +massacred, and hastened to perpetuate, by an honorable monument, +the memory of his virtues and victories. ^63 + +[Footnote 60: Julian bestows a severe, and indeed excessive, +censure on the rigor of Probus, who, as he thinks, almost +deserved his fate.] +[Footnote 61: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 241. He lavishes on +this idle hope a large stock of very foolish eloquence.] + +[Footnote 62: Turris ferrata. It seems to have been a movable +tower, and cased with iron.] + +[Footnote 63: Probus, et vere probus situs est; Victor omnium +gentium Barbararum; victor etiam tyrannorum.] + + When the legions had indulged their grief and repentance for +the death of Probus, their unanimous consent declared Carus, his +Praetorian praefect, the most deserving of the Imperial throne. +Every circumstance that relates to this prince appears of a mixed +and doubtful nature. He gloried in the title of Roman Citizen; +and affected to compare the purity of his blood with the foreign +and even barbarous origin of the preceding emperors; yet the most +inquisitive of his contemporaries, very far from admitting his +claim, have variously deduced his own birth, or that of his +parents, from Illyricum, from Gaul, or from Africa. ^64 Though a +soldier, he had received a learned education; though a senator, +he was invested with the first dignity of the army; and in an age +when the civil and military professions began to be irrecoverably +separated from each other, they were united in the person of +Carus. Notwithstanding the severe justice which he exercised +against the assassins of Probus, to whose favor and esteem he was +highly indebted, he could not escape the suspicion of being +accessory to a deed from whence he derived the principal +advantage. He enjoyed, at least, before his elevation, an +acknowledged character of virtue and abilities; ^65 but his +austere temper insensibly degenerated into moroseness and +cruelty; and the imperfect writers of his life almost hesitate +whether they shall not rank him in the number of Roman tyrants. +^66 When Carus assumed the purple, he was about sixty years of +age, and his two sons, Carinus and Numerian had already attained +the season of manhood. ^67 + +[Footnote 64: Yet all this may be conciliated. He was born at +Narbonne in Illyricum, confounded by Eutropius with the more +famous city of that name in Gaul. His father might be an +African, and his mother a noble Roman. Carus himself was +educated in the capital. See Scaliger Animadversion. ad Euseb. +Chron. p. 241.] + +[Footnote 65: Probus had requested of the senate an equestrian +statue and a marble palace, at the public expense, as a just +recompense of the singular merit of Carus. Vopiscus in Hist. +August. p. 249.] + +[Footnote 66: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 242, 249. Julian +excludes the emperor Carus and both his sons from the banquet of +the Caesars.] +[Footnote 67: John Malala, tom. i. p. 401. But the authority of +that ignorant Greek is very slight. He ridiculously derives from +Carus the city of Carrhae, and the province of Caria, the latter +of which is mentioned by Homer.] + + The authority of the senate expired with Probus; nor was the +repentance of the soldiers displayed by the same dutiful regard +for the civil power, which they had testified after the +unfortunate death of Aurelian. The election of Carus was decided +without expecting the approbation of the senate, and the new +emperor contented himself with announcing, in a cold and stately +epistle, that he had ascended the vacant throne. ^68 A behavior +so very opposite to that of his amiable predecessor afforded no +favorable presage of the new reign: and the Romans, deprived of +power and freedom, asserted their privilege of licentious +murmurs. ^69 The voice of congratulation and flattery was not, +however, silent; and we may still peruse, with pleasure and +contempt, an eclogue, which was composed on the accession of the +emperor Carus. Two shepherds, avoiding the noontide heat, retire +into the cave of Faunus. On a spreading beech they discover some +recent characters. The rural deity had described, in prophetic +verses, the felicity promised to the empire under the reign of so +great a prince. Faunus hails the approach of that hero, who, +receiving on his shoulders the sinking weight of the Roman world, +shall extinguish war and faction, and once again restore the +innocence and security of the golden age. ^70 + +[Footnote 68: Hist. August. p. 249. Carus congratulated the +senate, that one of their own order was made emperor.] + +[Footnote 69: Hist. August. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 70: See the first eclogue of Calphurnius. The design +of it is preferes by Fontenelle to that of Virgil's Pollio. See +tom. iii. p. 148.] + It is more than probable, that these elegant trifles never +reached the ears of a veteran general, who, with the consent of +the legions, was preparing to execute the long-suspended design +of the Persian war. Before his departure for this distant +expedition, Carus conferred on his two sons, Carinus and +Numerian, the title of Caesar, and investing the former with +almost an equal share of the Imperial power, directed the young +prince, first to suppress some troubles which had arisen in Gaul, +and afterwards to fix the seat of his residence at Rome, and to +assume the government of the Western provinces. ^71 The safety of +Illyricum was confirmed by a memorable defeat of the Sarmatians; +sixteen thousand of those barbarians remained on the field of +battle, and the number of captives amounted to twenty thousand. +The old emperor, animated with the fame and prospect of victory, +pursued his march, in the midst of winter, through the countries +of Thrace and Asia Minor, and at length, with his younger son, +Numerian, arrived on the confines of the Persian monarchy. +There, encamping on the summit of a lofty mountain, he pointed +out to his troops the opulence and luxury of the enemy whom they +were about to invade. + +[Footnote 71: Hist. August. p. 353. Eutropius, ix. 18. Pagi. +Annal.] + The successor of Artaxerxes, ^* Varanes, or Bahram, though +he had subdued the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of +Upper Asia, ^72 was alarmed at the approach of the Romans, and +endeavored to retard their progress by a negotiation of peace. ^! + +His ambassadors entered the camp about sunset, at the time when +the troops were satisfying their hunger with a frugal repast. The +Persians expressed their desire of being introduced to the +presence of the Roman emperor. They were at length conducted to +a soldier, who was seated on the grass. A piece of stale bacon +and a few hard peas composed his supper. A coarse woollen +garment of purple was the only circumstance that announced his +dignity. The conference was conducted with the same disregard of +courtly elegance. Carus, taking off a cap which he wore to +conceal his baldness, assured the ambassadors, that, unless their +master acknowledged the superiority of Rome, he would speedily +render Persia as naked of trees as his own head was destitute of +hair. ^73 Notwithstanding some traces of art and preparation, we +may discover in this scene the manners of Carus, and the severe +simplicity which the martial princes, who succeeded Gallienus, +had already restored in the Roman camps. The ministers of the +Great King trembled and retired. + +[Footnote *: Three monarchs had intervened, Sapor, (Shahpour,) +Hormisdas, (Hormooz,) Varanes; Baharam the First. - M.] + +[Footnote 72: Agathias, l. iv. p. 135. We find one of his +sayings in the Bibliotheque Orientale of M. d'Herbelot. "The +definition of humanity includes all other virtues."] + +[Footnote !: The manner in which his life was saved by the Chief +Pontiff from a conspiracy of his nobles, is as remarkable as his +saying. "By the advice (of the Pontiff) all the nobles absented +themselves from court. The king wandered through his palace +alone. He saw no one; all was silence around. He became alarmed +and distressed. At last the Chief Pontiff appeared, and bowed +his head in apparent misery, but spoke not a word. The king +entreated him to declare what had happened. The virtuous man +boldly related all that had passed, and conjured Bahram, in the +name of his glorious ancestors, to change his conduct and save +himself from destruction. The king was much moved, professed +himself most penitent, and said he was resolved his future life +should prove his sincerity. The overjoyed High Priest, delighted +at this success, made a signal, at which all the nobles and +attendants were in an instant, as if by magic, in their usual +places. The monarch now perceived that only one opinion +prevailed on his past conduct. He repeated therefore to his +nobles all he had said to the Chief Pontiff, and his future reign +was unstained by cruelty or oppression." Malcolm's Persia, - M.] +[Footnote 73: Synesius tells this story of Carinus; and it is +much more natural to understand it of Carus, than (as Petavius +and Tillemont choose to do) of Probus.] + + The threats of Carus were not without effect. He ravaged +Mesopotamia, cut in pieces whatever opposed his passage, made +himself master of the great cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, +(which seemed to have surrendered without resistance,) and +carried his victorious arms beyond the Tigris. ^74 He had seized +the favorable moment for an invasion. The Persian councils were +distracted by domestic factions, and the greater part of their +forces were detained on the frontiers of India. Rome and the +East received with transports the news of such important +advantages. Flattery and hope painted, in the most lively +colors, the fall of Persia, the conquest of Arabia, the +submission of Egypt, and a lasting deliverance from the inroads +of the Scythian nations. ^75 But the reign of Carus was destined +to expose the vanity of predictions. They were scarcely uttered +before they were contradicted by his death; an event attended +with such ambiguous circumstances, that it may be related in a +letter from his own secretary to the praefect of the city. +"Carus," says he, "our dearest emperor, was confined by sickness +to his bed, when a furious tempest arose in the camp. The +darkness which overspread the sky was so thick, that we could no +longer distinguish each other; and the incessant flashes of +lightning took from us the knowledge of all that passed in the +general confusion. Immediately after the most violent clap of +thunder, we heard a sudden cry that the emperor was dead; and it +soon appeared, that his chamberlains, in a rage of grief, had set +fire to the royal pavilion; a circumstance which gave rise to the +report that Carus was killed by lightning. But, as far as we +have been able to investigate the truth, his death was the +natural effect of his disorder." ^76 +[Footnote 74: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 250. Eutropius, ix. +18. The two Victors.] + +[Footnote 75: To the Persian victory of Carus I refer the +dialogue of the Philopatris, which has so long been an object of +dispute among the learned. But to explain and justify my opinion, +would require a dissertation. ^ + Note: Niebuhr, in the new edition of the Byzantine +Historians, (vol. x.) has boldly assigned the Philopatris to the +tenth century, and to the reign of Nicephorus Phocas. An opinion +so decisively pronounced by Niebuhr and favorably received by +Hase, the learned editor of Leo Diaconus, commands respectful +consideration. But the whole tone of the work appears to me +altogether inconsistent with any period in which philosophy did +not stand, as it were, on some ground of equality with +Christianity. The doctrine of the Trinity is sarcastically +introduced rather as the strange doctrine of a new religion, than +the established tenet of a faith universally prevalent. The +argument, adopted from Solanus, concerning the formula of the +procession of the Holy Ghost, is utterly worthless, as it is a +mere quotation in the words of the Gospel of St. John, xv. 26. +The only argument of any value is the historic one, from the +allusion to the recent violation of many virgins in the Island of +Crete. But neither is the language of Niebuhr quite accurate, +nor his reference to the Acroases of Theodosius satisfactory. +When, then, could this occurrence take place? Why not in the +devastation of the island by the Gothic pirates, during the reign +of Claudius. Hist. Aug. in Claud. p. 814. edit. Var. Lugd. Bat +1661. - M.] + +[Footnote 76: Hist. August. p. 250. Yet Eutropius, Festus, +Rufus, the two Victors, Jerome, Sidonius Apollinaris, Syncellus, +and Zonaras, all ascribe the death of Carus to lightning.] + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons. + +Part III. + + The vacancy of the throne was not productive of any +disturbance. The ambition of the aspiring generals was checked +by their natural fears, and young Numerian, with his absent +brother Carinus, were unanimously acknowledged as Roman emperors. + +The public expected that the successor of Carus would pursue his +father's footsteps, and, without allowing the Persians to recover +from their consternation, would advance sword in hand to the +palaces of Susa and Ecbatana. ^77 But the legions, however strong +in numbers and discipline, were dismayed by the most abject +superstition. Notwithstanding all the arts that were practised to +disguise the manner of the late emperor's death, it was found +impossible to remove the opinion of the multitude, and the power +of opinion is irresistible. Places or persons struck with +lightning were considered by the ancients with pious horror, as +singularly devoted to the wrath of Heaven. ^78 An oracle was +remembered, which marked the River Tigris as the fatal boundary +of the Roman arms. The troops, terrified with the fate of Carus +and with their own danger, called aloud on young Numerian to obey +the will of the gods, and to lead them away from this +inauspicious scene of war. The feeble emperor was unable to +subdue their obstinate prejudice, and the Persians wondered at +the unexpected retreat of a victorious enemy. ^79 +[Footnote 77: See Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v. 71, &c.] + +[Footnote 78: See Festus and his commentators on the word +Scribonianum. Places struck by lightning were surrounded with a +wall; things were buried with mysterious ceremony.] + +[Footnote 79: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 250. Aurelius Victor +seems to believe the prediction, and to approve the retreat.] + + The intelligence of the mysterious fate of the late emperor +was soon carried from the frontiers of Persia to Rome; and the +senate, as well as the provinces, congratulated the accession of +the sons of Carus. These fortunate youths were strangers, +however, to that conscious superiority, either of birth or of +merit, which can alone render the possession of a throne easy, +and as it were natural. Born and educated in a private station, +the election of their father raised them at once to the rank of +princes; and his death, which happened about sixteen months +afterwards, left them the unexpected legacy of a vast empire. To +sustain with temper this rapid elevation, an uncommon share of +virtue and prudence was requisite; and Carinus, the elder of the +brothers, was more than commonly deficient in those qualities. +In the Gallic war he discovered some degree of personal courage; +^80 but from the moment of his arrival at Rome, he abandoned +himself to the luxury of the capital, and to the abuse of his +fortune. He was soft, yet cruel; devoted to pleasure, but +destitute of taste; and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, +indifferent to the public esteem. In the course of a few months, +he successively married and divorced nine wives, most of whom he +left pregnant; and notwithstanding this legal inconstancy, found +time to indulge such a variety of irregular appetites, as brought +dishonor on himself and on the noblest houses of Rome. He beheld +with inveterate hatred all those who might remember his former +obscurity, or censure his present conduct. He banished, or put +to death, the friends and counsellors whom his father had placed +about him, to guide his inexperienced youth; and he persecuted +with the meanest revenge his school-fellows and companions who +had not sufficiently respected the latent majesty of the emperor. + +With the senators, Carinus affected a lofty and regal demeanor, +frequently declaring, that he designed to distribute their +estates among the populace of Rome. From the dregs of that +populace he selected his favorites, and even his ministers. The +palace, and even the Imperial table, were filled with singers, +dancers, prostitutes, and all the various retinue of vice and +folly. One of his doorkeepers ^81 he intrusted with the +government of the city. In the room of the Praetorian praefect, +whom he put to death, Carinus substituted one of the ministers of +his looser pleasures. Another, who possessed the same, or even a +more infamous, title to favor, was invested with the consulship. +A confidential secretary, who had acquired uncommon skill in the +art of forgery, delivered the indolent emperor, with his own +consent from the irksome duty of signing his name. + +[Footnote 80: Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v 69. He was a +contemporary, but a poet.] + +[Footnote 81: Cancellarius. This word, so humble in its origin, +has, by a singular fortune, risen into the title of the first +great office of state in the monarchies of Europe. See Casaubon +and Salmasius, ad Hist. August, p. 253.] + + When the emperor Carus undertook the Persian war, he was +induced, by motives of affection as well as policy, to secure the +fortunes of his family, by leaving in the hands of his eldest son +the armies and provinces of the West. The intelligence which he +soon received of the conduct of Carinus filled him with shame and +regret; nor had he concealed his resolution of satisfying the +republic by a severe act of justice, and of adopting, in the +place of an unworthy son, the brave and virtuous Constantius, who +at that time was governor of Dalmatia. But the elevation of +Constantius was for a while deferred; and as soon as the father's +death had released Carinus from the control of fear or decency, +he displayed to the Romans the extravagancies of Elagabalus, +aggravated by the cruelty of Domitian. ^82 + +[Footnote 82: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 253, 254. Eutropius, +x. 19. Vic to Junior. The reign of Diocletian indeed was so +long and prosperous, that it must have been very unfavorable to +the reputation of Carinus.] + The only merit of the administration of Carinus that history +could record, or poetry celebrate, was the uncommon splendor with +which, in his own and his brother's name, he exhibited the Roman +games of the theatre, the circus, and the amphitheatre. More +than twenty years afterwards, when the courtiers of Diocletian +represented to their frugal sovereign the fame and popularity of +his munificent predecessor, he acknowledged that the reign of +Carinus had indeed been a reign of pleasure. ^83 But this vain +prodigality, which the prudence of Diocletian might justly +despise, was enjoyed with surprise and transport by the Roman +people. The oldest of the citizens, recollecting the spectacles +of former days, the triumphal pomp of Probus or Aurelian, and the +secular games of the emperor Philip, acknowledged that they were +all surpassed by the superior magnificence of Carinus. ^84 +[Footnote 83: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 254. He calls him +Carus, but the sense is sufficiently obvious, and the words were +often confounded.] +[Footnote 84: See Calphurnius, Eclog. vii. 43. We may observe, +that the spectacles of Probus were still recent, and that the +poet is seconded by the historian.] + + The spectacles of Carinus may therefore be best illustrated +by the observation of some particulars, which history has +condescended to relate concerning those of his predecessors. If +we confine ourselves solely to the hunting of wild beasts, +however we may censure the vanity of the design or the cruelty of +the execution, we are obliged to confess that neither before nor +since the time of the Romans so much art and expense have ever +been lavished for the amusement of the people. ^85 By the order +of Probus, a great quantity of large trees, torn up by the roots, +were transplanted into the midst of the circus. The spacious and +shady forest was immediately filled with a thousand ostriches, a +thousand stags, a thousand fallow deer, and a thousand wild +boars; and all this variety of game was abandoned to the riotous +impetuosity of the multitude. The tragedy of the succeeding day +consisted in the massacre of a hundred lions, an equal number of +lionesses, two hundred leopards, and three hundred bears. ^86 The +collection prepared by the younger Gordian for his triumph, and +which his successor exhibited in the secular games, was less +remarkable by the number than by the singularity of the animals. +Twenty zebras displayed their elegant forms and variegated beauty +to the eyes of the Roman people. ^87 Ten elks, and as many +camelopards, the loftiest and most harmless creatures that wander +over the plains of Sarmatia and Aethiopia, were contrasted with +thirty African hyaenas and ten Indian tigers, the most implacable +savages of the torrid zone. The unoffending strength with which +Nature has endowed the greater quadrupeds was admired in the +rhinoceros, the hippopotamus of the Nile, ^88 and a majestic +troop of thirty-two elephants. ^89 While the populace gazed with +stupid wonder on the splendid show, the naturalist might indeed +observe the figure and properties of so many different species, +transported from every part of the ancient world into the +amphitheatre of Rome. But this accidental benefit, which science +might derive from folly, is surely insufficient to justify such a +wanton abuse of the public riches. There occurs, however, a +single instance in the first Punic war, in which the senate +wisely connected this amusement of the multitude with the +interest of the state. A considerable number of elephants, taken +in the defeat of the Carthaginian army, were driven through the +circus by a few slaves, armed only with blunt javelins. ^90 The +useful spectacle served to impress the Roman soldier with a just +contempt for those unwieldy animals; and he no longer dreaded to +encounter them in the ranks of war. + +[Footnote 85: The philosopher Montaigne (Essais, l. iii. 6) gives +a very just and lively view of Roman magnificence in these +spectacles.] +[Footnote 86: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 240.] + +[Footnote 87: They are called Onagri; but the number is too +inconsiderable for mere wild asses. Cuper (de Elephantis +Exercitat. ii. 7) has proved from Oppian, Dion, and an anonymous +Greek, that zebras had been seen at Rome. They were brought from +some island of the ocean, perhaps Madagascar.] +[Footnote 88: Carinus gave a hippopotamus, (see Calphurn. Eclog. +vi. 66.) In the latter spectacles, I do not recollect any +crocodiles, of which Augustus once exhibited thirty-six. Dion +Cassius, l. lv. p. 781.] + +[Footnote 89: Capitolin. in Hist. August. p. 164, 165. We are +not acquainted with the animals which he calls archeleontes; some +read argoleontes others agrioleontes: both corrections are very +nugatory] + +[Footnote 90: Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 6, from the annals of +Piso.] + The hunting or exhibition of wild beasts was conducted with +a magnificence suitable to a people who styled themselves the +masters of the world; nor was the edifice appropriated to that +entertainment less expressive of Roman greatness. Posterity +admires, and will long admire, the awful remains of the +amphitheatre of Titus, which so well deserved the epithet of +Colossal. ^91 It was a building of an elliptic figure, five +hundred and sixty-four feet in length, and four hundred and +sixty-seven in breadth, founded on fourscore arches, and rising, +with four successive orders of architecture, to the height of one +hundred and forty feet. ^92 The outside of the edifice was +encrusted with marble, and decorated with statues. The slopes of +the vast concave, which formed the inside, were filled and +surrounded with sixty or eighty rows of seats of marble likewise, +covered with cushions, and capable of receiving with ease about +fourscore thousand spectators. ^93 Sixty-four vomitories (for by +that name the doors were very aptly distinguished) poured forth +the immense multitude; and the entrances, passages, and +staircases were contrived with such exquisite skill, that each +person, whether of the senatorial, the equestrian, or the +plebeian order, arrived at his destined place without trouble or +confusion. ^94 Nothing was omitted, which, in any respect, could +be subservient to the convenience and pleasure of the spectators. + +They were protected from the sun and rain by an ample canopy, +occasionally drawn over their heads. The air was continally +refreshed by the playing of fountains, and profusely impregnated +by the grateful scent of aromatics. In the centre of the +edifice, the arena, or stage, was strewed with the finest sand, +and successively assumed the most different forms. At one moment +it seemed to rise out of the earth, like the garden of the +Hesperides, and was afterwards broken into the rocks and caverns +of Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible +supply of water; and what had just before appeared a level plain, +might be suddenly converted into a wide lake, covered with armed +vessels, and replenished with the monsters of the deep. ^95 In +the decoration of these scenes, the Roman emperors displayed +their wealth and liberality; and we read on various occasions +that the whole furniture of the amphitheatre consisted either of +silver, or of gold, or of amber. ^96 The poet who describes the +games of Carinus, in the character of a shepherd, attracted to +the capital by the fame of their magnificence, affirms that the +nets designed as a defence against the wild beasts, were of gold +wire; that the porticos were gilded; and that the belt or circle +which divided the several ranks of spectators from each other was +studded with a precious mosaic of beautiful stones. ^97 +[Footnote 91: See Maffei, Verona Illustrata, p. iv. l. i. c. 2.] +[Footnote 92: Maffei, l. ii. c. 2. The height was very much +exaggerated by the ancients. It reached almost to the heavens, +according to Calphurnius, (Eclog. vii. 23,) and surpassed the ken +of human sight, according to Ammianus Marcellinus (xvi. 10.) Yet +how trifling to the great pyramid of Egypt, which rises 500 feet +perpendicular] + +[Footnote 93: According to different copies of Victor, we read +77,000, or 87,000 spectators; but Maffei (l. ii. c. 12) finds +room on the open seats for no more than 34,000. The remainder +were contained in the upper covered galleries.] + +[Footnote 94: See Maffei, l. ii. c. 5 - 12. He treats the very +difficult subject with all possible clearness, and like an +architect, as well as an antiquarian.] + +[Footnote 95: Calphurn. Eclog vii. 64, 73. These lines are +curious, and the whole eclogue has been of infinite use to +Maffei. Calphurnius, as well as Martial, (see his first book,) +was a poet; but when they described the amphitheatre, they both +wrote from their own senses, and to those of the Romans.] + +[Footnote 96: Consult Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 16, xxxvii. 11.] + +[Footnote 97: Balteus en gemmis, en inlita porticus auro + Certatim radiant, &c. Calphurn. vii.] + + In the midst of this glittering pageantry, the emperor +Carinus, secure of his fortune, enjoyed the acclamations of the +people, the flattery of his courtiers, and the songs of the +poets, who, for want of a more essential merit, were reduced to +celebrate the divine graces of his person. ^98 In the same hour, +but at the distance of nine hundred miles from Rome, his brother +expired; and a sudden revolution transferred into the hands of a +stranger the sceptre of the house of Carus. ^99 + +[Footnote 98: Et Martis vultus et Apollinis esse putavi, says +Calphurnius; but John Malala, who had perhaps seen pictures of +Carinus, describes him as thick, short, and white, tom. i. p. +403.] + +[Footnote 99: With regard to the time when these Roman games were +celebrated, Scaliger, Salmasius, and Cuper have given themselves +a great deal of trouble to perplex a very clear subject.] + + The sons of Carus never saw each other after their father's +death. The arrangements which their new situation required were +probably deferred till the return of the younger brother to Rome, +where a triumph was decreed to the young emperors for the +glorious success of the Persian war. ^100 It is uncertain whether +they intended to divide between them the administration, or the +provinces, of the empire; but it is very unlikely that their +union would have proved of any long duration. The jealousy of +power must have been inflamed by the opposition of characters. +In the most corrupt of times, Carinus was unworthy to live: +Numerian deserved to reign in a happier period. His affable +manners and gentle virtues secured him, as soon as they became +known, the regard and affections of the public. He possessed the +elegant accomplishments of a poet and orator, which dignify as +well as adorn the humblest and the most exalted station. His +eloquence, however it was applauded by the senate, was formed not +so much on the model of Cicero, as on that of the modern +declaimers; but in an age very far from being destitute of +poetical merit, he contended for the prize with the most +celebrated of his contemporaries, and still remained the friend +of his rivals; a circumstance which evinces either the goodness +of his heart, or the superiority of his genius. ^101 But the +talents of Numerian were rather of the contemplative than of the +active kind. When his father's elevation reluctantly forced him +from the shade of retirement, neither his temper nor his pursuits +had qualified him for the command of armies. His constitution +was destroyed by the hardships of the Persian war; and he had +contracted, from the heat of the climate, ^102 such a weakness in +his eyes, as obliged him, in the course of a long retreat, to +confine himself to the solitude and darkness of a tent or litter. + +The administration of all affairs, civil as well as military, was +devolved on Arrius Aper, the Praetorian praefect, who to the +power of his important office added the honor of being +father-in-law to Numerian. The Imperial pavilion was strictly +guarded by his most trusty adherents; and during many days, Aper +delivered to the army the supposed mandates of their invisible +sovereign. ^103 + +[Footnote 100: Nemesianus (in the Cynegeticon) seems to +anticipate in his fancy that auspicious day.] + +[Footnote 101: He won all the crowns from Nemesianus, with whom +he vied in didactic poetry. The senate erected a statue to the +son of Carus, with a very ambiguous inscription, "To the most +powerful of orators." See Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 251.] + +[Footnote 102: A more natural cause, at least, than that assigned +by Vopiscus, (Hist. August. p. 251,) incessantly weeping for his +father's death.] + +[Footnote 103: In the Persian war, Aper was suspected of a design +to betray Carus. Hist. August. p. 250.] + + It was not till eight months after the death of Carus, that +the Roman army, returning by slow marches from the banks of the +Tigris, arrived on those of the Thracian Bosphorus. The legions +halted at Chalcedon in Asia, while the court passed over to +Heraclea, on the European side of the Propontis. ^104 But a +report soon circulated through the camp, at first in secret +whispers, and at length in loud clamors, of the emperor's death, +and of the presumption of his ambitious minister, who still +exercised the sovereign power in the name of a prince who was no +more. The impatience of the soldiers could not long support a +state of suspense. With rude curiosity they broke into the +Imperial tent, and discovered only the corpse of Numerian. ^105 +The gradual decline of his health might have induced them to +believe that his death was natural; but the concealment was +interpreted as an evidence of guilt, and the measures which Aper +had taken to secure his election became the immediate occasion of +his ruin Yet, even in the transport of their rage and grief, the +troops observed a regular proceeding, which proves how firmly +discipline had been reestablished by the martial successors of +Gallienus. A general assembly of the army was appointed to be +held at Chalcedon, whither Aper was transported in chains, as a +prisoner and a criminal. A vacant tribunal was erected in the +midst of the camp, and the generals and tribunes formed a great +military council. They soon announced to the multitude that +their choice had fallen on Diocletian, commander of the domestics +or body-guards, as the person the most capable of revenging and +succeeding their beloved emperor. The future fortunes of the +candidate depended on the chance or conduct of the present hour. +Conscious that the station which he had filled exposed him to +some suspicions, Diocletian ascended the tribunal, and raising +his eyes towards the Sun, made a solemn profession of his own +innocence, in the presence of that all-seeing Deity. ^106 Then, +assuming the tone of a sovereign and a judge, he commanded that +Aper should be brought in chains to the foot of the tribunal. +"This man," said he, "is the murderer of Numerian;" and without +giving him time to enter on a dangerous justification, drew his +sword, and buried it in the breast of the unfortunate praefect. +A charge supported by such decisive proof was admitted without +contradiction, and the legions, with repeated acclamations, +acknowledged the justice and authority of the emperor Diocletian. +^107 [Footnote 104: We are obliged to the Alexandrian Chronicle, +p. 274, for the knowledge of the time and place where Diocletian +was elected emperor.] +[Footnote 105: Hist. August. p. 251. Eutrop. ix. 88. Hieronym. +in Chron. According to these judicious writers, the death of +Numerian was discovered by the stench of his dead body. Could no +aromatics be found in the Imperial household?] + +[Footnote 106: Aurel. Victor. Eutropius, ix. 20. Hieronym. in +Chron.] +[Footnote 107: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 252. The reason why +Diocletian killed Aper, (a wild boar,) was founded on a prophecy +and a pun, as foolish as they are well known.] + + Before we enter upon the memorable reign of that prince, it +will be proper to punish and dismiss the unworthy brother of +Numerian. Carinus possessed arms and treasures sufficient to +support his legal title to the empire. But his personal vices +overbalanced every advantage of birth and situation. The most +faithful servants of the father despised the incapacity, and +dreaded the cruel arrogance, of the son. The hearts of the +people were engaged in favor of his rival, and even the senate +was inclined to prefer a usurper to a tyrant. The arts of +Diocletian inflamed the general discontent; and the winter was +employed in secret intrigues, and open preparations for a civil +war. In the spring, the forces of the East and of the West +encountered each other in the plains of Margus, a small city of +Maesia, in the neighborhood of the Danube. ^108 The troops, so +lately returned from the Persian war, had acquired their glory at +the expense of health and numbers; nor were they in a condition +to contend with the unexhausted strength of the legions of +Europe. Their ranks were broken, and, for a moment, Diocletian +despaired of the purple and of life. But the advantage which +Carinus had obtained by the valor of his soldiers, he quickly +lost by the infidelity of his officers. A tribune, whose wife he +had seduced, seized the opportunity of revenge, and, by a single +blow, extinguished civil discord in the blood of the adulterer. +^109 + +[Footnote 108: Eutropius marks its situation very accurately; it +was between the Mons Aureus and Viminiacum. M. d'Anville +(Geographic Ancienne, tom. i. p. 304) places Margus at Kastolatz +in Servia, a little below Belgrade and Semendria. + + Not: Kullieza - Eton Atlas - M.] + +[Footnote 109: Hist. August. p. 254. Eutropius, ix. 20. +Aurelius Victor et Epitome] + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. + +Part I. + +The Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates, Maximian, +Galerius, And Constantius. - General Reestablishment Of Order And +Tranquillity. - The Persian War, Victory, And Triumph. - The New +Form Of Administration. - Abdication And Retirement Of Diocletian +And Maximian. + + As the reign of Diocletian was more illustrious than that of +any of his predecessors, so was his birth more abject and +obscure. The strong claims of merit and of violence had +frequently superseded the ideal prerogatives of nobility; but a +distinct line of separation was hitherto preserved between the +free and the servile part of mankind. The parents of Diocletian +had been slaves in the house of Anulinus, a Roman senator; nor +was he himself distinguished by any other name than that which he +derived from a small town in Dalmatia, from whence his mother +deduced her origin. ^1 It is, however, probable that his father +obtained the freedom of the family, and that he soon acquired an +office of scribe, which was commonly exercised by persons of his +condition. ^2 Favorable oracles, or rather the consciousness of +superior merit, prompted his aspiring son to pursue the +profession of arms and the hopes of fortune; and it would be +extremely curious to observe the gradation of arts and accidents +which enabled him in the end to fulfil those oracles, and to +display that merit to the world. Diocletian was successively +promoted to the government of Maesia, the honors of the +consulship, and the important command of the guards of the +palace. He distinguished his abilities in the Persian war; and +after the death of Numerian, the slave, by the confession and +judgment of his rivals, was declared the most worthy of the +Imperial throne. The malice of religious zeal, whilst it +arraigns the savage fierceness of his colleague Maximian, has +affected to cast suspicions on the personal courage of the +emperor Diocletian. ^3 It would not be easy to persuade us of the +cowardice of a soldier of fortune, who acquired and preserved the +esteem of the legions as well as the favor of so many warlike +princes. Yet even calumny is sagacious enough to discover and to +attack the most vulnerable part. The valor of Diocletian was +never found inadequate to his duty, or to the occasion; but he +appears not to have possessed the daring and generous spirit of a +hero, who courts danger and fame, disdains artifice, and boldly +challenges the allegiance of his equals. His abilities were +useful rather than splendid; a vigorous mind, improved by the +experience and study of mankind; dexterity and application in +business; a judicious mixture of liberality and economy, of +mildness and rigor; profound dissimulation, under the disguise of +military frankness; steadiness to pursue his ends; flexibility to +vary his means; and, above all, the great art of submitting his +own passions, as well as those of others, to the interest of his +ambition, and of coloring his ambition with the most specious +pretences of justice and public utility. Like Augustus, +Diocletian may be considered as the founder of a new empire. +Like the adopted son of Caesar, he was distinguished as a +statesman rather than as a warrior; nor did either of those +princes employ force, whenever their purpose could be effected by +policy. + +[Footnote 1: Eutrop. ix. 19. Victor in Epitome. The town seems +to have been properly called Doclia, from a small tribe of +Illyrians, (see Cellarius, Geograph. Antiqua, tom. i. p. 393;) +and the original name of the fortunate slave was probably Docles; +he first lengthened it to the Grecian harmony of Diocles, and at +length to the Roman majesty of Diocletianus. He likewise assumed +the Patrician name of Valerius and it is usually given him by +Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 2: See Dacier on the sixth satire of the second book of +Horace Cornel. Nepos, 'n Vit. Eumen. c. l.] + +[Footnote 3: Lactantius (or whoever was the author of the little +treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum) accuses Diocletian of timidity +in two places, c. 7. 8. In chap. 9 he says of him, "erat in omni +tumultu meticulosu et animi disjectus."] + + The victory of Diocletian was remarkable for its singular +mildness. A people accustomed to applaud the clemency of the +conqueror, if the usual punishments of death, exile, and +confiscation, were inflicted with any degree of temper and +equity, beheld, with the most pleasing astonishment, a civil war, +the flames of which were extinguished in the field of battle. +Diocletian received into his confidence Aristobulus, the +principal minister of the house of Carus, respected the lives, +the fortunes, and the dignity, of his adversaries, and even +continued in their respective stations the greater number of the +servants of Carinus. ^4 It is not improbable that motives of +prudence might assist the humanity of the artful Dalmatian; of +these servants, many had purchased his favor by secret treachery; +in others, he esteemed their grateful fidelity to an unfortunate +master. The discerning judgment of Aurelian, of Probus, and of +Carus, had filled the several departments of the state and army +with officers of approved merit, whose removal would have injured +the public service, without promoting the interest of his +successor. Such a conduct, however, displayed to the Roman world +the fairest prospect of the new reign, and the emperor affected +to confirm this favorable prepossession, by declaring, that, +among all the virtues of his predecessors, he was the most +ambitious of imitating the humane philosophy of Marcus Antoninus. +^5 + +[Footnote 4: In this encomium, Aurelius Victor seems to convey a +just, though indirect, censure of the cruelty of Constantius. It +appears from the Fasti, that Aristobulus remained praefect of the +city, and that he ended with Diocletian the consulship which he +had commenced with Carinus.] +[Footnote 5: Aurelius Victor styles Diocletian, "Parentum potius +quam Dominum." See Hist. August. p. 30.] + + The first considerable action of his reign seemed to evince +his sincerity as well as his moderation. After the example of +Marcus, he gave himself a colleague in the person of Maximian, on +whom he bestowed at first the title of Caesar, and afterwards +that of Augustus. ^6 But the motives of his conduct, as well as +the object of his choice, were of a very different nature from +those of his admired predecessor. By investing a luxurious youth +with the honors of the purple, Marcus had discharged a debt of +private gratitude, at the expense, indeed, of the happiness of +the state. By associating a friend and a fellow-soldier to the +labors of government, Diocletian, in a time of public danger, +provided for the defence both of the East and of the West. +Maximian was born a peasant, and, like Aurelian, in the territory +of Sirmium. Ignorant of letters, ^7 careless of laws, the +rusticity of his appearance and manners still betrayed in the +most elevated fortune the meanness of his extraction. War was +the only art which he professed. In a long course of service, he +had distinguished himself on every frontier of the empire; and +though his military talents were formed to obey rather than to +command, though, perhaps, he never attained the skill of a +consummate general, he was capable, by his valor, constancy, and +experience, of executing the most arduous undertakings. Nor were +the vices of Maximian less useful to his benefactor. Insensible +to pity, and fearless of consequences, he was the ready +instrument of every act of cruelty which the policy of that +artful prince might at once suggest and disclaim. As soon as a +bloody sacrifice had been offered to prudence or to revenge, +Diocletian, by his seasonable intercession, saved the remaining +few whom he had never designed to punish, gently censured the +severity of his stern colleague, and enjoyed the comparison of a +golden and an iron age, which was universally applied to their +opposite maxims of government. Notwithstanding the difference of +their characters, the two emperors maintained, on the throne, +that friendship which they had contracted in a private station. +The haughty, turbulent spirit of Maximian, so fatal, afterwards, +to himself and to the public peace, was accustomed to respect the +genius of Diocletian, and confessed the ascendant of reason over +brutal violence. ^8 From a motive either of pride or +superstition, the two emperors assumed the titles, the one of +Jovius, the other of Herculius. Whilst the motion of the world +(such was the language of their venal orators) was maintained by +the all-seeing wisdom of Jupiter, the invincible arm of Hercules +purged the earth from monsters and tyrants. ^9 + +[Footnote 6: The question of the time when Maximian received the +honors of Caesar and Augustus has divided modern critics, and +given occasion to a great deal of learned wrangling. I have +followed M. de Tillemont, (Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. +500-505,) who has weighed the several reasons and difficulties +with his scrupulous accuracy. + + Note: Eckbel concurs in this view, viii p. 15. - M.] + +[Footnote 7: In an oration delivered before him, (Panegyr. Vet. +ii. 8,) Mamertinus expresses a doubt, whether his hero, in +imitating the conduct of Hannibal and Scipio, had ever heard of +their names. From thence we may fairly infer, that Maximian was +more desirous of being considered as a soldier than as a man of +letters; and it is in this manner that we can often translate the +language of flattery into that of truth.] + +[Footnote 8: Lactantius de M. P. c. 8. Aurelius Victor. As +among the Panegyrics, we find orations pronounced in praise of +Maximian, and others which flatter his adversaries at his +expense, we derive some knowledge from the contrast.] + +[Footnote 9: See the second and third Panegyrics, particularly +iii. 3, 10, 14 but it would be tedious to copy the diffuse and +affected expressions of their false eloquence. With regard to +the titles, consult Aurel. Victor Lactantius de M. P. c. 52. +Spanheim de Usu Numismatum, &c. xii 8.] + + But even the omnipotence of Jovius and Herculius was +insufficient to sustain the weight of the public administration. +The prudence of Diocletian discovered that the empire, assailed +on every side by the barbarians, required on every side the +presence of a great army, and of an emperor. With this view, he +resolved once more to divide his unwieldy power, and with the +inferior title of Caesars, ^* to confer on two generals of +approved merit an unequal share of the sovereign authority. ^10 +Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, from his original profession of a +herdsman, and Constantius, who from his pale complexion had +acquired the denomination of Chlorus, ^11 were the two persons +invested with the second honors of the Imperial purple. In +describing the country, extraction, and manners of Herculius, we +have already delineated those of Galerius, who was often, and not +improperly, styled the younger Maximian, though, in many +instances both of virtue and ability, he appears to have +possessed a manifest superiority over the elder. The birth of +Constantius was less obscure than that of his colleagues. +Eutropius, his father, was one of the most considerable nobles of +Dardania, and his mother was the niece of the emperor Claudius. +^12 Although the youth of Constantius had been spent in arms, he +was endowed with a mild and amiable disposition, and the popular +voice had long since acknowledged him worthy of the rank which he +at last attained. To strengthen the bonds of political, by those +of domestic, union, each of the emperors assumed the character of +a father to one of the Caesars, Diocletian to Galerius, and +Maximian to Constantius; and each, obliging them to repudiate +their former wives, bestowed his daughter in marriage or his +adopted son. ^13 These four princes distributed among themselves +the wide extent of the Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, +^14 and Britain, was intrusted to Constantius: Galerius was +stationed on the banks of the Danube, as the safeguard of the +Illyrian provinces. Italy and Africa were considered as the +department of Maximian; and for his peculiar portion, Diocletian +reserved Thrace, Egypt, and the rich countries of Asia. Every one +was sovereign with his own jurisdiction; but their united +authority extended over the whole monarchy, and each of them was +prepared to assist his colleagues with his counsels or presence. +The Caesars, in their exalted rank, revered the majesty of the +emperors, and the three younger princes invariably acknowledged, +by their gratitude and obedience, the common parent of their +fortunes. The suspicious jealousy of power found not any place +among them; and the singular happiness of their union has been +compared to a chorus of music, whose harmony was regulated and +maintained by the skilful hand of the first artist. ^15 + +[Footnote *: On the relative power of the Augusti and the +Caesars, consult a dissertation at the end of Manso's Leben +Constantius des Grossen - M.] +[Footnote 10: Aurelius Victor. Victor in Epitome. Eutrop. ix. +22. Lactant de M. P. c. 8. Hieronym. in Chron.] + +[Footnote 11: It is only among the modern Greeks that Tillemont +can discover his appellation of Chlorus. Any remarkable degree +of paleness seems inconsistent with the rubor mentioned in +Panegyric, v. 19.] +[Footnote 12: Julian, the grandson of Constantius, boasts that +his family was derived from the warlike Maesians. Misopogon, p. +348. The Dardanians dwelt on the edge of Maesia.] + +[Footnote 13: Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of +Diocletian; if we speak with strictness, Theodora, the wife of +Constantius, was daughter only to the wife of Maximian. +Spanheim, Dissertat, xi. 2.] + +[Footnote 14: This division agrees with that of the four +praefectures; yet there is some reason to doubt whether Spain was +not a province of Maximian. See Tillemont, tom. iv. p. 517. + + Note: According to Aurelius Victor and other authorities, +Thrace belonged to the division of Galerius. See Tillemont, iv. +36. But the laws of Diocletian are in general dated in Illyria +or Thrace. - M.] +[Footnote 15: Julian in Caesarib. p. 315. Spanheim's notes to +the French translation, p. 122.] + + This important measure was not carried into execution till +about six years after the association of Maximian, and that +interval of time had not been destitute of memorable incidents. +But we have preferred, for the sake of perspicuity, first to +describe the more perfect form of Diocletian's government, and +afterwards to relate the actions of his reign, following rather +the natural order of the events, than the dates of a very +doubtful chronology. + + The first exploit of Maximian, though it is mentioned in a +few words by our imperfect writers, deserves, from its +singularity, to be recorded in a history of human manners. He +suppressed the peasants of Gaul, who, under the appellation of +Bagaudae, ^16 had risen in a general insurrection; very similar +to those which in the fourteenth century successively afflicted +both France and England. ^17 It should seem that very many of +those institutions, referred by an easy solution to the feudal +system, are derived from the Celtic barbarians. When Caesar +subdued the Gauls, that great nation was already divided into +three orders of men; the clergy, the nobility, and the common +people. The first governed by superstition, the second by arms, +but the third and last was not of any weight or account in their +public councils. It was very natural for the plebeians, oppressed +by debt, or apprehensive of injuries, to implore the protection +of some powerful chief, who acquired over their persons and +property the same absolute right as, among the Greeks and Romans, +a master exercised over his slaves. ^18 The greatest part of the +nation was gradually reduced into a state of servitude; compelled +to perpetual labor on the estates of the Gallic nobles, and +confined to the soil, either by the real weight of fetters, or by +the no less cruel and forcible restraints of the laws. During +the long series of troubles which agitated Gaul, from the reign +of Gallienus to that of Diocletian, the condition of these +servile peasants was peculiarly miserable; and they experienced +at once the complicated tyranny of their masters, of the +barbarians, of the soldiers, and of the officers of the revenue. +^19 +[Footnote 16: The general name of Bagaudoe (in the signification +of rebels) continued till the fifth century in Gaul. Some +critics derive it from a Celtic word Bagad, a tumultuous +assembly. Scaliger ad Euseb. Du Cange Glossar. (Compare S. +Turner, Anglo-Sax. History, i. 214. - M.)] +[Footnote 17: Chronique de Froissart, vol. i. c. 182, ii. 73, 79. + +The naivete of his story is lost in our best modern writers.] + +[Footnote 18: Caesar de Bell. Gallic. vi. 13. Orgetorix, the +Helvetian, could arm for his defence a body of ten thousand +slaves.] + +[Footnote 19: Their oppression and misery are acknowledged by +Eumenius (Panegyr. vi. 8,) Gallias efferatas injuriis.] + + Their patience was at last provoked into despair. On every +side they rose in multitudes, armed with rustic weapons, and with +irresistible fury. The ploughman became a foot soldier, the +shepherd mounted on horseback, the deserted villages and open +towns were abandoned to the flames, and the ravages of the +peasants equalled those of the fiercest barbarians. ^20 They +asserted the natural rights of men, but they asserted those +rights with the most savage cruelty. The Gallic nobles, justly +dreading their revenge, either took refuge in the fortified +cities, or fled from the wild scene of anarchy. The peasants +reigned without control; and two of their most daring leaders had +the folly and rashness to assume the Imperial ornaments. ^21 +Their power soon expired at the approach of the legions. The +strength of union and discipline obtained an easy victory over a +licentious and divided multitude. ^22 A severe retaliation was +inflicted on the peasants who were found in arms; the affrighted +remnant returned to their respective habitations, and their +unsuccessful effort for freedom served only to confirm their +slavery. So strong and uniform is the current of popular +passions, that we might almost venture, from very scanty +materials, to relate the particulars of this war; but we are not +disposed to believe that the principal leaders, Aelianus and +Amandus, were Christians, ^23 or to insinuate, that the +rebellion, as it happened in the time of Luther, was occasioned +by the abuse of those benevolent principles of Christianity, +which inculcate the natural freedom of mankind. + +[Footnote 20: Panegyr. Vet. ii. 4. Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 21: Aelianus and Amandus. We have medals coined by +them Goltzius in Thes. R. A. p. 117, 121.] + +[Footnote 22: Levibus proeliis domuit. Eutrop. ix. 20.] + +[Footnote 23: The fact rests indeed on very slight authority, a +life of St. Babolinus, which is probably of the seventh century. +See Duchesne Scriptores Rer. Francicar. tom. i. p. 662.] + + Maximian had no sooner recovered Gaul from the hands of the +peasants, than he lost Britain by the usurpation of Carausius. +Ever since the rash but successful enterprise of the Franks under +the reign of Probus, their daring countrymen had constructed +squadrons of light brigantines, in which they incessantly ravaged +the provinces adjacent to the ocean. ^24 To repel their desultory +incursions, it was found necessary to create a naval power; and +the judicious measure was prosecuted with prudence and vigor. +Gessoriacum, or Boulogne, in the straits of the British Channel, +was chosen by the emperor for the station of the Roman fleet; and +the command of it was intrusted to Carausius, a Menapian of the +meanest origin, ^25 but who had long signalized his skill as a +pilot, and his valor as a soldier. The integrity of the new +admiral corresponded not with his abilities. When the German +pirates sailed from their own harbors, he connived at their +passage, but he diligently intercepted their return, and +appropriated to his own use an ample share of the spoil which +they had acquired. The wealth of Carausius was, on this +occasion, very justly considered as an evidence of his guilt; and +Maximian had already given orders for his death. But the crafty +Menapian foresaw and prevented the severity of the emperor. By +his liberality he had attached to his fortunes the fleet which he +commanded, and secured the barbarians in his interest. From the +port of Boulogne he sailed over to Britain, persuaded the legion, +and the auxiliaries which guarded that island, to embrace his +party, and boldly assuming, with the Imperial purple, the title +of Augustus defied the justice and the arms of his injured +sovereign. ^26 + +[Footnote 24: Aurelius Victor calls them Germans. Eutropius (ix. +21) gives them the name of Saxons. But Eutropius lived in the +ensuing century, and seems to use the language of his own times.] + +[Footnote 25: The three expressions of Eutropius, Aurelius +Victor, and Eumenius, "vilissime natus," "Bataviae alumnus," and +"Menapiae civis," give us a very doubtful account of the birth of +Carausius. Dr. Stukely, however, (Hist. of Carausius, p. 62,) +chooses to make him a native of St. David's and a prince of the +blood royal of Britain. The former idea he had found in Richard +of Cirencester, p. 44. + + Note: The Menapians were settled between the Scheldt and the +Meuse, is the northern part of Brabant. D'Anville, Geogr. Anc. +i. 93. - G.] +[Footnote 26: Panegyr. v. 12. Britain at this time was secure, +and slightly guarded.] + + When Britain was thus dismembered from the empire, its +importance was sensibly felt, and its loss sincerely lamented. +The Romans celebrated, and perhaps magnified, the extent of that +noble island, provided on every side with convenient harbors; the +temperature of the climate, and the fertility of the soil, alike +adapted for the production of corn or of vines; the valuable +minerals with which it abounded; its rich pastures covered with +innumerable flocks, and its woods free from wild beasts or +venomous serpents. Above all, they regretted the large amount of +the revenue of Britain, whilst they confessed, that such a +province well deserved to become the seat of an independent +monarchy. ^27 During the space of seven years it was possessed by +Carausius; and fortune continued propitious to a rebellion +supported with courage and ability. The British emperor defended +the frontiers of his dominions against the Caledonians of the +North, invited, from the continent, a great number of skilful +artists, and displayed, on a variety of coins that are still +extant, his taste and opulence. Born on the confines of the +Franks, he courted the friendship of that formidable people, by +the flattering imitation of their dress and manners. The bravest +of their youth he enlisted among his land or sea forces; and, in +return for their useful alliance, he communicated to the +barbarians the dangerous knowledge of military and naval arts. +Carausius still preserved the possession of Boulogne and the +adjacent country. His fleets rode triumphant in the channel, +commanded the mouths of the Seine and of the Rhine, ravaged the +coasts of the ocean, and diffused beyond the columns of Hercules +the terror of his name. Under his command, Britain, destined in +a future age to obtain the empire of the sea, already assumed its +natural and respectable station of a maritime power. ^28 + +[Footnote 27: Panegyr. Vet v 11, vii. 9. The orator Eumenius +wished to exalt the glory of the hero (Constantius) with the +importance of the conquest. Notwithstanding our laudable +partiality for our native country, it is difficult to conceive, +that, in the beginning of the fourth century England deserved all +these commendations. A century and a half before, it hardly paid +its own establishment.] + +[Footnote 28: As a great number of medals of Carausius are still +preserved, he is become a very favorite object of antiquarian +curiosity, and every circumstance of his life and actions has +been investigated with sagacious accuracy. Dr. Stukely, in +particular, has devoted a large volume to the British emperor. I +have used his materials, and rejected most of his fanciful +conjectures.] + + By seizing the fleet of Boulogne, Carausius had deprived his +master of the means of pursuit and revenge. And when, after a +vast expense of time and labor, a new armament was launched into +the water, ^29 the Imperial troops, unaccustomed to that element, +were easily baffled and defeated by the veteran sailors of the +usurper. This disappointed effort was soon productive of a +treaty of peace. Diocletian and his colleague, who justly +dreaded the enterprising spirit of Carausius, resigned to him the +sovereignty of Britain, and reluctantly admitted their perfidious +servant to a participation of the Imperial honors. ^30 But the +adoption of the two Caesars restored new vigor to the Romans +arms; and while the Rhine was guarded by the presence of +Maximian, his brave associate Constantius assumed the conduct of +the British war. His first enterprise was against the important +place of Boulogne. A stupendous mole, raised across the entrance +of the harbor, intercepted all hopes of relief. The town +surrendered after an obstinate defence; and a considerable part +of the naval strength of Carausius fell into the hands of the +besiegers. During the three years which Constantius employed in +preparing a fleet adequate to the conquest of Britain, he secured +the coast of Gaul, invaded the country of the Franks, and +deprived the usurper of the assistance of those powerful allies. + +[Footnote 29: When Mamertinus pronounced his first panegyric, the +naval preparations of Maximian were completed; and the orator +presaged an assured victory. His silence in the second panegyric +might alone inform us that the expedition had not succeeded.] + +[Footnote 30: Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, and the medals, (Pax +Augg.) inform us of this temporary reconciliation; though I will +not presume (as Dr. Stukely has done, Medallic History of +Carausius, p. 86, &c) to insert the identical articles of the +treaty.] + + Before the preparations were finished, Constantius received +the intelligence of the tyrant's death, and it was considered as +a sure presage of the approaching victory. The servants of +Carausius imitated the example of treason which he had given. He +was murdered by his first minister, Allectus, and the assassin +succeeded to his power and to his danger. But he possessed not +equal abilities either to exercise the one or to repel the other. + +He beheld, with anxious terror, the opposite shores of the +continent already filled with arms, with troops, and with +vessels; for Constantius had very prudently divided his forces, +that he might likewise divide the attention and resistance of the +enemy. The attack was at length made by the principal squadron, +which, under the command of the praefect Asclepiodatus, an +officer of distinguished merit, had been assembled in the north +of the Seine. So imperfect in those times was the art of +navigation, that orators have celebrated the daring courage of +the Romans, who ventured to set sail with a side-wind, and on a +stormy day. The weather proved favorable to their enterprise. +Under the cover of a thick fog, they escaped the fleet of +Allectus, which had been stationed off the Isle of Wight to +receive them, landed in safety on some part of the western coast, +and convinced the Britons, that a superiority of naval strength +will not always protect their country from a foreign invasion. +Asclepiodatus had no sooner disembarked the imperial troops, then +he set fire to his ships; and, as the expedition proved +fortunate, his heroic conduct was universally admired. The +usurper had posted himself near London, to expect the formidable +attack of Constantius, who commanded in person the fleet of +Boulogne; but the descent of a new enemy required his immediate +presence in the West. He performed this long march in so +precipitate a manner, that he encountered the whole force of the +praefect with a small body of harassed and disheartened troops. +The engagement was soon terminated by the total defeat and death +of Allectus; a single battle, as it has often happened, decided +the fate of this great island; and when Constantius landed on the +shores of Kent, he found them covered with obedient subjects. +Their acclamations were loud and unanimous; and the virtues of +the conqueror may induce us to believe, that they sincerely +rejoiced in a revolution, which, after a separation of ten years, +restored Britain to the body of the Roman empire. ^31 + +[Footnote 31: With regard to the recovery of Britain, we obtain a +few hints from Aurelius Victor and Eutropius.] + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. + +Part II. + + Britain had none but domestic enemies to dread; and as long +as the governors preserved their fidelity, and the troops their +discipline, the incursions of the naked savages of Scotland or +Ireland could never materially affect the safety of the province. + +The peace of the continent, and the defence of the principal +rivers which bounded the empire, were objects of far greater +difficulty and importance. The policy of Diocletian, which +inspired the councils of his associates, provided for the public +tranquility, by encouraging a spirit of dissension among the +barbarians, and by strengthening the fortifications of the Roman +limit. In the East he fixed a line of camps from Egypt to the +Persian dominions, and for every camp, he instituted an adequate +number of stationary troops, commanded by their respective +officers, and supplied with every kind of arms, from the new +arsenals which he had formed at Antioch, Emesa, and Damascus. ^32 +Nor was the precaution of the emperor less watchful against the +well-known valor of the barbarians of Europe. From the mouth of +the Rhine to that of the Danube, the ancient camps, towns, and +citidels, were diligently reestablished, and, in the most exposed +places, new ones were skilfully constructed: the strictest +vigilance was introduced among the garrisons of the frontier, and +every expedient was practised that could render the long chain of +fortifications firm and impenetrable. ^33 A barrier so +respectable was seldom violated, and the barbarians often turned +against each other their disappointed rage. The Goths, the +Vandals, the Gepidae, the Burgundians, the Alemanni, wasted each +other's strength by destructive hostilities: and whosoever +vanquished, they vanquished the enemies of Rome. The subjects of +Diocletian enjoyed the bloody spectacle, and congratulated each +other, that the mischiefs of civil war were now experienced only +by the barbarians. ^34 + +[Footnote 32: John Malala, in Chron, Antiochen. tom. i. p. 408, +409.] +[Footnote 33: Zosim. l. i. p. 3. That partial historian seems to +celebrate the vigilance of Diocletian with a design of exposing +the negligence of Constantine; we may, however, listen to an +orator: "Nam quid ego alarum et cohortium castra percenseam, toto +Rheni et Istri et Euphraus limite restituta." Panegyr. Vet. iv. +18.] + +[Footnote 34: Ruunt omnes in sanguinem suum populi, quibus ron +contigilesse Romanis, obstinataeque feritatis poenas nunc sponte +persolvunt. Panegyr. Vet. iii. 16. Mamertinus illustrates the +fact by the example of almost all the nations in the world.] + + Notwithstanding the policy of Diocletian, it was impossible +to maintain an equal and undisturbed tranquillity during a reign +of twenty years, and along a frontier of many hundred miles. +Sometimes the barbarians suspended their domestic animosities, +and the relaxed vigilance of the garrisons sometimes gave a +passage to their strength or dexterity. Whenever the provinces +were invaded, Diocletian conducted himself with that calm dignity +which he always affected or possessed; reserved his presence for +such occasions as were worthy of his interposition, never exposed +his person or reputation to any unnecessary danger, insured his +success by every means that prudence could suggest, and +displayed, with ostentation, the consequences of his victory. In +wars of a more difficult nature, and more doubtful event, he +employed the rough valor of Maximian; and that faithful soldier +was content to ascribe his own victories to the wise counsels and +auspicious influence of his benefactor. But after the adoption +of the two Caesars, the emperors themselves, retiring to a less +laborious scene of action, devolved on their adopted sons the +defence of the Danube and of the Rhine. The vigilant Galerius +was never reduced to the necessity of vanquishing an army of +barbarians on the Roman territory. ^35 The brave and active +Contsantius delivered Gaul from a very furious inroad of the +Alemanni; and his victories of Langres and Vindonissa appear to +have been actions of considerable danger and merit. As he +traversed the open country with a feeble guard, he was +encompassed on a sudden by the superior multitude of the enemy. +He retreated with difficulty towards Langres; but, in the general +consternation, the citizens refused to open their gates, and the +wounded prince was drawn up the wall by the means of a rope. +But, on the news of his distress, the Roman troops hastened from +all sides to his relief, and before the evening he had satisfied +his honor and revenge by the slaughter of six thousand Alemanni. +^36 From the monuments of those times, the obscure traces of +several other victories over the barbarians of Sarmatia and +Germany might possibly be collected; but the tedious search would +not be rewarded either with amusement or with instruction. + +[Footnote 35: He complained, though not with the strictest truth, +"Jam fluxisse annos quindecim in quibus, in Illyrico, ad ripam +Danubii relegatus cum gentibus barbaris luctaret." Lactant. de M. +P. c. 18.] +[Footnote 36: In the Greek text of Eusebius, we read six +thousand, a number which I have preferred to the sixty thousand +of Jerome, Orosius Eutropius, and his Greek translator Paeanius.] + + The conduct which the emperor Probus had adopted in the +disposal of the vanquished, was imitated by Diocletian and his +associates. The captive barbarians, exchanging death for +slavery, were distributed among the provincials, and assigned to +those districts (in Gaul, the territories of Amiens, Beauvais, +Cambray, Treves, Langres, and Troyes, are particularly specified +^37) which had been depopulated by the calamities of war. They +were usefully employed as shepherds and husbandmen, but were +denied the exercise of arms, except when it was found expedient +to enroll them in the military service. Nor did the emperors +refuse the property of lands, with a less servile tenure, to such +of the barbarians as solicited the protection of Rome. They +granted a settlement to several colonies of the Carpi, the +Bastarnae, and the Sarmatians; and, by a dangerous indulgence, +permitted them in some measure to retain their national manners +and independence. ^38 Among the provincials, it was a subject of +flattering exultation, that the barbarian, so lately an object of +terror, now cultivated their lands, drove their cattle to the +neighboring fair, and contributed by his labor to the public +plenty. They congratulated their masters on the powerful +accession of subjects and soldiers; but they forgot to observe, +that multitudes of secret enemies, insolent from favor, or +desperate from oppression, were introduced into the heart of the +empire. ^39 + +[Footnote 37: Panegyr. Vet. vii. 21.] + +[Footnote 38: There was a settlement of the Sarmatians in the +neighborhood of Treves, which seems to have been deserted by +those lazy barbarians. Ausonius speaks of them in his Mosella: - + + "Unde iter ingrediens nemorosa per avia solum, + Et nulla humani spectans vestigia cultus; + . . . . . . . . + Arvaque Sauromatum nuper metata colonis.] + +[Footnote 39: There was a town of the Carpi in the Lower Maesia. +See the rhetorical exultation of Eumenius.] + + While the Caesars exercised their valor on the banks of the +Rhine and Danube, the presence of the emperors was required on +the southern confines of the Roman world. From the Nile to Mount +Atlas Africa was in arms. A confederacy of five Moorish nations +issued from their deserts to invade the peaceful provinces. ^40 +Julian had assumed the purple at Carthage. ^41 Achilleus at +Alexandria, and even the Blemmyes, renewed, or rather continued, +their incursions into the Upper Egypt. Scarcely any +circumstances have been preserved of the exploits of Maximian in +the western parts of Africa; but it appears, by the event, that +the progress of his arms was rapid and decisive, that he +vanquished the fiercest barbarians of Mauritania, and that he +removed them from the mountains, whose inaccessible strength had +inspired their inhabitants with a lawless confidence, and +habituated them to a life of rapine and violence. ^42 Diocletian, +on his side, opened the campaign in Egypt by the siege of +Alexandria, cut off the aqueducts which conveyed the waters of +the Nile into every quarter of that immense city, ^43 and +rendering his camp impregnable to the sallies of the besieged +multitude, he pushed his reiterated attacks with caution and +vigor. After a siege of eight months, Alexandria, wasted by the +sword and by fire, implored the clemency of the conqueror, but it +experienced the full extent of his severity. Many thousands of +the citizens perished in a promiscuous slaughter, and there were +few obnoxious persons in Egypt who escaped a sentence either of +death or at least of exile. ^44 The fate of Busiris and of Coptos +was still more melancholy than that of Alexandria: those proud +cities, the former distinguished by its antiquity, the latter +enriched by the passage of the Indian trade, were utterly +destroyed by the arms and by the severe order of Diocletian. ^45 +The character of the Egyptian nation, insensible to kindness, but +extremely susceptible of fear, could alone justify this excessive +rigor. The seditions of Alexandria had often affected the +tranquillity and subsistence of Rome itself. Since the +usurpation of Firmus, the province of Upper Egypt, incessantly +relapsing into rebellion, had embraced the alliance of the +savages of Aethiopia. The number of the Blemmyes, scattered +between the Island of Meroe and the Red Sea, was very +inconsiderable, their disposition was unwarlike, their weapons +rude and inoffensive. ^46 Yet in the public disorders, these +barbarians, whom antiquity, shocked with the deformity of their +figure, had almost excluded from the human species, presumed to +rank themselves among the enemies of Rome. ^47 Such had been the +unworthy allies of the Egyptians; and while the attention of the +state was engaged in more serious wars, their vexations inroads +might again harass the repose of the province. With a view of +opposing to the Blemmyes a suitable adversary, Diocletian +persuaded the Nobatae, or people of Nubia, to remove from their +ancient habitations in the deserts of Libya, and resigned to them +an extensive but unprofitable territory above Syene and the +cataracts of the Nile, with the stipulation, that they should +ever respect and guard the frontier of the empire. The treaty +long subsisted; and till the establishment of Christianity +introduced stricter notions of religious worship, it was annually +ratified by a solemn sacrifice in the Isle of Elephantine, in +which the Romans, as well as the barbarians, adored the same +visible or invisible powers of the universe. ^48 + +[Footnote 40: Scaliger (Animadvers. ad Euseb. p. 243) decides, in +his usual manner, that the Quinque gentiani, or five African +nations, were the five great cities, the Pentapolis of the +inoffensive province of Cyrene.] +[Foot]note 41: After his defeat, Julian stabbed himself with a +dagger, and immediately leaped into the flames. Victor in +Epitome.] + +[Footnote 42: Tu ferocissimos Mauritaniae populos inaccessis +montium jugis et naturali munitione fidentes, expugnasti, +recepisti, transtulisti. Panegyr Vet. vi. 8.] + +[Footnote 43: See the description of Alexandria, in Hirtius de +Bel. Alexandrin c. 5.] + +[Footnote 44: Eutrop. ix. 24. Orosius, vii. 25. John Malala in +Chron. Antioch. p. 409, 410. Yet Eumenius assures us, that Egypt +was pacified by the clemency of Diocletian.] + +[Footnote 45: Eusebius (in Chron.) places their destruction +several years sooner and at a time when Egypt itself was in a +state of rebellion against the Romans.] + +[Footnote 46: Strabo, l. xvii. p. 172. Pomponius Mela, l. i. c. +4. His words are curious: "Intra, si credere libet vix, homines +magisque semiferi Aegipanes, et Blemmyes, et Satyri."] + +[Footnote 47: Ausus sese inserere fortunae et provocare arma +Romana.] +[Footnote 48: See Procopius de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 19. + Note: Compare, on the epoch of the final extirpation of the +rites of Paganism from the Isle of Philae, (Elephantine,) which +subsisted till the edict of Theodosius, in the sixth century, a +dissertation of M. Letronne, on certain Greek inscriptions. The +dissertation contains some very interesting observations on the +conduct and policy of Diocletian in Egypt. Mater pour l'Hist. du +Christianisme en Egypte, Nubie et Abyssinie, Paris 1817 - M.] + At the same time that Diocletian chastised the past crimes +of the Egyptians, he provided for their future safety and +happiness by many wise regulations, which were confirmed and +enforced under the succeeding reigns. ^49 One very remarkable +edict which he published, instead of being condemned as the +effect of jealous tyranny, deserves to be applauded as an act of +prudence and humanity. He caused a diligent inquiry to be made +"for all the ancient books which treated of the admirable art of +making gold and silver, and without pity, committed them to the +flames; apprehensive, as we are assumed, lest the opulence of the +Egyptians should inspire them with confidence to rebel against +the empire." ^50 But if Diocletian had been convinced of the +reality of that valuable art, far from extinguishing the memory, +he would have converted the operation of it to the benefit of the +public revenue. It is much more likely, that his good sense +discovered to him the folly of such magnificent pretensions, and +that he was desirous of preserving the reason and fortunes of his +subjects from the mischievous pursuit. It may be remarked, that +these ancient books, so liberally ascribed to Pythagoras, to +Solomon, or to Hermes, were the pious frauds of more recent +adepts. The Greeks were inattentive either to the use or to the +abuse of chemistry. In that immense register, where Pliny has +deposited the discoveries, the arts, and the errors of mankind, +there is not the least mention of the transmutation of metals; +and the persecution of Diocletian is the first authentic event in +the history of alchemy. The conquest of Egypt by the Arabs +diffused that vain science over the globe. Congenial to the +avarice of the human heart, it was studied in China as in Europe, +with equal eagerness, and with equal success. The darkness of +the middle ages insured a favorable reception to every tale of +wonder, and the revival of learning gave new vigor to hope, and +suggested more specious arts of deception. Philosophy, with the +aid of experience, has at length banished the study of alchemy; +and the present age, however desirous of riches, is content to +seek them by the humbler means of commerce and industry. ^51 + +[Footnote 49: He fixed the public allowance of corn, for the +people of Alexandria, at two millions of medimni; about four +hundred thousand quarters. Chron. Paschal. p. 276 Procop. Hist. +Arcan. c. 26.] + +[Footnote 50: John Antioch, in Excerp. Valesian. p. 834. Suidas +in Diocletian.] + +[Footnote 51: See a short history and confutation of Alchemy, in +the works of that philosophical compiler, La Mothe le Vayer, tom. + +i. p. 32 - 353.] + The reduction of Egypt was immediately followed by the +Persian war. It was reserved for the reign of Diocletian to +vanquish that powerful nation, and to extort a confession from +the successors of Artaxerxes, of the superior majesty of the +Roman empire. + + We have observed, under the reign of Valerian, that Armenia +was subdued by the perfidy and the arms of the Persians, and +that, after the assassination of Chosroes, his son Tiridates, the +infant heir of the monarchy, was saved by the fidelity of his +friends, and educated under the protection of the emperors. +Tiridates derived from his exile such advantages as he could +never have obtained on the throne of Armenia; the early knowledge +of adversity, of mankind, and of the Roman discipline. He +signalized his youth by deeds of valor, and displayed a matchless +dexterity, as well as strength, in every martial exercise, and +even in the less honorable contests of the Olympian games. ^52 +Those qualities were more nobly exerted in the defence of his +benefactor Licinius. ^53 That officer, in the sedition which +occasioned the death of Probus, was exposed to the most imminent +danger, and the enraged soldiers were forcing their way into his +tent, when they were checked by the single arm of the Armenian +prince. The gratitude of Tiridates contributed soon afterwards +to his restoration. Licinius was in every station the friend and +companion of Galerius, and the merit of Galerius, long before he +was raised to the dignity of Caesar, had been known and esteemed +by Diocletian. In the third year of that emperor's reign +Tiridates was invested with the kingdom of Armenia. The justice +of the measure was not less evident than its expediency. It was +time to rescue from the usurpation of the Persian monarch an +important territory, which, since the reign of Nero, had been +always granted under the protection of the empire to a younger +branch of the house of Arsaces. ^54 + +[Footnote 52: See the education and strength of Tiridates in the +Armenian history of Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 76. He could +seize two wild bulls by the horns, and break them off with his +hands.] + +[Footnote 53: If we give credit to the younger Victor, who +supposes that in the year 323 Licinius was only sixty years of +age, he could scarcely be the same person as the patron of +Tiridates; but we know from much better authority, (Euseb. Hist. +Ecclesiast. l. x. c. 8,) that Licinius was at that time in the +last period of old age: sixteen years before, he is represented +with gray hairs, and as the contemporary of Galerius. See +Lactant. c. 32. Licinius was probably born about the year 250.] + +[Footnote 54: See the sixty-second and sixty-third books of Dion +Cassius.] + When Tiridates appeared on the frontiers of Armenia, he was +received with an unfeigned transport of joy and loyalty. During +twenty-six years, the country had experienced the real and +imaginary hardships of a foreign yoke. The Persian monarchs +adorned their new conquest with magnificent buildings; but those +monuments had been erected at the expense of the people, and were +abhorred as badges of slavery. The apprehension of a revolt had +inspired the most rigorous precautions: oppression had been +aggravated by insult, and the consciousness of the public hatred +had been productive of every measure that could render it still +more implacable. We have already remarked the intolerant spirit +of the Magian religion. The statues of the deified kings of +Armenia, and the sacred images of the sun and moon, were broke in +pieces by the zeal of the conqueror; and the perpetual fire of +Ormuzd was kindled and preserved upon an altar erected on the +summit of Mount Bagavan. ^55 It was natural, that a people +exasperated by so many injuries, should arm with zeal in the +cause of their independence, their religion, and their hereditary +sovereign. The torrent bore down every obstacle, and the Persian +garrisons retreated before its fury. The nobles of Armenia flew +to the standard of Tiridates, all alleging their past merit, +offering their future service, and soliciting from the new king +those honors and rewards from which they had been excluded with +disdain under the foreign government. ^56 The command of the army +was bestowed on Artavasdes, whose father had saved the infancy of +Tiridates, and whose family had been massacred for that generous +action. The brother of Artavasdes obtained the government of a +province. One of the first military dignities was conferred on +the satrap Otas, a man of singular temperance and fortitude, who +presented to the king his sister ^57 and a considerable treasure, +both of which, in a sequestered fortress, Otas had preserved from +violation. Among the Armenian nobles appeared an ally, whose +fortunes are too remarkable to pass unnoticed. His name was +Mamgo, ^! his origin was Scythian, and the horde which +acknowledge his authority had encamped a very few years before on +the skirts of the Chinese empire, ^58 which at that time extended +as far as the neighborhood of Sogdiana. ^59 Having incurred the +displeasure of his master, Mamgo, with his followers, retired to +the banks of the Oxus, and implored the protection of Sapor. The +emperor of China claimed the fugitive, and alleged the rights of +sovereignty. The Persian monarch pleaded the laws of hospitality, +and with some difficulty avoided a war, by the promise that he +would banish Mamgo to the uttermost parts of the West, a +punishment, as he described it, not less dreadful than death +itself. Armenia was chosen for the place of exile, and a large +district was assigned to the Scythian horde, on which they might +feed their flocks and herds, and remove their encampment from one +place to another, according to the different seasons of the year. + +They were employed to repel the invasion of Tiridates; but their +leader, after weighing the obligations and injuries which he had +received from the Persian monarch, resolved to abandon his party. + +The Armenian prince, who was well acquainted with this merit as +well as power of Mamgo, treated him with distinguished respect; +and, by admitting him into his confidence, acquired a brave and +faithful servant, who contributed very effectually to his +restoration. ^60 + +[Footnote 55: Moses of Chorene. Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 74. The +statues had been erected by Valarsaces, who reigned in Armenia +about 130 years before Christ, and was the first king of the +family of Arsaces, (see Moses, Hist. Armen. l. ii. 2, 3.) The +deification of the Arsacides is mentioned by Justin, (xli. 5,) +and by Ammianus Marcellinus, (xxiii. 6.)] + +[Footnote 56: The Armenian nobility was numerous and powerful. +Moses mentions many families which were distinguished under the +reign of Valarsaces, (l. ii. 7,) and which still subsisted in his +own time, about the middle of the fifth century. See the preface +of his Editors.] +[Footnote 57: She was named Chosroiduchta, and had not the os +patulum like other women. (Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 79.) I do not +understand the expression. + + Note: Os patulum signifies merely a large and widely opening +mouth. Ovid (Metam. xv. 513) says, speaking of the monster who +attacked Hippolytus, patulo partem maris evomit ore. Probably a +wide mouth was a common defect among the Armenian women. - G.] + +[Footnote !: Mamgo (according to M. St. Martin, note to Le Beau. +ii. 213) belonged to the imperial race of Hon, who had filled the +throne of China for four hundred years. Dethroned by the +usurping race of Wei, Mamgo found a hospitable reception in +Persia in the reign of Ardeschir. The emperor of china having +demanded the surrender of the fugitive and his partisans, Sapor, +then king, threatened with war both by Rome and China, counselled +Mamgo to retire into Armenia. "I have expelled him from my +dominions, (he answered the Chinese ambassador;) I have banished +him to the extremity of the earth, where the sun sets; I have +dismissed him to certain death." Compare Mem. sur l'Armenie, ii. +25. - M.] + +[Footnote 58: In the Armenian history, (l. ii. 78,) as well as in +the Geography, (p. 367,) China is called Zenia, or Zenastan. It +is characterized by the production of silk, by the opulence of +the natives, and by their love of peace, above all the other +nations of the earth. + + Note: See St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie, i. 304.] + +[Footnote 59: Vou-ti, the first emperor of the seventh dynasty, +who then reigned in China, had political transactions with +Fergana, a province of Sogdiana, and is said to have received a +Roman embassy, (Histoire des Huns, tom. i. p. 38.) In those ages +the Chinese kept a garrison at Kashgar, and one of their +generals, about the time of Trajan, marched as far as the Caspian +Sea. With regard to the intercourse between China and the +Western countries, a curious memoir of M. de Guignes may be +consulted, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxii. p. 355. + + Note: The Chinese Annals mention, under the ninth year of +Yan-hi, which corresponds with the year 166 J. C., an embassy +which arrived from Tathsin, and was sent by a prince called +An-thun, who can be no other than Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who +then ruled over the Romans. St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armaenic. ii. +30. See also Klaproth, Tableaux Historiques de l'Asie, p. 69. +The embassy came by Jy-nan, Tonquin. - M.] + +[Footnote 60: See Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 81.] + + For a while, fortune appeared to favor the enterprising +valor of Tiridates. He not only expelled the enemies of his +family and country from the whole extent of Armenia, but in the +prosecution of his revenge he carried his arms, or at least his +incursions, into the heart of Assyria. The historian, who has +preserved the name of Tiridates from oblivion, celebrates, with a +degree of national enthusiasm, his personal prowess: and, in the +true spirit of eastern romance, describes the giants and the +elephants that fell beneath his invincible arm. It is from other +information that we discover the distracted state of the Persian +monarchy, to which the king of Armenia was indebted for some part +of his advantages. The throne was disputed by the ambition of +contending brothers; and Hormuz, after exerting without success +the strength of his own party, had recourse to the dangerous +assistance of the barbarians who inhabited the banks of the +Caspian Sea. ^61 The civil war was, however, soon terminated, +either by a victor or by a reconciliation; and Narses, who was +universally acknowledged as king of Persia, directed his whole +force against the foreign enemy. The contest then became too +unequal; nor was the valor of the hero able to withstand the +power of the monarch, Tiridates, a second time expelled from the +throne of Armenia, once more took refuge in the court of the +emperors. ^* Narses soon reestablished his authority over the +revolted province; and loudly complaining of the protection +afforded by the Romans to rebels and fugitives, aspired to the +conquest of the East. ^62 + +[Footnote 61: Ipsos Persas ipsumque Regem ascitis Saccis, et +Russis, et Gellis, petit frater Ormies. Panegyric. Vet. iii. 1. +The Saccae were a nation of wandering Scythians, who encamped +towards the sources of the Oxus and the Jaxartes. The Gelli +where the inhabitants of Ghilan, along the Caspian Sea, and who +so long, under the name of Dilemines, infested the Persian +monarchy. See d'Herbelot, Bibliotheque] + +[Footnote *: M St. Martin represents this differently. Le roi de +Perse * * * profits d'un voyage que Tiridate avoit fait a Rome +pour attaquer ce royaume. This reads like the evasion of the +national historians to disguise the fact discreditable to their +hero. See Mem. sur l'Armenie, i. 304. - M.] +[Footnote 62: Moses of Chorene takes no notice of this second +revolution, which I have been obliged to collect from a passage +of Ammianus Marcellinus, (l. xxiii. c. 5.) Lactantius speaks of +the ambition of Narses: "Concitatus domesticis exemplis avi sui +Saporis ad occupandum orientem magnis copiis inhiabat." De Mort. +Persecut. c. 9.] + + Neither prudence nor honor could permit the emperors to +forsake the cause of the Armenian king, and it was resolved to +exert the force of the empire in the Persian war. Diocletian, +with the calm dignity which he constantly assumed, fixed his own +station in the city of Antioch, from whence he prepared and +directed the military operations. ^63 The conduct of the legions +was intrusted to the intrepid valor of Galerius, who, for that +important purpose, was removed from the banks of the Danube to +those of the Euphrates. The armies soon encountered each other +in the plains of Mesopotamia, and two battles were fought with +various and doubtful success; but the third engagement was of a +more decisive nature; and the Roman army received a total +overthrow, which is attributed to the rashness of Galerius, who, +with an inconsiderable body of troops, attacked the innumerable +host of the Persians. ^64 But the consideration of the country +that was the scene of action, may suggest another reason for his +defeat. The same ground on which Galerius was vanquished, had +been rendered memorable by the death of Crassus, and the +slaughter of ten legions. It was a plain of more than sixty +miles, which extended from the hills of Carrhae to the Euphrates; +a smooth and barren surface of sandy desert, without a hillock, +without a tree, and without a spring of fresh water. ^65 The +steady infantry of the Romans, fainting with heat and thirst, +could neither hope for victory if they preserved their ranks, nor +break their ranks without exposing themselves to the most +imminent danger. In this situation they were gradually +encompassed by the superior numbers, harassed by the rapid +evolutions, and destroyed by the arrows of the barbarian cavalry. + +The king of Armenia had signalized his valor in the battle, and +acquired personal glory by the public misfortune. He was pursued +as far as the Euphrates; his horse was wounded, and it appeared +impossible for him to escape the victorious enemy. In this +extremity Tiridates embraced the only refuge which appeared +before him: he dismounted and plunged into the stream. His armor +was heavy, the river very deep, and at those parts at least half +a mile in breadth; ^66 yet such was his strength and dexterity, +that he reached in safety the opposite bank. ^67 With regard to +the Roman general, we are ignorant of the circumstances of his +escape; but when he returned to Antioch, Diocletian received him, +not with the tenderness of a friend and colleague, but with the +indignation of an offended sovereign. The haughtiest of men, +clothed in his purple, but humbled by the sense of his fault and +misfortune, was obliged to follow the emperor's chariot above a +mile on foot, and to exhibit, before the whole court, the +spectacle of his disgrace. ^68 + +[Footnote 63: We may readily believe, that Lactantius ascribes to +cowardice the conduct of Diocletian. Julian, in his oration, +says, that he remained with all the forces of the empire; a very +hyperbolical expression.] +[Footnote 64: Our five abbreviators, Eutropius, Festus, the two +Victors, and Orosius, all relate the last and great battle; but +Orosius is the only one who speaks of the two former.] + +[Footnote 65: The nature of the country is finely described by +Plutarch, in the life of Crassus; and by Xenophon, in the first +book of the Anabasis] +[Footnote 66: See Foster's Dissertation in the second volume of +the translation of the Anabasis by Spelman; which I will venture +to recommend as one of the best versions extant.] + +[Footnote 67: Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 76. I have transferred this +exploit of Tiridates from an imaginary defeat to the real one of +Galerius.] +[Footnote 68: Ammian. Marcellin. l. xiv. The mile, in the hands +of Eutropoius, (ix. 24,) of Festus (c. 25,) and of Orosius, (vii +25), easily increased to several miles] + + As soon as Diocletian had indulged his private resentment, +and asserted the majesty of supreme power, he yielded to the +submissive entreaties of the Caesar, and permitted him to +retrieve his own honor, as well as that of the Roman arms. In +the room of the unwarlike troops of Asia, which had most probably +served in the first expedition, a second army was drawn from the +veterans and new levies of the Illyrian frontier, and a +considerable body of Gothic auxiliaries were taken into the +Imperial pay. ^69 At the head of a chosen army of twenty-five +thousand men, Galerius again passed the Euphrates; but, instead +of exposing his legions in the open plains of Mesopotamia he +advanced through the mountains of Armenia, where he found the +inhabitants devoted to his cause, and the country as favorable to +the operations of infantry as it was inconvenient for the motions +of cavalry. ^70 Adversity had confirmed the Roman discipline, +while the barbarians, elated by success, were become so negligent +and remiss, that in the moment when they least expected it, they +were surprised by the active conduct of Galerius, who, attended +only by two horsemen, had with his own eyes secretly examined the +state and position of their camp. A surprise, especially in the +night time, was for the most part fatal to a Persian army. +"Their horses were tied, and generally shackled, to prevent their +running away; and if an alarm happened, a Persian had his housing +to fix, his horse to bridle, and his corselet to put on, before +he could mount." ^71 On this occasion, the impetuous attack of +Galerius spread disorder and dismay over the camp of the +barbarians. A slight resistance was followed by a dreadful +carnage, and, in the general confusion, the wounded monarch (for +Narses commanded his armies in person) fled towards the deserts +of Media. His sumptuous tents, and those of his satraps, +afforded an immense booty to the conqueror; and an incident is +mentioned, which proves the rustic but martial ignorance of the +legions in the elegant superfluities of life. A bag of shining +leather, filled with pearls, fell into the hands of a private +soldier; he carefully preserved the bag, but he threw away its +contents, judging that whatever was of no use could not possibly +be of any value. ^72 The principal loss of Narses was of a much +more affecting nature. Several of his wives, his sisters, and +children, who had attended the army, were made captives in the +defeat. But though the character of Galerius had in general very +little affinity with that of Alexander, he imitated, after his +victory, the amiable behavior of the Macedonian towards the +family of Darius. The wives and children of Narses were +protected from violence and rapine, conveyed to a place of +safety, and treated with every mark of respect and tenderness, +that was due from a generous enemy to their age, their sex, and +their royal dignity. ^73 +[Footnote 69: Aurelius Victor. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. +21.] +[Footnote 70: Aurelius Victor says, "Per Armeniam in hostes +contendit, quae fermo sola, seu facilior vincendi via est." He +followed the conduct of Trajan, and the idea of Julius Caesar.] + +[Footnote 71: Xenophon's Anabasis, l. iii. For that reason the +Persian cavalry encamped sixty stadia from the enemy.] + +[Footnote 72: The story is told by Ammianus, l. xxii. Instead of +saccum, some read scutum.] + +[Footnote 73: The Persians confessed the Roman superiority in +morals as well as in arms. Eutrop. ix. 24. But this respect and +gratitude of enemies is very seldom to be found in their own +accounts.] + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. + +Part III. + + While the East anxiously expected the decision of this great +contest, the emperor Diocletian, having assembled in Syria a +strong army of observation, displayed from a distance the +resources of the Roman power, and reserved himself for any future +emergency of the war. On the intelligence of the victory he +condescended to advance towards the frontier, with a view of +moderating, by his presence and counsels, the pride of Galerius. +The interview of the Roman princes at Nisibis was accompanied +with every expression of respect on one side, and of esteem on +the other. It was in that city that they soon afterwards gave +audience to the ambassador of the Great King. ^74 The power, or +at least the spirit, of Narses, had been broken by his last +defeat; and he considered an immediate peace as the only means +that could stop the progress of the Roman arms. He despatched +Apharban, a servant who possessed his favor and confidence, with +a commission to negotiate a treaty, or rather to receive whatever +conditions the conqueror should impose. Apharban opened the +conference by expressing his master's gratitude for the generous +treatment of his family, and by soliciting the liberty of those +illustrious captives. He celebrated the valor of Galerius, +without degrading the reputation of Narses, and thought it no +dishonor to confess the superiority of the victorious Caesar, +over a monarch who had surpassed in glory all the princes of his +race. Notwithstanding the justice of the Persian cause, he was +empowered to submit the present differences to the decision of +the emperors themselves; convinced as he was, that, in the midst +of prosperity, they would not be unmindful of the vicissitudes of +fortune. Apharban concluded his discourse in the style of +eastern allegory, by observing that the Roman and Persian +monarchies were the two eyes of the world, which would remain +imperfect and mutilated if either of them should be put out. + +[Footnote 74: The account of the negotiation is taken from the +fragments of Peter the Patrician, in the Excerpta Legationum, +published in the Byzantine Collection. Peter lived under +Justinian; but it is very evident, by the nature of his +materials, that they are drawn from the most authentic and +respectable writers.] + + "It well becomes the Persians," replied Galerius, with a +transport of fury, which seemed to convulse his whole frame, "it +well becomes the Persians to expatiate on the vicissitudes of +fortune, and calmly to read us lectures on the virtues of +moderation. Let them remember their own moderation, towards the +unhappy Valerian. They vanquished him by fraud, they treated him +with indignity. They detained him till the last moment of his +life in shameful captivity, and after his death they exposed his +body to perpetual ignominy." Softening, however, his tone, +Galerius insinuated to the ambassador, that it had never been the +practice of the Romans to trample on a prostrate enemy; and that, +on this occasion, they should consult their own dignity rather +than the Persian merit. He dismissed Apharban with a hope that +Narses would soon be informed on what conditions he might obtain, +from the clemency of the emperors, a lasting peace, and the +restoration of his wives and children. In this conference we may +discover the fierce passions of Galerius, as well as his +deference to the superior wisdom and authority of Diocletian. +The ambition of the former grasped at the conquest of the East, +and had proposed to reduce Persia into the state of a province. +The prudence of the latter, who adhered to the moderate policy of +Augustus and the Antonines, embraced the favorable opportunity of +terminating a successful war by an honorable and advantageous +peace. ^75 + +[Footnote 75: Adeo victor (says Aurelius) ut ni Valerius, cujus +nutu omnis gerebantur, abnuisset, Romani fasces in provinciam +novam ferrentur Verum pars terrarum tamen nobis utilior +quaesita.] + + In pursuance of their promise, the emperors soon afterwards +appointed Sicorius Probus, one of their secretaries, to acquaint +the Persian court with their final resolution. As the minister +of peace, he was received with every mark of politeness and +friendship; but, under the pretence of allowing him the necessary +repose after so long a journey, the audience of Probus was +deferred from day to day; and he attended the slow motions of the +king, till at length he was admitted to his presence, near the +River Asprudus in Media. The secret motive of Narses, in this +delay, had been to collect such a military force as might enable +him, though sincerely desirous of peace, to negotiate with the +greater weight and dignity. Three persons only assisted at this +important conference, the minister Apharban, the praefect of the +guards, and an officer who had commanded on the Armenian +frontier. ^76 The first condition proposed by the ambassador is +not at present of a very intelligible nature; that the city of +Nisibis might be established for the place of mutual exchange, +or, as we should formerly have termed it, for the staple of +trade, between the two empires. There is no difficulty in +conceiving the intention of the Roman princes to improve their +revenue by some restraints upon commerce; but as Nisibis was +situated within their own dominions, and as they were masters +both of the imports and exports, it should seem that such +restraints were the objects of an internal law, rather than of a +foreign treaty. To render them more effectual, some stipulations +were probably required on the side of the king of Persia, which +appeared so very repugnant either to his interest or to his +dignity, that Narses could not be persuaded to subscribe them. +As this was the only article to which he refused his consent, it +was no longer insisted on; and the emperors either suffered the +trade to flow in its natural channels, or contented themselves +with such restrictions, as it depended on their own authority to +establish. +[Footnote 76: He had been governor of Sumium, (Pot. Patricius in +Excerpt. Legat. p. 30.) This province seems to be mentioned by +Moses of Chorene, (Geograph. p. 360,) and lay to the east of +Mount Ararat. + + Note: The Siounikh of the Armenian writers St. Martin i. +142. - M.] + As soon as this difficulty was removed, a solemn peace was +concluded and ratified between the two nations. The conditions +of a treaty so glorious to the empire, and so necessary to Persia +Persian, may deserve a more peculiar attention, as the history of +Rome presents very few transactions of a similar nature; most of +her wars having either been terminated by absolute conquest, or +waged against barbarians ignorant of the use of letters. I. The +Aboras, or, as it is called by Xenophon, the Araxes, was fixed as +the boundary between the two monarchies. ^77 That river, which +rose near the Tigris, was increased, a few miles below Nisibis, +by the little stream of the Mygdonius, passed under the walls of +Singara, and fell into the Euphrates at Circesium, a frontier +town, which, by the care of Diocletian, was very strongly +fortified. ^78 Mesopotomia, the object of so many wars, was ceded +to the empire; and the Persians, by this treaty, renounced all +pretensions to that great province. II. They relinquished to the +Romans five provinces beyond the Tigris. ^79 Their situation +formed a very useful barrier, and their natural strength was soon +improved by art and military skill. Four of these, to the north +of the river, were districts of obscure fame and inconsiderable +extent; Intiline, Zabdicene, Arzanene, and Moxoene; ^! but on the +east of the Tigris, the empire acquired the large and mountainous +territory of Carduene, the ancient seat of the Carduchians, who +preserved for many ages their manly freedom in the heart of the +despotic monarchies of Asia. The ten thousand Greeks traversed +their country, after a painful march, or rather engagement, of +seven days; and it is confessed by their leader, in his +incomparable relation of the retreat, that they suffered more +from the arrows of the Carduchians, than from the power of the +Great King. ^80 Their posterity, the Curds, with very little +alteration either of name or manners, ^* acknowledged the nominal +sovereignty of the Turkish sultan. III. It is almost needless +to observe, that Tiridates, the faithful ally of Rome, was +restored to the throne of his fathers, and that the rights of the +Imperial supremacy were fully asserted and secured. The limits +of Armenia were extended as far as the fortress of Sintha in +Media, and this increase of dominion was not so much an act of +liberality as of justice. Of the provinces already mentioned +beyond the Tigris, the four first had been dismembered by the +Parthians from the crown of Armenia; ^81 and when the Romans +acquired the possession of them, they stipulated, at the expense +of the usurpers, an ample compensation, which invested their ally +with the extensive and fertile country of Atropatene. Its +principal city, in the same situation perhaps as the modern +Tauris, was frequently honored by the residence of Tiridates; and +as it sometimes bore the name of Ecbatana, he imitated, in the +buildings and fortifications, the splendid capital of the Medes. +^82 IV. The country of Iberia was barren, its inhabitants rude +and savage. But they were accustomed to the use of arms, and +they separated from the empire barbarians much fiercer and more +formidable than themselves. The narrow defiles of Mount Caucasus +were in their hands, and it was in their choice, either to admit +or to exclude the wandering tribes of Sarmatia, whenever a +rapacious spirit urged them to penetrate into the richer climes +of the South. ^83 The nomination of the kings of Iberia, which +was resigned by the Persian monarch to the emperors, contributed +to the strength and security of the Roman power in Asia. ^84 The +East enjoyed a profound tranquillity during forty years; and the +treaty between the rival monarchies was strictly observed till +the death of Tiridates; when a new generation, animated with +different views and different passions, succeeded to the +government of the world; and the grandson of Narses undertook a +long and memorable war against the princes of the house of +Constantine. + +[Footnote 77: By an error of the geographer Ptolemy, the position +of Singara is removed from the Aboras to the Tigris, which may +have produced the mistake of Peter, in assigning the latter river +for the boundary, instead of the former. The line of the Roman +frontier traversed, but never followed, the course of the Tigris. + + Note: There are here several errors. Gibbon has confounded +the streams, and the towns which they pass. The Aboras, or +rather the Chaboras, the Araxes of Xenophon, has its source above +Ras-Ain or Re-Saina, (Theodosiopolis,) about twenty-seven leagues +from the Tigris; it receives the waters of the Mygdonius, or +Saocoras, about thirty-three leagues below Nisibis. at a town now +called Al Nahraim; it does not pass under the walls of Singara; +it is the Saocoras that washes the walls of that town: the latter +river has its source near Nisibis. at five leagues from the +Tigris. See D'Anv. l'Euphrate et le Tigre, 46, 49, 50, and the +map. + + To the east of the Tigris is another less considerable +river, named also the Chaboras, which D'Anville calls the +Centrites, Khabour, Nicephorius, without quoting the authorities +on which he gives those names. Gibbon did not mean to speak of +this river, which does not pass by Singara, and does not fall +into the Euphrates. See Michaelis, Supp. ad Lex. Hebraica. 3d +part, p. 664, 665. - G.] + +[Footnote 78: Procopius de Edificiis, l. ii. c. 6.] + +[Footnote 79: Three of the provinces, Zabdicene, Arzanene, and +Carduene, are allowed on all sides. But instead of the other +two, Peter (in Excerpt. Leg. p. 30) inserts Rehimene and Sophene. + +I have preferred Ammianus, (l. xxv. 7,) because it might be +proved that Sophene was never in the hands of the Persians, +either before the reign of Diocletian, or after that of Jovian. +For want of correct maps, like those of M. d'Anville, almost all +the moderns, with Tillemont and Valesius at their head, have +imagined, that it was in respect to Persia, and not to Rome, that +the five provinces were situate beyond the Tigris.] + +[Footnote !: See St. Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 380. He would +read, for Intiline, Ingeleme, the name of a small province of +Armenia, near the sources of the Tigris, mentioned by St. +Epiphanius, (Haeres, 60;) for the unknown name Arzacene, with +Gibbon, Arzanene. These provinces do not appear to have made an +integral part of the Roman empire; Roman garrisons replaced those +of Persia, but the sovereignty remained in the hands of the +feudatory princes of Armenia. A prince of Carduene, ally or +dependent on the empire, with the Roman name of Jovianus, occurs +in the reign of Julian. - M.] +[Footnote 80: Xenophon's Anabasis, l. iv. Their bows were three +cubits in length, their arrows two; they rolled down stones that +were each a wagon load. The Greeks found a great many villages +in that rude country.] [Footnote *: I travelled through this +country in 1810, and should judge, from what I have read and seen +of its inhabitants, that they have remained unchanged in their +appearance and character for more than twenty centuries Malcolm, +note to Hist. of Persia, vol. i. p. 82. - M.] + +[Footnote 81: According to Eutropius, (vi. 9, as the text is +represented by the best Mss.,) the city of Tigranocerta was in +Arzanene. The names and situation of the other three may be +faintly traced.] + +[Footnote 82: Compare Herodotus, l. i. c. 97, with Moses +Choronens. Hist Armen. l. ii. c. 84, and the map of Armenia +given by his editors.] +[Footnote 83: Hiberi, locorum potentes, Caspia via Sarmatam in +Armenios raptim effundunt. Tacit. Annal. vi. 34. See Strabon. +Geograph. l. xi. p. 764, [edit. Casaub.] + +[Footnote 84: Peter Patricius (in Excerpt. Leg. p. 30) is the +only writer who mentions the Iberian article of the treaty.] + + The arduous work of rescuing the distressed empire from +tyrants and barbarians had now been completely achieved by a +succession of Illyrian peasants. As soon as Diocletian entered +into the twentieth year of his reign, he celebrated that +memorable aera, as well as the success of his arms, by the pomp +of a Roman triumph. ^85 Maximian, the equal partner of his power, +was his only companion in the glory of that day. The two Caesars +had fought and conquered, but the merit of their exploits was +ascribed, according to the rigor of ancient maxims, to the +auspicious influence of their fathers and emperors. ^86 The +triumph of Diocletian and Maximian was less magnificent, perhaps, +than those of Aurelian and Probus, but it was dignified by +several circumstances of superior fame and good fortune. Africa +and Britain, the Rhine, the Danube, and the Nile, furnished their +respective trophies; but the most distinguished ornament was of a +more singular nature, a Persian victory followed by an important +conquest. The representations of rivers, mountains, and +provinces, were carried before the Imperial car. The images of +the captive wives, the sisters, and the children of the Great +King, afforded a new and grateful spectacle to the vanity of the +people. ^87 In the eyes of posterity, this triumph is remarkable, +by a distinction of a less honorable kind. It was the last that +Rome ever beheld. Soon after this period, the emperors ceased to +vanquish, and Rome ceased to be the capital of the empire. +[Footnote 85: Euseb. in Chron. Pagi ad annum. Till the discovery +of the treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum, it was not certain that +the triumph and the Vicennalia was celebrated at the same time.] + +[Footnote 86: At the time of the Vicennalia, Galerius seems to +have kept station on the Danube. See Lactant. de M. P. c. 38.] + +[Footnote 87: Eutropius (ix. 27) mentions them as a part of the +triumph. As the persons had been restored to Narses, nothing +more than their images could be exhibited.] + + The spot on which Rome was founded had been consecrated by +ancient ceremonies and imaginary miracles. The presence of some +god, or the memory of some hero, seemed to animate every part of +the city, and the empire of the world had been promised to the +Capitol. ^88 The native Romans felt and confessed the power of +this agreeable illusion. It was derived from their ancestors, +had grown up with their earliest habits of life, and was +protected, in some measure, by the opinion of political utility. +The form and the seat of government were intimately blended +together, nor was it esteemed possible to transport the one +without destroying the other. ^89 But the sovereignty of the +capital was gradually annihilated in the extent of conquest; the +provinces rose to the same level, and the vanquished nations +acquired the name and privileges, without imbibing the partial +affections, of Romans. During a long period, however, the +remains of the ancient constitution, and the influence of custom, +preserved the dignity of Rome. The emperors, though perhaps of +African or Illyrian extraction, respected their adopted country, +as the seat of their power, and the centre of their extensive +dominions. The emergencies of war very frequently required their +presence on the frontiers; but Diocletian and Maximian were the +first Roman princes who fixed, in time of peace, their ordinary +residence in the provinces; and their conduct, however it might +be suggested by private motives, was justified by very specious +considerations of policy. The court of the emperor of the West +was, for the most part, established at Milan, whose situation, at +the foot of the Alps, appeared far more convenient than that of +Rome, for the important purpose of watching the motions of the +barbarians of Germany. Milan soon assumed the splendor of an +Imperial city. The houses are described as numerous and well +built; the manners of the people as polished and liberal. A +circus, a theatre, a mint, a palace, baths, which bore the name +of their founder Maximian; porticos adorned with statues, and a +double circumference of walls, contributed to the beauty of the +new capital; nor did it seem oppressed even by the proximity of +Rome. ^90 To rival the majesty of Rome was the ambition likewise +of Diocletian, who employed his leisure, and the wealth of the +East, in the embellishment of Nicomedia, a city placed on the +verge of Europe and Asia, almost at an equal distance between the +Danube and the Euphrates. By the taste of the monarch, and at +the expense of the people, Nicomedia acquired, in the space of a +few years, a degree of magnificence which might appear to have +required the labor of ages, and became inferior only to Rome, +Alexandria, and Antioch, in extent of populousness. ^91 The life +of Diocletian and Maximian was a life of action, and a +considerable portion of it was spent in camps, or in the long and +frequent marches; but whenever the public business allowed them +any relaxation, they seemed to have retired with pleasure to +their favorite residences of Nicomedia and Milan. Till +Diocletian, in the twentieth year of his reign, celebrated his +Roman triumph, it is extremely doubtful whether he ever visited +the ancient capital of the empire. Even on that memorable +occasion his stay did not exceed two months. Disgusted with the +licentious familiarity of the people, he quitted Rome with +precipitation thirteen days before it was expected that he should +have appeared in the senate, invested with the ensigns of the +consular dignity. ^92 + +[Footnote 88: Livy gives us a speech of Camillus on that subject, +(v. 51 - 55,) full of eloquence and sensibility, in opposition to +a design of removing the seat of government from Rome to the +neighboring city of Veii.] +[Footnote 89: Julius Caesar was reproached with the intention of +removing the empire to Ilium or Alexandria. See Sueton. in +Caesar. c. 79. According to the ingenious conjecture of Le Fevre +and Dacier, the ode of the third book of Horace was intended to +divert from the execution of a similar design.] +[Footnote 90: See Aurelius Victor, who likewise mentions the +buildings erected by Maximian at Carthage, probably during the +Moorish war. We shall insert some verses of Ausonius de Clar. +Urb. v. + + Et Mediolani miraeomnia: copia rerum; + Innumerae cultaeque domus; facunda virorum + Ingenia, et mores laeti: tum duplice muro + Amplificata loci species; populique voluptas + Circus; et inclusi moles cuneata Theatri; + Templa, Palatinaeque arces, opulensque Moneta, + Et regio Herculei celebris sub honore lavacri. + Cunctaque marmoreis ornata Peristyla signis; + Moeniaque in valli formam circumdata labro, + Omnia quae magnis operum velut aemula formis + Excellunt: nec juncta premit vicinia Romae.] + +[Footnote 91: Lactant. de M. P. c. 17. Libanius, Orat. viii. p. +203.] +[Footnote 92: Lactant. de M. P. c. 17. On a similar occasion, +Ammianus mentions the dicacitas plebis, as not very agreeable to +an Imperial ear. (See l. xvi. c. 10.)] + + The dislike expressed by Diocletian towards Rome and Roman +freedom, was not the effect of momentary caprice, but the result +of the most artful policy. That crafty prince had framed a new +system of Imperial government, which was afterwards completed by +the family of Constantine; and as the image of the old +constitution was religiously preserved in the senate, he resolved +to deprive that order of its small remains of power and +consideration. We may recollect, about eight years before the +elevation, of Diocletian the transient greatness, and the +ambitious hopes, of the Roman senate. As long as that enthusiasm +prevailed, many of the nobles imprudently displayed their zeal in +the cause of freedom; and after the successes of Probus had +withdrawn their countenance from the republican party, the +senators were unable to disguise their impotent resentment. As +the sovereign of Italy, Maximian was intrusted with the care of +extinguishing this troublesome, rather than dangerous spirit, and +the task was perfectly suited to his cruel temper. The most +illustrious members of the senate, whom Diocletian always +affected to esteem, were involved, by his colleague, in the +accusation of imaginary plots; and the possession of an elegant +villa, or a well-cultivated estate, was interpreted as a +convincing evidence of guilt. ^93 The camp of the Praetorians, +which had so long oppressed, began to protect, the majesty of +Rome; and as those haughty troops were conscious of the decline +of their power, they were naturally disposed to unite their +strength with the authority of the senate. By the prudent +measures of Diocletian, the numbers of the Praetorians were +insensibly reduced, their privileges abolished, ^94 and their +place supplied by two faithful legions of Illyricum, who, under +the new titles of Jovians and Herculians, were appointed to +perform the service of the Imperial guards. ^95 But the most +fatal though secret wound, which the senate received from the +hands of Diocletian and Maximian, was inflicted by the inevitable +operation of their absence. As long as the emperors resided at +Rome, that assembly might be oppressed, but it could scarcely be +neglected. The successors of Augustus exercised the power of +dictating whatever laws their wisdom or caprice might suggest; +but those laws were ratified by the sanction of the senate. The +model of ancient freedom was preserved in its deliberations and +decrees; and wise princes, who respected the prejudices of the +Roman people, were in some measure obliged to assume the language +and behavior suitable to the general and first magistrate of the +republic. In the armies and in the provinces, they displayed the +dignity of monarchs; and when they fixed their residence at a +distance from the capital, they forever laid aside the +dissimulation which Augustus had recommended to his successors. +In the exercise of the legislative as well as the executive +power, the sovereign advised with his ministers, instead of +consulting the great council of the nation. The name of the +senate was mentioned with honor till the last period of the +empire; the vanity of its members was still flattered with +honorary distinctions; ^96 but the assembly which had so long +been the source, and so long the instrument of power, was +respectfully suffered to sink into oblivion. The senate of Rome, +losing all connection with the Imperial court and the actual +constitution, was left a venerable but useless monument of +antiquity on the Capitoline hill. + +[Footnote 93: Lactantius accuses Maximian of destroying fictis +criminationibus lumina senatus, (De M. P. c. 8.) Aurelius Victor +speaks very doubtfully of the faith of Diocletian towards his +friends.] +[Footnote 94: Truncatae vires urbis, imminuto praetoriarum +cohortium atque in armis vulgi numero. Aurelius Victor. +Lactantius attributes to Galerius the prosecution of the same +plan, (c. 26.)] + +[Footnote 95: They were old corps stationed in Illyricum; and +according to the ancient establishment, they each consisted of +six thousand men. They had acquired much reputation by the use +of the plumbatoe, or darts loaded with lead. Each soldier +carried five of these, which he darted from a considerable +distance, with great strength and dexterity. See Vegetius, i. +17.] + +[Footnote 96: See the Theodosian Code, l. vi. tit. ii. with +Godefroy's commentary.] + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And This Three Associates. + +Part IV. + + When the Roman princes had lost sight of the senate and of +their ancient capital, they easily forgot the origin and nature +of their legal power. The civil offices of consul, of proconsul, +of censor, and of tribune, by the union of which it had been +formed, betrayed to the people its republican extraction. Those +modest titles were laid aside; ^97 and if they still +distinguished their high station by the appellation of Emperor, +or Imperator, that word was understood in a new and more +dignified sense, and no longer denoted the general of the Roman +armies, but the sovereign of the Roman world. The name of +Emperor, which was at first of a military nature, was associated +with another of a more servile kind. The epithet of Dominus, or +Lord, in its primitive signification, was expressive, not of the +authority of a prince over his subjects, or of a commander over +his soldiers, but of the despotic power of a master over his +domestic slaves. ^98 Viewing it in that odious light, it had been +rejected with abhorrence by the first Caesars. Their resistance +insensibly became more feeble, and the name less odious; till at +length the style of our Lord and Emperor was not only bestowed by +flattery, but was regularly admitted into the laws and public +monuments. Such lofty epithets were sufficient to elate and +satisfy the most excessive vanity; and if the successors of +Diocletian still declined the title of King, it seems to have +been the effect not so much of their moderation as of their +delicacy. Wherever the Latin tongue was in use, (and it was the +language of government throughout the empire,) the Imperial +title, as it was peculiar to themselves, conveyed a more +respectable idea than the name of king, which they must have +shared with a hundred barbarian chieftains; or which, at the +best, they could derive only from Romulus, or from Tarquin. But +the sentiments of the East were very different from those of the +West. From the earliest period of history, the sovereigns of +Asia had been celebrated in the Greek language by the title of +Basileus, or King; and since it was considered as the first +distinction among men, it was soon employed by the servile +provincials of the East, in their humble addresses to the Roman +throne. ^99 Even the attributes, or at least the titles, of the +Divinity, were usurped by Diocletian and Maximian, who +transmitted them to a succession of Christian emperors. ^100 Such +extravagant compliments, however, soon lose their impiety by +losing their meaning; and when the ear is once accustomed to the +sound, they are heard with indifference, as vague though +excessive professions of respect. + +[Footnote 97: See the 12th dissertation in Spanheim's excellent +work de Usu Numismatum. From medals, inscriptions, and +historians, he examines every title separately, and traces it +from Augustus to the moment of its disappearing.] + +[Footnote 98: Pliny (in Panegyr. c. 3, 55, &c.) speaks of Dominus +with execration, as synonymous to Tyrant, and opposite to Prince. + +And the same Pliny regularly gives that title (in the tenth book +of the epistles) to his friend rather than master, the virtuous +Trajan. This strange contradiction puzzles the commentators, who +think, and the translators, who can write.] +[Footnote 99: Synesius de Regno, edit. Petav. p. 15. I am +indebted for this quotation to the Abbe de la Bleterie.] + +[Footnote 100: Soe Vandale de Consecratione, p. 354, &c. It was +customary for the emperors to mention (in the preamble of laws) +their numen, sacreo majesty, divine oracles, &c. According to +Tillemont, Gregory Nazianzen complains most bitterly of the +profanation, especially when it was practised by an Arian +emperor. + + Note: In the time of the republic, says Hegewisch, when the +consuls, the praetors, and the other magistrates appeared in +public, to perform the functions of their office, their dignity +was announced both by the symbols which use had consecrated, and +the brilliant cortege by which they were accompanied. But this +dignity belonged to the office, not to the individual; this pomp +belonged to the magistrate, not to the man. * * The consul, +followed, in the comitia, by all the senate, the praetors, the +quaestors, the aediles, the lictors, the apparitors, and the +heralds, on reentering his house, was served only by freedmen and +by his slaves. The first emperors went no further. Tiberius +had, for his personal attendance, only a moderate number of +slaves, and a few freedmen. (Tacit. Ann. iv. 7.) But in +proportion as the republican forms disappeared, one after +another, the inclination of the emperors to environ themselves +with personal pomp, displayed itself more and more. * * The +magnificence and the ceremonial of the East were entirely +introduced by Diocletian, and were consecrated by Constantine to +the Imperial use. Thenceforth the palace, the court, the table, +all the personal attendance, distinguished the emperor from his +subjects, still more than his superior dignity. The organization +which Diocletian gave to his new court, attached less honor and +distinction to rank than to services performed towards the +members of the Imperial family. Hegewisch, Essai, Hist. sur les +Finances Romains. + + Few historians have characterized, in a more philosophic +manner, the influence of a new institution. - G. + + It is singular that the son of a slave reduced the haughty +aristocracy of Home to the offices of servitude. - M.] + + From the time of Augustus to that of Diocletian, the Roman +princes, conversing in a familiar manner among their +fellow-citizens, were saluted only with the same respect that was +usually paid to senators and magistrates. Their principal +distinction was the Imperial or military robe of purple; whilst +the senatorial garment was marked by a broad, and the equestrian +by a narrow, band or stripe of the same honorable color. The +pride, or rather the policy, of Diocletian, engaged that artful +prince to introduce the stately magnificence of the court of +Persia. ^101 He ventured to assume the diadem, an ornament +detested by the Romans as the odious ensign of royalty, and the +use of which had been considered as the most desperate act of the +madness of Caligula. It was no more than a broad white fillet +set with pearls, which encircled the emperor's head. The +sumptuous robes of Diocletian and his successors were of silk and +gold; and it is remarked with indignation, that even their shoes +were studded with the most precious gems. The access to their +sacred person was every day rendered more difficult by the +institution of new forms and ceremonies. The avenues of the +palace were strictly guarded by the various schools, as they +began to be called, of domestic officers. The interior apartments +were intrusted to the jealous vigilance of the eunuchs, the +increase of whose numbers and influence was the most infallible +symptom of the progress of despotism. When a subject was at +length admitted to the Imperial presence, he was obliged, +whatever might be his rank, to fall prostrate on the ground, and +to adore, according to the eastern fashion, the divinity of his +lord and master. ^102 Diocletian was a man of sense, who, in the +course of private as well as public life, had formed a just +estimate both of himself and of mankind: nor is it easy to +conceive, that in substituting the manners of Persia to those of +Rome, he was seriously actuated by so mean a principle as that of +vanity. He flattered himself, that an ostentation of splendor +and luxury would subdue the imagination of the multitude; that +the monarch would be less exposed to the rude license of the +people and the soldiers, as his person was secluded from the +public view; and that habits of submission would insensibly be +productive of sentiments of veneration. Like the modesty +affected by Augustus, the state maintained by Diocletian was a +theatrical representation; but it must be confessed, that of the +two comedies, the former was of a much more liberal and manly +character than the latter. It was the aim of the one to +disguise, and the object of the other to display, the unbounded +power which the emperors possessed over the Roman world. + +[Footnote 101: See Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissert. xii.] +[Footnote 102: Aurelius Victor. Eutropius, ix. 26. It appears +by the Panegyrists, that the Romans were soon reconciled to the +name and ceremony of adoration.] + + Ostentation was the first principle of the new system +instituted by Diocletian. The second was division. He divided +the empire, the provinces, and every branch of the civil as well +as military administration. He multiplied the wheels of the +machine of government, and rendered its operations less rapid, +but more secure. Whatever advantages and whatever defects might +attend these innovations, they must be ascribed in a very great +degree to the first inventor; but as the new frame of policy was +gradually improved and completed by succeeding princes, it will +be more satisfactory to delay the consideration of it till the +season of its full maturity and perfection. ^103 Reserving, +therefore, for the reign of Constantine a more exact picture of +the new empire, we shall content ourselves with describing the +principal and decisive outline, as it was traced by the hand of +Diocletian. He had associated three colleagues in the exercise +of the supreme power; and as he was convinced that the abilities +of a single man were inadequate to the public defence, he +considered the joint administration of four princes not as a +temporary expedient, but as a fundamental law of the +constitution. It was his intention, that the two elder princes +should be distinguished by the use of the diadem, and the title +of Augusti; that, as affection or esteem might direct their +choice, they should regularly call to their assistance two +subordinate colleagues; and that the Coesars, rising in their +turn to the first rank, should supply an uninterrupted succession +of emperors. The empire was divided into four parts. The East +and Italy were the most honorable, the Danube and the Rhine the +most laborious stations. The former claimed the presence of the +Augusti, the latter were intrusted to the administration of the +Coesars. The strength of the legions was in the hands of the +four partners of sovereignty, and the despair of successively +vanquishing four formidable rivals might intimidate the ambition +of an aspiring general. In their civil government, the emperors +were supposed to exercise the undivided power of the monarch, and +their edicts, inscribed with their joint names, were received in +all the provinces, as promulgated by their mutual councils and +authority. Notwithstanding these precautions, the political +union of the Roman world was gradually dissolved, and a principle +of division was introduced, which, in the course of a few years, +occasioned the perpetual separation of the Eastern and Western +Empires. +[Footnote 103: The innovations introduced by Diocletian are +chiefly deduced, 1st, from some very strong passages in +Lactantius; and, 2dly, from the new and various offices which, in +the Theodosian code, appear already established in the beginning +of the reign of Constantine.] + + The system of Diocletian was accompanied with another very +material disadvantage, which cannot even at present be totally +overlooked; a more expensive establishment, and consequently an +increase of taxes, and the oppression of the people. Instead of +a modest family of slaves and freedmen, such as had contented the +simple greatness of Augustus and Trajan, three or four +magnificent courts were established in the various parts of the +empire, and as many Roman kings contended with each other and +with the Persian monarch for the vain superiority of pomp and +luxury. The number of ministers, of magistrates, of officers, +and of servants, who filled the different departments of the +state, was multiplied beyond the example of former times; and (if +we may borrow the warm expression of a contemporary) "when the +proportion of those who received, exceeded the proportion of +those who contributed, the provinces were oppressed by the weight +of tributes." ^104 From this period to the extinction of the +empire, it would be easy to deduce an uninterrupted series of +clamors and complaints. According to his religion and situation, +each writer chooses either Diocletian, or Constantine, or Valens, +or Theodosius, for the object of his invectives; but they +unanimously agree in representing the burden of the public +impositions, and particularly the land tax and capitation, as the +intolerable and increasing grievance of their own times. From +such a concurrence, an impartial historian, who is obliged to +extract truth from satire, as well as from panegyric, will be +inclined to divide the blame among the princes whom they accuse, +and to ascribe their exactions much less to their personal vices, +than to the uniform system of their administration. ^* The +emperor Diocletian was indeed the author of that system; but +during his reign, the growing evil was confined within the bounds +of modesty and discretion, and he deserves the reproach of +establishing pernicious precedents, rather than of exercising +actual oppression. ^105 It may be added, that his revenues were +managed with prudent economy; and that after all the current +expenses were discharged, there still remained in the Imperial +treasury an ample provision either for judicious liberality or +for any emergency of the state. +[Footnote 104: Lactant. de M. P. c. 7.] + +[Footnote *: The most curious document which has come to light +since the publication of Gibbon's History, is the edict of +Diocletian, published from an inscription found at Eskihissar, +(Stratoniccia,) by Col. Leake. This inscription was first copied +by Sherard, afterwards much more completely by Mr. Bankes. It is +confirmed and illustrated by a more imperfect copy of the same +edict, found in the Levant by a gentleman of Aix, and brought to +this country by M. Vescovali. This edict was issued in the name +of the four Caesars, Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius, and +Galerius. It fixed a maximum of prices throughout the empire, +for all the necessaries and commodities of life. The preamble +insists, with great vehemence on the extortion and inhumanity of +the venders and merchants. Quis enim adeo obtunisi (obtusi) +pectores (is) et a sensu inhumanitatis extorris est qui ignorare +potest immo non senserit in venalibus rebus quaevel in +mercimoniis aguntur vel diurna urbium conversatione tractantur, +in tantum se licen liam defusisse, ut effraenata libido rapien - +rum copia nec annorum ubertatibus mitigaretur. The edict, as Col. +Leake clearly shows, was issued A. C. 303. Among the articles of +which the maximum value is assessed, are oil, salt, honey, +butchers' meat, poultry, game, fish, vegetables, fruit the wages +of laborers and artisans, schoolmasters and skins, boots and +shoes, harness, timber, corn, wine, and beer, (zythus.) The +depreciation in the value of money, or the rise in the price of +commodities, had been so great during the past century, that +butchers' meat, which, in the second century of the empire, was +in Rome about two denaril the pound, was now fixed at a maximum +of eight. Col. Leake supposes the average price could not be +less than four: at the same time the maximum of the wages of the +agricultural laborers was twenty-five. The whole edict is, +perhaps, the most gigantic effort of a blind though +well-intentioned despotism, to control that which is, and ought +to be, beyond the regulation of the government. See an Edict of +Diocletian, by Col. Leake, London, 1826. + Col. Leake has not observed that this Edict is expressly +named in the treatise de Mort. Persecut. ch. vii. Idem cum +variis iniquitatibus immensam faceret caritatem, legem pretiis +rerum venalium statuere conatus. - M] +[Footnote 105: Indicta lex nova quae sane illorum temporum +modestia tolerabilis, in perniciem processit. Aurel. Victor., +who has treated the character of Diocletian with good sense, +though in bad Latin.] + It was in the twenty first year of his reign that Diocletian +executed his memorable resolution of abdicating the empire; an +action more naturally to have been expected from the elder or the +younger Antoninus, than from a prince who had never practised the +lessons of philosophy either in the attainment or in the use of +supreme power. Diocletian acquired the glory of giving to the +world the first example of a resignation, ^106 which has not been +very frequently imitated by succeeding monarchs. The parallel of +Charles the Fifth, however, will naturally offer itself to our +mind, not only since the eloquence of a modern historian has +rendered that name so familiar to an English reader, but from the +very striking resemblance between the characters of the two +emperors, whose political abilities were superior to their +military genius, and whose specious virtues were much less the +effect of nature than of art. The abdication of Charles appears +to have been hastened by the vicissitude of fortune; and the +disappointment of his favorite schemes urged him to relinquish a +power which he found inadequate to his ambition. But the reign +of Diocletian had flowed with a tide of uninterrupted success; +nor was it till after he had vanquished all his enemies, and +accomplished all his designs, that he seems to have entertained +any serious thoughts of resigning the empire. Neither Charles +nor Diocletian were arrived at a very advanced period of life; +since the one was only fifty- five, and the other was no more +than fifty-nine years of age; but the active life of those +princes, their wars and journeys, the cares of royalty, and their +application to business, had already impaired their constitution, +and brought on the infirmities of a premature old age. ^107 + +[Footnote 106: Solus omnium post conditum Romanum Imperium, qui +extanto fastigio sponte ad privatae vitae statum civilitatemque +remearet, Eutrop. ix. 28.] + +[Footnote 107: The particulars of the journey and illness are +taken from Laclantius, c. 17,) who may sometimes be admitted as +an evidence of public facts, though very seldom of private +anecdotes.] + + Notwithstanding the severity of a very cold and rainy +winter, Diocletian left Italy soon after the ceremony of his +triumph, and began his progress towards the East round the +circuit of the Illyrian provinces. From the inclemency of the +weather, and the fatigue of the journey, he soon contracted a +slow illness; and though he made easy marches, and was generally +carried in a close litter, his disorder, before he arrived at +Nicomedia, about the end of the summer, was become very serious +and alarming. During the whole winter he was confined to his +palace: his danger inspired a general and unaffected concern; but +the people could only judge of the various alterations of his +health, from the joy or consternation which they discovered in +the countenances and behavior of his attendants. The rumor of +his death was for some time universally believed, and it was +supposed to be concealed with a view to prevent the troubles that +might have happened during the absence of the Caesar Galerius. +At length, however, on the first of March, Diocletian once more +appeared in public, but so pale and emaciated, that he could +scarcely have been recognized by those to whom his person was the +most familiar. It was time to put an end to the painful +struggle, which he had sustained during more than a year, between +the care of his health and that of his dignity. The former +required indulgence and relaxation, the latter compelled him to +direct, from the bed of sickness, the administration of a great +empire. He resolved to pass the remainder of his days in +honorable repose, to place his glory beyond the reach of fortune, +and to relinquish the theatre of the world to his younger and +more active associates. ^108 +[Footnote 108: Aurelius Victor ascribes the abdication, which had +been so variously accounted for, to two causes: 1st, Diocletian's +contempt of ambition; and 2dly, His apprehension of impending +troubles. One of the panegyrists (vi. 9) mentions the age and +infirmities of Diocletian as a very natural reason for his +retirement. + + Note: Constantine (Orat. ad Sanct. c. 401) more than +insinuated that derangement of mind, connected with the +conflagration of the palace at Nicomedia by lightning, was the +cause of his abdication. But Heinichen. in a very sensible note +on this passage in Eusebius, while he admits that his long +illness might produce a temporary depression of spirits, +triumphantly appeals to the philosophical conduct of Diocletian +in his retreat, and the influence which he still retained on +public affairs. - M.] + + The ceremony of his abdication was performed in a spacious +plain, about three miles from Nicomedia. The emperor ascended a +lofty throne, and in a speech, full of reason and dignity, +declared his intention, both to the people and to the soldiers +who were assembled on this extraordinary occasion. As soon as he +had divested himself of his purple, he withdrew from the gazing +multitude; and traversing the city in a covered chariot, +proceeded, without delay, to the favorite retirement which he had +chosen in his native country of Dalmatia. On the same day, which +was the first of May, ^109 Maximian, as it had been previously +concerted, made his resignation of the Imperial dignity at Milan. + +Even in the splendor of the Roman triumph, Diocletian had +meditated his design of abdicating the government. As he wished +to secure the obedience of Maximian, he exacted from him either a +general assurance that he would submit his actions to the +authority of his benefactor, or a particular promise that he +would descend from the throne, whenever he should receive the +advice and the example. This engagement, though it was confirmed +by the solemnity of an oath before the altar of the Capitoline +Jupiter, ^110 would have proved a feeble restraint on the fierce +temper of Maximian, whose passion was the love of power, and who +neither desired present tranquility nor future reputation. But +he yielded, however reluctantly, to the ascendant which his wiser +colleague had acquired over him, and retired, immediately after +his abdication, to a villa in Lucania, where it was almost +impossible that such an impatient spirit could find any lasting +tranquility. +[Footnote 109: The difficulties as well as mistakes attending the +dates both of the year and of the day of Diocletian's abdication +are perfectly cleared up by Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. +iv. p 525, note 19, and by Pagi ad annum.] + +[Footnote 110: See Panegyr. Veter. vi. 9. The oration was +pronounced after Maximian had resumed the purple.] + + Diocletian, who, from a servile origin, had raised himself +to the throne, passed the nine last years of his life in a +private condition. Reason had dictated, and content seems to have +accompanied, his retreat, in which he enjoyed, for a long time, +the respect of those princes to whom he had resigned the +possession of the world. ^111 It is seldom that minds long +exercised in business have formed the habits of conversing with +themselves, and in the loss of power they principally regret the +want of occupation. The amusements of letters and of devotion, +which afford so many resources in solitude, were incapable of +fixing the attention of Diocletian; but he had preserved, or at +least he soon recovered, a taste for the most innocent as well as +natural pleasures, and his leisure hours were sufficiently +employed in building, planting, and gardening. His answer to +Maximian is deservedly celebrated. He was solicited by that +restless old man to reassume the reins of government, and the +Imperial purple. He rejected the temptation with a smile of +pity, calmly observing, that if he could show Maximian the +cabbages which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he +should no longer be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of +happiness for the pursuit of power. ^112 In his conversations +with his friends, he frequently acknowledged, that of all arts, +the most difficult was the art of reigning; and he expressed +himself on that favorite topic with a degree of warmth which +could be the result only of experience. "How often," was he +accustomed to say, "is it the interest of four or five ministers +to combine together to deceive their sovereign! Secluded from +mankind by his exalted dignity, the truth is concealed from his +knowledge; he can see only with their eyes, he hears nothing but +their misrepresentations. He confers the most important offices +upon vice and weakness, and disgraces the most virtuous and +deserving among his subjects. By such infamous arts," added +Diocletian, "the best and wisest princes are sold to the venal +corruption of their courtiers." ^113 A just estimate of +greatness, and the assurance of immortal fame, improve our relish +for the pleasures of retirement; but the Roman emperor had filled +too important a character in the world, to enjoy without alloy +the comforts and security of a private condition. It was +impossible that he could remain ignorant of the troubles which +afflicted the empire after his abdication. It was impossible +that he could be indifferent to their consequences. Fear, +sorrow, and discontent, sometimes pursued him into the solitude +of Salona. His tenderness, or at least his pride, was deeply +wounded by the misfortunes of his wife and daughter; and the last +moments of Diocletian were imbittered by some affronts, which +Licinius and Constantine might have spared the father of so many +emperors, and the first author of their own fortune. A report, +though of a very doubtful nature, has reached our times, that he +prudently withdrew himself from their power by a voluntary death. +^114 +[Footnote 111: Eumenius pays him a very fine compliment: "At enim +divinum illum virum, qui primus imperium et participavit et +posuit, consilii et fact isui non poenitet; nec amisisse se putat +quod sponte transcripsit. Felix beatusque vere quem vestra, +tantorum principum, colunt privatum." Panegyr. Vet. vii. 15.] + +[Footnote 112: We are obliged to the younger Victor for this +celebrated item. Eutropius mentions the thing in a more general +manner.] + +[Footnote 113: Hist. August. p. 223, 224. Vopiscus had learned +this conversation from his father.] + +[Footnote 114: The younger Victor slightly mentions the report. +But as Diocletian had disobliged a powerful and successful party, +his memory has been loaded with every crime and misfortune. It +has been affirmed that he died raving mad, that he was condemned +as a criminal by the Roman senate, &c.] + + Before we dismiss the consideration of the life and +character of Diocletian, we may, for a moment, direct our view to +the place of his retirement. Salona, a principal city of his +native province of Dalmatia, was near two hundred Roman miles +(according to the measurement of the public highways) from +Aquileia and the confines of Italy, and about two hundred and +seventy from Sirmium, the usual residence of the emperors +whenever they visited the Illyrian frontier. ^115 A miserable +village still preserves the name of Salona; but so late as the +sixteenth century, the remains of a theatre, and a confused +prospect of broken arches and marble columns, continued to attest +its ancient splendor. ^116 About six or seven miles from the +city, Diocletian constructed a magnificent palace, and we may +infer, from the greatness of the work, how long he had meditated +his design of abdicating the empire. The choice of a spot which +united all that could contribute either to health or to luxury, +did not require the partiality of a native. "The soil was dry and +fertile, the air is pure and wholesome, and though extremely hot +during the summer months, this country seldom feels those sultry +and noxious winds, to which the coasts of Istria and some parts +of Italy are exposed. The views from the palace are no less +beautiful than the soil and climate were inviting. Towards the +west lies the fertile shore that stretches along the Adriatic, in +which a number of small islands are scattered in such a manner, +as to give this part of the sea the appearance of a great lake. +On the north side lies the bay, which led to the ancient city of +Salona; and the country beyond it, appearing in sight, forms a +proper contrast to that more extensive prospect of water, which +the Adriatic presents both to the south and to the east. Towards +the north, the view is terminated by high and irregular +mountains, situated at a proper distance, and in many places +covered with villages, woods, and vineyards." ^117 +[Footnote 115: See the Itiner. p. 269, 272, edit. Wessel.] +[Footnote 116: The Abate Fortis, in his Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. +43, (printed at Venice in the year 1774, in two small volumes in +quarto,) quotes a Ms account of the antiquities of Salona, +composed by Giambattista Giustiniani about the middle of the +xvith century.] + +[Footnote 117: Adam's Antiquities of Diocletian's Palace at +Spalatro, p. 6. We may add a circumstance or two from the Abate +Fortis: the little stream of the Hyader, mentioned by Lucan, +produces most exquisite trout, which a sagacious writer, perhaps +a monk, supposes to have been one of the principal reasons that +determined Diocletian in the choice of his retirement. Fortis, +p. 45. The same author (p. 38) observes, that a taste for +agriculture is reviving at Spalatro; and that an experimental +farm has lately been established near the city, by a society of +gentlemen.] + + Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects +to mention the palace of Diocletian with contempt, ^118 yet one +of their successors, who could only see it in a neglected and +mutilated state, celebrates its magnificence in terms of the +highest admiration. ^119 It covered an extent of ground +consisting of between nine and ten English acres. The form was +quadrangular, flanked with sixteen towers. Two of the sides were +near six hundred, and the other two near seven hundred feet in +length. The whole was constructed of a beautiful freestone, +extracted from the neighboring quarries of Trau, or Tragutium, +and very little inferior to marble itself. Four streets, +intersecting each other at right angles, divided the several +parts of this great edifice, and the approach to the principal +apartment was from a very stately entrance, which is still +denominated the Golden Gate. The approach was terminated by a +peristylium of granite columns, on one side of which we discover +the square temple of Aesculapius, on the other the octagon temple +of Jupiter. The latter of those deities Diocletian revered as +the patron of his fortunes, the former as the protector of his +health. By comparing the present remains with the precepts of +Vitruvius, the several parts of the building, the baths, +bed-chamber, the atrium, the basilica, and the Cyzicene, +Corinthian, and Egyptian halls have been described with some +degree of precision, or at least of probability. Their forms +were various, their proportions just; but they all were attended +with two imperfections, very repugnant to our modern notions of +taste and conveniency. These stately rooms had neither windows +nor chimneys. They were lighted from the top, (for the building +seems to have consisted of no more than one story,) and they +received their heat by the help of pipes that were conveyed along +the walls. The range of principal apartments was protected +towards the south-west by a portico five hundred and seventeen +feet long, which must have formed a very noble and delightful +walk, when the beauties of painting and sculpture were added to +those of the prospect. + +[Footnote 118: Constantin. Orat. ad Coetum Sanct. c. 25. In this +sermon, the emperor, or the bishop who composed it for him, +affects to relate the miserable end of all the persecutors of the +church.] + +[Footnote 119: Constantin. Porphyr. de Statu Imper. p. 86.] + Had this magnificent edifice remained in a solitary country, +it would have been exposed to the ravages of time; but it might, +perhaps, have escaped the rapacious industry of man. The village +of Aspalathus, ^120 and, long afterwards, the provincial town of +Spalatro, have grown out of its ruins. The Golden Gate now opens +into the market-place. St. John the Baptist has usurped the +honors of Aesculapius; and the temple of Jupiter, under the +protection of the Virgin, is converted into the cathedral church. + +For this account of Diocletian's palace we are principally +indebted to an ingenious artist of our own time and country, whom +a very liberal curiosity carried into the heart of Dalmatia. ^121 +But there is room to suspect that the elegance of his designs and +engraving has somewhat flattered the objects which it was their +purpose to represent. We are informed by a more recent and very +judicious traveller, that the awful ruins of Spalatro are not +less expressive of the decline of the art than of the greatness +of the Roman empire in the time of Diocletian. ^122 If such was +indeed the state of architecture, we must naturally believe that +painting and sculpture had experienced a still more sensible +decay. The practice of architecture is directed by a few general +and even mechanical rules. But sculpture, and above all, +painting, propose to themselves the imitation not only of the +forms of nature, but of the characters and passions of the human +soul. In those sublime arts, the dexterity of the hand is of +little avail, unless it is animated by fancy, and guided by the +most correct taste and observation. +[Footnote 120: D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 162.] +[Footnote 121: Messieurs Adam and Clerisseau, attended by two +draughtsmen visited Spalatro in the month of July, 1757. The +magnificent work which their journey produced was published in +London seven years afterwards.] +[Footnote 122: I shall quote the words of the Abate Fortis. +"E'bastevolmente agli amatori dell' Architettura, e dell' +Antichita, l'opera del Signor Adams, che a donato molto a que' +superbi vestigi coll'abituale eleganza del suo toccalapis e del +bulino. In generale la rozzezza del scalpello, e'l cattivo gusto +del secolo vi gareggiano colla magnificenz del fabricato." See +Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. 40.] + + It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the civil +distractions of the empire, the license of the soldiers, the +inroads of the barbarians, and the progress of despotism, had +proved very unfavorable to genius, and even to learning. The +succession of Illyrian princes restored the empire without +restoring the sciences. Their military education was not +calculated to inspire them with the love of letters; and even the +mind of Diocletian, however active and capacious in business, was +totally uninformed by study or speculation. The professions of +law and physic are of such common use and certain profit, that +they will always secure a sufficient number of practitioners, +endowed with a reasonable degree of abilities and knowledge; but +it does not appear that the students in those two faculties +appeal to any celebrated masters who have flourished within that +period. The voice of poetry was silent. History was reduced to +dry and confused abridgments, alike destitute of amusement and +instruction. A languid and affected eloquence was still retained +in the pay and service of the emperors, who encouraged not any +arts except those which contributed to the gratification of their +pride, or the defence of their power. ^123 + +[Footnote 123: The orator Eumenius was secretary to the emperors +Maximian and Constantius, and Professor of Rhetoric in the +college of Autun. His salary was six hundred thousand sesterces, +which, according to the lowest computation of that age, must have +exceeded three thousand pounds a year. He generously requested +the permission of employing it in rebuilding the college. See +his Oration De Restaurandis Scholis; which, though not exempt +from vanity, may atone for his panegyrics.] + + The declining age of learning and of mankind is marked, +however, by the rise and rapid progress of the new Platonists. +The school of Alexandria silenced those of Athens; and the +ancient sects enrolled themselves under the banners of the more +fashionable teachers, who recommended their system by the novelty +of their method, and the austerity of their manners. Several of +these masters, Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and Porphyry, ^124 +were men of profound thought and intense application; but by +mistaking the true object of philosophy, their labors contributed +much less to improve than to corrupt the human understanding. +The knowledge that is suited to our situation and powers, the +whole compass of moral, natural, and mathematical science, was +neglected by the new Platonists; whilst they exhausted their +strength in the verbal disputes of metaphysics, attempted to +explore the secrets of the invisible world, and studied to +reconcile Aristotle with Plato, on subjects of which both these +philosophers were as ignorant as the rest of mankind. Consuming +their reason in these deep but unsubstantial meditations, their +minds were exposed to illusions of fancy. They flattered +themselves that they possessed the secret of disengaging the soul +from its corporal prison; claimed a familiar intercourse with +demons and spirits; and, by a very singular revolution, converted +the study of philosophy into that of magic. The ancient sages had +derided the popular superstition; after disguising its +extravagance by the thin pretence of allegory, the disciples of +Plotinus and Porphyry became its most zealous defenders. As they +agreed with the Christians in a few mysterious points of faith, +they attacked the remainder of their theological system with all +the fury of civil war. The new Platonists would scarcely deserve +a place in the history of science, but in that of the church the +mention of them will very frequently occur. +[Footnote 124: Porphyry died about the time of Diocletian's +abdication. The life of his master Plotinus, which he composed, +will give us the most complete idea of the genius of the sect, +and the manners of its professors. This very curious piece is +inserted in Fabricius Bibliotheca Graeca tom. iv. p. 88 - 148.] + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The +Empire. + +Part I. + +Troubles After The Abdication Of Diocletian. - Death Of +Constantius. - Elevation Of Constantine And Maxen Tius. - Six +Emperors At The Same Time. - Death Of Maximian And Galerius. - +Victories Of Constantine Over Maxentius And Licinus. - Reunion Of +The Empire Under The Authority Of Constantine. + The balance of power established by Diocletian subsisted no +longer than while it was sustained by the firm and dexterous hand +of the founder. It required such a fortunate mixture of +different tempers and abilities, as could scarcely be found or +even expected a second time; two emperors without jealousy, two +Caesars without ambition, and the same general interest +invariably pursued by four independent princes. The abdication +of Diocletian and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of +discord and confusion. The empire was afflicted by five civil +wars; and the remainder of the time was not so much a state of +tranquillity as a suspension of arms between several hostile +monarchs, who, viewing each other with an eye of fear and hatred, +strove to increase their respective forces at the expense of +their subjects. + As soon as Diocletian and Maximian had resigned the purple, +their station, according to the rules of the new constitution, +was filled by the two Caesars, Constantius and Galerius, who +immediately assumed the title of Augustus. ^1 + +[Footnote 1: M. de Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et +La Decadence des Romains, c. 17) supposes, on the authority of +Orosius and Eusebius, that, on this occasion, the empire, for the +first time, was really divided into two parts. It is difficult, +however, to discover in what respect the plan of Galerius +differed from that of Diocletian.] + The honors of seniority and precedence were allowed to the +former of those princes, and he continued under a new appellation +to administer his ancient department of Gaul, Spain, and Britain. + +The government of those ample provinces was sufficient to +exercise his talents and to satisfy his ambition. Clemency, +temperance, and moderation, distinguished the amiable character +of Constantius, and his fortunate subjects had frequently +occasion to compare the virtues of their sovereign with the +passions of Maximian, and even with the arts of Diocletian. ^2 +Instead of imitating their eastern pride and magnificence, +Constantius preserved the modesty of a Roman prince. He +declared, with unaffected sincerity, that his most valued +treasure was in the hearts of his people, and that, whenever the +dignity of the throne, or the danger of the state, required any +extraordinary supply, he could depend with confidence on their +gratitude and liberality. ^3 The provincials of Gaul, Spain, and +Britain, sensible of his worth, and of their own happiness, +reflected with anxiety on the declining health of the emperor +Constantius, and the tender age of his numerous family, the issue +of his second marriage with the daughter of Maximian. + +[Footnote 2: Hic non modo amabilis, sed etiam venerabilis Gallis +fuit; praecipuc quod Diocletiani suspectam prudentiam, et +Maximiani sanguinariam violentiam imperio ejus evaserant. +Eutrop. Breviar. x. i.] +[Footnote 3: Divitiis Provincialium (mel. provinciarum) ac +privatorum studens, fisci commoda non admodum affectans; +ducensque melius publicas opes a privatis haberi, quam intra unum +claustrum reservari. Id. ibid. He carried this maxim so far, +that whenever he gave an entertainment, he was obliged to borrow +a service of plate.] + + The stern temper of Galerius was cast in a very different +mould; and while he commanded the esteem of his subjects, he +seldom condescended to solicit their affections. His fame in +arms, and, above all, the success of the Persian war, had elated +his haughty mind, which was naturally impatient of a superior, or +even of an equal. If it were possible to rely on the partial +testimony of an injudicious writer, we might ascribe the +abdication of Diocletian to the menaces of Galerius, and relate +the particulars of a private conversation between the two +princes, in which the former discovered as much pusillanimity as +the latter displayed ingratitude and arrogance. ^4 But these +obscure anecdotes are sufficiently refuted by an impartia view of +the character and conduct of Diocletian. Whatever might +otherwise have been his intentions, if he had apprehended any +danger from the violence of Galerius, his good sense would have +instructed him to prevent the ignominious contest; and as he had +held the sceptre with glory, he would have resigned it without +disgrace. + +[Footnote 4: Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor. c. 18. Were the +particulars of this conference more consistent with truth and +decency, we might still ask how they came to the knowledge of an +obscure rhetorician. But there are many historians who put us in +mind of the admirable saying of the great Conde to Cardinal de +Retz: "Ces coquins nous font parlor et agir, comme ils auroient +fait eux-memes a notre place." + + Note: This attack upon Lactantius is unfounded. Lactantius +was so far from having been an obscure rhetorician, that he had +taught rhetoric publicly, and with the greatest success, first in +Africa, and afterwards in Nicomedia. His reputation obtained him +the esteem of Constantine, who invited him to his court, and +intrusted to him the education of his son Crispus. The facts +which he relates took place during his own time; he cannot be +accused of dishonesty or imposture. Satis me vixisse arbitrabor +et officium hominis implesse si labor meus aliquos homines, ab +erroribus iberatos, ad iter coeleste direxerit. De Opif. Dei, +cap. 20. The eloquence of Lactantius has caused him to be called +the Christian Cicero. Annon Gent. - G. + + Yet no unprejudiced person can read this coarse and +particular private conversation of the two emperors, without +assenting to the justice of Gibbon's severe sentence. But the +authorship of the treatise is by no means certain. The fame of +Lactantius for eloquence as well as for truth, would suffer no +loss if it should be adjudged to some more "obscure rhetorician." +Manso, in his Leben Constantins des Grossen, concurs on this +point with Gibbon Beylage, iv. - M.] + + After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank +of Augusti, two new Coesars were required to supply their place, +and to complete the system of the Imperial government. +Diocletian, was sincerely desirous of withdrawing himself from +the world; he considered Galerius, who had married his daughter, +as the firmest support of his family and of the empire; and he +consented, without reluctance, that his successor should assume +the merit as well as the envy of the important nomination. It +was fixed without consulting the interest or inclination of the +princes of the West. Each of them had a son who was arrived at +the age of manhood, and who might have been deemed the most +natural candidates for the vacant honor. But the impotent +resentment of Maximian was no longer to be dreaded; and the +moderate Constantius, though he might despise the dangers, was +humanely apprehensive of the calamities, of civil war. The two +persons whom Galerius promoted to the rank of Caesar, were much +better suited to serve the views of his ambition; and their +principal recommendation seems to have consisted in the want of +merit or personal consequence. The first of these was Daza, or, +as he was afterwards called, Maximin, whose mother was the sister +of Galerius. The unexperienced youth still betrayed, by his +manners and language, his rustic education, when, to his own +astonishment, as well as that of the world, he was invested by +Diocletian with the purple, exalted to the dignity of Caesar, and +intrusted with the sovereign command of Egypt and Syria. ^5 At +the same time, Severus, a faithful servant, addicted to pleasure, +but not incapable of business, was sent to Milan, to receive, +from the reluctant hands of Maximian, the Caesarian ornaments, +and the possession of Italy and Africa. According to the forms +of the constitution, Severus acknowledged the supremacy of the +western emperor; but he was absolutely devoted to the commands of +his benefactor Galerius, who, reserving to himself the +intermediate countries from the confines of Italy to those of +Syria, firmly established his power over three fourths of the +monarchy. In the full confidence that the approaching death of +Constantius would leave him sole master of the Roman world, we +are assured that he had arranged in his mind a long succession of +future princes, and that he meditated his own retreat from public +life, after he should have accomplished a glorious reign of about +twenty years. ^7 + +[Footnote 5: Sublatus nuper a pecoribus et silvis (says +Lactantius de M. P. c. 19) statim Scutarius, continuo Protector, +mox Tribunus, postridie Caesar, accepit Orientem. Aurelius +Victor is too liberal in giving him the whole portion of +Diocletian.] +[Footnote 6: His diligence and fidelity are acknowledged even by +Lactantius, de M. P. c. 18.] + +[Footnote 7: These schemes, however, rest only on the very +doubtful authority of Lactantius de M. P. c. 20.] + + But within less than eighteen months, two unexpected +revolutions overturned the ambitious schemes of Galerius. The +hopes of uniting the western provinces to his empire were +disappointed by the elevation of Constantine, whilst Italy and +Africa were lost by the successful revolt of Maxentius. + + I. The fame of Constantine has rendered posterity attentive +to the most minute circumstances of his life and actions. The +place of his birth, as well as the condition of his mother +Helena, have been the subject, not only of literary, but of +national disputes. Notwithstanding the recent tradition, which +assigns for her father a British king, ^8 we are obliged to +confess, that Helena was the daughter of an innkeeper; but at the +same time, we may defend the legality of her marriage, against +those who have represented her as the concubine of Constantius. +^9 The great Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in +Dacia; ^10 and it is not surprising that, in a family and +province distinguished only by the profession of arms, the youth +should discover very little inclination to improve his mind by +the acquisition of knowledge. ^11 He was about eighteen years of +age when his father was promoted to the rank of Caesar; but that +fortunate event was attended with his mother's divorce; and the +splendor of an Imperial alliance reduced the son of Helena to a +state of disgrace and humiliation. Instead of following +Constantius in the West, he remained in the service of +Diocletian, signalized his valor in the wars of Egypt and Persia, +and gradually rose to the honorable station of a tribune of the +first order. The figure of Constantine was tall and majestic; he +was dexterous in all his exercises, intrepid in war, affable in +peace; in his whole conduct, the active spirit of youth was +tempered by habitual prudence; and while his mind was engrossed +by ambition, he appeared cold and insensible to the allurements +of pleasure. The favor of the people and soldiers, who had named +him as a worthy candidate for the rank of Caesar, served only to +exasperate the jealousy of Galerius; and though prudence might +restrain him from exercising any open violence, an absolute +monarch is seldom at a loss now to execute a sure and secret +evenge. ^12 Every hour increased the danger of Constantine, and +the anxiety of his father, who, by repeated letters, expressed +the warmest desire of embracing his son. For some time the +policy of Galerius supplied him with delays and excuses; but it +was impossible long to refuse so natural a request of his +associate, without maintaining his refusal by arms. The +permission of the journey was reluctantly granted, and whatever +precautions the emperor might have taken to intercept a return, +the consequences of which he, with so much reason, apprehended, +they were effectually disappointed by the incredible diligence of +Constantine. ^13 Leaving the palace of Nicomedia in the night, he +travelled post through Bithynia, Thrace, Dacia, Pannonia, Italy, +and Gaul, and, amidst the joyful acclamations of the people, +reached the port of Boulogne in the very moment when his father +was preparing to embark for Britain. ^14 + +[Footnote 8: This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of +Constantine was invented in the darkness of monestaries, was +embellished by Jeffrey of Monmouth, and the writers of the xiith +century, has been defended by our antiquarians of the last age, +and is seriously related in the ponderous History of England, +compiled by Mr. Carte, (vol. i. p. 147.) He transports, however, +the kingdom of Coil, the imaginary father of Helena, from Essex +to the wall of Antoninus.] + +[Footnote 9: Eutropius (x. 2) expresses, in a few words, the real +truth, and the occasion of the error "ex obscuriori matrimonio +ejus filius." Zosimus (l. ii. p. 78) eagerly seized the most +unfavorable report, and is followed by Orosius, (vii. 25,) whose +authority is oddly enough overlooked by the indefatigable, but +partial Tillemont. By insisting on the divorce of Helena, +Diocletian acknowledged her marriage.] + +[Footnote 10: There are three opinions with regard to the place +of Constantine's birth. 1. Our English antiquarians were used to +dwell with rapture on the words of his panegyrist, "Britannias +illic oriendo nobiles fecisti." But this celebrated passage may +be referred with as much propriety to the accession, as to the +nativity of Constantine. 2. Some of the modern Greeks have +ascribed the honor of his birth to Drepanum, a town on the Gulf +of Nicomedia, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 174,) which Constantine +dignified with the name of Helenopolis, and Justinian adorned +with many splendid buildings, (Procop. de Edificiis, v. 2.) It is +indeed probable enough, that Helena's father kept an inn at +Drepanum, and that Constantius might lodge there when he returned +from a Persian embassy, in the reign of Aurelian. But in the +wandering life of a soldier, the place of his marriage, and the +places where his children are born, have very little connection +with each other. 3. The claim of Naissus is supported by the +anonymous writer, published at the end of Ammianus, p. 710, and +who in general copied very good materials; and it is confirmed by +Julius Firmicus, (de Astrologia, l. i. c. 4,) who flourished +under the reign of Constantine himself. Some objections have +been raised against the integrity of the text, and the +application of the passage of Firmicus but the former is +established by the best Mss., and the latter is very ably +defended by Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, l. iv. c. 11, et +Supplement.] + +[Footnote 11: Literis minus instructus. Anonym. ad Ammian. p. +710.] +[Footnote 12: Galerius, or perhaps his own courage, exposed him +to single combat with a Sarmatian, (Anonym. p. 710,) and with a +monstrous lion. See Praxagoras apud Photium, p. 63. Praxagoras, +an Athenian philosopher, had written a life of Constantine in two +books, which are now lost. He was a contemporary.] + +[Footnote 13: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 78, 79. Lactantius de M. P. c. +24. The former tells a very foolish story, that Constantine +caused all the post- horses which he had used to be hamstrung. +Such a bloody execution, without preventing a pursuit, would have +scattered suspicions, and might have stopped his journey. + + Note: Zosimus is not the only writer who tells this story. +The younger Victor confirms it. Ad frustrandos insequentes, +publica jumenta, quaqua iter ageret, interficiens. Aurelius +Victor de Caesar says the same thing, G. as also the Anonymus +Valesii. - M. + + Manso, (Leben Constantins,) p. 18, observes that the story +has been exaggerated; he took this precaution during the first +stage of his journey. - M.] + +[Footnote 14: Anonym. p. 710. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 4. But +Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, Eusebius de Vit. Constant. l. i. c. 21, +and Lactantius de M. P. c. 24. suppose, with less accuracy, that +he found his father on his death-bed.] + The British expedition, and an easy victory over the +barbarians of Caledonia, were the last exploits of the reign of +Constantius. He ended his life in the Imperial palace of York, +fifteen months after he had received the title of Augustus, and +almost fourteen years and a half after he had been promoted to +the rank of Caesar. His death was immediately succeeded by the +elevation of Constantine. The ideas of inheritance and +succession are so very familiar, that the generality of mankind +consider them as founded, not only in reason, but in nature +itself. Our imagination readily transfers the same principles +from private property to public dominion: and whenever a virtuous +father leaves behind him a son whose merit seems to justify the +esteem, or even the hopes, of the people, the joint influence of +prejudice and of affection operates with irresistible weight. +The flower of the western armies had followed Constantius into +Britain, and the national troops were reenforced by a numerous +body of Alemanni, who obeyed the orders of Crocus, one of their +hereditary chieftains. ^15 The opinion of their own importance, +and the assurance that Britain, Gaul, and Spain would acquiesce +in their nomination, were diligently inculcated to the legions by +the adherents of Constantine. The soldiers were asked, whether +they could hesitate a moment between the honor of placing at +their head the worthy son of their beloved emperor, and the +ignominy of tamely expecting the arrival of some obscure +stranger, on whom it might please the sovereign of Asia to bestow +the armies and provinces of the West. It was insinuated to them, +that gratitude and liberality held a distinguished place among +the virtues of Constantine; nor did that artful prince show +himself to the troops, till they were prepared to salute him with +the names of Augustus and Emperor. The throne was the object of +his desires; and had he been less actuated by ambition, it was +his only means of safety. He was well acquainted with the +character and sentiments of Galerius, and sufficiently apprised, +that if he wished to live he must determine to reign. The decent +and even obstinate resistance which he chose to affect, ^16 was +contrived to justify his usurpation; nor did he yield to the +acclamations of the army, till he had provided the proper +materials for a letter, which he immediately despatched to the +emperor of the East. Constantine informed him of the melancholy +event of his father's death, modestly asserted his natural claim +to the succession, and respectfully lamented, that the +affectionate violence of his troops had not permitted him to +solicit the Imperial purple in the regular and constitutional +manner. The first emotions of Galerius were those of surprise, +disappointment, and rage; and as he could seldom restrain his +passions, he loudly threatened, that he would commit to the +flames both the letter and the messenger. But his resentment +insensibly subsided; and when he recollected the doubtful chance +of war, when he had weighed the character and strength of his +adversary, he consented to embrace the honorable accommodation +which the prudence of Constantine had left open to him. Without +either condemning or ratifying the choice of the British army, +Galerius accepted the son of his deceased colleague as the +sovereign of the provinces beyond the Alps; but he gave him only +the title of Caesar, and the fourth rank among the Roman princes, +whilst he conferred the vacant place of Augustus on his favorite +Severus. The apparent harmony of the empire was still preserved, +and Constantine, who already possessed the substance, expected, +without impatience, an opportunity of obtaining the honors, of +supreme power. ^17 + +[Footnote 15: Cunctis qui aderant, annitentibus, sed praecipue +Croco (alii Eroco) [Erich?] Alamannorum Rege, auxilii gratia +Constantium comitato, imperium capit. Victor Junior, c. 41. +This is perhaps the first instance of a barbarian king, who +assisted the Roman arms with an independent body of his own +subjects. The practice grew familiar and at last became fatal.] +[Footnote 16: His panegyrist Eumenius (vii. 8) ventures to affirm +in the presence of Constantine, that he put spurs to his horse, +and tried, but in vain, to escape from the hands of his +soldiers.] + +[Footnote 17: Lactantius de M. P. c. 25. Eumenius (vii. 8.) +gives a rhetorical turn to the whole transaction.] + + The children of Constantius by his second marriage were six +in number, three of either sex, and whose Imperial descent might +have solicited a preference over the meaner extraction of the son +of Helena. But Constantine was in the thirty-second year of his +age, in the full vigor both of mind and body, at the time when +the eldest of his brothers could not possibly be more than +thirteen years old. His claim of superior merit had been allowed +and ratified by the dying emperor. ^18 In his last moments +Constantius bequeathed to his eldest son the care of the safety +as well as greatness of the family; conjuring him to assume both +the authority and the sentiments of a father with regard to the +children of Theodora. Their liberal education, advantageous +marriages, the secure dignity of their lives, and the first +honors of the state with which they were invested, attest the +fraternal affection of Constantine; and as those princes +possessed a mild and grateful disposition, they submitted without +reluctance to the superiority of his genius and fortune. ^19 + +[Footnote 18: The choice of Constantine, by his dying father, +which is warranted by reason, and insinuated by Eumenius, seems +to be confirmed by the most unexceptionable authority, the +concurring evidence of Lactantius (de M. P. c. 24) and of +Libanius, (Oratio i.,) of Eusebius (in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. +18, 21) and of Julian, (Oratio i)] + +[Footnote 19: Of the three sisters of Constantine, Constantia +married the emperor Licinius, Anastasia the Caesar Bassianus, and +Eutropia the consul Nepotianus. The three brothers were, +Dalmatius, Julius Constantius, and Annibalianus, of whom we shall +have occasion to speak hereafter.] + II. The ambitious spirit of Galerius was scarcely +reconciled to the disappointment of his views upon the Gallic +provinces, before the unexpected loss of Italy wounded his pride +as well as power in a still more sensible part. The long absence +of the emperors had filled Rome with discontent and indignation; +and the people gradually discovered, that the preference given to +Nicomedia and Milan was not to be ascribed to the particular +inclination of Diocletian, but to the permanent form of +government which he had instituted. It was in vain that, a few +months after his abdication, his successors dedicated, under his +name, those magnificent baths, whose ruins still supply the +ground as well as the materials for so many churches and +convents. ^20 The tranquility of those elegant recesses of ease +and luxury was disturbed by the impatient murmurs of the Romans, +and a report was insensibly circulated, that the sums expended in +erecting those buildings would soon be required at their hands. +About that time the avarice of Galerius, or perhaps the +exigencies of the state, had induced him to make a very strict +and rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects, for +the purpose of a general taxation, both on their lands and on +their persons. A very minute survey appears to have been taken of +their real estates; and wherever there was the slightest +suspicion of concealment, torture was very freely employed to +obtain a sincere declaration of their personal wealth. ^21 The +privileges which had exalted Italy above the rank of the +provinces were no longer regarded: ^* and the officers of the +revenue already began to number the Roman people, and to settle +the proportion of the new taxes. Even when the spirit of freedom +had been utterly extinguished, the tamest subjects have sometimes +ventured to resist an unprecedented invasion of their property; +but on this occasion the injury was aggravated by the insult, and +the sense of private interest was quickened by that of national +honor. The conquest of Macedonia, as we have already observed, +had delivered the Roman people from the weight of personal taxes. + +Though they had experienced every form of despotism, they had now +enjoyed that exemption near five hundred years; nor could they +patiently brook the insolence of an Illyrian peasant, who, from +his distant residence in Asia, presumed to number Rome among the +tributary cities of his empire. The rising fury of the people +was encouraged by the authority, or at least the connivance, of +the senate; and the feeble remains of the Praetorian guards, who +had reason to apprehend their own dissolution, embraced so +honorable a pretence, and declared their readiness to draw their +swords in the service of their oppressed country. It was the +wish, and it soon became the hope, of every citizen, that after +expelling from Italy their foreign tyrants, they should elect a +prince who, by the place of his residence, and by his maxims of +government, might once more deserve the title of Roman emperor. +The name, as well as the situation, of Maxentius determined in +his favor the popular enthusiasm. + +[Footnote 20: See Gruter. Inscrip. p. 178. The six princes are +all mentioned, Diocletian and Maximian as the senior Augusti, and +fathers of the emperors. They jointly dedicate, for the use of +their own Romans, this magnificent edifice. The architects have +delineated the ruins of these Thermoe, and the antiquarians, +particularly Donatus and Nardini, have ascertained the ground +which they covered. One of the great rooms is now the Carthusian +church; and even one of the porter's lodges is sufficient to form +another church, which belongs to the Feuillans.] + +[Footnote 21: See Lactantius de M. P. c. 26, 31. ] + +[Footnote *: Saviguy, in his memoir on Roman taxation, (Mem. +Berl. Academ. 1822, 1823, p. 5,) dates from this period the +abolition of the Jus Italicum. He quotes a remarkable passage of +Aurelius Victor. Hinc denique parti Italiae invec tum tributorum +ingens malum. Aur. Vict. c. 39. It was a necessary consequence +of the division of the empire: it became impossible to maintain a +second court and executive, and leave so large and fruitful a +part of the territory exempt from contribution. - M.] + + Maxentius was the son of the emperor Maximian, and he had +married the daughter of Galerius. His birth and alliance seemed +to offer him the fairest promise of succeeding to the empire; but +his vices and incapacity procured him the same exclusion from the +dignity of Caesar, which Constantine had deserved by a dangerous +superiority of merit. The policy of Galerius preferred such +associates as would never disgrace the choice, nor dispute the +commands, of their benefactor. An obscure stranger was therefore +raised to the throne of Italy, and the son of the late emperor of +the West was left to enjoy the luxury of a private fortune in a +villa a few miles distant from the capital. The gloomy passions +of his soul, shame, vexation, and rage, were inflamed by envy on +the news of Constantine's success; but the hopes of Maxentius +revived with the public discontent, and he was easily persuaded +to unite his personal injury and pretensions with the cause of +the Roman people. Two Praetorian tribunes and a commissary of +provisions undertook the management of the conspiracy; and as +every order of men was actuated by the same spirit, the immediate +event was neither doubtful nor difficult. The praefect of the +city, and a few magistrates, who maintained their fidelity to +Severus, were massacred by the guards; and Maxentius, invested +with the Imperial ornaments, was acknowledged by the applauding +senate and people as the protector of the Roman freedom and +dignity. It is uncertain whether Maximian was previously +acquainted with the conspiracy; but as soon as the standard of +rebellion was erected at Rome, the old emperor broke from the +retirement where the authority of Diocletian had condemned him to +pass a life of melancholy and solitude, and concealed his +returning ambition under the disguise of paternal tenderness. At +the request of his son and of the senate, he condescended to +reassume the purple. His ancient dignity, his experience, and +his fame in arms, added strength as well as reputation to the +party of Maxentius. ^22 + +[Footnote 22: The sixth Panegyric represents the conduct of +Maximian in the most favorable light, and the ambiguous +expression of Aurelius Victor, "retractante diu," may signify +either that he contrived, or that he opposed, the conspiracy. +See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, and Lactantius de M. P. c. 26.] + According to the advice, or rather the orders, of his +colleague, the emperor Severus immediately hastened to Rome, in +the full confidence, that, by his unexpected celerity, he should +easily suppress the tumult of an unwarlike populace, commanded by +a licentious youth. But he found on his arrival the gates of the +city shut against him, the walls filled with men and arms, an +experienced general at the head of the rebels, and his own troops +without spirit or affection. A large body of Moors deserted to +the enemy, allured by the promise of a large donative; and, if it +be true that they had been levied by Maximian in his African war, +preferring the natural feelings of gratitude to the artificial +ties of allegiance. Anulinus, the Praetorian praefect, declared +himself in favor of Maxentius, and drew after him the most +considerable part of the troops, accustomed to obey his commands. + +Rome, according to the expression of an orator, recalled her +armies; and the unfortunate Severus, destitute of force and of +counsel, retired, or rather fled, with precipitation, to Ravenna. + +Here he might for some time have been safe. The fortifications +of Ravenna were able to resist the attempts, and the morasses +that surrounded the town, were sufficient to prevent the +approach, of the Italian army. The sea, which Severus commanded +with a powerful fleet, secured him an inexhaustible supply of +provisions, and gave a free entrance to the legions, which, on +the return of spring, would advance to his assistance from +Illyricum and the East. Maximian, who conducted the siege in +person, was soon convinced that he might waste his time and his +army in the fruitless enterprise, and that he had nothing to hope +either from force or famine. With an art more suitable to the +character of Diocletian than to his own, he directed his attack, +not so much against the walls of Ravenna, as against the mind of +Severus. The treachery which he had experienced disposed that +unhappy prince to distrust the most sincere of his friends and +adherents. The emissaries of Maximian easily persuaded his +credulity, that a conspiracy was formed to betray the town, and +prevailed upon his fears not to expose himself to the discretion +of an irritated conqueror, but to accept the faith of an +honorable capitulation. He was at first received with humanity +and treated with respect. Maximian conducted the captive emperor +to Rome, and gave him the most solemn assurances that he had +secured his life by the resignation of the purple. But Severus, +could obtain only an easy death and an Imperial funeral. When +the sentence was signified to him, the manner of executing it was +left to his own choice; he preferred the favorite mode of the +ancients, that of opening his veins; and as soon as he expired, +his body was carried to the sepulchre which had been constructed +for the family of Gallienus. ^23 + +[Footnote 23: The circumstances of this war, and the death of +Severus, are very doubtfully and variously told in our ancient +fragments, (see Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. +p. 555.) I have endeavored to extract from them a consistent and +probable narration. + + Note: Manso justly observes that two totally different +narratives might be formed, almost upon equal authority. +Beylage, iv. - M.] + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The +Empire. + +Part II. + + Though the characters of Constantine and Maxentius had very +little affinity with each other, their situation and interest +were the same; and prudence seemed to require that they should +unite their forces against the common enemy. Notwithstanding the +superiority of his age and dignity, the indefatigable Maximian +passed the Alps, and, courting a personal interview with the +sovereign of Gaul, carried with him his daughter Fausta as the +pledge of the new alliance. The marriage was celebrated at Arles +with every circumstance of magnificence; and the ancient +colleague of Diocletian, who again asserted his claim to the +Western empire, conferred on his son-in-law and ally the title of +Augustus. By consenting to receive that honor from Maximian, +Constantine seemed to embrace the cause of Rome and of the +senate; but his professions were ambiguous, and his assistance +slow and ineffectual. He considered with attention the +approaching contest between the masters of Italy and the emperor +of the East, and was prepared to consult his own safety or +ambition in the event of the war. ^24 + +[Footnote 24: The sixth Panegyric was pronounced to celebrate the +elevation of Constantine; but the prudent orator avoids the +mention either of Galerius or of Maxentius. He introduces only +one slight allusion to the actual troubles, and to the majesty of +Rome. + + Note: Compare Manso, Beylage, iv. p. 302. Gibbon's account +is at least as probable as that of his critic. - M.] + + The importance of the occasion called for the presence and +abilities of Galerius. At the head of a powerful army, collected +from Illyricum and the East, he entered Italy, resolved to +revenge the death of Severus, and to chastise the rebellions +Romans; or, as he expressed his intentions, in the furious +language of a barbarian, to extirpate the senate, and to destroy +the people by the sword. But the skill of Maximian had concerted +a prudent system of defence. The invader found every place +hostile, fortified, and inaccessible; and though he forced his +way as far as Narni, within sixty miles of Rome, his dominion in +Italy was confined to the narrow limits of his camp. Sensible of +the increasing difficulties of his enterprise, the haughty +Galerius made the first advances towards a reconciliation, and +despatched two of his most considerable officers to tempt the +Roman princes by the offer of a conference, and the declaration +of his paternal regard for Maxentius, who might obtain much more +from his liberality than he could hope from the doubtful chance +of war. ^25 The offers of Galerius were rejected with firmness, +his perfidious friendship refused with contempt, and it was not +long before he discovered, that, unless he provided for his +safety by a timely retreat, he had some reason to apprehend the +fate of Severus. The wealth which the Romans defended against +his rapacious tyranny, they freely contributed for his +destruction. The name of Maximian, the popular arts of his son, +the secret distribution of large sums, and the promise of still +more liberal rewards, checked the ardor and corrupted the +fidelity of the Illyrian legions; and when Galerius at length +gave the signal of the retreat, it was with some difficulty that +he could prevail on his veterans not to desert a banner which had +so often conducted them to victory and honor. A contemporary +writer assigns two other causes for the failure of the +expedition; but they are both of such a nature, that a cautious +historian will scarcely venture to adopt them. We are told that +Galerius, who had formed a very imperfect notion of the greatness +of Rome by the cities of the East with which he was acquainted, +found his forces inadequate to the siege of that immense capital. + +But the extent of a city serves only to render it more accessible +to the enemy: Rome had long since been accustomed to submit on +the approach of a conqueror; nor could the temporary enthusiasm +of the people have long contended against the discipline and +valor of the legions. We are likewise informed that the legions +themselves were struck with horror and remorse, and that those +pious sons of the republic refused to violate the sanctity of +their venerable parent. ^26 But when we recollect with how much +ease, in the more ancient civil wars, the zeal of party and the +habits of military obedience had converted the native citizens of +Rome into her most implacable enemies, we shall be inclined to +distrust this extreme delicacy of strangers and barbarians, who +had never beheld Italy till they entered it in a hostile manner. +Had they not been restrained by motives of a more interested +nature, they would probably have answered Galerius in the words +of Caesar's veterans: "If our general wishes to lead us to the +banks of the Tyber, we are prepared to trace out his camp. +Whatsoever walls he has determined to level with the ground, our +hands are ready to work the engines: nor shall we hesitate, +should the name of the devoted city be Rome itself." These are +indeed the expressions of a poet; but of a poet who has been +distinguished, and even censured, for his strict adherence to the +truth of history. ^27 + +[Footnote 25: With regard to this negotiation, see the fragments +of an anonymous historian, published by Valesius at the end of +his edition of Ammianus Marcellinus, p. 711. These fragments +have furnished with several curious, and, as it should seem, +authentic anecdotes.] + +[Footnote 26: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. The former of these +reasons is probably taken from Virgil's Shepherd: "Illam * * * +ego huic notra similem, Meliboee, putavi," &c. Lactantius +delights in these poetical illusions.] +[Footnote 27: Castra super Tusci si ponere Tybridis undas; +(jubeus) Hesperios audax veniam metator in agros. + Tu quoscunque voles in planum effundere muros, + + His aries actus disperget saxa lacertis; + Illa licet penitus tolli quam jusseris urbem + + Roma sit. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 381.] + + The legions of Galerius exhibited a very melancholy proof of +their disposition, by the ravages which they committed in their +retreat. They murdered, they ravished, they plundered, they +drove away the flocks and herds of the Italians; they burnt the +villages through which they passed, and they endeavored to +destroy the country which it had not been in their power to +subdue. During the whole march, Maxentius hung on their rear, +but he very prudently declined a general engagement with those +brave and desperate veterans. His father had undertaken a second +journey into Gaul, with the hope of persuading Constantine, who +had assembled an army on the frontier, to join in the pursuit, +and to complete the victory. But the actions of Constantine were +guided by reason, and not by resentment. He persisted in the +wise resolution of maintaining a balance of power in the divided +empire, and he no longer hated Galerius, when that aspiring +prince had ceased to be an object of terror. ^28 + +[Footnote 28: Lactantius de M. P. c. 27. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. +The latter, that Constantine, in his interview with Maximian, had +promised to declare war against Galerius.] + + The mind of Galerius was the most susceptible of the sterner +passions, but it was not, however, incapable of a sincere and +lasting friendship. Licinius, whose manners as well as character, +were not unlike his own, seems to have engaged both his affection +and esteem. Their intimacy had commenced in the happier period +perhaps of their youth and obscurity. It had been cemented by +the freedom and dangers of a military life; they had advanced +almost by equal steps through the successive honors of the +service; and as soon as Galerius was invested with the Imperial +dignity, he seems to have conceived the design of raising his +companion to the same rank with himself. During the short period +of his prosperity, he considered the rank of Caesar as unworthy +of the age and merit of Licinius, and rather chose to reserve for +him the place of Constantius, and the empire of the West. While +the emperor was employed in the Italian war, he intrusted his +friend with the defence of the Danube; and immediately after his +return from that unfortunate expedition, he invested Licinius +with the vacant purple of Severus, resigning to his immediate +command the provinces of Illyricum. ^29 The news of his promotion +was no sooner carried into the East, than Maximin, who governed, +or rather oppressed, the countries of Egypt and Syria, betrayed +his envy and discontent, disdained the inferior name of Caesar, +and, notwithstanding the prayers as well as arguments of +Galerius, exacted, almost by violence, the equal title of +Augustus. ^30 For the first, and indeed for the last time, the +Roman world was administered by six emperors. In the West, +Constantine and Maxentius affected to reverence their father +Maximian. In the East, Licinius and Maximin honored with more +real consideration their benefactor Galerius. The opposition of +interest, and the memory of a recent war, divided the empire into +two great hostile powers; but their mutual fears produced an +apparent tranquillity, and even a feigned reconciliation, till +the death of the elder princes, of Maximian, and more +particularly of Galerius, gave a new direction to the views and +passions of their surviving associates. +[Footnote 29: M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part +i. p. 559) has proved that Licinius, without passing through the +intermediate rank of Caesar, was declared Augustus, the 11th of +November, A. D. 307, after the return of Galerius from Italy.] + +[Footnote 30: Lactantius de M. P. c. 32. When Galerius declared +Licinius Augustus with himself, he tried to satisfy his younger +associates, by inventing for Constantine and Maximin (not +Maxentius; see Baluze, p. 81) the new title of sons of the +Augusti. But when Maximin acquainted him that he had been +saluted Augustus by the army, Galerius was obliged to acknowledge +him as well as Constantine, as equal associates in the Imperial +dignity.] + When Maximian had reluctantly abdicated the empire, the +venal orators of the times applauded his philosophic moderation. +When his ambition excited, or at least encouraged, a civil war, +they returned thanks to his generous patriotism, and gently +censured that love of ease and retirement which had withdrawn him +from the public service. ^31 But it was impossible that minds +like those of Maximian and his son could long possess in harmony +an undivided power. Maxentius considered himself as the legal +sovereign of Italy, elected by the Roman senate and people; nor +would he endure the control of his father, who arrogantly +declared that by his name and abilities the rash youth had been +established on the throne. The cause was solemnly pleaded before +the Praetorian guards; and those troops, who dreaded the severity +of the old emperor, espoused the party of Maxentius. ^32 The life +and freedom of Maximian were, however, respected, and he retired +from Italy into Illyricum, affecting to lament his past conduct, +and secretly contriving new mischiefs. But Galerius, who was well +acquainted with his character, soon obliged him to leave his +dominions, and the last refuge of the disappointed Maximian was +the court of his son-in-law Constantine. ^33 He was received with +respect by that artful prince, and with the appearance of filial +tenderness by the empress Fausta. That he might remove every +suspicion, he resigned the Imperial purple a second time, ^34 +professing himself at length convinced of the vanity of greatness +and ambition. Had he persevered in this resolution, he might +have ended his life with less dignity, indeed, than in his first +retirement, yet, however, with comfort and reputation. But the +near prospect of a throne brought back to his remembrance the +state from whence he was fallen, and he resolved, by a desperate +effort either to reign or to perish. An incursion of the Franks +had summoned Constantine, with a part of his army, to the banks +of the Rhine; the remainder of the troops were stationed in the +southern provinces of Gaul, which lay exposed to the enterprises +of the Italian emperor, and a considerable treasure was deposited +in the city of Arles. Maximian either craftily invented, or +easily credited, a vain report of the death of Constantine. +Without hesitation he ascended the throne, seized the treasure, +and scattering it with his accustomed profusion among the +soldiers, endeavored to awake in their minds the memory of his +ancient dignity and exploits. Before he could establish his +authority, or finish the negotiation which he appears to have +entered into with his son Maxentius, the celerity of Constantine +defeated all his hopes. On the first news of his perfidy and +ingratitude, that prince returned by rapid marches from the Rhine +to the Saone, embarked on the last mentioned river at Chalons, +and at Lyons trusting himself to the rapidity of the Rhone, +arrived at the gates of Arles, with a military force which it was +impossible for Maximian to resist, and which scarcely permitted +him to take refuge in the neighboring city of Marseilles. The +narrow neck of land which joined that place to the continent was +fortified against the besiegers, whilst the sea was open, either +for the escape of Maximian, or for the succor of Maxentius, if +the latter should choose to disguise his invasion of Gaul under +the honorable pretence of defending a distressed, or, as he might +allege, an injured father. Apprehensive of the fatal consequences +of delay, Constantine gave orders for an immediate assault; but +the scaling-ladders were found too short for the height of the +walls, and Marseilles might have sustained as long a siege as it +formerly did against the arms of Caesar, if the garrison, +conscious either of their fault or of their danger, had not +purchased their pardon by delivering up the city and the person +of Maximian. A secret but irrevocable sentence of death was +pronounced against the usurper; he obtained only the same favor +which he had indulged to Severus, and it was published to the +world, that, oppressed by the remorse of his repeated crimes, he +strangled himself with his own hands. After he had lost the +assistance, and disdained the moderate counsels of Diocletian, +the second period of his active life was a series of public +calamities and personal mortifications, which were terminated, in +about three years, by an ignominious death. He deserved his +fate; but we should find more reason to applaud the humanity of +Constantine, if he had spared an old man, the benefactor of his +father, and the father of his wife. During the whole of this +melancholy transaction, it appears that Fausta sacrificed the +sentiments of nature to her conjugal duties. ^35 +[Footnote 31: See Panegyr. Vet. vi. 9. Audi doloris nostri +liberam vocem, &c. The whole passage is imagined with artful +flattery, and expressed with an easy flow of eloquence.] + +[Footnote 32: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. A +report was spread, that Maxentius was the son of some obscure +Syrian, and had been substituted by the wife of Maximian as her +own child. See Aurelius Victor, Anonym. Valesian, and Panegyr. +Vet. ix. 3, 4.] + +[Footnote 33: Ab urbe pulsum, ab Italia fugatum, ab Illyrico +repudiatum, provinciis, tuis copiis, tuo palatio recepisti. +Eumen. in Panegyr Vet. vii. 14.] + +[Footnote 34: Lactantius de M. P. c. 29. Yet, after the +resignation of the purple, Constantine still continued to +Maximian the pomp and honors of the Imperial dignity; and on all +public occasions gave the right hand place to his father-in-law. +Panegyr. Vet. viii. 15.] + +[Footnote 35: Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. Eumenius in Panegyr. Vet. +vii. 16 - 21. The latter of these has undoubtedly represented the +whole affair in the most favorable light for his sovereign. Yet +even from this partial narrative we may conclude, that the +repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated treasons of +Maximian, as they are described by Lactantius, (de M. P. c. 29, +30,) and copied by the moderns, are destitute of any historical +foundation. + Note: Yet some pagan authors relate and confirm them. +Aurelius Victor speaking of Maximin, says, cumque specie officii, +dolis compositis, Constantinum generum tentaret acerbe, jure +tamen interierat. Aur. Vict. de Caesar l. p. 623. Eutropius +also says, inde ad Gallias profectus est (Maximianus) composito +tamquam a filio esset expulsus, ut Constantino genero jun +geretur: moliens tamen Constantinum, reperta occasione, +interficere, dedit justissimo exitu. Eutrop. x. p. 661. (Anon. +Gent.) - G. + + These writers hardly confirm more than Gibbon admits; he +denies the repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated +treasons of Maximian Compare Manso, p. 302. - M.] + + The last years of Galerius were less shameful and +unfortunate; and though he had filled with more glory the +subordinate station of Caesar than the superior rank of Augustus, +he preserved, till the moment of his death, the first place among +the princes of the Roman world. He survived his retreat from +Italy about four years; and wisely relinquishing his views of +universal empire, he devoted the remainder of his life to the +enjoyment of pleasure, and to the execution of some works of +public utility, among which we may distinguish the discharging +into the Danube the superfluous waters of the Lake Pelso, and the +cutting down the immense forests that encompassed it; an +operation worthy of a monarch, since it gave an extensive country +to the agriculture of his Pannonian subjects. ^36 His death was +occasioned by a very painful and lingering disorder. His body, +swelled by an intemperate course of life to an unwieldy +corpulence, was covered with ulcers, and devoured by innumerable +swarms of those insects which have given their name to a most +loathsome disease; ^37 but as Galerius had offended a very +zealous and powerful party among his subjects, his sufferings, +instead of exciting their compassion, have been celebrated as the +visible effects of divine justice. ^38 He had no sooner expired +in his palace of Nicomedia, than the two emperors who were +indebted for their purple to his favors, began to collect their +forces, with the intention either of disputing, or of dividing, +the dominions which he had left without a master. They were +persuaded, however, to desist from the former design, and to +agree in the latter. The provinces of Asia fell to the share of +Maximin, and those of Europe augmented the portion of Licinius. +The Hellespont and the Thracian Bosphorus formed their mutual +boundary, and the banks of those narrow seas, which flowed in the +midst of the Roman world, were covered with soldiers, with arms, +and with fortifications. The deaths of Maximian and of Galerius +reduced the number of emperors to four. The sense of their true +interest soon connected Licinius and Constantine; a secret +alliance was concluded between Maximin and Maxentius, and their +unhappy subjects expected with terror the bloody consequences of +their inevitable dissensions, which were no longer restrained by +the fear or the respect which they had entertained for Galerius. +^39 +[Footnote 36: Aurelius Victor, c. 40. But that lake was situated +on the upper Pannonia, near the borders of Noricum; and the +province of Valeria (a name which the wife of Galerius gave to +the drained country) undoubtedly lay between the Drave and the +Danube, (Sextus Rufus, c. 9.) I should therefore suspect that +Victor has confounded the Lake Pelso with the Volocean marshes, +or, as they are now called, the Lake Sabaton. It is placed in +the heart of Valeria, and its present extent is not less than +twelve Hungarian miles (about seventy English) in length, and two +in breadth. See Severini Pannonia, l. i. c. 9.] + +[Footnote 37: Lactantius (de M. P. c. 33) and Eusebius (l. viii. +c. 16) describe the symptoms and progress of his disorder with +singular accuracy and apparent pleasure.] + +[Footnote 38: If any (like the late Dr. Jortin, Remarks on +Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 307 - 356) still delight in +recording the wonderful deaths of the persecutors, I would +recommend to their perusal an admirable passage of Grotius (Hist. +l. vii. p. 332) concerning the last illness of Philip II. of +Spain.] + +[Footnote 39: See Eusebius, l. ix. 6, 10. Lactantius de M. P. c. +36. Zosimus is less exact, and evidently confounds Maximian with +Maximin.] + Among so many crimes and misfortunes, occasioned by the +passions of the Roman princes, there is some pleasure in +discovering a single action which may be ascribed to their +virtue. In the sixth year of his reign, Constantine visited the +city of Autun, and generously remitted the arrears of tribute, +reducing at the same time the proportion of their assessment from +twenty-five to eighteen thousand heads, subject to the real and +personal capitation. ^40 Yet even this indulgence affords the +most unquestionable proof of the public misery. This tax was so +extremely oppressive, either in itself or in the mode of +collecting it, that whilst the revenue was increased by +extortion, it was diminished by despair: a considerable part of +the territory of Autun was left uncultivated; and great numbers +of the provincials rather chose to live as exiles and outlaws, +than to support the weight of civil society. It is but too +probable, that the bountiful emperor relieved, by a partial act +of liberality, one among the many evils which he had caused by +his general maxims of administration. But even those maxims were +less the effect of choice than of necessity. And if we except +the death of Maximian, the reign of Constantine in Gaul seems to +have been the most innocent and even virtuous period of his life. + +The provinces were protected by his presence from the inroads of +the barbarians, who either dreaded or experienced his active +valor. After a signal victory over the Franks and Alemanni, +several of their princes were exposed by his order to the wild +beasts in the amphitheatre of Treves, and the people seem to have +enjoyed the spectacle, without discovering, in such a treatment +of royal captives, any thing that was repugnant to the laws of +nations or of humanity. ^41 ^* + +[Footnote 40: See the viiith Panegyr., in which Eumenius +displays, in the presence of Constantine, the misery and the +gratitude of the city of Autun.] +[Footnote 41: Eutropius, x. 3. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 10, 11, 12. +A great number of the French youth were likewise exposed to the +same cruel and ignominious death.] + +[Footnote *: Yet the panegyric assumes something of an apologetic +tone. Te vero Constantine, quantumlibet oderint hoses, dum +perhorrescant. Haec est enim vera virtus, ut non ament et +quiescant. The orator appeals to the ancient ideal of the +republic. - M.] + + The virtues of Constantine were rendered more illustrious by +the vices of Maxentius. Whilst the Gallic provinces enjoyed as +much happiness as the condition of the times was capable of +receiving, Italy and Africa groaned under the dominion of a +tyrant, as contemptible as he was odious. The zeal of flattery +and faction has indeed too frequently sacrificed the reputation +of the vanquished to the glory of their successful rivals; but +even those writers who have revealed, with the most freedom and +pleasure, the faults of Constantine, unanimously confess that +Maxentius was cruel, rapacious, and profligate. ^42 He had the +good fortune to suppress a slight rebellion in Africa. The +governor and a few adherents had been guilty; the province +suffered for their crime. The flourishing cities of Cirtha and +Carthage, and the whole extent of that fertile country, were +wasted by fire and sword. The abuse of victory was followed by +the abuse of law and justice. A formidable army of sycophants +and delators invaded Africa; the rich and the noble were easily +convicted of a connection with the rebels; and those among them +who experienced the emperor's clemency, were only punished by the +confiscation of their estates. ^43 So signal a victory was +celebrated by a magnificent triumph, and Maxentius exposed to the +eyes of the people the spoils and captives of a Roman province. +The state of the capital was no less deserving of compassion than +that of Africa. The wealth of Rome supplied an inexhaustible +fund for his vain and prodigal expenses, and the ministers of his +revenue were skilled in the arts of rapine. It was under his +reign that the method of exacting a free gift from the senators +was first invented; and as the sum was insensibly increased, the +pretences of levying it, a victory, a birth, a marriage, or an +imperial consulship, were proportionably multiplied. ^44 +Maxentius had imbibed the same implacable aversion to the senate, +which had characterized most of the former tyrants of Rome; nor +was it possible for his ungrateful temper to forgive the generous +fidelity which had raised him to the throne, and supported him +against all his enemies. The lives of the senators were exposed +to his jealous suspicions, the dishonor of their wives and +daughters heightened the gratification of his sensual passions. +^45 It may be presumed, that an Imperial lover was seldom reduced +to sigh in vain; but whenever persuasion proved ineffectual, he +had recourse to violence; and there remains one memorable example +of a noble matron, who preserved her chastity by a voluntary +death. The soldiers were the only order of men whom he appeared +to respect, or studied to please. He filled Rome and Italy with +armed troops, connived at their tumults, suffered them with +impunity to plunder, and even to massacre, the defenceless +people; ^46 and indulging them in the same licentiousness which +their emperor enjoyed, Maxentius often bestowed on his military +favorites the splendid villa, or the beautiful wife, of a +senator. A prince of such a character, alike incapable of +governing, either in peace or in war, might purchase the support, +but he could never obtain the esteem, of the army. Yet his pride +was equal to his other vices. Whilst he passed his indolent life +either within the walls of his palace, or in the neighboring +gardens of Sallust, he was repeatedly heard to declare, that he +alone was emperor, and that the other princes were no more than +his lieutenants, on whom he had devolved the defence of the +frontier provinces, that he might enjoy without interruption the +elegant luxury of the capital. Rome, which had so long regretted +the absence, lamented, during the six years of his reign, the +presence of her sovereign. ^47 + +[Footnote 42: Julian excludes Maxentius from the banquet of the +Caesars with abhorrence and contempt; and Zosimus (l. ii. p. 85) +accuses him of every kind of cruelty and profligacy.] + +[Footnote 43: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 83 - 85. Aurelius Victor.] +[Footnote 44: The passage of Aurelius Victor should be read in +the following manner: Primus instituto pessimo, munerum specie, +Patres Oratores que pecuniam conferre prodigenti sibi cogeret.] + +[Footnote 45: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. Euseb. Hist Eccles. viii. 14, +et in Vit. Constant i. 33, 34. Rufinus, c. 17. The virtuous +matron who stabbed herself to escape the violence of Maxentius, +was a Christian, wife to the praefect of the city, and her name +was Sophronia. It still remains a question among the casuists, +whether, on such occasions, suicide is justifiable.] +[Footnote 46: Praetorianis caedem vulgi quondam annueret, is the +vague expression of Aurelius Victor. See more particular, though +somewhat different, accounts of a tumult and massacre which +happened at Rome, in Eusebius, (l. viii. c. 14,) and in Zosimus, +(l. ii. p. 84.)] +[Footnote 47: See, in the Panegyrics, (ix. 14,) a lively +description of the indolence and vain pride of Maxentius. In +another place the orator observes that the riches which Rome had +accumulated in a period of 1060 years, were lavished by the +tyrant on his mercenary bands; redemptis ad civile latrocinium +manibus in gesserat.] + + Though Constantine might view the conduct of Maxentius with +abhorrence, and the situation of the Romans with compassion, we +have no reason to presume that he would have taken up arms to +punish the one or to relieve the other. But the tyrant of Italy +rashly ventured to provoke a formidable enemy, whose ambition had +been hitherto restrained by considerations of prudence, rather +than by principles of justice. ^48 After the death of Maximian, +his titles, according to the established custom, had been erased, +and his statues thrown down with ignominy. His son, who had +persecuted and deserted him when alive, effected to display the +most pious regard for his memory, and gave orders that a similar +treatment should be immediately inflicted on all the statues that +had been erected in Italy and Africa to the honor of Constantine. + +That wise prince, who sincerely wished to decline a war, with the +difficulty and importance of which he was sufficiently +acquainted, at first dissembled the insult, and sought for +redress by the milder expedient of negotiation, till he was +convinced that the hostile and ambitious designs of the Italian +emperor made it necessary for him to arm in his own defence. +Maxentius, who openly avowed his pretensions to the whole +monarchy of the West, had already prepared a very considerable +force to invade the Gallic provinces on the side of Rhaetia; and +though he could not expect any assistance from Licinius, he was +flattered with the hope that the legions of Illyricum, allured by +his presents and promises, would desert the standard of that +prince, and unanimously declare themselves his soldiers and +subjects. ^49 Constantine no longer hesitated. He had +deliberated with caution, he acted with vigor. He gave a private +audience to the ambassadors, who, in the name of the senate and +people, conjured him to deliver Rome from a detested tyrant; and +without regarding the timid remonstrances of his council, he +resolved to prevent the enemy, and to carry the war into the +heart of Italy. ^50 + +[Footnote 48: After the victory of Constantine, it was +universally allowed, that the motive of delivering the republic +from a detested tyrant, would, at any time, have justified his +expedition into Italy. Euseb in Vi'. Constantin. l. i. c. 26. +Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.] + +[Footnote 49: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 84, 85. Nazarius in Panegyr. x. +7 - 13.] +[Footnote 50: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2. Omnibus fere tuis +Comitibus et Ducibus non solum tacite mussantibus, sed etiam +aperte timentibus; contra consilia hominum, contra Haruspicum +monita, ipse per temet liberandae arbis tempus venisse sentires. +The embassy of the Romans is mentioned only by Zonaras, (l. +xiii.,) and by Cedrenus, (in Compend. Hist. p. 370;) but those +modern Greeks had the opportunity of consulting many writers +which have since been lost, among which we may reckon the life of +Constantine by Praxagoras. Photius (p. 63) has made a short +extract from that historical work.] + The enterprise was as full of danger as of glory; and the +unsuccessful event of two former invasions was sufficient to +inspire the most serious apprehensions. The veteran troops, who +revered the name of Maximian, had embraced in both those wars the +party of his son, and were now restrained by a sense of honor, as +well as of interest, from entertaining an idea of a second +desertion. Maxentius, who considered the Praetorian guards as +the firmest defence of his throne, had increased them to their +ancient establishment; and they composed, including the rest of +the Italians who were enlisted into his service, a formidable +body of fourscore thousand men. Forty thousand Moors and +Carthaginians had been raised since the reduction of Africa. +Even Sicily furnished its proportion of troops; and the armies of +Maxentius amounted to one hundred and seventy thousand foot and +eighteen thousand horse. The wealth of Italy supplied the +expenses of the war; and the adjacent provinces were exhausted, +to form immense magazines of corn and every other kind of +provisions. + + The whole force of Constantine consisted of ninety thousand +foot and eight thousand horse; ^51 and as the defence of the +Rhine required an extraordinary attention during the absence of +the emperor, it was not in his power to employ above half his +troops in the Italian expedition, unless he sacrificed the public +safety to his private quarrel. ^52 At the head of about forty +thousand soldiers he marched to encounter an enemy whose numbers +were at least four times superior to his own. But the armies of +Rome, placed at a secure distance from danger, were enervated by +indulgence and luxury. Habituated to the baths and theatres of +Rome, they took the field with reluctance, and were chiefly +composed of veterans who had almost forgotten, or of new levies +who had never acquired, the use of arms and the practice of war. +The hardy legions of Gaul had long defended the frontiers of the +empire against the barbarians of the North; and in the +performance of that laborious service, their valor was exercised +and their discipline confirmed. There appeared the same +difference between the leaders as between the armies. Caprice or +flattery had tempted Maxentius with the hopes of conquest; but +these aspiring hopes soon gave way to the habits of pleasure and +the consciousness of his inexperience. The intrepid mind of +Constantine had been trained from his earliest youth to war, to +action, and to military command. +[Footnote 51: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 86) has given us this curious +account of the forces on both sides. He makes no mention of any +naval armaments, though we are assured (Panegyr. Vet. ix. 25) +that the war was carried on by sea as well as by land; and that +the fleet of Constantine took possession of Sardinia, Corsica, +and the ports of Italy.] +[Footnote 52: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. It is not surprising that the +orator should diminish the numbers with which his sovereign +achieved the conquest of Italy; but it appears somewhat singular +that he should esteem the tyrant's army at no more than 100,000 +men.] + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The +Empire. + +Part III. + + When Hannibal marched from Gaul into Italy, he was obliged, +first to discover, and then to open, a way over mountains, and +through savage nations, that had never yielded a passage to a +regular army. ^53 The Alps were then guarded by nature, they are +now fortified by art. Citadels, constructed with no less skill +than labor and expense, command every avenue into the plain, and +on that side render Italy almost inaccessible to the enemies of +the king of Sardinia. ^54 But in the course of the intermediate +period, the generals, who have attempted the passage, have seldom +experienced any difficulty or resistance. In the age of +Constantine, the peasants of the mountains were civilized and +obedient subjects; the country was plentifully stocked with +provisions, and the stupendous highways, which the Romans had +carried over the Alps, opened several communications between Gaul +and Italy. ^55 Constantine preferred the road of the Cottian +Alps, or, as it is now called, of Mount Cenis, and led his troops +with such active diligence, that he descended into the plain of +Piedmont before the court of Maxentius had received any certain +intelligence of his departure from the banks of the Rhine. The +city of Susa, however, which is situated at the foot of Mount +Cenis, was surrounded with walls, and provided with a garrison +sufficiently numerous to check the progress of an invader; but +the impatience of Constantine's troops disdained the tedious +forms of a siege. The same day that they appeared before Susa, +they applied fire to the gates, and ladders to the walls; and +mounting to the assault amidst a shower of stones and arrows, +they entered the place sword in hand, and cut in pieces the +greatest part of the garrison. The flames were extinguished by +the care of Constantine, and the remains of Susa preserved from +total destruction. About forty miles from thence, a more severe +contest awaited him. A numerous army of Italians was assembled +under the lieutenants of Maxentius, in the plains of Turin. Its +principal strength consisted in a species of heavy cavalry, which +the Romans, since the decline of their discipline, had borrowed +from the nations of the East. The horses, as well as the men, +were clothed in complete armor, the joints of which were artfully +adapted to the motions of their bodies. The aspect of this +cavalry was formidable, their weight almost irresistible; and as, +on this occasion, their generals had drawn them up in a compact +column or wedge, with a sharp point, and with spreading flanks, +they flattered themselves that they could easily break and +trample down the army of Constantine. They might, perhaps, have +succeeded in their design, had not their experienced adversary +embraced the same method of defence, which in similar +circumstances had been practised by Aurelian. The skilful +evolutions of Constantine divided and baffled this massy column +of cavalry. The troops of Maxentius fled in confusion towards +Turin; and as the gates of the city were shut against them, very +few escaped the sword of the victorious pursuers. By this +important service, Turin deserved to experience the clemency and +even favor of the conqueror. He made his entry into the Imperial +palace of Milan, and almost all the cities of Italy between the +Alps and the Po not only acknowledged the power, but embraced +with zeal the party, of Constantine. ^56 + +[Footnote 53: The three principal passages of the Alps between +Gaul and Italy, are those of Mount St. Bernard, Mount Cenis, and +Mount Genevre. Tradition, and a resemblance of names, (Alpes +Penninoe,) had assigned the first of these for the march of +Hannibal, (see Simler de Alpibus.) The Chevalier de Folard +(Polyp. tom. iv.) and M. d'Anville have led him over Mount +Genevre. But notwithstanding the authority of an experienced +officer and a learned geographer, the pretensions of Mount Cenis +are supported in a specious, not to say a convincing, manner, by +M. Grosley. Observations sur l'Italie, tom. i. p. 40, &c. ^* + + [Footnote *: The dissertation of Messrs. Cramer and Wickham +has clearly shown that the Little St. Bernard must claim the +honor of Hannibal's passage. Mr. Long (London, 1831) has added +some sensible corrections re Hannibal's march to the Alps. - M] + +[Footnote 54: La Brunette near Suse, Demont, Exiles, +Fenestrelles, Coni, &c.] +[Footnote 55: See Ammian. Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of +the roads over the Alps is clear, lively, and accurate.] + +[Footnote 56: Zosimus as well as Eusebius hasten from the passage +of the Alps to the decisive action near Rome. We must apply to +the two Panegyrics for the intermediate actions of Constantine.] + + From Milan to Rome, the Aemilian and Flaminian highways +offered an easy march of about four hundred miles; but though +Constantine was impatient to encounter the tyrant, he prudently +directed his operations against another army of Italians, who, by +their strength and position, might either oppose his progress, +or, in case of a misfortune, might intercept his retreat. +Ruricius Pompeianus, a general distinguished by his valor and +ability, had under his command the city of Verona, and all the +troops that were stationed in the province of Venetia. As soon +as he was informed that Constantine was advancing towards him, he +detached a large body of cavalry which was defeated in an +engagement near Brescia, and pursued by the Gallic legions as far +as the gates of Verona. The necessity, the importance, and the +difficulties of the siege of Verona, immediately presented +themselves to the sagacious mind of Constantine. ^57 The city was +accessible only by a narrow peninsula towards the west, as the +other three sides were surrounded by the Adige, a rapid river, +which covered the province of Venetia, from whence the besieged +derived an inexhaustible supply of men and provisions. It was +not without great difficulty, and after several fruitless +attempts, that Constantine found means to pass the river at some +distance above the city, and in a place where the torrent was +less violent. He then encompassed Verona with strong lines, +pushed his attacks with prudent vigor, and repelled a desperate +sally of Pompeianus. That intrepid general, when he had used +every means of defence that the strength of the place or that of +the garrison could afford, secretly escaped from Verona, anxious +not for his own, but for the public safety. With indefatigable +diligence he soon collected an army sufficient either to meet +Constantine in the field, or to attack him if he obstinately +remained within his lines. The emperor, attentive to the +motions, and informed of the approach of so formidable an enemy, +left a part of his legions to continue the operations of the +siege, whilst, at the head of those troops on whose valor and +fidelity he more particularly depended, he advanced in person to +engage the general of Maxentius. The army of Gaul was drawn up +in two lines, according to the usual practice of war; but their +experienced leader, perceiving that the numbers of the Italians +far exceeded his own, suddenly changed his disposition, and, +reducing the second, extended the front of his first line to a +just proportion with that of the enemy. Such evolutions, which +only veteran troops can execute without confusion in a moment of +danger, commonly prove decisive; but as this engagement began +towards the close of the day, and was contested with great +obstinacy during the whole night, there was less room for the +conduct of the generals than for the courage of the soldiers. +The return of light displayed the victory of Constantine, and a +field of carnage covered with many thousands of the vanquished +Italians. Their general, Pompeianus, was found among the slain; +Verona immediately surrendered at discretion, and the garrison +was made prisoners of war. ^58 When the officers of the +victorious army congratulated their master on this important +success, they ventured to add some respectful complaints, of such +a nature, however, as the most jealous monarchs will listen to +without displeasure. They represented to Constantine, that, not +contented with all the duties of a commander, he had exposed his +own person with an excess of valor which almost degenerated into +rashness; and they conjured him for the future to pay more regard +to the preservation of a life in which the safety of Rome and of +the empire was involved. ^59 +[Footnote 57: The Marquis Maffei has examined the siege and +battle of Verona with that degree of attention and accuracy which +was due to a memorable action that happened in his native +country. The fortifications of that city, constructed by +Gallienus, were less extensive than the modern walls, and the +amphitheatre was not included within their circumference. See +Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 142 150.] + +[Footnote 58: They wanted chains for so great a multitude of +captives; and the whole council was at a loss; but the sagacious +conqueror imagined the happy expedient of converting into fetters +the swords of the vanquished. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.] + +[Footnote 59: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.] + + While Constantine signalized his conduct and valor in the +field, the sovereign of Italy appeared insensible of the +calamities and danger of a civil war which reigned in the heart +of his dominions. Pleasure was still the only business of +Maxentius. Concealing, or at least attempting to conceal, from +the public knowledge the misfortunes of his arms, ^60 he indulged +himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of the +approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. ^61 The +rapid progress of Constantine ^62 was scarcely sufficient to +awaken him from his fatal security; he flattered himself, that +his well-known liberality, and the majesty of the Roman name, +which had already delivered him from two invasions, would +dissipate with the same facility the rebellious army of Gaul. +The officers of experience and ability, who had served under the +banners of Maximian, were at length compelled to inform his +effeminate son of the imminent danger to which he was reduced; +and, with a freedom that at once surprised and convinced him, to +urge the necessity of preventing his ruin, by a vigorous exertion +of his remaining power. The resources of Maxentius, both of men +and money, were still considerable. The Praetorian guards felt +how strongly their own interest and safety were connected with +his cause; and a third army was soon collected, more numerous +than those which had been lost in the battles of Turin and +Verona. It was far from the intention of the emperor to lead his +troops in person. A stranger to the exercises of war, he +trembled at the apprehension of so dangerous a contest; and as +fear is commonly superstitious, he listened with melancholy +attention to the rumors of omens and presages which seemed to +menace his life and empire. Shame at length supplied the place +of courage, and forced him to take the field. He was unable to +sustain the contempt of the Roman people. The circus resounded +with their indignant clamors, and they tumultuously besieged the +gates of the palace, reproaching the pusillanimity of their +indolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic spirit of +Constantine. ^63 Before Maxentius left Rome, he consulted the +Sibylline books. The guardians of these ancient oracles were as +well versed in the arts of this world as they were ignorant of +the secrets of fate; and they returned him a very prudent answer, +which might adapt itself to the event, and secure their +reputation, whatever should be the chance of arms. ^64 + +[Footnote 60: Literas calamitatum suarum indices supprimebat. +Panegyr Vet. ix. 15.] + +[Footnote 61: Remedia malorum potius quam mala differebat, is the +fine censure which Tacitus passes on the supine indolence of +Vitellius.] +[Footnote 62: The Marquis Maffei has made it extremely probable +that Constantine was still at Verona, the 1st of September, A.D. +312, and that the memorable aera of the indications was dated +from his conquest of the Cisalpine Gaul.] + +[Footnote 63: See Panegyr. Vet. xi. 16. Lactantius de M. P. c. +44.] +[Footnote 64: Illo die hostem Romanorum esse periturum. The +vanquished became of course the enemy of Rome.] + + The celerity of Constantine's march has been compared to the +rapid conquest of Italy by the first of the Caesars; nor is the +flattering parallel repugnant to the truth of history, since no +more than fifty-eight days elapsed between the surrender of +Verona and the final decision of the war. Constantine had always +apprehended that the tyrant would consult the dictates of fear, +and perhaps of prudence; and that, instead of risking his last +hopes in a general engagement, he would shut himself up within +the walls of Rome. His ample magazines secured him against the +danger of famine; and as the situation of Constantine admitted +not of delay, he might have been reduced to the sad necessity of +destroying with fire and sword the Imperial city, the noblest +reward of his victory, and the deliverance of which had been the +motive, or rather indeed the pretence, of the civil war. ^65 It +was with equal surprise and pleasure, that on his arrival at a +place called Saxa Rubra, about nine miles from Rome, ^66 he +discovered the army of Maxentius prepared to give him battle. ^67 +Their long front filled a very spacious plain, and their deep +array reached to the banks of the Tyber, which covered their +rear, and forbade their retreat. We are informed, and we may +believe, that Constantine disposed his troops with consummate +skill, and that he chose for himself the post of honor and +danger. Distinguished by the splendor of his arms, he charged in +person the cavalry of his rival; and his irresistible attack +determined the fortune of the day. The cavalry of Maxentius was +principally composed either of unwieldy cuirassiers, or of light +Moors and Numidians. They yielded to the vigor of the Gallic +horse, which possessed more activity than the one, more firmness +than the other. The defeat of the two wings left the infantry +without any protection on its flanks, and the undisciplined +Italians fled without reluctance from the standard of a tyrant +whom they had always hated, and whom they no longer feared. The +Praetorians, conscious that their offences were beyond the reach +of mercy, were animated by revenge and despair. Notwithstanding +their repeated efforts, those brave veterans were unable to +recover the victory: they obtained, however, an honorable death; +and it was observed that their bodies covered the same ground +which had been occupied by their ranks. ^68 The confusion then +became general, and the dismayed troops of Maxentius, pursued by +an implacable enemy, rushed by thousands into the deep and rapid +stream of the Tyber. The emperor himself attempted to escape +back into the city over the Milvian bridge; but the crowds which +pressed together through that narrow passage forced him into the +river, where he was immediately drowned by the weight of his +armor. ^69 His body, which had sunk very deep into the mud, was +found with some difficulty the next day. The sight of his head, +when it was exposed to the eyes of the people, convinced them of +their deliverance, and admonished them to receive with +acclamations of loyalty and gratitude the fortunate Constantine, +who thus achieved by his valor and ability the most splendid +enterprise of his life. ^70 + +[Footnote 65: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 16, x. 27. The former of +these orators magnifies the hoards of corn, which Maxentius had +collected from Africa and the Islands. And yet, if there is any +truth in the scarcity mentioned by Eusebius, (in Vit. Constantin. +l. i. c. 36,) the Imperial granaries must have been open only to +the soldiers.] + +[Footnote 66: Maxentius . . . tandem urbe in Saxa Rubra, millia +ferme novem aegerrime progressus. Aurelius Victor. See +Cellarius Geograph. Antiq. tom. i. p. 463. Saxa Rubra was in the +neighborhood of the Cremera, a trifling rivulet, illustrated by +the valor and glorious death of the three hundred Fabii.] + +[Footnote 67: The post which Maxentius had taken, with the Tyber +in his rear is very clearly described by the two Panegyrists, ix. +16, x. 28.] +[Footnote 68: Exceptis latrocinii illius primis auctoribus, qui +desperata venia ocum quem pugnae sumpserant texere corporibus. +Panegyr. Vet 17.] +[Footnote 69: A very idle rumor soon prevailed, that Maxentius, +who had not taken any precaution for his own retreat, had +contrived a very artful snare to destroy the army of the +pursuers; but that the wooden bridge, which was to have been +loosened on the approach of Constantine, unluckily broke down +under the weight of the flying Italians. M. de Tillemont (Hist. +des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. 576) very seriously examines +whether, in contradiction to common sense, the testimony of +Eusebius and Zosimus ought to prevail over the silence of +Lactantius, Nazarius, and the anonymous, but contemporary orator, +who composed the ninth Panegyric. + + Note: Manso (Beylage, vi.) examines the question, and +adduces two manifest allusions to the bridge, from the Life of +Constantine by Praxagoras, and from Libanius. Is it not very +probable that such a bridge was thrown over the river to +facilitate the advance, and to secure the retreat, of the army of +Maxentius? In case of defeat, orders were given for destroying +it, in order to check the pursuit: it broke down accidentally, or +in the confusion was destroyed, as has not unfrequently been the +case, before the proper time. - M.] + +[Footnote 70: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 86-88, and the two Panegyrics, +the former of which was pronounced a few months afterwards, +afford the clearest notion of this great battle. Lactantius, +Eusebius, and even the Epitomes, supply several useful hints.] + + In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the +praise of clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. +^71 He inflicted the same treatment to which a defeat would have +exposed his own person and family, put to death the two sons of +the tyrant, and carefully extirpated his whole race. The most +distinguished adherents of Maxentius must have expected to share +his fate, as they had shared his prosperity and his crimes; but +when the Roman people loudly demanded a greater number of +victims, the conqueror resisted with firmness and humanity, those +servile clamors, which were dictated by flattery as well as by +resentment. Informers were punished and discouraged; the +innocent, who had suffered under the late tyranny, were recalled +from exile, and restored to their estates. A general act of +oblivion quieted the minds and settled the property of the +people, both in Italy and in Africa. ^72 The first time that +Constantine honored the senate with his presence, he +recapitulated his own services and exploits in a modest oration, +assured that illustrious order of his sincere regard, and +promised to reestablish its ancient dignity and privileges. The +grateful senate repaid these unmeaning professions by the empty +titles of honor, which it was yet in their power to bestow; and +without presuming to ratify the authority of Constantine, they +passed a decree to assign him the first rank among the three +Augusti who governed the Roman world. ^73 Games and festivals +were instituted to preserve the fame of his victory, and several +edifices, raised at the expense of Maxentius, were dedicated to +the honor of his successful rival. The triumphal arch of +Constantine still remains a melancholy proof of the decline of +the arts, and a singular testimony of the meanest vanity. As it +was not possible to find in the capital of the empire a sculptor +who was capable of adorning that public monument, the arch of +Trajan, without any respect either for his memory or for the +rules of propriety, was stripped of its most elegant figures. +The difference of times and persons, of actions and characters, +was totally disregarded. The Parthian captives appear prostrate +at the feet of a prince who never carried his arms beyond the +Euphrates; and curious antiquarians can still discover the head +of Trajan on the trophies of Constantine. The new ornaments +which it was necessary to introduce between the vacancies of +ancient sculpture are executed in the rudest and most unskillful +manner. ^74 + +[Footnote 71: Zosimus, the enemy of Constantine, allows (l. ii. +p. 88) that only a few of the friends of Maxentius were put to +death; but we may remark the expressive passage of Nazarius, +(Panegyr. Vet. x. 6.) Omnibus qui labefactari statum ejus +poterant cum stirpe deletis. The other orator (Panegyr. Vet. ix. +20, 21) contents himself with observing, that Constantine, when +he entered Rome, did not imitate the cruel massacres of Cinna, of +Marius, or of Sylla. + + Note: This may refer to the son or sons of Maxentius. - M.] +[Footnote 72: See the two Panegyrics, and the laws of this and +the ensuing year, in the Theodosian Code.] + +[Footnote 73: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 20. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44. +Maximin, who was confessedly the eldest Caesar, claimed, with +some show of reason, the first rank among the Augusti.] + +[Footnote 74: Adhuc cuncta opera quae magnifice construxerat, +urbis fanum atque basilicam, Flavii meritis patres sacravere. +Aurelius Victor. With regard to the theft of Trajan's trophies, +consult Flaminius Vacca, apud Montfaucon, Diarium Italicum, p. +250, and l'Antiquite Expliquee of the latter, tom. iv. p. 171.] + + The final abolition of the Praetorian guards was a measure +of prudence as well as of revenge. Those haughty troops, whose +numbers and privileges had been restored, and even augmented, by +Maxentius, were forever suppressed by Constantine. Their +fortified camp was destroyed, and the few Praetorians who had +escaped the fury of the sword were dispersed among the legions, +and banished to the frontiers of the empire, where they might be +serviceable without again becoming dangerous. ^75 By suppressing +the troops which were usually stationed in Rome, Constantine gave +the fatal blow to the dignity of the senate and people, and the +disarmed capital was exposed without protection to the insults or +neglect of its distant master. We may observe, that in this last +effort to preserve their expiring freedom, the Romans, from the +apprehension of a tribute, had raised Maxentius to the throne. +He exacted that tribute from the senate under the name of a free +gift. They implored the assistance of Constantine. He +vanquished the tyrant, and converted the free gift into a +perpetual tax. The senators, according to the declaration which +was required of their property, were divided into several +classes. The most opulent paid annually eight pounds of gold, +the next class paid four, the last two, and those whose poverty +might have claimed an exemption, were assessed, however, at seven +pieces of gold. Besides the regular members of the senate, their +sons, their descendants, and even their relations, enjoyed the +vain privileges, and supported the heavy burdens, of the +senatorial order; nor will it any longer excite our surprise, +that Constantine should be attentive to increase the number of +persons who were included under so useful a description. ^76 +After the defeat of Maxentius, the victorious emperor passed no +more than two or three months in Rome, which he visited twice +during the remainder of his life, to celebrate the solemn +festivals of the tenth and of the twentieth years of his reign. +Constantine was almost perpetually in motion, to exercise the +legions, or to inspect the state of the provinces. Treves, +Milan, Aquileia, Sirmium, Naissus, and Thessalonica, were the +occasional places of his residence, till he founded a new Rome on +the confines of Europe and Asia. ^77 + +[Footnote 75: Praetoriae legiones ac subsidia factionibus aptiora +quam urbi Romae, sublata penitus; simul arma atque usus indumenti +militaris Aurelius Victor. Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) mentions this +fact as an historian, and it is very pompously celebrated in the +ninth Panegyric.] + +[Footnote 76: Ex omnibus provinciis optimates viros Curiae tuae +pigneraveris ut Senatus dignitas . . . . ex totius Orbis flore +consisteret. Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet x. 35. The word +pigneraveris might almost seem maliciously chosen. Concerning +the senatorial tax, see Zosimus, l. ii. p. 115, the second title +of the sixth book of the Theodosian Code, with Godefroy's +Commentary, and Memoires de l'Academic des Inscriptions, tom. +xxviii. p. 726.] + +[Footnote 77: From the Theodosian Code, we may now begin to trace +the motions of the emperors; but the dates both of time and place +have frequently been altered by the carelessness of +transcribers.] + + Before Constantine marched into Italy, he had secured the +friendship, or at least the neutrality, of Licinius, the Illyrian +emperor. He had promised his sister Constantia in marriage to +that prince; but the celebration of the nuptials was deferred +till after the conclusion of the war, and the interview of the +two emperors at Milan, which was appointed for that purpose, +appeared to cement the union of their families and interests. ^78 +In the midst of the public festivity they were suddenly obliged +to take leave of each other. An inroad of the Franks summoned +Constantine to the Rhime, and the hostile approach of the +sovereign of Asia demanded the immediate presence of Licinius. +Maximin had been the secret ally of Maxentius, and without being +discouraged by his fate, he resolved to try the fortune of a +civil war. He moved out of Syria, towards the frontiers of +Bithynia, in the depth of winter. The season was severe and +tempestuous; great numbers of men as well as horses perished in +the snow; and as the roads were broken up by incessant rains, he +was obliged to leave behind him a considerable part of the heavy +baggage, which was unable to follow the rapidity of his forced +marches. By this extraordinary effort of diligence, he arrived +with a harassed but formidable army, on the banks of the Thracian +Bosphorus before the lieutenants of Licinius were apprised of his +hostile intentions. Byzantium surrendered to the power of +Maximin, after a siege of eleven days. He was detained some days +under the walls of Heraclea; and he had no sooner taken +possession of that city, than he was alarmed by the intelligence, +that Licinius had pitched his camp at the distance of only +eighteen miles. After a fruitless negotiation, in which the two +princes attempted to seduce the fidelity of each other's +adherents, they had recourse to arms. The emperor of the East +commanded a disciplined and veteran army of above seventy +thousand men; and Licinius, who had collected about thirty +thousand Illyrians, was at first oppressed by the superiority of +numbers. His military skill, and the firmness of his troops, +restored the day, and obtained a decisive victory. The +incredible speed which Maximin exerted in his flight is much more +celebrated than his prowess in the battle. Twenty- four hours +afterwards he was seen, pale, trembling, and without his Imperial +ornaments, at Nicomedia, one hundred and sixty miles from the +place of his defeat. The wealth of Asia was yet unexhausted; and +though the flower of his veterans had fallen in the late action, +he had still power, if he could obtain time, to draw very +numerous levies from Syria and Egypt. But he survived his +misfortune only three or four months. His death, which happened +at Tarsus, was variously ascribed to despair, to poison, and to +the divine justice. As Maximin was alike destitute of abilities +and of virtue, he was lamented neither by the people nor by the +soldiers. The provinces of the East, delivered from the terrors +of civil war, cheerfully acknowledged the authority of Licinius. +^79 + +[Footnote 78: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) observes, that before the +war the sister of Constantine had been betrothed to Licinius. +According to the younger Victor, Diocletian was invited to the +nuptials; but having ventured to plead his age and infirmities, +he received a second letter, filled with reproaches for his +supposed partiality to the cause of Maxentius and Maximin.] +[Footnote 79: Zosimus mentions the defeat and death of Maximin as +ordinary events; but Lactantius expatiates on them, (de M. P. c. +45-50,) ascribing them to the miraculous interposition of Heaven. + +Licinius at that time was one of the protectors of the church.] + + The vanquished emperor left behind him two children, a boy +of about eight, and a girl of about seven, years old. Their +inoffensive age might have excited compassion; but the compassion +of Licinius was a very feeble resource, nor did it restrain him +from extinguishing the name and memory of his adversary. The +death of Severianus will admit of less excuse, as it was dictated +neither by revenge nor by policy. The conqueror had never +received any injury from the father of that unhappy youth, and +the short and obscure reign of Severus, in a distant part of the +empire, was already forgotten. But the execution of Candidianus +was an act of the blackest cruelty and ingratitude. He was the +natural son of Galerius, the friend and benefactor of Licinius. +The prudent father had judged him too young to sustain the weight +of a diadem; but he hoped that, under the protection of princes +who were indebted to his favor for the Imperial purple, +Candidianus might pass a secure and honorable life. He was now +advancing towards the twentieth year of his age, and the royalty +of his birth, though unsupported either by merit or ambition, was +sufficient to exasperate the jealous mind of Licinius. ^80 To +these innocent and illustrious victims of his tyranny, we must +add the wife and daughter of the emperor Diocletian. When that +prince conferred on Galerius the title of Caesar, he had given +him in marriage his daughter Valeria, whose melancholy adventures +might furnish a very singular subject for tragedy. She had +fulfilled and even surpassed the duties of a wife. As she had +not any children herself, she condescended to adopt the +illegitimate son of her husband, and invariably displayed towards +the unhappy Candidianus the tenderness and anxiety of a real +mother. After the death of Galerius, her ample possessions +provoked the avarice, and her personal attractions excited the +desires, of his successor, Maximin. ^81 He had a wife still +alive; but divorce was permitted by the Roman law, and the fierce +passions of the tyrant demanded an immediate gratification. The +answer of Valeria was such as became the daughter and widow of +emperors; but it was tempered by the prudence which her +defenceless condition compelled her to observe. She represented +to the persons whom Maximin had employed on this occasion, "that +even if honor could permit a woman of her character and dignity +to entertain a thought of second nuptials, decency at least must +forbid her to listen to his addresses at a time when the ashes of +her husband, and his benefactor were still warm, and while the +sorrows of her mind were still expressed by her mourning +garments. She ventured to declare, that she could place very +little confidence in the professions of a man whose cruel +inconstancy was capable of repudiating a faithful and +affectionate wife." ^82 On this repulse, the love of Maximin was +converted into fury; and as witnesses and judges were always at +his disposal, it was easy for him to cover his fury with an +appearance of legal proceedings, and to assault the reputation as +well as the happiness of Valeria. Her estates were confiscated, +her eunuchs and domestics devoted to the most inhuman tortures; +and several innocent and respectable matrons, who were honored +with her friendship, suffered death, on a false accusation of +adultery. The empress herself, together with her mother Prisca, +was condemned to exile; and as they were ignominiously hurried +from place to place before they were confined to a sequestered +village in the deserts of Syria, they exposed their shame and +distress to the provinces of the East, which, during thirty +years, had respected their august dignity. Diocletian made +several ineffectual efforts to alleviate the misfortunes of his +daughter; and, as the last return that he expected for the +Imperial purple, which he had conferred upon Maximin, he +entreated that Valeria might be permitted to share his retirement +of Salona, and to close the eyes of her afflicted father. ^83 He +entreated; but as he could no longer threaten, his prayers were +received with coldness and disdain; and the pride of Maximin was +gratified, in treating Diocletian as a suppliant, and his +daughter as a criminal. The death of Maximin seemed to assure +the empresses of a favorable alteration in their fortune. The +public disorders relaxed the vigilance of their guard, and they +easily found means to escape from the place of their exile, and +to repair, though with some precaution, and in disguise, to the +court of Licinius. His behavior, in the first days of his reign, +and the honorable reception which he gave to young Candidianus, +inspired Valeria with a secret satisfaction, both on her own +account and on that of her adopted son. But these grateful +prospects were soon succeeded by horror and astonishment; and the +bloody executions which stained the palace of Nicomedia +sufficiently convinced her that the throne of Maximin was filled +by a tyrant more inhuman than himself. Valeria consulted her +safety by a hasty flight, and, still accompanied by her mother +Prisca, they wandered above fifteen months ^84 through the +provinces, concealed in the disguise of plebeian habits. They +were at length discovered at Thessalonica; and as the sentence of +their death was already pronounced, they were immediately +beheaded, and their bodies thrown into the sea. The people gazed +on the melancholy spectacle; but their grief and indignation were +suppressed by the terrors of a military guard. Such was the +unworthy fate of the wife and daughter of Diocletian. We lament +their misfortunes, we cannot discover their crimes; and whatever +idea we may justly entertain of the cruelty of Licinius, it +remains a matter of surprise that he was not contented with some +more secret and decent method of revenge. ^85 + +[Footnote 80: Lactantius de M. P. c. 50. Aurelius Victor touches +on the different conduct of Licinius, and of Constantine, in the +use of victory.] +[Footnote 81: The sensual appetites of Maximin were gratified at +the expense of his subjects. His eunuchs, who forced away wives +and virgins, examined their naked charms with anxious curiosity, +lest any part of their body should be found unworthy of the royal +embraces. Coyness and disdain were considered as treason, and +the obstinate fair one was condemned to be drowned. A custom was +gradually introduced, that no person should marry a wife without +the permission of the emperor, "ut ipse in omnibus nuptiis +praegustator esset." Lactantius de M. P. c. 38.] + +[Footnote 82: Lactantius de M. P. c. 39.] + +[Footnote 83: Diocletian at last sent cognatum suum, quendam +militarem ae potentem virum, to intercede in favor of his +daughter, (Lactantius de M. P. c. 41.) We are not sufficiently +acquainted with the history of these times to point out the +person who was employed.] + +[Footnote 84: Valeria quoque per varias provincias quindecim +mensibus plebeio cultu pervagata. Lactantius de M. P. c. 51. +There is some doubt whether we should compute the fifteen months +from the moment of her exile, or from that of her escape. The +expression of parvagata seems to denote the latter; but in that +case we must suppose that the treatise of Lactantius was written +after the first civil war between Licinius and Constantine. See +Cuper, p. 254.] + +[Footnote 85: Ita illis pudicitia et conditio exitio fuit. +Lactantius de M. P. c. 51. He relates the misfortunes of the +innocent wife and daughter of Discletian with a very natural +mixture of pity and exultation.] + The Roman world was now divided between Constantine and +Licinius, the former of whom was master of the West, and the +latter of the East. It might perhaps have been expected that the +conquerors, fatigued with civil war, and connected by a private +as well as public alliance, would have renounced, or at least +would have suspended, any further designs of ambition. And yet a +year had scarcely elapsed after the death of Maximin, before the +victorious emperors turned their arms against each other. The +genius, the success, and the aspiring temper of Constantine, may +seem to mark him out as the aggressor; but the perfidious +character of Licinius justifies the most unfavorable suspicions, +and by the faint light which history reflects on this +transaction, ^86 we may discover a conspiracy fomented by his +arts against the authority of his colleague. Constantine had +lately given his sister Anastasia in marriage to Bassianus, a man +of a considerable family and fortune, and had elevated his new +kinsman to the rank of Caesar. According to the system of +government instituted by Diocletian, Italy, and perhaps Africa, +were designed for his department in the empire. But the +performance of the promised favor was either attended with so +much delay, or accompanied with so many unequal conditions, that +the fidelity of Bassianus was alienated rather than secured by +the honorable distinction which he had obtained. His nomination +had been ratified by the consent of Licinius; and that artful +prince, by the means of his emissaries, soon contrived to enter +into a secret and dangerous correspondence with the new Caesar, +to irritate his discontents, and to urge him to the rash +enterprise of extorting by violence what he might in vain solicit +from the justice of Constantine. But the vigilant emperor +discovered the conspiracy before it was ripe for execution; and +after solemnly renouncing the alliance of Bassianus, despoiled +him of the purple, and inflicted the deserved punishment on his +treason and ingratitude. The haughty refusal of Licinius, when he +was required to deliver up the criminals who had taken refuge in +his dominions, confirmed the suspicions already entertained of +his perfidy; and the indignities offered at Aemona, on the +frontiers of Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the +signal of discord between the two princes. ^87 + +[Footnote 86: The curious reader, who consults the Valesian +fragment, p. 713, will probably accuse me of giving a bold and +licentious paraphrase; but if he considers it with attention, he +will acknowledge that my interpretation is probable and +consistent.] + +[Footnote 87: The situation of Aemona, or, as it is now called, +Laybach, in Carniola, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. +187,) may suggest a conjecture. As it lay to the north-east of +the Julian Alps, that important territory became a natural object +of dispute between the sovereigns of Italy and of Illyricum.] + + The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of +Pannonia, situated on the River Save, about fifty miles above +Sirmium. ^88 From the inconsiderable forces which in this +important contest two such powerful monarchs brought into the +field, it may be inferred that the one was suddenly provoked, and +that the other was unexpectedly surprised. The emperor of the +West had only twenty thousand, and the sovereign of the East no +more than five and thirty thousand, men. The inferiority of +number was, however, compensated by the advantage of the ground. +Constantine had taken post in a defile about half a mile in +breadth, between a steep hill and a deep morass, and in that +situation he steadily expected and repulsed the first attack of +the enemy. He pursued his success, and advanced into the plain. +But the veteran legions of Illyricum rallied under the standard +of a leader who had been trained to arms in the school of Probus +and Diocletian. The missile weapons on both sides were soon +exhausted; the two armies, with equal valor, rushed to a closer +engagement of swords and spears, and the doubtful contest had +already lasted from the dawn of the day to a late hour of the +evening, when the right wing, which Constantine led in person, +made a vigorous and decisive charge. The judicious retreat of +Licinius saved the remainder of his troops from a total defeat; +but when he computed his loss, which amounted to more than twenty +thousand men, he thought it unsafe to pass the night in the +presence of an active and victorious enemy. Abandoning his camp +and magazines, he marched away with secrecy and diligence at the +head of the greatest part of his cavalry, and was soon removed +beyond the danger of a pursuit. His diligence preserved his +wife, his son, and his treasures, which he had deposited at +Sirmium. Licinius passed through that city, and breaking down +the bridge on the Save, hastened to collect a new army in Dacia +and Thrace. In his flight he bestowed the precarious title of +Caesar on Valens, his general of the Illyrian frontier. ^89 + +[Footnote 88: Cibalis or Cibalae (whose name is still preserved +in the obscure ruins of Swilei) was situated about fifty miles +from Sirmium, the capital of Illyricum, and about one hundred +from Taurunum, or Belgrade, and the conflux of the Danube and the +Save. The Roman garrisons and cities on those rivers are finely +illustrated by M. d'Anville in a memoir inserted in l'Academie +des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii.] + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 90, 91) gives a very particular +account of this battle; but the descriptions of Zosimus are +rhetorical rather than military] + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The +Empire. + +Part IV. + + The plain of Mardia in Thrace was the theatre of a second +battle no less obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops +on both sides displayed the same valor and discipline; and the +victory was once more decided by the superior abilities of +Constantine, who directed a body of five thousand men to gain an +advantageous height, from whence, during the heat of the action, +they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very considerable +slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, presenting a double +front, still maintained their ground, till the approach of night +put an end to the combat, and secured their retreat towards the +mountains of Macedonia. ^90 The loss of two battles, and of his +bravest veterans, reduced the fierce spirit of Licinius to sue +for peace. His ambassador Mistrianus was admitted to the +audience of Constantine: he expatiated on the common topics of +moderation and humanity, which are so familiar to the eloquence +of the vanquished; represented in the most insinuating language, +that the event of the war was still doubtful, whilst its +inevitable calamities were alike pernicious to both the +contending parties; and declared that he was authorized to +propose a lasting and honorable peace in the name of the two +emperors his masters. Constantine received the mention of Valens +with indignation and contempt. "It was not for such a purpose," +he sternly replied, "that we have advanced from the shores of the +western ocean in an uninterrupted course of combats and +victories, that, after rejecting an ungrateful kinsman, we should +accept for our colleague a contemptible slave. The abdication of +Valens is the first article of the treaty." ^91 It was necessary +to accept this humiliating condition; and the unhappy Valens, +after a reign of a few days, was deprived of the purple and of +his life. As soon as this obstacle was removed, the tranquillity +of the Roman world was easily restored. The successive defeats +of Licinius had ruined his forces, but they had displayed his +courage and abilities. His situation was almost desperate, but +the efforts of despair are sometimes formidable, and the good +sense of Constantine preferred a great and certain advantage to a +third trial of the chance of arms. He consented to leave his +rival, or, as he again styled Licinius, his friend and brother, +in the possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt; but +the provinces of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Macedonia, and +Greece, were yielded to the Western empire, and the dominions of +Constantine now extended from the confines of Caledonia to the +extremity of Peloponnesus. It was stipulated by the same treaty, +that three royal youths, the sons of emperors, should be called +to the hopes of the succession. Crispus and the young +Constantine were soon afterwards declared Caesars in the West, +while the younger Licinius was invested with the same dignity in +the East. In this double proportion of honors, the conqueror +asserted the superiority of his arms and power. ^92 +[Footnote 90: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 92, 93. Anonym. Valesian. p. +713. The Epitomes furnish some circumstances; but they +frequently confound the two wars between Licinius and +Constantine.] + +[Footnote 91: Petrus Patricius in Excerpt. Legat. p. 27. If it +should be thought that signifies more properly a son-in-law, we +might conjecture that Constantine, assuming the name as well as +the duties of a father, had adopted his younger brothers and +sisters, the children of Theodora. But in the best authors +sometimes signifies a husband, sometimes a father-in-law, and +sometimes a kinsman in general. See Spanheim, Observat. ad +Julian. Orat. i. p. 72.] + +[Footnote 92: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93. Anonym. Valesian. p. 713. +Eutropius, x. v. Aurelius Victor, Euseb. in Chron. Sozomen, l. +i. c. 2. Four of these writers affirm that the promotion of the +Caesars was an article of the treaty. It is, however, certain, +that the younger Constantine and Licinius were not yet born; and +it is highly probable that the promotion was made the 1st of +March, A. D. 317. The treaty had probably stipulated that the +two Caesars might be created by the western, and one only by the +eastern emperor; but each of them reserved to himself the choice +of the persons.] + The reconciliation of Constantine and Licinius, though it +was imbittered by resentment and jealousy, by the remembrance of +recent injuries, and by the apprehension of future dangers, +maintained, however, above eight years, the tranquility of the +Roman world. As a very regular series of the Imperial laws +commences about this period, it would not be difficult to +transcribe the civil regulations which employed the leisure of +Constantine. But the most important of his institutions are +intimately connected with the new system of policy and religion, +which was not perfectly established till the last and peaceful +years of his reign. There are many of his laws, which, as far as +they concern the rights and property of individuals, and the +practice of the bar, are more properly referred to the private +than to the public jurisprudence of the empire; and he published +many edicts of so local and temporary a nature, that they would +ill deserve the notice of a general history. Two laws, however, +may be selected from the crowd; the one for its importance, the +other for its singularity; the former for its remarkable +benevolence, the latter for its excessive severity. 1. The +horrid practice, so familiar to the ancients, of exposing or +murdering their new-born infants, was become every day more +frequent in the provinces, and especially in Italy. It was the +effect of distress; and the distress was principally occasioned +by the intolerant burden of taxes, and by the vexatious as well +as cruel prosecutions of the officers of the revenue against +their insolvent debtors. The less opulent or less industrious +part of mankind, instead of rejoicing in an increase of family, +deemed it an act of paternal tenderness to release their children +from the impending miseries of a life which they themselves were +unable to support. The humanity of Constantine; moved, perhaps, +by some recent and extraordinary instances of despair, ^* engaged +him to address an edict to all the cities of Italy, and +afterwards of Africa, directing immediate and sufficient relief +to be given to those parents who should produce before the +magistrates the children whom their own poverty would not allow +them to educate. But the promise was too liberal, and the +provision too vague, to effect any general or permanent benefit. +^93 The law, though it may merit some praise, served rather to +display than to alleviate the public distress. It still remains +an authentic monument to contradict and confound those venal +orators, who were too well satisfied with their own situation to +discover either vice or misery under the government of a generous +sovereign. ^94 2. The laws of Constantine against rapes were +dictated with very little indulgence for the most amiable +weaknesses of human nature; since the description of that crime +was applied not only to the brutal violence which compelled, but +even to the gentle seduction which might persuade, an unmarried +woman, under the age of twenty-five, to leave the house of her +parents. "The successful ravisher was punished with death; and +as if simple death was inadequate to the enormity of his guilt, +he was either burnt alive, or torn in pieces by wild beasts in +the amphitheatre. The virgin's declaration, that she had been +carried away with her own consent, instead of saving her lover, +exposed her to share his fate. The duty of a public prosecution +was intrusted to the parents of the guilty or unfortunate maid; +and if the sentiments of nature prevailed on them to dissemble +the injury, and to repair by a subsequent marriage the honor of +their family, they were themselves punished by exile and +confiscation. The slaves, whether male or female, who were +convicted of having been accessory to rape or seduction, were +burnt alive, or put to death by the ingenious torture of pouring +down their throats a quantity of melted lead. As the crime was +of a public kind, the accusation was permitted even to strangers. + +The commencement of the action was not limited to any term of +years, and the consequences of the sentence were extended to the +innocent offspring of such an irregular union." ^95 But whenever +the offence inspires less horror than the punishment, the rigor +of penal law is obliged to give way to the common feelings of +mankind. The most odious parts of this edict were softened or +repealed in the subsequent reigns; ^96 and even Constantine +himself very frequently alleviated, by partial acts of mercy, the +stern temper of his general institutions. Such, indeed, was the +singular humor of that emperor, who showed himself as indulgent, +and even remiss, in the execution of his laws, as he was severe, +and even cruel, in the enacting of them. It is scarcely possible +to observe a more decisive symptom of weakness, either in the +character of the prince, or in the constitution of the +government. ^97 +[Footnote *: This explanation appears to me little probable. +Godefroy has made a much more happy conjecture, supported by all +the historical circumstances which relate to this edict. It was +published the 12th of May, A. D. 315. at Naissus in Pannonia, the +birthplace of Constantine. The 8th of October, in that year, +Constantine gained the victory of Cibalis over Licinius. He was +yet uncertain as to the fate of the war: the Christians, no +doubt, whom he favored, had prophesied his victory. Lactantius, +then preceptor of Crispus, had just written his work upon +Christianity, (his Divine Institutes;) he had dedicated it to +Constantine. In this book he had inveighed with great force +against infanticide, and the exposure of infants, (l. vi. c. 20.) +Is it not probable that Constantine had read this work, that he +had conversed on the subject with Lactantius, that he was moved, +among other things, by the passage to which I have referred, and +in the first transport of his enthusiasm, he published the edict +in question? The whole of the edict bears the character of +precipitation, of excitement, (entrainement,) rather than of +deliberate reflection - the extent of the promises, the +indefiniteness of the means, of the conditions, and of the time +during which the parents might have a right to the succor of the +state. Is there not reason to believe that the humanity of +Constantine was excited by the influence of Lactantius, by that +of the principles of Christianity, and of the Christians +themselves, already in high esteem with the emperor, rather than +by some "extraordinary instances of despair"? * * * See +Hegewisch, Essai Hist. sur les Finances Romaines + + The edict for Africa was not published till 322: of that we +may say in truth that its origin was in the misery of the times. +Africa had suffered much from the cruelty of Maxentius. +Constantine says expressly, that he had learned that parents, +under the pressure of distress, were there selling their +children. This decree is more distinct, more maturely +deliberated than the former; the succor which was to be given to +the parents, and the source from which it was to be derived, are +determined. (Code Theod. l. xi. tit. 27, c 2.) If the direct +utility of these laws may not have been very extensive, they had +at least the great and happy effect of establishing a decisive +opposition between the principles of the government and those +which, at this time, had prevailed among the subjects of the +empire. - G.] +[Footnote 93: Codex Theodosian. l. xi. tit. 27, tom. iv. p. 188, +with Godefroy's observations. See likewise l. v. tit. 7, 8.] + +[Footnote 94: Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonae +ubertate, fructuum copia, &c. Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration +of Nazarius was pronounced on the day of the Quinquennalia of the +Caesars, the 1st of March, A. D. 321.] +[Footnote 95: See the edict of Constantine, addressed to the +Roman people, in the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. 24, tom. iii. +p. 189.] + +[Footnote 96: His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the +repeal: "Na sub specie atrocioris judicii aliqua in ulciscendo +crimine dilatio nae ceretur." Cod. Theod. tom. iii. p. 193] + +[Footnote 97: Eusebius (in Vita Constant. l. iii. c. 1) chooses +to affirm, that in the reign of this hero, the sword of justice +hung idle in the hands of the magistrates. Eusebius himself, (l. +iv. c. 29, 54,) and the Theodosian Code, will inform us that this +excessive lenity was not owing to the want either of atrocious +criminals or of penal laws.] + + The civil administration was sometimes interrupted by the +military defence of the empire. Crispus, a youth of the most +amiable character, who had received with the title of Caesar the +command of the Rhine, distinguished his conduct, as well as +valor, in several victories over the Franks and Alemanni, and +taught the barbarians of that frontier to dread the eldest son of +Constantine, and the grandson of Constantius. ^98 The emperor +himself had assumed the more difficult and important province of +the Danube. The Goths, who in the time of Claudius and Aurelian +had felt the weight of the Roman arms, respected the power of the +empire, even in the midst of its intestine divisions. But the +strength of that warlike nation was now restored by a peace of +near fifty years; a new generation had arisen, who no longer +remembered the misfortunes of ancient days; the Sarmatians of the +Lake Maeotis followed the Gothic standard either as subjects or +as allies, and their united force was poured upon the countries +of Illyricum. Campona, Margus, and Benonia, ^! appear to have +been the scenes of several memorable sieges and battles; ^99 and +though Constantine encountered a very obstinate resistance, he +prevailed at length in the contest, and the Goths were compelled +to purchased an ignominious retreat, by restoring the booty and +prisoners which they had taken. Nor was this advantage +sufficient to satisfy the indignation of the emperor. He +resolved to chastise as well as to repulse the insolent +barbarians who had dared to invade the territories of Rome. At +the head of his legions he passed the Danube after repairing the +bridge which had been constructed by Trajan, penetrated into the +strongest recesses of Dacia, ^100 and when he had inflicted a +severe revenge, condescended to give peace to the suppliant +Goths, on condition that, as often as they were required, they +should supply his armies with a body of forty thousand soldiers. +^101 Exploits like these were no doubt honorable to Constantine, +and beneficial to the state; but it may surely be questioned, +whether they can justify the exaggerated assertion of Eusebius, +that All Scythia, as far as the extremity of the North, divided +as it was into so many names and nations of the most various and +savage manners, had been added by his victorious arms to the +Roman empire. ^102 + +[Footnote 98: Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet. x. The victory of +Crispus over the Alemanni is expressed on some medals. + + Note: Other medals are extant, the legends of which +commemorate the success of Constantine over the Sarmatians and +other barbarous nations, Sarmatia Devicta. Victoria Gothica. +Debellatori Gentium Barbarorum. Exuperator Omnium Gentium. St. +Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 148. - M.] +[Footnote !: Campona, Old Buda in Hungary; Margus, Benonia, +Widdin, in Maesia - G and M.] + +[Footnote 99: See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93, 94; though the narrative +of that historian is neither clear nor consistent. The Panegyric +of Optatianus (c. 23) mentions the alliance of the Sarmatians +with the Carpi and Getae, and points out the several fields of +battle. It is supposed that the Sarmatian games, celebrated in +the month of November, derived their origin from the success of +this war.] + +[Footnote 100: In the Caesars of Julian, (p. 329. Commentaire de +Spanheim, p. 252.) Constantine boasts, that he had recovered the +province (Dacia) which Trajan had subdued. But it is insinuated +by Silenus, that the conquests of Constantine were like the +gardens of Adonis, which fade and wither almost the moment they +appear.] + +[Footnote 101: Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21. I know not +whether we may entirely depend on his authority. Such an +alliance has a very recent air, and scarcely is suited to the +maxims of the beginning of the fourth century.] +[Footnote 102: Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 8. This +passage, however, is taken from a general declamation on the +greatness of Constantine, and not from any particular account of +the Gothic war.] + + In this exalted state of glory, it was impossible that +Constantine should any longer endure a partner in the empire. +Confiding in the superiority of his genius and military power, he +determined, without any previous injury, to exert them for the +destruction of Licinius, whose advanced age and unpopular vices +seemed to offer a very easy conquest. ^103 But the old emperor, +awakened by the approaching danger, deceived the expectations of +his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling forth that +spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the +friendship of Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared +himself for the contest, collected the forces of the East, and +soon filled the plains of Hadrianople with his troops, and the +Straits of the Hellespont with his fleet. The army consisted of +one hundred and fifty thousand foot, and fifteen thousand horse; +and as the cavalry was drawn, for the most part, from Phrygia and +Cappadocia, we may conceive a more favorable opinion of the +beauty of the horses, than of the courage and dexterity of their +riders. The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty +galleys of three ranks of oars. A hundred and thirty of these +were furnished by Egypt and the adjacent coast of Africa. A +hundred and ten sailed from the ports of Phoenicia and the Isle +of Cyprus; and the maritime countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and +Caria, were likewise obliged to provide a hundred and ten +galleys. The troops of Constantine were ordered to a rendezvous +at Thessalonica; they amounted to above a hundred and twenty +thousand horse and foot. ^104 Their emperor was satisfied with +their martial appearance, and his army contained more soldiers, +though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor. The +legions of Constantine were levied in the warlike provinces of +Europe; action had confirmed their discipline, victory had +elevated their hopes, and there were among them a great number of +veterans, who, after seventeen glorious campaigns under the same +leader, prepared themselves to deserve an honorable dismission by +a last effort of their valor. ^105 But the naval preparations of +Constantine were in every respect much inferior to those of +Licinius. The maritime cities of Greece sent their respective +quotas of men and ships to the celebrated harbor of Piraeus, and +their united forces consisted of no more than two hundred small +vessels - a very feeble armament, if it is compared with those +formidable fleets which were equipped and maintained by the +republic of Athens during the Peloponnesian war. ^106 Since Italy +was no longer the seat of government, the naval establishments of +Misenum and Ravenna had been gradually neglected; and as the +shipping and mariners of the empire were supported by commerce +rather than by war, it was natural that they should the most +abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia. It is +only surprising that the eastern emperor, who possessed so great +a superiority at sea, should have neglected the opportunity of +carrying an offensive war into the centre of his rival's +dominions. + +[Footnote 103: Constantinus tamen, vir ingens, et omnia efficere +nitens quae animo praeparasset, simul principatum totius urbis +affectans, Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropius, x. 5. Zosimus, l. +ii. p 89. The reasons which they have assigned for the first +civil war, may, with more propriety, be applied to the second.] + +[Footnote 104: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 94, 95.] + +[Footnote 105: Constantine was very attentive to the privileges +and comforts of his fellow-veterans, (Conveterani,) as he now +began to style them. See the Theodosian Code, l. vii. tit. 10, +tom. ii. p. 419, 429.] +[Footnote 106: Whilst the Athenians maintained the empire of the +sea, their fleet consisted of three, and afterwards of four, +hundred galleys of three ranks of oars, all completely equipped +and ready for immediate service. The arsenal in the port of +Piraeus had cost the republic a thousand talents, about two +hundred and sixteen thousand pounds. See Thucydides de Bel. +Pelopon. l. ii. c. 13, and Meursius de Fortuna Attica, c. 19.] + Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might +have changed the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius +expected the approach of his rival in a camp near Hadrianople, +which he had fortified with an anxious care, that betrayed his +apprehension of the event. Constantine directed his march from +Thessalonica towards that part of Thrace, till he found himself +stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus, and +discovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the steep +ascent of the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople. +Many days were spent in doubtful and distant skirmishes; but at +length the obstacles of the passage and of the attack were +removed by the intrepid conduct of Constantine. In this place we +might relate a wonderful exploit of Constantine, which, though it +can scarcely be paralleled either in poetry or romance, is +celebrated, not by a venal orator devoted to his fortune, but by +an historian, the partial enemy of his fame. We are assured that +the valiant emperor threw himself into the River Hebrus, +accompanied only by twelve horsemen, and that by the effort or +terror of his invincible arm, he broke, slaughtered, and put to +flight a host of a hundred and fifty thousand men. The credulity +of Zosimus prevailed so strongly over his passion, that among the +events of the memorable battle of Hadrianople, he seems to have +selected and embellished, not the most important, but the most +marvellous. The valor and danger of Constantine are attested by +a slight wound which he received in the thigh; but it may be +discovered even from an imperfect narration, and perhaps a +corrupted text, that the victory was obtained no less by the +conduct of the general than by the courage of the hero; that a +body of five thousand archers marched round to occupy a thick +wood in the rear of the enemy, whose attention was diverted by +the construction of a bridge, and that Licinius, perplexed by so +many artful evolutions, was reluctantly drawn from his +advantageous post to combat on equal ground on the plain. The +contest was no longer equal. His confused multitude of new +levies was easily vanquished by the experienced veterans of the +West. Thirty-four thousand men are reported to have been slain. +The fortified camp of Licinius was taken by assault the evening +of the battle; the greater part of the fugitives, who had retired +to the mountains, surrendered themselves the next day to the +discretion of the conqueror; and his rival, who could no longer +keep the field, confined himself within the walls of Byzantium. +^107 + +[Footnote 107: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 95, 96. This great battle is +described in the Valesian fragment, (p. 714,) in a clear though +concise manner. "Licinius vero circum Hadrianopolin maximo +exercitu latera ardui montis impleverat; illuc toto agmine +Constantinus inflexit. Cum bellum terra marique traheretur, +quamvis per arduum suis nitentibus, attamen disciplina militari +et felicitate, Constantinus Licinu confusum et sine ordine +agentem vicit exercitum; leviter femore sau ciatus."] + + The siege of Byzantium, which was immediately undertaken by +Constantine, was attended with great labor and uncertainty. In +the late civil wars, the fortifications of that place, so justly +considered as the key of Europe and Asia, had been repaired and +strengthened; and as long as Licinius remained master of the sea, +the garrison was much less exposed to the danger of famine than +the army of the besiegers. The naval commanders of Constantine +were summoned to his camp, and received his positive orders to +force the passage of the Hellespont, as the fleet of Licinius, +instead of seeking and destroying their feeble enemy, continued +inactive in those narrow straits, where its superiority of +numbers was of little use or advantage. Crispus, the emperor's +eldest son, was intrusted with the execution of this daring +enterprise, which he performed with so much courage and success, +that he deserved the esteem, and most probably excited the +jealousy, of his father. The engagement lasted two days; and in +the evening of the first, the contending fleets, after a +considerable and mutual loss, retired into their respective +harbors of Europe and Asia. The second day, about noon, a strong +south wind ^108 sprang up, which carried the vessels of Crispus +against the enemy; and as the casual advantage was improved by +his skilful intrepidity, he soon obtained a complete victory. A +hundred and thirty vessels were destroyed, five thousand men were +slain, and Amandus, the admiral of the Asiatic fleet, escaped +with the utmost difficulty to the shores of Chalcedon. As soon as +the Hellespont was open, a plentiful convoy of provisions flowed +into the camp of Constantine, who had already advanced the +operations of the siege. He constructed artificial mounds of +earth of an equal height with the ramparts of Byzantium. The +lofty towers which were erected on that foundation galled the +besieged with large stones and darts from the military engines, +and the battering rams had shaken the walls in several places. +If Licinius persisted much longer in the defence, he exposed +himself to be involved in the ruin of the place. Before he was +surrounded, he prudently removed his person and treasures to +Chalcedon in Asia; and as he was always desirous of associating +companions to the hopes and dangers of his fortune, he now +bestowed the title of Caesar on Martinianus, who exercised one of +the most important offices of the empire. ^109 + +[Footnote 108: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 97, 98. The current always +sets out of the Hellespont; and when it is assisted by a north +wind, no vessel can[Footnote Continuation: attempt the passage. +A south wind renders the force of the current almost +imperceptible. See Tournefort's Voyage au Levant, Let. xi.] +[Footnote 109: Aurelius Victor. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93. +According to the latter, Martinianus was Magister Officiorum, (he +uses the Latin appellation in Greek.) Some medals seem to +intimate, that during his short reign he received the title of +Augustus.] + + Such were still the resources, and such the abilities, of +Licinius, that, after so many successive defeats, he collected in +Bithynia a new army of fifty or sixty thousand men, while the +activity of Constantine was employed in the siege of Byzantium. +The vigilant emperor did not, however, neglect the last struggles +of his antagonist. A considerable part of his victorious army +was transported over the Bosphorus in small vessels, and the +decisive engagement was fought soon after their landing on the +heights of Chrysopolis, or, as it is now called, of Scutari. The +troops of Licinius, though they were lately raised, ill armed, +and worse disciplined, made head against their conquerors with +fruitless but desperate valor, till a total defeat, and a +slaughter of five and twenty thousand men, irretrievably +determined the fate of their leader. ^110 He retired to +Nicomedia, rather with the view of gaining some time for +negotiation, than with the hope of any effectual defence. +Constantia, his wife, and the sister of Constantine, interceded +with her brother in favor of her husband, and obtained from his +policy, rather than from his compassion, a solemn promise, +confirmed by an oath, that after the sacrifice of Martinianus, +and the resignation of the purple, Licinius himself should be +permitted to pass the remainder of this life in peace and +affluence. The behavior of Constantia, and her relation to the +contending parties, naturally recalls the remembrance of that +virtuous matron who was the sister of Augustus, and the wife of +Antony. But the temper of mankind was altered, and it was no +longer esteemed infamous for a Roman to survive his honor and +independence. Licinius solicited and accepted the pardon of his +offences, laid himself and his purple at the feet of his lord and +master, was raised from the ground with insulting pity, was +admitted the same day to the Imperial banquet, and soon +afterwards was sent away to Thessalonica, which had been chosen +for the place of his confinement. ^111 His confinement was soon +terminated by death, and it is doubtful whether a tumult of the +soldiers, or a decree of the senate, was suggested as the motive +for his execution. According to the rules of tyranny, he was +accused of forming a conspiracy, and of holding a treasonable +correspondence with the barbarians; but as he was never +convicted, either by his own conduct or by any legal evidence, we +may perhaps be allowed, from his weakness, to presume his +innocence. ^112 The memory of Licinius was branded with infamy, +his statues were thrown down, and by a hasty edict, of such +mischievous tendency that it was almost immediately corrected, +all his laws, and all the judicial proceedings of his reign, were +at once abolished. ^113 By this victory of Constantine, the Roman +world was again united under the authority of one emperor, +thirty-seven years after Diocletian had divided his power and +provinces with his associate Maximian. + +[Footnote 110: Eusebius (in Vita Constantin. I. ii. c. 16, 17) +ascribes this decisive victory to the pious prayers of the +emperor. The Valesian fragment (p. 714) mentions a body of +Gothic auxiliaries, under their chief Aliquaca, who adhered to +the party of Licinius.] + +[Footnote 111: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 102. Victor Junior in Epitome. + +Anonym. Valesian. p. 714.] + +[Footnote 112: Contra religionem sacramenti Thessalonicae +privatus occisus est. Eutropius, x. 6; and his evidence is +confirmed by Jerome (in Chronic.) as well as by Zosimus, l. ii. +p. 102. The Valesian writer is the only one who mentions the +soldiers, and it is Zonaras alone who calls in the assistance of +the senate. Eusebius prudently slides over this delicate +transaction. But Sozomen, a century afterwards, ventures to +assert the treasonable practices of Licinius.] + +[Footnote 113: See the Theodosian Code, l. xv. tit. 15, tom. v. p +404, 405. These edicts of Constantine betray a degree of passion +and precipitation very unbecoming the character of a lawgiver.] + + The successive steps of the elevation of Constantine, from +his first assuming the purple at York, to the resignation of +Licinius, at Nicomedia, have been related with some minuteness +and precision, not only as the events are in themselves both +interesting and important, but still more, as they contributed to +the decline of the empire by the expense of blood and treasure, +and by the perpetual increase, as well of the taxes, as of the +military establishment. The foundation of Constantinople, and +the establishment of the Christian religion, were the immediate +and memorable consequences of this revolution. + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + + +Part I. + +The Progress Of The Christian Religion, And The Sentiments, +Manners, Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians. ^* + +[Footnote *: In spite of my resolution, Lardner led me to look +through the famous fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Gibbon. I +could not lay them down without finishing them. The causes +assigned, in the fifteenth chapter, for the diffusion of +Christianity, must, no doubt, have contributed to it materially; +but I doubt whether he saw them all. Perhaps those which he +enumerates are among the most obvious. They might all be safely +adopted by a Christian writer, with some change in the language +and manner. Mackintosh see Life, i. p. 244. - M.] + + A candid but rational inquiry into the progress and +establishment of Christianity may be considered as a very +essential part of the history of the Roman empire. While that +great body was invaded by open violence, or undermined by slow +decay, a pure and humble religion gently insinuated itself into +the minds of men, grew up in silence and obscurity, derived new +vigor from opposition, and finally erected the triumphant banner +of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol. Nor was the influence +of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the +Roman empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen +centuries, that religion is still professed by the nations of +Europe, the most distinguished portion of human kind in arts and +learning as well as in arms. By the industry and zeal of the +Europeans, it has been widely diffused to the most distant shores +of Asia and Africa; and by the means of their colonies has been +firmly established from Canada to Chili, in a world unknown to +the ancients. + + But this inquiry, however useful or entertaining, is +attended with two peculiar difficulties. The scanty and +suspicious materials of ecclesiastical history seldom enable us +to dispel the dark cloud that hangs over the first age of the +church. The great law of impartiality too often obliges us to +reveal the imperfections of the uninspired teachers and believers +of the gospel; and, to a careless observer, their faults may seem +to cast a shade on the faith which they professed. But the +scandal of the pious Christian, and the fallacious triumph of the +Infidel, should cease as soon as they recollect not only by whom, +but likewise to whom, the Divine Revelation was given. The +theologian may indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion +as she descended from Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A +more melancholy duty is imposed on the historian. He must +discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption, which +she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a weak and +degenerate race of beings. ^* + +[Footnote *: The art of Gibbon, or at least the unfair impression +produced by these two memorable chapters, consists in confounding +together, in one undistinguishable mass, the origin and apostolic +propagation of the Christian religion with its later progress. +The main question, the divine origin of the religion, is +dexterously eluded or speciously conceded; his plan enables him +to commence his account, in most parts, below the apostolic +times; and it is only by the strength of the dark coloring with +which he has brought out the failings and the follies of +succeeding ages, that a shadow of doubt and suspicion is thrown +back on the primitive period of Christianity. Divest this whole +passage of the latent sarcasm betrayed by the subsequent one of +the whole disquisition, and it might commence a Christian +history, written in the most Christian spirit of candor. - M.] + + Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means +the Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the +established religions of the earth. To this inquiry, an obvious +but satisfactory answer may be returned; that it was owing to the +convincing evidence of the doctrine itself, and to the ruling +providence of its great Author. But as truth and reason seldom +find so favorable a reception in the world, and as the wisdom of +Providence frequently condescends to use the passions of the +human heart, and the general circumstances of mankind, as +instruments to execute its purpose, we may still be permitted, +though with becoming submission, to ask, not indeed what were the +first, but what were the secondary causes of the rapid growth of +the Christian church. It will, perhaps, appear, that it was most +effectually favored and assisted by the five following causes: + I. The inflexible, and if we may use the expression, the +intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, it is true, from the +Jewish religion, but purified from the narrow and unsocial +spirit, which, instead of inviting, had deterred the Gentiles +from embracing the law of Moses. ^! + + II. The doctrine of a future life, improved by every +additional circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to +that important truth. + III. The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive +church. + IV. The pure and austere morals of the Christians. + + V. The union and discipline of the Christian republic, +which gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the +heart of the Roman empire. +[Footnote !: Though we are thus far agreed with respect to the +inflexibility and intolerance of Christian zeal, yet as to the +principle from which it was derived, we are, toto coelo, divided +in opinion. You deduce it from the Jewish religion; I would +refer it to a more adequate and a more obvious source, a full +persuasion of the truth of Christianity. Watson. Letters Gibbon, +i. 9. - M.] + + I. We have already described the religious harmony of the +ancient world, and the facility ^* with which the most different +and even hostile nations embraced, or at least respected, each +other's superstitions. A single people refused to join in the +common intercourse of mankind. The Jews, who, under the Assyrian +and Persian monarchies, had languished for many ages the most +despised portion of their slaves, ^1 emerged from obscurity under +the successors of Alexander; and as they multiplied to a +surprising degree in the East, and afterwards in the West, they +soon excited the curiosity and wonder of other nations. ^2 The +sullen obstinacy with which they maintained their peculiar rites +and unsocial manners, seemed to mark them out as a distinct +species of men, who boldly professed, or who faintly disguised, +their implacable habits to the rest of human kind. ^3 Neither the +violence of Antiochus, nor the arts of Herod, nor the example of +the circumjacent nations, could ever persuade the Jews to +associate with the institutions of Moses the elegant mythology of +the Greeks. ^4 According to the maxims of universal toleration, +the Romans protected a superstition which they despised. ^5 The +polite Augustus condescended to give orders, that sacrifices +should be offered for his prosperity in the temple of Jerusalem; +^6 whilst the meanest of the posterity of Abraham, who should +have paid the same homage to the Jupiter of the Capitol, would +have been an object of abhorrence to himself and to his brethren. + +But the moderation of the conquerors was insufficient to appease +the jealous prejudices of their subjects, who were alarmed and +scandalized at the ensigns of paganism, which necessarily +introduced themselves into a Roman province. ^7 The mad attempt +of Caligula to place his own statue in the temple of Jerusalem +was defeated by the unanimous resolution of a people who dreaded +death much less than such an idolatrous profanation. ^8 Their +attachment to the law of Moses was equal to their detestation of +foreign religions. The current of zeal and devotion, as it was +contracted into a narrow channel, ran with the strength, and +sometimes with the fury, of a torrent. + +[Footnote *: This facility has not always prevented intolerance, +which seems inherent in the religious spirit, when armed with +authority. The separation of the ecclesiastical and civil power, +appears to be the only means of at once maintaining religion and +tolerance: but this is a very modern notion. The passions, which +mingle themselves with opinions, made the Pagans very often +intolerant and persecutors; witness the Persians, the Egyptians +even the Greeks and Romans. + + 1st. The Persians. - Cambyses, conqueror of the Egyptians, +condemned to death the magistrates of Memphis, because they had +offered divine honors to their god. Apis: he caused the god to +be brought before him, struck him with his dagger, commanded the +priests to be scourged, and ordered a general massacre of all the +Egyptians who should be found celebrating the festival of the +statues of the gods to be burnt. Not content with this +intolerance, he sent an army to reduce the Ammonians to slavery, +and to set on fire the temple in which Jupiter delivered his +oracles. See Herod. iii. 25 - 29, 37. + Xerxes, during his invasion of Greece, acted on the same +principles: l c destroyed all the temples of Greece and Ionia, +except that of Ephesus. See Paus. l. vii. p. 533, and x. p. 887. + +Strabo, l. xiv. b. 941. + 2d. The Egyptians. - They thought themselves defiled when +they had drunk from the same cup or eaten at the same table with +a man of a different belief from their own. "He who has +voluntarily killed any sacred animal is punished with death; but +if any one, even involuntarily, has killed a cat or an ibis, he +cannot escape the extreme penalty: the people drag him away, +treat him in the most cruel manner, sometimes without waiting for +a judicial sentence. * * * Even at the time when King Ptolemy +was not yet the acknowledged friend of the Roman people, while +the multitude were paying court with all possible attention to +the strangers who came from Italy * * a Roman having killed a +cat, the people rushed to his house, and neither the entreaties +of the nobles, whom the king sent to them, nor the terror of the +Roman name, were sufficiently powerful to rescue the man from +punishment, though he had committed the crime involuntarily." +Diod. Sic. i 83. Juvenal, in his 13th Satire, describes the +sanguinary conflict between the inhabitants of Ombos and of +Tentyra, from religious animosity. The fury was carried so far, +that the conquerors tore and devoured the quivering limbs of the +conquered. + + Ardet adhuc Ombos et Tentyra, summus utrinque + Inde furor vulgo, quod numina vicinorum + Odit uterque locus; quum solos credat habendos + Esse Deos quos ipse colit. Sat. xv. v. 85. + + 3d. The Greeks. - "Let us not here," says the Abbe Guenee, +"refer to the cities of Peloponnesus and their severity against +atheism; the Ephesians prosecuting Heraclitus for impiety; the +Greeks armed one against the other by religious zeal, in the +Amphictyonic war. Let us say nothing either of the frightful +cruelties inflicted by three successors of Alexander upon the +Jews, to force them to abandon their religion, nor of Antiochus +expelling the philosophers from his states. Let us not seek our +proofs of intolerance so far off. Athens, the polite and learned +Athens, will supply us with sufficient examples. Every citizen +made a public and solemn vow to conform to the religion of his +country, to defend it, and to cause it to be respected. An +express law severely punished all discourses against the gods, +and a rigid decree ordered the denunciation of all who should +deny their existence. * * * The practice was in unison with the +severity of the law. The proceedings commenced against +Protagoras; a price set upon the head of Diagoras; the danger of +Alcibiades; Aristotle obliged to fly; Stilpo banished; Anaxagoras +hardly escaping death; Pericles himself, after all his services +to his country, and all the glory he had acquired, compelled to +appear before the tribunals and make his defence; * * a priestess +executed for having introduced strange gods; Socrates condemned +and drinking the hemlock, because he was accused of not +recognizing those of his country, &c.; these facts attest too +loudly, to be called in question, the religious intolerance of +the most humane and enlightened people in Greece." Lettres de +quelques Juifs a Mons. Voltaire, i. p. 221. (Compare Bentley on +Freethinking, from which much of this is derived.) - M. + + 4th. The Romans. - The laws of Rome were not less express +and severe. The intolerance of foreign religions reaches, with +the Romans, as high as the laws of the twelve tables; the +prohibitions were afterwards renewed at different times. +Intolerance did not discontinue under the emperors; witness the +counsel of Maecenas to Augustus. This counsel is so remarkable, +that I think it right to insert it entire. "Honor the gods +yourself," says Maecenas to Augustus, "in every way according to +the usage of your ancestors, and compel others to worship them. +Hate and punish those who introduce strange gods, not only for +the sake of the gods, (he who despises them will respect no one,) +but because those who introduce new gods engage a multitude of +persons in foreign laws and customs. From hence arise unions +bound by oaths and confederacies, and associations, things +dangerous to a monarchy." Dion Cass. l. ii. c. 36. (But, though +some may differ from it, see Gibbon's just observation on this +passage in Dion Cassius, ch. xvi. note 117; impugned, indeed, by +M. Guizot, note in loc.) - M. + + Even the laws which the philosophers of Athens and of Rome +wrote for their imaginary republics are intolerant. Plato does +not leave to his citizens freedom of religious worship; and +Cicero expressly prohibits them from having other gods than those +of the state. Lettres de quelques Juifs a Mons. Voltaire, i. p. +226. - G. + + According to M. Guizot's just remarks, religious intolerance +will always ally itself with the passions of man, however +different those passions may be. In the instances quoted above, +with the Persians it was the pride of despotism; to conquer the +gods of a country was the last mark of subjugation. With the +Egyptians, it was the gross Fetichism of the superstitious +populace, and the local jealousy of neighboring towns. In +Greece, persecution was in general connected with political +party; in Rome, with the stern supremacy of the law and the +interests of the state. Gibbon has been mistaken in attributing +to the tolerant spirit of Paganism that which arose out of the +peculiar circumstances of the times. 1st. The decay of the old +Polytheism, through the progress of reason and intelligence, and +the prevalence of philosophical opinions among the higher orders. + +2d. The Roman character, in which the political always +predominated over the religious party. The Romans were contented +with having bowed the world to a uniformity of subjection to +their power, and cared not for establishing the (to them) less +important uniformity of religion. - M.] + +[Footnote 1: Dum Assyrios penes, Medosque, et Persas Oriens fuit, +despectissima pars servientium. Tacit. Hist. v. 8. Herodotus, +who visited Asia whilst it obeyed the last of those empires, +slightly mentions the Syrians of Palestine, who, according to +their own confession, had received from Egypt the rite of +circumcision. See l. ii. c. 104.] + +[Footnote 2: Diodorus Siculus, l. xl. Dion Cassius, l. xxxvii. +p. 121. Tacit Hist. v. 1 - 9. Justin xxxvi. 2, 3.] + + Tradidit arcano quaecunque volumine Moses, + Non monstrare vias cadem nisi sacra colenti, + Quaesitum ad fontem solos deducere verpas. + +The letter of this law is not to be found in the present volume +of Moses. But the wise, the humane Maimonides openly teaches that +if an idolater fall into the water, a Jew ought not to save him +from instant death. See Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. vi. c. +28. + + Note: It is diametrically opposed to its spirit and to its +letter, see, among other passages, Deut. v. 18. 19, (God) "loveth +the stranger in giving him food and raiment. Love ye, therefore, +the stranger: for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." Comp. +Lev. xxiii. 25. Juvenal is a satirist, whose strong expressions +can hardly be received as historic evidence; and he wrote after +the horrible cruelties of the Romans, which, during and after the +war, might give some cause for the complete isolation of the Jew +from the rest of the world. The Jew was a bigot, but his +religion was not the only source of his bigotry. After how many +centuries of mutual wrong and hatred, which had still further +estranged the Jew from mankind, did Maimonides write? - M.] +[Footnote 4: A Jewish sect, which indulged themselves in a sort +of occasional conformity, derived from Herod, by whose example +and authority they had been seduced, the name of Herodians. But +their numbers were so inconsiderable, and their duration so +short, that Josephus has not thought them worthy of his notice. +See Prideaux's Connection, vol. ii. p. 285. + + Note: The Herodians were probably more of a political party +than a religious sect, though Gibbon is most likely right as to +their occasional conformity. See Hist. of the Jews, ii. 108. - +M.] + +[Footnote 5: Cicero pro Flacco, c. 28. + + Note: The edicts of Julius Caesar, and of some of the cities +in Asia Minor (Krebs. Decret. pro Judaeis,) in favor of the +nation in general, or of the Asiatic Jews, speak a different +language. - M.] + +[Footnote 6: Philo de Legatione. Augustus left a foundation for +a perpetual sacrifice. Yet he approved of the neglect which his +grandson Caius expressed towards the temple of Jerusalem. See +Sueton. in August. c. 93, and Casaubon's notes on that passage.] + +[Footnote 7: See, in particular, Joseph. Antiquitat. xvii. 6, +xviii. 3; and de Bell. Judiac. i. 33, and ii. 9, edit. +Havercamp. + + Note: This was during the government of Pontius Pilate. +(Hist. of Jews, ii. 156.) Probably in part to avoid this +collision, the Roman governor, in general, resided at Caesarea. - +M.] + +[Footnote 8: Jussi a Caio Caesare, effigiem ejus in templo +locare, arma potius sumpsere. Tacit. Hist. v. 9. Philo and +Josephus gave a very circumstantial, but a very rhetorical, +account of this transaction, which exceedingly perplexed the +governor of Syria. At the first mention of this idolatrous +proposal, King Agrippa fainted away; and did not recover his +senses until the third day. (Hist. of Jews, ii. 181, &c.)] + This inflexible perseverance, which appeared so odious or so +ridiculous to the ancient world, assumes a more awful character, +since Providence has deigned to reveal to us the mysterious +history of the chosen people. But the devout and even scrupulous +attachment to the Mosaic religion, so conspicuous among the Jews +who lived under the second temple, becomes still more surprising, +if it is compared with the stubborn incredulity of their +forefathers. When the law was given in thunder from Mount Sinai, +when the tides of the ocean and the course of the planets were +suspended for the convenience of the Israelites, and when +temporal rewards and punishments were the immediate consequences +of their piety or disobedience, they perpetually relapsed into +rebellion against the visible majesty of their Divine King, +placed the idols of the nations in the sanctuary of Jehovah, and +imitated every fantastic ceremony that was practised in the tents +of the Arabs, or in the cities of Phoenicia. ^9 As the protection +of Heaven was deservedly withdrawn from the ungrateful race, +their faith acquired a proportionable degree of vigor and purity. + +The contemporaries of Moses and Joshua had beheld with careless +indifference the most amazing miracles. Under the pressure of +every calamity, the belief of those miracles has preserved the +Jews of a later period from the universal contagion of idolatry; +and in contradiction to every known principle of the human mind, +that singular people seems to have yielded a stronger and more +ready assent to the traditions of their remote ancestors, than to +the evidence of their own senses. ^10 + +[Footnote 9: For the enumeration of the Syrian and Arabian +deities, it may be observed, that Milton has comprised in one +hundred and thirty very beautiful lines the two large and learned +syntagmas which Selden had composed on that abstruse subject.] + +[Footnote 10: "How long will this people provoke me? and how +long will it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I +have shown among them?" (Numbers xiv. 11.) It would be easy, but +it would be unbecoming, to justify the complaint of the Deity +from the whole tenor of the Mosaic history. + Note: Among a rude and barbarous people, religious +impressions are easily made, and are as soon effaced. The +ignorance which multiplies imaginary wonders, would weaken and +destroy the effect of real miracle. At the period of the Jewish +history, referred to in the passage from Numbers, their fears +predominated over their faith, - the fears of an unwarlike +people, just rescued from debasing slavery, and commanded to +attack a fierce, a well-armed, a gigantic, and a far more +numerous race, the inhabitants of Canaan. As to the frequent +apostasy of the Jews, their religion was beyond their state of +civilization. Nor is it uncommon for a people to cling with +passionate attachment to that of which, at first, they could not +appreciate the value. Patriotism and national pride will contend, +even to death, for political rights which have been forced upon a +reluctant people. The Christian may at least retort, with +justice, that the great sign of his religion, the resurrection of +Jesus, was most ardently believed, and most resolutely asserted, +by the eye witnesses of the fact. - M.] + + The Jewish religion was admirably fitted for defence, but it +was never designed for conquest; and it seems probable that the +number of proselytes was never much superior to that of +apostates. The divine promises were originally made, and the +distinguishing rite of circumcision was enjoined, to a single +family. When the posterity of Abraham had multiplied like the +sands of the sea, the Deity, from whose mouth they received a +system of laws and ceremonies, declared himself the proper and as +it were the national God of Israel and with the most jealous care +separated his favorite people from the rest of mankind. The +conquest of the land of Canaan was accompanied with so many +wonderful and with so many bloody circumstances, that the +victorious Jews were left in a state of irreconcilable hostility +with all their neighbors. They had been commanded to extirpate +some of the most idolatrous tribes, and the execution of the +divine will had seldom been retarded by the weakness of humanity. + +With the other nations they were forbidden to contract any +marriages or alliances; and the prohibition of receiving them +into the congregation, which in some cases was perpetual, almost +always extended to the third, to the seventh, or even to the +tenth generation. The obligation of preaching to the Gentiles +the faith of Moses had never been inculcated as a precept of the +law, nor were the Jews inclined to impose it on themselves as a +voluntary duty. + + In the admission of new citizens, that unsocial people was +actuated by the selfish vanity of the Greeks, rather than by the +generous policy of Rome. The descendants of Abraham were +flattered by the opinion that they alone were the heirs of the +covenant, and they were apprehensive of diminishing the value of +their inheritance by sharing it too easily with the strangers of +the earth. A larger acquaintance with mankind extended their +knowledge without correcting their prejudices; and whenever the +God of Israel acquired any new votaries, he was much more +indebted to the inconstant humor of polytheism than to the active +zeal of his own missionaries. ^11 The religion of Moses seems to +be instituted for a particular country as well as for a single +nation; and if a strict obedience had been paid to the order, +that every male, three times in the year, should present himself +before the Lord Jehovah, it would have been impossible that the +Jews could ever have spread themselves beyond the narrow limits +of the promised land. ^12 That obstacle was indeed removed by the +destruction of the temple of Jerusalem; but the most considerable +part of the Jewish religion was involved in its destruction; and +the Pagans, who had long wondered at the strange report of an +empty sanctuary, ^13 were at a loss to discover what could be the +object, or what could be the instruments, of a worship which was +destitute of temples and of altars, of priests and of sacrifices. + +Yet even in their fallen state, the Jews, still asserting their +lofty and exclusive privileges, shunned, instead of courting, the +society of strangers. They still insisted with inflexible rigor +on those parts of the law which it was in their power to +practise. Their peculiar distinctions of days, of meats, and a +variety of trivial though burdensome observances, were so many +objects of disgust and aversion for the other nations, to whose +habits and prejudices they were diametrically opposite. The +painful and even dangerous rite of circumcision was alone capable +of repelling a willing proselyte from the door of the synagogue. +^14 + +[Footnote 11: All that relates to the Jewish proselytes has been +very ably by Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, l. vi. c. 6, 7.] + +[Footnote 12: See Exod. xxiv. 23, Deut. xvi. 16, the +commentators, and a very sensible note in the Universal History, +vol. i. p. 603, edit. fol.] +[Footnote 13: When Pompey, using or abusing the right of +conquest, entered into the Holy of Holies, it was observed with +amazement, "Nulli intus Deum effigie, vacuam sedem et inania +arcana." Tacit. Hist. v. 9. It was a popular saying, with regard +to the Jews, "Nil praeter nubes et coeli numen adorant."] +[Footnote 14: A second kind of circumcision was inflicted on a +Samaritan or Egyptian proselyte. The sullen indifference of the +Talmudists, with respect to the conversion of strangers, may be +seen in Basnage Histoire des Juifs, l. xi. c. 6.] + + Under these circumstances, Christianity offered itself to +the world, armed with the strength of the Mosaic law, and +delivered from the weight of its fetters. An exclusive zeal for +the truth of religion, and the unity of God, was as carefully +inculcated in the new as in the ancient system: and whatever was +now revealed to mankind concerning the nature and designs of the +Supreme Being, was fitted to increase their reverence for that +mysterious doctrine. The divine authority of Moses and the +prophets was admitted, and even established, as the firmest basis +of Christianity. From the beginning of the world, an +uninterrupted series of predictions had announced and prepared +the long-expected coming of the Messiah, who, in compliance with +the gross apprehensions of the Jews, had been more frequently +represented under the character of a King and Conqueror, than +under that of a Prophet, a Martyr, and the Son of God. By his +expiatory sacrifice, the imperfect sacrifices of the temple were +at once consummated and abolished. The ceremonial law, which +consisted only of types and figures, was succeeded by a pure and +spiritual worship, equally adapted to all climates, as well as to +every condition of mankind; and to the initiation of blood was +substituted a more harmless initiation of water. The promise of +divine favor, instead of being partially confined to the +posterity of Abraham, was universally proposed to the freeman and +the slave, to the Greek and to the barbarian, to the Jew and to +the Gentile. Every privilege that could raise the proselyte from +earth to heaven, that could exalt his devotion, secure his +happiness, or even gratify that secret pride which, under the +semblance of devotion, insinuates itself into the human heart, +was still reserved for the members of the Christian church; but +at the same time all mankind was permitted, and even solicited, +to accept the glorious distinction, which was not only proffered +as a favor, but imposed as an obligation. It became the most +sacred duty of a new convert to diffuse among his friends and +relations the inestimable blessing which he had received, and to +warn them against a refusal that would be severely punished as a +criminal disobedience to the will of a benevolent but +all-powerful Deity. + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part II. + + The enfranchisement of the church from the bonds of the +synagogue was a work, however, of some time and of some +difficulty. The Jewish converts, who acknowledged Jesus in the +character of the Messiah foretold by their ancient oracles, +respected him as a prophetic teacher of virtue and religion; but +they obstinately adhered to the ceremonies of their ancestors, +and were desirous of imposing them on the Gentiles, who +continually augmented the number of believers. These Judaizing +Christians seem to have argued with some degree of plausibility +from the divine origin of the Mosaic law, and from the immutable +perfections of its great Author. They affirmed, that if the +Being, who is the same through all eternity, had designed to +abolish those sacred rites which had served to distinguish his +chosen people, the repeal of them would have been no less clear +and solemn than their first promulgation: that, instead of those +frequent declarations, which either suppose or assert the +perpetuity of the Mosaic religion, it would have been represented +as a provisionary scheme intended to last only to the coming of +the Messiah, who should instruct mankind in a more perfect mode +of faith and of worship: ^15 that the Messiah himself, and his +disciples who conversed with him on earth, instead of authorizing +by their example the most minute observances of the Mosaic law, +^16 would have published to the world the abolition of those +useless and obsolete ceremonies, without suffering Christianity +to remain during so many years obscurely confounded among the +sects of the Jewish church. Arguments like these appear to have +been used in the defence of the expiring cause of the Mosaic law; +but the industry of our learned divines has abundantly explained +the ambiguous language of the Old Testament, and the ambiguous +conduct of the apostolic teachers. It was proper gradually to +unfold the system of the gospel, and to pronounce, with the +utmost caution and tenderness, a sentence of condemnation so +repugnant to the inclination and prejudices of the believing +Jews. + +[Footnote 15: These arguments were urged with great ingenuity by +the Jew Orobio, and refuted with equal ingenuity and candor by +the Christian Limborch. See the Amica Collatio, (it well +deserves that name,) or account of the dispute between them.] + +[Footnote 16: Jesus . . . circumcisus erat; cibis utebatur +Judaicis; vestitu simili; purgatos scabie mittebat ad sacerdotes; +Paschata et alios dies festos religiose observabat: Si quos +sanavit sabbatho, ostendit non tantum ex lege, sed et exceptis +sententiis, talia opera sabbatho non interdicta. Grotius de +Veritate Religionis Christianae, l. v. c. 7. A little +afterwards, (c. 12,) he expatiates on the condescension of the +apostles.] + + The history of the church of Jerusalem affords a lively +proof of the necessity of those precautions, and of the deep +impression which the Jewish religion had made on the minds of its +sectaries. The first fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were all +circumcised Jews; and the congregation over which they presided +united the law of Moses with the doctrine of Christ. ^17 It was +natural that the primitive tradition of a church which was +founded only forty days after the death of Christ, and was +governed almost as many years under the immediate inspection of +his apostle, should be received as the standard of orthodoxy. ^18 +The distant churches very frequently appealed to the authority of +their venerable Parent, and relieved her distresses by a liberal +contribution of alms. But when numerous and opulent societies +were established in the great cities of the empire, in Antioch, +Alexandria, Ephesus, Corinth, and Rome, the reverence which +Jerusalem had inspired to all the Christian colonies insensibly +diminished. The Jewish converts, or, as they were afterwards +called, the Nazarenes, who had laid the foundations of the +church, soon found themselves overwhelmed by the increasing +multitudes, that from all the various religions of polytheism +enlisted under the banner of Christ: and the Gentiles, who, with +the approbation of their peculiar apostle, had rejected the +intolerable weight of the Mosaic ceremonies, at length refused to +their more scrupulous brethren the same toleration which at first +they had humbly solicited for their own practice. The ruin of +the temple of the city, and of the public religion of the Jews, +was severely felt by the Nazarenes; as in their manners, though +not in their faith, they maintained so intimate a connection with +their impious countrymen, whose misfortunes were attributed by +the Pagans to the contempt, and more justly ascribed by the +Christians to the wrath, of the Supreme Deity. The Nazarenes +retired from the ruins of Jerusalem ^* to the little town of +Pella beyond the Jordan, where that ancient church languished +above sixty years in solitude and obscurity. ^19 They still +enjoyed the comfort of making frequent and devout visits to the +Holy City, and the hope of being one day restored to those seats +which both nature and religion taught them to love as well as to +revere. But at length, under the reign of Hadrian, the desperate +fanaticism of the Jews filled up the measure of their calamities; +and the Romans, exasperated by their repeated rebellions, +exercised the rights of victory with unusual rigor. The emperor +founded, under the name of Aelia Capitolina, a new city on Mount +Sion, ^20 to which he gave the privileges of a colony; and +denouncing the severest penalties against any of the Jewish +people who should dare to approach its precincts, he fixed a +vigilant garrison of a Roman cohort to enforce the execution of +his orders. The Nazarenes had only one way left to escape the +common proscription, and the force of truth was on this occasion +assisted by the influence of temporal advantages. They elected +Marcus for their bishop, a prelate of the race of the Gentiles, +and most probably a native either of Italy or of some of the +Latin provinces. At his persuasion, the most considerable part +of the congregation renounced the Mosaic law, in the practice of +which they had persevered above a century. By this sacrifice of +their habits and prejudices, they purchased a free admission into +the colony of Hadrian, and more firmly cemented their union with +the Catholic church. ^21 + +[Footnote 17: Paene omnes Christum Deum sub legis observatione +credebant Sulpicius Severus, ii. 31. See Eusebius, Hist. +Ecclesiast. l. iv. c. 5.] +[Footnote 18: Mosheim de Rebus Christianis ante Constantinum +Magnum, page 153. In this masterly performance, which I shall +often have occasion to quote he enters much more fully into the +state of the primitive church than he has an opportunity of doing +in his General History.] + +[Footnote *: This is incorrect: all the traditions concur in +placing the abandonment of the city by the Christians, not only +before it was in ruins, but before the seige had commenced. +Euseb. loc. cit., and Le Clerc. - M.] +[Footnote 19: Eusebius, l. iii. c. 5. Le Clerc, Hist. +Ecclesiast. p. 605. During this occasional absence, the bishop +and church of Pella still retained the title of Jerusalem. In +the same manner, the Roman pontiffs resided seventy years at +Avignon; and the patriarchs of Alexandria have long since +transferred their episcopal seat to Cairo.] + +[Footnote 20: Dion Cassius, l. lxix. The exile of the Jewish +nation from Jerusalem is attested by Aristo of Pella, (apud +Euseb. l. iv. c. 6,) and is mentioned by several ecclesiastical +writers; though some of them too hastily extend this interdiction +to the whole country of Palestine.] +[Footnote 21: Eusebius, l. iv. c. 6. Sulpicius Severus, ii. 31. +By comparing their unsatisfactory accounts, Mosheim (p. 327, &c.) +has drawn out a very distinct representation of the circumstances +and motives of this revolution.] + + When the name and honors of the church of Jerusalem had been +restored to Mount Sion, the crimes of heresy and schism were +imputed to the obscure remnant of the Nazarenes, which refused to +accompany their Latin bishop. They still preserved their former +habitation of Pella, spread themselves into the villages adjacent +to Damascus, and formed an inconsiderable church in the city of +Beroea, or, as it is now called, of Aleppo, in Syria. ^22 The +name of Nazarenes was deemed too honorable for those Christian +Jews, and they soon received, from the supposed poverty of their +understanding, as well as of their condition, the contemptuous +epithet of Ebionites. ^23 In a few years after the return of the +church of Jerusalem, it became a matter of doubt and controversy, +whether a man who sincerely acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, +but who still continued to observe the law of Moses, could +possibly hope for salvation. The humane temper of Justin Martyr +inclined him to answer this question in the affirmative; and +though he expressed himself with the most guarded diffidence, he +ventured to determine in favor of such an imperfect Christian, if +he were content to practise the Mosaic ceremonies, without +pretending to assert their general use or necessity. But when +Justin was pressed to declare the sentiment of the church, he +confessed that there were very many among the orthodox +Christians, who not only excluded their Judaizing brethren from +the hope of salvation, but who declined any intercourse with them +in the common offices of friendship, hospitality, and social +life. ^24 The more rigorous opinion prevailed, as it was natural +to expect, over the milder; and an eternal bar of separation was +fixed between the disciples of Moses and those of Christ. The +unfortunate Ebionites, rejected from one religion as apostates, +and from the other as heretics, found themselves compelled to +assume a more decided character; and although some traces of that +obsolete sect may be discovered as late as the fourth century, +they insensibly melted away, either into the church or the +synagogue. ^25 + +[Footnote 22: Le Clerc (Hist. Ecclesiast. p. 477, 535) seems to +have collected from Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, and other +writers, all the principal circumstances that relate to the +Nazarenes or Ebionites. The nature of their opinions soon +divided them into a stricter and a milder sect; and there is some +reason to conjecture, that the family of Jesus Christ remained +members, at least, of the latter and more moderate party.] +[Footnote 23: Some writers have been pleased to create an Ebion, +the imaginary author of their sect and name. But we can more +safely rely on the learned Eusebius than on the vehement +Tertullian, or the credulous Epiphanius. According to Le Clerc, +the Hebrew word Ebjonim may be translated into Latin by that of +Pauperes. See Hist. Ecclesiast. p. 477. + + Note: The opinion of Le Clerc is generally admitted; but +Neander has suggested some good reasons for supposing that this +term only applied to poverty of condition. The obscure history +of their tenets and divisions, is clearly and rationally traced +in his History of the Church, vol. i. part ii. p. 612, &c., Germ. +edit. - M.] + +[Footnote 24: See the very curious Dialogue of Justin Martyr with +the Jew Tryphon. The conference between them was held at Ephesus, +in the reign of Antoninus Pius, and about twenty years after the +return of the church of Pella to Jerusalem. For this date +consult the accurate note of Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiastiques, +tom. ii. p. 511. + + Note: Justin Martyr makes an important distinction, which +Gibbon has neglected to notice. * * * There were some who were +not content with observing the Mosaic law themselves, but +enforced the same observance, as necessary to salvation, upon the +heathen converts, and refused all social intercourse with them if +they did not conform to the law. Justin Martyr himself freely +admits those who kept the law themselves to Christian communion, +though he acknowledges that some, not the Church, thought +otherwise; of the other party, he himself thought less favorably. +The former by some are considered the Nazarenes the atter the +Ebionites - G and M.] +[Footnote 25: Of all the systems of Christianity, that of +Abyssinia is the only one which still adheres to the Mosaic +rites. (Geddes's Church History of Aethiopia, and Dissertations +de La Grand sur la Relation du P. Lobo.) The eunuch of the queen +Candace might suggest some suspicious; but as we are assured +(Socrates, i. 19. Sozomen, ii. 24. Ludolphus, p. 281) that the +Aethiopians were not converted till the fourth century, it is +more reasonable to believe that they respected the sabbath, and +distinguished the forbidden meats, in imitation of the Jews, who, +in a very early period, were seated on both sides of the Red Sea. + +Circumcision had been practised by the most ancient Aethiopians, +from motives of health and cleanliness, which seem to be +explained in the Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains, +tom. ii. p. 117.] + + While the orthodox church preserved a just medium between +excessive veneration and improper contempt for the law of Moses, +the various heretics deviated into equal but opposite extremes of +error and extravagance. From the acknowledged truth of the +Jewish religion, the Ebionites had concluded that it could never +be abolished. From its supposed imperfections, the Gnostics as +hastily inferred that it never was instituted by the wisdom of +the Deity. There are some objections against the authority of +Moses and the prophets, which too readily present themselves to +the sceptical mind; though they can only be derived from our +ignorance of remote antiquity, and from our incapacity to form an +adequate judgment of the divine economy. These objections were +eagerly embraced and as petulantly urged by the vain science of +the Gnostics. ^26 As those heretics were, for the most part, +averse to the pleasures of sense, they morosely arraigned the +polygamy of the patriarchs, the gallantries of David, and the +seraglio of Solomon. The conquest of the land of Canaan, and the +extirpation of the unsuspecting natives, they were at a loss how +to reconcile with the common notions of humanity and justice. ^* +But when they recollected the sanguinary list of murders, of +executions, and of massacres, which stain almost every page of +the Jewish annals, they acknowledged that the barbarians of +Palestine had exercised as much compassion towards their +idolatrous enemies, as they had ever shown to their friends or +countrymen. ^27 Passing from the sectaries of the law to the law +itself, they asserted that it was impossible that a religion +which consisted only of bloody sacrifices and trifling +ceremonies, and whose rewards as well as punishments were all of +a carnal and temporal nature, could inspire the love of virtue, +or restrain the impetuosity of passion. The Mosaic account of +the creation and fall of man was treated with profane derision by +the Gnostics, who would not listen with patience to the repose of +the Deity after six days' labor, to the rib of Adam, the garden +of Eden, the trees of life and of knowledge, the speaking +serpent, the forbidden fruit, and the condemnation pronounced +against human kind for the venial offence of their first +progenitors. ^28 The God of Israel was impiously represented by +the Gnostics as a being liable to passion and to error, +capricious in his favor, implacable in his resentment, meanly +jealous of his superstitious worship, and confining his partial +providence to a single people, and to this transitory life. In +such a character they could discover none of the features of the +wise and omnipotent Father of the universe. ^29 They allowed that +the religion of the Jews was somewhat less criminal than the +idolatry of the Gentiles; but it was their fundamental doctrine, +that the Christ whom they adored as the first and brightest +emanation of the Deity appeared upon earth to rescue mankind from +their various errors, and to reveal a new system of truth and +perfection. The most learned of the fathers, by a very singular +condescension, have imprudently admitted the sophistry of the +Gnostics. ^* Acknowledging that the literal sense is repugnant to +every principle of faith as well as reason, they deem themselves +secure and invulnerable behind the ample veil of allegory, which +they carefully spread over every tender part of the Mosaic +dispensation. ^30 + +[Footnote 26: Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, l. i. c. 3, has +stated their objections, particularly those of Faustus, the +adversary of Augustin, with the most learned impartiality.] + +[Footnote *: On the "war law" of the Jews, see Hist. of Jews, i. +137. - M.] +[Footnote 27: Apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in +promptu: adversus amnes alios hostile odium. Tacit. Hist. v. 4. +Surely Tacitus had seen the Jews with too favorable an eye. The +perusal of Josephus must have destroyed the antithesis. + + Note: Few writers have suspected Tacitus of partiality +towards the Jews. The whole later history of the Jews illustrates +as well their strong feelings of humanity to their brethren, as +their hostility to the rest of mankind. The character and the +position of Josephus with the Roman authorities, must be kept in +mind during the perusal of his History. Perhaps he has not +exaggerated the ferocity and fanaticism of the Jews at that time; +but insurrectionary warfare is not the best school for the +humaner virtues, and much must be allowed for the grinding +tyranny of the later Roman governors. See Hist. of Jews, ii. 254. +- M.] + +[Footnote 28: Dr. Burnet (Archaeologia, l. ii. c. 7) has +discussed the first chapters of Genesis with too much wit and +freedom. ^! + + Note: Dr. Burnet apologized for the levity with which he had +conducted some of his arguments, by the excuse that he wrote in a +learned language for scholars alone, not for the vulgar. +Whatever may be thought of his success in tracing an Eastern +allegory in the first chapters of Genesis, his other works prove +him to have been a man of great genius, and of sincere piety. - +M] +[Footnote 29: The milder Gnostics considered Jehovah, the +Creator, as a Being of a mixed nature between God and the Daemon. + +Others confounded him with an evil principle. Consult the second +century of the general history of Mosheim, which gives a very +distinct, though concise, account of their strange opinions on +this subject.] + +[Footnote *: The Gnostics, and the historian who has stated these +plausible objections with so much force as almost to make them +his own, would have shown a more considerate and not less +reasonable philosophy, if they had considered the religion of +Moses with reference to the age in which it was promulgated; if +they had done justice to its sublime as well as its more +imperfect views of the divine nature; the humane and civilizing +provisions of the Hebrew law, as well as those adapted for an +infant and barbarous people. See Hist of Jews, i. 36, 37, &c. - +M.] + +[Footnote 30: See Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. i. c. 4. +Origen and St. Augustin were among the allegorists.] + + It has been remarked with more ingenuity than truth, that +the virgin purity of the church was never violated by schism or +heresy before the reign of Trajan or Hadrian, about one hundred +years after the death of Christ. ^31 We may observe with much +more propriety, that, during that period, the disciples of the +Messiah were indulged in a freer latitude, both of faith and +practice, than has ever been allowed in succeeding ages. As the +terms of communion were insensibly narrowed, and the spiritual +authority of the prevailing party was exercised with increasing +severity, many of its most respectable adherents, who were called +upon to renounce, were provoked to assert their private opinions, +to pursue the consequences of their mistaken principles, and +openly to erect the standard of rebellion against the unity of +the church. The Gnostics were distinguished as the most polite, +the most learned, and the most wealthy of the Christian name; and +that general appellation, which expressed a superiority of +knowledge, was either assumed by their own pride, or ironically +bestowed by the envy of their adversaries. They were almost +without exception of the race of the Gentiles, and their +principal founders seem to have been natives of Syria or Egypt, +where the warmth of the climate disposes both the mind and the +body to indolent and contemplative devotion. The Gnostics +blended with the faith of Christ many sublime but obscure tenets, +which they derived from oriental philosophy, and even from the +religion of Zoroaster, concerning the eternity of matter, the +existence of two principles, and the mysterious hierarchy of the +invisible world. ^32 As soon as they launched out into that vast +abyss, they delivered themselves to the guidance of a disordered +imagination; and as the paths of error are various and infinite, +the Gnostics were imperceptibly divided into more than fifty +particular sects, ^33 of whom the most celebrated appear to have +been the Basilidians, the Valentinians, the Marcionites, and, in +a still later period, the Manichaeans. Each of these sects could +boast of its bishops and congregations, of its doctors and +martyrs; ^34 and, instead of the Four Gospels adopted by the +church, ^! the heretics produced a multitude of histories, in +which the actions and discourses of Christ and of his apostles +were adapted to their respective tenets. ^35 The success of the +Gnostics was rapid and extensive. ^36 They covered Asia and +Egypt, established themselves in Rome, and sometimes penetrated +into the provinces of the West. For the most part they arose in +the second century, flourished during the third, and were +suppressed in the fourth or fifth, by the prevalence of more +fashionable controversies, and by the superior ascendant of the +reigning power. Though they constantly disturbed the peace, and +frequently disgraced the name, of religion, they contributed to +assist rather than to retard the progress of Christianity. The +Gentile converts, whose strongest objections and prejudices were +directed against the law of Moses, could find admission into many +Christian societies, which required not from their untutored mind +any belief of an antecedent revelation. Their faith was +insensibly fortified and enlarged, and the church was ultimately +benefited by the conquests of its most inveterate enemies. ^37 + +[Footnote 31: Hegesippus, ap. Euseb. l. iii. 32, iv. 22. +Clemens Alexandrin Stromat. vii. 17. + + Note: The assertion of Hegesippus is not so positive: it is +sufficient to read the whole passage in Eusebius, to see that the +former part is modified by the matter. Hegesippus adds, that up +to this period the church had remained pure and immaculate as a +virgin. Those who labored to corrupt the doctrines of the gospel +worked as yet in obscurity - G] + +[Footnote 32: In the account of the Gnostics of the second and +third centuries, Mosheim is ingenious and candid; Le Clerc dull, +but exact; Beausobre almost always an apologist; and it is much +to be feared that the primitive fathers are very frequently +calumniators. + + Note The Histoire du Gnosticisme of M. Matter is at once the +fairest and most complete account of these sects. - M.] + +[Footnote 33: See the catalogues of Irenaeus and Epiphanius. It +must indeed be allowed, that those writers were inclined to +multiply the number of sects which opposed the unity of the +church.] + +[Footnote 34: Eusebius, l. iv. c. 15. Sozomen, l. ii. c. 32. +See in Bayle, in the article of Marcion, a curious detail of a +dispute on that subject. It should seem that some of the +Gnostics (the Basilidians) declined, and even refused the honor +of Martyrdom. Their reasons were singular and abstruse. See +Mosheim, p. 539.] + +[Footnote !: M. Hahn has restored the Marcionite Gospel with +great ingenuity. His work is reprinted in Thilo. Codex. Apoc. +Nov. Test. vol. i. - M.] +[Footnote 35: See a very remarkable passage of Origen, (Proem. ad +Lucam.) That indefatigable writer, who had consumed his life in +the study of the Scriptures, relies for their authenticity on the +inspired authority of the church. It was impossible that the +Gnostics could receive our present Gospels, many parts of which +(particularly in the resurrection of Christ) are directly, and as +it might seem designedly, pointed against their favorite tenets. +It is therefore somewhat singular that Ignatius (Epist. ad Smyrn. +Patr. Apostol. tom. ii. p. 34) should choose to employ a vague +and doubtful tradition, instead of quoting the certain testimony +of the evangelists. + Note: Bishop Pearson has attempted very happily to explain +this singularity.' The first Christians were acquainted with a +number of sayings of Jesus Christ, which are not related in our +Gospels, and indeed have never been written. Why might not St. +Ignatius, who had lived with the apostles or their disciples, +repeat in other words that which St. Luke has related, +particularly at a time when, being in prison, he could have the +Gospels at hand? Pearson, Vind Ign. pp. 2, 9 p. 396 in tom. ii. +Patres Apost. ed. Coteler - G.] +[Footnote 36: Faciunt favos et vespae; faciunt ecclesias et +Marcionitae, is the strong expression of Tertullian, which I am +obliged to quote from memory. In the time of Epiphanius (advers. +Haereses, p. 302) the Marcionites were very numerous in Italy, +Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and Persia.] +[Footnote 37: Augustin is a memorable instance of this gradual +progress from reason to faith. He was, during several years, +engaged in the Manichaear sect.] + + But whatever difference of opinion might subsist between the +Orthodox, the Ebionites, and the Gnostics, concerning the +divinity or the obligation of the Mosaic law, they were all +equally animated by the same exclusive zeal; and by the same +abhorrence for idolatry, which had distinguished the Jews from +the other nations of the ancient world. The philosopher, who +considered the system of polytheism as a composition of human +fraud and error, could disguise a smile of contempt under the +mask of devotion, without apprehending that either the mockery, +or the compliance, would expose him to the resentment of any +invisible, or, as he conceived them, imaginary powers. But the +established religions of Paganism were seen by the primitive +Christians in a much more odious and formidable light. It was +the universal sentiment both of the church and of heretics, that +the daemons were the authors, the patrons, and the objects of +idolatry. ^38 Those rebellious spirits who had been degraded from +the rank of angels, and cast down into the infernal pit, were +still permitted to roam upon earth, to torment the bodies, and to +seduce the minds, of sinful men. The daemons soon discovered and +abused the natural propensity of the human heart towards +devotion, and artfully withdrawing the adoration of mankind from +their Creator, they usurped the place and honors of the Supreme +Deity. By the success of their malicious contrivances, they at +once gratified their own vanity and revenge, and obtained the +only comfort of which they were yet susceptible, the hope of +involving the human species in the participation of their guilt +and misery. It was confessed, or at least it was imagined, that +they had distributed among themselves the most important +characters of polytheism, one daemon assuming the name and +attributes of Jupiter, another of Aesculapius, a third of Venus, +and a fourth perhaps of Apollo; ^39 and that, by the advantage of +their long experience and aerial nature, they were enabled to +execute, with sufficient skill and dignity, the parts which they +had undertaken. They lurked in the temples, instituted festivals +and sacrifices, invented fables, pronounced oracles, and were +frequently allowed to perform miracles. The Christians, who, by +the interposition of evil spirits, could so readily explain every +preternatural appearance, were disposed and even desirous to +admit the most extravagant fictions of the Pagan mythology. But +the belief of the Christian was accompanied with horror. The +most trifling mark of respect to the national worship he +considered as a direct homage yielded to the daemon, and as an +act of rebellion against the majesty of God. + +[Footnote 38: The unanimous sentiment of the primitive church is +very clearly explained by Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, by +Athenagoras, Legat. c. 22. &c., and by Lactantius, Institut. +Divin. ii. 14 - 19.] + +[Footnote 39: Tertullian (Apolog. c. 23) alleges the confession +of the daemons themselves as often as they were tormented by the +Christian exorcists] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part III. + + In consequence of this opinion, it was the first but arduous +duty of a Christian to preserve himself pure and undefiled by the +practice of idolatry. The religion of the nations was not merely +a speculative doctrine professed in the schools or preached in +the temples. The innumerable deities and rites of polytheism +were closely interwoven with every circumstance of business or +pleasure, of public or of private life; and it seemed impossible +to escape the observance of them, without, at the same time, +renouncing the commerce of mankind, and all the offices and +amusements of society. ^40 The important transactions of peace +and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which +the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to +preside or to participate. ^41 The public spectacles were an +essential part of the cheerful devotion of the Pagans, and the +gods were supposed to accept, as the most grateful offering, the +games that the prince and people celebrated in honor of their +peculiar festivals. ^42 The Christians, who with pious horror +avoided the abomination of the circus or the theatre, found +himself encompassed with infernal snares in every convivial +entertainment, as often as his friends, invoking the hospitable +deities, poured out libations to each other's happiness. ^43 When +the bride, struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced +into hymenaeal pomp over the threshold of her new habitation, ^44 +or when the sad procession of the dead slowly moved towards the +funeral pile; ^45 the Christian, on these interesting occasions, +was compelled to desert the persons who were the dearest to him, +rather than contract the guilt inherent to those impious +ceremonies. Every art and every trade that was in the least +concerned in the framing or adorning of idols was polluted by the +stain of idolatry; ^46 a severe sentence, since it devoted to +eternal misery the far greater part of the community, which is +employed in the exercise of liberal or mechanic professions. If +we cast our eyes over the numerous remains of antiquity, we shall +perceive, that besides the immediate representations of the gods, +and the holy instruments of their worship, the elegant forms and +agreeable fictions consecrated by the imagination of the Greeks, +were introduced as the richest ornaments of the houses, the +dress, and the furniture of the Pagan. ^47 Even the arts of music +and painting, of eloquence and poetry, flowed from the same +impure origin. In the style of the fathers, Apollo and the Muses +were the organs of the infernal spirit; Homer and Virgil were the +most eminent of his servants; and the beautiful mythology which +pervades and animates the compositions of their genius, is +destined to celebrate the glory of the daemons. Even the common +language of Greece and Rome abounded with familiar but impious +expressions, which the imprudent Christian might too carelessly +utter, or too patiently hear. ^48 + +[Footnote 40: Tertullian has written a most severe treatise +against idolatry, to caution his brethren against the hourly +danger of incurring that guilt. Recogita sylvam, et quantae +latitant spinae. De Corona Militis, c. 10.] +[Footnote 41: The Roman senate was always held in a temple or +consecrated place. (Aulus Gellius, xiv. 7.) Before they entered +on business, every senator dropped some wine and frankincense on +the altar. Sueton. in August. c. 35.] + +[Footnote 42: See Tertullian, De Spectaculis. This severe +reformer shows no more indulgence to a tragedy of Euripides, than +to a combat of gladiators. The dress of the actors particularly +offends him. By the use of the lofty buskin, they impiously +strive to add a cubit to their stature. c. 23.] +[Footnote 43: The ancient practice of concluding the +entertainment with libations, may be found in every classic. +Socrates and Seneca, in their last moments, made a noble +application of this custom. Postquam stagnum, calidae aquae +introiit, respergens proximos servorum, addita voce, libare se +liquorem illum Jovi Liberatori. Tacit. Annal. xv. 64.] + +[Footnote 44: See the elegant but idolatrous hymn of Catullus, on +the nuptials of Manlius and Julia. O Hymen, Hymenaee Io! Quis +huic Deo compararier ausit?] + +[Footnote 45: The ancient funerals (in those of Misenus and +Pallas) are no less accurately described by Virgil, than they are +illustrated by his commentator Servius. The pile itself was an +altar, the flames were fed with the blood of victims, and all the +assistants were sprinkled with lustral water.] + +[Footnote 46: Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 11. + + Note: The exaggerated and declamatory opinions of Tertullian +ought not to be taken as the general sentiment of the early +Christians. Gibbon has too often allowed himself to consider the +peculiar notions of certain Fathers of the Church as inherent in +Christianity. This is not accurate. - G.] +[Footnote 47: See every part of Montfaucon's Antiquities. Even +the reverses of the Greek and Roman coins were frequently of an +idolatrous nature. Here indeed the scruples of the Christian +were suspended by a stronger passion. + Note: All this scrupulous nicety is at variance with the +decision of St. Paul about meat offered to idols, 1 Cor. x. 21 - +32. - M.] +[Footnote 48: Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 20, 21, 22. If a +Pagan friend (on the occasion perhaps of sneezing) used the +familiar expression of "Jupiter bless you," the Christian was +obliged to protest against the divinity of Jupiter.] + + The dangerous temptations which on every side lurked in +ambush to surprise the unguarded believer, assailed him with +redoubled violence on the days of solemn festivals. So artfully +were they framed and disposed throughout the year, that +superstition always wore the appearance of pleasure, and often of +virtue. Some of the most sacred festivals in the Roman ritual +were destined to salute the new calends of January with vows of +public and private felicity; to indulge the pious remembrance of +the dead and living; to ascertain the inviolable bounds of +property; to hail, on the return of spring, the genial powers of +fecundity; to perpetuate the two memorable areas of Rome, the +foundation of the city and that of the republic, and to restore, +during the humane license of the Saturnalia, the primitive +equality of mankind. Some idea may be conceived of the +abhorrence of the Christians for such impious ceremonies, by the +scrupulous delicacy which they displayed on a much less alarming +occasion. On days of general festivity, it was the custom of the +ancients to adorn their doors with lamps and with branches of +laurel, and to crown their heads with a garland of flowers. This +innocent and elegant practice might perhaps have been tolerated +as a mere civil institution. But it most unluckily happened that +the doors were under the protection of the household gods, that +the laurel was sacred to the lover of Daphne, and that garlands +of flowers, though frequently worn as a symbol of joy or +mourning, had been dedicated in their first origin to the service +of superstition. The trembling Christians, who were persuaded in +this instance to comply with the fashion of their country, and +the commands of the magistrate, labored under the most gloomy +apprehensions, from the reproaches of his own conscience, the +censures of the church, and the denunciations of divine +vengeance. ^50 +[Footnote 49: Consult the most labored work of Ovid, his +imperfect Fasti. He finished no more than the first six months +of the year. The compilation of Macrobius is called the +Saturnalia, but it is only a small part of the first book that +bears any relation to the title.] + +[Footnote 50: Tertullian has composed a defence, or rather +panegyric, of the rash action of a Christian soldier, who, by +throwing away his crown of laurel, had exposed himself and his +brethren to the most imminent danger. By the mention of the +emperors, (Severus and Caracalla,) it is evident, notwithstanding +the wishes of M. de Tillemont, that Tertullian composed his +treatise De Corona long before he was engaged in the errors of +the Montanists. See Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. p. 384. + Note: The soldier did not tear off his crown to throw it +down with contempt; he did not even throw it away; he held it in +his hand, while others were it on their heads. Solus libero +capite, ornamento in manu otioso. - G + Note: Tertullian does not expressly name the two emperors, +Severus and Caracalla: he speaks only of two emperors, and of a +long peace which the church had enjoyed. It is generally agreed +that Tertullian became a Montanist about the year 200: his work, +de Corona Militis, appears to have been written, at the earliest +about the year 202 before the persecution of Severus: it may be +maintained, then, that it is subsequent to the Montanism of the +author. See Mosheim, Diss. de Apol. Tertull. p. 53. Biblioth. +Amsterd. tom. x. part ii. p. 292. Cave's Hist. Lit. p. 92, 93. - +G. + + The state of Tertullian's opinions at the particular period +is almost an idle question. "The fiery African" is not at any +time to be considered a fair representative of Christianity. - +M.] + + Such was the anxious diligence which was required to guard +the chastity of the gospel from the infectious breath of +idolatry. The superstitious observances of public or private +rites were carelessly practised, from education and habit, by the +followers of the established religion. But as often as they +occurred, they afforded the Christians an opportunity of +declaring and confirming their zealous opposition. By these +frequent protestations their attachment to the faith was +continually fortified; and in proportion to the increase of zeal, +they combated with the more ardor and success in the holy war, +which they had undertaken against the empire of the demons. + + II. The writings of Cicero ^51 represent in the most lively +colors the ignorance, the errors, and the uncertainty of the +ancient philosophers with regard to the immortality of the soul. +When they are desirous of arming their disciples against the fear +of death, they inculcate, as an obvious, though melancholy +position, that the fatal stroke of our dissolution releases us +from the calamities of life; and that those can no longer suffer, +who no longer exist. Yet there were a few sages of Greece and +Rome who had conceived a more exalted, and, in some respects, a +juster idea of human nature, though it must be confessed, that in +the sublime inquiry, their reason had been often guided by their +imagination, and that their imagination had been prompted by +their vanity. When they viewed with complacency the extent of +their own mental powers, when they exercised the various +faculties of memory, of fancy, and of judgment, in the most +profound speculations, or the most important labors, and when +they reflected on the desire of fame, which transported them into +future ages, far beyond the bounds of death and of the grave, +they were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts of the +field, or to suppose that a being, for whose dignity they +entertained the most sincere admiration, could be limited to a +spot of earth, and to a few years of duration. With this +favorable prepossession they summoned to their aid the science, +or rather the language, of Metaphysics. They soon discovered, +that as none of the properties of matter will apply to the +operations of the mind, the human soul must consequently be a +substance distinct from the body, pure, simple, and spiritual, +incapable of dissolution, and susceptible of a much higher degree +of virtue and happiness after the release from its corporeal +prison. From these specious and noble principles, the +philosophers who trod in the footsteps of Plato deduced a very +unjustifiable conclusion, since they asserted, not only the +future immortality, but the past eternity, of the human soul, +which they were too apt to consider as a portion of the infinite +and self-existing spirit, which pervades and sustains the +universe. ^52 A doctrine thus removed beyond the senses and the +experience of mankind, might serve to amuse the leisure of a +philosophic mind; or, in the silence of solitude, it might +sometimes impart a ray of comfort to desponding virtue; but the +faint impression which had been received in the schools, was soon +obliterated by the commerce and business of active life. We are +sufficiently acquainted with the eminent persons who flourished +in the age of Cicero, and of the first Caesars, with their +actions, their characters, and their motives, to be assured that +their conduct in this life was never regulated by any serious +conviction of the rewards or punishments of a future state. At +the bar and in the senate of Rome the ablest orators were not +apprehensive of giving offence to their hearers, by exposing that +doctrine as an idle and extravagant opinion, which was rejected +with contempt by every man of a liberal education and +understanding. ^53 + +[Footnote 51: In particular, the first book of the Tusculan +Questions, and the treatise De Senectute, and the Somnium +Scipionis, contain, in the most beautiful language, every thing +that Grecian philosophy, on Roman good sense, could possibly +suggest on this dark but important object.] +[Footnote 52: The preexistence of human souls, so far at least as +that doctrine is compatible with religion, was adopted by many of +the Greek and Latin fathers. See Beausobre, Hist. du +Manicheisme, l. vi. c. 4.] +[Footnote 53: See Cicero pro Cluent. c. 61. Caesar ap. Sallust. +de Bell. Catilis n 50. Juvenal. Satir. ii. 149. + + Esse aliquid manes, et subterranea regna, + - - - - - - - + Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum aeree lavantae.] + + Since therefore the most sublime efforts of philosophy can +extend no further than feebly to point out the desire, the hope, +or, at most, the probability, of a future state, there is +nothing, except a divine revelation, that can ascertain the +existence, and describe the condition, of the invisible country +which is destined to receive the souls of men after their +separation from the body. But we may perceive several defects +inherent to the popular religions of Greece and Rome, which +rendered them very unequal to so arduous a task. 1. The general +system of their mythology was unsupported by any solid proofs; +and the wisest among the Pagans had already disclaimed its +usurped authority. 2. The description of the infernal regions +had been abandoned to the fancy of painters and of poets, who +peopled them with so many phantoms and monsters, who dispensed +their rewards and punishments with so little equity, that a +solemn truth, the most congenial to the human heart, was opposed +and disgraced by the absurd mixture of the wildest fictions. ^54 +3. The doctrine of a future state was scarcely considered among +the devout polytheists of Greece and Rome as a fundamental +article of faith. The providence of the gods, as it related to +public communities rather than to private individuals, was +principally displayed on the visible theatre of the present +world. The petitions which were offered on the altars of Jupiter +or Apollo, expressed the anxiety of their worshippers for +temporal happiness, and their ignorance or indifference +concerning a future life. ^55 The important truth of the of the +immortality of the soul was inculcated with more diligence, as +well as success, in India, in Assyria, in Egypt, and in Gaul; and +since we cannot attribute such a difference to the superior +knowledge of the barbarians, we we must ascribe it to the +influence of an established priesthood, which employed the +motives of virtue as the instrument of ambition. ^56 + +[Footnote 54: The xith book of the Odyssey gives a very dreary +and incoherent account of the infernal shades. Pindar and Virgil +have embellished the picture; but even those poets, though more +correct than their great model, are guilty of very strange +inconsistencies. See Bayle, Responses aux Questions d'un +Provincial, part iii. c. 22.] + +[Footnote 55: See xvith epistle of the first book of Horace, the +xiiith Satire of Juvenal, and the iid Satire of Persius: these +popular discourses express the sentiment and language of the +multitude.] + +[Footnote 56: If we confine ourselves to the Gauls, we may +observe, that they intrusted, not only their lives, but even +their money, to the security of another world. Vetus ille mos +Gallorum occurrit (says Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 6, p. 10) +quos, memoria proditum est pecunias montuas, quae his apud +inferos redderentur, dare solitos. The same custom is more +darkly insinuated by Mela, l. iii. c. 2. It is almost needless +to add, that the profits of trade hold a just proportion to the +credit of the merchant, and that the Druids derived from their +holy profession a character of responsibility, which could +scarcely be claimed by any other order of men.] + We might naturally expect that a principle so essential to +religion, would have been revealed in the clearest terms to the +chosen people of Palestine, and that it might safely have been +intrusted to the hereditary priesthood of Aaron. It is incumbent +on us to adore the mysterious dispensations of Providence, ^57 +when we discover that the doctrine of the immortality of the soul +is omitted in the law of Moses it is darkly insinuated by the +prophets; and during the long period which clasped between the +Egyptian and the Babylonian servitudes, the hopes as well as +fears of the Jews appear to have been confined within the narrow +compass of the present life. ^58 After Cyrus had permitted the +exiled nation to return into the promised land, and after Ezra +had restored the ancient records of their religion, two +celebrated sects, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, insensibly +arose at Jerusalem. ^59 The former, selected from the more +opulent and distinguished ranks of society, were strictly +attached to the literal sense of the Mosaic law, and they piously +rejected the immortality of the soul, as an opinion that received +no countenance from the divine book, which they revered as the +only rule of their faith. To the authority of Scripture the +Pharisees added that of tradition, and they accepted, under the +name of traditions, several speculative tenets from the +philosophy or religion of the eastern nations. The doctrines of +fate or predestination, of angels and spirits, and of a future +state of rewards and punishments, were in the number of these new +articles of belief; and as the Pharisees, by the austerity of +their manners, had drawn into their party the body of the Jewish +people, the immortality of the soul became the prevailing +sentiment of the synagogue, under the reign of the Asmonaean +princes and pontiffs. The temper of the Jews was incapable of +contenting itself with such a cold and languid assent as might +satisfy the mind of a Polytheist; and as soon as they admitted +the idea of a future state, they embraced it with the zeal which +has always formed the characteristic of the nation. Their zeal, +however, added nothing to its evidence, or even probability: and +it was still necessary that the doctrine of life and immortality, +which had been dictated by nature, approved by reason, and +received by superstition, should obtain the sanction of divine +truth from the authority and example of Christ. + +[Footnote 57: The right reverend author of the Divine Legation of +Moses as signs a very curious reason for the omission, and most +ingeniously retorts it on the unbelievers. + + Note: The hypothesis of Warburton concerning this remarkable +fact, which, as far as the Law of Moses, is unquestionable, made +few disciples; and it is difficult to suppose that it could be +intended by the author himself for more than a display of +intellectual strength. Modern writers have accounted in various +ways for the silence of the Hebrew legislator on the immortality +of the soul. According to Michaelis, "Moses wrote as an +historian and as a lawgiver; he regulated the ecclesiastical +discipline, rather than the religious belief of his people; and +the sanctions of the law being temporal, he had no occasion, and +as a civil legislator could not with propriety, threaten +punishments in another world. See Michaelis, Laws of Moses, art. +272, vol. iv. p. 209, Eng. Trans.; and Syntagma Commentationum, +p. 80, quoted by Guizot. M. Guizot adds, the "ingenious +conjecture of a philosophic theologian," which approximates to an +opinion long entertained by the Editor. That writer believes, +that in the state of civilization at the time of the legislator, +this doctrine, become popular among the Jews, would necessarily +have given birth to a multitude of idolatrous superstitions which +he wished to prevent. His primary object was to establish a firm +theocracy, to make his people the conservators of the doctrine of +the Divine Unity, the basis upon which Christianity was hereafter +to rest. He carefully excluded everything which could obscure or +weaken that doctrine. Other nations had strangely abused their +notions on the immortality of the soul; Moses wished to prevent +this abuse: hence he forbade the Jews from consulting +necromancers, (those who evoke the spirits of the dead.) Deut. +xviii. 11. Those who reflect on the state of the Pagans and the +Jews, and on the facility with which idolatry crept in on every +side, will not be astonished that Moses has not developed a +doctrine of which the influence might be more pernicious than +useful to his people. Orat. Fest. de Vitae Immort. Spe., &c., +auct. Ph. Alb. Stapfer, p. 12 13, 20. Berne, 1787. + + Moses, as well from the intimations scattered in his +writings, the passage relating to the translation of Enoch, (Gen. +v. 24,) the prohibition of necromancy, (Michaelis believes him to +be the author of the Book of Job though this opinion is in +general rejected; other learned writers consider this Book to be +coeval with and known to Moses,) as from his long residence in +Egypt, and his acquaintance with Egyptian wisdom, could not be +ignorant of the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. But +this doctrine if popularly known among the Jews, must have been +purely Egyptian, and as so, intimately connected with the whole +religious system of that country. It was no doubt moulded up +with the tenet of the transmigration of the soul, perhaps with +notions analogous to the emanation system of India in which the +human soul was an efflux from or indeed a part of, the Deity. +The Mosaic religion drew a wide and impassable interval between +the Creator and created human beings: in this it differed from +the Egyptian and all the Eastern religions. As then the +immortality of the soul was thus inseparably blended with those +foreign religions which were altogether to be effaced from the +minds of the people, and by no means necessary for the +establishment of the theocracy, Moses maintained silence on this +point and a purer notion of it was left to be developed at a more +favorable period in the history of man. - M.] +[Footnote 58: See Le Clerc (Prolegomena ad Hist. Ecclesiast. +sect. 1, c. 8 His authority seems to carry the greater weight, as +he has written a learned and judicious commentary on the books of +the Old Testament.] + +[Footnote 59: Joseph. Antiquitat. l. xiii. c. 10. De Bell. Jud. +ii. 8. According to the most natural interpretation of his words, +the Sadducees admitted only the Pentateuch; but it has pleased +some modern critics to add the Prophets to their creed, and to +suppose that they contented themselves with rejecting the +traditions of the Pharisees. Dr. Jortin has argued that point in +his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 103.] + When the promise of eternal happiness was proposed to +mankind on condition of adopting the faith, and of observing the +precepts, of the gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an +offer should have been accepted by great numbers of every +religion, of every rank, and of every province in the Roman +empire. The ancient Christians were animated by a contempt for +their present existence, and by a just confidence of immortality, +of which the doubtful and imperfect faith of modern ages cannot +give us any adequate notion. In the primitive church, the +influence of truth was very powerfully strengthened by an +opinion, which, however it may deserve respect for its usefulness +and antiquity, has not been found agreeable to experience. It +was universally believed, that the end of the world, and the +kingdom of heaven, were at hand. ^* The near approach of this +wonderful event had been predicted by the apostles; the tradition +of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those who +understood in their literal senses the discourse of Christ +himself, were obliged to expect the second and glorious coming of +the Son of Man in the clouds, before that generation was totally +extinguished, which had beheld his humble condition upon earth, +and which might still be witness of the calamities of the Jews +under Vespasian or Hadrian. The revolution of seventeen +centuries has instructed us not to press too closely the +mysterious language of prophecy and revelation; but as long as, +for wise purposes, this error was permitted to subsist in the +church, it was productive of the most salutary effects on the +faith and practice of Christians, who lived in the awful +expectation of that moment, when the globe itself, and all the +various race of mankind, should tremble at the appearance of +their divine Judge. ^60 + +[Footnote *: This was, in fact, an integral part of the Jewish +notion of the Messiah, from which the minds of the apostles +themselves were but gradually detached. See Bertholdt, +Christologia Judaeorum, concluding chapters - M.] +[Footnote 60: This expectation was countenanced by the +twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew, and by the first epistle of +St. Paul to the Thessalonians. Erasmus removes the difficulty by +the help of allegory and metaphor; and the learned Grotius +ventures to insinuate, that, for wise purposes, the pious +deception was permitted to take place. + + Note: Some modern theologians explain it without discovering +either allegory or deception. They say, that Jesus Christ, after +having proclaimed the ruin of Jerusalem and of the Temple, speaks +of his second coming and the sings which were to precede it; but +those who believed that the moment was near deceived themselves +as to the sense of two words, an error which still subsists in +our versions of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, xxiv. 29, +34. In verse 29, we read, "Immediately after the tribulation of +those days shall the sun be darkened," &c. The Greek word +signifies all at once, suddenly, not immediately; so that it +signifies only the sudden appearance of the signs which Jesus +Christ announces not the shortness of the interval which was to +separate them from the "days of tribulation," of which he was +speaking. The verse 34 is this "Verily I say unto you, This +generation shall not pass till all these things shall be +fulfilled." Jesus, speaking to his disciples, uses these words, +which the translators have rendered by this generation, but which +means the race, the filiation of my disciples; that is, he speaks +of a class of men, not of a generation. The true sense then, +according to these learned men, is, In truth I tell you that this +race of men, of which you are the commencement, shall not pass +away till this shall take place; that is to say, the succession +of Christians shall not cease till his coming. See Commentary of +M. Paulus on the New Test., edit. 1802, tom. iii. p. 445, - 446. +- G. + Others, as Rosenmuller and Kuinoel, in loc., confine this +passage to a highly figurative description of the ruins of the +Jewish city and polity. - M.] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part IV. + + The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was +intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the +works of the creation had been finished in six days, their +duration in their present state, according to a tradition which +was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand +years. ^61 By the same analogy it was inferred, that this long +period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, ^62 +would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; and +that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect +who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, +would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and +general resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of +believers, that the New Jerusalem, the seat of this blissful +kingdom, was quickly adorned with all the gayest colors of the +imagination. A felicity consisting only of pure and spiritual +pleasure would have appeared too refined for its inhabitants, who +were still supposed to possess their human nature and senses. A +garden of Eden, with the amusements of the pastoral life, was no +longer suited to the advanced state of society which prevailed +under the Roman empire. A city was therefore erected of gold and +precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn and wine was +bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment of +whose spontaneous productions, the happy and benevolent people +was never to be restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive +property. ^63 The assurance of such a Millennium was carefully +inculcated by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr, ^64 and +Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the +apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the son of +Constantine. ^65 Though it might not be universally received, it +appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox +believers; and it seems so well adapted to the desires and +apprehensions of mankind, that it must have contributed in a very +considerable degree to the progress of the Christian faith. But +when the edifice of the church was almost completed, the +temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ's reign +upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory, was +considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, and was +at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and +fanaticism. ^66 A mysterious prophecy, which still forms a part +of the sacred canon, but which was thought to favor the exploded +sentiment, has very narrowly escaped the proscription of the +church. ^67 + +[Footnote 61: See Burnet's Sacred Theory, part iii. c. 5. This +tradition may be traced as high as the the author of Epistle of +Barnabas, who wrote in the first century, and who seems to have +been half a Jew. + + Note: In fact it is purely Jewish. See Mosheim, De Reb. +Christ. ii. 8. Lightfoot's Works, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 37. +Bertholdt, Christologia Judaeorum ch. 38. - M.] + +[Footnote 62: The primitive church of Antioch computed almost +6000 years from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ. + +Africanus, Lactantius, and the Greek church, have reduced that +number to 5500, and Eusebius has contented himself with 5200 +years. These calculations were formed on the Septuagint, which +was universally received during the six first centuries. The +authority of the vulgate and of the Hebrew text has determined +the moderns, Protestants as well as Catholics, to prefer a period +of about 4000 years; though, in the study of profane antiquity, +they often find themselves straitened by those narrow limits. + + Note: Most of the more learned modern English Protestants, +Dr. Hales, Mr. Faber, Dr. Russel, as well as the Continental +writers, adopt the larger chronology. There is little doubt that +the narrower system was framed by the Jews of Tiberias; it was +clearly neither that of St. Paul, nor of Josephus, nor of the +Samaritan Text. It is greatly to be regretted that the +chronology of the earlier Scriptures should ever have been made a +religious question - M.] + +[Footnote 63: Most of these pictures were borrowed from a +misrepresentation of Isaiah, Daniel, and the Apocalypse. One of +the grossest images may be found in Irenaeus, (l. v. p. 455,) the +disciple of Papias, who had seen the apostle St. John.] + +[Footnote 64: See the second dialogue of Justin with Triphon, and +the seventh book of Lactantius. It is unnecessary to allege all +the intermediate fathers, as the fact is not disputed. Yet the +curious reader may consult Daille de Uus Patrum, l. ii. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 65: The testimony of Justin of his own faith and that +of his orthodox brethren, in the doctrine of a Millennium, is +delivered in the clearest and most solemn manner, (Dialog. cum +Tryphonte Jud. p. 177, 178, edit. Benedictin.) If in the +beginning of this important passage there is any thing like an +inconsistency, we may impute it, as we think proper, either to +the author or to his transcribers. + + Note: The Millenium is described in what once stood as the +XLIst Article of the English Church (see Collier, Eccles. Hist., +for Articles of Edw. VI.) as "a fable of Jewish dotage." The +whole of these gross and earthly images may be traced in the +works which treat on the Jewish traditions, in Lightfoot, +Schoetgen, and Eisenmenger; "Das enthdeckte Judenthum" t. ii 809; +and briefly in Bertholdt, i. c. 38, 39. - M.] + +[Footnote 66: Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 223, +tom. ii. p. 366, and Mosheim, p. 720; though the latter of these +learned divines is not altogether candid on this occasion.] + +[Footnote 67: In the council of Laodicea, (about the year 360,) +the Apocalypse was tacitly excluded from the sacred canon, by the +same churches of Asia to which it is addressed; and we may learn +from the complaint of Sulpicius Severus, that their sentence had +been ratified by the greater number of Christians of his time. +From what causes then is the Apocalypse at present so generally +received by the Greek, the Roman, and the Protestant churches? +The following ones may be assigned. 1. The Greeks were subdued +by the authority of an impostor, who, in the sixth century, +assumed the character of Dionysius the Areopagite. 2. A just +apprehension that the grammarians might become more important +than the theologians, engaged the council of Trent to fix the +seal of their infallibility on all the books of Scripture +contained in the Latin Vulgate, in the number of which the +Apocalypse was fortunately included. (Fr. Paolo, Istoria del +Concilio Tridentino, l. ii.) 3. The advantage of turning those +mysterious prophecies against the See of Rome, inspired the +Protestants with uncommon veneration for so useful an ally. See +the ingenious and elegant discourses of the present bishop of +Litchfield on that unpromising subject. ^! + Note: The exclusion of the Apocalypse is not improbably +assigned to its obvious unfitness to be read in churches. It is +to be feared that a history of the interpretation of the +Apocalypse would not give a very favorable view either of the +wisdom or the charity of the successive ages of Christianity. +Wetstein's interpretation, differently modified, is adopted by +most Continental scholars. - M.] + + Whilst the happiness and glory of a temporal reign were +promised to the disciples of Christ, the most dreadful calamities +were denounced against an unbelieving world. The edification of +a new Jerusalem was to advance by equal steps with the +destruction of the mystic Babylon; and as long as the emperors +who reigned before Constantine persisted in the profession of +idolatry, the epithet of babylon was applied to the city and to +the empire of Rome. A regular series was prepared of all the +moral and physical evils which can afflict a flourishing nation; +intestine discord, and the invasion of the fiercest barbarians +from the unknown regions of the North; pestilence and famine, +comets and eclipses, earthquakes and inundations. ^68 All these +were only so many preparatory and alarming signs of the great +catastrophe of Rome, when the country of the Scipios and Caesars +should be consumed by a flame from Heaven, and the city of the +seven hills, with her palaces, her temples, and her triumphal +arches, should be buried in a vast lake of fire and brimstone. It +might, however, afford some consolation to Roman vanity, that the +period of their empire would be that of the world itself; which, +as it had once perished by the element of water, was destined to +experience a second and a speedy destruction from the element of +fire. In the opinion of a general conflagration, the faith of +the Christian very happily coincided with the tradition of the +East, the philosophy of the Stoics, and the analogy of Nature; +and even the country, which, from religious motives, had been +chosen for the origin and principal scene of the conflagration, +was the best adapted for that purpose by natural and physical +causes; by its deep caverns, beds of sulphur, and numero is +volcanoes, of which those of Aetna, of Vesuvius, and of Lipari, +exhibit a very imperfect representation. The calmest and most +intrepid sceptic could not refuse to acknowledge that the +destruction of the present system of the world by fire, was in +itself extremely probable. The Christian, who founded his belief +much less on the fallacious arguments of reason than on the +authority of tradition and the interpretation of Scripture, +expected it with terror and confidence as a certain and +approaching event; and as his mind was perpetually filled with +the solemn idea, he considered every disaster that happened to +the empire as an infallible symptom of an expiring world. ^69 + +[Footnote 68: Lactantius (Institut. Divin. vii. 15, &c.) relates +the dismal talk of futurity with great spirit and eloquence. + + Note: Lactantius had a notion of a great Asiatic empire, +which was previously to rise on the ruins of the Roman: quod +Romanum nomen animus dicere, sed dicam. quia futurum est) +tolletur de terra, et impere. Asiam revertetur. - M.] + +[Footnote 69: On this subject every reader of taste will be +entertained with the third part of Burnet's Sacred Theory. He +blends philosophy, Scripture, and tradition, into one magnificent +system; in the description of which he displays a strength of +fancy not inferior to that of Milton himself.] + The condemnation of the wisest and most virtuous of the +Pagans, on account of their ignorance or disbelief of the divine +truth, seems to offend the reason and the humanity of the present +age. ^70 But the primitive church, whose faith was of a much +firmer consistence, delivered over, without hesitation, to +eternal torture, the far greater part of the human species. A +charitable hope might perhaps be indulged in favor of Socrates, +or some other sages of antiquity, who had consulted the light of +reason before that of the gospel had arisen. ^71 But it was +unanimously affirmed, that those who, since the birth or the +death of Christ, had obstinately persisted in the worship of the +daemons, neither deserved nor could expect a pardon from the +irritated justice of the Deity. These rigid sentiments, which +had been unknown to the ancient world, appear to have infused a +spirit of bitterness into a system of love and harmony. The ties +of blood and friendship were frequently torn asunder by the +difference of religious faith; and the Christians, who, in this +world, found themselves oppressed by the power of the Pagans, +were sometimes seduced by resentment and spiritual pride to +delight in the prospect of their future triumph. "You are fond +of spectacles," exclaims the stern Tertullian; "expect the +greatest of all spectacles, the last and eternal judgment of the +universe. How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, how exult, +when I behold so many proud monarchs, so many fancied gods, +groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates, +who persecuted the name of the Lord, liquefying in fiercer fires +than they ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage +philosophers blushing in red-hot flames with their deluded +scholars; so many celebrated poets trembling before the tribunal, +not of Minos, but of Christ; so many tragedians, more tuneful in +the expression of their own sufferings; so many dancers." ^* But +the humanity of the reader will permit me to draw a veil over the +rest of this infernal description, which the zealous African +pursues in a long variety of affected and unfeeling witticisms. +^72 ^! +[Footnote 70: And yet whatever may be the language of +individuals, it is still the public doctrine of all the Christian +churches; nor can even our own refuse to admit the conclusions +which must be drawn from the viiith and the xviiith of her +Articles. The Jansenists, who have so diligently studied the +works of the fathers, maintain this sentiment with distinguished +zeal; and the learned M. de Tillemont never dismisses a virtuous +emperor without pronouncing his damnation. Zuinglius is perhaps +the only leader of a party who has ever adopted the milder +sentiment, and he gave no less offence to the Lutherans than to +the Catholics. See Bossuet, Histoire des Variations des Eglises +Protestantes, l. ii. c. 19 - 22.] + +[Footnote 71: Justin and Clemens of Alexandria allow that some of +the philosophers were instructed by the Logos; confounding its +double signification of the human reason, and of the Divine +Word.] +[Footnote *: This translation is not exact: the first sentence is +imperfect. Tertullian says, Ille dies nationibus insperatus, ille +derisus, cum tanta sacculi vetustas et tot ejus nativitates uno +igne haurientur. The text does not authorize the exaggerated +expressions, so many magistrates, so many sago philosophers, so +many poets, &c.; but simply magistrates, philosophers, poets. - +G. + + It is not clear that Gibbon's version or paraphrase is +incorrect: Tertullian writes, tot tantosque reges item praesides, +&c. - M.] +[Footnote 72: Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 30. In order to +ascertain the degree of authority which the zealous African had +acquired it may be sufficient to allege the testimony of Cyprian, +the doctor and guide of all the western churches. (See Prudent. +Hym. xiii. 100.) As often as he applied himself to his daily +study of the writings of Tertullian, he was accustomed to say, +"Da mihi magistrum, Give me my master." (Hieronym. de Viris +Illustribus, tom. i. p. 284.)] + +[Footnote !: The object of Tertullian's vehemence in his +Treatise, was to keep the Christians away from the secular games +celebrated by the Emperor Severus: It has not prevented him from +showing himself in other places full of benevolence and charity +towards unbelievers: the spirit of the gospel has sometimes +prevailed over the violence of human passions: Qui ergo putaveris +nihil nos de salute Caesaris curare (he says in his Apology) +inspice Dei voces, literas nostras. Scitote ex illis praeceptum +esse nobis ad redudantionem, benignitates etiam pro inimicis Deum +orare, et pro persecutoribus cona precari. Sed etiam nominatim +atque manifeste orate inquit (Christus) pro regibus et pro +principibus et potestatibus ut omnia sint tranquilla vobis Tert. +Apol. c. 31. - G. + + It would be wiser for Christianity, retreating upon its +genuine records in the New Testament, to disclaim this fierce +African, than to identify itself with his furious invectives by +unsatisfactory apologies for their unchristian fanaticism. - M.] + + Doubtless there were many among the primitive Christians of +a temper more suitable to the meekness and charity of their +profession. There were many who felt a sincere compassion for +the danger of their friends and countrymen, and who exerted the +most benevolent zeal to save them from the impending destruction. + +The careless Polytheist, assailed by new and unexpected terrors, +against which neither his priests nor his philosophers could +afford him any certain protection, was very frequently terrified +and subdued by the menace of eternal tortures. His fears might +assist the progress of his faith and reason; and if he could once +persuade himself to suspect that the Christian religion might +possibly be true, it became an easy task to convince him that it +was the safest and most prudent party that he could possibly +embrace. + + III. The supernatural gifts, which even in this life were +ascribed to the Christians above the rest of mankind, must have +conduced to their own comfort, and very frequently to the +conviction of infidels. Besides the occasional prodigies, which +might sometimes be effected by the immediate interposition of the +Deity when he suspended the laws of Nature for the service of +religion, the Christian church, from the time of the apostles and +their first disciples, ^73 has claimed an uninterrupted +succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of vision, +and of prophecy, the power of expelling daemons, of healing the +sick, and of raising the dead. The knowledge of foreign +languages was frequently communicated to the contemporaries of +Irenaeus, though Irenaeus himself was left to struggle with the +difficulties of a barbarous dialect, whilst he preached the +gospel to the natives of Gaul. ^74 The divine inspiration, +whether it was conveyed in the form of a waking or of a sleeping +vision, is described as a favor very liberally bestowed on all +ranks of the faithful, on women as on elders, on boys as well as +upon bishops. When their devout minds were sufficiently prepared +by a course of prayer, of fasting, and of vigils, to receive the +extraordinary impulse, they were transported out of their senses, +and delivered in ecstasy what was inspired, being mere organs of +the Holy Spirit, just as a pipe or flute is of him who blows into +it. ^75 We may add, that the design of these visions was, for the +most part, either to disclose the future history, or to guide the +present administration, of the church. The expulsion of the +daemons from the bodies of those unhappy persons whom they had +been permitted to torment, was considered as a signal though +ordinary triumph of religion, and is repeatedly alleged by the +ancient apoligists, as the most convincing evidence of the truth +of Christianity. The awful ceremony was usually performed in a +public manner, and in the presence of a great number of +spectators; the patient was relieved by the power or skill of the +exorcist, and the vanquished daemon was heard to confess that he +was one of the fabled gods of antiquity, who had impiously +usurped the adoration of mankind. ^76 But the miraculous cure of +diseases of the most inveterate or even preternatural kind, can +no longer occasion any surprise, when we recollect, that in the +days of Iranaeus, about the end of the second century, the +resurrection of the dead was very far from being esteemed an +uncommon event; that the miracle was frequently performed on +necessary occasions, by great fasting and the joint supplication +of the church of the place, and that the persons thus restored to +their prayers had lived afterwards among them many years. ^77 At +such a period, when faith could boast of so many wonderful +victories over death, it seems difficult to account for the +scepticism of those philosophers, who still rejected and derided +the doctrine of the resurrection. A noble Grecian had rested on +this important ground the whole controversy, and promised +Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, that if he could be gratified with +the sight of a single person who had been actually raised from +the dead, he would immediately embrace the Christian religion. +It is somewhat remarkable, that the prelate of the first eastern +church, however anxious for the conversion of his friend, thought +proper to decline this fair and reasonable challenge. ^78 + +[Footnote 73: Notwithstanding the evasions of Dr. Middleton, it +is impossible to overlook the clear traces of visions and +inspiration, which may be found in the apostolic fathers. + + Note: Gibbon should have noticed the distinct and remarkable +passage from Chrysostom, quoted by Middleton, (Works, vol. i. p. +105,) in which he affirms the long discontinuance of miracles as +a notorious fact. - M.] +[Footnote 74: Irenaeus adv. Haeres. Proem. p.3 Dr. Middleton +(Free Inquiry, p. 96, &c.) observes, that as this pretension of +all others was the most difficult to support by art, it was the +soonest given up. The observation suits his hypothesis. + + Note: This passage of Irenaeus contains no allusion to the +gift of tongues; it is merely an apology for a rude and +unpolished Greek style, which could not be expected from one who +passed his life in a remote and barbarous province, and was +continually obliged to speak the Celtic language. - M. + Note: Except in the life of Pachomius, an Egyptian monk of +the fourth century. (see Jortin, Ecc. Hist. i. p. 368, edit. +1805,) and the latter (not earlier) lives of Xavier, there is no +claim laid to the gift of tongues since the time of Irenaeus; and +of this claim, Xavier's own letters are profoundly silent. See +Douglas's Criterion, p. 76 edit. 1807. - M.] + +[Footnote 75: Athenagoras in Legatione. Justin Martyr, Cohort. +ad Gentes Tertullian advers. Marcionit. l. iv. These +descriptions are not very unlike the prophetic fury, for which +Cicero (de Divinat.ii. 54) expresses so little reverence.] + +[Footnote 76: Tertullian (Apolog. c. 23) throws out a bold +defiance to the Pagan magistrates. Of the primitive miracles, +the power of exorcising is the only one which has been assumed by +Protestants. + + Note: But by Protestants neither of the most enlightened +ages nor most reasoning minds. - M.] + +[Footnote 77: Irenaeus adv. Haereses, l. ii. 56, 57, l. v. c. 6. +Mr. Dodwell (Dissertat. ad Irenaeum, ii. 42) concludes, that the +second century was still more fertile in miracles than the first. + + Note: It is difficult to answer Middleton's objection to +this statement of Irenae us: "It is very strange, that from the +time of the apostles there is not a single instance of this +miracle to be found in the three first centuries; except a single +case, slightly intimated in Eusebius, from the Works of Papias; +which he seems to rank among the other fabulous stories delivered +by that weak man." Middleton, Works, vol. i. p. 59. Bp. Douglas +(Criterion, p 389) would consider Irenaeus to speak of what had +"been performed formerly." not in his own time. - M.] + +[Footnote 78: Theophilus ad Autolycum, l. i. p. 345. Edit. +Benedictin. Paris, 1742. + + Note: A candid sceptic might discern some impropriety in the +Bishop being called upon to perform a miracle on demand. - M.] + + The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the +sanction of ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and +ingenious inquiry, ^79 which, though it has met with the most +favorable reception from the public, appears to have excited a +general scandal among the divines of our own as well as of the +other Protestant churches of Europe. ^80 Our different sentiments +on this subject will be much less influenced by any particular +arguments, than by our habits of study and reflection; and, above +all, by the degree of evidence which we have accustomed ourselves +to require for the proof of a miraculous event. The duty of an +historian does not call upon him to interpose his private +judgment in this nice and important controversy; but he ought not +to dissemble the difficulty of adopting such a theory as may +reconcile the interest of religion with that of reason, of making +a proper application of that theory, and of defining with +precision the limits of that happy period, exempt from error and +from deceit, to which we might be disposed to extend the gift of +supernatural powers. From the first of the fathers to the last +of the popes, a succession of bishops, of saints, of martyrs, and +of miracles, is continued without interruption; and the progress +of superstition was so gradual, and almost imperceptible, that we +know not in what particular link we should break the chain of +tradition. Every age bears testimony to the wonderful events by +which it was distinguished, and its testimony appears no less +weighty and respectable than that of the preceding generation, +till we are insensibly led on to accuse our own inconsistency, if +in the eighth or in the twelfth century we deny to the venerable +Bede, or to the holy Bernard, the same degree of confidence +which, in the second century, we had so liberally granted to +Justin or to Irenaeus. ^81 If the truth of any of those miracles +is appreciated by their apparent use and propriety, every age had +unbelievers to convince, heretics to confute, and idolatrous +nations to convert; and sufficient motives might always be +produced to justify the interposition of Heaven. And yet, since +every friend to revelation is persuaded of the reality, and every +reasonable man is convinced of the cessation, of miraculous +powers, it is evident that there must have been some period in +which they were either suddenly or gradually withdrawn from the +Christian church. Whatever aera is chosen for that purpose, the +death of the apostles, the conversion of the Roman empire, or the +extinction of the Arian heresy, ^82 the insensibility of the +Christians who lived at that time will equally afford a just +matter of surprise. They still supported their pretensions after +they had lost their power. Credulity performed the office of +faith; fanaticism was permitted to assume the language of +inspiration, and the effects of accident or contrivance were +ascribed to supernatural causes. The recent experience of genuine +miracles should have instructed the Christian world in the ways +of Providence, and habituated their eye (if we may use a very +inadequate expression) to the style of the divine artist. Should +the most skilful painter of modern Italy presume to decorate his +feeble imitations with the name of Raphael or of Correggio, the +insolent fraud would be soon discovered, and indignantly +rejected. + +[Footnote 79: Dr. Middleton sent out his Introduction in the year +1747, published his Free Inquiry in 1749, and before his death, +which happened in 1750, he had prepared a vindication of it +against his numerous adversaries.] +[Footnote 80: The university of Oxford conferred degrees on his +opponents. From the indignation of Mosheim, (p. 221,) we may +discover the sentiments of the Lutheran divines. + + Note: Yet many Protestant divines will now without +reluctance confine miracles to the time of the apostles, or at +least to the first century. - M] +[Footnote 81: It may seem somewhat remarkable, that Bernard of +Clairvaux, who records so many miracles of his friend St. +Malachi, never takes any notice of his own, which, in their turn, +however, are carefully related by his companions and disciples. +In the long series of ecclesiastical history, does there exist a +single instance of a saint asserting that he himself possessed +the gift of miracles?] + +[Footnote 82: The conversion of Constantine is the aera which is +most usually fixed by Protestants. The more rational divines are +unwilling to admit the miracles of the ivth, whilst the more +credulous are unwilling to reject those of the vth century. + + Note: All this appears to proceed on the principle that any +distinct line can be drawn in an unphilosophic age between +wonders and miracles, or between what piety, from their +unexpected and extraordinary nature, the marvellous concurrence +of secondary causes to some remarkable end, may consider +providential interpositions, and miracles strictly so called, in +which the laws of nature are suspended or violated. It is +impossible to assign, on one side, limits to human credulity, on +the other, to the influence of the imagination on the bodily +frame; but some of the miracles recorded in the Gospels are such +palpable impossibilities, according to the known laws and +operations of nature, that if recorded on sufficient evidence, +and the evidence we believe to be that of eye-witnesses, we +cannot reject them, without either asserting, with Hume, that no +evidence can prove a miracle, or that the Author of Nature has no +power of suspending its ordinary laws. But which of the +post-apostolic miracles will bear this test? - M.] + Whatever opinion may be entertained of the miracles of the +primitive church since the time of the apostles, this unresisting +softness of temper, so conspicuous among the believers of the +second and third centuries, proved of some accidental benefit to +the cause of truth and religion. In modern times, a latent and +even involuntary scepticism adheres to the most pious +dispositions. Their admission of supernatural truths is much +less an active consent than a cold and passive acquiescence. +Accustomed long since to observe and to respect the variable +order of Nature, our reason, or at least our imagination, is not +sufficiently prepared to sustain the visible action of the Deity. + +But, in the first ages of Christianity, the situation of mankind +was extremely different. The most curious, or the most +credulous, among the Pagans, were often persuaded to enter into a +society which asserted an actual claim of miraculous powers. The +primitive Christians perpetually trod on mystic ground, and their +minds were exercised by the habits of believing the most +extraordinary events. They felt, or they fancied, that on every +side they were incessantly assaulted by daemons, comforted by +visions, instructed by prophecy, and surprisingly delivered from +danger, sickness, and from death itself, by the supplications of +the church. The real or imaginary prodigies, of which they so +frequently conceived themselves to be the objects, the +instruments, or the spectators, very happily disposed them to +adopt with the same ease, but with far greater justice, the +authentic wonders of the evangelic history; and thus miracles +that exceeded not the measure of their own experience, inspired +them with the most lively assurance of mysteries which were +acknowledged to surpass the limits of their understanding. It is +this deep impression of supernatural truths, which has been so +much celebrated under the name of faith; a state of mind +described as the surest pledge of the divine favor and of future +felicity, and recommended as the first, or perhaps the only merit +of a Christian. According to the more rigid doctors, the moral +virtues, which may be equally practised by infidels, are +destitute of any value or efficacy in the work of our +justification. + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part V. + + IV. But the primitive Christian demonstrated his faith by +his virtues; and it was very justly supposed that the divine +persuasion, which enlightened or subdued the understanding, must, +at the same time, purify the heart, and direct the actions, of +the believer. The first apologists of Christianity who justify +the innocence of their brethren, and the writers of a later +period who celebrate the sanctity of their ancestors, display, in +the most lively colors, the reformation of manners which was +introduced into the world by the preaching of the gospel. As it +is my intention to remark only such human causes as were +permitted to second the influence of revelation, I shall slightly +mention two motives which might naturally render the lives of the +primitive Christians much purer and more austere than those of +their Pagan contemporaries, or their degenerate successors; +repentance for their past sins, and the laudable desire of +supporting the reputation of the society in which they were +engaged. ^* + +[Footnote *: These, in the opinion of the editor, are the most +uncandid paragraphs in Gibbon's History. He ought either, with +manly courage, to have denied the moral reformation introduced by +Christianity, or fairly to have investigated all its motives; not +to have confined himself to an insidious and sarcastic +description of the less pure and generous elements of the +Christian character as it appeared even at that early time. - M.] + + It is a very ancient reproach, suggested by the ignorance or +the malice of infidelity, that the Christians allured into their +party the most atrocious criminals, who, as soon as they were +touched by a sense of remorse, were easily persuaded to wash +away, in the water of baptism, the guilt of their past conduct, +for which the temples of the gods refused to grant them any +expiation. But this reproach, when it is cleared from +misrepresentation, contributes as much to the honor as it did to +the increase of the church. ^83 The friends of Christianity may +acknowledge without a blush, that many of the most eminent saints +had been before their baptism the most abandoned sinners. Those +persons, who in the world had followed, though in an imperfect +manner, the dictates of benevolence and propriety, derived such a +calm satisfaction from the opinion of their own rectitude, as +rendered them much less susceptible of the sudden emotions of +shame, of grief, and of terror, which have given birth to so many +wonderful conversions. After the example of their divine Master, +the missionaries of the gospel disdained not the society of men, +and especially of women, oppressed by the consciousness, and very +often by the effects, of their vices. As they emerged from sin +and superstition to the glorious hope of immortality, they +resolved to devote themselves to a life, not only of virtue, but +of penitence. The desire of perfection became the ruling passion +of their soul; and it is well known, that while reason embraces a +cold mediocrity, our passions hurry us, with rapid violence, over +the space which lies between the most opposite extremes. +[Footnote 83: The imputations of Celsus and Julian, with the +defence of the fathers, are very fairly stated by Spanheim, +Commentaire sur les Cesars de Julian, p. 468.] + + When the new converts had been enrolled in the number of the +faithful, and were admitted to the sacraments of the church, they +found themselves restrained from relapsing into their past +disorders by another consideration of a less spiritual, but of a +very innocent and respectable nature. Any particular society +that has departed from the great body of the nation, or the +religion to which it belonged, immediately becomes the object of +universal as well as invidious observation. In proportion to the +smallness of its numbers, the character of the society may be +affected by the virtues and vices of the persons who compose it; +and every member is engaged to watch with the most vigilant +attention over his own behavior, and over that of his brethren, +since, as he must expect to incur a part of the common disgrace, +he may hope to enjoy a share of the common reputation. When the +Christians of Bithynia were brought before the tribunal of the +younger Pliny, they assured the proconsul, that, far from being +engaged in any unlawful conspiracy, they were bound by a solemn +obligation to abstain from the commission of those crimes which +disturb the private or public peace of society, from theft, +robbery, adultery, perjury, and fraud. ^84 ^* Near a century +afterwards, Tertullian with an honest pride, could boast, that +very few Christians had suffered by the hand of the executioner, +except on account of their religion. ^85 Their serious and +sequestered life, averse to the gay luxury of the age, inured +them to chastity, temperance, economy, and all the sober and +domestic virtues. As the greater number were of some trade or +profession, it was incumbent on them, by the strictest integrity +and the fairest dealing, to remove the suspicions which the +profane are too apt to conceive against the appearances of +sanctity. The contempt of the world exercised them in the habits +of humility, meekness, and patience. The more they were +persecuted, the more closely they adhered to each other. Their +mutual charity and unsuspecting confidence has been remarked by +infidels, and was too often abused by perfidious friends. ^86 + +[Footnote 84: Plin. Epist. x. 97. + + Note: Is not the sense of Tertullian rather, if guilty of +any other offence, be had thereby ceased to be a Christian? - M.] + +[Footnote *: And this blamelessness was fully admitted by the +candid and enlightened Roman. - M.] + +[Footnote 85: Tertullian, Apolog. c. 44. He adds, however, with +some degree of hesitation, "Aut si aliud, jam non Christianus." + + Note: Tertullian says positively no Christian, nemo illic +Christianus; for the rest, the limitation which he himself +subjoins, and which Gibbon quotes in the foregoing note, +diminishes the force of this assertion, and appears to prove that +at least he knew none such. - G.] + +[Footnote 86: The philosopher Peregrinus (of whose life and death +Lucian has left us so entertaining an account) imposed, for a +long time, on the credulous simplicity of the Christians of +Asia.] + + It is a very honorable circumstance for the morals of the +primitive Christians, that even their faults, or rather errors, +were derived from an excess of virtue. The bishops and doctors +of the church, whose evidence attests, and whose authority might +influence, the professions, the principles, and even the practice +of their contemporaries, had studied the Scriptures with less +skill than devotion; and they often received, in the most literal +sense, those rigid precepts of Christ and the apostles, to which +the prudence of succeeding commentators has applied a looser and +more figurative mode of interpretation. Ambitious to exalt the +perfection of the gospel above the wisdom of philosophy, the +zealous fathers have carried the duties of self-mortification, of +purity, and of patience, to a height which it is scarcely +possible to attain, and much less to preserve, in our present +state of weakness and corruption. A doctrine so extraordinary +and so sublime must inevitably command the veneration of the +people; but it was ill calculated to obtain the suffrage of those +worldly philosophers, who, in the conduct of this transitory +life, consult only the feelings of nature and the interest of +society. ^87 + +[Footnote 87: See a very judicious treatise of Barbeyrac sur la +Morale des Peres.] + + There are two very natural propensities which we may +distinguish in the most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the +love of pleasure and the love of action. If the former is +refined by art and learning, improved by the charms of social +intercourse, and corrected by a just regard to economy, to +health, and to reputation, it is productive of the greatest part +of the happiness of private life. The love of action is a +principle of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often +leads to anger, to ambition, and to revenge; but when it is +guided by the sense of propriety and benevolence, it becomes the +parent of every virtue, and if those virtues are accompanied with +equal abilities, a family, a state, or an empire, may be indebted +for their safety and prosperity to the undaunted courage of a +single man. To the love of pleasure we may therefore ascribe +most of the agreeable, to the love of action we may attribute +most of the useful and respectable, qualifications. The character +in which both the one and the other should be united and +harmonized, would seem to constitute the most perfect idea of +human nature. The insensible and inactive disposition, which +should be supposed alike destitute of both, would be rejected, by +the common consent of mankind, as utterly incapable of procuring +any happiness to the individual, or any public benefit to the +world. But it was not in this world, that the primitive +Christians were desirous of making themselves either agreeable or +useful. ^* +[Footnote *: El que me fait cette homelie semi-stoicienne, +semi-epicurienne? t'on jamais regarde l'amour du plaisir comme +l'un des principes de la perfection morale? Et de quel droit +faites vous de l'amour de l'action, et de l'amour du plaisir, les +seuls elemens de l'etre humain? Est ce que vous faites +abstraction de la verite en elle-meme, de la conscience et du +sentiment du devoir? Est ce que vous ne sentez point, par +exemple, que le sacrifice du moi a la justice et a la verite, est +aussi dans le coeur de l'homme: que tout n'est pas pour lui +action ou plaisir, et que dans le bien ce n'est pas le mouvement, +mais la verite, qu'il cherche? Et puis * * Thucy dide et Tacite. +ces maitres de l'histoire, ont ils jamais introduits dans leur +recits un fragment de dissertation sur le plaisir et sur +l'action. Villemain Cours de Lit. Franc part ii. Lecon v. - M.] + + The acquisition of knowledge, the exercise of our reason or +fancy, and the cheerful flow of unguarded conversation, may +employ the leisure of a liberal mind. Such amusements, however, +were rejected with abhorrence, or admitted with the utmost +caution, by the severity of the fathers, who despised all +knowledge that was not useful to salvation, and who considered +all levity of discours eas a criminal abuse of the gift of +speech. In our present state of existence the body is so +inseparably connected with the soul, that it seems to be our +interest to taste, with innocence and moderation, the enjoyments +of which that faithful companion is susceptible. Very different +was the reasoning of our devout predecessors; vainly aspiring to +imitate the perfection of angels, they disdained, or they +affected to disdain, every earthly and corporeal delight. ^88 +Some of our senses indeed are necessary for our preservation, +others for our subsistence, and others again for our information; +and thus far it was impossible to reject the use of them. The +first sensation of pleasure was marked as the first moment of +their abuse. The unfeeling candidate for heaven was instructed, +not only to resist the grosser allurements of the taste or smell, +but even to shut his ears against the profane harmony of sounds, +and to view with indifference the most finished productions of +human art. Gay apparel, magnificent houses, and elegant +furniture, were supposed to unite the double guilt of pride and +of sensuality; a simple and mortified appearance was more +suitable to the Christian who was certain of his sins and +doubtful of his salvation. In their censures of luxury, the +fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; ^89 and among +the various articles which excite their pious indignation, we may +enumerate false hair, garments of any color except white, +instruments of music, vases of gold or silver, downy pillows, (as +Jacob reposed his head on a stone,) white bread, foreign wines, +public salutations, the use of warm baths, and the practice of +shaving the beard, which, according to the expression of +Tertullian, is a lie against our own faces, and an impious +attempt to improve the works of the Creator. ^90 When +Christianity was introduced among the rich and the polite, the +observation of these singular laws was left, as it would be at +present, to the few who were ambitious of superior sanctity. But +it is always easy, as well as agreeable, for the inferior ranks +of mankind to claim a merit from the contempt of that pomp and +pleasure which fortune has placed beyond their reach. The virtue +of the primitive Christians, like that of the first Romans, was +very frequently guarded by poverty and ignorance. + +[Footnote 88: Lactant. Institut. Divin. l. vi. c. 20, 21, 22.] +[Footnote 89: Consult a work of Clemens of Alexandria, entitled +The Paedagogue, which contains the rudiments of ethics, as they +were taught in the most celebrated of the Christian schools.] + +[Footnote 90: Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 23. Clemens +Alexandrin. Paedagog. l. iii. c. 8.] + + The chaste severity of the fathers, in whatever related to +the commerce of the two sexes, flowed from the same principle; +their abhorrence of every enjoyment which might gratify the +sensual, and degrade the spiritual, nature of man. It was their +favorite opinion, that if Adam had preserved his obedience to the +Creator, he would have lived forever in a state of virgin purity, +and that some harmless mode of vegetation might have peopled +paradise with a race of innocent and immortal beings. ^91 The use +of marriage was permitted only to his fallen posterity, as a +necessary expedient to continue the human species, and as a +restraint, however imperfect, on the natural licentiousness of +desire. The hesitation of the orthodox casuists on this +interesting subject, betrays the perplexity of men, unwilling to +approve an institution which they were compelled to tolerate. ^92 +The enumeration of the very whimsical laws, which they most +circumstantially imposed on the marriage-bed, would force a smile +from the young and a blush from the fair. It was their unanimous +sentiment, that a first marriage was adequate to all the purposes +of nature and of society. The sensual connection was refined +into a resemblance of the mystic union of Christ with his church, +and was pronounced to be indissoluble either by divorce or by +death. The practice of second nuptials was branded with the name +of a egal adultery; and the persons who were guilty of so +scandalous an offence against Christian purity, were soon +excluded from the honors, and even from the alms, of the church. +^93 Since desire was imputed as a crime, and marriage was +tolerated as a defect, it was consistent with the same principles +to consider a state of celibacy as the nearest approach to the +divine perfection. It was with the utmost difficulty that +ancient Rome could support the institution of six vestals; ^94 +but the primitive church was filled with a great number of +persons of either sex, who had devoted themselves to the +profession of perpetual chastity. ^95 A few of these, among whom +we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the most prudent to +disarm the tempter. ^96 Some were insensible and some were +invincible against the assaults of the flesh. Disdaining an +ignominious flight, the virgins of the warm climate of Africa +encountered the enemy in the closest engagement; they permitted +priests and deacons to share their bed, and gloried amidst the +flames in their unsullied purity. But insulted Nature sometimes +vindicated her rights, and this new species of martyrdom served +only to introduce a new scandal into the church. ^97 Among the +Christian ascetics, however, (a name which they soon acquired +from their painful exercise,) many, as they were less +presumptuous, were probably more successful. The loss of sensual +pleasure was supplied and compensated by spiritual pride. Even +the multitude of Pagans were inclined to estimate the merit of +the sacrifice by its apparent difficulty; and it was in the +praise of these chaste spouses of Christ that the fathers have +poured forth the troubled stream of their eloquence. ^98 Such are +the early traces of monastic principles and institutions, which, +in a subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the temporal +advantages of Christianity. ^99 + +[Footnote 91: Beausobro, Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, l. vii. +c. 3. Justin, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustin, &c., strongly incline +to this opinion. + Note: But these were Gnostic or Manichean opinions. +Beausobre distinctly describes Autustine's bias to his recent +escape from Manicheism; and adds that be afterwards changed his +views. - M.] + +[Footnote 92: Some of the Gnostic heretics were more consistent; +they rejected the use of marriage.] + +[Footnote 93: See a chain of tradition, from Justin Martyr to +Jerome, in the Morale des Peres, c. iv. 6 - 26.] + +[Footnote 94: See a very curious Dissertation on the Vestals, in +the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. iv. p. 161 - +227. Notwithstanding the honors and rewards which were bestowed +on those virgins, it was difficult to procure a sufficient +number; nor could the dread of the most horrible death always +restrain their incontinence.] + +[Footnote 95: Cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus aut nullam. +Minutius Faelix, c. 31. Justin. Apolog. Major. Athenagoras in +Legat. c 28. Tertullian de Cultu Foemin. l. ii.] + +[Footnote 96: Eusebius, l. vi. 8. Before the fame of Origen had +excited envy and persecution, this extraordinary action was +rather admired than censured. As it was his general practice to +allegorize Scripture, it seems unfortunate that in this instance +only, he should have adopted the literal sense.] +[Footnote 97: Cyprian. Epist. 4, and Dodwell, Dissertat. +Cyprianic. iii. Something like this rash attempt was long +afterwards imputed to the founder of the order of Fontevrault. +Bayle has amused himself and his readers on that very delicate +subject.] + +[Footnote 98: Dupin (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 195) +gives a particular account of the dialogue of the ten virgins, as +it was composed by Methodius, Bishop of Tyre. The praises of +virginity are excessive.] +[Footnote 99: The Ascetics (as early as the second century) made +a public profession of mortifying their bodies, and of abstaining +from the use of flesh and wine. Mosheim, p. 310.] + + The Christians were not less averse to the business than to +the pleasures of this world. The defence of our persons and +property they knew not how to reconcile with the patient doctrine +which enjoined an unlimited forgiveness of past injuries, and +commanded them to invite the repetition of fresh insults. Their +simplicity was offended by the use of oaths, by the pomp of +magistracy, and by the active contention of public life; nor +could their humane ignorance be convinced that it was lawful on +any occasion to shed the blood of our fellow-creatures, either by +the sword of justice, or by that of war; even though their +criminal or hostile attempts should threaten the peace and safety +of the whole community. ^100 It was acknowledged, that, under a +less perfect law, the powers of the Jewish constitution had been +exercised, with the approbation of Heaven, by inspired prophets +and by anointed kings. The Christians felt and confessed that +such institutions might be necessary for the present system of +the world, and they cheerfully submitted to the authority of +their Pagan governors. But while they inculcated the maxims of +passive obedience, they refused to take any active part in the +civil administration or the military defence of the empire. Some +indulgence might, perhaps, be allowed to those persons who, +before their conversion, were already engaged in such violent and +sanguinary occupations; ^101 but it was impossible that the +Christians, without renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume +the character of soldiers, of magistrates, or of princes. ^102 +This indolent, or even criminal disregard to the public welfare, +exposed them to the contempt and reproaches of the Pagans who +very frequently asked, what must be the fate of the empire, +attacked on every side by the barbarians, if all mankind should +adopt the pusillanimous sentiments of the new sect. ^103 To this +insulting question the Christian apologists returned obscure and +ambiguous answers, as they were unwilling to reveal the secret +cause of their security; the expectation that, before the +conversion of mankind was accomplished, war, government, the +Roman empire, and the world itself, would be no more. It may be +observed, that, in this instance likewise, the situation of the +first Christians coincided very happily with their religious +scruples, and that their aversion to an active life contributed +rather to excuse them from the service, than to exclude them from +the honors, of the state and army. + +[Footnote 100: See the Morale des Peres. The same patient +principles have been revived since the Reformation by the +Socinians, the modern Anabaptists, and the Quakers. Barclay, the +Apologist of the Quakers, has protected his brethren by the +authority of the primitive Christian; p. 542 - 549] +[Footnote 101: Tertullian, Apolog. c. 21. De Idololatria, c. 17, +18. Origen contra Celsum, l. v. p. 253, l. vii. p. 348, l. viii. +p. 423 - 428.] +[Footnote 102: Tertullian (de Corona Militis, c. 11) suggested to +them the expedient of deserting; a counsel which, if it had been +generally known, was not very proper to conciliate the favor of +the emperors towards the Christian sect. + + Note: There is nothing which ought to astonish us in the +refusal of the primitive Christians to take part in public +affairs; it was the natural consequence of the contrariety of +their principles to the customs, laws, and active life of the +Pagan world. As Christians, they could not enter into the +senate, which, according to Gibbon himself, always assembled in a +temple or consecrated place, and where each senator, before he +took his seat, made a libation of a few drops of wine, and burnt +incense on the altar; as Christians, they could not assist at +festivals and banquets, which always terminated with libations, +&c.; finally, as "the innumerable deities and rites of polytheism +were closely interwoven with every circumstance of public and +private life," the Christians could not participate in them +without incurring, according to their principles, the guilt of +impiety. It was then much less by an effect of their doctrine, +than by the consequence of their situation, that they stood aloof +from public business. Whenever this situation offered no +impediment, they showed as much activity as the Pagans. Proinde, +says Justin Martyr, (Apol. c. 17,) nos solum Deum adoramus, et +vobis in rebus aliis laeti inservimus. - G. + + This latter passage, M. Guizot quotes in Latin; if he had +consulted the original, he would have found it to be altogether +irrelevant: it merely relates to the payment of taxes. - M. + + Tertullian does not suggest to the soldiers the expedient of +deserting; he says that they ought to be constantly on their +guard to do nothing during their service contrary to the law of +God, and to resolve to suffer martyrdom rather than submit to a +base compliance, or openly to renounce the service. (De Cor. Mil. +ii. p. 127.) He does not positively decide that the military +service is not permitted to Christians; he ends, indeed, by +saying, Puta denique licere militiam usque ad causam coronae. - +G. + + M. Guizot is. I think, again unfortunate in his defence of +Tertullian. That father says, that many Christian soldiers had +deserted, aut deserendum statim sit, ut a multis actum. The +latter sentence, Puta, &c, &c., is a concession for the sake of +argument: wha follows is more to the purpose. - M. + Many other passages of Tertullian prove that the army was +full of Christians, Hesterni sumus et vestra omnia implevimus, +urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, conciliabula, castra ipsa. +(Apol. c. 37.) Navigamus et not vobiscum et militamus. (c. 42.) +Origen, in truth, appears to have maintained a more rigid +opinion, (Cont. Cels. l. viii.;) but he has often renounced this +exaggerated severity, perhaps necessary to produce great results, +and be speaks of the profession of arms as an honorable one. (l. +iv. c. 218.) - G. + + On these points Christian opinion, it should seem, was much +divided Tertullian, when he wrote the De Cor. Mil., was evidently +inclining to more ascetic opinions, and Origen was of the same +class. See Neander, vol. l part ii. p. 305, edit. 1828. - M.] + +[Footnote 103: As well as we can judge from the mutilated +representation of Origen, (1. viii. p. 423,) his adversary, +Celsus, had urged his objection with great force and candor.] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part VI. + + V. But the human character, however it may be exalted or +depressed by a temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to +its proper and natural level, and will resume those passions that +seem the most adapted to its present condition. The primitive +Christians were dead to the business and pleasures of the world; +but their love of action, which could never be entirely +extinguished, soon revived, and found a new occupation in the +government of the church. A separate society, which attacked the +established religion of the empire, was obliged to adopt some +form of internal policy, and to appoint a sufficient number of +ministers, intrusted not only with the spiritual functions, but +even with the temporal direction of the Christian commonwealth. +The safety of that society, its honor, its aggrandizement, were +productive, even in the most pious minds, of a spirit of +patriotism, such as the first of the Romans had felt for the +republic, and sometimes of a similar indifference, in the use of +whatever means might probably conduce to so desirable an end. +The ambition of raising themselves or their friends to the honors +and offices of the church, was disguised by the laudable +intention of devoting to the public benefit the power and +consideration, which, for that purpose only, it became their duty +to solicit. In the exercise of their functions, they were +frequently called upon to detect the errors of heresy or the arts +of faction, to oppose the designs of perfidious brethren, to +stigmatize their characters with deserved infamy, and to expel +them from the bosom of a society whose peace and happiness they +had attempted to disturb. The ecclesiastical governors of the +Christians were taught to unite the wisdom of the serpent with +the innocence of the dove; but as the former was refined, so the +latter was insensibly corrupted, by the habits of government. If +the church as well as in the world, the persons who were placed +in any public station rendered themselves considerable by their +eloquence and firmness, by their knowledge of mankind, and by +their dexterity in business; and while they concealed from +others, and perhaps from themselves, the secret motives of their +conduct, they too frequently relapsed into all the turbulent +passions of active life, which were tinctured with an additional +degree of bitterness and obstinacy from the infusion of spiritual +zeal. + + The government of the church has often been the subject, as +well as the prize, of religious contention. The hostile +disputants of Rome, of Paris, of Oxford, and of Geneva, have +alike struggled to reduce the primitive and apostolic model ^104 +to the respective standards of their own policy. The few who +have pursued this inquiry with more candor and impartiality, are +of opinion, ^105 that the apostles declined the office of +legislation, and rather chose to endure some partial scandals and +divisions, than to exclude the Christians of a future age from +the liberty of varying their forms of ecclesiastical government +according to the changes of times and circumstances. The scheme +of policy, which, under their approbation, was adopted for the +use of the first century, may be discovered from the practice of +Jerusalem, of Ephesus, or of Corinth. The societies which were +instituted in the cities of the Roman empire, were united only by +the ties of faith and charity. Independence and equality formed +the basis of their internal constitution. The want of discipline +and human learning was supplied by the occasional assistance of +the prophets, ^106 who were called to that function without +distinction of age, of sex, ^* or of natural abilities, and who, +as often as they felt the divine impulse, poured forth the +effusions of the Spirit in the assembly of the faithful. But +these extraordinary gifts were frequently abused or misapplied by +the prophetic teachers. They displayed them at an improper +season, presumptuously disturbed the service of the assembly, +and, by their pride or mistaken zeal, they introduced, +particularly into the apostolic church of Corinth, a long and +melancholy train of disorders. ^107 As the institution of +prophets became useless, and even pernicious, their powers were +withdrawn, and their office abolished. The public functions of +religion were solely intrusted to the established ministers of +the church, the bishops and the presbyters; two appellations +which, in their first origin, appear to have distinguished the +same office and the same order of persons. The name of Presbyter +was expressive of their age, or rather of their gravity and +wisdom. The title of Bishop denoted their inspection over the +faith and manners of the Christians who were committed to their +pastoral care. In proportion to the respective numbers of the +faithful, a larger or smaller number of these episcopal +presbyters guided each infant congregation with equal authority +and with united counsels. ^108 +[Footnote 104: The aristocratical party in France, as well as in +England, has strenuously maintained the divine origin of bishops. + +But the Calvinistical presbyters were impatient of a superior; +and the Roman Pontiff refused to acknowledge an equal. See Fra +Paolo.] + +[Footnote 105: In the history of the Christian hierarchy, I have, +for the most part, followed the learned and candid Mosheim.] + +[Footnote 106: For the prophets of the primitive church, see +Mosheim, Dissertationes ad Hist. Eccles. pertinentes, tom. ii. p. +132 - 208.] +[Footnote *: St. Paul distinctly reproves the intrusion of +females into the prophets office. 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. 1 Tim. +ii. 11. - M.] +[Footnote 107: See the epistles of St. Paul, and of Clemens, to +the Corinthians. + + Note: The first ministers established in the church were the +deacons, appointed at Jerusalem, seven in number; they were +charged with the distribution of the alms; even females had a +share in this employment. After the deacons came the elders or +priests, charged with the maintenance of order and decorum in the +community, and to act every where in its name. The bishops were +afterwards charged to watch over the faith and the instruction of +the disciples: the apostles themselves appointed several bishops. + +Tertullian, (adv. Marium, c. v.,) Clement of Alexandria, and many +fathers of the second and third century, do not permit us to +doubt this fact. The equality of rank between these different +functionaries did not prevent their functions being, even in +their origin, distinct; they became subsequently still more so. +See Plank, Geschichte der Christ. Kirch. Verfassung., vol. i. p. +24. - G. + On this extremely obscure subject, which has been so much +perplexed by passion and interest, it is impossible to justify +any opinion without entering into long and controversial details. + +It must be admitted, in opposition to Plank, that in the New +Testament, several words are sometimes indiscriminately used. +(Acts xx. v. 17, comp. with 28 Tit. i. 5 and 7. Philip. i. 1.) +But it is as clear, that as soon as we can discern the form of +church government, at a period closely bordering upon, if not +within, the apostolic age, it appears with a bishop at the head +of each community, holding some superiority over the presbyters. +Whether he was, as Gibbon from Mosheim supposes, merely an +elective head of the College of Presbyters, (for this we have, in +fact, no valid authority,) or whether his distinct functions were +established on apostolic authority, is still contested. The +universal submission to this episcopacy, in every part of the +Christian world appears to me strongly to favor the latter view. +- M.] + +[Footnote 108: Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, l. vii.] + + But the most perfect equality of freedom requires the +directing hand of a superior magistrate: and the order of public +deliberations soon introduces the office of a president, invested +at least with the authority of collecting the sentiments, and of +executing the resolutions, of the assembly. A regard for the +public tranquillity, which would so frequently have been +interrupted by annual or by occasional elections, induced the +primitive Christians to constitute an honorable and perpetual +magistracy, and to choose one of the wisest and most holy among +their presbyterians to execute, during his life, the duties of +their ecclesiastical governor. It was under these circumstances +that the lofty title of Bishop began to raise itself above the +humble appellation of Presbyter; and while the latter remained +the most natural distinction for the members of every Christian +senate, the former was appropriated to the dignity of its new +president. ^109 The advantages of this episcopal form of +government, which appears to have been introduced before the end +of the first century, ^110 were so obvious, and so important for +the future greatness, as well as the present peace, of +Christianity, that it was adopted without delay by all the +societies which were already scattered over the empire, had +acquired in a very early period the sanction of antiquity, ^111 +and is still revered by the most powerful churches, both of the +East and of the West, as a primitive and even as a divine +establishment. ^112 It is needless to observe, that the pious and +humble presbyters, who were first dignified with the episcopal +title, could not possess, and would probably have rejected, the +power and pomp which now encircles the tiara of the Roman +pontiff, or the mitre of a German prelate. But we may define, in +a few words, the narrow limits of their original jurisdiction, +which was chiefly of a spiritual, though in some instances of a +temporal nature. ^113 It consisted in the administration of the +sacraments and discipline of the church, the superintendency of +religious ceremonies, which imperceptibly increased in number and +variety, the consecration of ecclesiastical ministers, to whom +the bishop assigned their respective functions, the management of +the public fund, and the determination of all such differences as +the faithful were unwilling to expose before the tribunal of an +idolatrous judge. These powers, during a short period, were +exercised according to the advice of the presbyteral college, and +with the consent and approbation of the assembly of Christians. +The primitive bishops were considered only as the first of their +equals, and the honorable servants of a free people. Whenever +the episcopal chair became vacant by death, a new president was +chosen among the presbyters by the suffrages of the whole +congregation, every member of which supposed himself invested +with a sacred and sacerdotal character. ^114 +[Footnote 109: See Jerome and Titum, c. i. and Epistol. 85, (in +the Benedictine edition, 101,) and the elaborate apology of +Blondel, pro sententia Hieronymi. The ancient state, as it is +described by Jerome, of the bishop and presbyters of Alexandria, +receives a remarkable confirmation from the patriarch Eutychius, +(Annal. tom. i. p. 330, Vers Pocock;) whose testimony I know not +how to reject, in spite of all the objections of the learned +Pearson in his Vindiciae Ignatianae, part i. c. 11.] +[Footnote 110: See the introduction to the Apocalypse. Bishops, +under the name of angels, were already instituted in the seven +cities of Asia. And yet the epistle of Clemens (which is +probably of as ancient a date) does not lead us to discover any +traces of episcopacy either at Corinth or Rome.] +[Footnote 111: Nulla Ecclesia sine Episcopo, has been a fact as +well as a maxim since the time of Tertullian and Irenaeus.] + +[Footnote 112: After we have passed the difficulties of the first +century, we find the episcopal government universally +established, till it was interrupted by the republican genius of +the Swiss and German reformers.] +[Footnote 113: See Mosheim in the first and second centuries. +Ignatius (ad Smyrnaeos, c. 3, &c.) is fond of exalting the +episcopal dignity. Le Clerc (Hist. Eccles. p. 569) very bluntly +censures his conduct, Mosheim, with a more critical judgment, (p. +161,) suspects the purity even of the smaller epistles.] + +[Footnote 114: Nonne et Laici sacerdotes sumus? Tertullian, +Exhort. ad Castitat. c. 7. As the human heart is still the same, +several of the observations which Mr. Hume has made on +Enthusiasm, (Essays, vol. i. p. 76, quarto edit.) may be applied +even to real inspiration. + + Note: This expression was employed by the earlier Christian +writers in the sense used by St. Peter, 1 Ep ii. 9. It was the +sanctity and virtue not the power of priesthood, in which all +Christians were to be equally distinguished. - M.] + + Such was the mild and equal constitution by which the +Christians were governed more than a hundred years after the +death of the apostles. Every society formed within itself a +separate and independent republic; and although the most distant +of these little states maintained a mutual as well as friendly +intercourse of letters and deputations, the Christian world was +not yet connected by any supreme authority or legislative +assembly. As the numbers of the faithful were gradually +multiplied, they discovered the advantages that might result from +a closer union of their interest and designs. Towards the end of +the second century, the churches of Greece and Asia adopted the +useful institutions of provincial synods, ^* and they may justly +be supposed to have borrowed the model of a representative +council from the celebrated examples of their own country, the +Amphictyons, the Achaean league, or the assemblies of the Ionian +cities. It was soon established as a custom and as a law, that +the bishops of the independent churches should meet in the +capital of the province at the stated periods of spring and +autumn. Their deliberations were assisted by the advice of a few +distinguished presbyters, and moderated by the presence of a +listening multitude. ^115 Their decrees, which were styled +Canons, regulated every important controversy of faith and +discipline; and it was natural to believe that a liberal effusion +of the Holy Spirit would be poured on the united assembly of the +delegates of the Christian people. The institution of synods was +so well suited to private ambition, and to public interest, that +in the space of a few years it was received throughout the whole +empire. A regular correspondence was established between the +provincial councils, which mutually communicated and approved +their respective proceedings; and the catholic church soon +assumed the form, and acquired the strength, of a great +foederative republic. ^116 + +[Footnote *: The synods were not the first means taken by the +insulated churches to enter into communion and to assume a +corporate character. The dioceses were first formed by the union +of several country churches with a church in a city: many +churches in one city uniting among themselves, or joining a more +considerable church, became metropolitan. The dioceses were not +formed before the beginning of the second century: before that +time the Christians had not established sufficient churches in +the country to stand in need of that union. It is towards the +middle of the same century that we discover the first traces of +the metropolitan constitution. (Probably the country churches +were founded in general by missionaries from those in the city, +and would preserve a natural connection with the parent church.) +- M. + The provincial synods did not commence till towards the +middle of the third century, and were not the first synods. +History gives us distinct notions of the synods, held towards the +end of the second century, at Ephesus at Jerusalem, at Pontus, +and at Rome, to put an end to the disputes which had arisen +between the Latin and Asiatic churches about the celebration of +Easter. But these synods were not subject to any regular form or +periodical return; this regularity was first established with the +provincial synods, which were formed by a union of the bishops of +a district, subject to a metropolitan. Plank, p. 90. Geschichte +der Christ. Kirch. Verfassung - G] +[Footnote 115: Acta Concil. Carthag. apud Cyprian. edit. Fell, +p. 158. This council was composed of eighty-seven bishops from +the provinces of Mauritania, Numidia, and Africa; some presbyters +and deacons assisted at the assembly; praesente plebis maxima +parte.] + +[Footnote 116: Aguntur praeterea per Graecias illas, certis in +locis concilia, &c Tertullian de Jejuniis, c. 13. The African +mentions it as a recent and foreign institution. The coalition +of the Christian churches is very ably explained by Mosheim, p. +164 170.] + + As the legislative authority of the particular churches was +insensibly superseded by the use of councils, the bishops +obtained by their alliance a much larger share of executive and +arbitrary power; and as soon as they were connected by a sense of +their common interest, they were enabled to attack with united +vigor, the original rights of their clergy and people. The +prelates of the third century imperceptibly changed the language +of exhortation into that of command, scattered the seeds of +future usurpations, and supplied, by scripture allegories and +declamatory rhetoric, their deficiency of force and of reason. +They exalted the unity and power of the church, as it was +represented in the Episcopal Office, of which every bishop +enjoyed an equal and undivided portion. ^117 Princes and +magistrates, it was often repeated, might boast an earthly claim +to a transitory dominion; it was the episcopal authority alone +which was derived from the Deity, and extended itself over this +and over another world. The bishops were the vicegerents of +Christ, the successors of the apostles, and the mystic +substitutes of the high priest of the Mosaic law. Their +exclusive privilege of conferring the sacerdotal character, +invaded the freedom both of clerical and of popular elections; +and if, in the administration of the church, they still consulted +the judgment of the presbyters, or the inclination of the people, +they most carefully inculcated the merit of such a voluntary +condescension. The bishops acknowledged the supreme authority +which resided in the assembly of their brethren; but in the +government of his peculiar diocese, each of them exacted from his +flock the same implicit obedience as if that favorite metaphor +had been literally just, and as if the shepherd had been of a +more exalted nature than that of his sheep. ^118 This obedience, +however, was not imposed without some efforts on one side, and +some resistance on the other. The democratical part of the +constitution was, in many places, very warmly supported by the +zealous or interested opposition of the inferior clergy. But +their patriotism received the ignominious epithets of faction and +schism; and the episcopal cause was indebted for its rapid +progress to the labors of many active prelates, who, like Cyprian +of Carthage, could reconcile the arts of the most ambitious +statesman with the Christian virtues which seem adapted to the +character of a saint and martyr. ^119 + +[Footnote 117: Cyprian, in his admired treatise De Unitate +Ecclesiae. p. 75 - 86] + +[Footnote 118: We may appeal to the whole tenor of Cyprian's +conduct, of his doctrine, and of his epistles. Le Clerc, in a +short life of Cyprian, (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xii. p. +207 - 378,) has laid him open with great freedom and accuracy.] + +[Footnote 119: If Novatus, Felicissimus, &c., whom the Bishop of +Carthage expelled from his church, and from Africa, were not the +most detestable monsters of wickedness, the zeal of Cyprian must +occasionally have prevailed over his veracity. For a very just +account of these obscure quarrels, see Mosheim, p. 497 - 512.] + + The same causes which at first had destroyed the equality of +the presbyters introduced among the bishops a preeminence of +rank, and from thence a superiority of jurisdiction. As often as +in the spring and autumn they met in provincial synod, the +difference of personal merit and reputation was very sensibly +felt among the members of the assembly, and the multitude was +governed by the wisdom and eloquence of the few. But the order +of public proceedings required a more regular and less invidious +distinction; the office of perpetual presidents in the councils +of each province was conferred on the bishops of the principal +city; and these aspiring prelates, who soon acquired the lofty +titles of Metropolitans and Primates, secretly prepared +themselves to usurp over their episcopal brethren the same +authority which the bishops had so lately assumed above the +college of presbyters. ^120 Nor was it long before an emulation +of preeminence and power prevailed among the Metropolitans +themselves, each of them affecting to display, in the most +pompous terms, the temporal honors and advantages of the city +over which he presided; the numbers and opulence of the +Christians who were subject to their pastoral care; the saints +and martyrs who had arisen among them; and the purity with which +they preserved the tradition of the faith, as it had been +transmitted through a series of orthodox bishops from the apostle +or the apostolic disciple, to whom the foundation of their church +was ascribed. ^121 From every cause, either of a civil or of an +ecclesiastical nature, it was easy to foresee that Rome must +enjoy the respect, and would soon claim the obedience of the +provinces. The society of the faithful bore a just proportion to +the capital of the empire; and the Roman church was the greatest, +the most numerous, and, in regard to the West, the most ancient +of all the Christian establishments, many of which had received +their religion from the pious labors of her missionaries. +Instead of one apostolic founder, the utmost boast of Antioch, of +Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of the Tyber were supposed to +have been honored with the preaching and martyrdom of the two +most eminent among the apostles; ^122 and the bishops of Rome +very prudently claimed the inheritance of whatsoever prerogatives +were attributed either to the person or to the office of St. +Peter. ^123 The bishops of Italy and of the provinces were +disposed to allow them a primacy of order and association (such +was their very accurate expression) in the Christian aristocracy. +^124 But the power of a monarch was rejected with abhorrence, and +the aspiring genius of Rome experienced from the nations of Asia +and Africa a more vigorous resistance to her spiritual, than she +had formerly done to her temporal, dominion. The patriotic +Cyprian, who ruled with the most absolute sway the church of +Carthage and the provincial synods, opposed with resolution and +success the ambition of the Roman pontiff, artfully connected his +own cause with that of the eastern bishops, and, like Hannibal, +sought out new allies in the heart of Asia. ^125 If this Punic +war was carried on without any effusion of blood, it was owing +much less to the moderation than to the weakness of the +contending prelates. Invectives and excommunications were their +only weapons; and these, during the progress of the whole +controversy, they hurled against each other with equal fury and +devotion. The hard necessity of censuring either a pope, or a +saint and martyr, distresses the modern Catholics whenever they +are obliged to relate the particulars of a dispute in which the +champions of religion indulged such passions as seem much more +adapted to the senate or to the camp. ^126 +[Footnote 120: Mosheim, p. 269, 574. Dupin, Antiquae Eccles. +Disciplin. p. 19, 20.] + +[Footnote 121: Tertullian, in a distinct treatise, has pleaded +against the heretics the right of prescription, as it was held by +the apostolic churches.] + +[Footnote 122: The journey of St. Peter to Rome is mentioned by +most of the ancients, (see Eusebius, ii. 25,) maintained by all +the Catholics, allowed by some Protestants, (see Pearson and +Dodwell de Success. Episcop. Roman,) but has been vigorously +attacked by Spanheim, (Miscellanes Sacra, iii. 3.) According to +Father Hardouin, the monks of the thirteenth century, who +composed the Aeneid, represented St. Peter under the allegorical +character of the Trojan hero. + + Note: It is quite clear that, strictly speaking, the church +of Rome was not founded by either of these apostles. St. Paul's +Epistle to the Romans proves undeniably the flourishing state of +the church before his visit to the city; and many Roman Catholic +writers have given up the impracticable task of reconciling with +chronology any visit of St. Peter to Rome before the end of the +reign of Claudius, or the beginning of that of Nero. - M.] +[Footnote 123: It is in French only that the famous allusion to +St. Peter's name is exact. Tu es Pierre, et sur cette pierre. - +The same is imperfect in Greek, Latin, Italian, &c., and totally +unintelligible in our Tentonic languages. + + Note: It is exact in Syro-Chaldaic, the language in which it +was spoken by Jesus Christ. (St. Matt. xvi. 17.) Peter was +called Cephas; and cepha signifies base, foundation, rock - G.] + +[Footnote 124: Irenaeus adv. Haereses, iii. 3. Tertullian de +Praescription. c. 36, and Cyprian, Epistol. 27, 55, 71, 75. Le +Clere (Hist. Eccles. p. 764) and Mosheim (p. 258, 578) labor in +the interpretation of these passages. But the loose and +rhetorical style of the fathers often appears favorable to the +pretensions of Rome.] + +[Footnote 125: See the sharp epistle from Firmilianus, bishop of +Caesarea, to Stephen, bishop of Rome, ap. Cyprian, Epistol. 75.] + +[Footnote 126: Concerning this dispute of the rebaptism of +heretics, see the epistles of Cyprian, and the seventh book of +Eusebius.] + + The progress of the ecclesiastical authority gave birth to +the memorable distinction of the laity and of the clergy, which +had been unknown to the Greeks and Romans. ^127 The former of +these appellations comprehended the body of the Christian people; +the latter, according to the signification of the word, was +appropriated to the chosen portion that had been set apart for +the service of religion; a celebrated order of men, which has +furnished the most important, though not always the most +edifying, subjects for modern history. Their mutual hostilities +sometimes disturbed the peace of the infant church, but their +zeal and activity were united in the common cause, and the love +of power, which (under the most artful disguises) could insinuate +itself into the breasts of bishops and martyrs, animated them to +increase the number of their subjects, and to enlarge the limits +of the Christian empire. They were destitute of any temporal +force, and they were for a long time discouraged and oppressed, +rather than assisted, by the civil magistrate; but they had +acquired, and they employed within their own society, the two +most efficacious instruments of government, rewards and +punishments; the former derived from the pious liberality, the +latter from the devout apprehensions, of the faithful. + +[Footnote 127: For the origin of these words, see Mosheim, p. +141. Spanheim, Hist. Ecclesiast. p. 633. The distinction of +Clerus and Iaicus was established before the time of Tertullian.] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part VII + + I. The community of goods, which had so agreeably amused +the imagination of Plato, ^128 and which subsisted in some degree +among the austere sect of the Essenians, ^129 was adopted for a +short time in the primitive church. The fervor of the first +proselytes prompted them to sell those worldly possessions, which +they despised, to lay the price of them at the feet of the +apostles, and to content themselves with receiving an equal share +out of the general distribution. ^130 The progress of the +Christian religion relaxed, and gradually abolished, this +generous institution, which, in hands less pure than those of the +apostles, would too soon have been corrupted and abused by the +returning selfishness of human nature; and the converts who +embraced the new religion were permitted to retain the possession +of their patrimony, to receive legacies and inheritances, and to +increase their separate property by all the lawful means of trade +and industry. Instead of an absolute sacrifice, a moderate +proportion was accepted by the ministers of the gospel; and in +their weekly or monthly assemblies, every believer, according to +the exigency of the occasion, and the measure of his wealth and +piety, presented his voluntary offering for the use of the common +fund. ^131 Nothing, however inconsiderable, was refused; but it +was diligently inculcated; that, in the article of Tithes, the +Mosaic law was still of divine obligation; and that since the +Jews, under a less perfect discipline, had been commanded to pay +a tenth part of all that they possessed, it would become the +disciples of Christ to distinguish themselves by a superior +degree of liberality, ^132 and to acquire some merit by resigning +a superfluous treasure, which must so soon be annihilated with +the world itself. ^133 It is almost unnecessary to observe, that +the revenue of each particular church, which was of so uncertain +and fluctuating a nature, must have varied with the poverty or +the opulence of the faithful, as they were dispersed in obscure +villages, or collected in the great cities of the empire. In the +time of the emperor Decius, it was the opinion of the +magistrates, that the Christians of Rome were possessed of very +considerable wealth; that vessels of gold and silver were used in +their religious worship, and that many among their proselytes had +sold their lands and houses to increase the public riches of the +sect, at the expense, indeed, of their unfortunate children, who +found themselves beggars, because their parents had been saints. +^134 We should listen with distrust to the suspicions of +strangers and enemies: on this occasion, however, they receive a +very specious and probable color from the two following +circumstances, the only ones that have reached our knowledge, +which define any precise sums, or convey any distinct idea. +Almost at the same period, the bishop of Carthage, from a society +less opulent than that of Rome, collected a hundred thousand +sesterces, (above eight hundred and fifty pounds sterling,) on a +sudden call of charity to redeem the brethren of Numidia, who had +been carried away captives by the barbarians of the desert. ^135 +About a hundred years before the reign of Decius, the Roman +church had received, in a single donation, the sum of two hundred +thousand sesterces from a stranger of Pontus, who proposed to fix +his residence in the capital. ^136 These oblations, for the most +part, were made in money; nor was the society of Christians +either desirous or capable of acquiring, to any considerable +degree, the encumbrance of landed property. It had been provided +by several laws, which were enacted with the same design as our +statutes of mortmain, that no real estates should be given or +bequeathed to any corporate body, without either a special +privilege or a particular dispensation from the emperor or from +the senate; ^137 who were seldom disposed to grant them in favor +of a sect, at first the object of their contempt, and at last of +their fears and jealousy. A transaction, however, is related +under the reign of Alexander Severus, which discovers that the +restraint was sometimes eluded or suspended, and that the +Christians were permitted to claim and to possess lands within +the limits of Rome itself. ^138 The progress of Christianity, and +the civil confusion of the empire, contributed to relax the +severity of the laws; and before the close of the third century +many considerable estates were bestowed on the opulent churches +of Rome, Milan, Carthage, Antioch, Alexandria, and the other +great cities of Italy and the provinces. + +[Footnote 128: The community instituted by Plato is more perfect +than that which Sir Thomas More had imagined for his Utopia. The +community of women, and that of temporal goods, may be considered +as inseparable parts of the same system.] + +[Footnote 129: Joseph. Antiquitat. xviii. 2. Philo, de Vit. +Contemplativ.] +[Footnote 130: See the Acts of the Apostles, c. 2, 4, 5, with +Grotius's Commentary. Mosheim, in a particular dissertation, +attacks the common opinion with very inconclusive arguments. + + Note: This is not the general judgment on Mosheim's learned +dissertation. There is no trace in the latter part of the New +Testament of this community of goods, and many distinct proofs of +the contrary. All exhortations to almsgiving would have been +unmeaning if property had been in common - M.] +[Footnote 131: Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, c. 89. Tertullian, +Apolog. c. 39.] + +[Footnote 132: Irenaeus ad Haeres. l. iv. c. 27, 34. Origen in +Num. Hom. ii Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. Constitut. Apostol. l. +ii. c. 34, 35, with the notes of Cotelerius. The Constitutions +introduce this divine precept, by declaring that priests are as +much above kings as the soul is above the body. Among the +tithable articles, they enumerate corn, wine, oil, and wool. On +this interesting subject, consult Prideaux's History of Tithes, +and Fra Paolo delle Materie Beneficiarie; two writers of a very +different character.] +[Footnote 133: The same opinion which prevailed about the year +one thousand, was productive of the same effects. Most of the +Donations express their motive, "appropinquante mundi fine." See +Mosheim's General History of the Church, vol. i. p. 457.] + +[Footnote 134: Tum summa cura est fratribus + (Ut sermo testatur loquax.) + Offerre, fundis venditis + Sestertiorum millia. + Addicta avorum praedia + Foedis sub auctionibus, + Successor exheres gemit + Sanctis egens Parentibus.] + Haec occuluntur abditis + Ecclesiarum in angulis. + Et summa pietas creditur + Nudare dulces liberos. + + Prudent. Hymn 2. + +The subsequent conduct of the deacon Laurence only proves how +proper a use was made of the wealth of the Roman church; it was +undoubtedly very considerable; but Fra Paolo (c. 3) appears to +exaggerate, when he supposes that the successors of Commodus were +urged to persecute the Christians by their own avarice, or that +of their Praetorian praefects.] +[Footnote 135: Cyprian, Epistol. 62.] + +[Footnote 136: Tertullian de Praescriptione, c. 30.] + +[Footnote 137: Diocletian gave a rescript, which is only a +declaration of the old law; "Collegium, si nullo speciali +privilegio subnixum sit, haereditatem capere non posse, dubium +non est." Fra Paolo (c. 4) thinks that these regulations had been +much neglected since the reign of Valerian.] +[Footnote 138: Hist. August. p. 131. The ground had been public; +and was row disputed between the society of Christians and that +of butchers. + Note *: Carponarii, rather victuallers. - M.] + + The bishop was the natural steward of the church; the public +stock was intrusted to his care without account or control; the +presbyters were confined to their spiritual functions, and the +more dependent order of the deacons was solely employed in the +management and distribution of the ecclesiastical revenue. ^139 +If we may give credit to the vehement declamations of Cyprian, +there were too many among his African brethren, who, in the +execution of their charge, violated every precept, not only of +evangelical perfection, but even of moral virtue. By some of +these unfaithful stewards the riches of the church were lavished +in sensual pleasures; by others they were perverted to the +purposes of private gain, of fraudulent purchases, and of +rapacious usury. ^140 But as long as the contributions of the +Christian people were free and unconstrained, the abuse of their +confidence could not be very frequent, and the general uses to +which their liberality was applied reflected honor on the +religious society. A decent portion was reserved for the +maintenance of the bishop and his clergy; a sufficient sum was +allotted for the expenses of the public worship, of which the +feasts of love, the agapoe, as they were called, constituted a +very pleasing part. The whole remainder was the sacred patrimony +of the poor. According to the discretion of the bishop, it was +distributed to support widows and orphans, the lame, the sick, +and the aged of the community; to comfort strangers and pilgrims, +and to alleviate the misfortunes of prisoners and captives, more +especially when their sufferings had been occasioned by their +firm attachment to the cause of religion. ^141 A generous +intercourse of charity united the most distant provinces, and the +smaller congregations were cheerfully assisted by the alms of +their more opulent brethren. ^142 Such an institution, which paid +less regard to the merit than to the distress of the object, very +materially conduced to the progress of Christianity. The Pagans, +who were actuated by a sense of humanity, while they derided the +doctrines, acknowledged the benevolence, of the new sect. ^143 +The prospect of immediate relief and of future protection allured +into its hospitable bosom many of those unhappy persons whom the +neglect of the world would have abandoned to the miseries of +want, of sickness, and of old age. There is some reason likewise +to believe that great numbers of infants, who, according to the +inhuman practice of the times, had been exposed by their parents, +were frequently rescued from death, baptized, educated, and +maintained by the piety of the Christians, and at the expense of +the public treasure. ^144 +[Footnote 139: Constitut. Apostol. ii. 35.] + +[Footnote 140: Cyprian de Lapsis, p. 89. Epistol. 65. The +charge is confirmed by the 19th and 20th canon of the council of +Illiberis.] +[Footnote 141: See the apologies of Justin, Tertullian, &c.] +[Footnote 142: The wealth and liberality of the Romans to their +most distant brethren is gratefully celebrated by Dionysius of +Corinth, ap. Euseb. l. iv. c. 23.] + +[Footnote 143: See Lucian iu Peregrin. Julian (Epist. 49) seems +mortified that the Christian charity maintains not only their +own, but likewise the heathen poor.] + +[Footnote 144: Such, at least, has been the laudable conduct of +more modern missionaries, under the same circumstances. Above +three thousand new-born infants are annually exposed in the +streets of Pekin. See Le Comte, Memoires sur la Chine, and the +Recherches sur les Chinois et les Egyptians, tom. i. p. 61.] + II. It is the undoubted right of every society to exclude +from its communion and benefits such among its members as reject +or violate those regulations which have been established by +general consent. In the exercise of this power, the censures of +the Christian church were chiefly directed against scandalous +sinners, and particularly those who were guilty of murder, of +fraud, or of incontinence; against the authors or the followers +of any heretical opinions which had been condemned by the +judgment of the episcopal order; and against those unhappy +persons, who, whether from choice or compulsion, had polluted +themselves after their baptism by any act of idolatrous worship. +The consequences of excommunication were of a temporal as well as +a spiritual nature. The Christian against whom it was +pronounced, was deprived of any part in the oblations of the +faithful. The ties both of religious and of private friendship +were dissolved: he found himself a profane object of abhorrence +to the persons whom he the most esteemed, or by whom he had been +the most tenderly beloved; and as far as an expulsion from a +respectable society could imprint on his character a mark of +disgrace, he was shunned or suspected by the generality of +mankind. The situation of these unfortunate exiles was in itself +very painful and melancholy; but, as it usually happens, their +apprehensions far exceeded their sufferings. The benefits of the +Christian communion were those of eternal life; nor could they +erase from their minds the awful opinion, that to those +ecclesiastical governors by whom they were condemned, the Deity +had committed the keys of Hell and of Paradise. The heretics, +indeed, who might be supported by the consciousness of their +intentions, and by the flattering hope that they alone had +discovered the true path of salvation, endeavored to regain, in +their separate assemblies, those comforts, temporal as well as +spiritual, which they no longer derived from the great society of +Christians. But almost all those who had reluctantly yielded to +the power of vice or idolatry were sensible of their fallen +condition, and anxiously desirous of being restored to the +benefits of the Christian communion. + + With regard to the treatment of these penitents, two +opposite opinions, the one of justice, the other of mercy, +divided the primitive church. The more rigid and inflexible +casuists refused them forever, and without exception, the meanest +place in the holy community, which they had disgraced or +deserted; and leaving them to the remorse of a guilty conscience, +indulged them only with a faint ray of hope that the contrition +of their life and death might possibly be accepted by the Supreme +Being. ^145 A milder sentiment was embraced in practice as well +as in theory, by the purest and most respectable of the Christian +churches. ^146 The gates of reconciliation and of heaven were +seldom shut against the returning penitent; but a severe and +solemn form of discipline was instituted, which, while it served +to expiate his crime, might powerfully deter the spectators from +the imitation of his example. Humbled by a public confession, +emaciated by fasting and clothed in sackcloth, the penitent lay +prostrate at the door of the assembly, imploring with tears the +pardon of his offences, and soliciting the prayers of the +faithful. ^147 If the fault was of a very heinous nature, whole +years of penance were esteemed an inadequate satisfaction to the +divine justice; and it was always by slow and painful gradations +that the sinner, the heretic, or the apostate, was readmitted +into the bosom of the church. A sentence of perpetual +excommunication was, however, reserved for some crimes of an +extraordinary magnitude, and particularly for the inexcusable +relapses of those penitents who had already experienced and +abused the clemency of their ecclesiastical superiors. According +to the circumstances or the number of the guilty, the exercise of +the Christian discipline was varied by the discretion of the +bishops. The councils of Ancyra and Illiberis were held about +the same time, the one in Galatia, the other in Spain; but their +respective canons, which are still extant, seem to breathe a very +different spirit. The Galatian, who after his baptism had +repeatedly sacrificed to idols, might obtain his pardon by a +penance of seven years; and if he had seduced others to imitate +his example, only three years more were added to the term of his +exile. But the unhappy Spaniard, who had committed the same +offence, was deprived of the hope of reconciliation, even in the +article of death; and his idolatry was placed at the head of a +list of seventeen other crimes, against which a sentence no less +terrible was pronounced. Among these we may distinguish the +inexpiable guilt of calumniating a bishop, a presbyter, or even a +deacon. ^148 + +[Footnote 145: The Montanists and the Novatians, who adhered to +this opinion with the greatest rigor and obstinacy, found +themselves at last in the number of excommunicated heretics. See +the learned and copious Mosheim, Secul. ii. and iii.] + +[Footnote 146: Dionysius ap. Euseb. iv. 23. Cyprian, de Lapsis.] + +[Footnote 147: Cave's Primitive Christianity, part iii. c. 5. +The admirers of antiquity regret the loss of this public +penance.] + +[Footnote 148: See in Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. +ii. p. 304 - 313, a short but rational exposition of the canons +of those councils, which were assembled in the first moments of +tranquillity, after the persecution of Diocletian. This +persecution had been much less severely felt in Spain than in +Galatia; a difference which may, in some measure account for the +contrast of their regulations.] + + The well-tempered mixture of liberality and rigor, the +judicious dispensation of rewards and punishments, according to +the maxims of policy as well as justice, constituted the human +strength of the church. The Bishops, whose paternal care +extended itself to the government of both worlds, were sensible +of the importance of these prerogatives; and covering their +ambition with the fair pretence of the love of order, they were +jealous of any rival in the exercise of a discipline so necessary +to prevent the desertion of those troops which had enlisted +themselves under the banner of the cross, and whose numbers every +day became more considerable. From the imperious declamations of +Cyprian, we should naturally conclude that the doctrines of +excommunication and penance formed the most essential part of +religion; and that it was much less dangerous for the disciples +of Christ to neglect the observance of the moral duties, than to +despise the censures and authority of their bishops. Sometimes +we might imagine that we were listening to the voice of Moses, +when he commanded the earth to open, and to swallow up, in +consuming flames, the rebellious race which refused obedience to +the priesthood of Aaron; and we should sometimes suppose that we +hear a Roman consul asserting the majesty of the republic, and +declaring his inflexible resolution to enforce the rigor of the +laws. ^* "If such irregularities are suffered with impunity," (it +is thus that the bishop of Carthage chides the lenity of his +colleague,) "if such irregularities are suffered, there is an end +of Episcopal Vigor; ^149 an end of the sublime and divine power +of governing the Church, an end of Christianity itself." Cyprian +had renounced those temporal honors, which it is probable he +would never have obtained; ^* but the acquisition of such +absolute command over the consciences and understanding of a +congregation, however obscure or despised by the world, is more +truly grateful to the pride of the human heart, than the +possession of the most despotic power, imposed by arms and +conquest on a reluctant people. +[Footnote *: Gibbon has been accused of injustice to the +character of Cyprian, as exalting the "censures and authority of +the church above the observance of the moral duties." +Felicissimus had been condemned by a synod of bishops, (non +tantum mea, sed plurimorum coepiscorum, sententia condemnatum,) +on the charge not only of schism, but of embezzlement of public +money, the debauching of virgins, and frequent acts of adultery. +His violent menaces had extorted his readmission into the church, +against which Cyprian protests with much vehemence: ne pecuniae +commissae sibi fraudator, ne stuprator virginum, ne matrimoniorum +multorum depopulator et corruptor, ultra adhuc sponsam Christi +incorruptam praesentiae suae dedecore, et impudica atque incesta +contagione, violaret. See Chelsum's Remarks, p. 134. If these +charges against Felicissimus were true, they were something more +than "irregularities," A Roman censor would have been a fairer +subject of comparison than a consul. On the other hand, it must +be admitted that the charge of adultery deepens very rapidly as +the controversy becomes more violent. It is first represented as +a single act, recently detected, and which men of character were +prepared to substantiate: adulterii etiam crimen accedit. quod +patres nostri graves viri deprehendisse se nuntiaverunt, et +probaturos se asseverarunt. Epist. xxxviii. The heretic has now +darkened into a man of notorious and general profligacy. Nor can +it be denied that of the whole long epistle, very far the larger +and the more passionate part dwells on the breach of +ecclesiastical unity rather than on the violation of Christian +holiness. - M.] + +[Footnote 149: Cyprian Epist. 69.] + +[Footnote *: This supposition appears unfounded: the birth and +the talents of Cyprian might make us presume the contrary. +Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, Carthaginensis, artis oratoriae +professione clarus, magnam sibi gloriam, opes, honores +acquisivit, epularibus caenis et largis dapibus assuetus, +pretiosa veste conspicuus, auro atque purpura fulgens, fascibus +oblectatus et honoribus, stipatus clientium cuneis, frequentiore +comitatu officii agminis honestatus, ut ipse de se loquitur in +Epistola ad Donatum. See De Cave, Hist. Liter. b. i. p. 87. - G. + + Cave has rather embellished Cyprian's language. - M.] + In the course of this important, though perhaps tedious +inquiry, I have attempted to display the secondary causes which +so efficaciously assisted the truth of the Christian religion. +If among these causes we have discovered any artificial +ornaments, any accidental circumstances, or any mixture of error +and passion, it cannot appear surprising that mankind should be +the most sensibly affected by such motives as were suited to +their imperfect nature. It was by the aid of these causes, +exclusive zeal, the immediate expectation of another world, the +claim of miracles, the practice of rigid virtue, and the +constitution of the primitive church, that Christianity spread +itself with so much success in the Roman empire. To the first of +these the Christians were indebted for their invincible valor, +which disdained to capitulate with the enemy whom they were +resolved to vanquish. The three succeeding causes supplied their +valor with the most formidable arms. The last of these causes +united their courage, directed their arms, and gave their efforts +that irresistible weight, which even a small band of well-trained +and intrepid volunteers has so often possessed over an +undisciplined multitude, ignorant of the subject, and careless of +the event of the war. In the various religions of Polytheism, +some wandering fanatics of Egypt and Syria, who addressed +themselves to the credulous superstition of the populace, were +perhaps the only order of priests ^150 that derived their whole +support and credit from their sacerdotal profession, and were +very deeply affected by a personal concern for the safety or +prosperity of their tutelar deities. The ministers of +Polytheism, both in Rome and in the provinces, were, for the most +part, men of a noble birth, and of an affluent fortune, who +received, as an honorable distinction, the care of a celebrated +temple, or of a public sacrifice, exhibited, very frequently at +their own expense, the sacred games, ^151 and with cold +indifference performed the ancient rites, according to the laws +and fashion of their country. As they were engaged in the +ordinary occupations of life, their zeal and devotion were seldom +animated by a sense of interest, or by the habits of an +ecclesiastical character. Confined to their respective temples +and cities, they remained without any connection of discipline or +government; and whilst they acknowledged the supreme jurisdiction +of the senate, of the college of pontiffs, and of the emperor, +those civil magistrates contented themselves with the easy task +of maintaining in peace and dignity the general worship of +mankind. We have already seen how various, how loose, and how +uncertain were the religious sentiments of Polytheists. They +were abandoned, almost without control, to the natural workings +of a superstitious fancy. The accidental circumstances of their +life and situation determined the object as well as the degree of +their devotion; and as long as their adoration was successively +prostituted to a thousand deities, it was scarcely possible that +their hearts could be susceptible of a very sincere or lively +passion for any of them. +[Footnote 150: The arts, the manners, and the vices of the +priests of the Syrian goddess are very humorously described by +Apuleius, in the eighth book of his Metamorphosis.] + +[Footnote 151: The office of Asiarch was of this nature, and it +is frequently mentioned in Aristides, the Inscriptions, &c. It +was annual and elective. None but the vainest citizens could +desire the honor; none but the most wealthy could support the +expense. See, in the Patres Apostol. tom. ii. p. 200, with how +much indifference Philip the Asiarch conducted himself in the +martyrdom of Polycarp. There were likewise Bithyniarchs, +Lyciarchs, &c.] + When Christianity appeared in the world, even these faint +and imperfect impressions had lost much of their original power. +Human reason, which by its unassisted strength is incapable of +perceiving the mysteries of faith, had already obtained an easy +triumph over the folly of Paganism; and when Tertullian or +Lactantius employ their labors in exposing its falsehood and +extravagance, they are obliged to transcribe the eloquence of +Cicero or the wit of Lucian. The contagion of these sceptical +writings had been diffused far beyond the number of their +readers. The fashion of incredulity was communicated from the +philosopher to the man of pleasure or business, from the noble to +the plebeian, and from the master to the menial slave who waited +at his table, and who eagerly listened to the freedom of his +conversation. On public occasions the philosophic part of mankind +affected to treat with respect and decency the religious +institutions of their country; but their secret contempt +penetrated through the thin and awkward disguise; and even the +people, when they discovered that their deities were rejected and +derided by those whose rank or understanding they were accustomed +to reverence, were filled with doubts and apprehensions +concerning the truth of those doctrines, to which they had +yielded the most implicit belief. The decline of ancient +prejudice exposed a very numerous portion of human kind to the +danger of a painful and comfortless situation. A state of +scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But +the practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude, +that if they are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of +their pleasing vision. Their love of the marvellous and +supernatural, their curiosity with regard to future events, and +their strong propensity to extend their hopes and fears beyond +the limits of the visible world, were the principal causes which +favored the establishment of Polytheism. So urgent on the vulgar +is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any system of +mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction of +some other mode of superstition. Some deities of a more recent +and fashionable cast might soon have occupied the deserted +temples of Jupiter and Apollo, if, in the decisive moment, the +wisdom of Providence had not interposed a genuine revelation, +fitted to inspire the most rational esteem and conviction, +whilst, at the same time, it was adorned with all that could +attract the curiosity, the wonder, and the veneration of the +people. In their actual disposition, as many were almost +disengaged from their artificial prejudices, but equally +susceptible and desirous of a devout attachment; an object much +less deserving would have been sufficient to fill the vacant +place in their hearts, and to gratify the uncertain eagerness of +their passions. Those who are inclined to pursue this +reflection, instead of viewing with astonishment the rapid +progress of Christianity, will perhaps be surprised that its +success was not still more rapid and still more universal. + It has been observed, with truth as well as propriety, that +the conquests of Rome prepared and facilitated those of +Christianity. In the second chapter of this work we have +attempted to explain in what manner the most civilized provinces +of Europe, Asia, and Africa were united under the dominion of one +sovereign, and gradually connected by the most intimate ties of +laws, of manners, and of language. The Jews of Palestine, who +had fondly expected a temporal deliverer, gave so cold a +reception to the miracles of the divine prophet, that it was +found unnecessary to publish, or at least to preserve, any Hebrew +gospel. ^152 The authentic histories of the actions of Christ +were composed in the Greek language, at a considerable distance +from Jerusalem, and after the Gentile converts were grown +extremely numerous. ^153 As soon as those histories were +translated into the Latin tongue, they were perfectly +intelligible to all the subjects of Rome, excepting only to the +peasants of Syria and Egypt, for whose benefit particular +versions were afterwards made. The public highways, which had +been constructed for the use of the legions, opened an easy +passage for the Christian missionaries from Damascus to Corinth, +and from Italy to the extremity of Spain or Britain; nor did +those spiritual conquerors encounter any of the obstacles which +usually retard or prevent the introduction of a foreign religion +into a distant country. There is the strongest reason to +believe, that before the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, +the faith of Christ had been preached in every province, and in +all the great cities of the empire; but the foundation of the +several congregations, the numbers of the faithful who composed +them, and their proportion to the unbelieving multitude, are now +buried in obscurity, or disguised by fiction and declamation. +Such imperfect circumstances, however, as have reached our +knowledge concerning the increase of the Christian name in Asia +and Greece, in Egypt, in Italy, and in the West, we shall now +proceed to relate, without neglecting the real or imaginary +acquisitions which lay beyond the frontiers of the Roman empire. +[Footnote 152: The modern critics are not disposed to believe +what the fathers almost unanimously assert, that St. Matthew +composed a Hebrew gospel, of which only the Greek translation is +extant. It seems, however, dangerous to reject their testimony. + + Note: Strong reasons appear to confirm this testimony. +Papias, contemporary of the Apostle St. John, says positively +that Matthew had written the discourses of Jesus Christ in +Hebrew, and that each interpreted them as he could. This Hebrew +was the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, then in use at Jerusalem: Origen, +Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, confirm this statement. +Jesus Christ preached himself in Syro-Chaldaic, as is proved by +many words which he used, and which the Evangelists have taken +the pains to translate. St. Paul, addressing the Jews, used the +same language: Acts xxi. 40, xxii. 2, xxvi. 14. The opinions of +some critics prove nothing against such undeniable testimonies. +Moreover, their principal objection is, that St. Matthew quotes +the Old Testament according to the Greek version of the LXX., +which is inaccurate; for of ten quotations, found in his Gospel, +seven are evidently taken from the Hebrew text; the threo others +offer little that differ: moreover, the latter are not literal +quotations. St. Jerome says positively, that, according to a +copy which he had seen in the library of Caesarea, the quotations +were made in Hebrew (in Catal.) More modern critics, among others +Michaelis, do not entertain a doubt on the subject. The Greek +version appears to have been made in the time of the apostles, as +St. Jerome and St. Augustus affirm, perhaps by one of them. - G. + + Among modern critics, Dr. Hug has asserted the Greek +original of St. Matthew, but the general opinion of the most +learned biblical writer, supports the view of M. Guizot. - M.] + +[Footnote 153: Under the reigns of Nero and Domitian, and in the +cities of Alexandria, Antioch, Rome, and Ephesus. See Mill. +Prolegomena ad Nov. Testament, and Dr. Lardner's fair and +extensive collection, vol. xv. + Note: This question has, it is well known, been most +elaborately discussed since the time of Gibbon. The Preface to +the Translation of Schleier Macher's Version of St. Luke contains +a very able summary of the various theories. - M.] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part VIII. + + The rich provinces that extend from the Euphrates to the +Ionian Sea, were the principal theatre on which the apostle of +the Gentiles displayed his zeal and piety. The seeds of the +gospel, which he had scattered in a fertile soil, were diligently +cultivated by his disciples; and it should seem that, during the +two first centuries, the most considerable body of Christians was +contained within those limits. Among the societies which were +instituted in Syria, none were more ancient or more illustrious +than those of Damascus, of Berea or Aleppo, and of Antioch. The +prophetic introduction of the Apocalypse has described and +immortalized the seven churches of Asia; Ephesus, Smyrna, +Pergamus, Thyatira, ^154 Sardes, Laodicea and Philadelphia; and +their colonies were soon diffused over that populous country. In +a very early period, the islands of Cyprus and Crete, the +provinces of Thrace and Macedonia, gave a favorable reception to +the new religion; and Christian republics were soon founded in +the cities of Corinth, of Sparta, and of Athens. ^155 The +antiquity of the Greek and Asiatic churches allowed a sufficient +space of time for their increase and multiplication; and even the +swarms of Gnostics and other heretics serve to display the +flourishing condition of the orthodox church, since the +appellation of hereties has always been applied to the less +numerous party. To these domestic testimonies we may add the +confession, the complaints, and the apprehensions of the Gentiles +themselves. From the writings of Lucian, a philosopher who had +studied mankind, and who describes their manners in the most +lively colors, we may learn that, under the reign of Commodus, +his native country of Pontus was filled with Epicureans and +Christians. ^156 Within fourscore years after the death of +Christ, ^157 the humane Pliny laments the magnitude of the evil +which he vainly attempted to eradicate. In his very curious +epistle to the emperor Trajan, he affirms, that the temples were +almost deserted, that the sacred victims scarcely found any +purchasers, and that the superstition had not only infected the +cities, but had even spread itself into the villages and the open +country of Pontus and Bithynia. ^158 +[Footnote 154: The Alogians (Epiphanius de Haeres. 51) disputed +the genuineness of the Apocalypse, because the church of Thyatira +was not yet founded. Epiphanius, who allows the fact, extricates +himself from the difficulty by ingeniously supposing that St. +John wrote in the spirit of prophecy. See Abauzit, Discours sur +l'Apocalypse.] + +[Footnote 155: The epistles of Ignatius and Dionysius (ap. Euseb. +iv. 23) point out many churches in Asia and Greece. That of +Athens seems to have been one of the least flourishing.] + +[Footnote 156: Lucian in Alexandro, c. 25. Christianity however, +must have been very unequally diffused over Pontus; since, in the +middle of the third century, there was no more than seventeen +believers in the extensive diocese of Neo-Caesarea. See M. de +Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiast. tom. iv. p. 675, from Basil and +Gregory of Nyssa, who were themselves natives of Cappadocia. + Note: Gibbon forgot the conclusion of this story, that +Gregory left only seventeen heathens in his diocese. The +antithesis is suspicious, and both numbers may have been chosen +to magnify the spiritual fame of the wonder-worker. - M.] + +[Footnote 157: According to the ancients, Jesus Christ suffered +under the consulship of the two Gemini, in the year 29 of our +present aera. Pliny was sent into Bithynia (according to Pagi) +in the year 110.] + +[Footnote 158: Plin. Epist. x. 97.] + + Without descending into a minute scrutiny of the expressions +or of the motives of those writers who either celebrate or lament +the progress of Christianity in the East, it may in general be +observed, that none of them have left us any grounds from whence +a just estimate might be formed of the real numbers of the +faithful in those provinces. One circumstance, however, has been +fortunately preserved, which seems to cast a more distinct light +on this obscure but interesting subject. Under the reign of +Theodosius, after Christianity had enjoyed, during more than +sixty years, the sunshine of Imperial favor, the ancient and +illustrious church of Antioch consisted of one hundred thousand +persons, three thousand of whom were supported out of the public +oblations. ^159 The splendor and dignity of the queen of the +East, the acknowledged populousness of Caesarea, Seleucia, and +Alexandria, and the destruction of two hundred and fifty thousand +souls in the earthquake which afflicted Antioch under the elder +Justin, ^160 are so many convincing proofs that the whole number +of its inhabitants was not less than half a million, and that the +Christians, however multiplied by zeal and power, did not exceed +a fifth part of that great city. How different a proportion must +we adopt when we compare the persecuted with the triumphant +church, the West with the East, remote villages with populous +towns, and countries recently converted to the faith with the +place where the believers first received the appellation of +Christians! It must not, however, be dissembled, that, in +another passage, Chrysostom, to whom we are indebted for this +useful information, computes the multitude of the faithful as +even superior to that of the Jews and Pagans. ^161 But the +solution of this apparent difficulty is easy and obvious. The +eloquent preacher draws a parallel between the civil and the +ecclesiastical constitution of Antioch; between the list of +Christians who had acquired heaven by baptism, and the list of +citizens who had a right to share the public liberality. Slaves, +strangers, and infants were comprised in the former; they were +excluded from the latter. +[Footnote 159: Chrysostom. Opera, tom. vii. p. 658, 810, [edit. +Savil. ii. 422, 329.] + +[Footnote 160: John Malala, tom. ii. p. 144. He draws the same +conclusion with regard to the populousness of antioch.] + +[Footnote 161: Chrysostom. tom. i. p. 592. I am indebted for +these passages, though not for my inference, to the learned Dr. +Lardner. Credibility of the Gospel of History, vol. xii. p. 370. + + Note: The statements of Chrysostom with regard to the +population of Antioch, whatever may be their accuracy, are +perfectly consistent. In one passage he reckons the population +at 200,000. In a second the Christians at 100,000. In a third +he states that the Christians formed more than half the +population. Gibbon has neglected to notice the first passage, +and has drawn by estimate of the population of Antioch from other +sources. The 8000 maintained by alms were widows and virgins +alone - M.] + + The extensive commerce of Alexandria, and its proximity to +Palestine, gave an easy entrance to the new religion. It was at +first embraced by great numbers of the Theraputae, or Essenians, +of the Lake Mareotis, a Jewish sect which had abated much of its +reverence for the Mosaic ceremonies. The austere life of the +Essenians, their fasts and excommunications, the community of +goods, the love of celibacy, their zeal for martyrdom, and the +warmth though not the purity of their faith, already offered a +very lively image of the primitive discipline. ^162 It was in the +school of Alexandria that the Christian theology appears to have +assumed a regular and scientific form; and when Hadrian visited +Egypt, he found a church composed of Jews and of Greeks, +sufficiently important to attract the notice of that inquisitive +prince. ^163 But the progress of Christianity was for a long time +confined within the limits of a single city, which was itself a +foreign colony, and till the close of the second century the +predecessors of Demetrius were the only prelates of the Egyptian +church. Three bishops were consecrated by the hands of +Demetrius, and the number was increased to twenty by his +successor Heraclas. ^164 The body of the natives, a people +distinguished by a sullen inflexibility of temper, ^165 +entertained the new doctrine with coldness and reluctance; and +even in the time of Origen, it was rare to meet with an Egyptian +who had surmounted his early prejudices in favor of the sacred +animals of his country. ^166 As soon, indeed, as Christianity +ascended the throne, the zeal of those barbarians obeyed the +prevailing impulsion; the cities of Egypt were filled with +bishops, and the deserts of Thebais swarmed with hermits. + +[Footnote 162: Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. 2, c. 20, 21, 22, +23, has examined with the most critical accuracy the curious +treatise of Philo, which describes the Therapeutae. By proving +that it was composed as early as the time of Augustus, Basnage +has demonstrated, in spite of Eusebius (l. ii. c. 17) and a crowd +of modern Catholics, that the Therapeutae were neither Christians +nor monks. It still remains probable that they changed their +name, preserved their manners, adopted some new articles of +faith, and gradually became the fathers of the Egyptian +Ascetics.] + +[Footnote 163: See a letter of Hadrian in the Augustan History, +p. 245.] +[Footnote 164: For the succession of Alexandrian bishops, consult +Renaudot's History, p. 24, &c. This curious fact is preserved by +the patriarch Eutychius, Annal. tom. i. p. 334, Vers. Pocock,) +and its internal evidence would alone be a sufficient answer to +all the objections which Bishop Pearson has urged in the +Vindiciae Ignatianae.] + +[Footnote 165: Ammian. Marcellin. xxii. 16.] + +[Footnote 166: Origen contra Celsum, l. i. p. 40.] + + A perpetual stream of strangers and provincials flowed into +the capacious bosom of Rome. Whatever was strange or odious, +whoever was guilty or suspected, might hope, in the obscurity of +that immense capital, to elude the vigilance of the law. In such +a various conflux of nations, every teacher, either of truth or +falsehood, every founder, whether of a virtuous or a criminal +association, might easily multiply his disciples or accomplices. +The Christians of Rome, at the time of the accidental persecution +of Nero, are represented by Tacitus as already amounting to a +very great multitude, ^167 and the language of that great +historian is almost similar to the style employed by Livy, when +he relates the introduction and the suppression of the rites of +Bacchus. After the Bacchanals had awakened the severity of the +senate, it was likewise apprehended that a very great multitude, +as it were another people, had been initiated into those abhorred +mysteries. A more careful inquiry soon demonstrated, that the +offenders did not exceed seven thousand; a number indeed +sufficiently alarming, when considered as the object of public +justice. ^168 It is with the same candid allowance that we should +interpret the vague expressions of Tacitus, and in a former +instance of Pliny, when they exaggerate the crowds of deluded +fanatics who had forsaken the established worship of the gods. +The church of Rome was undoubtedly the first and most populous of +the empire; and we are possessed of an authentic record which +attests the state of religion in that city about the middle of +the third century, and after a peace of thirty-eight years. The +clergy, at that time, consisted of a bishop, forty-six +presbyters, seven deacons, as many sub-deacons, forty-two +acolythes, and fifty readers, exorcists, and porters. The number +of widows, of the infirm, and of the poor, who were maintained by +the oblations of the faithful, amounted to fifteen hundred. ^169 +From reason, as well as from the analogy of Antioch, we may +venture to estimate the Christians of Rome at about fifty +thousand. The populousness of that great capital cannot perhaps +be exactly ascertained; but the most modest calculation will not +surely reduce it lower than a million of inhabitants, of whom the +Christians might constitute at the most a twentieth part. ^170 + +[Footnote 167: Ingens multitudo is the expression of Tacitus, xv. +44.] +[Footnote 168: T. Liv. xxxix. 13, 15, 16, 17. Nothing could +exceed the horror and consternation of the senate on the +discovery of the Bacchanalians, whose depravity is described, and +perhaps exaggerated, by Livy.] +[Footnote 169: Eusebius, l. vi. c. 43. The Latin translator (M. +de Valois) has thought proper to reduce the number of presbyters +to forty-four.] +[Footnote 170: This proportion of the presbyters and of the poor, +to the rest of the people, was originally fixed by Burnet, +(Travels into Italy, p. 168,) and is approved by Moyle, (vol. ii. +p. 151.) They were both unacquainted with the passage of +Chrysostom, which converts their conjecture almost into a fact.] + + The western provincials appeared to have derived the +knowledge of Christianity from the same source which had diffused +among them the language, the sentiments, and the manners of Rome. + +In this more important circumstance, Africa, as well as Gaul, was +gradually fashioned to the imitation of the capital. Yet +notwithstanding the many favorable occasions which might invite +the Roman missionaries to visit their Latin provinces, it was +late before they passed either the sea or the Alps; ^171 nor can +we discover in those great countries any assured traces either of +faith or of persecution that ascend higher than the reign of the +Antonines. ^172 The slow progress of the gospel in the cold +climate of Gaul, was extremely different from the eagerness with +which it seems to have been received on the burning sands of +Africa. The African Christians soon formed one of the principal +members of the primitive church. The practice introduced into +that province of appointing bishops to the most inconsiderable +towns, and very frequently to the most obscure villages, +contributed to multiply the splendor and importance of their +religious societies, which during the course of the third century +were animated by the zeal of Tertullian, directed by the +abilities of Cyprian, and adorned by the eloquence of Lactantius. + +But if, on the contrary, we turn our eyes towards Gaul, we must +content ourselves with discovering, in the time of Marcus +Antoninus, the feeble and united congregations of Lyons and +Vienna; and even as late as the reign of Decius, we are assured, +that in a few cities only, Arles, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Limoges, +Clermont, Tours, and Paris, some scattered churches were +supported by the devotion of a small number of Christians. ^173 +Silence is indeed very consistent with devotion; but as it is +seldom compatible with zeal, we may perceive and lament the +languid state of Christianity in those provinces which had +exchanged the Celtic for the Latin tongue, since they did not, +during the three first centuries, give birth to a single +ecclesiastical writer. From Gaul, which claimed a just +preeminence of learning and authority over all the countries on +this side of the Alps, the light of the gospel was more faintly +reflected on the remote provinces of Spain and Britain; and if we +may credit the vehement assertions of Tertullian, they had +already received the first rays of the faith, when he addressed +his apology to the magistrates of the emperor Severus. ^174 But +the obscure and imperfect origin of the western churches of +Europe has been so negligently recorded, that if we would relate +the time and manner of their foundation, we must supply the +silence of antiquity by those legends which avarice or +superstition long afterwards dictated to the monks in the lazy +gloom of their convents. ^175 Of these holy romances, that of the +apostle St. James can alone, by its singular extravagance, +deserve to be mentioned. From a peaceful fisherman of the Lake +of Gennesareth, he was transformed into a valorous knight, who +charged at the head of the Spanish chivalry in their battles +against the Moors. The gravest historians have celebrated his +exploits; the miraculous shrine of Compostella displayed his +power; and the sword of a military order, assisted by the terrors +of the Inquisition, was sufficient to remove every objection of +profane criticism. ^176 +[Footnote 171: Serius trans Alpes, religione Dei suscepta. +Sulpicius Severus, l. ii. With regard to Africa, see Tertullian +ad Scapulam, c. 3. It is imagined that the Scyllitan martyrs +were the first, (Acta Sincera Rumart. p. 34.) One of the +adversaries of Apuleius seems to have been a Christian. Apolog. +p. 496, 497, edit. Delphin.] + +[Footnote 172: Tum primum intra Gallias martyria visa. Sulp. +Severus, l. ii. These were the celebrated martyrs of Lyons. See +Eusebius, v. i. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 316. +According to the Donatists, whose assertion is confirmed by the +tacit acknowledgment of Augustin, Africa was the last of the +provinces which received the gospel. Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. +tom. i. p. 754.] + +[Footnote 173: Rarae in aliquibus civitatibus ecclesiae, paucorum +Christianorum devotione, resurgerent. Acta Sincera, p. 130. +Gregory of Tours, l i. c. 28. Mosheim, p. 207, 449. There is +some reason to believe that in the beginning of the fourth +century, the extensive dioceses of Liege, of Treves, and of +Cologne, composed a single bishopric, which had been very +recently founded. See Memoires de Tillemont, tom vi. part i. p. +43, 411.] +[Footnote 174: The date of Tertullian's Apology is fixed, in a +dissertation of Mosheim, to the year 198.] + +[Footnote 175: In the fifteenth century, there were few who had +either inclination or courage to question, whether Joseph of +Arimathea founded the monastery of Glastonbury, and whether +Dionysius the Areopagite preferred the residence of Paris to that +of Athens.] + +[Footnote 176: The stupendous metamorphosis was performed in the +ninth century. See Mariana, (Hist. Hispan. l. vii. c. 13, tom. +i. p. 285, edit. Hag. Com. 1733,) who, in every sense, imitates +Livy, and the honest detection of the legend of St. James by Dr. +Geddes, Miscellanies, vol. ii. p. 221.] + The progress of Christianity was not confined to the Roman +empire; and according to the primitive fathers, who interpret +facts by prophecy, the new religion, within a century after the +death of its divine Author, had already visited every part of the +globe. "There exists not," says Justin Martyr, "a people, +whether Greek or Barbarian, or any other race of men, by +whatsoever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, +however ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell under +tents, or wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers are +not offered up in the name of a crucified Jesus to the Father and +Creator of all things." ^177 But this splendid exaggeration, +which even at present it would be extremely difficult to +reconcile with the real state of mankind, can be considered only +as the rash sally of a devout but careless writer, the measure of +whose belief was regulated by that of his wishes. But neither +the belief nor the wishes of the fathers can alter the truth of +history. It will still remain an undoubted fact, that the +barbarians of Scythia and Germany, who afterwards subverted the +Roman monarchy, were involved in the darkness of paganism; and +that even the conversion of Iberia, of Armenia, or of Aethiopia, +was not attempted with any degree of success till the sceptre was +in the hands of an orthodox emperor. ^178 Before that time, the +various accidents of war and commerce might indeed diffuse an +imperfect knowledge of the gospel among the tribes of Caledonia, +^179 and among the borderers of the Rhine, the Danube, and the +Euphrates. ^180 Beyond the last-mentioned river, Edessa was +distinguished by a firm and early adherence to the faith. ^181 +From Edessa the principles of Christianity were easily introduced +into the Greek and Syrian cities which obeyed the successors of +Artaxerxes; but they do not appear to have made any deep +impression on the minds of the Persians, whose religious system, +by the labors of a well disciplined order of priests, had been +constructed with much more art and solidity than the uncertain +mythology of Greece and Rome. ^182 + +[Footnote 177: Justin Martyr, Dialog. cum Tryphon. p. 341. +Irenaeus adv. Haeres. l. i. c. 10. Tertullian adv. Jud. c. 7. +See Mosheim, p. 203.] +[Footnote 178: See the fourth century of Mosheim's History of the +Church. Many, though very confused circumstances, that relate to +the conversion of Iberia and Armenia, may be found in Moses of +Chorene, l. ii. c. 78 - 89. + Note: Mons. St. Martin has shown that Armenia was the first +nation that embraced Christianity. Memoires sur l'Armenie, vol. +i. p. 306, and notes to Le Beae. Gibbon, indeed had expressed +his intention of withdrawing the words "of Armenia" from the text +of future editions. (Vindication, Works, iv. 577.) He was +bitterly taunted by Person for neglecting or declining to fulfil +his promise. Preface to Letters to Travis. - M.] + +[Footnote 179: According to Tertullian, the Christian faith had +penetrated into parts of Britain inaccessible to the Roman arms. +About a century afterwards, Ossian, the son of Fingal, is said to +have disputed, in his extreme old age, with one of the foreign +missionaries, and the dispute is still extant, in verse, and in +the Erse language. See Mr. Macpher son's Dissertation on the +Antiquity of Ossian's Poems, p. 10.] + +[Footnote 180: The Goths, who ravaged Asia in the reign of +Gallienus, carried away great numbers of captives; some of whom +were Christians, and became missionaries. See Tillemont, +Memoires Ecclesiast. tom. iv. p. 44.] +[Footnote 181: The legends of Abgarus, fabulous as it is, affords +a decisive proof, that many years before Eusebius wrote his +history, the greatest part of the inhabitants of Edessa had +embraced Christianity. Their rivals, the citizens of Carrhae, +adhered, on the contrary, to the cause of Paganism, as late as +the sixth century.] + +[Footnote 182: According to Bardesanes (ap. Euseb. Praepar. +Evangel.) there were some Christians in Persia before the end of +the second century. In the time of Constantine (see his epistle +to Sapor, Vit. l. iv. c. 13) they composed a flourishing church. +Consult Beausobre, Hist. Cristique du Manicheisme, tom. i. p. +180, and the Bibliotheca Orietalis of Assemani.] + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion. + +Part IX. + + From this impartial though imperfect survey of the progress +of Christianity, it may perhaps seem probable, that the number of +its proselytes has been excessively magnified by fear on the one +side, and by devotion on the other. According to the +irreproachable testimony of Origen, ^183 the proportion of the +faithful was very inconsiderable, when compared with the +multitude of an unbelieving world; but, as we are left without +any distinct information, it is impossible to determine, and it +is difficult even to conjecture, the real numbers of the +primitive Christians. The most favorable calculation, however, +that can be deduced from the examples of Antioch and of Rome, +will not permit us to imagine that more than a themselves under +the banner of the cross before the important conversion of +Constantine. But their habits of faith, of zeal, and of union, +seemed to multiply their numbers; and the same causes which +contributed to their future increase, served to render their +actual strength more apparent and more formidable. +[Footnote 183: Origen contra Celsum, l. viii. p. 424.] + + Such is the constitution of civil society, that whilst a few +persons are distinguished by riches, by honors, and by knowledge, +the body of the people is condemned to obscurity, ignorance and +poverty. The Christian religion, which addressed itself to the +whole human race, must consequently collect a far greater number +of proselytes from the lower than from the superior ranks of +life. This innocent and natural circumstance has been improved +into a very odious imputation, which seems to be less strenuously +denied by the apologists, than it is urged by the adversaries, of +the faith; that the new sect of Christians was almost entirely +composed of the dregs of the populace, of peasants and mechanics, +of boys and women, of beggars and slaves, the last of whom might +sometimes introduce the missionaries into the rich and noble +families to which they belonged. These obscure teachers (such +was the charge of malice and infidelity) are as mute in public as +they are loquacious and dogmatical in private. Whilst they +cautiously avoid the dangerous encounter of philosophers, they +mingle with the rude and illiterate crowd, and insinuate +themselves into those minds, whom their age, their sex, or their +education, has the best disposed to receive the impression of +superstitious terrors. ^184 + +[Footnote 184: Minucius Felix, c. 8, with Wowerus's notes. +Celsus ap. Origen, l. iii. p. 138, 142. Julian ap. Cyril. l. vi. +p. 206, edit. Spanheim.] + + This unfavorable picture, though not devoid of a faint +resemblance, betrays, by its dark coloring and distorted +features, the pencil of an enemy. As the humble faith of Christ +diffused itself through the world, it was embraced by several +persons who derived some consequence from the advantages of +nature or fortune. Aristides, who presented an eloquent apology +to the emperor Hadrian, was an Athenian philosopher. ^185 Justin +Martyr had sought divine knowledge in the schools of Zeno, of +Aristotle, of Pythagoras, and of Plato, before he fortunately was +accosted by the old man, or rather the angel, who turned his +attention to the study of the Jewish prophets. ^186 Clemens of +Alexandria had acquired much various reading in the Greek, and +Tertullian in the Latin, language. Julius Africanus and Origen +possessed a very considerable share of the learning of their +times; and although the style of Cyprian is very different from +that of Lactantius, we might almost discover that both those +writers had been public teachers of rhetoric. Even the study of +philosophy was at length introduced among the Christians, but it +was not always productive of the most salutary effects; knowledge +was as often the parent of heresy as of devotion, and the +description which was designed for the followers of Artemon, may, +with equal propriety, be applied to the various sects that +resisted the successors of the apostles. "They presume to alter +the Holy Scriptures, to abandon the ancient rule of faith, and to +form their opinions according to the subtile precepts of logic. +The science of the church is neglected for the study of geometry, +and they lose sight of heaven while they are employed in +measuring the earth. Euclid is perpetually in their hands. +Aristotle and Theophrastus are the objects of their admiration; +and they express an uncommon reverence for the works of Galen. +Their errors are derived from the abuse of the arts and sciences +of the infidels, and they corrupt the simplicity of the gospel by +the refinements of human reason." ^187 + +[Footnote 185: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iv. 3. Hieronym. Epist. 83.] + +[Footnote 186: The story is prettily told in Justin's Dialogues. +Tillemont, (Mem Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 384,) who relates it +after him is sure that the old man was a disguised angel.] + +[Footnote 187: Eusebius, v. 28. It may be hoped, that none, +except the heretics, gave occasion to the complaint of Celsus, +(ap. Origen, l. ii. p. 77,) that the Christians were perpetually +correcting and altering their Gospels. + + Note: Origen states in reply, that he knows of none who had +altered the Gospels except the Marcionites, the Valentinians, and +perhaps some followers of Lucanus. - M.] + + Nor can it be affirmed with truth, that the advantages of +birth and fortune were always separated from the profession of +Christianity. Several Roman citizens were brought before the +tribunal of Pliny, and he soon discovered, that a great number of +persons of every order of men in Bithynia had deserted the +religion of their ancestors. ^188 His unsuspected testimony may, +in this instance, obtain more credit than the bold challenge of +Tertullian, when he addresses himself to the fears as well as the +humanity of the proconsul of Africa, by assuring him, that if he +persists in his cruel intentions, he must decimate Carthage, and +that he will find among the guilty many persons of his own rank, +senators and matrons of nobles' extraction, and the friends or +relations of his most intimate friends. ^189 It appears, however, +that about forty years afterwards the emperor Valerian was +persuaded of the truth of this assertion, since in one of his +rescripts he evidently supposes, that senators, Roman knights, +and ladies of quality, were engaged in the Christian sect. ^190 +The church still continued to increase its outward splendor as it +lost its internal purity; and, in the reign of Diocletian, the +palace, the courts of justice, and even the army, concealed a +multitude of Christians, who endeavored to reconcile the +interests of the present with those of a future life. + +[Footnote 188: Plin. Epist. x. 97. Fuerunt alii similis +amentiae, cives Romani - - Multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis +ordinis, utriusque sexus, etiam vocuntur in periculum et +vocabuntur.] + +[Footnote 189: Tertullian ad Scapulum. Yet even his rhetoric +rises no higher than to claim a tenth part of Carthage.] + +[Footnote 190: Cyprian. Epist. 70.] + + And yet these exceptions are either too few in number, or +too recent in time, entirely to remove the imputation of +ignorance and obscurity which has been so arrogantly cast on the +first proselytes of Christianity. ^* Instead of employing in our +defence the fictions of later ages, it will be more prudent to +convert the occasion of scandal into a subject of edification. +Our serious thoughts will suggest to us, that the apostles +themselves were chosen by Providence among the fishermen of +Galilee, and that the lower we depress the temporal condition of +the first Christians, the more reason we shall find to admire +their merit and success. It is incumbent on us diligently to +remember, that the kingdom of heaven was promised to the poor in +spirit, and that minds afflicted by calamity and the contempt of +mankind, cheerfully listen to the divine promise of future +happiness; while, on the contrary, the fortunate are satisfied +with the possession of this world; and the wise abuse in doubt +and dispute their vain superiority of reason and knowledge. + +[Footnote *: This incomplete enumeration ought to be increased by +the names of several Pagans converted at the dawn of +Christianity, and whose conversion weakens the reproach which the +historian appears to support. Such are, the Proconsul Sergius +Paulus, converted at Paphos, (Acts xiii. 7 - 12.) Dionysius, +member of the Areopagus, converted with several others, al +Athens, (Acts xvii. 34;) several persons at the court of Nero, +(Philip. iv 22;) Erastus, receiver at Corinth, (Rom. xvi.23;) +some Asiarchs, (Acts xix. 31) As to the philosophers, we may add +Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, Hegesippus, Melito, +Miltiades, Pantaenus, Ammenius, all distinguished for their +genius and learning. - G.] + + We stand in need of such reflections to comfort us for the +loss of some illustrious characters, which in our eyes might have +seemed the most worthy of the heavenly present. The names of +Seneca, of the elder and the younger Pliny, of Tacitus, of +Plutarch, of Galen, of the slave Epictetus, and of the emperor +Marcus Antoninus, adorn the age in which they flourished, and +exalt the dignity of human nature. They filled with glory their +respective stations, either in active or contemplative life; +their excellent understandings were improved by study; Philosophy +had purified their minds from the prejudices of the popular +superstition; and their days were spent in the pursuit of truth +and the practice of virtue. Yet all these sages (it is no less +an object of surprise than of concern) overlooked or rejected the +perfection of the Christian system. Their language or their +silence equally discover their contempt for the growing sect, +which in their time had diffused itself over the Roman empire. +Those among them who condescended to mention the Christians, +consider them only as obstinate and perverse enthusiasts, who +exacted an implicit submission to their mysterious doctrines, +without being able to produce a single argument that could engage +the attention of men of sense and learning. ^191 + +[Footnote 191: Dr. Lardner, in his first and second volumes of +Jewish and Christian testimonies, collects and illustrates those +of Pliny the younger, of Tacitus, of Galen, of Marcus Antoninus, +and perhaps of Epictetus, (for it is doubtful whether that +philosopher means to speak of the Christians.) The new sect is +totally unnoticed by Seneca, the elder Pliny, and Plutarch.] + It is at least doubtful whether any of these philosophers +perused the apologies ^* which the primitive Christians +repeatedly published in behalf of themselves and of their +religion; but it is much to be lamented that such a cause was not +defended by abler advocates. They expose with superfluous with +and eloquence the extravagance of Polytheism. They interest our +compassion by displaying the innocence and sufferings of their +injured brethren. But when they would demonstrate the divine +origin of Christianity, they insist much more strongly on the +predictions which announced, than on the miracles which +accompanied, the appearance of the Messiah. Their favorite +argument might serve to edify a Christian or to convert a Jew, +since both the one and the other acknowledge the authority of +those prophecies, and both are obliged, with devout reverence, to +search for their sense and their accomplishment. But this mode +of persuasion loses much of its weight and influence, when it is +addressed to those who neither understand nor respect the Mosaic +dispensation and the prophetic style. ^192 In the unskilful hands +of Justin and of the succeeding apologists, the sublime meaning +of the Hebrew oracles evaporates in distant types, affected +conceits, and cold allegories; and even their authenticity was +rendered suspicious to an unenlightened Gentile, by the mixture +of pious forgeries, which, under the names of Orpheus, Hermes, +and the Sibyls, ^193 were obtruded on him as of equal value with +the genuine inspirations of Heaven. The adoption of fraud and +sophistry in the defence of revelation too often reminds us of +the injudicious conduct of those poets who load their +invulnerable heroes with a useless weight of cumbersome and +brittle armor. + +[Footnote *: The emperors Hadrian, Antoninus &c., read with +astonishment the apologies of Justin Martyr, of Aristides, of +Melito, &c. (See St. Hieron. ad mag. orat. Orosius, lviii. c. +13.) Eusebius says expressly, that the cause of Christianity was +defended before the senate, in a very elegant discourse, by +Apollonius the Martyr. - G. + + Gibbon, in his severer spirit of criticism, may have +questioned the authority of Jerome and Eusebius. There are some +difficulties about Apollonius, which Heinichen (note in loc. +Eusebii) would solve, by suppose lag him to have been, as Jerome +states, a senator. - M.] +[Footnote 192: If the famous prophecy of the Seventy Weeks had +been alleged to a Roman philosopher, would he not have replied in +the words of Cicero, "Quae tandem ista auguratio est, annorum +potius quam aut raensium aut dierum?" De Divinatione, ii. 30. +Observe with what irreverence Lucian, (in Alexandro, c. 13.) and +his friend Celsus ap. Origen, (l. vii. p. 327,) express +themselves concerning the Hebrew prophets.] + +[Footnote 193: The philosophers who derided the more ancient +predictions of the Sibyls, would easily have detected the Jewish +and Christian forgeries, which have been so triumphantly quoted +by the fathers, from Justin Martyr to Lactantius. When the +Sibylline verses had performed their appointed task, they, like +the system of the millennium, were quietly laid aside. The +Christian Sybil had unluckily fixed the ruin of Rome for the year +195, A. U. C. 948.] + + But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan +and philosophic world, to those evidences which were represented +by the hand of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their +senses? During the age of Christ, of his apostles, and of their +first disciples, the doctrine which they preached was confirmed +by innumerable prodigies. The lame walked, the blind saw, the +sick were healed, the dead were raised, daemons were expelled, +and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended for the benefit +of the church. But the sages of Greece and Rome turned aside +from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary occupations +of life and study, appeared unconscious of any alterations in the +moral or physical government of the world. Under the reign of +Tiberius, the whole earth, ^194 or at least a celebrated province +of the Roman empire, ^195 was involved in a preternatural +darkness of three hours. Even this miraculous event, which ought +to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, and the devotion of +mankind, passed without notice in an age of science and history. +^196 It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and the elder +Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate effects, or +received the earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these +philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great +phenomena of Nature, earthquakes, meteors comets, and eclipses, +which his indefatigable curiosity could collect. ^197 Both the +one and the other have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon +to which the mortal eye has been witness since the creation of +the globe. A distinct chapter of Pliny ^198 is designed for +eclipses of an extraordinary nature and unusual duration; but he +contents himself with describing the singular defect of light +which followed the murder of Caesar, when, during the greatest +part of a year, the orb of the sun appeared pale and without +splendor. The season of obscurity, which cannot surely be +compared with the preternatural darkness of the Passion, had been +already celebrated by most of the poets ^199 and historians of +that memorable age. ^200 + +[Footnote 194: The fathers, as they are drawn out in battle array +by Dom Calmet, (Dissertations sur la Bible, tom. iii. p. 295 - +308,) seem to cover the whole earth with darkness, in which they +are followed by most of the moderns.] + +[Footnote 195: Origen ad Matth. c. 27, and a few modern critics, +Beza, Le Clerc, Lardner, &c., are desirous of confining it to the +land of Judea.] +[Footnote 196: The celebrated passage of Phlegon is now wisely +abandoned. When Tertullian assures the Pagans that the mention of +the prodigy is found in Arcanis (not Archivis) vestris, (see his +Apology, c. 21,) he probably appeals to the Sibylline verses, +which relate it exactly in the words of the Gospel. + + Note: According to some learned theologians a +misunderstanding of the text in the Gospel has given rise to this +mistake, which has employed and wearied so many laborious +commentators, though Origen had already taken the pains to +preinform them. The expression does not mean, they assert, an +eclipse, but any kind of obscurity occasioned in the atmosphere, +whether by clouds or any other cause. As this obscuration of the +sun rarely took place in Palestine, where in the middle of April +the sky was usually clear, it assumed, in the eyes of the Jews +and Christians, an importance conformable to the received notion, +that the sun concealed at midday was a sinister presage. See Amos +viii. 9, 10. The word is often taken in this sense by +contemporary writers; the Apocalypse says the sun was concealed, +when speaking of an obscuration caused by smoke and dust. +(Revel. ix. 2.) Moreover, the Hebrew word ophal, which in the +LXX. answers to the Greek, signifies any darkness; and the +Evangelists, who have modelled the sense of their expressions by +those of the LXX., must have taken it in the same latitude. This +darkening of the sky usually precedes earthquakes. (Matt. xxvii. +51.) The Heathen authors furnish us a number of examples, of +which a miraculous explanation was given at the time. See Ovid. +ii. v. 33, l. xv. v. 785. Pliny, Hist. Nat. l. ii. c 30. +Wetstein has collected all these examples in his edition of the +New Testament. + + We need not, then, be astonished at the silence of the Pagan +authors concerning a phenomenon which did not extend beyond +Jerusalem, and which might have nothing contrary to the laws of +nature; although the Christians and the Jews may have regarded it +as a sinister presage. See Michaelia Notes on New Testament, v. +i. p. 290. Paulus, Commentary on New Testament, iii. p. 760. - +G.] + +[Footnote 197: Seneca, Quaest. Natur. l. i. 15, vi. l. vii. 17. +Plin. Hist. Natur. l. ii.] + +[Footnote 198: Plin. Hist. Natur. ii. 30.] + +[Footnote 199: Virgil. Georgic. i. 466. Tibullus, l. i. Eleg. v. +ver. 75. Ovid Metamorph. xv. 782. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 540. The +last of these poets places this prodigy before the civil war.] + +[Footnote 200: See a public epistle of M. Antony in Joseph. +Antiquit. xiv. 12. Plutarch in Caesar. p. 471. Appian. Bell. +Civil. l. iv. Dion Cassius, l. xlv. p. 431. Julius Obsequens, +c. 128. His little treatise is an abstract of Livy's prodigies.] + + + + + +End Of +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Volume 1: +The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire + diff --git a/old/1dfre10.zip b/old/1dfre10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..81c8f07 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/1dfre10.zip diff --git a/old/731.txt b/old/731.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..744b526 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/731.txt @@ -0,0 +1,27131 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of the +Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire + Volume 1 + +Author: Edward Gibbon + +Commentator: H. H. Milman + +Posting Date: June 7, 2008 [EBook #731] +Release Date: November, 1996 +Last Updated: May 11, 2018 + + +Language: English + + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + + + + +Produced by David Reed + + + + + +HISTORY OF THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE + +Edward Gibbon, Esq. + +With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman + + + + +VOLUME ONE + + + + +Introduction + + + + +Preface By The Editor. + +The great work of Gibbon is indispensable to the student of history. The +literature of Europe offers no substitute for "The Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire." It has obtained undisputed possession, as rightful +occupant, of the vast period which it comprehends. However some +subjects, which it embraces, may have undergone more complete +investigation, on the general view of the whole period, this history +is the sole undisputed authority to which all defer, and from which +few appeal to the original writers, or to more modern compilers. The +inherent interest of the subject, the inexhaustible labor employed upon +it; the immense condensation of matter; the luminous arrangement; the +general accuracy; the style, which, however monotonous from its +uniform stateliness, and sometimes wearisome from its elaborate ar., +is throughout vigorous, animated, often picturesque always commands +attention, always conveys its meaning with emphatic energy, describes +with singular breadth and fidelity, and generalizes with unrivalled +felicity of expression; all these high qualifications have secured, and +seem likely to secure, its permanent place in historic literature. + +This vast design of Gibbon, the magnificent whole into which he has cast +the decay and ruin of the ancient civilization, the formation and birth +of the new order of things, will of itself, independent of the laborious +execution of his immense plan, render "The Decline and Fall of the Roman +Empire" an unapproachable subject to the future historian: [101] in the +eloquent language of his recent French editor, M. Guizot:-- + +[Footnote 101: A considerable portion of this preface has already appeared +before us public in the Quarterly Review.] + +"The gradual decline of the most extraordinary dominion which has +ever invaded and oppressed the world; the fall of that immense empire, +erected on the ruins of so many kingdoms, republics, and states both +barbarous and civilized; and forming in its turn, by its dismemberment, +a multitude of states, republics, and kingdoms; the annihilation of the +religion of Greece and Rome; the birth and the progress of the two new +religions which have shared the most beautiful regions of the earth; the +decrepitude of the ancient world, the spectacle of its expiring glory +and degenerate manners; the infancy of the modern world, the picture of +its first progress, of the new direction given to the mind and character +of man--such a subject must necessarily fix the attention and excite +the interest of men, who cannot behold with indifference those memorable +epochs, during which, in the fine language of Corneille-- + + 'Un grand destin commence, un grand destin s'acheve.'" + +This extent and harmony of design is unquestionably that which +distinguishes the work of Gibbon from all other great historical +compositions. He has first bridged the abyss between ancient and modern +times, and connected together the two great worlds of history. The great +advantage which the classical historians possess over those of modern +times is in unity of plan, of course greatly facilitated by the narrower +sphere to which their researches were confined. Except Herodotus, the +great historians of Greece--we exclude the more modern compilers, like +Diodorus Siculus--limited themselves to a single period, or at 'east to +the contracted sphere of Grecian affairs. As far as the Barbarians +trespassed within the Grecian boundary, or were necessarily mingled up +with Grecian politics, they were admitted into the pale of Grecian +history; but to Thucydides and to Xenophon, excepting in the Persian +inroad of the latter, Greece was the world. Natural unity confined their +narrative almost to chronological order, the episodes were of rare +occurrence and extremely brief. To the Roman historians the course was +equally clear and defined. Rome was their centre of unity; and the +uniformity with which the circle of the Roman dominion spread around, +the regularity with which their civil polity expanded, forced, as it +were, upon the Roman historian that plan which Polybius announces as the +subject of his history, the means and the manner by which the whole +world became subject to the Roman sway. How different the complicated +politics of the European kingdoms! Every national history, to be +complete, must, in a certain sense, be the history of Europe; there is +no knowing to how remote a quarter it may be necessary to trace our most +domestic events; from a country, how apparently disconnected, may +originate the impulse which gives its direction to the whole course of +affairs. + +In imitation of his classical models, Gibbon places Rome as the cardinal +point from which his inquiries diverge, and to which they bear constant +reference; yet how immeasurable the space over which those inquiries +range; how complicated, how confused, how apparently inextricable the +causes which tend to the decline of the Roman empire! how countless +the nations which swarm forth, in mingling and indistinct hordes, +constantly changing the geographical limits--incessantly confounding the +natural boundaries! At first sight, the whole period, the whole state +of the world, seems to offer no more secure footing to an historical +adventurer than the chaos of Milton--to be in a state of irreclaimable +disorder, best described in the language of the poet:-- + + --"A dark + Illimitable ocean, without bound, + Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, + + And time, and place, are lost: where eldest Night + And Chaos, ancestors of Nature, hold + Eternal anarchy, amidst the noise + Of endless wars, and by confusion stand." + +We feel that the unity and harmony of narrative, which shall comprehend +this period of social disorganization, must be ascribed entirely to the +skill and luminous disposition of the historian. It is in this sublime +Gothic architecture of his work, in which the boundless range, the +infinite variety, the, at first sight, incongruous gorgeousness of +the separate parts, nevertheless are all subordinate to one main and +predominant idea, that Gibbon is unrivalled. We cannot but admire the +manner in which he masses his materials, and arranges his facts in +successive groups, not according to chronological order, but to their +moral or political connection; the distinctness with which he marks his +periods of gradually increasing decay; and the skill with which, though +advancing on separate parallels of history, he shows the common tendency +of the slower or more rapid religious or civil innovations. However +these principles of composition may demand more than ordinary attention +on the part of the reader, they can alone impress upon the memory the +real course, and the relative importance of the events. Whoever would +justly appreciate the superiority of Gibbon's lucid arrangement, should +attempt to make his way through the regular but wearisome annals of +Tillemont, or even the less ponderous volumes of Le Beau. Both these +writers adhere, almost entirely, to chronological order; the consequence +is, that we are twenty times called upon to break off, and resume the +thread of six or eight wars in different parts of the empire; to suspend +the operations of a military expedition for a court intrigue; to hurry +away from a siege to a council; and the same page places us in the +middle of a campaign against the barbarians, and in the depths of the +Monophysite controversy. In Gibbon it is not always easy to bear in mind +the exact dates but the course of events is ever clear and distinct; +like a skilful general, though his troops advance from the most +remote and opposite quarters, they are constantly bearing down and +concentrating themselves on one point--that which is still occupied +by the name, and by the waning power of Rome. Whether he traces the +progress of hostile religions, or leads from the shores of the +Baltic, or the verge of the Chinese empire, the successive hosts of +barbarians--though one wave has hardly burst and discharged itself, +before another swells up and approaches--all is made to flow in the same +direction, and the impression which each makes upon the tottering fabric +of the Roman greatness, connects their distant movements, and measures +the relative importance assigned to them in the panoramic history. The +more peaceful and didactic episodes on the development of the Roman law, +or even on the details of ecclesiastical history, interpose themselves +as resting-places or divisions between the periods of barbaric invasion. +In short, though distracted first by the two capitals, and afterwards +by the formal partition of the empire, the extraordinary felicity of +arrangement maintains an order and a regular progression. As our horizon +expands to reveal to us the gathering tempests which are forming +far beyond the boundaries of the civilized world--as we follow their +successive approach to the trembling frontier--the compressed and +receding line is still distinctly visible; though gradually dismembered +and the broken fragments assuming the form of regular states and +kingdoms, the real relation of those kingdoms to the empire is +maintained and defined; and even when the Roman dominion has shrunk +into little more than the province of Thrace--when the name of Rome, +confined, in Italy, to the walls of the city--yet it is still the +memory, the shade of the Roman greatness, which extends over the wide +sphere into which the historian expands his later narrative; the +whole blends into the unity, and is manifestly essential to the double +catastrophe of his tragic drama. + +But the amplitude, the magnificence, or the harmony of design, are, +though imposing, yet unworthy claims on our admiration, unless the +details are filled up with correctness and accuracy. No writer has been +more severely tried on this point than Gibbon. He has undergone the +triple scrutiny of theological zeal quickened by just resentment, of +literary emulation, and of that mean and invidious vanity which delights +in detecting errors in writers of established fame. On the result of +the trial, we may be permitted to summon competent witnesses before we +deliver our own judgment. + +M. Guizot, in his preface, after stating that in France and Germany, as +well as in England, in the most enlightened countries of Europe, Gibbon +is constantly cited as an authority, thus proceeds:-- + +"I have had occasion, during my labors, to consult the writings of +philosophers, who have treated on the finances of the Roman empire; of +scholars, who have investigated the chronology; of theologians, who have +searched the depths of ecclesiastical history; of writers on law, who +have studied with care the Roman jurisprudence; of Orientalists, who +have occupied themselves with the Arabians and the Koran; of modern +historians, who have entered upon extensive researches touching the +crusades and their influence; each of these writers has remarked and +pointed out, in the 'History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman +Empire,' some negligences, some false or imperfect views some omissions, +which it is impossible not to suppose voluntary; they have rectified +some facts combated with advantage some assertions; but in general +they have taken the researches and the ideas of Gibbon, as points of +departure, or as proofs of the researches or of the new opinions which +they have advanced." + +M. Guizot goes on to state his own impressions on reading Gibbon's +history, and no authority will have greater weight with those to whom +the extent and accuracy of his historical researches are known:-- + +"After a first rapid perusal, which allowed me to feel nothing but +the interest of a narrative, always animated, and, notwithstanding its +extent and the variety of objects which it makes to pass before the +view, always perspicuous, I entered upon a minute examination of the +details of which it was composed; and the opinion which I then formed +was, I confess, singularly severe. I discovered, in certain chapters, +errors which appeared to me sufficiently important and numerous to +make me believe that they had been written with extreme negligence; in +others, I was struck with a certain tinge of partiality and prejudice, +which imparted to the exposition of the facts that want of truth +and justice, which the English express by their happy term +misrepresentation. Some imperfect (tronquees) quotations; some passages, +omitted unintentionally or designedly cast a suspicion on the honesty +(bonne foi) of the author; and his violation of the first law of +history--increased to my eye by the prolonged attention with which I +occupied myself with every phrase, every note, every reflection--caused +me to form upon the whole work, a judgment far too rigorous. After +having finished my labors, I allowed some time to elapse before I +reviewed the whole. A second attentive and regular perusal of the entire +work, of the notes of the author, and of those which I had thought it +right to subjoin, showed me how much I had exaggerated the importance of +the reproaches which Gibbon really deserved; I was struck with the same +errors, the same partiality on certain subjects; but I had been far from +doing adequate justice to the immensity of his researches, the +variety of his knowledge, and above all, to that truly philosophical +discrimination (justesse d'esprit) which judges the past as it would +judge the present; which does not permit itself to be blinded by the +clouds which time gathers around the dead, and which prevent us from +seeing that, under the toga, as under the modern dress, in the senate +as in our councils, men were what they still are, and that events took +place eighteen centuries ago, as they take place in our days. I then +felt that his book, in spite of its faults, will always be a noble +work--and that we may correct his errors and combat his prejudices, +without ceasing to admit that few men have combined, if we are not to +say in so high a degree, at least in a manner so complete, and so well +regulated, the necessary qualifications for a writer of history." + +The present editor has followed the track of Gibbon through many parts +of his work; he has read his authorities with constant reference to +his pages, and must pronounce his deliberate judgment, in terms of +the highest admiration as to his general accuracy. Many of his seeming +errors are almost inevitable from the close condensation of his matter. +From the immense range of his history, it was sometimes necessary to +compress into a single sentence, a whole vague and diffuse page of a +Byzantine chronicler. Perhaps something of importance may have thus +escaped, and his expressions may not quite contain the whole substance +of the passage from which they are taken. His limits, at times, compel +him to sketch; where that is the case, it is not fair to expect the +full details of the finished picture. At times he can only deal with +important results; and in his account of a war, it sometimes +requires great attention to discover that the events which seem to +be comprehended in a single campaign, occupy several years. But this +admirable skill in selecting and giving prominence to the points which +are of real weight and importance--this distribution of light and +shade--though perhaps it may occasionally betray him into vague and +imperfect statements, is one of the highest excellencies of Gibbon's +historic manner. It is the more striking, when we pass from the works of +his chief authorities, where, after laboring through long, minute, and +wearisome descriptions of the accessary and subordinate circumstances, a +single unmarked and undistinguished sentence, which we may overlook +from the inattention of fatigue, contains the great moral and political +result. + +Gibbon's method of arrangement, though on the whole most favorable +to the clear comprehension of the events, leads likewise to apparent +inaccuracy. That which we expect to find in one part is reserved for +another. The estimate which we are to form, depends on the accurate +balance of statements in remote parts of the work; and we have sometimes +to correct and modify opinions, formed from one chapter by those of +another. Yet, on the other hand, it is astonishing how rarely we detect +contradiction; the mind of the author has already harmonized the whole +result to truth and probability; the general impression is almost +invariably the same. The quotations of Gibbon have likewise been called +in question;--I have, in general, been more inclined to admire their +exactitude, than to complain of their indistinctness, or incompleteness. +Where they are imperfect, it is commonly from the study of brevity, and +rather from the desire of compressing the substance of his notes into +pointed and emphatic sentences, than from dishonesty, or uncandid +suppression of truth. + +These observations apply more particularly to the accuracy and fidelity +of the historian as to his facts; his inferences, of course, are more +liable to exception. It is almost impossible to trace the line between +unfairness and unfaithfulness; between intentional misrepresentation +and undesigned false coloring. The relative magnitude and importance of +events must, in some respect, depend upon the mind before which they are +presented; the estimate of character, on the habits and feelings of the +reader. Christians, like M. Guizot and ourselves, will see some things, +and some persons, in a different light from the historian of the Decline +and Fall. We may deplore the bias of his mind; we may ourselves be on +our guard against the danger of being misled, and be anxious to warn +less wary readers against the same perils; but we must not confound +this secret and unconscious departure from truth, with the deliberate +violation of that veracity which is the only title of an historian +to our confidence. Gibbon, it may be fearlessly asserted, is rarely +chargeable even with the suppression of any material fact, which bears +upon individual character; he may, with apparently invidious hostility, +enhance the errors and crimes, and disparage the virtues of certain +persons; yet, in general, he leaves us the materials for forming a +fairer judgment; and if he is not exempt from his own prejudices, +perhaps we might write passions, yet it must be candidly acknowledged, +that his philosophical bigotry is not more unjust than the theological +partialities of those ecclesiastical writers who were before in +undisputed possession of this province of history. + +We are thus naturally led to that great misrepresentation which +pervades his history--his false estimate of the nature and influence of +Christianity. + +But on this subject some preliminary caution is necessary, lest that +should be expected from a new edition, which it is impossible that it +should completely accomplish. We must first be prepared with the only +sound preservative against the false impression likely to be produced +by the perusal of Gibbon; and we must see clearly the real cause of that +false impression. The former of these cautions will be briefly suggested +in its proper place, but it may be as well to state it, here, somewhat +more at length. The art of Gibbon, or at least the unfair impression +produced by his two memorable chapters, consists in his confounding +together, in one indistinguishable mass, the origin and apostolic +propagation of the new religion, with its later progress. No argument +for the divine authority of Christianity has been urged with greater +force, or traced with higher eloquence, than that deduced from its +primary development, explicable on no other hypothesis than a heavenly +origin, and from its rapid extension through great part of the Roman +empire. But this argument--one, when confined within reasonable limits, +of unanswerable force--becomes more feeble and disputable in proportion +as it recedes from the birthplace, as it were, of the religion. The +further Christianity advanced, the more causes purely human were +enlisted in its favor; nor can it be doubted that those developed with +such artful exclusiveness by Gibbon did concur most essentially to its +establishment. It is in the Christian dispensation, as in the material +world. In both it is as the great First Cause, that the Deity is most +undeniably manifest. When once launched in regular motion upon the bosom +of space, and endowed with all their properties and relations of weight +and mutual attraction, the heavenly bodies appear to pursue their +courses according to secondary laws, which account for all their sublime +regularity. So Christianity proclaims its Divine Author chiefly in its +first origin and development. When it had once received its impulse +from above--when it had once been infused into the minds of its +first teachers--when it had gained full possession of the reason and +affections of the favored few--it might be--and to the Protestant, the +rational Christian, it is impossible to define when it really was--left +to make its way by its native force, under the ordinary secret agencies +of all-ruling Providence. The main question, the divine origin of the +religion, was dexterously eluded, or speciously conceded by Gibbon; +his plan enabled him to commence his account, in most parts, below the +apostolic times; and it was only by the strength of the dark coloring +with which he brought out the failings and the follies of the succeeding +ages, that a shadow of doubt and suspicion was thrown back upon the +primitive period of Christianity. + + +"The theologian," says Gibbon, "may indulge the pleasing task of +describing religion as she descended from heaven, arrayed in her native +purity; a more melancholy duty is imposed upon the historian:--he +must discover the inevitable mixture of error and corruption which she +contracted in a long residence upon earth among a weak and degenerate +race of beings." Divest this passage of the latent sarcasm betrayed by +the subsequent tone of the whole disquisition, and it might commence a +Christian history written in the most Christian spirit of candor. But as +the historian, by seeming to respect, yet by dexterously confounding the +limits of the sacred land, contrived to insinuate that it was an Utopia +which had no existence but in the imagination of the theologian--as he +suggested rather than affirmed that the days of Christian purity were a +kind of poetic golden age;--so the theologian, by venturing too far into +the domain of the historian, has been perpetually obliged to contest +points on which he had little chance of victory--to deny facts +established on unshaken evidence--and thence, to retire, if not with +the shame of defeat, yet with but doubtful and imperfect success. Paley, +with his intuitive sagacity, saw through the difficulty of answering +Gibbon by the ordinary arts of controversy; his emphatic sentence, +"Who can refute a sneer?" contains as much truth as point. But full and +pregnant as this phrase is, it is not quite the whole truth; it is the +tone in which the progress of Christianity is traced, in comparison with +the rest of the splendid and prodigally ornamented work, which is the +radical defect in the "Decline and Fall." Christianity alone receives +no embellishment from the magic of Gibbon's language; his imagination is +dead to its moral dignity; it is kept down by a general zone of jealous +disparagement, or neutralized by a painfully elaborate exposition of +its darker and degenerate periods. There are occasions, indeed, when its +pure and exalted humanity, when its manifestly beneficial influence, +can compel even him, as it were, to fairness, and kindle his unguarded +eloquence to its usual fervor; but, in general, he soon relapses into a +frigid apathy; affects an ostentatiously severe impartiality; notes all +the faults of Christians in every age with bitter and almost malignant +sarcasm; reluctantly, and with exception and reservation, admits their +claim to admiration. This inextricable bias appears even to influence +his manner of composition. While all the other assailants of the Roman +empire, whether warlike or religious, the Goth, the Hun, the Arab, the +Tartar, Alaric and Attila, Mahomet, and Zengis, and Tamerlane, are each +introduced upon the scene almost with dramatic animation--their progress +related in a full, complete, and unbroken narrative--the triumph of +Christianity alone takes the form of a cold and critical disquisition. +The successes of barbarous energy and brute force call forth all the +consummate skill of composition; while the moral triumphs of Christian +benevolence--the tranquil heroism of endurance, the blameless purity, +the contempt of guilty fame and of honors destructive to the human race, +which, had they assumed the proud name of philosophy, would have been +blazoned in his brightest words, because they own religion as their +principle--sink into narrow asceticism. The glories of Christianity, +in short, touch on no chord in the heart of the writer; his imagination +remains unkindled; his words, though they maintain their stately and +measured march, have become cool, argumentative, and inanimate. Who +would obscure one hue of that gorgeous coloring in which Gibbon has +invested the dying forms of Paganism, or darken one paragraph in his +splendid view of the rise and progress of Mahometanism? But who +would not have wished that the same equal justice had been done to +Christianity; that its real character and deeply penetrating influence +had been traced with the same philosophical sagacity, and represented +with more sober, as would become its quiet course, and perhaps less +picturesque, but still with lively and attractive, descriptiveness? He +might have thrown aside, with the same scorn, the mass of ecclesiastical +fiction which envelops the early history of the church, stripped off +the legendary romance, and brought out the facts in their primitive +nakedness and simplicity--if he had but allowed those facts the benefit +of the glowing eloquence which he denied to them alone. He might have +annihilated the whole fabric of post-apostolic miracles, if he had left +uninjured by sarcastic insinuation those of the New Testament; he might +have cashiered, with Dodwell, the whole host of martyrs, which owe their +existence to the prodigal invention of later days, had he but bestowed +fair room, and dwelt with his ordinary energy on the sufferings of the +genuine witnesses to the truth of Christianity, the Polycarps, or the +martyrs of Vienne. And indeed, if, after all, the view of the early +progress of Christianity be melancholy and humiliating we must beware +lest we charge the whole of this on the infidelity of the historian. +It is idle, it is disingenuous, to deny or to dissemble the early +depravations of Christianity, its gradual but rapid departure from +its primitive simplicity and purity, still more, from its spirit of +universal love. It may be no unsalutary lesson to the Christian world, +that this silent, this unavoidable, perhaps, yet fatal change shall have +been drawn by an impartial, or even an hostile hand. The Christianity +of every age may take warning, lest by its own narrow views, its want +of wisdom, and its want of charity, it give the same advantage to the +future unfriendly historian, and disparage the cause of true religion. + +The design of the present edition is partly corrective, partly +supplementary: corrective, by notes, which point out (it is hoped, in +a perfectly candid and dispassionate spirit with no desire but to +establish the truth) such inaccuracies or misstatements as may have been +detected, particularly with regard to Christianity; and which thus, with +the previous caution, may counteract to a considerable extent the +unfair and unfavorable impression created against rational religion: +supplementary, by adding such additional information as the editor's +reading may have been able to furnish, from original documents or books, +not accessible at the time when Gibbon wrote. + +The work originated in the editor's habit of noting on the margin of his +copy of Gibbon references to such authors as had discovered errors, or +thrown new light on the subjects treated by Gibbon. These had grown +to some extent, and seemed to him likely to be of use to others. The +annotations of M. Guizot also appeared to him worthy of being better +known to the English public than they were likely to be, as appended to +the French translation. + +The chief works from which the editor has derived his materials are, +I. The French translation, with notes by M. Guizot; 2d edition, Paris, +1828. The editor has translated almost all the notes of M. Guizot. Where +he has not altogether agreed with him, his respect for the learning +and judgment of that writer has, in general, induced him to retain the +statement from which he has ventured to differ, with the grounds on +which he formed his own opinion. In the notes on Christianity, he has +retained all those of M. Guizot, with his own, from the conviction, +that on such a subject, to many, the authority of a French statesman, +a Protestant, and a rational and sincere Christian, would appear more +independent and unbiassed, and therefore be more commanding, than that +of an English clergyman. + + +The editor has not scrupled to transfer the notes of M. Guizot to the +present work. The well-known zeal for knowledge, displayed in all +the writings of that distinguished historian, has led to the natural +inference, that he would not be displeased at the attempt to make them +of use to the English readers of Gibbon. The notes of M. Guizot are +signed with the letter G. + +II. The German translation, with the notes of Wenck. Unfortunately this +learned translator died, after having completed only the first volume; +the rest of the work was executed by a very inferior hand. + +The notes of Wenck are extremely valuable; many of them have been +adopted by M. Guizot; they are distinguished by the letter W. [*] + +[Footnote *: The editor regrets that he has not been able to find the +Italian translation, mentioned by Gibbon himself with some respect. It +is not in our great libraries, the Museum or the Bodleian; and he has +never found any bookseller in London who has seen it.] + +III. The new edition of Le Beau's "Histoire du Bas Empire, with notes by +M. St. Martin, and M. Brosset." That distinguished Armenian scholar, M. +St. Martin (now, unhappily, deceased) had added much information from +Oriental writers, particularly from those of Armenia, as well as from +more general sources. Many of his observations have been found as +applicable to the work of Gibbon as to that of Le Beau. + +IV. The editor has consulted the various answers made to Gibbon on the +first appearance of his work; he must confess, with little profit. +They were, in general, hastily compiled by inferior and now forgotten +writers, with the exception of Bishop Watson, whose able apology is +rather a general argument, than an examination of misstatements. The +name of Milner stands higher with a certain class of readers, but will +not carry much weight with the severe investigator of history. + +V. Some few classical works and fragments have come to light, since +the appearance of Gibbon's History, and have been noticed in their +respective places; and much use has been made, in the latter volumes +particularly, of the increase to our stores of Oriental literature. The +editor cannot, indeed, pretend to have followed his author, in these +gleanings, over the whole vast field of his inquiries; he may have +overlooked or may not have been able to command some works, which might +have thrown still further light on these subjects; but he trusts that +what he has adduced will be of use to the student of historic truth. + +The editor would further observe, that with regard to some other +objectionable passages, which do not involve misstatement or inaccuracy, +he has intentionally abstained from directing particular attention +towards them by any special protest. + +The editor's notes are marked M. + +A considerable part of the quotations (some of which in the later +editions had fallen into great confusion) have been verified, and have +been corrected by the latest and best editions of the authors. + +June, 1845. + +In this new edition, the text and the notes have been carefully revised, +the latter by the editor. + +Some additional notes have been subjoined, distinguished by the +signature M. 1845. + + + + +Preface Of The Author. + +It is not my intention to detain the reader by expatiating on the +variety or the importance of the subject, which I have undertaken to +treat; since the merit of the choice would serve to render the weakness +of the execution still more apparent, and still less excusable. But as +I have presumed to lay before the public a first volume only [1] of the +History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, it will, perhaps, +be expected that I should explain, in a few words, the nature and limits +of my general plan. + +[Footnote 1: The first volume of the quarto, which contained the sixteen +first chapters.] + +The memorable series of revolutions, which in the course of about +thirteen centuries gradually undermined, and at length destroyed, the +solid fabric of human greatness, may, with some propriety, be divided +into the three following periods: + +I. The first of these periods may be traced from the age of Trajan +and the Antonines, when the Roman monarchy, having attained its full +strength and maturity, began to verge towards its decline; and will +extend to the subversion of the Western Empire, by the barbarians of +Germany and Scythia, the rude ancestors of the most polished nations of +modern Europe. This extraordinary revolution, which subjected Rome to +the power of a Gothic conqueror, was completed about the beginning of +the sixth century. + +II. The second period of the Decline and Fall of Rome may be supposed +to commence with the reign of Justinian, who, by his laws, as well as by +his victories, restored a transient splendor to the Eastern Empire. It +will comprehend the invasion of Italy by the Lombards; the conquest +of the Asiatic and African provinces by the Arabs, who embraced the +religion of Mahomet; the revolt of the Roman people against the feeble +princes of Constantinople; and the elevation of Charlemagne, who, in the +year eight hundred, established the second, or German Empire of the West. + +III. The last and longest of these periods includes about six centuries +and a half; from the revival of the Western Empire, till the taking of +Constantinople by the Turks, and the extinction of a degenerate race +of princes, who continued to assume the titles of Caesar and Augustus, +after their dominions were contracted to the limits of a single city; in +which the language, as well as manners, of the ancient Romans, had been +long since forgotten. The writer who should undertake to relate the +events of this period, would find himself obliged to enter into the +general history of the Crusades, as far as they contributed to the +ruin of the Greek Empire; and he would scarcely be able to restrain his +curiosity from making some inquiry into the state of the city of Rome, +during the darkness and confusion of the middle ages. + +As I have ventured, perhaps too hastily, to commit to the press a work +which in every sense of the word, deserves the epithet of imperfect. I +consider myself as contracting an engagement to finish, most probably in +a second volume, [2] the first of these memorable periods; and to deliver +to the Public the complete History of the Decline and Fall of Rome, from +the age of the Antonines to the subversion of the Western Empire. With +regard to the subsequent periods, though I may entertain some hopes, I +dare not presume to give any assurances. The execution of the extensive +plan which I have described, would connect the ancient and modern +history of the world; but it would require many years of health, of +leisure, and of perseverance. + +[Footnote 2: The Author, as it frequently +happens, took an inadequate measure of his growing work. The remainder +of the first period has filled two volumes in quarto, being the third, +fourth, fifth, and sixth volumes of the octavo edition.] + +Bentinck Street, February 1, 1776. + +P. S. The entire History, which is now published, of the Decline +and Fall of the Roman Empire in the West, abundantly discharges my +engagements with the Public. Perhaps their favorable opinion may +encourage me to prosecute a work, which, however laborious it may seem, +is the most agreeable occupation of my leisure hours. + +Bentinck Street, March 1, 1781. + +An Author easily persuades himself that the public opinion is still +favorable to his labors; and I have now embraced the serious resolution +of proceeding to the last period of my original design, and of the +Roman Empire, the taking of Constantinople by the Turks, in the year +one thousand four hundred and fifty-three. The most patient Reader, who +computes that three ponderous [3] volumes have been already employed +on the events of four centuries, may, perhaps, be alarmed at the long +prospect of nine hundred years. But it is not my intention to expatiate +with the same minuteness on the whole series of the Byzantine history. +At our entrance into this period, the reign of Justinian, and the +conquests of the Mahometans, will deserve and detain our attention, and +the last age of Constantinople (the Crusades and the Turks) is connected +with the revolutions of Modern Europe. From the seventh to the eleventh +century, the obscure interval will be supplied by a concise narrative +of such facts as may still appear either interesting or important. + +[Footnote 3: The first six volumes of the octavo edition.] Bentinck +Street, March 1, 1782. + + + + +Preface To The First Volume. + +Diligence and accuracy are the only merits which an historical writer +may ascribe to himself; if any merit, indeed, can be assumed from the +performance of an indispensable duty. I may therefore be allowed to say, +that I have carefully examined all the original materials that could +illustrate the subject which I had undertaken to treat. Should I +ever complete the extensive design which has been sketched out in the +Preface, I might perhaps conclude it with a critical account of the +authors consulted during the progress of the whole work; and however +such an attempt might incur the censure of ostentation, I am persuaded +that it would be susceptible of entertainment, as well as information. + +At present I shall content myself with a single observation. + +The biographers, who, under the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, +composed, or rather compiled, the lives of the Emperors, from Hadrian +to the sons of Carus, are usually mentioned under the names of Aelius +Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus, Aelius Lampridius, Vulcatius Gallicanus, +Trebellius Pollio and Flavius Vopiscus. But there is so much perplexity +in the titles of the MSS., and so many disputes have arisen among the +critics (see Fabricius, Biblioth. Latin. l. iii. c. 6) concerning their +number, their names, and their respective property, that for the most +part I have quoted them without distinction, under the general and +well-known title of the Augustan History. + + + + +Preface To The Fourth Volume Of The Original Quarto Edition. + +I now discharge my promise, and complete my design, of writing the +History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, both in the West +and the East. The whole period extends from the age of Trajan and the +Antonines, to the taking of Constantinople by Mahomet the Second; and +includes a review of the Crusades, and the state of Rome during the +middle ages. Since the publication of the first volume, twelve years +have elapsed; twelve years, according to my wish, "of health, of +leisure, and of perseverance." I may now congratulate my deliverance +from a long and laborious service, and my satisfaction will be pure and +perfect, if the public favor should be extended to the conclusion of my +work. + +It was my first intention to have collected, under one view, the +numerous authors, of every age and language, from whom I have derived +the materials of this history; and I am still convinced that the +apparent ostentation would be more than compensated by real use. If I +have renounced this idea, if I have declined an undertaking which had +obtained the approbation of a master-artist, [4] my excuse may be found +in the extreme difficulty of assigning a proper measure to such a +catalogue. A naked list of names and editions would not be satisfactory +either to myself or my readers: the characters of the principal Authors +of the Roman and Byzantine History have been occasionally connected +with the events which they describe; a more copious and critical inquiry +might indeed deserve, but it would demand, an elaborate volume, which +might swell by degrees into a general library of historical writers. +For the present, I shall content myself with renewing my serious +protestation, that I have always endeavored to draw from the +fountain-head; that my curiosity, as well as a sense of duty, has always +urged me to study the originals; and that, if they have sometimes eluded +my search, I have carefully marked the secondary evidence, on whose +faith a passage or a fact were reduced to depend. + +[Footnote 4: See Dr. Robertson's Preface to his History of America.] + +I shall soon revisit the banks of the Lake of Lausanne, a country which +I have known and loved from my early youth. Under a mild government, +amidst a beauteous landscape, in a life of leisure and independence, +and among a people of easy and elegant manners, I have enjoyed, and may +again hope to enjoy, the varied pleasures of retirement and society. +But I shall ever glory in the name and character of an Englishman: I am +proud of my birth in a free and enlightened country; and the approbation +of that country is the best and most honorable reward of my labors. Were +I ambitious of any other Patron than the Public, I would inscribe +this work to a Statesman, who, in a long, a stormy, and at length an +unfortunate administration, had many political opponents, almost +without a personal enemy; who has retained, in his fall from power, +many faithful and disinterested friends; and who, under the pressure of +severe infirmity, enjoys the lively vigor of his mind, and the felicity +of his incomparable temper. Lord North will permit me to express the +feelings of friendship in the language of truth: but even truth and +friendship should be silent, if he still dispensed the favors of the +crown. + +In a remote solitude, vanity may still whisper in my ear, that my +readers, perhaps, may inquire whether, in the conclusion of the present +work, I am now taking an everlasting farewell. They shall hear all that +I know myself, and all that I could reveal to the most intimate friend. +The motives of action or silence are now equally balanced; nor can I +pronounce, in my most secret thoughts, on which side the scale will +preponderate. I cannot dissemble that six quartos must have tried, +and may have exhausted, the indulgence of the Public; that, in the +repetition of similar attempts, a successful Author has much more to +lose than he can hope to gain; that I am now descending into the vale +of years; and that the most respectable of my countrymen, the men whom +I aspire to imitate, have resigned the pen of history about the same +period of their lives. Yet I consider that the annals of ancient and +modern times may afford many rich and interesting subjects; that I am +still possessed of health and leisure; that by the practice of writing, +some skill and facility must be acquired; and that, in the ardent +pursuit of truth and knowledge, I am not conscious of decay. To an +active mind, indolence is more painful than labor; and the first months +of my liberty will be occupied and amused in the excursions of curiosity +and taste. By such temptations, I have been sometimes seduced from the +rigid duty even of a pleasing and voluntary task: but my time will now +be my own; and in the use or abuse of independence, I shall no longer +fear my own reproaches or those of my friends. I am fairly entitled to a +year of jubilee: next summer and the following winter will rapidly pass +away; and experience only can determine whether I shall still prefer the +freedom and variety of study to the design and composition of a regular +work, which animates, while it confines, the daily application of the +Author. + +Caprice and accident may influence my choice; but the dexterity of +self-love will contrive to applaud either active industry or philosophic +repose. + +Downing Street, May 1, 1788. + +P. S. I shall embrace this opportunity of introducing two verbal +remarks, which have not conveniently offered themselves to my notice. +1. As often as I use the definitions of beyond the Alps, the Rhine, +the Danube, &c., I generally suppose myself at Rome, and afterwards at +Constantinople; without observing whether this relative geography may +agree with the local, but variable, situation of the reader, or the +historian. 2. In proper names of foreign, and especially of Oriental +origin, it should be always our aim to express, in our English version, +a faithful copy of the original. But this rule, which is founded on +a just regard to uniformity and truth, must often be relaxed; and the +exceptions will be limited or enlarged by the custom of the language and +the taste of the interpreter. Our alphabets may be often defective; a +harsh sound, an uncouth spelling, might offend the ear or the eye of our +countrymen; and some words, notoriously corrupt, are fixed, and, as +it were, naturalized in the vulgar tongue. The prophet Mohammed can +no longer be stripped of the famous, though improper, appellation of +Mahomet: the well-known cities of Aleppo, Damascus, and Cairo, would +almost be lost in the strange descriptions of Haleb, Demashk, and Al +Cahira: the titles and offices of the Ottoman empire are fashioned by +the practice of three hundred years; and we are pleased to blend the +three Chinese monosyllables, Con-fu-tzee, in the respectable name of +Confucius, or even to adopt the Portuguese corruption of Mandarin. But +I would vary the use of Zoroaster and Zerdusht, as I drew my information +from Greece or Persia: since our connection with India, the genuine +Timour is restored to the throne of Tamerlane: our most correct writers +have retrenched the Al, the superfluous article, from the Koran; and we +escape an ambiguous termination, by adopting Moslem instead of Musulman, +in the plural number. In these, and in a thousand examples, the shades +of distinction are often minute; and I can feel, where I cannot explain, +the motives of my choice. + + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines--Part I. + + + + +Introduction. + + The Extent And Military Force Of The Empire In The Age Of + The Antonines. + +In the second century of the Christian Aera, the empire of Rome +comprehended the fairest part of the earth, and the most civilized +portion of mankind. The frontiers of that extensive monarchy were +guarded by ancient renown and disciplined valor. The gentle but powerful +influence of laws and manners had gradually cemented the union of the +provinces. Their peaceful inhabitants enjoyed and abused the advantages +of wealth and luxury. The image of a free constitution was preserved +with decent reverence: the Roman senate appeared to possess the +sovereign authority, and devolved on the emperors all the executive +powers of government. During a happy period of more than fourscore +years, the public administration was conducted by the virtue and +abilities of Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the two Antonines. It is the +design of this, and of the two succeeding chapters, to describe the +prosperous condition of their empire; and after wards, from the death +of Marcus Antoninus, to deduce the most important circumstances of its +decline and fall; a revolution which will ever be remembered, and is +still felt by the nations of the earth. + +The principal conquests of the Romans were achieved under the republic; +and the emperors, for the most part, were satisfied with preserving +those dominions which had been acquired by the policy of the senate, +the active emulations of the consuls, and the martial enthusiasm of the +people. The seven first centuries were filled with a rapid succession of +triumphs; but it was reserved for Augustus to relinquish the ambitious +design of subduing the whole earth, and to introduce a spirit of +moderation into the public councils. Inclined to peace by his temper +and situation, it was easy for him to discover that Rome, in her present +exalted situation, had much less to hope than to fear from the chance +of arms; and that, in the prosecution of remote wars, the undertaking +became every day more difficult, the event more doubtful, and the +possession more precarious, and less beneficial. The experience of +Augustus added weight to these salutary reflections, and effectually +convinced him that, by the prudent vigor of his counsels, it would be +easy to secure every concession which the safety or the dignity of Rome +might require from the most formidable barbarians. Instead of exposing +his person and his legions to the arrows of the Parthians, he obtained, +by an honorable treaty, the restitution of the standards and prisoners +which had been taken in the defeat of Crassus. [1] + +[Footnote 1: Dion Cassius, (l. liv. p. 736,) with the annotations +of Reimar, who has collected all that Roman vanity has left upon the +subject. The marble of Ancyra, on which Augustus recorded his own +exploits, asserted that he compelled the Parthians to restore the +ensigns of Crassus.] + +His generals, in the early part of his reign, attempted the reduction +of Ethiopia and Arabia Felix. They marched near a thousand miles to +the south of the tropic; but the heat of the climate soon repelled the +invaders, and protected the un-warlike natives of those sequestered +regions. [2] The northern countries of Europe scarcely deserved the +expense and labor of conquest. The forests and morasses of Germany were +filled with a hardy race of barbarians, who despised life when it was +separated from freedom; and though, on the first attack, they seemed to +yield to the weight of the Roman power, they soon, by a signal act +of despair, regained their independence, and reminded Augustus of the +vicissitude of fortune. [3] On the death of that emperor, his testament +was publicly read in the senate. He bequeathed, as a valuable legacy to +his successors, the advice of confining the empire within those limits +which nature seemed to have placed as its permanent bulwarks and +boundaries: on the west, the Atlantic Ocean; the Rhine and Danube on +the north; the Euphrates on the east; and towards the south, the sandy +deserts of Arabia and Africa. [4] + +[Footnote 2: Strabo, (l. xvi. p. 780,) Pliny the elder, (Hist. Natur. l. +vi. c. 32, 35, [28, 29,]) and Dion Cassius, (l. liii. p. 723, and l. liv. +p. 734,) have left us very curious details concerning these wars. The +Romans made themselves masters of Mariaba, or Merab, a city of Arabia +Felix, well known to the Orientals. (See Abulfeda and the Nubian +geography, p. 52) They were arrived within three days' journey of the +spice country, the rich object of their invasion. + +Note: It is the city of Merab that the Arabs say was the residence of +Belkis, queen of Saba, who desired to see Solomon. A dam, by which the +waters collected in its neighborhood were kept back, having been swept +away, the sudden inundation destroyed this city, of which, nevertheless, +vestiges remain. It bordered on a country called Adramout, where a +particular aromatic plant grows: it is for this reason that we real in +the history of the Roman expedition, that they were arrived within three +days' journey of the spice country.--G. Compare Malte-Brun, Geogr. Eng. +trans. vol. ii. p. 215. The period of this flood has been copiously +discussed by Reiske, (Program. de vetusta Epocha Arabum, ruptura +cataractae Merabensis.) Add. Johannsen, Hist. Yemanae, p. 282. Bonn, +1828; and see Gibbon, note 16. to Chap. L.--M. + +Note: Two, according to Strabo. The detailed account of Strabo makes +the invaders fail before Marsuabae: this cannot be the same place as +Mariaba. Ukert observes, that Aelius Gallus would not have failed for +want of water before Mariaba. (See M. Guizot's note above.) "Either, +therefore, they were different places, or Strabo is mistaken." (Ukert, +Geographic der Griechen und Romer, vol. i. p. 181.) Strabo, indeed, +mentions Mariaba distinct from Marsuabae. Gibbon has followed Pliny in +reckoning Mariaba among the conquests of Gallus. There can be little +doubt that he is wrong, as Gallus did not approach the capital of +Sabaea. Compare the note of the Oxford editor of Strabo.--M.] + +[Footnote 3: By the slaughter of Varus and his three legions. See the first +book of the Annals of Tacitus. Sueton. in August. c. 23, and Velleius +Paterculus, l. ii. c. 117, &c. Augustus did not receive the melancholy +news with all the temper and firmness that might have been expected from +his character.] + +[Footnote 4: Tacit. Annal. l. ii. Dion Cassius, l. lvi. p. 833, and the +speech of Augustus himself, in Julian's Caesars. It receives great light +from the learned notes of his French translator, M. Spanheim.] + +Happily for the repose of mankind, the moderate system recommended +by the wisdom of Augustus, was adopted by the fears and vices of his +immediate successors. Engaged in the pursuit of pleasure, or in the +exercise of tyranny, the first Caesars seldom showed themselves to the +armies, or to the provinces; nor were they disposed to suffer, that +those triumphs which their indolence neglected, should be usurped by the +conduct and valor of their lieutenants. The military fame of a subject +was considered as an insolent invasion of the Imperial prerogative; +and it became the duty, as well as interest, of every Roman general, to +guard the frontiers intrusted to his care, without aspiring to conquests +which might have proved no less fatal to himself than to the vanquished +barbarians. [5] + +[Footnote 5: Germanicus, Suetonius Paulinus, and Agricola were checked +and recalled in the course of their victories. Corbulo was put to death. +Military merit, as it is admirably expressed by Tacitus, was, in the +strictest sense of the word, imperatoria virtus.] + +The only accession which the Roman empire received, during the first +century of the Christian Aera, was the province of Britain. In this +single instance, the successors of Caesar and Augustus were persuaded to +follow the example of the former, rather than the precept of the latter. +The proximity of its situation to the coast of Gaul seemed to invite +their arms; the pleasing though doubtful intelligence of a pearl +fishery, attracted their avarice; [6] and as Britain was viewed in the +light of a distinct and insulated world, the conquest scarcely formed +any exception to the general system of continental measures. After a war +of about forty years, undertaken by the most stupid, [7] maintained +by the most dissolute, and terminated by the most timid of all the +emperors, the far greater part of the island submitted to the Roman +yoke. [8] The various tribes of Britain possessed valor without conduct, +and the love of freedom without the spirit of union. They took up arms +with savage fierceness; they laid them down, or turned them against each +other, with wild inconsistency; and while they fought singly, they +were successively subdued. Neither the fortitude of Caractacus, nor the +despair of Boadicea, nor the fanaticism of the Druids, could avert the +slavery of their country, or resist the steady progress of the Imperial +generals, who maintained the national glory, when the throne was +disgraced by the weakest, or the most vicious of mankind. At the very +time when Domitian, confined to his palace, felt the terrors which +he inspired, his legions, under the command of the virtuous Agricola, +defeated the collected force of the Caledonians, at the foot of the +Grampian Hills; and his fleets, venturing to explore an unknown and +dangerous navigation, displayed the Roman arms round every part of the +island. The conquest of Britain was considered as already achieved; and +it was the design of Agricola to complete and insure his success, by the +easy reduction of Ireland, for which, in his opinion, one legion and a +few auxiliaries were sufficient. [9] The western isle might be improved +into a valuable possession, and the Britons would wear their chains +with the less reluctance, if the prospect and example of freedom were on +every side removed from before their eyes. + +[Footnote 6: Caesar himself conceals that ignoble motive; but it is +mentioned by Suetonius, c. 47. The British pearls proved, however, +of little value, on account of their dark and livid color. Tacitus +observes, with reason, (in Agricola, c. 12,) that it was an inherent +defect. "Ego facilius crediderim, naturam margaritis deesse quam nobis +avaritiam."] + +[Footnote 7: Claudius, Nero, and Domitian. A hope is expressed by +Pomponius Mela, l. iii. c. 6, (he wrote under Claudius,) that, by the +success of the Roman arms, the island and its savage inhabitants would +soon be better known. It is amusing enough to peruse such passages in +the midst of London.] + +[Footnote 8: See the admirable abridgment given +by Tacitus, in the life of Agricola, and copiously, though perhaps not +completely, illustrated by our own antiquarians, Camden and Horsley.] + +[Footnote 9: The Irish writers, jealous of their national honor, +are extremely provoked on this occasion, both with Tacitus and with +Agricola.] + +But the superior merit of Agricola soon occasioned his removal from the +government of Britain; and forever disappointed this rational, though +extensive scheme of conquest. Before his departure, the prudent general +had provided for security as well as for dominion. He had observed, +that the island is almost divided into two unequal parts by the opposite +gulfs, or, as they are now called, the Friths of Scotland. Across the +narrow interval of about forty miles, he had drawn a line of military +stations, which was afterwards fortified, in the reign of Antoninus +Pius, by a turf rampart, erected on foundations of stone. [10] This wall +of Antoninus, at a small distance beyond the modern cities of Edinburgh +and Glasgow, was fixed as the limit of the Roman province. The native +Caledonians preserved, in the northern extremity of the island, their +wild independence, for which they were not less indebted to their +poverty than to their valor. Their incursions were frequently repelled +and chastised; but their country was never subdued. [11] The masters of +the fairest and most wealthy climates of the globe turned with contempt +from gloomy hills, assailed by the winter tempest, from lakes concealed +in a blue mist, and from cold and lonely heaths, over which the deer of +the forest were chased by a troop of naked barbarians. [12] + +[Footnote 10: See Horsley's Britannia Romana, l. i. c. 10. Note: +Agricola fortified the line from Dumbarton to Edinburgh, consequently +within Scotland. The emperor Hadrian, during his residence in Britain, +about the year 121, caused a rampart of earth to be raised between +Newcastle and Carlisle. Antoninus Pius, having gained new victories over +the Caledonians, by the ability of his general, Lollius, Urbicus, +caused a new rampart of earth to be constructed between Edinburgh and +Dumbarton. Lastly, Septimius Severus caused a wall of stone to be built +parallel to the rampart of Hadrian, and on the same locality. See John +Warburton's Vallum Romanum, or the History and Antiquities of the Roman +Wall. London, 1754, 4to.--W. See likewise a good note on the Roman wall +in Lingard's History of England, vol. i. p. 40, 4to edit--M.] + +[Footnote 11: The poet Buchanan celebrates with elegance and spirit (see +his Sylvae, v.) the unviolated independence of his native country. But, +if the single testimony of Richard of Cirencester was sufficient to +create a Roman province of Vespasiana to the north of the wall, that +independence would be reduced within very narrow limits.] + +[Footnote 12: See Appian (in Prooem.) and the uniform imagery of +Ossian's Poems, which, according to every hypothesis, were composed by a +native Caledonian.] + +Such was the state of the Roman frontiers, and such the maxims of +Imperial policy, from the death of Augustus to the accession of Trajan. +That virtuous and active prince had received the education of a soldier, +and possessed the talents of a general. [13] The peaceful system of his +predecessors was interrupted by scenes of war and conquest; and the +legions, after a long interval, beheld a military emperor at their head. +The first exploits of Trajan were against the Dacians, the most warlike +of men, who dwelt beyond the Danube, and who, during the reign of +Domitian, had insulted, with impunity, the Majesty of Rome. [14] To the +strength and fierceness of barbarians they added a contempt for +life, which was derived from a warm persuasion of the immortality and +transmigration of the soul. [15] Decebalus, the Dacian king, approved +himself a rival not unworthy of Trajan; nor did he despair of his own +and the public fortune, till, by the confession of his enemies, he had +exhausted every resource both of valor and policy. [16] This memorable +war, with a very short suspension of hostilities, lasted five years; +and as the emperor could exert, without control, the whole force of the +state, it was terminated by an absolute submission of the barbarians. +[17] The new province of Dacia, which formed a second exception to the +precept of Augustus, was about thirteen hundred miles in circumference. +Its natural boundaries were the Niester, the Teyss or Tibiscus, the +Lower Danube, and the Euxine Sea. The vestiges of a military road may +still be traced from the banks of the Danube to the neighborhood of +Bender, a place famous in modern history, and the actual frontier of the +Turkish and Russian empires. [18] + +[Footnote 13: See Pliny's Panegyric, which seems founded on facts.] + +[Footnote 14: Dion Cassius, l. lxvii.] + +[Footnote 15: Herodotus, l. iv. c. 94. Julian in the Caesars, with +Spanheims observations.] + +[Footnote 16: Plin. Epist. viii. 9.] + +[Footnote 17: Dion Cassius, l. lxviii. p. 1123, 1131. Julian in +Caesaribus Eutropius, viii. 2, 6. Aurelius Victor in Epitome.] + +[Footnote 18: See a Memoir of M. d'Anville, on the Province of Dacia, in +the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxviii. p. 444--468.] + +Trajan was ambitious of fame; and as long as mankind shall continue +to bestow more liberal applause on their destroyers than on their +benefactors, the thirst of military glory will ever be the vice of the +most exalted characters. The praises of Alexander, transmitted by a +succession of poets and historians, had kindled a dangerous emulation in +the mind of Trajan. Like him, the Roman emperor undertook an expedition +against the nations of the East; but he lamented with a sigh, that his +advanced age scarcely left him any hopes of equalling the renown of the +son of Philip. [19] Yet the success of Trajan, however transient, was +rapid and specious. The degenerate Parthians, broken by intestine +discord, fled before his arms. He descended the River Tigris in triumph, +from the mountains of Armenia to the Persian Gulf. He enjoyed the honor +of being the first, as he was the last, of the Roman generals, who ever +navigated that remote sea. His fleets ravaged the coast of Arabia; and +Trajan vainly flattered himself that he was approaching towards the +confines of India. [20] Every day the astonished senate received the +intelligence of new names and new nations, that acknowledged his +sway. They were informed that the kings of Bosphorus, Colchos, Iberia, +Albania, Osrhoene, and even the Parthian monarch himself, had accepted +their diadems from the hands of the emperor; that the independent tribes +of the Median and Carduchian hills had implored his protection; and that +the rich countries of Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria, were reduced +into the state of provinces. [21] But the death of Trajan soon clouded +the splendid prospect; and it was justly to be dreaded, that so many +distant nations would throw off the unaccustomed yoke, when they were no +longer restrained by the powerful hand which had imposed it. + +[Footnote 19: Trajan's sentiments are represented in a very just and +lively manner in the Caesars of Julian.] + +[Footnote 20: Eutropius and Sextus Rufus have endeavored to perpetuate +the illusion. See a very sensible dissertation of M. Freret in the +Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxi. p. 55.] + +[Footnote 21: Dion Cassius, l. lxviii.; and the Abbreviators.] + + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part II. + +It was an ancient tradition, that when the Capitol was founded by one of +the Roman kings, the god Terminus (who presided over boundaries, and +was represented, according to the fashion of that age, by a large stone) +alone, among all the inferior deities, refused to yield his place to +Jupiter himself. A favorable inference was drawn from his obstinacy, +which was interpreted by the augurs as a sure presage that the +boundaries of the Roman power would never recede. [22] During many ages, +the prediction, as it is usual, contributed to its own accomplishment. +But though Terminus had resisted the Majesty of Jupiter, he submitted +to the authority of the emperor Hadrian. [23] The resignation of all +the eastern conquests of Trajan was the first measure of his reign. +He restored to the Parthians the election of an independent sovereign; +withdrew the Roman garrisons from the provinces of Armenia, Mesopotamia, +and Assyria; and, in compliance with the precept of Augustus, once more +established the Euphrates as the frontier of the empire. [24] Censure, +which arraigns the public actions and the private motives of princes, +has ascribed to envy, a conduct which might be attributed to the +prudence and moderation of Hadrian. The various character of that +emperor, capable, by turns, of the meanest and the most generous +sentiments, may afford some color to the suspicion. It was, however, +scarcely in his power to place the superiority of his predecessor in a +more conspicuous light, than by thus confessing himself unequal to the +task of defending the conquests of Trajan. + +[Footnote 22: Ovid. Fast. l. ii. ver. 667. See Livy, and Dionysius of +Halicarnassus, under the reign of Tarquin.] + +[Footnote 23: St. Augustin is highly delighted with the proof of the +weakness of Terminus, and the vanity of the Augurs. See De Civitate Dei, +iv. 29. * Note: The turn of Gibbon's sentence is Augustin's: "Plus +Hadrianum regem hominum, quam regem Deorum timuisse videatur."--M] + +[Footnote 24: See the Augustan History, p. 5, Jerome's Chronicle, and +all the Epitomizers. It is somewhat surprising, that this memorable +event should be omitted by Dion, or rather by Xiphilin.] + +The martial and ambitious of spirit Trajan formed a very singular +contrast with the moderation of his successor. The restless activity of +Hadrian was not less remarkable when compared with the gentle repose of +Antoninus Pius. The life of the former was almost a perpetual journey; +and as he possessed the various talents of the soldier, the statesman, +and the scholar, he gratified his curiosity in the discharge of his +duty. + +Careless of the difference of seasons and of climates, he marched on +foot, and bare-headed, over the snows of Caledonia, and the sultry +plains of the Upper Egypt; nor was there a province of the empire which, +in the course of his reign, was not honored with the presence of the +monarch. [25] But the tranquil life of Antoninus Pius was spent in the +bosom of Italy, and, during the twenty-three years that he directed +the public administration, the longest journeys of that amiable prince +extended no farther than from his palace in Rome to the retirement of +his Lanuvian villa. [26] + +[Footnote 25: Dion, l. lxix. p. 1158. Hist. August. p. 5, 8. If all our +historians were lost, medals, inscriptions, and other monuments, would +be sufficient to record the travels of Hadrian. Note: The journeys of +Hadrian are traced in a note on Solvet's translation of Hegewisch, Essai +sur l'Epoque de Histoire Romaine la plus heureuse pour Genre Humain +Paris, 1834, p. 123.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: See the Augustan History and the Epitomes.] + +Notwithstanding this difference in their personal conduct, the general +system of Augustus was equally adopted and uniformly pursued by Hadrian +and by the two Antonines. They persisted in the design of maintaining +the dignity of the empire, without attempting to enlarge its limits. By +every honorable expedient they invited the friendship of the barbarians; +and endeavored to convince mankind that the Roman power, raised above +the temptation of conquest, was actuated only by the love of order +and justice. During a long period of forty-three years, their virtuous +labors were crowned with success; and if we except a few slight +hostilities, that served to exercise the legions of the frontier, +the reigns of Hadrian and Antoninus Pius offer the fair prospect of +universal peace. [27] The Roman name was revered among the most remote +nations of the earth. The fiercest barbarians frequently submitted their +differences to the arbitration of the emperor; and we are informed by a +contemporary historian that he had seen ambassadors who were refused +the honor which they came to solicit of being admitted into the rank of +subjects. [28] + +[Footnote 27: We must, however, remember, that in the time +of Hadrian, a rebellion of the Jews raged with religious fury, though +only in a single province. Pausanias (l. viii. c. 43) mentions two +necessary and successful wars, conducted by the generals of Pius: 1st. +Against the wandering Moors, who were driven into the solitudes of +Atlas. 2d. Against the Brigantes of Britain, who had invaded the Roman +province. Both these wars (with several other hostilities) are mentioned +in the Augustan History, p. 19.] + +[Footnote 28: Appian of Alexandria, in the preface to his History of the +Roman Wars.] + + +PART II. + +The terror of the Roman arms added weight and dignity to the moderation +of the emperors. They preserved peace by a constant preparation for war; +and while justice regulated their conduct, they announced to the nations +on their confines, that they were as little disposed to endure, as to +offer an injury. The military strength, which it had been sufficient +for Hadrian and the elder Antoninus to display, was exerted against the +Parthians and the Germans by the emperor Marcus. The hostilities of the +barbarians provoked the resentment of that philosophic monarch, and, in +the prosecution of a just defence, Marcus and his generals obtained +many signal victories, both on the Euphrates and on the Danube. [29] The +military establishment of the Roman empire, which thus assured either +its tranquillity or success, will now become the proper and important +object of our attention. + +[Footnote 29: Dion, l. lxxi. Hist. August. in Marco. The Parthian +victories gave birth to a crowd of contemptible historians, whose memory +has been rescued from oblivion and exposed to ridicule, in a very lively +piece of criticism of Lucian.] + +In the purer ages of the commonwealth, the use of arms was reserved for +those ranks of citizens who had a country to love, a property to defend, +and some share in enacting those laws, which it was their interest as +well as duty to maintain. But in proportion as the public freedom was +lost in extent of conquest, war was gradually improved into an art, and +degraded into a trade. [30] The legions themselves, even at the time +when they were recruited in the most distant provinces, were supposed +to consist of Roman citizens. That distinction was generally considered, +either as a legal qualification or as a proper recompense for the +soldier; but a more serious regard was paid to the essential merit +of age, strength, and military stature. [31] In all levies, a just +preference was given to the climates of the North over those of the +South: the race of men born to the exercise of arms was sought for in +the country rather than in cities; and it was very reasonably presumed, +that the hardy occupations of smiths, carpenters, and huntsmen, would +supply more vigor and resolution than the sedentary trades which are +employed in the service of luxury. [32] After every qualification of +property had been laid aside, the armies of the Roman emperors were +still commanded, for the most part, by officers of liberal birth and +education; but the common soldiers, like the mercenary troops of modern +Europe, were drawn from the meanest, and very frequently from the most +profligate, of mankind. + +[Footnote 30: The poorest rank of soldiers possessed above forty pounds +sterling, (Dionys. Halicarn. iv. 17,) a very high qualification at a +time when money was so scarce, that an ounce of silver was equivalent +to seventy pounds weight of brass. The populace, excluded by the ancient +constitution, were indiscriminately admitted by Marius. See Sallust. de +Bell. Jugurth. c. 91. * Note: On the uncertainty of all these estimates, +and the difficulty of fixing the relative value of brass and silver, +compare Niebuhr, vol. i. p. 473, &c. Eng. trans. p. 452. According to +Niebuhr, the relative disproportion in value, between the two metals, +arose, in a great degree from the abundance of brass or copper.--M. +Compare also Dureau 'de la Malle Economie Politique des Romains +especially L. l. c. ix.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 31: Caesar formed his legion Alauda of Gauls and strangers; +but it was during the license of civil war; and after the victory, he +gave them the freedom of the city for their reward.] + +[Footnote 32: See Vegetius, de Re Militari, l. i. c. 2--7.] + +That public virtue, which among the ancients was denominated patriotism, +is derived from a strong sense of our own interest in the preservation +and prosperity of the free government of which we are members. Such +a sentiment, which had rendered the legions of the republic almost +invincible, could make but a very feeble impression on the mercenary +servants of a despotic prince; and it became necessary to supply +that defect by other motives, of a different, but not less forcible +nature--honor and religion. The peasant, or mechanic, imbibed the useful +prejudice that he was advanced to the more dignified profession of arms, +in which his rank and reputation would depend on his own valor; and +that, although the prowess of a private soldier must often escape +the notice of fame, his own behavior might sometimes confer glory or +disgrace on the company, the legion, or even the army, to whose honors +he was associated. On his first entrance into the service, an oath was +administered to him with every circumstance of solemnity. He promised +never to desert his standard, to submit his own will to the commands of +his leaders, and to sacrifice his life for the safety of the emperor and +the empire. [33] The attachment of the Roman troops to their standards +was inspired by the united influence of religion and of honor. The +golden eagle, which glittered in the front of the legion, was the object +of their fondest devotion; nor was it esteemed less impious than it was +ignominious, to abandon that sacred ensign in the hour of danger. [34] +These motives, which derived their strength from the imagination, were +enforced by fears and hopes of a more substantial kind. Regular pay, +occasional donatives, and a stated recompense, after the appointed time +of service, alleviated the hardships of the military life, [35] whilst, +on the other hand, it was impossible for cowardice or disobedience +to escape the severest punishment. The centurions were authorized to +chastise with blows, the generals had a right to punish with death; +and it was an inflexible maxim of Roman discipline, that a good soldier +should dread his officers far more than the enemy. From such laudable +arts did the valor of the Imperial troops receive a degree of firmness +and docility unattainable by the impetuous and irregular passions of +barbarians. + +[Footnote 33: The oath of service and fidelity to the emperor was +annually renewed by the troops on the first of January.] + +[Footnote 34: Tacitus calls the Roman eagles, Bellorum Deos. They were +placed in a chapel in the camp, and with the other deities received the +religious worship of the troops. * Note: See also Dio. Cass. xl. c. 18. +--M.] + +[Footnote 35: See Gronovius de Pecunia vetere, l. iii. p. 120, &c. The +emperor Domitian raised the annual stipend of the legionaries to twelve +pieces of gold, which, in his time, was equivalent to about ten of +our guineas. This pay, somewhat higher than our own, had been, and was +afterwards, gradually increased, according to the progress of wealth and +military government. After twenty years' service, the veteran received +three thousand denarii, (about one hundred pounds sterling,) or a +proportionable allowance of land. The pay and advantages of the guards +were, in general, about double those of the legions.] + +And yet so sensible were the Romans of the imperfection of valor without +skill and practice, that, in their language, the name of an army was +borrowed from the word which signified exercise. [36] Military exercises +were the important and unremitted object of their discipline. The +recruits and young soldiers were constantly trained, both in the morning +and in the evening, nor was age or knowledge allowed to excuse the +veterans from the daily repetition of what they had completely learnt. +Large sheds were erected in the winter-quarters of the troops, that +their useful labors might not receive any interruption from the most +tempestuous weather; and it was carefully observed, that the arms +destined to this imitation of war, should be of double the weight which +was required in real action. [37] It is not the purpose of this work to +enter into any minute description of the Roman exercises. We shall only +remark, that they comprehended whatever could add strength to the body, +activity to the limbs, or grace to the motions. The soldiers were +diligently instructed to march, to run, to leap, to swim, to carry heavy +burdens, to handle every species of arms that was used either for +offence or for defence, either in distant engagement or in a closer +onset; to form a variety of evolutions; and to move to the sound of +flutes in the Pyrrhic or martial dance. [38] In the midst of peace, the +Roman troops familiarized themselves with the practice of war; and it is +prettily remarked by an ancient historian who had fought against them, +that the effusion of blood was the only circumstance which distinguished +a field of battle from a field of exercise. [39] It was the policy of +the ablest generals, and even of the emperors themselves, to encourage +these military studies by their presence and example; and we are +informed that Hadrian, as well as Trajan, frequently condescended to +instruct the unexperienced soldiers, to reward the diligent, and +sometimes to dispute with them the prize of superior strength or +dexterity. [40] Under the reigns of those princes, the science of +tactics was cultivated with success; and as long as the empire retained +any vigor, their military instructions were respected as the most +perfect model of Roman discipline. + +[Footnote 36: Exercitus ab exercitando, Varro de Lingua Latina, l. +iv. Cicero in Tusculan. l. ii. 37. 15. There is room for a very +interesting work, which should lay open the connection between the +languages and manners of nations. * Note I am not aware of the +existence, at present, of such a work; but the profound observations of +the late William von Humboldt, in the introduction to his posthumously +published Essay on the Language of the Island of Java, (uber die +Kawi-sprache, Berlin, 1836,) may cause regret that this task was not +completed by that accomplished and universal scholar.--M.] + +[Footnote 37: Vegatius, l. ii. and the rest of his first book.] + +[Footnote 38: The Pyrrhic dance is extremely well illustrated by M. +le Beau, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxxv. p. 262, &c. That +learned academician, in a series of memoirs, has collected all the +passages of the ancients that relate to the Roman legion.] + +[Footnote 39: Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. iii. c. 5. We are indebted to +this Jew for some very curious details of Roman discipline.] + +[Footnote 40: Plin. Panegyr. c. 13. Life of Hadrian, in the Augustan +History.] + +Nine centuries of war had gradually introduced into the service many +alterations and improvements. The legions, as they are described by +Polybius, [41] in the time of the Punic wars, differed very materially +from those which achieved the victories of Caesar, or defended the +monarchy of Hadrian and the Antonines. + +The constitution of the Imperial legion may be described in a few words. +[42] The heavy-armed infantry, which composed its principal strength, [43] +was divided into ten cohorts, and fifty-five companies, under the orders +of a correspondent number of tribunes and centurions. The first cohort, +which always claimed the post of honor and the custody of the eagle, was +formed of eleven hundred and five soldiers, the most approved for valor +and fidelity. The remaining nine cohorts consisted each of five hundred +and fifty-five; and the whole body of legionary infantry amounted to six +thousand one hundred men. Their arms were uniform, and admirably adapted +to the nature of their service: an open helmet, with a lofty crest; +a breastplate, or coat of mail; greaves on their legs, and an ample +buckler on their left arm. The buckler was of an oblong and concave +figure, four feet in length, and two and a half in breadth, framed of a +light wood, covered with a bull's hide, and strongly guarded with plates +of brass. Besides a lighter spear, the legionary soldier grasped in +his right hand the formidable pilum, a ponderous javelin, whose +utmost length was about six feet, and which was terminated by a massy +triangular point of steel of eighteen inches. [44] This instrument was +indeed much inferior to our modern fire-arms; since it was exhausted +by a single discharge, at the distance of only ten or twelve paces. +Yet when it was launched by a firm and skilful hand, there was not any +cavalry that durst venture within its reach, nor any shield or corselet +that could sustain the impetuosity of its weight. As soon as the Roman +had darted his pilum, he drew his sword, and rushed forwards to close +with the enemy. His sword was a short well-tempered Spanish blade, that +carried a double edge, and was alike suited to the purpose of striking +or of pushing; but the soldier was always instructed to prefer the +latter use of his weapon, as his own body remained less exposed, whilst +he inflicted a more dangerous wound on his adversary. [45] The legion was +usually drawn up eight deep; and the regular distance of three feet +was left between the files as well as ranks. [46] A body of troops, +habituated to preserve this open order, in a long front and a rapid +charge, found themselves prepared to execute every disposition which the +circumstances of war, or the skill of their leader, might suggest. The +soldier possessed a free space for his arms and motions, and sufficient +intervals were allowed, through which seasonable reenforcements might be +introduced to the relief of the exhausted combatants. [47] The tactics of +the Greeks and Macedonians were formed on very different principles. The +strength of the phalanx depended on sixteen ranks of long pikes, +wedged together in the closest array. [48] But it was soon discovered by +reflection, as well as by the event, that the strength of the phalanx +was unable to contend with the activity of the legion. [49 + +[Footnote 41: See an admirable digression on the Roman discipline, in +the sixth book of his History.] + +[Footnote 42: Vegetius de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 4, &c. Considerable +part of his very perplexed abridgment was taken from the regulations of +Trajan and Hadrian; and the legion, as he describes it, cannot suit any +other age of the Roman empire.] + +[Footnote 43: Vegetius de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 1. In the purer age of +Caesar and Cicero, the word miles was almost confined to the infantry. +Under the lower empire, and the times of chivalry, it was appropriated +almost as exclusively to the men at arms, who fought on horseback.] + +[Footnote 44: In the time of Polybius and Dionysius of Halicarnassus, +(l. v. c. 45,) the steel point of the pilum seems to have been much +longer. In the time of Vegetius, it was reduced to a foot, or even nine +inches. I have chosen a medium.] + +[Footnote 45: For the legionary arms, see Lipsius de Militia Romana, l. +iii. c. 2--7.] + +[Footnote 46: See the beautiful comparison of Virgil, Georgic ii. v. +279.] + +[Footnote 47: M. Guichard, Memoires Militaires, tom. i. c. 4, and +Nouveaux Memoires, tom. i. p. 293--311, has treated the subject like a +scholar and an officer.] + +[Footnote 48: See Arrian's Tactics. With the true partiality of a Greek, +Arrian rather chose to describe the phalanx, of which he had read, than +the legions which he had commanded.] + +[Footnote 49: Polyb. l. xvii. (xviii. 9.)] + +The cavalry, without which the force of the legion would have remained +imperfect, was divided into ten troops or squadrons; the first, as the +companion of the first cohort, consisted of a hundred and thirty-two +men; whilst each of the other nine amounted only to sixty-six. The +entire establishment formed a regiment, if we may use the modern +expression, of seven hundred and twenty-six horse, naturally connected +with its respective legion, but occasionally separated to act in the +line, and to compose a part of the wings of the army. [50] The cavalry of +the emperors was no longer composed, like that of the ancient republic, +of the noblest youths of Rome and Italy, who, by performing their +military service on horseback, prepared themselves for the offices +of senator and consul; and solicited, by deeds of valor, the future +suffrages of their countrymen. [51] Since the alteration of manners and +government, the most wealthy of the equestrian order were engaged in +the administration of justice, and of the revenue; [52] and whenever they +embraced the profession of arms, they were immediately intrusted with a +troop of horse, or a cohort of foot. [53] Trajan and Hadrian formed their +cavalry from the same provinces, and the same class of their subjects, +which recruited the ranks of the legion. The horses were bred, for +the most part, in Spain or Cappadocia. The Roman troopers despised the +complete armor with which the cavalry of the East was encumbered. Their +more useful arms consisted in a helmet, an oblong shield, light boots, +and a coat of mail. A javelin, and a long broad sword, were their +principal weapons of offence. The use of lances and of iron maces they +seem to have borrowed from the barbarians. [54] + +[Footnote 50: Veget. de Re Militari, l. ii. c. 6. His positive +testimony, which might be supported by circumstantial evidence, ought +surely to silence those critics who refuse the Imperial legion its +proper body of cavalry. Note: See also Joseph. B. J. iii. vi. 2.--M.] + +[Footnote 51: See Livy almost throughout, particularly xlii. 61.] + + +[Footnote 52: Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 2. The true sense of that very +curious passage was first discovered and illustrated by M. de Beaufort, +Republique Romaine, l. ii. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 53: As in the instance of Horace and Agricola. This appears to +have been a defect in the Roman discipline; which Hadrian endeavored to +remedy by ascertaining the legal age of a tribune. * Note: These details +are not altogether accurate. Although, in the latter days of the +republic, and under the first emperors, the young Roman nobles obtained +the command of a squadron or a cohort with greater facility than in the +former times, they never obtained it without passing through a tolerably +long military service. Usually they served first in the praetorian +cohort, which was intrusted with the guard of the general: they were +received into the companionship (contubernium) of some superior officer, +and were there formed for duty. Thus Julius Caesar, though sprung from a +great family, served first as contubernalis under the praetor, M. +Thermus, and later under Servilius the Isaurian. (Suet. Jul. 2, 5. Plut. +in Par. p. 516. Ed. Froben.) The example of Horace, which Gibbon adduces +to prove that young knights were made tribunes immediately on entering +the service, proves nothing. In the first place, Horace was not a +knight; he was the son of a freedman of Venusia, in Apulia, who +exercised the humble office of coactor exauctionum, (collector of +payments at auctions.) (Sat. i. vi. 45, or 86.) Moreover, when the poet +was made tribune, Brutus, whose army was nearly entirely composed of +Orientals, gave this title to all the Romans of consideration who joined +him. The emperors were still less difficult in their choice; the number +of tribunes was augmented; the title and honors were conferred on +persons whom they wished to attack to the court. Augustus conferred on +the sons of senators, sometimes the tribunate, sometimes the command of +a squadron. Claudius gave to the knights who entered into the service, +first the command of a cohort of auxiliaries, later that of a squadron, +and at length, for the first time, the tribunate. (Suet in Claud. with +the notes of Ernesti.) The abuses that arose caused by the edict of +Hadrian, which fixed the age at which that honor could be attained. +(Spart. in Had. &c.) This edict was subsequently obeyed; for the emperor +Valerian, in a letter addressed to Mulvius Gallinnus, praetorian +praefect, excuses himself for having violated it in favor of the young +Probus afterwards emperor, on whom he had conferred the tribunate at an +earlier age on account of his rare talents. (Vopisc. in Prob. iv.)--W. +and G. Agricola, though already invested with the title of tribune, was +contubernalis in Britain with Suetonius Paulinus. Tac. Agr. v.--M.] + +[Footnote 54: See Arrian's Tactics.] + +The safety and honor of the empire was principally intrusted to the +legions, but the policy of Rome condescended to adopt every useful +instrument of war. Considerable levies were regularly made among the +provincials, who had not yet deserved the honorable distinction of +Romans. Many dependent princes and communities, dispersed round the +frontiers, were permitted, for a while, to hold their freedom and +security by the tenure of military service. [55] Even select troops of +hostile barbarians were frequently compelled or persuaded to consume +their dangerous valor in remote climates, and for the benefit of +the state. [56] All these were included under the general name of +auxiliaries; and howsoever they might vary according to the difference +of times and circumstances, their numbers were seldom much inferior to +those of the legions themselves. [57] Among the auxiliaries, the bravest +and most faithful bands were placed under the command of praefects and +centurions, and severely trained in the arts of Roman discipline; but +the far greater part retained those arms, to which the nature of their +country, or their early habits of life, more peculiarly adapted them. +By this institution, each legion, to whom a certain proportion of +auxiliaries was allotted, contained within itself every species of +lighter troops, and of missile weapons; and was capable of encountering +every nation, with the advantages of its respective arms and discipline. +[58] Nor was the legion destitute of what, in modern language, would be +styled a train of artillery. It consisted in ten military engines of the +largest, and fifty-five of a smaller size; but all of which, either +in an oblique or horizontal manner, discharged stones and darts with +irresistible violence. [59] + +[Footnote 55: Such, in particular, was the +state of the Batavians. Tacit. Germania, c. 29.] + +[Footnote 56: Marcus Antoninus obliged the vanquished Quadi and +Marcomanni to supply him with a large body of troops, which he +immediately sent into Britain. Dion Cassius, l. lxxi. (c. 16.)] + +[Footnote 57: Tacit. Annal. iv. 5. Those who fix a regular proportion of +as many foot, and twice as many horse, confound the auxiliaries of the +emperors with the Italian allies of the republic.] + +[Footnote 58: Vegetius, ii. 2. Arrian, in his order of march and battle +against the Alani.] + +[Footnote 59: The subject of the ancient machines is treated with great +knowledge and ingenuity by the Chevalier Folard, (Polybe, tom. ii. p. +233-290.) He prefers them in many respects to our modern cannon and +mortars. We may observe, that the use of them in the field gradually +became more prevalent, in proportion as personal valor and military +skill declined with the Roman empire. When men were no longer found, +their place was supplied by machines. See Vegetius, ii. 25. Arrian.] + + + + +Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part III. + +The camp of a Roman legion presented the appearance of a fortified city. +[60] As soon as the space was marked out, the pioneers carefully levelled +the ground, and removed every impediment that might interrupt its +perfect regularity. Its form was an exact quadrangle; and we may +calculate, that a square of about seven hundred yards was sufficient for +the encampment of twenty thousand Romans; though a similar number of our +own troops would expose to the enemy a front of more than treble that +extent. In the midst of the camp, the praetorium, or general's quarters, +rose above the others; the cavalry, the infantry, and the auxiliaries +occupied their respective stations; the streets were broad and perfectly +straight, and a vacant space of two hundred feet was left on all sides +between the tents and the rampart. The rampart itself was usually twelve +feet high, armed with a line of strong and intricate palisades, and +defended by a ditch of twelve feet in depth as well as in breadth. +This important labor was performed by the hands of the legionaries +themselves; to whom the use of the spade and the pickaxe was no less +familiar than that of the sword or pilum. Active valor may often be the +present of nature; but such patient diligence can be the fruit only of +habit and discipline. [61] + +[Footnote 60: Vegetius finishes his second book, and the description of +the legion, with the following emphatic words:--"Universa quae ix +quoque belli genere necessaria esse creduntur, secum Jegio debet ubique +portare, ut in quovis loco fixerit castra, arma'am faciat civitatem."] + +[Footnote 61: For the Roman Castrametation, see Polybius, l. vi. with +Lipsius de Militia Romana, Joseph. de Bell. Jud. l. iii. c. 5. Vegetius, +i. 21--25, iii. 9, and Memoires de Guichard, tom. i. c. 1.] + +Whenever the trumpet gave the signal of departure, the camp was almost +instantly broke up, and the troops fell into their ranks without +delay or confusion. Besides their arms, which the legendaries scarcely +considered as an encumbrance, they were laden with their kitchen +furniture, the instruments of fortification, and the provision of many +days. [62] Under this weight, which would oppress the delicacy of a +modern soldier, they were trained by a regular step to advance, in about +six hours, near twenty miles. [63] On the appearance of an enemy, they +threw aside their baggage, and by easy and rapid evolutions converted +the column of march into an order of battle. [64] The slingers and +archers skirmished in the front; the auxiliaries formed the first line, +and were seconded or sustained by the strength of the legions; the +cavalry covered the flanks, and the military engines were placed in the +rear. + +[Footnote 62: Cicero in Tusculan. ii. 37, [15.]--Joseph. de Bell. Jud. +l. iii. 5, Frontinus, iv. 1.] + +[Footnote 63: Vegetius, i. 9. See Memoires de l'Academie des +Inscriptions, tom. xxv. p. 187.] + +[Footnote 64: See those evolutions admirably well explained by M. +Guichard Nouveaux Memoires, tom. i. p. 141--234.] + +Such were the arts of war, by which the Roman emperors defended their +extensive conquests, and preserved a military spirit, at a time when +every other virtue was oppressed by luxury and despotism. If, in the +consideration of their armies, we pass from their discipline to their +numbers, we shall not find it easy to define them with any tolerable +accuracy. We may compute, however, that the legion, which was itself a +body of six thousand eight hundred and thirty-one Romans, might, with +its attendant auxiliaries, amount to about twelve thousand five hundred +men. The peace establishment of Hadrian and his successors was composed +of no less than thirty of these formidable brigades; and most probably +formed a standing force of three hundred and seventy-five thousand men. +Instead of being confined within the walls of fortified cities, which +the Romans considered as the refuge of weakness or pusillanimity, the +legions were encamped on the banks of the great rivers, and along the +frontiers of the barbarians. As their stations, for the most +part, remained fixed and permanent, we may venture to describe the +distribution of the troops. Three legions were sufficient for Britain. +The principal strength lay upon the Rhine and Danube, and consisted of +sixteen legions, in the following proportions: two in the Lower, and +three in the Upper Germany; one in Rhaetia, one in Noricum, four +in Pannonia, three in Maesia, and two in Dacia. The defence of the +Euphrates was intrusted to eight legions, six of whom were planted in +Syria, and the other two in Cappadocia. With regard to Egypt, Africa, +and Spain, as they were far removed from any important scene of war, +a single legion maintained the domestic tranquillity of each of those +great provinces. Even Italy was not left destitute of a military force. +Above twenty thousand chosen soldiers, distinguished by the titles +of City Cohorts and Praetorian Guards, watched over the safety of the +monarch and the capital. As the authors of almost every revolution that +distracted the empire, the Praetorians will, very soon, and very loudly, +demand our attention; but, in their arms and institutions, we cannot +find any circumstance which discriminated them from the legions, unless +it were a more splendid appearance, and a less rigid discipline. [65] + +[Footnote 65: Tacitus (Annal. iv. 5) has given us a state of the +legions under Tiberius; and Dion Cassius (l. lv. p. 794) under Alexander +Severus. I have endeavored to fix on the proper medium between these two +periods. See likewise Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, l. i. c. 4, 5.] + +The navy maintained by the emperors might seem inadequate to their +greatness; but it was fully sufficient for every useful purpose of +government. The ambition of the Romans was confined to the land; nor was +that warlike people ever actuated by the enterprising spirit which had +prompted the navigators of Tyre, of Carthage, and even of Marseilles, to +enlarge the bounds of the world, and to explore the most remote coasts +of the ocean. To the Romans the ocean remained an object of terror +rather than of curiosity; [66] the whole extent of the Mediterranean, +after the destruction of Carthage, and the extirpation of the pirates, +was included within their provinces. The policy of the emperors was +directed only to preserve the peaceful dominion of that sea, and to +protect the commerce of their subjects. With these moderate views, +Augustus stationed two permanent fleets in the most convenient ports of +Italy, the one at Ravenna, on the Adriatic, the other at Misenum, in +the Bay of Naples. Experience seems at length to have convinced the +ancients, that as soon as their galleys exceeded two, or at the most +three ranks of oars, they were suited rather for vain pomp than for +real service. Augustus himself, in the victory of Actium, had seen the +superiority of his own light frigates (they were called Liburnians) over +the lofty but unwieldy castles of his rival. [67] Of these Liburnians he +composed the two fleets of Ravenna and Misenum, destined to command, the +one the eastern, the other the western division of the Mediterranean; +and to each of the squadrons he attached a body of several thousand +marines. Besides these two ports, which may be considered as the +principal seats of the Roman navy, a very considerable force was +stationed at Frejus, on the coast of Provence, and the Euxine was +guarded by forty ships, and three thousand soldiers. To all these we add +the fleet which preserved the communication between Gaul and Britain, +and a great number of vessels constantly maintained on the Rhine and +Danube, to harass the country, or to intercept the passage of the +barbarians. [68] If we review this general state of the Imperial forces; +of the cavalry as well as infantry; of the legions, the auxiliaries, the +guards, and the navy; the most liberal computation will not allow us +to fix the entire establishment by sea and by land at more than four +hundred and fifty thousand men: a military power, which, however +formidable it may seem, was equalled by a monarch of the last century, +whose kingdom was confined within a single province of the Roman empire. +[69] + +[Footnote 66: The Romans tried to disguise, by the pretence of religious +awe their ignorance and terror. See Tacit. Germania, c. 34.] + +[Footnote 67: Plutarch, in Marc. Anton. [c. 67.] And yet, if we may +credit Orosius, these monstrous castles were no more than ten feet above +the water, vi. 19.] + +[Footnote 68: See Lipsius, de Magnitud. Rom. l. i. c. 5. The sixteen +last chapters of Vegetius relate to naval affairs.] + +[Footnote 69: Voltaire, Siecle de Louis XIV. c. 29. It must, however, be +remembered, that France still feels that extraordinary effort.] + +We have attempted to explain the spirit which moderated, and the +strength which supported, the power of Hadrian and the Antonines. +We shall now endeavor, with clearness and precision, to describe the +provinces once united under their sway, but, at present, divided into so +many independent and hostile states. Spain, the western extremity of +the empire, of Europe, and of the ancient world, has, in every age, +invariably preserved the same natural limits; the Pyrenaean Mountains, +the Mediterranean, and the Atlantic Ocean. That great peninsula, at +present so unequally divided between two sovereigns, was distributed by +Augustus into three provinces, Lusitania, Baetica, and Tarraconensis. +The kingdom of Portugal now fills the place of the warlike country of +the Lusitanians; and the loss sustained by the former on the side of the +East, is compensated by an accession of territory towards the North. +The confines of Grenada and Andalusia correspond with those of ancient +Baetica. The remainder of Spain, Gallicia, and the Asturias, Biscay, and +Navarre, Leon, and the two Castiles, Murcia, Valencia, Catalonia, and +Arragon, all contributed to form the third and most considerable of the +Roman governments, which, from the name of its capital, was styled the +province of Tarragona. [70] Of the native barbarians, the Celtiberians +were the most powerful, as the Cantabrians and Asturians proved the most +obstinate. Confident in the strength of their mountains, they were the +last who submitted to the arms of Rome, and the first who threw off the +yoke of the Arabs. + +[Footnote 70: See Strabo, l. ii. It is natural enough to suppose, that +Arragon is derived from Tarraconensis, and several moderns who have +written in Latin use those words as synonymous. It is, however, certain, +that the Arragon, a little stream which falls from the Pyrenees into the +Ebro, first gave its name to a country, and gradually to a kingdom. See +d'Anville, Geographie du Moyen Age, p. 181.] + +Ancient Gaul, as it contained the whole country between the Pyrenees, +the Alps, the Rhine, and the Ocean, was of greater extent than modern +France. To the dominions of that powerful monarchy, with its recent +acquisitions of Alsace and Lorraine, we must add the duchy of Savoy, +the cantons of Switzerland, the four electorates of the Rhine, and the +territories of Liege, Luxemburgh, Hainault, Flanders, and Brabant. +When Augustus gave laws to the conquests of his father, he introduced a +division of Gaul, equally adapted to the progress of the legions, to the +course of the rivers, and to the principal national distinctions, which +had comprehended above a hundred independent states. [71] The sea-coast +of the Mediterranean, Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphine, received their +provincial appellation from the colony of Narbonne. The government +of Aquitaine was extended from the Pyrenees to the Loire. The country +between the Loire and the Seine was styled the Celtic Gaul, and soon +borrowed a new denomination from the celebrated colony of Lugdunum, or +Lyons. The Belgic lay beyond the Seine, and in more ancient times had +been bounded only by the Rhine; but a little before the age of Caesar, +the Germans, abusing their superiority of valor, had occupied a +considerable portion of the Belgic territory. The Roman conquerors very +eagerly embraced so flattering a circumstance, and the Gallic frontier +of the Rhine, from Basil to Leyden, received the pompous names of the +Upper and the Lower Germany. [72] Such, under the reign of the Antonines, +were the six provinces of Gaul; the Narbonnese, Aquitaine, the Celtic, +or Lyonnese, the Belgic, and the two Germanies. + +[Footnote 71: One hundred and fifteen cities appear in the Notitia of +Gaul; and it is well known that this appellation was applied not only to +the capital town, but to the whole territory of each state. But Plutarch +and Appian increase the number of tribes to three or four hundred.] + +[Footnote 72: D'Anville. Notice de l'Ancienne Gaule.] + +We have already had occasion to mention the conquest of Britain, and to +fix the boundary of the Roman Province in this island. It comprehended +all England, Wales, and the Lowlands of Scotland, as far as the Friths +of Dumbarton and Edinburgh. Before Britain lost her freedom, the country +was irregularly divided between thirty tribes of barbarians, of whom +the most considerable were the Belgae in the West, the Brigantes in the +North, the Silures in South Wales, and the Iceni in Norfolk and Suffolk. +[73] As far as we can either trace or credit the resemblance of manners +and language, Spain, Gaul, and Britain were peopled by the same hardy +race of savages. Before they yielded to the Roman arms, they often +disputed the field, and often renewed the contest. After their +submission, they constituted the western division of the European +provinces, which extended from the columns of Hercules to the wall of +Antoninus, and from the mouth of the Tagus to the sources of the Rhine +and Danube. + +[Footnote 73: Whittaker's History of Manchester, vol. i. c. 3.] Before +the Roman conquest, the country which is now called Lombardy, was not +considered as a part of Italy. It had been occupied by a powerful colony +of Gauls, who, settling themselves along the banks of the Po, from +Piedmont to Romagna, carried their arms and diffused their name from the +Alps to the Apennine. + +The Ligurians dwelt on the rocky coast which now forms the republic of +Genoa. Venice was yet unborn; but the territories of that state, which +lie to the east of the Adige, were inhabited by the Venetians. [74] The +middle part of the peninsula, that now composes the duchy of Tuscany +and the ecclesiastical state, was the ancient seat of the Etruscans +and Umbrians; to the former of whom Italy was indebted for the first +rudiments of civilized life. [75] The Tyber rolled at the foot of the +seven hills of Rome, and the country of the Sabines, the Latins, and the +Volsci, from that river to the frontiers of Naples, was the theatre +of her infant victories. On that celebrated ground the first consuls +deserved triumphs, their successors adorned villas, and their posterity +have erected convents. [76] Capua and Campania possessed the immediate +territory of Naples; the rest of the kingdom was inhabited by many +warlike nations, the Marsi, the Samnites, the Apulians, and the +Lucanians; and the sea-coasts had been covered by the flourishing +colonies of the Greeks. We may remark, that when Augustus divided Italy +into eleven regions, the little province of Istria was annexed to that +seat of Roman sovereignty. [77] + +[Footnote 74: The Italian Veneti, though often confounded with the +Gauls, were more probably of Illyrian origin. See M. Freret, Memoires de +l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. * Note: Or Liburnian, according +to Niebuhr. Vol. i. p. 172.--M.] + +[Footnote 75: See Maffei Verona illustrata, l. i. * Note: Add Niebuhr, +vol. i., and Otfried Muller, die Etrusker, which contains much that is +known, and much that is conjectured, about this remarkable people. Also +Micali, Storia degli antichi popoli Italiani. Florence, 1832--M.] + +[Footnote 76: The first contrast was observed by the ancients. See +Florus, i. 11. The second must strike every modern traveller.] + +[Footnote 77: Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. iii.) follows the division of Italy +by Augustus.] + +The European provinces of Rome were protected by the course of the Rhine +and the Danube. The latter of those mighty streams, which rises at the +distance of only thirty miles from the former, flows above thirteen +hundred miles, for the most part to the south-east, collects the tribute +of sixty navigable rivers, and is, at length, through six mouths, +received into the Euxine, which appears scarcely equal to such an +accession of waters. [78] The provinces of the Danube soon acquired the +general appellation of Illyricum, or the Illyrian frontier, [79] and were +esteemed the most warlike of the empire; but they deserve to be more +particularly considered under the names of Rhaetia, Noricum, Pannonia, +Dalmatia, Dacia, Maesia, Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece. + +[Footnote 78: Tournefort, Voyages en Grece et Asie Mineure, lettre +xviii.] + +[Footnote 79: The name of Illyricum originally belonged to the sea-coast +of the Adriatic, and was gradually extended by the Romans from the Alps +to the Euxine Sea. See Severini Pannonia, l. i. c. 3.] + +The province of Rhaetia, which soon extinguished the name of the +Vindelicians, extended from the summit of the Alps to the banks of +the Danube; from its source, as far as its conflux with the Inn. The +greatest part of the flat country is subject to the elector of Bavaria; +the city of Augsburg is protected by the constitution of the German +empire; the Grisons are safe in their mountains, and the country of +Tirol is ranked among the numerous provinces of the house of Austria. + +The wide extent of territory which is included between the Inn, the +Danube, and the Save,--Austria, Styria, Carinthia, Carniola, the Lower +Hungary, and Sclavonia,--was known to the ancients under the names of +Noricum and Pannonia. In their original state of independence, their +fierce inhabitants were intimately connected. Under the Roman government +they were frequently united, and they still remain the patrimony of a +single family. They now contain the residence of a German prince, who +styles himself Emperor of the Romans, and form the centre, as well as +strength, of the Austrian power. It may not be improper to observe, that +if we except Bohemia, Moravia, the northern skirts of Austria, and +a part of Hungary between the Teyss and the Danube, all the other +dominions of the House of Austria were comprised within the limits of +the Roman Empire. + +Dalmatia, to which the name of Illyricum more properly belonged, was a +long, but narrow tract, between the Save and the Adriatic. The best +part of the sea-coast, which still retains its ancient appellation, is +a province of the Venetian state, and the seat of the little republic +of Ragusa. The inland parts have assumed the Sclavonian names of Croatia +and Bosnia; the former obeys an Austrian governor, the latter a Turkish +pacha; but the whole country is still infested by tribes of barbarians, +whose savage independence irregularly marks the doubtful limit of the +Christian and Mahometan power. [80] + +[Footnote 80: A Venetian traveller, the Abbate Fortis, has lately given +us some account of those very obscure countries. But the geography +and antiquities of the western Illyricum can be expected only from the +munificence of the emperor, its sovereign.] + +After the Danube had received the waters of the Teyss and the Save, it +acquired, at least among the Greeks, the name of Ister. [81] It formerly +divided Maesia and Dacia, the latter of which, as we have already seen, +was a conquest of Trajan, and the only province beyond the river. If we +inquire into the present state of those countries, we shall find that, +on the left hand of the Danube, Temeswar and Transylvania have been +annexed, after many revolutions, to the crown of Hungary; whilst the +principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia acknowledge the supremacy +of the Ottoman Porte. On the right hand of the Danube, Maesia, which, +during the middle ages, was broken into the barbarian kingdoms of Servia +and Bulgaria, is again united in Turkish slavery. + +[Footnote 81: The Save rises near the confines of Istria, and was +considered by the more early Greeks as the principal stream of the +Danube.] + +The appellation of Roumelia, which is still bestowed by the Turks on +the extensive countries of Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece, preserves the +memory of their ancient state under the Roman empire. In the time of the +Antonines, the martial regions of Thrace, from the mountains of Haemus +and Rhodope, to the Bosphorus and the Hellespont, had assumed the form +of a province. Notwithstanding the change of masters and of religion, +the new city of Rome, founded by Constantine on the banks of the +Bosphorus, has ever since remained the capital of a great monarchy. The +kingdom of Macedonia, which, under the reign of Alexander, gave laws to +Asia, derived more solid advantages from the policy of the two Philips; +and with its dependencies of Epirus and Thessaly, extended from the +Aegean to the Ionian Sea. When we reflect on the fame of Thebes and +Argos, of Sparta and Athens, we can scarcely persuade ourselves, that so +many immortal republics of ancient Greece were lost in a single province +of the Roman empire, which, from the superior influence of the Achaean +league, was usually denominated the province of Achaia. + +Such was the state of Europe under the Roman emperors. The provinces +of Asia, without excepting the transient conquests of Trajan, are all +comprehended within the limits of the Turkish power. But, instead of +following the arbitrary divisions of despotism and ignorance, it will +be safer for us, as well as more agreeable, to observe the indelible +characters of nature. The name of Asia Minor is attributed with some +propriety to the peninsula, which, confined betwixt the Euxine and the +Mediterranean, advances from the Euphrates towards Europe. The most +extensive and flourishing district, westward of Mount Taurus and the +River Halys, was dignified by the Romans with the exclusive title +of Asia. The jurisdiction of that province extended over the ancient +monarchies of Troy, Lydia, and Phrygia, the maritime countries of the +Pamphylians, Lycians, and Carians, and the Grecian colonies of Ionia, +which equalled in arts, though not in arms, the glory of their parent. +The kingdoms of Bithynia and Pontus possessed the northern side of the +peninsula from Constantinople to Trebizond. On the opposite side, the +province of Cilicia was terminated by the mountains of Syria: the inland +country, separated from the Roman Asia by the River Halys, and from +Armenia by the Euphrates, had once formed the independent kingdom of +Cappadocia. In this place we may observe, that the northern shores of +the Euxine, beyond Trebizond in Asia, and beyond the Danube in Europe, +acknowledged the sovereignty of the emperors, and received at their +hands either tributary princes or Roman garrisons. Budzak, Crim Tartary, +Circassia, and Mingrelia, are the modern appellations of those savage +countries. [82] + +[Footnote 82: See the Periplus of Arrian. He examined the coasts of the +Euxine, when he was governor of Cappadocia.] + +Under the successors of Alexander, Syria was the seat of the Seleucidae, +who reigned over Upper Asia, till the successful revolt of the Parthians +confined their dominions between the Euphrates and the Mediterranean. +When Syria became subject to the Romans, it formed the eastern frontier +of their empire: nor did that province, in its utmost latitude, know any +other bounds than the mountains of Cappadocia to the north, and towards +the south, the confines of Egypt, and the Red Sea. Phoenicia and +Palestine were sometimes annexed to, and sometimes separated from, the +jurisdiction of Syria. The former of these was a narrow and rocky +coast; the latter was a territory scarcely superior to Wales, either in +fertility or extent. [821] Yet Phoenicia and Palestine will forever live +in the memory of mankind; since America, as well as Europe, has received +letters from the one, and religion from the other. [83] A sandy desert, +alike destitute of wood and water, skirts along the doubtful confine +of Syria, from the Euphrates to the Red Sea. The wandering life of the +Arabs was inseparably connected with their independence; and wherever, +on some spots less barren than the rest, they ventured to for many +settled habitations, they soon became subjects to the Roman empire. [84] + +[Footnote 821: This comparison is exaggerated, with the intention, no +doubt, of attacking the authority of the Bible, which boasts of the +fertility of Palestine. Gibbon's only authorities were that of Strabo +(l. xvi. 1104) and the present state of the country. But Strabo only +speaks of the neighborhood of Jerusalem, which he calls barren and arid +to the extent of sixty stadia round the city: in other parts he gives a +favorable testimony to the fertility of many parts of Palestine: thus +he says, "Near Jericho there is a grove of palms, and a country of a +hundred stadia, full of springs, and well peopled." Moreover, Strabo +had never seen Palestine; he spoke only after reports, which may be as +inaccurate as those according to which he has composed that description +of Germany, in which Gluverius has detected so many errors. (Gluv. Germ. +iii. 1.) Finally, his testimony is contradicted and refuted by that +of other ancient authors, and by medals. Tacitus says, in speaking of +Palestine, "The inhabitants are healthy and robust; the rains moderate; +the soil fertile." (Hist. v. 6.) Ammianus Macellinus says also, "The +last of the Syrias is Palestine, a country of considerable extent, +abounding in clean and well-cultivated land, and containing some fine +cities, none of which yields to the other; but, as it were, being on a +parallel, are rivals."--xiv. 8. See also the historian Josephus, Hist. +vi. 1. Procopius of Caeserea, who lived in the sixth century, says that +Chosroes, king of Persia, had a great desire to make himself master of +Palestine, on account of its extraordinary fertility, its opulence, and +the great number of its inhabitants. The Saracens thought the same, +and were afraid that Omar. when he went to Jerusalem, charmed with the +fertility of the soil and the purity of the air, would never return to +Medina. (Ockley, Hist. of Sarac. i. 232.) The importance attached by the +Romans to the conquest of Palestine, and the obstacles they encountered, +prove also the richness and population of the country. Vespasian and +Titus caused medals to be struck with trophies, in which Palestine is +represented by a female under a palm-tree, to signify the richness of he +country, with this legend: Judea capta. Other medals also indicate this +fertility; for instance, that of Herod holding a bunch of grapes, and +that of the young Agrippa displaying fruit. As to the present state +of he country, one perceives that it is not fair to draw any inference +against its ancient fertility: the disasters through which it has +passed, the government to which it is subject, the disposition of the +inhabitants, explain sufficiently the wild and uncultivated appearance +of the land, where, nevertheless, fertile and cultivated districts are +still found, according to the testimony of travellers; among others, of +Shaw, Maundrel, La Rocque, &c.--G. The Abbe Guenee, in his Lettres de +quelques Juifs a Mons. de Voltaire, has exhausted the subject of the +fertility of Palestine; for Voltaire had likewise indulged in sarcasm +on this subject. Gibbon was assailed on this point, not, indeed, by Mr. +Davis, who, he slyly insinuates, was prevented by his patriotism as a +Welshman from resenting the comparison with Wales, but by other +writers. In his Vindication, he first established the correctness of +his measurement of Palestine, which he estimates as 7600 square English +miles, while Wales is about 7011. As to fertility, he proceeds in +the following dexterously composed and splendid passage: "The emperor +Frederick II., the enemy and the victim of the clergy, is accused of +saying, after his return from his crusade, that the God of the Jews +would have despised his promised land, if he had once seen the fruitful +realms of Sicily and Naples." (See Giannone, Istor. Civ. del R. di +Napoli, ii. 245.) This raillery, which malice has, perhaps, falsely +imputed to Frederick, is inconsistent with truth and piety; yet it +must be confessed that the soil of Palestine does not contain that +inexhaustible, and, as it were, spontaneous principle of fertility, +which, under the most unfavorable circumstances, has covered with rich +harvests the banks of the Nile, the fields of Sicily, or the plains +of Poland. The Jordan is the only navigable river of Palestine: a +considerable part of the narrow space is occupied, or rather lost, in +the Dead Sea whose horrid aspect inspires every sensation of disgust, +and countenances every tale of horror. The districts which border on +Arabia partake of the sandy quality of the adjacent desert. The face +of the country, except the sea-coast, and the valley of the Jordan, is +covered with mountains, which appear, for the most part, as naked and +barren rocks; and in the neighborhood of Jerusalem, there is a real +scarcity of the two elements of earth and water. (See Maundrel's +Travels, p. 65, and Reland's Palestin. i. 238, 395.) These +disadvantages, which now operate in their fullest extent, were formerly +corrected by the labors of a numerous people, and the active protection +of a wise government. The hills were clothed with rich beds of +artificial mould, the rain was collected in vast cisterns, a supply of +fresh water was conveyed by pipes and aqueducts to the dry lands. The +breed of cattle was encouraged in those parts which were not adapted for +tillage, and almost every spot was compelled to yield some production +for the use of the inhabitants. + +Pater ispe colendi Haud facilem esse viam voluit, primusque par artem +Movit agros; curis acuens mortalia corda, Nec torpere gravi passus sua +Regna veterno. Gibbon, Misc. Works, iv. 540. + +But Gibbon has here eluded the question about the land "flowing with +milk and honey." He is describing Judaea only, without comprehending +Galilee, or the rich pastures beyond the Jordan, even now proverbial for +their flocks and herds. (See Burckhardt's Travels, and Hist of Jews, +i. 178.) The following is believed to be a fair statement: "The +extraordinary fertility of the whole country must be taken into the +account. No part was waste; very little was occupied by unprofitable +wood; the more fertile hills were cultivated in artificial terraces, +others were hung with orchards of fruit trees the more rocky and barren +districts were covered with vineyards." Even in the present day, the +wars and misgovernment of ages have not exhausted the natural richness +of the soil. "Galilee," says Malte Brun, "would be a paradise were it +inhabited by an industrious people under an enlightened government. +No land could be less dependent on foreign importation; it bore within +itself every thing that could be necessary for the subsistence and +comfort of a simple agricultural people. The climate was healthy, the +seasons regular; the former rains, which fell about October, after the +vintage, prepared the ground for the seed; that latter, which prevailed +during March and the beginning of April, made it grow rapidly. Directly +the rains ceased, the grain ripened with still greater rapidity, and was +gathered in before the end of May. The summer months were dry and very +hot, but the nights cool and refreshed by copious dews. In September, +the vintage was gathered. Grain of all kinds, wheat, barley, millet, +zea, and other sorts, grew in abundance; the wheat commonly yielded +thirty for one. Besides the vine and the olive, the almond, the date, +figs of many kinds, the orange, the pomegranate, and many other fruit +trees, flourished in the greatest luxuriance. Great quantity of honey +was collected. The balm-tree, which produced the opobalsamum, a great +object of trade, was probably introduced from Arabia, in the time of +Solomon. It flourished about Jericho and in Gilead."--Milman's Hist. of +Jews. i. 177.--M.] + +[Footnote 83: The progress of religion is well known. The use of letter +was introduced among the savages of Europe about fifteen hundred years +before Christ; and the Europeans carried them to America about fifteen +centuries after the Christian Aera. But in a period of three thousand +years, the Phoenician alphabet received considerable alterations, as it +passed through the hands of the Greeks and Romans.] + +[Footnote 84: Dion Cassius, lib. lxviii. p. 1131.] + +The geographers of antiquity have frequently hesitated to what portion +of the globe they should ascribe Egypt. [85] By its situation that +celebrated kingdom is included within the immense peninsula of Africa; +but it is accessible only on the side of Asia, whose revolutions, +in almost every period of history, Egypt has humbly obeyed. A Roman +praefect was seated on the splendid throne of the Ptolemies; and the +iron sceptre of the Mamelukes is now in the hands of a Turkish pacha. +The Nile flows down the country, above five hundred miles from the +tropic of Cancer to the Mediterranean, and marks on either side of the +extent of fertility by the measure of its inundations. Cyrene, situate +towards the west, and along the sea-coast, was first a Greek colony, +afterwards a province of Egypt, and is now lost in the desert of Barca. +[851] + +[Footnote 85: Ptolemy and Strabo, with the modern geographers, fix the +Isthmus of Suez as the boundary of Asia and Africa. Dionysius, Mela, +Pliny, Sallust, Hirtius, and Solinus, have preferred for that purpose +the western branch of the Nile, or even the great Catabathmus, or +descent, which last would assign to Asia, not only Egypt, but part of +Libya.] + +[Footnote 851: The French editor has a long and unnecessary note on the +History of Cyrene. For the present state of that coast and country, the +volume of Captain Beechey is full of interesting details. Egypt, now an +independent and improving kingdom, appears, under the enterprising +rule of Mahommed Ali, likely to revenge its former oppression upon the +decrepit power of the Turkish empire.--M.--This note was written in +1838. The future destiny of Egypt is an important problem, only to +be solved by time. This observation will also apply to the new French +colony in Algiers.--M. 1845.] + +From Cyrene to the ocean, the coast of Africa extends above fifteen +hundred miles; yet so closely is it pressed between the Mediterranean +and the Sahara, or sandy desert, that its breadth seldom exceeds +fourscore or a hundred miles. The eastern division was considered by +the Romans as the more peculiar and proper province of Africa. Till the +arrival of the Phoenician colonies, that fertile country was inhabited +by the Libyans, the most savage of mankind. Under the immediate +jurisdiction of Carthage, it became the centre of commerce and empire; +but the republic of Carthage is now degenerated into the feeble and +disorderly states of Tripoli and Tunis. The military government of +Algiers oppresses the wide extent of Numidia, as it was once united +under Massinissa and Jugurtha; but in the time of Augustus, the limits +of Numidia were contracted; and, at least, two thirds of the country +acquiesced in the name of Mauritania, with the epithet of Caesariensis. +The genuine Mauritania, or country of the Moors, which, from the ancient +city of Tingi, or Tangier, was distinguished by the appellation of +Tingitana, is represented by the modern kingdom of Fez. Salle, on +the Ocean, so infamous at present for its piratical depredations, was +noticed by the Romans, as the extreme object of their power, and almost +of their geography. A city of their foundation may still be discovered +near Mequinez, the residence of the barbarian whom we condescend to +style the Emperor of Morocco; but it does not appear, that his +more southern dominions, Morocco itself, and Segelmessa, were ever +comprehended within the Roman province. The western parts of Africa are +intersected by the branches of Mount Atlas, a name so idly celebrated by +the fancy of poets; [86] but which is now diffused over the immense ocean +that rolls between the ancient and the new continent. [87] + +[Footnote 86: The long range, moderate height, and gentle declivity +of Mount Atlas, (see Shaw's Travels, p. 5,) are very unlike a solitary +mountain which rears its head into the clouds, and seems to support the +heavens. The peak of Teneriff, on the contrary, rises a league and a +half above the surface of the sea; and, as it was frequently visited by +the Phoenicians, might engage the notice of the Greek poets. See Buffon, +Histoire Naturelle, tom. i. p. 312. Histoire des Voyages, tom. ii.] + +[Footnote 87: M. de Voltaire, tom. xiv. p. 297, unsupported by either +fact or probability, has generously bestowed the Canary Islands on the +Roman empire.] + +Having now finished the circuit of the Roman empire, we may observe, +that Africa is divided from Spain by a narrow strait of about twelve +miles, through which the Atlantic flows into the Mediterranean. The +columns of Hercules, so famous among the ancients, were two mountains +which seemed to have been torn asunder by some convulsion of the +elements; and at the foot of the European mountain, the fortress of +Gibraltar is now seated. The whole extent of the Mediterranean Sea, its +coasts and its islands, were comprised within the Roman dominion. Of the +larger islands, the two Baleares, which derive their name of Majorca and +Minorca from their respective size, are subject at present, the former +to Spain, the latter to Great Britain. [871] It is easier to deplore the +fate, than to describe the actual condition, of Corsica. [872] Two Italian +sovereigns assume a regal title from Sardinia and Sicily. Crete, or +Candia, with Cyprus, and most of the smaller islands of Greece and Asia, +have been subdued by the Turkish arms, whilst the little rock of +Malta defies their power, and has emerged, under the government of its +military Order, into fame and opulence. [873] + +[Footnote 871: Minorca was lost to Great Britain in 1782. Ann. Register +for that year.--M.] + +[Footnote 872: The gallant struggles of the Corsicans for their +independence, under Paoli, were brought to a close in the year 1769. +This volume was published in 1776. See Botta, Storia d'Italia, vol. +xiv.--M.] + +[Footnote 873: Malta, it need scarcely be said, is now in the possession +of the English. We have not, however, thought it necessary to notice +every change in the political state of the world, since the time of +Gibbon.--M] + +This long enumeration of provinces, whose broken fragments have formed +so many powerful kingdoms, might almost induce us to forgive the vanity +or ignorance of the ancients. Dazzled with the extensive sway, the +irresistible strength, and the real or affected moderation of the +emperors, they permitted themselves to despise, and sometimes to +forget, the outlying countries which had been left in the enjoyment of +a barbarous independence; and they gradually usurped the license of +confounding the Roman monarchy with the globe of the earth. [88] But +the temper, as well as knowledge, of a modern historian, require a +more sober and accurate language. He may impress a juster image of the +greatness of Rome, by observing that the empire was above two thousand +miles in breadth, from the wall of Antoninus and the northern limits +of Dacia, to Mount Atlas and the tropic of Cancer; that it extended +in length more than three thousand miles from the Western Ocean to the +Euphrates; that it was situated in the finest part of the Temperate +Zone, between the twenty-fourth and fifty-sixth degrees of northern +latitude; and that it was supposed to contain above sixteen hundred +thousand square miles, for the most part of fertile and well-cultivated +land. [89] + +[Footnote 88: Bergier, Hist. des Grands Chemins, l. iii. c. 1, +2, 3, 4, a very useful collection.] + +[Footnote 89: See Templeman's Survey of the Globe; but I distrust both +the Doctor's learning and his maps.] + + + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part I. + + Of The Union And Internal Prosperity Of The Roman Empire, In + The Age Of The Antonines. + +It is not alone by the rapidity, or extent of conquest, that we should +estimate the greatness of Rome. The sovereign of the Russian deserts +commands a larger portion of the globe. In the seventh summer after his +passage of the Hellespont, Alexander erected the Macedonian trophies +on the banks of the Hyphasis. [1] Within less than a century, the +irresistible Zingis, and the Mogul princes of his race, spread their +cruel devastations and transient empire from the Sea of China, to the +confines of Egypt and Germany. [2] But the firm edifice of Roman power +was raised and preserved by the wisdom of ages. The obedient provinces +of Trajan and the Antonines were united by laws, and adorned by arts. +They might occasionally suffer from the partial abuse of delegated +authority; but the general principle of government was wise, simple, +and beneficent. They enjoyed the religion of their ancestors, whilst in +civil honors and advantages they were exalted, by just degrees, to an +equality with their conquerors. + +[Footnote 1: They were erected about the midway between Lahor and Delhi. +The conquests of Alexander in Hindostan were confined to the Punjab, a +country watered by the five great streams of the Indus. * Note: The +Hyphasis is one of the five rivers which join the Indus or the Sind, +after having traversed the province of the Pendj-ab--a name which in +Persian, signifies five rivers. * * * G. The five rivers were, 1. The +Hydaspes, now the Chelum, Behni, or Bedusta, (Sanscrit, Vitastha, +Arrow-swift.) 2. The Acesines, the Chenab, (Sanscrit, Chandrabhaga, +Moon-gift.) 3. Hydraotes, the Ravey, or Iraoty, (Sanscrit, Iravati.) 4. +Hyphasis, the Beyah, (Sanscrit, Vepasa, Fetterless.) 5. The Satadru, +(Sanscrit, the Hundred Streamed,) the Sutledj, known first to the Greeks +in the time of Ptolemy. Rennel. Vincent, Commerce of Anc. book 2. +Lassen, Pentapotam. Ind. Wilson's Sanscrit Dict., and the valuable +memoir of Lieut. Burnes, Journal of London Geogr. Society, vol. iii. p. +2, with the travels of that very able writer. Compare Gibbon's own note, +c. lxv. note 25.--M substit. for G.] + +[Footnote 2: See M. de Guignes, Histoire des Huns, l. xv. xvi. and +xvii.] + +I. The policy of the emperors and the senate, as far as it concerned +religion, was happily seconded by the reflections of the enlightened, +and by the habits of the superstitious, part of their subjects. The +various modes of worship, which prevailed in the Roman world, were +all considered by the people, as equally true; by the philosopher, +as equally false; and by the magistrate, as equally useful. And thus +toleration produced not only mutual indulgence, but even religious +concord. + +The superstition of the people was not imbittered by any mixture of +theological rancor; nor was it confined by the chains of any speculative +system. The devout polytheist, though fondly attached to his national +rites, admitted with implicit faith the different religions of the +earth. [3] Fear, gratitude, and curiosity, a dream or an omen, a singular +disorder, or a distant journey, perpetually disposed him to multiply the +articles of his belief, and to enlarge the list of his protectors. The +thin texture of the Pagan mythology was interwoven with various but not +discordant materials. As soon as it was allowed that sages and heroes, +who had lived or who had died for the benefit of their country, +were exalted to a state of power and immortality, it was universally +confessed, that they deserved, if not the adoration, at least the +reverence, of all mankind. The deities of a thousand groves and a +thousand streams possessed, in peace, their local and respective +influence; nor could the Romans who deprecated the wrath of the Tiber, +deride the Egyptian who presented his offering to the beneficent genius +of the Nile. The visible powers of nature, the planets, and the elements +were the same throughout the universe. The invisible governors of the +moral world were inevitably cast in a similar mould of fiction +and allegory. Every virtue, and even vice, acquired its divine +representative; every art and profession its patron, whose attributes, +in the most distant ages and countries, were uniformly derived from +the character of their peculiar votaries. A republic of gods of such +opposite tempers and interests required, in every system, the moderating +hand of a supreme magistrate, who, by the progress of knowledge and +flattery, was gradually invested with the sublime perfections of an +Eternal Parent, and an Omnipotent Monarch. [4] Such was the mild spirit +of antiquity, that the nations were less attentive to the difference, +than to the resemblance, of their religious worship. The Greek, the +Roman, and the Barbarian, as they met before their respective altars, +easily persuaded themselves, that under various names, and with various +ceremonies, they adored the same deities. [5] The elegant mythology of +Homer gave a beautiful, and almost a regular form, to the polytheism of +the ancient world. + +[Footnote 3: There is not any writer who describes in so lively a manner +as Herodotus the true genius of polytheism. The best commentary may be +found in Mr. Hume's Natural History of Religion; and the best contrast +in Bossuet's Universal History. Some obscure traces of an intolerant +spirit appear in the conduct of the Egyptians, (see Juvenal, Sat. xv.;) +and the Christians, as well as Jews, who lived under the Roman empire, +formed a very important exception; so important indeed, that the +discussion will require a distinct chapter of this work. * Note: M. +Constant, in his very learned and eloquent work, "Sur la Religion," with +the two additional volumes, "Du Polytheisme Romain," has considered the +whole history of polytheism in a tone of philosophy, which, without +subscribing to all his opinions, we may be permitted to admire. "The +boasted tolerance of polytheism did not rest upon the respect due from +society to the freedom of individual opinion. The polytheistic nations, +tolerant as they were towards each other, as separate states, were not +the less ignorant of the eternal principle, the only basis of +enlightened toleration, that every one has a right to worship God in the +manner which seems to him the best. Citizens, on the contrary, were +bound to conform to the religion of the state; they had not the liberty +to adopt a foreign religion, though that religion might be legally +recognized in their own city, for the strangers who were its votaries." +--Sur la Religion, v. 184. Du. Polyth. Rom. ii. 308. At this time, the +growing religious indifference, and the general administration of the +empire by Romans, who, being strangers, would do no more than protect, +not enlist themselves in the cause of the local superstitions, had +introduced great laxity. But intolerance was clearly the theory both of +the Greek and Roman law. The subject is more fully considered in another +place.--M.] + +[Footnote 4: The rights, powers, and pretensions of the sovereign of +Olympus are very clearly described in the xvth book of the Iliad; in +the Greek original, I mean; for Mr. Pope, without perceiving it, has +improved the theology of Homer. * Note: There is a curious coincidence +between Gibbon's expressions and those of the newly-recovered "De +Republica" of Cicero, though the argument is rather the converse, lib. +i. c. 36. "Sive haec ad utilitatem vitae constitute sint a principibus +rerum publicarum, ut rex putaretur unus esse in coelo, qui nutu, ut ait +Homerus, totum Olympum converteret, idemque et rex et patos haberetur +omnium."--M.] + +[Footnote 5: See, for instance, Caesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 17. Within a +century or two, the Gauls themselves applied to their gods the names of +Mercury, Mars, Apollo, &c.] + +The philosophers of Greece deduced their morals from the nature of man, +rather than from that of God. They meditated, however, on the Divine +Nature, as a very curious and important speculation; and in the +profound inquiry, they displayed the strength and weakness of the human +understanding. [6] Of the four most celebrated schools, the Stoics and +the Platonists endeavored to reconcile the jaring interests of reason +and piety. They have left us the most sublime proofs of the existence +and perfections of the first cause; but, as it was impossible for them +to conceive the creation of matter, the workman in the Stoic philosophy +was not sufficiently distinguished from the work; whilst, on the +contrary, the spiritual God of Plato and his disciples resembled +an idea, rather than a substance. The opinions of the Academics and +Epicureans were of a less religious cast; but whilst the modest science +of the former induced them to doubt, the positive ignorance of the +latter urged them to deny, the providence of a Supreme Ruler. The spirit +of inquiry, prompted by emulation, and supported by freedom, had divided +the public teachers of philosophy into a variety of contending sects; +but the ingenious youth, who, from every part, resorted to Athens, and +the other seats of learning in the Roman empire, were alike instructed +in every school to reject and to despise the religion of the multitude. +How, indeed, was it possible that a philosopher should accept, as divine +truths, the idle tales of the poets, and the incoherent traditions of +antiquity; or that he should adore, as gods, those imperfect beings whom +he must have despised, as men? Against such unworthy adversaries, Cicero +condescended to employ the arms of reason and eloquence; but the satire +of Lucian was a much more adequate, as well as more efficacious, weapon. +We may be well assured, that a writer, conversant with the world, +would never have ventured to expose the gods of his country to public +ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret contempt among +the polished and enlightened orders of society. [7] + +[Footnote 6: The admirable work of Cicero de Natura Deorum is the +best clew we have to guide us through the dark and profound abyss. He +represents with candor, and confutes with subtlety, the opinions of the +philosophers.] + +[Footnote 7: I do not pretend to assert, that, in this irreligious age, +the natural terrors of superstition, dreams, omens, apparitions, &c., +had lost their efficacy.] + +Notwithstanding the fashionable irreligion which prevailed in the age of +the Antonines, both the interest of the priests and the credulity of the +people were sufficiently respected. In their writings and conversation, +the philosophers of antiquity asserted the independent dignity of +reason; but they resigned their actions to the commands of law and of +custom. Viewing, with a smile of pity and indulgence, the various +errors of the vulgar, they diligently practised the ceremonies of their +fathers, devoutly frequented the temples of the gods; and sometimes +condescending to act a part on the theatre of superstition, they +concealed the sentiments of an atheist under the sacerdotal robes. +Reasoners of such a temper were scarcely inclined to wrangle about their +respective modes of faith, or of worship. It was indifferent to them +what shape the folly of the multitude might choose to assume; and +they approached with the same inward contempt, and the same external +reverence, the altars of the Libyan, the Olympian, or the Capitoline +Jupiter. [8] + +[Footnote 8: Socrates, Epicurus, Cicero, and Plutarch always inculcated +a decent reverence for the religion of their own country, and of +mankind. The devotion of Epicurus was assiduous and exemplary. Diogen. +Laert. x. 10.] + +It is not easy to conceive from what motives a spirit of persecution +could introduce itself into the Roman councils. The magistrates could +not be actuated by a blind, though honest bigotry, since the magistrates +were themselves philosophers; and the schools of Athens had given laws +to the senate. They could not be impelled by ambition or avarice, as the +temporal and ecclesiastical powers were united in the same hands. The +pontiffs were chosen among the most illustrious of the senators; and +the office of Supreme Pontiff was constantly exercised by the emperors +themselves. They knew and valued the advantages of religion, as it is +connected with civil government. They encouraged the public festivals +which humanize the manners of the people. They managed the arts of +divination as a convenient instrument of policy; and they respected, as +the firmest bond of society, the useful persuasion, that, either in this +or in a future life, the crime of perjury is most assuredly punished +by the avenging gods. [9] But whilst they acknowledged the general +advantages of religion, they were convinced that the various modes of +worship contributed alike to the same salutary purposes; and that, in +every country, the form of superstition, which had received the sanction +of time and experience, was the best adapted to the climate, and to its +inhabitants. Avarice and taste very frequently despoiled the vanquished +nations of the elegant statues of their gods, and the rich ornaments +of their temples; [10] but, in the exercise of the religion which they +derived from their ancestors, they uniformly experienced the indulgence, +and even protection, of the Roman conquerors. The province of Gaul +seems, and indeed only seems, an exception to this universal toleration. +Under the specious pretext of abolishing human sacrifices, the emperors +Tiberius and Claudius suppressed the dangerous power of the Druids: [11] +but the priests themselves, their gods and their altars, subsisted in +peaceful obscurity till the final destruction of Paganism. [12] + +[Footnote 9: Polybius, l. vi. c. 53, 54. Juvenal, Sat. xiii. laments +that in his time this apprehension had lost much of its effect.] + +[Footnote 10: See the fate of Syracuse, Tarentum, Ambracia, Corinth, +&c., the conduct of Verres, in Cicero, (Actio ii. Orat. 4,) and the +usual practice of governors, in the viiith Satire of Juvenal.] + +[Footnote 11: Seuton. in Claud.--Plin. Hist. Nat. xxx. 1.] + +[Footnote 12: Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, tom. vi. p. 230--252.] + +Rome, the capital of a great monarchy, was incessantly filled with +subjects and strangers from every part of the world, [13] who all +introduced and enjoyed the favorite superstitions of their native +country. [14] Every city in the empire was justified in maintaining the +purity of its ancient ceremonies; and the Roman senate, using the common +privilege, sometimes interposed, to check this inundation of foreign +rites. [141] The Egyptian superstition, of all the most contemptible and +abject, was frequently prohibited: the temples of Serapis and Isis +demolished, and their worshippers banished from Rome and Italy. [15] But +the zeal of fanaticism prevailed over the cold and feeble efforts of +policy. The exiles returned, the proselytes multiplied, the temples +were restored with increasing splendor, and Isis and Serapis at length +assumed their place among the Roman Deities. [151] [16] Nor was this +indulgence a departure from the old maxims of government. In the purest +ages of the commonwealth, Cybele and Aesculapius had been invited by +solemn embassies; [17] and it was customary to tempt the protectors of +besieged cities, by the promise of more distinguished honors than they +possessed in their native country. [18] Rome gradually became the common +temple of her subjects; and the freedom of the city was bestowed on all +the gods of mankind. [19] + +[Footnote 13: Seneca, Consolat. ad Helviam, p. 74. Edit., Lips.] + + +[Footnote 14: Dionysius Halicarn. Antiquitat. Roman. l. ii. (vol. i. p. +275, edit. Reiske.)] + +[Footnote 141: Yet the worship of foreign gods at Rome was only guarantied +to the natives of those countries from whence they came. The Romans +administered the priestly offices only to the gods of their fathers. +Gibbon, throughout the whole preceding sketch of the opinions of the +Romans and their subjects, has shown through what causes they were free +from religious hatred and its consequences. But, on the other hand the +internal state of these religions, the infidelity and hypocrisy of the +upper orders, the indifference towards all religion, in even the better +part of the common people, during the last days of the republic, and +under the Caesars, and the corrupting principles of the philosophers, +had exercised a very pernicious influence on the manners, and even on +the constitution.--W.] + +[Footnote 15: In the year of Rome 701, the temple of Isis and Serapis +was demolished by the order of the Senate, (Dion Cassius, l. xl. p. +252,) and even by the hands of the consul, (Valerius Maximus, l. 3.) +After the death of Caesar it was restored at the public expense, (Dion. +l. xlvii. p. 501.) When Augustus was in Egypt, he revered the majesty of +Serapis, (Dion, l. li. p. 647;) but in the Pomaerium of Rome, and a +mile round it, he prohibited the worship of the Egyptian gods, (Dion, l. +liii. p. 679; l. liv. p. 735.) They remained, however, very fashionable +under his reign (Ovid. de Art. Amand. l. i.) and that of his successor, +till the justice of Tiberius was provoked to some acts of severity. (See +Tacit. Annal. ii. 85. Joseph. Antiquit. l. xviii. c. 3.) * Note: See, in +the pictures from the walls of Pompeii, the representation of an Isiac +temple and worship. Vestiges of Egyptian worship have been traced in +Gaul, and, I am informed, recently in Britain, in excavations at York.-- +M.] + +[Footnote 151: Gibbon here blends into one, two events, distant a hundred +and sixty-six years from each other. It was in the year of Rome 535, +that the senate having ordered the destruction of the temples of Isis +and Serapis, the workman would lend his hand; and the consul, L. Paulus +himself (Valer. Max. 1, 3) seized the axe, to give the first blow. +Gibbon attribute this circumstance to the second demolition, which took +place in the year 701 and which he considers as the first.--W.] + +[Footnote 16: Tertullian in Apologetic. c. 6, p. 74. Edit. Havercamp. +I am inclined to attribute their establishment to the devotion of the +Flavian family.] + +[Footnote 17: See Livy, l. xi. [Suppl.] and xxix.] + +[Footnote 18: Macrob. Saturnalia, l. iii. c. 9. He gives us a form of +evocation.] + +[Footnote 19: Minutius Faelix in Octavio, p. 54. Arnobius, l. vi. p. +115.] + + +II. The narrow policy of preserving, without any foreign mixture, +the pure blood of the ancient citizens, had checked the fortune, and +hastened the ruin, of Athens and Sparta. The aspiring genius of Rome +sacrificed vanity to ambition, and deemed it more prudent, as well as +honorable, to adopt virtue and merit for her own wheresoever they were +found, among slaves or strangers, enemies or barbarians. [20] During +the most flourishing aera of the Athenian commonwealth, the number +of citizens gradually decreased from about thirty [21] to twenty-one +thousand. [22] If, on the contrary, we study the growth of the Roman +republic, we may discover, that, notwithstanding the incessant demands +of wars and colonies, the citizens, who, in the first census of +Servius Tullius, amounted to no more than eighty-three thousand, were +multiplied, before the commencement of the social war, to the number +of four hundred and sixty-three thousand men, able to bear arms in the +service of their country. [23] When the allies of Rome claimed an equal +share of honors and privileges, the senate indeed preferred the chance +of arms to an ignominious concession. The Samnites and the Lucanians +paid the severe penalty of their rashness; but the rest of the Italian +states, as they successively returned to their duty, were admitted +into the bosom of the republic, [24] and soon contributed to the ruin of +public freedom. Under a democratical government, the citizens exercise +the powers of sovereignty; and those powers will be first abused, and +afterwards lost, if they are committed to an unwieldy multitude. But +when the popular assemblies had been suppressed by the administration +of the emperors, the conquerors were distinguished from the vanquished +nations, only as the first and most honorable order of subjects; +and their increase, however rapid, was no longer exposed to the same +dangers. Yet the wisest princes, who adopted the maxims of Augustus, +guarded with the strictest care the dignity of the Roman name, and +diffused the freedom of the city with a prudent liberality. [25] + +[Footnote 20: Tacit. Annal. xi. 24. The Orbis Romanus of the learned +Spanheim is a complete history of the progressive admission of Latium, +Italy, and the provinces, to the freedom of Rome. * Note: Democratic +states, observes Denina, (delle Revoluz. d' Italia, l. ii. c. l.), are +most jealous of communication the privileges of citizenship; monarchies +or oligarchies willingly multiply the numbers of their free subjects. +The most remarkable accessions to the strength of Rome, by the +aggregation of conquered and foreign nations, took place under the regal +and patrician--we may add, the Imperial government.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: Herodotus, v. 97. It should seem, however, that he +followed a large and popular estimation.] + +[Footnote 22: Athenaeus, Deipnosophist. l. vi. p. 272. Edit. Casaubon. +Meursius de Fortuna Attica, c. 4. * Note: On the number of citizens in +Athens, compare Boeckh, Public Economy of Athens, (English Tr.,) p. 45, +et seq. Fynes Clinton, Essay in Fasti Hel lenici, vol. i. 381.--M.] + +[Footnote 23: See a very accurate collection of the numbers of each +Lustrum in M. de Beaufort, Republique Romaine, l. iv. c. 4. Note: All +these questions are placed in an entirely new point of view by Nicbuhr, +(Romische Geschichte, vol. i. p. 464.) He rejects the census of Servius +fullius as unhistoric, (vol. ii. p. 78, et seq.,) and he establishes the +principle that the census comprehended all the confederate cities which +had the right of Isopolity.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: Appian. de Bell. Civil. l. i. Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. +c. 15, 16, 17.] + +[Footnote 25: Maecenas had advised him to declare, by one edict, all his +subjects citizens. But we may justly suspect that the historian Dion was +the author of a counsel so much adapted to the practice of his own age, +and so little to that of Augustus.] + + + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part II. + +Till the privileges of Romans had been progressively extended to all +the inhabitants of the empire, an important distinction was preserved +between Italy and the provinces. The former was esteemed the centre of +public unity, and the firm basis of the constitution. Italy claimed the +birth, or at least the residence, of the emperors and the senate. [26] +The estates of the Italians were exempt from taxes, their persons from +the arbitrary jurisdiction of governors. Their municipal corporations, +formed after the perfect model of the capital, [261] were intrusted, under +the immediate eye of the supreme power, with the execution of the laws. +From the foot of the Alps to the extremity of Calabria, all the natives +of Italy were born citizens of Rome. Their partial distinctions were +obliterated, and they insensibly coalesced into one great nation, united +by language, manners, and civil institutions, and equal to the weight of +a powerful empire. The republic gloried in her generous policy, and was +frequently rewarded by the merit and services of her adopted sons. Had +she always confined the distinction of Romans to the ancient families +within the walls of the city, that immortal name would have been +deprived of some of its noblest ornaments. Virgil was a native of +Mantua; Horace was inclined to doubt whether he should call himself +an Apulian or a Lucanian; it was in Padua that an historian was found +worthy to record the majestic series of Roman victories. The patriot +family of the Catos emerged from Tusculum; and the little town of +Arpinum claimed the double honor of producing Marius and Cicero, the +former of whom deserved, after Romulus and Camillus, to be styled the +Third Founder of Rome; and the latter, after saving his country from the +designs of Catiline, enabled her to contend with Athens for the palm of +eloquence. [27] + +[Footnote 26: The senators were obliged to have one third of their own +landed property in Italy. See Plin. l. vi. ep. 19. The qualification was +reduced by Marcus to one fourth. Since the reign of Trajan, Italy had +sunk nearer to the level of the provinces.] + +[Footnote 261: It may be doubted whether the municipal government of the +cities was not the old Italian constitution rather than a transcript +from that of Rome. The free government of the cities, observes Savigny, +was the leading characteristic of Italy. Geschichte des Romischen +Rechts, i. p. G.--M.] + +[Footnote 27: The first part of the Verona Illustrata of the Marquis +Maffei gives the clearest and most comprehensive view of the state of +Italy under the Caesars. * Note: Compare Denina, Revol. d' Italia, l. +ii. c. 6, p. 100, 4 to edit.] + +The provinces of the empire (as they have been described in the +preceding chapter) were destitute of any public force, or constitutional +freedom. In Etruria, in Greece, [28] and in Gaul, [29] it was the first +care of the senate to dissolve those dangerous confederacies, which +taught mankind that, as the Roman arms prevailed by division, they might +be resisted by union. Those princes, whom the ostentation of gratitude +or generosity permitted for a while to hold a precarious sceptre, were +dismissed from their thrones, as soon as they had performed their +appointed task of fashioning to the yoke the vanquished nations. +The free states and cities which had embraced the cause of Rome +were rewarded with a nominal alliance, and insensibly sunk into real +servitude. The public authority was every where exercised by the +ministers of the senate and of the emperors, and that authority was +absolute, and without control. [291] But the same salutary maxims of +government, which had secured the peace and obedience of Italy were +extended to the most distant conquests. A nation of Romans was gradually +formed in the provinces, by the double expedient of introducing +colonies, and of admitting the most faithful and deserving of the +provincials to the freedom of Rome. + +[Footnote 28: See Pausanias, l. vii. The Romans condescended to restore +the names of those assemblies, when they could no longer be dangerous.] + +[Footnote 29: They are frequently mentioned by Caesar. The Abbe Dubos +attempts, with very little success, to prove that the assemblies of Gaul +were continued under the emperors. Histoire de l'Etablissement de la +Monarchie Francoise, l. i. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 291: This is, perhaps, rather overstated. Most cities retained +the choice of their municipal officers: some retained valuable +privileges; Athens, for instance, in form was still a confederate city. +(Tac. Ann. ii. 53.) These privileges, indeed, depended entirely on the +arbitrary will of the emperor, who revoked or restored them according to +his caprice. See Walther Geschichte les Romischen Rechts, i. 324--an +admirable summary of the Roman constitutional history.--M.] + +"Wheresoever the Roman conquers, he inhabits," is a very just +observation of Seneca, [30] confirmed by history and experience. The +natives of Italy, allured by pleasure or by interest, hastened to enjoy +the advantages of victory; and we may remark, that, about forty years +after the reduction of Asia, eighty thousand Romans were massacred in +one day, by the cruel orders of Mithridates. [31] These voluntary +exiles were engaged, for the most part, in the occupations of commerce, +agriculture, and the farm of the revenue. But after the legions were +rendered permanent by the emperors, the provinces were peopled by a race +of soldiers; and the veterans, whether they received the reward of their +service in land or in money, usually settled with their families in +the country, where they had honorably spent their youth. Throughout the +empire, but more particularly in the western parts, the most fertile +districts, and the most convenient situations, were reserved for the +establishment of colonies; some of which were of a civil, and others of +a military nature. In their manners and internal policy, the colonies +formed a perfect representation of their great parent; and they were +soon endeared to the natives by the ties of friendship and alliance, +they effectually diffused a reverence for the Roman name, and a desire, +which was seldom disappointed, of sharing, in due time, its honors and +advantages. [32] The municipal cities insensibly equalled the rank and +splendor of the colonies; and in the reign of Hadrian, it was disputed +which was the preferable condition, of those societies which had issued +from, or those which had been received into, the bosom of Rome. [33] The +right of Latium, as it was called, [331] conferred on the cities to which +it had been granted, a more partial favor. The magistrates only, at the +expiration of their office, assumed the quality of Roman citizens; but +as those offices were annual, in a few years they circulated round the +principal families. [34] Those of the provincials who were permitted to +bear arms in the legions; [35] those who exercised any civil employment; +all, in a word, who performed any public service, or displayed any +personal talents, were rewarded with a present, whose value was +continually diminished by the increasing liberality of the emperors. Yet +even, in the age of the Antonines, when the freedom of the city had +been bestowed on the greater number of their subjects, it was still +accompanied with very solid advantages. The bulk of the people acquired, +with that title, the benefit of the Roman laws, particularly in the +interesting articles of marriage, testaments, and inheritances; and the +road of fortune was open to those whose pretensions were seconded by +favor or merit. The grandsons of the Gauls, who had besieged Julius +Caesar in Alcsia, commanded legions, governed provinces, and were +admitted into the senate of Rome. [36] Their ambition, instead of +disturbing the tranquillity of the state, was intimately connected with +its safety and greatness. + +[Footnote 30: Seneca in Consolat. ad Helviam, c. 6.] + +[Footnote 31: Memnon apud Photium, (c. 33,) [c. 224, p. 231, ed Bekker.] +Valer. Maxim. ix. 2. Plutarch and Dion Cassius swell the massacre to +150,000 citizens; but I should esteem the smaller number to be more than +sufficient.] + +[Footnote 32: Twenty-five colonies were settled in Spain, (see Plin. +Hist. Nat. iii. 3, 4; iv. 35;) and nine in Britain, of which London, +Colchester, Lincoln, Chester, Gloucester, and Bath still remain +considerable cities. (See Richard of Cirencester, p. 36, and Whittaker's +History of Manchester, l. i. c. 3.)] + +[Footnote 33: Aul. Gel. Noctes Atticae, xvi 13. The Emperor Hadrian +expressed his surprise, that the cities of Utica, Gades, and Italica, +which already enjoyed the rights of Municipia, should solicit the title +of colonies. Their example, however, became fashionable, and the empire +was filled with honorary colonies. See Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum +Dissertat. xiii.] + +[Footnote 331: The right of Latium conferred an +exemption from the government of the Roman praefect. Strabo states this +distinctly, l. iv. p. 295, edit. Caesar's. See also Walther, p. 233.--M] + +[Footnote 34: Spanheim, Orbis Roman. c. 8, p. 62.] + +[Footnote 35: Aristid. in Romae Encomio. tom. i. p. 218, edit. Jebb.] + +[Footnote 36: Tacit. Annal. xi. 23, 24. Hist. iv. 74.] + +So sensible were the Romans of the influence of language over national +manners, that it was their most serious care to extend, with the +progress of their arms, the use of the Latin tongue. [37] The ancient +dialects of Italy, the Sabine, the Etruscan, and the Venetian, sunk into +oblivion; but in the provinces, the east was less docile than the west +to the voice of its victorious preceptors. This obvious difference +marked the two portions of the empire with a distinction of colors, +which, though it was in some degree concealed during the meridian +splendor of prosperity, became gradually more visible, as the shades +of night descended upon the Roman world. The western countries +were civilized by the same hands which subdued them. As soon as the +barbarians were reconciled to obedience, their minds were open to any +new impressions of knowledge and politeness. The language of Virgil +and Cicero, though with some inevitable mixture of corruption, was so +universally adopted in Africa, Spain, Gaul Britain, and Pannonia, [38] +that the faint traces of the Punic or Celtic idioms were preserved +only in the mountains, or among the peasants. [39] Education and study +insensibly inspired the natives of those countries with the sentiments +of Romans; and Italy gave fashions, as well as laws, to her Latin +provincials. They solicited with more ardor, and obtained with more +facility, the freedom and honors of the state; supported the national +dignity in letters [40] and in arms; and at length, in the person of +Trajan, produced an emperor whom the Scipios would not have disowned for +their countryman. The situation of the Greeks was very different from +that of the barbarians. The former had been long since civilized and +corrupted. They had too much taste to relinquish their language, and +too much vanity to adopt any foreign institutions. Still preserving the +prejudices, after they had lost the virtues, of their ancestors, they +affected to despise the unpolished manners of the Roman conquerors, +whilst they were compelled to respect their superior wisdom and power. +[41] Nor was the influence of the Grecian language and sentiments +confined to the narrow limits of that once celebrated country. Their +empire, by the progress of colonies and conquest, had been diffused from +the Adriatic to the Euphrates and the Nile. Asia was covered with Greek +cities, and the long reign of the Macedonian kings had introduced a +silent revolution into Syria and Egypt. In their pompous courts, those +princes united the elegance of Athens with the luxury of the East, and +the example of the court was imitated, at an humble distance, by the +higher ranks of their subjects. Such was the general division of the +Roman empire into the Latin and Greek languages. To these we may add a +third distinction for the body of the natives in Syria, and especially +in Egypt, the use of their ancient dialects, by secluding them from the +commerce of mankind, checked the improvements of those barbarians. [42] +The slothful effeminacy of the former exposed them to the contempt, +the sullen ferociousness of the latter excited the aversion, of the +conquerors. [43] Those nations had submitted to the Roman power, but they +seldom desired or deserved the freedom of the city: and it was remarked, +that more than two hundred and thirty years elapsed after the ruin of +the Ptolemies, before an Egyptian was admitted into the senate of Rome. +[44] + +[Footnote 37: See Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. Augustin. de Civitate Dei, +xix 7 Lipsius de Pronunciatione Linguae Latinae, c. 3.] + +[Footnote 38: Apuleius and Augustin will answer for Africa; Strabo +for Spain and Gaul; Tacitus, in the life of Agricola, for Britain; and +Velleius Paterculus, for Pannonia. To them we may add the language of +the Inscriptions. * Note: Mr. Hallam contests this assertion as regards +Britain. "Nor did the Romans ever establish their language--I know not +whether they wished to do so--in this island, as we perceive by that +stubborn British tongue which has survived two conquests." In his note, +Mr. Hallam examines the passage from Tacitus (Agric. xxi.) to which +Gibbon refers. It merely asserts the progress of Latin studies among the +higher orders. (Midd. Ages, iii. 314.) Probably it was a kind of court +language, and that of public affairs and prevailed in the Roman +colonies.--M.] + +[Footnote 39: The Celtic was preserved in the mountains of Wales, +Cornwall, and Armorica. We may observe, that Apuleius reproaches an +African youth, who lived among the populace, with the use of the Punic; +whilst he had almost forgot Greek, and neither could nor would speak +Latin, (Apolog. p. 596.) The greater part of St. Austin's congregations +were strangers to the Punic.] + +[Footnote 40: Spain alone produced Columella, the Senecas, Lucan, +Martial, and Quintilian.] + +[Footnote 41: There is not, I believe, from Dionysius to Libanus, a +single Greek critic who mentions Virgil or Horace. They seem ignorant +that the Romans had any good writers.] + +[Footnote 42: The curious reader may see in Dupin, (Bibliotheque +Ecclesiastique, tom. xix. p. 1, c. 8,) how much the use of the Syriac +and Egyptian languages was still preserved.] + +[Footnote 43: See Juvenal, Sat. iii. and xv. Ammian. Marcellin. xxii. +16.] + +[Footnote 44: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvii. p. 1275. The first instance +happened under the reign of Septimius Severus.] + +It is a just though trite observation, that victorious Rome was herself +subdued by the arts of Greece. Those immortal writers who still command +the admiration of modern Europe, soon became the favorite object of +study and imitation in Italy and the western provinces. But the elegant +amusements of the Romans were not suffered to interfere with their sound +maxims of policy. Whilst they acknowledged the charms of the Greek, they +asserted the dignity of the Latin tongue, and the exclusive use of the +latter was inflexibly maintained in the administration of civil as well +as military government. [45] The two languages exercised at the same time +their separate jurisdiction throughout the empire: the former, as the +natural idiom of science; the latter, as the legal dialect of public +transactions. Those who united letters with business were equally +conversant with both; and it was almost impossible, in any province, to +find a Roman subject, of a liberal education, who was at once a stranger +to the Greek and to the Latin language. + +[Footnote 45: See Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 2, n. 2. The emperor +Claudius disfranchised an eminent Grecian for not understanding Latin. +He was probably in some public office. Suetonius in Claud. c. 16. * +Note: Causes seem to have been pleaded, even in the senate, in both +languages. Val. Max. loc. cit. Dion. l. lvii. c. 15.--M] + +It was by such institutions that the nations of the empire insensibly +melted away into the Roman name and people. But there still remained, in +the centre of every province and of every family, an unhappy condition +of men who endured the weight, without sharing the benefits, of society. +In the free states of antiquity, the domestic slaves were exposed to the +wanton rigor of despotism. The perfect settlement of the Roman empire +was preceded by ages of violence and rapine. The slaves consisted, +for the most part, of barbarian captives, [451] taken in thousands by the +chance of war, purchased at a vile price, [46] accustomed to a life +of independence, and impatient to break and to revenge their fetters. +Against such internal enemies, whose desperate insurrections had more +than once reduced the republic to the brink of destruction, [47] the most +severe [471] regulations, [48] and the most cruel treatment, seemed almost +justified by the great law of self-preservation. But when the principal +nations of Europe, Asia, and Africa were united under the laws of +one sovereign, the source of foreign supplies flowed with much less +abundance, and the Romans were reduced to the milder but more tedious +method of propagation. [481] In their numerous families, and particularly +in their country estates, they encouraged the marriage of their slaves. +[482] The sentiments of nature, the habits of education, and the possession +of a dependent species of property, contributed to alleviate the +hardships of servitude. [49] The existence of a slave became an object of +greater value, and though his happiness still depended on the temper +and circumstances of the master, the humanity of the latter, instead +of being restrained by fear, was encouraged by the sense of his own +interest. The progress of manners was accelerated by the virtue or +policy of the emperors; and by the edicts of Hadrian and the Antonines, +the protection of the laws was extended to the most abject part of +mankind. The jurisdiction of life and death over the slaves, a power +long exercised and often abused, was taken out of private hands, and +reserved to the magistrates alone. The subterraneous prisons were +abolished; and, upon a just complaint of intolerable treatment, the +injured slave obtained either his deliverance, or a less cruel master. +[50] + +[Footnote 451: It was this which rendered the wars so sanguinary, +and the battles so obstinate. The immortal Robertson, in an excellent +discourse on the state of the world at the period of the establishment +of Christianity, has traced a picture of the melancholy effects of +slavery, in which we find all the depth of his views and the strength of +his mind. I shall oppose successively some passages to the reflections +of Gibbon. The reader will see, not without interest, the truths which +Gibbon appears to have mistaken or voluntarily neglected, developed by +one of the best of modern historians. It is important to call them to +mind here, in order to establish the facts and their consequences with +accuracy. I shall more than once have occasion to employ, for this +purpose, the discourse of Robertson. "Captives taken in war were, in all +probability, the first persons subjected to perpetual servitude; and, +when the necessities or luxury of mankind increased the demand for +slaves, every new war recruited their number, by reducing the vanquished +to that wretched condition. Hence proceeded the fierce and desperate +spirit with which wars were carried on among ancient nations. While +chains and slavery were the certain lot of the conquered, battles were +fought, and towns defended with a rage and obstinacy which nothing but +horror at such a fate could have inspired; but, putting an end to the +cruel institution of slavery, Christianity extended its mild influences +to the practice of war, and that barbarous art, softened by its humane +spirit, ceased to be so destructive. Secure, in every event, of personal +liberty, the resistance of the vanquished became less obstinate, and the +triumph of the victor less cruel. Thus humanity was introduced into the +exercise of war, with which it appears to be almost incompatible; and it +is to the merciful maxims of Christianity, much more than to any other +cause, that we must ascribe the little ferocity and bloodshed which +accompany modern victories."--G.] + +[Footnote 46: In the camp of Lucullus, an ox sold for a drachma, and a +slave for four drachmae, or about three shillings. Plutarch. in Lucull. +p. 580. * Note: Above 100,000 prisoners were taken in the Jewish +war.--G. Hist. of Jews, iii. 71. According to a tradition preserved by S. +Jerom, after the insurrection in the time of Hadrian, they were sold as +cheap as horse. Ibid. 124. Compare Blair on Roman Slavery, p. 19.--M., +and Dureau de la blalle, Economie Politique des Romains, l. i. c. 15. +But I cannot think that this writer has made out his case as to the +common price of an agricultural slave being from 2000 to 2500 francs, +(80l. to 100l.) He has overlooked the passages which show the ordinary +prices, (i. e. Hor. Sat. ii. vii. 45,) and argued from extraordinary and +exceptional cases.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 47: Diodorus Siculus in Eclog. Hist. l. xxxiv. and xxxvi. +Florus, iii. 19, 20.] + +[Footnote 471: The following is the example: we shall see whether the word +"severe" is here in its place. "At the time in which L. Domitius was +praetor in Sicily, a slave killed a wild boar of extraordinary size. The +praetor, struck by the dexterity and courage of the man, desired to see +him. The poor wretch, highly gratified with the distinction, came to +present himself before the praetor, in hopes, no doubt, of praise and +reward; but Domitius, on learning that he had only a javelin to attack +and kill the boar, ordered him to be instantly crucified, under the +barbarous pretext that the law prohibited the use of this weapon, as +of all others, to slaves." Perhaps the cruelty of Domitius is less +astonishing than the indifference with which the Roman orator relates +this circumstance, which affects him so little that he thus expresses +himself: "Durum hoc fortasse videatur, neque ego in ullam partem +disputo." "This may appear harsh, nor do I give any opinion on the +subject." And it is the same orator who exclaims in the same oration, +"Facinus est cruciare civem Romanum; scelus verberare; prope parricidium +necare: quid dicam in crucem tollere?" "It is a crime to imprison a +Roman citizen; wickedness to scourge; next to parricide to put to death, +what shall I call it to crucify?" + +In general, this passage of Gibbon on slavery, is full, not only of +blamable indifference, but of an exaggeration of impartiality which +resembles dishonesty. He endeavors to extenuate all that is appalling +in the condition and treatment of the slaves; he would make us consider +those cruelties as possibly "justified by necessity." He then describes, +with minute accuracy, the slightest mitigations of their deplorable +condition; he attributes to the virtue or the policy of the emperors the +progressive amelioration in the lot of the slaves; and he passes over +in silence the most influential cause, that which, after rendering the +slaves less miserable, has contributed at length entirely to enfranchise +them from their sufferings and their chains,--Christianity. It would be +easy to accumulate the most frightful, the most agonizing details, of +the manner in which the Romans treated their slaves; whole works have +been devoted to the description. I content myself with referring to +them. Some reflections of Robertson, taken from the discourse already +quoted, will make us feel that Gibbon, in tracing the mitigation of the +condition of the slaves, up to a period little later than that which +witnessed the establishment of Christianity in the world, could not have +avoided the acknowledgment of the influence of that beneficent cause, if +he had not already determined not to speak of it. + +"Upon establishing despotic government in the Roman empire, domestic +tyranny rose, in a short time, to an astonishing height. In that rank +soil, every vice, which power nourishes in the great, or oppression +engenders in the mean, thrived and grew up apace. * * * It is not the +authority of any single detached precept in the gospel, but the spirit +and genius of the Christian religion, more powerful than any particular +command, which hath abolished the practice of slavery throughout the +world. The temper which Christianity inspired was mild and gentle; and +the doctrines it taught added such dignity and lustre to human nature, +as rescued it from the dishonorable servitude into which it was sunk." + +It is in vain, then, that Gibbon pretends to attribute solely to the +desire of keeping up the number of slaves, the milder conduct which the +Romans began to adopt in their favor at the time of the emperors. This +cause had hitherto acted in an opposite direction; how came it on +a sudden to have a different influence? "The masters," he says, +"encouraged the marriage of their slaves; * * * the sentiments of +nature, the habits of education, contributed to alleviate the hardships +of servitude." The children of slaves were the property of their master, +who could dispose of or alienate them like the rest of his property. Is +it in such a situation, with such notions, that the sentiments of nature +unfold themselves, or habits of education become mild and peaceful? We +must not attribute to causes inadequate or altogether without force, +effects which require to explain them a reference to more influential +causes; and even if these slighter causes had in effect a manifest +influence, we must not forget that they are themselves the effect of +a primary, a higher, and more extensive cause, which, in giving to the +mind and to the character a more disinterested and more humane bias, +disposed men to second or themselves to advance, by their conduct, +and by the change of manners, the happy results which it tended to +produce.--G. + +I have retained the whole of M. Guizot's note, though, in his zeal for +the invaluable blessings of freedom and Christianity, he has done Gibbon +injustice. The condition of the slaves was undoubtedly improved under +the emperors. What a great authority has said, "The condition of a slave +is better under an arbitrary than under a free government," (Smith's +Wealth of Nations, iv. 7,) is, I believe, supported by the history of +all ages and nations. The protecting edicts of Hadrian and the Antonines +are historical facts, and can as little be attributed to the influence +of Christianity, as the milder language of heathen writers, of Seneca, +(particularly Ep. 47,) of Pliny, and of Plutarch. The latter influence +of Christianity is admitted by Gibbon himself. The subject of Roman +slavery has recently been investigated with great diligence in a very +modest but valuable volume, by Wm. Blair, Esq., Edin. 1833. May we be +permitted, while on the subject, to refer to the most splendid +passage extant of Mr. Pitt's eloquence, the description of the Roman +slave-dealer. on the shores of Britain, condemning the island to +irreclaimable barbarism, as a perpetual and prolific nursery of slaves? +Speeches, vol. ii. p. 80. + +Gibbon, it should be added, was one of the first and most consistent +opponents of the African slave-trade. (See Hist. ch. xxv. and Letters to +Lor Sheffield, Misc. Works)--M.] + +[Footnote 48: See a remarkable instance of severity in Cicero in Verrem, +v. 3.] + +[Footnote 481: An active slave-trade, which was carried on in many +quarters, particularly the Euxine, the eastern provinces, the coast of +Africa, and British must be taken into the account. Blair, 23--32.--M.] + +[Footnote 482: The Romans, as well in the first ages of the republic as +later, allowed to their slaves a kind of marriage, (contubernium: ) +notwithstanding this, luxury made a greater number of slaves in demand. +The increase in their population was not sufficient, and recourse was +had to the purchase of slaves, which was made even in the provinces of +the East subject to the Romans. It is, moreover, known that slavery is a +state little favorable to population. (See Hume's Essay, and Malthus on +population, i. 334.--G.) The testimony of Appian (B.C. l. i. c. 7) +is decisive in favor of the rapid multiplication of the agricultural +slaves; it is confirmed by the numbers engaged in the servile wars. +Compare also Blair, p. 119; likewise Columella l. viii.--M.] + +[Footnote 49: See in Gruter, and the other collectors, a great number +of inscriptions addressed by slaves to their wives, children, +fellow-servants, masters, &c. They are all most probably of the Imperial +age.] + +[Footnote 50: See the Augustan History, and a Dissertation of M. +de Burigny, in the xxxvth volume of the Academy of Inscriptions, upon +the Roman slaves.] + +Hope, the best comfort of our imperfect condition, was not denied to the +Roman slave; and if he had any opportunity of rendering himself either +useful or agreeable, he might very naturally expect that the diligence +and fidelity of a few years would be rewarded with the inestimable gift +of freedom. The benevolence of the master was so frequently prompted +by the meaner suggestions of vanity and avarice, that the laws found +it more necessary to restrain than to encourage a profuse and +undistinguishing liberality, which might degenerate into a very +dangerous abuse. [51] It was a maxim of ancient jurisprudence, that a +slave had not any country of his own; he acquired with his liberty an +admission into the political society of which his patron was a member. +The consequences of this maxim would have prostituted the privileges +of the Roman city to a mean and promiscuous multitude. Some seasonable +exceptions were therefore provided; and the honorable distinction +was confined to such slaves only as, for just causes, and with the +approbation of the magistrate, should receive a solemn and legal +manumission. Even these chosen freedmen obtained no more than the +private rights of citizens, and were rigorously excluded from civil or +military honors. Whatever might be the merit or fortune of their sons, +they likewise were esteemed unworthy of a seat in the senate; nor were +the traces of a servile origin allowed to be completely obliterated till +the third or fourth generation. [52] Without destroying the distinction +of ranks, a distant prospect of freedom and honors was presented, even +to those whom pride and prejudice almost disdained to number among the +human species. + +[Footnote 51: See another Dissertation of M. de Burigny, +in the xxxviith volume, on the Roman freedmen.] + +[Footnote 52: Spanheim, Orbis Roman. l. i. c. 16, p. 124, &c.] It was +once proposed to discriminate the slaves by a peculiar habit; but it was +justly apprehended that there might be some danger in acquainting +them with their own numbers. [53] Without interpreting, in their utmost +strictness, the liberal appellations of legions and myriads, [54] we may +venture to pronounce, that the proportion of slaves, who were valued +as property, was more considerable than that of servants, who can be +computed only as an expense. [55] The youths of a promising genius were +instructed in the arts and sciences, and their price was ascertained +by the degree of their skill and talents. [56] Almost every profession, +either liberal [57] or mechanical, might be found in the household of an +opulent senator. The ministers of pomp and sensuality were multiplied +beyond the conception of modern luxury. [58] It was more for the interest +of the merchant or manufacturer to purchase, than to hire his workmen; +and in the country, slaves were employed as the cheapest and +most laborious instruments of agriculture. To confirm the general +observation, and to display the multitude of slaves, we might allege a +variety of particular instances. It was discovered, on a very melancholy +occasion, that four hundred slaves were maintained in a single palace of +Rome. [59] The same number of four hundred belonged to an estate which an +African widow, of a very private condition, resigned to her son, whilst +she reserved for herself a much larger share of her property. [60] A +freedman, under the name of Augustus, though his fortune had suffered +great losses in the civil wars, left behind him three thousand six +hundred yoke of oxen, two hundred and fifty thousand head of smaller +cattle, and what was almost included in the description of cattle, four +thousand one hundred and sixteen slaves. [61] + +[Footnote 53: Seneca de Clementia, l. i. c. 24. The original is much +stronger, "Quantum periculum immineret si servi nostri numerare nos +coepissent."] + +[Footnote 54: See Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii.) and Athenaeus +(Deipnosophist. l. vi. p. 272.) The latter boldly asserts, that he knew +very many Romans who possessed, not for use, but ostentation, ten and +even twenty thousand slaves.] + +[Footnote 55: In Paris there are not more than 43,000 domestics of every +sort, and not a twelfth part of the inhabitants. Messange, Recherches +sui la Population, p. 186.] + +[Footnote 56: A learned slave sold for many hundred pounds sterling: +Atticus always bred and taught them himself. Cornel. Nepos in Vit. c. +13, [on the prices of slaves. Blair, 149.]--M.] + +[Footnote 57: Many of the Roman physicians were slaves. See Dr. +Middleton's Dissertation and Defence.] + +[Footnote 58: Their ranks and offices are very copiously enumerated by +Pignorius de Servis.] + +[Footnote 59: Tacit. Annal. xiv. 43. They were all executed for not +preventing their master's murder. * Note: The remarkable speech of +Cassius shows the proud feelings of the Roman aristocracy on this +subject.--M] + +[Footnote 60: Apuleius in Apolog. p. 548. edit. Delphin] + +[Footnote 61: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. 47.] + +The number of subjects who acknowledged the laws of Rome, of citizens, +of provincials, and of slaves, cannot now be fixed with such a degree +of accuracy, as the importance of the object would deserve. We are +informed, that when the Emperor Claudius exercised the office of censor, +he took an account of six millions nine hundred and forty-five thousand +Roman citizens, who, with the proportion of women and children, must +have amounted to about twenty millions of souls. The multitude of +subjects of an inferior rank was uncertain and fluctuating. But, after +weighing with attention every circumstance which could influence the +balance, it seems probable that there existed, in the time of Claudius, +about twice as many provincials as there were citizens, of either sex, +and of every age; and that the slaves were at least equal in number to +the free inhabitants of the Roman world. [611] The total amount of this +imperfect calculation would rise to about one hundred and twenty +millions of persons; a degree of population which possibly exceeds that +of modern Europe, [62] and forms the most numerous society that has ever +been united under the same system of government. + +[Footnote 611]: According to Robertson, there were twice as many slaves +as free citizens.--G. Mr. Blair (p. 15) estimates three slaves to one +freeman, between the conquest of Greece, B.C. 146, and the reign of +Alexander Severus, A. D. 222, 235. The proportion was probably larger +in Italy than in the provinces.--M. On the other hand, Zumpt, in his +Dissertation quoted below, (p. 86,) asserts it to be a gross error +in Gibbon to reckon the number of slaves equal to that of the free +population. The luxury and magnificence of the great, (he observes,) at +the commencement of the empire, must not be taken as the groundwork of +calculations for the whole Roman world. "The agricultural laborer, and +the artisan, in Spain, Gaul, Britain, Syria, and Egypt, maintained +himself, as in the present day, by his own labor and that of his +household, without possessing a single slave." The latter part of my +note was intended to suggest this consideration. Yet so completely was +slavery rooted in the social system, both in the east and the west, that +in the great diffusion of wealth at this time, every one, I doubt not, +who could afford a domestic slave, kept one; and generally, the number +of slaves was in proportion to the wealth. I do not believe that the +cultivation of the soil by slaves was confined to Italy; the holders +of large estates in the provinces would probably, either from choice +or necessity, adopt the same mode of cultivation. The latifundia, says +Pliny, had ruined Italy, and had begun to ruin the provinces. Slaves +were no doubt employed in agricultural labor to a great extent in +Sicily, and were the estates of those six enormous landholders who +were said to have possessed the whole province of Africa, cultivated +altogether by free coloni? Whatever may have been the case in the rural +districts, in the towns and cities the household duties were almost +entirely discharged by slaves, and vast numbers belonged to the public +establishments. I do not, however, differ so far from Zumpt, and from +M. Dureau de la Malle, as to adopt the higher and bolder estimate of +Robertson and Mr. Blair, rather than the more cautious suggestions of +Gibbon. I would reduce rather than increase the proportion of the slave +population. The very ingenious and elaborate calculations of the French +writer, by which he deduces the amount of the population from the +produce and consumption of corn in Italy, appear to me neither precise +nor satisfactory bases for such complicated political arithmetic. +I am least satisfied with his views as to the population of the city +of Rome; but this point will be more fitly reserved for a note on the +thirty-first chapter of Gibbon. The work, however, of M. Dureau de la +Malle is very curious and full on some of the minuter points of Roman +statistics.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 62: Compute twenty millions in France, twenty-two in Germany, +four in Hungary, ten in Italy with its islands, eight in Great Britain +and Ireland, eight in Spain and Portugal, ten or twelve in the European +Russia, six in Poland, six in Greece and Turkey, four in Sweden, three +in Denmark and Norway, four in the Low Countries. The whole would +amount to one hundred and five, or one hundred and seven millions. See +Voltaire, de l'Histoire Generale. * Note: The present population of +Europe is estimated at 227,700,000. Malts Bran, Geogr. Trans edit. 1832 +See details in the different volumes Another authority, (Almanach de +Gotha,) quoted in a recent English publication, gives the following +details:-- + +France, 32,897,521 Germany, (including Hungary, Prussian and Austrian +Poland,) 56,136,213 Italy, 20,548,616 Great Britain and Ireland, +24,062,947 Spain and Portugal, 13,953,959. 3,144,000 Russia, including +Poland, 44,220,600 Cracow, 128,480 Turkey, (including Pachalic of +Dschesair,) 9,545,300 Greece, 637,700 Ionian Islands, 208,100 Sweden and +Norway, 3,914,963 Denmark, 2,012,998 Belgium, 3,533,538 Holland, +2,444,550 Switzerland, 985,000. Total, 219,344,116 + +Since the publication of my first annotated edition of Gibbon, the +subject of the population of the Roman empire has been investigated by +two writers of great industry and learning; Mons. Dureau de la Malle, in +his Economie Politique des Romains, liv. ii. c. 1. to 8, and M. Zumpt, +in a dissertation printed in the Transactions of the Berlin Academy, +1840. M. Dureau de la Malle confines his inquiry almost entirely to +the city of Rome, and Roman Italy. Zumpt examines at greater length +the axiom, which he supposes to have been assumed by Gibbon as +unquestionable, "that Italy and the Roman world was never so populous +as in the time of the Antonines." Though this probably was Gibbon's +opinion, he has not stated it so peremptorily as asserted by Mr. Zumpt. +It had before been expressly laid down by Hume, and his statement was +controverted by Wallace and by Malthus. Gibbon says (p. 84) that there +is no reason to believe the country (of Italy) less populous in the age +of the Antonines, than in that of Romulus; and Zumpt acknowledges that +we have no satisfactory knowledge of the state of Italy at that early +age. Zumpt, in my opinion with some reason, takes the period just before +the first Punic war, as that in which Roman Italy (all south of the +Rubicon) was most populous. From that time, the numbers began to +diminish, at first from the enormous waste of life out of the free +population in the foreign, and afterwards in the civil wars; from the +cultivation of the soil by slaves; towards the close of the republic, +from the repugnance to marriage, which resisted alike the dread of legal +punishment and the offer of legal immunity and privilege; and from the +depravity of manners, which interfered with the procreation, the birth, +and the rearing of children. The arguments and the authorities of Zumpt +are equally conclusive as to the decline of population in Greece. +Still the details, which he himself adduces as to the prosperity and +populousness of Asia Minor, and the whole of the Roman East, with the +advancement of the European provinces, especially Gaul, Spain, and +Britain, in civilization, and therefore in populousness, (for I have +no confidence in the vast numbers sometimes assigned to the barbarous +inhabitants of these countries,) may, I think, fairly compensate for any +deduction to be made from Gibbon's general estimate on account of Greece +and Italy. Gibbon himself acknowledges his own estimate to be vague and +conjectural; and I may venture to recommend the dissertation of Zumpt as +deserving respectful consideration.--M 1815.] + + + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part III. + +Domestic peace and union were the natural consequences of the moderate +and comprehensive policy embraced by the Romans. If we turn our eyes +towards the monarchies of Asia, we shall behold despotism in the centre, +and weakness in the extremities; the collection of the revenue, or the +administration of justice, enforced by the presence of an army; hostile +barbarians established in the heart of the country, hereditary satraps +usurping the dominion of the provinces, and subjects inclined to +rebellion, though incapable of freedom. But the obedience of the Roman +world was uniform, voluntary, and permanent. The vanquished nations, +blended into one great people, resigned the hope, nay, even the wish, of +resuming their independence, and scarcely considered their own existence +as distinct from the existence of Rome. The established authority of the +emperors pervaded without an effort the wide extent of their dominions, +and was exercised with the same facility on the banks of the Thames, +or of the Nile, as on those of the Tyber. The legions were destined to +serve against the public enemy, and the civil magistrate seldom required +the aid of a military force. [63] In this state of general security, +the leisure, as well as opulence, both of the prince and people, were +devoted to improve and to adorn the Roman empire. + +[Footnote 63: Joseph. de Bell. Judaico, l. ii. c. 16. The oration of +Agrippa, or rather of the historian, is a fine picture of the Roman +empire.] + +Among the innumerable monuments of architecture constructed by the +Romans, how many have escaped the notice of history, how few have +resisted the ravages of time and barbarism! And yet, even the majestic +ruins that are still scattered over Italy and the provinces, would be +sufficient to prove that those countries were once the seat of a polite +and powerful empire. Their greatness alone, or their beauty, might +deserve our attention: but they are rendered more interesting, by two +important circumstances, which connect the agreeable history of the arts +with the more useful history of human manners. Many of those works were +erected at private expense, and almost all were intended for public +benefit. + +It is natural to suppose that the greatest number, as well as the most +considerable of the Roman edifices, were raised by the emperors, who +possessed so unbounded a command both of men and money. Augustus was +accustomed to boast that he had found his capital of brick, and that +he had left it of marble. [64] The strict economy of Vespasian was the +source of his magnificence. The works of Trajan bear the stamp of his +genius. The public monuments with which Hadrian adorned every province +of the empire, were executed not only by his orders, but under his +immediate inspection. He was himself an artist; and he loved the arts, +as they conduced to the glory of the monarch. They were encouraged by +the Antonines, as they contributed to the happiness of the people. But +if the emperors were the first, they were not the only architects +of their dominions. Their example was universally imitated by their +principal subjects, who were not afraid of declaring to the world that +they had spirit to conceive, and wealth to accomplish, the noblest +undertakings. Scarcely had the proud structure of the Coliseum been +dedicated at Rome, before the edifices, of a smaller scale indeed, but +of the same design and materials, were erected for the use, and at the +expense, of the cities of Capua and Verona. [65] The inscription of the +stupendous bridge of Alcantara attests that it was thrown over the Tagus +by the contribution of a few Lusitanian communities. When Pliny was +intrusted with the government of Bithynia and Pontus, provinces by +no means the richest or most considerable of the empire, he found the +cities within his jurisdiction striving with each other in every useful +and ornamental work, that might deserve the curiosity of strangers, or +the gratitude of their citizens. It was the duty of the proconsul to +supply their deficiencies, to direct their taste, and sometimes to +moderate their emulation. [66] The opulent senators of Rome and the +provinces esteemed it an honor, and almost an obligation, to adorn the +splendor of their age and country; and the influence of fashion very +frequently supplied the want of taste or generosity. Among a crowd of +these private benefactors, we may select Herodes Atticus, an Athenian +citizen, who lived in the age of the Antonines. Whatever might be the +motive of his conduct, his magnificence would have been worthy of the +greatest kings. + +[Footnote 64: Sueton. in August. c. 28. Augustus built in Rome the +temple and forum of Mars the Avenger; the temple of Jupiter Tonans in +the Capitol; that of Apollo Palatine, with public libraries; the portico +and basilica of Caius and Lucius; the porticos of Livia and Octavia; and +the theatre of Marcellus. The example of the sovereign was imitated by +his ministers and generals; and his friend Agrippa left behind him the +immortal monument of the Pantheon.] [See Theatre Of Marcellus: Augustus +built in Rome the theatre of Marcellus.] + +[Footnote 65: See Maffei, Veroni Illustrata, l. iv. p. 68.] + +[Footnote 66: See the xth book of Pliny's Epistles. He mentions the +following works carried on at the expense of the cities. At Nicomedia, a +new forum, an aqueduct, and a canal, left unfinished by a king; at Nice, +a gymnasium, and a theatre, which had already cost near ninety thousand +pounds; baths at Prusa and Claudiopolis, and an aqueduct of sixteen +miles in length for the use of Sinope.] + + +The family of Herod, at least after it had been favored by fortune, was +lineally descended from Cimon and Miltiades, Theseus and Cecrops, Aeacus +and Jupiter. But the posterity of so many gods and heroes was fallen +into the most abject state. His grandfather had suffered by the hands +of justice, and Julius Atticus, his father, must have ended his life in +poverty and contempt, had he not discovered an immense treasure buried +under an old house, the last remains of his patrimony. According to the +rigor of the law, the emperor might have asserted his claim, and the +prudent Atticus prevented, by a frank confession, the officiousness of +informers. But the equitable Nerva, who then filled the throne, refused +to accept any part of it, and commanded him to use, without scruple, +the present of fortune. The cautious Athenian still insisted, that the +treasure was too considerable for a subject, and that he knew not how +to use it. Abuse it then, replied the monarch, with a good-natured +peevishness; for it is your own. [67] Many will be of opinion, that +Atticus literally obeyed the emperor's last instructions; since he +expended the greatest part of his fortune, which was much increased by +an advantageous marriage, in the service of the public. He had obtained +for his son Herod the prefecture of the free cities of Asia; and the +young magistrate, observing that the town of Troas was indifferently +supplied with water, obtained from the munificence of Hadrian three +hundred myriads of drachms, (about a hundred thousand pounds,) for the +construction of a new aqueduct. But in the execution of the work, the +charge amounted to more than double the estimate, and the officers of +the revenue began to murmur, till the generous Atticus silenced their +complaints, by requesting that he might be permitted to take upon +himself the whole additional expense. [68] + +[Footnote 67: Hadrian afterwards made a very equitable regulation, which +divided all treasure-trove between the right of property and that of +discovery. Hist. August. p. 9.] + +[Footnote 68: Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. l. ii. p. 548.] + +The ablest preceptors of Greece and Asia had been invited by liberal +rewards to direct the education of young Herod. Their pupil soon became +a celebrated orator, according to the useless rhetoric of that age, +which, confining itself to the schools, disdained to visit either the +Forum or the Senate. + +He was honored with the consulship at Rome: but the greatest part of his +life was spent in a philosophic retirement at Athens, and his adjacent +villas; perpetually surrounded by sophists, who acknowledged, without +reluctance, the superiority of a rich and generous rival. [69] The +monuments of his genius have perished; some considerable ruins still +preserve the fame of his taste and munificence: modern travellers have +measured the remains of the stadium which he constructed at Athens. It +was six hundred feet in length, built entirely of white marble, capable +of admitting the whole body of the people, and finished in four years, +whilst Herod was president of the Athenian games. To the memory of his +wife Regilla he dedicated a theatre, scarcely to be paralleled in the +empire: no wood except cedar, very curiously carved, was employed in +any part of the building. The Odeum, [691] designed by Pericles for musical +performances, and the rehearsal of new tragedies, had been a trophy of +the victory of the arts over barbaric greatness; as the timbers employed +in the construction consisted chiefly of the masts of the Persian +vessels. Notwithstanding the repairs bestowed on that ancient edifice by +a king of Cappadocia, it was again fallen to decay. Herod restored +its ancient beauty and magnificence. Nor was the liberality of that +illustrious citizen confined to the walls of Athens. The most splendid +ornaments bestowed on the temple of Neptune in the Isthmus, a theatre at +Corinth, a stadium at Delphi, a bath at Thermopylae, and an aqueduct +at Canusium in Italy, were insufficient to exhaust his treasures. +The people of Epirus, Thessaly, Euboea, Boeotia, and Peloponnesus, +experienced his favors; and many inscriptions of the cities of Greece +and Asia gratefully style Herodes Atticus their patron and benefactor. +[70] + +[Footnote 69: Aulus Gellius, in Noct. Attic. i. 2, ix. 2, xviii. 10, +xix. 12. Phil ostrat. p. 564.] + +[Footnote 691: The Odeum served for the rehearsal of new comedies as well +as tragedies; they were read or repeated, before representation, without +music or decorations, &c. No piece could be represented in the theatre +if it had not been previously approved by judges for this purpose. +The king of Cappadocia who restored the Odeum, which had been burnt by +Sylla, was Araobarzanes. See Martini, Dissertation on the Odeons of the +Ancients, Leipsic. 1767, p. 10--91.--W.] + +[Footnote 70: See Philostrat. l. ii. p. 548, 560. Pausanias, l. i. and +vii. 10. The life of Herodes, in the xxxth volume of the Memoirs of the +Academy of Inscriptions.] + +In the commonwealths of Athens and Rome, the modest simplicity of +private houses announced the equal condition of freedom; whilst the +sovereignty of the people was represented in the majestic edifices +designed to the public use; [71] nor was this republican spirit totally +extinguished by the introduction of wealth and monarchy. It was in works +of national honor and benefit, that the most virtuous of the emperors +affected to display their magnificence. The golden palace of Nero +excited a just indignation, but the vast extent of ground which had been +usurped by his selfish luxury was more nobly filled under the succeeding +reigns by the Coliseum, the baths of Titus, the Claudian portico, and +the temples dedicated to the goddess of Peace, and to the genius of +Rome. [72] These monuments of architecture, the property of the Roman +people, were adorned with the most beautiful productions of Grecian +painting and sculpture; and in the temple of Peace, a very curious +library was open to the curiosity of the learned. [721] At a small distance +from thence was situated the Forum of Trajan. It was surrounded by a +lofty portico, in the form of a quadrangle, into which four triumphal +arches opened a noble and spacious entrance: in the centre arose a +column of marble, whose height, of one hundred and ten feet, denoted the +elevation of the hill that had been cut away. This column, which still +subsists in its ancient beauty, exhibited an exact representation of the +Dacian victories of its founder. The veteran soldier contemplated the +story of his own campaigns, and by an easy illusion of national vanity, +the peaceful citizen associated himself to the honors of the triumph. +All the other quarters of the capital, and all the provinces of +the empire, were embellished by the same liberal spirit of public +magnificence, and were filled with amphitheatres, theatres, temples, +porticoes, triumphal arches, baths and aqueducts, all variously +conducive to the health, the devotion, and the pleasures of the meanest +citizen. The last mentioned of those edifices deserve our peculiar +attention. The boldness of the enterprise, the solidity of the +execution, and the uses to which they were subservient, rank the +aqueducts among the noblest monuments of Roman genius and power. The +aqueducts of the capital claim a just preeminence; but the curious +traveller, who, without the light of history, should examine those of +Spoleto, of Metz, or of Segovia, would very naturally conclude that +those provincial towns had formerly been the residence of some potent +monarch. The solitudes of Asia and Africa were once covered with +flourishing cities, whose populousness, and even whose existence, was +derived from such artificial supplies of a perennial stream of fresh +water. [73] + +[Footnote 71: It is particularly remarked of Athens by Dicaearchus, de +Statu Graeciae, p. 8, inter Geographos Minores, edit. Hudson.] + +[Footnote 72: Donatus de Roma Vetere, l. iii. c. 4, 5, 6. Nardini Roma +Antica, l. iii. 11, 12, 13, and a Ms. description of ancient Rome, by +Bernardus Oricellarius, or Rucellai, of which I obtained a copy from +the library of the Canon Ricardi at Florence. Two celebrated pictures of +Timanthes and of Protogenes are mentioned by Pliny, as in the Temple of +Peace; and the Laocoon was found in the baths of Titus.] + +[Footnote 721: The Emperor Vespasian, who had caused the Temple of Peace +to be built, transported to it the greatest part of the pictures, +statues, and other works of art which had escaped the civil tumults. It +was there that every day the artists and the learned of Rome assembled; +and it is on the site of this temple that a multitude of antiques +have been dug up. See notes of Reimar on Dion Cassius, lxvi. c. 15, p. +1083.--W.] + +[Footnote 73: Montfaucon l'Antiquite Expliquee, tom. iv. p. 2, l. i. +c. 9. Fabretti has composed a very learned treatise on the aqueducts of +Rome.] + +We have computed the inhabitants, and contemplated the public works, +of the Roman empire. The observation of the number and greatness of its +cities will serve to confirm the former, and to multiply the latter. It +may not be unpleasing to collect a few scattered instances relative +to that subject without forgetting, however, that from the vanity of +nations and the poverty of language, the vague appellation of city has +been indifferently bestowed on Rome and upon Laurentum. + +I. Ancient Italy is said to have contained eleven hundred and +ninety-seven cities; and for whatsoever aera of antiquity the expression +might be intended, [74] there is not any reason to believe the country +less populous in the age of the Antonines, than in that of Romulus. +The petty states of Latium were contained within the metropolis of the +empire, by whose superior influence they had been attracted. [741] Those +parts of Italy which have so long languished under the lazy tyranny +of priests and viceroys, had been afflicted only by the more tolerable +calamities of war; and the first symptoms of decay which they +experienced, were amply compensated by the rapid improvements of the +Cisalpine Gaul. The splendor of Verona may be traced in its remains: yet +Verona was less celebrated than Aquileia or Padua, Milan or Ravenna. II. +The spirit of improvement had passed the Alps, and been felt even in the +woods of Britain, which were gradually cleared away to open a free space +for convenient and elegant habitations. York was the seat of government; +London was already enriched by commerce; and Bath was celebrated for the +salutary effects of its medicinal waters. Gaul could boast of her twelve +hundred cities; [75] and though, in the northern parts, many of them, +without excepting Paris itself, were little more than the rude and +imperfect townships of a rising people, the southern provinces imitated +the wealth and elegance of Italy. [76] Many were the cities of Gaul, +Marseilles, Arles, Nismes, Narbonne, Thoulouse, Bourdeaux, Autun, +Vienna, Lyons, Langres, and Treves, whose ancient condition might +sustain an equal, and perhaps advantageous comparison with their present +state. With regard to Spain, that country flourished as a province, and +has declined as a kingdom. Exhausted by the abuse of her strength, by +America, and by superstition, her pride might possibly be confounded, if +we required such a list of three hundred and sixty cities, as Pliny has +exhibited under the reign of Vespasian. [77] III. Three hundred African +cities had once acknowledged the authority of Carthage, [78] nor is it +likely that their numbers diminished under the administration of the +emperors: Carthage itself rose with new splendor from its ashes; and +that capital, as well as Capua and Corinth, soon recovered all the +advantages which can be separated from independent sovereignty. IV. The +provinces of the East present the contrast of Roman magnificence with +Turkish barbarism. The ruins of antiquity scattered over uncultivated +fields, and ascribed, by ignorance to the power of magic, scarcely +afford a shelter to the oppressed peasant or wandering Arab. Under +the reign of the Caesars, the proper Asia alone contained five hundred +populous cities, [79] enriched with all the gifts of nature, and adorned +with all the refinements of art. Eleven cities of Asia had once disputed +the honor of dedicating a temple of Tiberius, and their respective +merits were examined by the senate. [80] Four of them were immediately +rejected as unequal to the burden; and among these was Laodicea, whose +splendor is still displayed in its ruins. [81] Laodicea collected a +very considerable revenue from its flocks of sheep, celebrated for the +fineness of their wool, and had received, a little before the contest, +a legacy of above four hundred thousand pounds by the testament of a +generous citizen. [82] If such was the poverty of Laodicea, what must +have been the wealth of those cities, whose claim appeared preferable, +and particularly of Pergamus, of Smyrna, and of Ephesus, who so long +disputed with each other the titular primacy of Asia? [83] The capitals +of Syria and Egypt held a still superior rank in the empire; Antioch and +Alexandria looked down with disdain on a crowd of dependent cities, [84] +and yielded, with reluctance, to the majesty of Rome itself. + +[Footnote 74: Aelian. Hist. Var. lib. ix. c. 16. He lived in the time of +Alexander Severus. See Fabricius, Biblioth. Graeca, l. iv. c. 21.] + +[Footnote 741: This may in some degree account for the difficulty started +by Livy, as to the incredibly numerous armies raised by the small states +around Rome where, in his time, a scanty stock of free soldiers among +a larger population of Roman slaves broke the solitude. Vix seminario +exiguo militum relicto servitia Romana ab solitudine vindicant, Liv. vi. +vii. Compare Appian Bel Civ. i. 7.--M. subst. for G.] + +[Footnote 75: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. The number, however, is +mentioned, and should be received with a degree of latitude. Note: +Without doubt no reliance can be placed on this passage of Josephus. The +historian makes Agrippa give advice to the Jews, as to the power of +the Romans; and the speech is full of declamation which can furnish no +conclusions to history. While enumerating the nations subject to the +Romans, he speaks of the Gauls as submitting to 1200 soldiers, (which is +false, as there were eight legions in Gaul, Tac. iv. 5,) while there are +nearly twelve hundred cities.--G. Josephus (infra) places these eight +legions on the Rhine, as Tacitus does.--M.] + +[Footnote 76: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5.] + +[Footnote 77: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 3, 4, iv. 35. The list seems +authentic and accurate; the division of the provinces, and the different +condition of the cities, are minutely distinguished.] + +[Footnote 78: Strabon. Geograph. l. xvii. p. 1189.] + +[Footnote 79: Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16. Philostrat. in Vit. Sophist. +l. ii. p. 548, edit. Olear.] + +[Footnote 80: Tacit. Annal. iv. 55. I have taken some pains in +consulting and comparing modern travellers, with regard to the fate +of those eleven cities of Asia. Seven or eight are totally destroyed: +Hypaepe, Tralles, Laodicea, Hium, Halicarnassus, Miletus, Ephesus, and +we may add Sardes. Of the remaining three, Pergamus is a straggling +village of two or three thousand inhabitants; Magnesia, under the name +of Guzelhissar, a town of some consequence; and Smyrna, a great city, +peopled by a hundred thousand souls. But even at Smyrna, while the +Franks have maintained a commerce, the Turks have ruined the arts.] + +[Footnote 81: See a very exact and pleasing description of the ruins of +Laodicea, in Chandler's Travels through Asia Minor, p. 225, &c.] + +[Footnote 82: Strabo, l. xii. p. 866. He had studied at Tralles.] + +[Footnote 83: See a Dissertation of M. de Boze, Mem. de l'Academie, +tom. xviii. Aristides pronounced an oration, which is still extant, to +recommend concord to the rival cities.] + +[Footnote 84: The inhabitants of Egypt, exclusive of Alexandria, +amounted to seven millions and a half, (Joseph. de Bell. Jud. ii. 16.) +Under the military government of the Mamelukes, Syria was supposed to +contain sixty thousand villages, (Histoire de Timur Bec, l. v. c. 20.)] + + + + +Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The Antonines. Part IV. + +All these cities were connected with each other, and with the capital, +by the public highways, which, issuing from the Forum of Rome, traversed +Italy, pervaded the provinces, and were terminated only by the frontiers +of the empire. If we carefully trace the distance from the wall of +Antoninus to Rome, and from thence to Jerusalem, it will be found that +the great chain of communication, from the north-west to the south-east +point of the empire, was drawn out to the length of four thousand and +eighty Roman miles. [85] The public roads were accurately divided by +mile-stones, and ran in a direct line from one city to another, with +very little respect for the obstacles either of nature or private +property. Mountains were perforated, and bold arches thrown over the +broadest and most rapid streams. [86] The middle part of the road was +raised into a terrace which commanded the adjacent country, consisted +of several strata of sand, gravel, and cement, and was paved with large +stones, or, in some places near the capital, with granite. [87] Such was +the solid construction of the Roman highways, whose firmness has not +entirely yielded to the effort of fifteen centuries. They united +the subjects of the most distant provinces by an easy and familiar +intercourse; but their primary object had been to facilitate the marches +of the legions; nor was any country considered as completely subdued, +till it had been rendered, in all its parts, pervious to the arms and +authority of the conqueror. The advantage of receiving the earliest +intelligence, and of conveying their orders with celerity, induced the +emperors to establish, throughout their extensive dominions, the +regular institution of posts. [88] Houses were every where erected at the +distance only of five or six miles; each of them was constantly provided +with forty horses, and by the help of these relays, it was easy to +travel a hundred miles in a day along the Roman roads. [89] [891] The use +of posts was allowed to those who claimed it by an Imperial mandate; +but though originally intended for the public service, it was sometimes +indulged to the business or conveniency of private citizens. [90] Nor was +the communication of the Roman empire less free and open by sea than it +was by land. The provinces surrounded and enclosed the Mediterranean: +and Italy, in the shape of an immense promontory, advanced into the +midst of that great lake. The coasts of Italy are, in general, destitute +of safe harbors; but human industry had corrected the deficiencies of +nature; and the artificial port of Ostia, in particular, situate at the +mouth of the Tyber, and formed by the emperor Claudius, was a useful +monument of Roman greatness. [91] From this port, which was only sixteen +miles from the capital, a favorable breeze frequently carried vessels in +seven days to the columns of Hercules, and in nine or ten, to Alexandria +in Egypt. [92] + +[See Remains Of Claudian Aquaduct] + +[Footnote 85: The following Itinerary may serve to convey some idea of +the direction of the road, and of the distance between the principal +towns. I. From the wall of Antoninus to York, 222 Roman miles. II. +London, 227. III. Rhutupiae or Sandwich, 67. IV. The navigation to +Boulogne, 45. V. Rheims, 174. VI. Lyons, 330. VII. Milan, 324. VIII. +Rome, 426. IX. Brundusium, 360. X. The navigation to Dyrrachium, 40. XI. +Byzantium, 711. XII. Ancyra, 283. XIII. Tarsus, 301. XIV. Antioch, 141. +XV. Tyre, 252. XVI. Jerusalem, 168. In all 4080 Roman, or 3740 English +miles. See the Itineraries published by Wesseling, his annotations; Gale +and Stukeley for Britain, and M. d'Anville for Gaul and Italy.] + +[Footnote 86: Montfaucon, l'Antiquite Expliquee, (tom. 4, p. 2, l. i. +c. 5,) has described the bridges of Narni, Alcantara, Nismes, &c.] + +[Footnote 87: Bergier, Histoire des grands Chemins de l'Empire Romain, +l. ii. c. l. l--28.] + +[Footnote 88: Procopius in Hist. Arcana, c. 30. Bergier, Hist. des +grands Chemins, l. iv. Codex Theodosian. l. viii. tit. v. vol. ii. p. +506--563 with Godefroy's learned commentary.] + +[Footnote 89: In the time of Theodosius, Caesarius, a magistrate of high +rank, went post from Antioch to Constantinople. He began his journey at +night, was in Cappadocia (165 miles from Antioch) the ensuing evening, +and arrived at Constantinople the sixth day about noon. The whole +distance was 725 Roman, or 665 English miles. See Libanius, Orat. xxii., +and the Itineria, p. 572--581. Note: A courier is mentioned in Walpole's +Travels, ii. 335, who was to travel from Aleppo to Constantinople, more +than 700 miles, in eight days, an unusually short journey.--M.] + +[Footnote 891: Posts for the conveyance of intelligence were established +by Augustus. Suet. Aug. 49. The couriers travelled with amazing speed. +Blair on Roman Slavery, note, p. 261. It is probable that the posts, +from the time of Augustus, were confined to the public service, and +supplied by impressment Nerva, as it appears from a coin of his reign, +made an important change; "he established posts upon all the public +roads of Italy, and made the service chargeable upon his own exchequer. +Hadrian, perceiving the advantage of this improvement, extended it +to all the provinces of the empire." Cardwell on Coins, p. 220.--M.] + +[Footnote 90: Pliny, though a favorite and a minister, made an apology +for granting post-horses to his wife on the most urgent business. Epist. +x. 121, 122.] + +[Footnote 91: Bergier, Hist. des grands Chemins, l. iv. c. 49.] + +[Footnote 92: Plin. Hist. Natur. xix. i. [In Prooem.] * Note: Pliny says +Puteoli, which seems to have been the usual landing place from the East. +See the voyages of St. Paul, Acts xxviii. 13, and of Josephus, Vita, c. +3--M.] + +Whatever evils either reason or declamation have imputed to extensive +empire, the power of Rome was attended with some beneficial consequences +to mankind; and the same freedom of intercourse which extended the +vices, diffused likewise the improvements, of social life. In the more +remote ages of antiquity, the world was unequally divided. The East was +in the immemorial possession of arts and luxury; whilst the West +was inhabited by rude and warlike barbarians, who either disdained +agriculture, or to whom it was totally unknown. Under the protection of +an established government, the productions of happier climates, and the +industry of more civilized nations, were gradually introduced into the +western countries of Europe; and the natives were encouraged, by an open +and profitable commerce, to multiply the former, as well as to improve +the latter. It would be almost impossible to enumerate all the articles, +either of the animal or the vegetable reign, which were successively +imported into Europe from Asia and Egypt: [93] but it will not be +unworthy of the dignity, and much less of the utility, of an historical +work, slightly to touch on a few of the principal heads. 1. Almost +all the flowers, the herbs, and the fruits, that grow in our European +gardens, are of foreign extraction, which, in many cases, is betrayed +even by their names: the apple was a native of Italy, and when the +Romans had tasted the richer flavor of the apricot, the peach, the +pomegranate, the citron, and the orange, they contented themselves +with applying to all these new fruits the common denomination of apple, +discriminating them from each other by the additional epithet of their +country. 2. In the time of Homer, the vine grew wild in the island of +Sicily, and most probably in the adjacent continent; but it was not +improved by the skill, nor did it afford a liquor grateful to the taste, +of the savage inhabitants. [94] A thousand years afterwards, Italy could +boast, that of the fourscore most generous and celebrated wines, more +than two thirds were produced from her soil. [95] The blessing was soon +communicated to the Narbonnese province of Gaul; but so intense was the +cold to the north of the Cevennes, that, in the time of Strabo, it was +thought impossible to ripen the grapes in those parts of Gaul. [96] This +difficulty, however, was gradually vanquished; and there is some reason +to believe, that the vineyards of Burgundy are as old as the age of the +Antonines. [97] 3. The olive, in the western world, followed the progress +of peace, of which it was considered as the symbol. Two centuries after +the foundation of Rome, both Italy and Africa were strangers to that +useful plant: it was naturalized in those countries; and at length +carried into the heart of Spain and Gaul. The timid errors of the +ancients, that it required a certain degree of heat, and could only +flourish in the neighborhood of the sea, were insensibly exploded by +industry and experience. [98] 4. The cultivation of flax was transported +from Egypt to Gaul, and enriched the whole country, however it might +impoverish the particular lands on which it was sown. [99] 5. The use of +artificial grasses became familiar to the farmers both of Italy and the +provinces, particularly the Lucerne, which derived its name and origin +from Media. [100] The assured supply of wholesome and plentiful food for +the cattle during winter, multiplied the number of the docks and herds, +which in their turn contributed to the fertility of the soil. To all +these improvements may be added an assiduous attention to mines and +fisheries, which, by employing a multitude of laborious hands, serve to +increase the pleasures of the rich and the subsistence of the poor. +The elegant treatise of Columella describes the advanced state of the +Spanish husbandry under the reign of Tiberius; and it may be observed, +that those famines, which so frequently afflicted the infant republic, +were seldom or never experienced by the extensive empire of Rome. The +accidental scarcity, in any single province, was immediately relieved by +the plenty of its more fortunate neighbors. + +[Footnote 93: It is not improbable that the Greeks and Phoenicians +introduced some new arts and productions into the neighborhood of +Marseilles and Gades.] + +[Footnote 94: See Homer, Odyss. l. ix. v. 358.] + +[Footnote 95: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xiv.] + +[Footnote 96: Strab. Geograph. l. iv. p. 269. The intense cold of a +Gallic winter was almost proverbial among the ancients. * Note: Strabo +only says that the grape does not ripen. Attempts had been made in the +time of Augustus to naturalize the vine in the north of Gaul; but the +cold was too great. Diod. Sic. edit. Rhodom. p. 304.--W. Diodorus (lib. +v. 26) gives a curious picture of the Italian traders bartering, with +the savages of Gaul, a cask of wine for a slave.--M. --It appears from +the newly discovered treatise of Cicero de Republica, that there was a +law of the republic prohibiting the culture of the vine and olive beyond +the Alps, in order to keep up the value of those in Italy. Nos +justissimi homines, qui transalpinas gentes oleam et vitem serere non +sinimus, quo pluris sint nostra oliveta nostraeque vineae. Lib. iii. 9. +The restrictive law of Domitian was veiled under the decent pretext of +encouraging the cultivation of grain. Suet. Dom. vii. It was repealed by +Probus Vopis Strobus, 18.--M.] + +[Footnote 97: In the beginning of the fourth century, the orator +Eumenius (Panegyr. Veter. viii. 6, edit. Delphin.) speaks of the vines +in the territory of Autun, which were decayed through age, and the +first plantation of which was totally unknown. The Pagus Arebrignus is +supposed by M. d'Anville to be the district of Beaune, celebrated, even +at present for one of the first growths of Burgundy. * Note: This is +proved by a passage of Pliny the Elder, where he speaks of a certain +kind of grape (vitis picata. vinum picatum) which grows naturally to the +district of Vienne, and had recently been transplanted into the country +of the Arverni, (Auvergne,) of the Helvii, (the Vivarias.) and the +Burgundy and Franche Compte. Pliny wrote A.D. 77. Hist. Nat. xiv. 1.-- +W.] + +[Footnote 98: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xv.] + +[Footnote 99: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xix.] + +[Footnote 100: See the agreeable Essays on Agriculture by Mr. Harte, in +which he has collected all that the ancients and moderns have said +of Lucerne.] + +Agriculture is the foundation of manufactures; since the productions of +nature are the materials of art. Under the Roman empire, the labor of an +industrious and ingenious people was variously, but incessantly, +employed in the service of the rich. In their dress, their table, their +houses, and their furniture, the favorites of fortune united every +refinement of conveniency, of elegance, and of splendor, whatever could +soothe their pride or gratify their sensuality. Such refinements, under +the odious name of luxury, have been severely arraigned by the moralists +of every age; and it might perhaps be more conducive to the virtue, as +well as happiness, of mankind, if all possessed the necessaries, and +none the superfluities, of life. But in the present imperfect condition +of society, luxury, though it may proceed from vice or folly, seems to +be the only means that can correct the unequal distribution of property. +The diligent mechanic, and the skilful artist, who have obtained no +share in the division of the earth, receive a voluntary tax from the +possessors of land; and the latter are prompted, by a sense of interest, +to improve those estates, with whose produce they may purchase +additional pleasures. This operation, the particular effects of which +are felt in every society, acted with much more diffusive energy in the +Roman world. The provinces would soon have been exhausted of their +wealth, if the manufactures and commerce of luxury had not insensibly +restored to the industrious subjects the sums which were exacted from +them by the arms and authority of Rome. As long as the circulation was +confined within the bounds of the empire, it impressed the political +machine with a new degree of activity, and its consequences, sometimes +beneficial, could never become pernicious. + +But it is no easy task to confine luxury within the limits of an empire. +The most remote countries of the ancient world were ransacked to supply +the pomp and delicacy of Rome. The forests of Scythia afforded some +valuable furs. Amber was brought over land from the shores of the Baltic +to the Danube; and the barbarians were astonished at the price which +they received in exchange for so useless a commodity. [101] There was a +considerable demand for Babylonian carpets, and other manufactures of +the East; but the most important and unpopular branch of foreign trade +was carried on with Arabia and India. Every year, about the time of the +summer solstice, a fleet of a hundred and twenty vessels sailed +from Myos-hormos, a port of Egypt, on the Red Sea. By the periodical +assistance of the monsoons, they traversed the ocean in about forty +days. The coast of Malabar, or the island of Ceylon, [102] was the usual +term of their navigation, and it was in those markets that the merchants +from the more remote countries of Asia expected their arrival. The +return of the fleet of Egypt was fixed to the months of December or +January; and as soon as their rich cargo had been transported on the +backs of camels, from the Red Sea to the Nile, and had descended that +river as far as Alexandria, it was poured, without delay, into the +capital of the empire. [103] The objects of oriental traffic were +splendid and trifling; silk, a pound of which was esteemed not inferior +in value to a pound of gold; [104] precious stones, among which the +pearl claimed the first rank after the diamond; [105] and a variety +of aromatics, that were consumed in religious worship and the pomp of +funerals. The labor and risk of the voyage was rewarded with almost +incredible profit; but the profit was made upon Roman subjects, and +a few individuals were enriched at the expense of the public. As the +natives of Arabia and India were contented with the productions and +manufactures of their own country, silver, on the side of the Romans, +was the principal, if not the only [1051] instrument of commerce. It was a +complaint worthy of the gravity of the senate, that, in the purchase of +female ornaments, the wealth of the state was irrecoverably given away +to foreign and hostile nations. [106] The annual loss is computed, by +a writer of an inquisitive but censorious temper, at upwards of eight +hundred thousand pounds sterling. [107] Such was the style of discontent, +brooding over the dark prospect of approaching poverty. And yet, if we +compare the proportion between gold and silver, as it stood in the time +of Pliny, and as it was fixed in the reign of Constantine, we shall +discover within that period a very considerable increase. [108] There is +not the least reason to suppose that gold was become more scarce; it is +therefore evident that silver was grown more common; that whatever might +be the amount of the Indian and Arabian exports, they were far from +exhausting the wealth of the Roman world; and that the produce of the +mines abundantly supplied the demands of commerce. + +[Footnote 101: Tacit. Germania, c. 45. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxvii. 13. The +latter observed, with some humor, that even fashion had not yet found +out the use of amber. Nero sent a Roman knight to purchase great +quantities on the spot where it was produced, the coast of modern +Prussia.] + +[Footnote 102: Called Taprobana by the Romans, and Serindib by the +Arabs. It was discovered under the reign of Claudius, and gradually +became the principal mart of the East.] + +[Footnote 103: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. vi. Strabo, l. xvii.] + +[Footnote 104: Hist. August. p. 224. A silk garment was considered as an +ornament to a woman, but as a disgrace to a man.] + +[Footnote 105: The two great pearl fisheries were the same as at +present, Ormuz and Cape Comorin. As well as we can compare ancient +with modern geography, Rome was supplied with diamonds from the mine +of Jumelpur, in Bengal, which is described in the Voyages de Tavernier, +tom. ii. p. 281.] + +[Footnote 1051: Certainly not the only one. The Indians were not so +contented with regard to foreign productions. Arrian has a long list of +European wares, which they received in exchange for their own; Italian +and other wines, brass, tin, lead, coral, chrysolith, storax, glass, +dresses of one or many colors, zones, &c. See Periplus Maris Erythraei +in Hudson, Geogr. Min. i. p. 27.--W. The German translator observes that +Gibbon has confined the use of aromatics to religious worship and +funerals. His error seems the omission of other spices, of which the +Romans must have consumed great quantities in their cookery. Wenck, +however, admits that silver was the chief article of exchange.--M. +In 1787, a peasant (near Nellore in the Carnatic) struck, in digging, +on the remains of a Hindu temple; he found, also, a pot which contained +Roman coins and medals of the second century, mostly Trajans, Adrians, +and Faustinas, all of gold, many of them fresh and beautiful, others +defaced or perforated, as if they had been worn as ornaments. (Asiatic +Researches, ii. 19.)--M.] + +[Footnote 106: Tacit. Annal. iii. 53. In a speech of Tiberius.] + +[Footnote 107: Plin. Hist. Natur. xii. 18. In another place he computes +half that sum; Quingenties H. S. for India exclusive of Arabia.] + +[Footnote 108: The proportion, which was 1 to 10, and 12 1/2, rose to +14 2/5, the legal regulation of Constantine. See Arbuthnot's Tables of +ancient Coins, c. 5.] + +Notwithstanding the propensity of mankind to exalt the past, and to +depreciate the present, the tranquil and prosperous state of the empire +was warmly felt, and honestly confessed, by the provincials as well +as Romans. "They acknowledged that the true principles of social life, +laws, agriculture, and science, which had been first invented by the +wisdom of Athens, were now firmly established by the power of Rome, +under whose auspicious influence the fiercest barbarians were united +by an equal government and common language. They affirm, that with the +improvement of arts, the human species were visibly multiplied. They +celebrate the increasing splendor of the cities, the beautiful face of +the country, cultivated and adorned like an immense garden; and the long +festival of peace which was enjoyed by so many nations, forgetful of +the ancient animosities, and delivered from the apprehension of future +danger." [109] Whatever suspicions may be suggested by the air of +rhetoric and declamation, which seems to prevail in these passages, the +substance of them is perfectly agreeable to historic truth. + +[Footnote 109: Among many other passages, see Pliny, (Hist. Natur. iii. +5.) Aristides, (de Urbe Roma,) and Tertullian, (de Anima, c. 30.)] + +It was scarcely possible that the eyes of contemporaries should discover +in the public felicity the latent causes of decay and corruption. This +long peace, and the uniform government of the Romans, introduced a slow +and secret poison into the vitals of the empire. The minds of men were +gradually reduced to the same level, the fire of genius was +extinguished, and even the military spirit evaporated. The natives of +Europe were brave and robust. Spain, Gaul, Britain, and Illyricum +supplied the legions with excellent soldiers, and constituted the real +strength of the monarchy. Their personal valor remained, but they no +longer possessed that public courage which is nourished by the love of +independence, the sense of national honor, the presence of danger, and +the habit of command. They received laws and governors from the will of +their sovereign, and trusted for their defence to a mercenary army. The +posterity of their boldest leaders was contented with the rank of +citizens and subjects. The most aspiring spirits resorted to the court +or standard of the emperors; and the deserted provinces, deprived of +political strength or union, insensibly sunk into the languid +indifference of private life. + +The love of letters, almost inseparable from peace and refinement, was +fashionable among the subjects of Hadrian and the Antonines, who were +themselves men of learning and curiosity. It was diffused over the whole +extent of their empire; the most northern tribes of Britons had acquired +a taste for rhetoric; Homer as well as Virgil were transcribed and +studied on the banks of the Rhine and Danube; and the most liberal +rewards sought out the faintest glimmerings of literary merit. [110] The +sciences of physic and astronomy were successfully cultivated by the +Greeks; the observations of Ptolemy and the writings of Galen are +studied by those who have improved their discoveries and corrected their +errors; but if we except the inimitable Lucian, this age of indolence +passed away without having produced a single writer of original genius, +or who excelled in the arts of elegant composition. The authority of +Plato and Aristotle, of Zeno and Epicurus, still reigned in the schools; +and their systems, transmitted with blind deference from one generation +of disciples to another, precluded every generous attempt to exercise +the powers, or enlarge the limits, of the human mind. The beauties +of the poets and orators, instead of kindling a fire like their own, +inspired only cold and servile imitations: or if any ventured to deviate +from those models, they deviated at the same time from good sense +and propriety. On the revival of letters, the youthful vigor of the +imagination, after a long repose, national emulation, a new religion, +new languages, and a new world, called forth the genius of Europe. +But the provincials of Rome, trained by a uniform artificial foreign +education, were engaged in a very unequal competition with those bold +ancients, who, by expressing their genuine feelings in their native +tongue, had already occupied every place of honor. The name of Poet was +almost forgotten; that of Orator was usurped by the sophists. A cloud of +critics, of compilers, of commentators, darkened the face of learning, +and the decline of genius was soon followed by the corruption of +taste.[1101] + +[Footnote 110: Herodes Atticus gave the sophist Polemo above eight +thousand pounds for three declamations. See Philostrat. l. i. p. 538. +The Antonines founded a school at Athens, in which professors of +grammar, rhetoric, politics, and the four great sects of philosophy were +maintained at the public expense for the instruction of youth. The +salary of a philosopher was ten thousand drachmae, between three and +four hundred pounds a year. Similar establishments were formed in the +other great cities of the empire. See Lucian in Eunuch. tom. ii. p. 352, +edit. Reitz. Philostrat. l. ii. p. 566. Hist. August. p. 21. Dion +Cassius, l. lxxi. p. 1195. Juvenal himself, in a morose satire, which in +every line betrays his own disappointment and envy, is obliged, however, +to say,--"--O Juvenes, circumspicit et stimulat vos. Materiamque sibi +Ducis indulgentia quaerit."--Satir. vii. 20. Note: Vespasian first gave +a salary to professors: he assigned to each professor of rhetoric, Greek +and Roman, centena sestertia. (Sueton. in Vesp. 18). Hadrian and the +Antonines, though still liberal, were less profuse.--G. from W. +Suetonius wrote annua centena L. 807, 5, 10.--M.] + +[Footnote 1101: This judgment is rather severe: besides the physicians, +astronomers, and grammarians, among whom there were some very +distinguished men, there were still, under Hadrian, Suetonius, Florus, +Plutarch; under the Antonines, Arrian, Pausanias, Appian, Marcus +Aurelius himself, Sextus Empiricus, &c. Jurisprudence gained much by the +labors of Salvius Julianus, Julius Celsus, Sex. Pomponius, Caius, and +others.--G. from W. Yet where, among these, is the writer of original +genius, unless, perhaps Plutarch? or even of a style really elegant?-- +M.] + +The sublime Longinus, who, in somewhat a later period, and in the court +of a Syrian queen, preserved the spirit of ancient Athens, observes +and laments this degeneracy of his contemporaries, which debased their +sentiments, enervated their courage, and depressed their talents. "In +the same manner," says he, "as some children always remain pygmies, +whose infant limbs have been too closely confined, thus our tender +minds, fettered by the prejudices and habits of a just servitude, +are unable to expand themselves, or to attain that well-proportioned +greatness which we admire in the ancients; who, living under a popular +government, wrote with the same freedom as they acted." [111] This +diminutive stature of mankind, if we pursue the metaphor, was daily +sinking below the old standard, and the Roman world was indeed peopled +by a race of pygmies; when the fierce giants of the north broke in, +and mended the puny breed. They restored a manly spirit of freedom; and +after the revolution of ten centuries, freedom became the happy parent +of taste and science. + +[Footnote 111: Longin. de Sublim. c. 44, p. 229, edit. Toll. Here, too, +we may say of Longinus, "his own example strengthens all his laws." +Instead of proposing his sentiments with a manly boldness, he insinuates +them with the most guarded caution; puts them into the mouth of a +friend, and as far as we can collect from a corrupted text, makes a show +of refuting them himself.] + + + + + +Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part I. + + Of The Constitution Of The Roman Empire, In The Age Of The + Antonines. + +The obvious definition of a monarchy seems to be that of a state, in +which a single person, by whatsoever name he may be distinguished, is +intrusted with the execution of the laws, the management of the revenue, +and the command of the army. But, unless public liberty is protected +by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a +magistrate will soon degenerate into despotism. The influence of the +clergy, in an age of superstition, might be usefully employed to assert +the rights of mankind; but so intimate is the connection between the +throne and the altar, that the banner of the church has very seldom +been seen on the side of the people. [101] A martial nobility and +stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and +collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only balance capable +of preserving a free constitution against enterprises of an aspiring +prince. + +[Footnote 101: Often enough in the ages of superstition, but not in the +interest of the people or the state, but in that of the church to which +all others were subordinate. Yet the power of the pope has often been of +great service in repressing the excesses of sovereigns, and in softening +manners.--W. The history of the Italian republics proves the error of +Gibbon, and the justice of his German translator's comment.--M.] + +Every barrier of the Roman constitution had been levelled by the vast +ambition of the dictator; every fence had been extirpated by the cruel +hand of the triumvir. After the victory of Actium, the fate of the +Roman world depended on the will of Octavianus, surnamed Caesar, by +his uncle's adoption, and afterwards Augustus, by the flattery of the +senate. The conqueror was at the head of forty-four veteran legions, +[1] conscious of their own strength, and of the weakness of the +constitution, habituated, during twenty years' civil war, to every act +of blood and violence, and passionately devoted to the house of Caesar, +from whence alone they had received, and expected the most lavish +rewards. The provinces, long oppressed by the ministers of the republic, +sighed for the government of a single person, who would be the master, +not the accomplice, of those petty tyrants. The people of Rome, viewing, +with a secret pleasure, the humiliation of the aristocracy, demanded +only bread and public shows; and were supplied with both by the +liberal hand of Augustus. The rich and polite Italians, who had almost +universally embraced the philosophy of Epicurus, enjoyed the present +blessings of ease and tranquillity, and suffered not the pleasing dream +to be interrupted by the memory of their old tumultuous freedom. With +its power, the senate had lost its dignity; many of the most noble +families were extinct. The republicans of spirit and ability had +perished in the field of battle, or in the proscription. The door of the +assembly had been designedly left open, for a mixed multitude of more +than a thousand persons, who reflected disgrace upon their rank, instead +of deriving honor from it. [2] + +[Footnote 1: Orosius, vi. 18. * Note: Dion says twenty-five, (or three,) +(lv. 23.) The united triumvirs had but forty-three. (Appian. Bell. Civ. +iv. 3.) The testimony of Orosius is of little value when more certain +may be had.--W. But all the legions, doubtless, submitted to Augustus +after the battle of Actium.--M.] + +[Footnote 2: Julius Caesar introduced soldiers, strangers, and +half-barbarians into the senate (Sueton. in Caesar. c. 77, 80.) The +abuse became still more scandalous after his death.] + +The reformation of the senate was one of the first steps in which +Augustus laid aside the tyrant, and professed himself the father of +his country. He was elected censor; and, in concert with his faithful +Agrippa, he examined the list of the senators, expelled a few members, +[201] whose vices or whose obstinacy required a public example, persuaded +near two hundred to prevent the shame of an expulsion by a voluntary +retreat, raised the qualification of a senator to about ten thousand +pounds, created a sufficient number of patrician families, and accepted +for himself the honorable title of Prince of the Senate, [202] which had +always been bestowed, by the censors, on the citizen the most eminent +for his honors and services. [3] But whilst he thus restored the dignity, +he destroyed the independence, of the senate. The principles of a free +constitution are irrecoverably lost, when the legislative power is +nominated by the executive. + +[Footnote 201: Of these Dion and Suetonius knew nothing.--W. Dion says the +contrary.--M.] + +[Footnote 202: But Augustus, then Octavius, was censor, and in virtue of +that office, even according to the constitution of the free republic, +could reform the senate, expel unworthy members, name the Princeps +Senatus, &c. That was called, as is well known, Senatum legere. It was +customary, during the free republic, for the censor to be named Princeps +Senatus, (S. Liv. l. xxvii. c. 11, l. xl. c. 51;) and Dion expressly +says, that this was done according to ancient usage. He was empowered +by a decree of the senate to admit a number of families among the +patricians. Finally, the senate was not the legislative power.--W] + +[Footnote 3: Dion Cassius, l. liii. p. 693. Suetonius in August. c. 35.] + +Before an assembly thus modelled and prepared, Augustus pronounced +a studied oration, which displayed his patriotism, and disguised his +ambition. "He lamented, yet excused, his past conduct. Filial piety had +required at his hands the revenge of his father's murder; the humanity +of his own nature had sometimes given way to the stern laws of +necessity, and to a forced connection with two unworthy colleagues: +as long as Antony lived, the republic forbade him to abandon her to +a degenerate Roman, and a barbarian queen. He was now at liberty to +satisfy his duty and his inclination. He solemnly restored the senate +and people to all their ancient rights; and wished only to mingle with +the crowd of his fellow-citizens, and to share the blessings which he +had obtained for his country." [4] + +[Footnote 4: Dion (l. liii. p. 698) gives us a prolix and bombast speech +on this great occasion. I have borrowed from Suetonius and Tacitus the +general language of Augustus.] + +It would require the pen of Tacitus (if Tacitus had assisted at this +assembly) to describe the various emotions of the senate, those that +were suppressed, and those that were affected. It was dangerous to +trust the sincerity of Augustus; to seem to distrust it was still more +dangerous. The respective advantages of monarchy and a republic have +often divided speculative inquirers; the present greatness of the Roman +state, the corruption of manners, and the license of the soldiers, +supplied new arguments to the advocates of monarchy; and these general +views of government were again warped by the hopes and fears of each +individual. Amidst this confusion of sentiments, the answer of +the senate was unanimous and decisive. They refused to accept the +resignation of Augustus; they conjured him not to desert the republic, +which he had saved. After a decent resistance, the crafty tyrant +submitted to the orders of the senate; and consented to receive the +government of the provinces, and the general command of the Roman +armies, under the well-known names of Proconsul and Imperator. [5] But +he would receive them only for ten years. Even before the expiration +of that period, he hope that the wounds of civil discord would be +completely healed, and that the republic, restored to its pristine +health and vigor, would no longer require the dangerous interposition +of so extraordinary a magistrate. The memory of this comedy, repeated +several times during the life of Augustus, was preserved to the last +ages of the empire, by the peculiar pomp with which the perpetual +monarchs of Rome always solemnized the tenth years of their reign. [6] + +[Footnote 5: Imperator (from which we have derived Emperor) signified +under her republic no more than general, and was emphatically bestowed +by the soldiers, when on the field of battle they proclaimed their +victorious leader worthy of that title. When the Roman emperors assumed +it in that sense, they placed it after their name, and marked how often +they had taken it.] + +[Footnote 6: Dion. l. liii. p. 703, &c.] + +Without any violation of the principles of the constitution, the general +of the Roman armies might receive and exercise an authority almost +despotic over the soldiers, the enemies, and the subjects of the +republic. With regard to the soldiers, the jealousy of freedom had, even +from the earliest ages of Rome, given way to the hopes of conquest, +and a just sense of military discipline. The dictator, or consul, had +a right to command the service of the Roman youth; and to punish an +obstinate or cowardly disobedience by the most severe and ignominious +penalties, by striking the offender out of the list of citizens, by +confiscating his property, and by selling his person into slavery. +[7] The most sacred rights of freedom, confirmed by the Porcian and +Sempronian laws, were suspended by the military engagement. In his +camp the general exercised an absolute power of life and death; his +jurisdiction was not confined by any forms of trial, or rules of +proceeding, and the execution of the sentence was immediate and without +appeal. [8] The choice of the enemies of Rome was regularly decided by +the legislative authority. The most important resolutions of peace and +war were seriously debated in the senate, and solemnly ratified by +the people. But when the arms of the legions were carried to a great +distance from Italy, the general assumed the liberty of directing +them against whatever people, and in whatever manner, they judged most +advantageous for the public service. It was from the success, not from +the justice, of their enterprises, that they expected the honors of a +triumph. In the use of victory, especially after they were no longer +controlled by the commissioners of the senate, they exercised the most +unbounded despotism. When Pompey commanded in the East, he rewarded +his soldiers and allies, dethroned princes, divided kingdoms, founded +colonies, and distributed the treasures of Mithridates. On his return +to Rome, he obtained, by a single act of the senate and people, the +universal ratification of all his proceedings. [9] Such was the power +over the soldiers, and over the enemies of Rome, which was either +granted to, or assumed by, the generals of the republic. They were, +at the same time, the governors, or rather monarchs, of the conquered +provinces, united the civil with the military character, administered +justice as well as the finances, and exercised both the executive and +legislative power of the state. + +[Footnote 7: Livy Epitom. l. xiv. [c. 27.] Valer. Maxim. vi. 3.] + +[Footnote 8: See, in the viiith book of Livy, the conduct of Manlius +Torquatus and Papirius Cursor. They violated the laws of nature and +humanity, but they asserted those of military discipline; and the +people, who abhorred the action, was obliged to respect the principle.] + +[Footnote 9: By the lavish but unconstrained suffrages of the people, +Pompey had obtained a military command scarcely inferior to that of +Augustus. Among the extraordinary acts of power executed by the former +we may remark the foundation of twenty-nine cities, and the distribution +of three or four millions sterling to his troops. The ratification of +his acts met with some opposition and delays in the senate See Plutarch, +Appian, Dion Cassius, and the first book of the epistles to Atticus.] + +From what has already been observed in the first chapter of this work, +some notion may be formed of the armies and provinces thus intrusted +to the ruling hand of Augustus. But as it was impossible that he could +personally command the regions of so many distant frontiers, he was +indulged by the senate, as Pompey had already been, in the permission +of devolving the execution of his great office on a sufficient number of +lieutenants. In rank and authority these officers seemed not inferior to +the ancient proconsuls; but their station was dependent and precarious. +They received and held their commissions at the will of a superior, +to whose auspicious influence the merit of their action was legally +attributed. [10] They were the representatives of the emperor. The +emperor alone was the general of the republic, and his jurisdiction, +civil as well as military, extended over all the conquests of Rome. It +was some satisfaction, however, to the senate, that he always delegated +his power to the members of their body. The imperial lieutenants were of +consular or praetorian dignity; the legions were commanded by senators, +and the praefecture of Egypt was the only important trust committed to a +Roman knight. + +[Footnote 10: Under the commonwealth, a triumph could only be claimed by +the general, who was authorized to take the Auspices in the name of the +people. By an exact consequence, drawn from this principle of policy +and religion, the triumph was reserved to the emperor; and his most +successful lieutenants were satisfied with some marks of distinction, +which, under the name of triumphal honors, were invented in their +favor.] + +Within six days after Augustus had been compelled to accept so very +liberal a grant, he resolved to gratify the pride of the senate by +an easy sacrifice. He represented to them, that they had enlarged +his powers, even beyond that degree which might be required by the +melancholy condition of the times. They had not permitted him to refuse +the laborious command of the armies and the frontiers; but he must +insist on being allowed to restore the more peaceful and secure +provinces to the mild administration of the civil magistrate. In the +division of the provinces, Augustus provided for his own power and for +the dignity of the republic. The proconsuls of the senate, particularly +those of Asia, Greece, and Africa, enjoyed a more honorable character +than the lieutenants of the emperor, who commanded in Gaul or Syria. The +former were attended by lictors, the latter by soldiers. [105] A law +was passed, that wherever the emperor was present, his extraordinary +commission should supersede the ordinary jurisdiction of the governor; +a custom was introduced, that the new conquests belonged to the imperial +portion; and it was soon discovered that the authority of the Prince, +the favorite epithet of Augustus, was the same in every part of the +empire. + +[Footnote 105: This distinction is without foundation. The +lieutenants of the emperor, who were called Propraetors, whether they +had been praetors or consuls, were attended by six lictors; those who +had the right of the sword, (of life and death over the soldiers.--M.) +bore the military habit (paludamentum) and the sword. The provincial +governors commissioned by the senate, who, whether they had been consuls +or not, were called Pronconsuls, had twelve lictors when they had been +consuls, and six only when they had but been praetors. The provinces of +Africa and Asia were only given to ex-consuls. See, on the Organization +of the Provinces, Dion, liii. 12, 16 Strabo, xvii 840.--W] + +In return for this imaginary concession, Augustus obtained an important +privilege, which rendered him master of Rome and Italy. By a dangerous +exception to the ancient maxims, he was authorized to preserve his +military command, supported by a numerous body of guards, even in time +of peace, and in the heart of the capital. His command, indeed, was +confined to those citizens who were engaged in the service by the +military oath; but such was the propensity of the Romans to servitude, +that the oath was voluntarily taken by the magistrates, the senators, +and the equestrian order, till the homage of flattery was insensibly +converted into an annual and solemn protestation of fidelity. + +Although Augustus considered a military force as the firmest foundation, +he wisely rejected it, as a very odious instrument of government. It was +more agreeable to his temper, as well as to his policy, to reign under +the venerable names of ancient magistracy, and artfully to collect, in +his own person, all the scattered rays of civil jurisdiction. With this +view, he permitted the senate to confer upon him, for his life, the +powers of the consular [11] and tribunitian offices, [12] which were, +in the same manner, continued to all his successors. The consuls had +succeeded to the kings of Rome, and represented the dignity of the +state. They superintended the ceremonies of religion, levied and +commanded the legions, gave audience to foreign ambassadors, and +presided in the assemblies both of the senate and people. The general +control of the finances was intrusted to their care; and though they +seldom had leisure to administer justice in person, they were considered +as the supreme guardians of law, equity, and the public peace. Such was +their ordinary jurisdiction; but whenever the senate empowered the first +magistrate to consult the safety of the commonwealth, he was raised by +that decree above the laws, and exercised, in the defence of liberty, +a temporary despotism. [13] The character of the tribunes was, in every +respect, different from that of the consuls. The appearance of the +former was modest and humble; but their persons were sacred and +inviolable. Their force was suited rather for opposition than for +action. They were instituted to defend the oppressed, to pardon +offences, to arraign the enemies of the people, and, when they judged it +necessary, to stop, by a single word, the whole machine of government. +As long as the republic subsisted, the dangerous influence, which +either the consul or the tribune might derive from their respective +jurisdiction, was diminished by several important restrictions. Their +authority expired with the year in which they were elected; the former +office was divided between two, the latter among ten persons; and, +as both in their private and public interest they were averse to +each other, their mutual conflicts contributed, for the most part, to +strengthen rather than to destroy the balance of the constitution. [131] +But when the consular and tribunitian powers were united, when they were +vested for life in a single person, when the general of the army was, at +the same time, the minister of the senate and the representative of the +Roman people, it was impossible to resist the exercise, nor was it easy +to define the limits, of his imperial prerogative. + +[Footnote 11: Cicero (de Legibus, iii. 3) gives the consular office the +name of egia potestas; and Polybius (l. vi. c. 3) observes three powers +in the Roman constitution. The monarchical was represented and exercised +by the consuls.] + +[Footnote 12: As the tribunitian power (distinct from the annual office) +was first invented by the dictator Caesar, (Dion, l. xliv. p. 384,) we +may easily conceive, that it was given as a reward for having so nobly +asserted, by arms, the sacred rights of the tribunes and people. See his +own Commentaries, de Bell. Civil. l. i.] + +[Footnote 13: Augustus exercised nine annual consulships without +interruption. He then most artfully refused the magistracy, as well as +the dictatorship, absented himself from Rome, and waited till the fatal +effects of tumult and faction forced the senate to invest him with a +perpetual consulship. Augustus, as well as his successors, affected, +however, to conceal so invidious a title.] + +[Footnote 131: The note of M. Guizot on the tribunitian power applies +to the French translation rather than to the original. The former +has, maintenir la balance toujours egale, which implies much more than +Gibbon's general expression. The note belongs rather to the history of +the Republic than that of the Empire.--M] + +To these accumulated honors, the policy of Augustus soon added the +splendid as well as important dignities of supreme pontiff, and of +censor. By the former he acquired the management of the religion, and +by the latter a legal inspection over the manners and fortunes, of the +Roman people. If so many distinct and independent powers did not exactly +unite with each other, the complaisance of the senate was prepared to +supply every deficiency by the most ample and extraordinary concessions. +The emperors, as the first ministers of the republic, were exempted +from the obligation and penalty of many inconvenient laws: they were +authorized to convoke the senate, to make several motions in the same +day, to recommend candidates for the honors of the state, to enlarge +the bounds of the city, to employ the revenue at their discretion, to +declare peace and war, to ratify treaties; and by a most comprehensive +clause, they were empowered to execute whatsoever they should judge +advantageous to the empire, and agreeable to the majesty of things +private or public, human of divine. [14] + +[Footnote 14: See a fragment of a Decree of the Senate, conferring +on the emperor Vespasian all the powers granted to his predecessors, +Augustus, Tiberius, and Claudius. This curious and important monument is +published in Gruter's Inscriptions, No. ccxlii. * Note: It is also in +the editions of Tacitus by Ryck, (Annal. p. 420, 421,) and Ernesti, +(Excurs. ad lib. iv. 6;) but this fragment contains so many +inconsistencies, both in matter and form, that its authenticity may be +doubted--W.] + +When all the various powers of executive government were committed to +the Imperial magistrate, the ordinary magistrates of the commonwealth +languished in obscurity, without vigor, and almost without business. The +names and forms of the ancient administration were preserved by Augustus +with the most anxious care. The usual number of consuls, praetors, and +tribunes, [15] were annually invested with their respective ensigns +of office, and continued to discharge some of their least important +functions. Those honors still attracted the vain ambition of the Romans; +and the emperors themselves, though invested for life with the powers of +the consulship, frequently aspired to the title of that annual dignity, +which they condescended to share with the most illustrious of their +fellow-citizens. [16] In the election of these magistrates, the +people, during the reign of Augustus, were permitted to expose all +the inconveniences of a wild democracy. That artful prince, instead +of discovering the least symptom of impatience, humbly solicited their +suffrages for himself or his friends, and scrupulously practised all the +duties of an ordinary candidate. [17] But we may venture to ascribe to +his councils the first measure of the succeeding reign, by which the +elections were transferred to the senate. [18] The assemblies of the +people were forever abolished, and the emperors were delivered from +a dangerous multitude, who, without restoring liberty, might have +disturbed, and perhaps endangered, the established government. + +[Footnote 15: Two consuls were created on the Calends of January; but in +the course of the year others were substituted in their places, till +the annual number seems to have amounted to no less than twelve. The +praetors were usually sixteen or eighteen, (Lipsius in Excurs. D. ad +Tacit. Annal. l. i.) I have not mentioned the Aediles or Quaestors +Officers of the police or revenue easily adapt themselves to any form +of government. In the time of Nero, the tribunes legally possessed +the right of intercession, though it might be dangerous to exercise it +(Tacit. Annal. xvi. 26.) In the time of Trajan, it was doubtful whether +the tribuneship was an office or a name, (Plin. Epist. i. 23.)] + +[Footnote 16: The tyrants themselves were ambitious of the consulship. +The virtuous princes were moderate in the pursuit, and exact in the +discharge of it. Trajan revived the ancient oath, and swore before the +consul's tribunal that he would observe the laws, (Plin. Panegyric c. +64.)] + +[Footnote 17: Quoties Magistratuum Comitiis interesset. Tribus cum +candidatis suis circunbat: supplicabatque more solemni. Ferebat et ipse +suffragium in tribubus, ut unus e populo. Suetonius in August c. 56.] + +[Footnote 18: Tum primum Comitia e campo ad patres translata sunt. +Tacit. Annal. i. 15. The word primum seems to allude to some faint +and unsuccessful efforts which were made towards restoring them to the +people. Note: The emperor Caligula made the attempt: he rest red the +Comitia to the people, but, in a short time, took them away again. Suet. +in Caio. c. 16. Dion. lix. 9, 20. Nevertheless, at the time of Dion, +they preserved still the form of the Comitia. Dion. lviii. 20.--W.] + +By declaring themselves the protectors of the people, Marius and Caesar +had subverted the constitution of their country. But as soon as the +senate had been humbled and disarmed, such an assembly, consisting of +five or six hundred persons, was found a much more tractable and +useful instrument of dominion. It was on the dignity of the senate that +Augustus and his successors founded their new empire; and they affected, +on every occasion, to adopt the language and principles of Patricians. +In the administration of their own powers, they frequently consulted +the great national council, and seemed to refer to its decision the +most important concerns of peace and war. Rome, Italy, and the internal +provinces, were subject to the immediate jurisdiction of the senate. +With regard to civil objects, it was the supreme court of appeal; with +regard to criminal matters, a tribunal, constituted for the trial of +all offences that were committed by men in any public station, or that +affected the peace and majesty of the Roman people. The exercise of the +judicial power became the most frequent and serious occupation of the +senate; and the important causes that were pleaded before them afforded +a last refuge to the spirit of ancient eloquence. As a council of +state, and as a court of justice, the senate possessed very considerable +prerogatives; but in its legislative capacity, in which it was supposed +virtually to represent the people, the rights of sovereignty were +acknowledged to reside in that assembly. Every power was derived from +their authority, every law was ratified by their sanction. Their regular +meetings were held on three stated days in every month, the Calends, the +Nones, and the Ides. The debates were conducted with decent freedom; +and the emperors themselves, who gloried in the name of senators, sat, +voted, and divided with their equals. To resume, in a few words, the +system of the Imperial government; as it was instituted by Augustus, and +maintained by those princes who understood their own interest and that +of the people, it may be defined an absolute monarchy disguised by the +forms of a commonwealth. The masters of the Roman world surrounded their +throne with darkness, concealed their irresistible strength, and humbly +professed themselves the accountable ministers of the senate, whose +supreme decrees they dictated and obeyed. [19] + +[Footnote 19: Dion Cassius (l. liii. p. 703--714) has given a very loose +and partial sketch of the Imperial system. To illustrate and often to +correct him, I have meditated Tacitus, examined Suetonius, and consulted +the following moderns: the Abbe de la Bleterie, in the Memoires de +l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xix. xxi. xxiv. xxv. xxvii. Beaufort +Republique Romaine, tom. i. p. 255--275. The Dissertations of Noodt and +Gronovius de lege Regia, printed at Leyden, in the year 1731 Gravina de +Imperio Romano, p. 479--544 of his Opuscula. Maffei, Verona Illustrata, +p. i. p. 245, &c.] The face of the court corresponded with the forms of +the administration. The emperors, if we except those tyrants whose +capricious folly violated every law of nature and decency, disdained +that pomp and ceremony which might offend their countrymen, but could +add nothing to their real power. In all the offices of life, they +affected to confound themselves with their subjects, and maintained with +them an equal intercourse of visits and entertainments. Their habit, +their palace, their table, were suited only to the rank of an opulent +senator. Their family, however numerous or splendid, was composed +entirely of their domestic slaves and freedmen. [20] Augustus or Trajan +would have blushed at employing the meanest of the Romans in those +menial offices, which, in the household and bedchamber of a limited +monarch, are so eagerly solicited by the proudest nobles of Britain.] + +[Footnote 20: A weak prince will always be governed by his domestics. +The power of slaves aggravated the shame of the Romans; and the senate +paid court to a Pallas or a Narcissus. There is a chance that a modern +favorite may be a gentleman.] + +The deification of the emperors [21] is the only instance in which they +departed from their accustomed prudence and modesty. The Asiatic Greeks +were the first inventors, the successors of Alexander the first objects, +of this servile and impious mode of adulation. [211] It was easily +transferred from the kings to the governors of Asia; and the Roman +magistrates very frequently were adored as provincial deities, with the +pomp of altars and temples, of festivals and sacrifices. [22] It was +natural that the emperors should not refuse what the proconsuls had +accepted; and the divine honors which both the one and the other +received from the provinces, attested rather the despotism than the +servitude of Rome. But the conquerors soon imitated the vanquished +nations in the arts of flattery; and the imperious spirit of the first +Caesar too easily consented to assume, during his lifetime, a place +among the tutelar deities of Rome. The milder temper of his successor +declined so dangerous an ambition, which was never afterwards revived, +except by the madness of Caligula and Domitian. Augustus permitted +indeed some of the provincial cities to erect temples to his honor, on +condition that they should associate the worship of Rome with that of +the sovereign; he tolerated private superstition, of which he might be +the object; [23] but he contented himself with being revered by the +senate and the people in his human character, and wisely left to his +successor the care of his public deification. A regular custom was +introduced, that on the decease of every emperor who had neither lived +nor died like a tyrant, the senate by a solemn decree should place him +in the number of the gods: and the ceremonies of his apotheosis were +blended with those of his funeral. [231] This legal, and, as it should +seem, injudicious profanation, so abhorrent to our stricter principles, +was received with a very faint murmur, [24] by the easy nature of +Polytheism; but it was received as an institution, not of religion, but +of policy. We should disgrace the virtues of the Antonines by comparing +them with the vices of Hercules or Jupiter. Even the characters of +Caesar or Augustus were far superior to those of the popular deities. +But it was the misfortune of the former to live in an enlightened age, +and their actions were too faithfully recorded to admit of such a +mixture of fable and mystery, as the devotion of the vulgar requires. As +soon as their divinity was established by law, it sunk into oblivion, +without contributing either to their own fame, or to the dignity of +succeeding princes. + +[Footnote 21: See a treatise of Vandale de Consecratione Principium. +It would be easier for me to copy, than it has been to verify, the +quotations of that learned Dutchman.] + +[Footnote 211: This is inaccurate. The successors of Alexander were not +the first deified sovereigns; the Egyptians had deified and worshipped +many of their kings; the Olympus of the Greeks was peopled with +divinities who had reigned on earth; finally, Romulus himself had +received the honors of an apotheosis (Tit. Liv. i. 16) a long time +before Alexander and his successors. It is also an inaccuracy to +confound the honors offered in the provinces to the Roman governors, by +temples and altars, with the true apotheosis of the emperors; it was not +a religious worship, for it had neither priests nor sacrifices. Augustus +was severely blamed for having permitted himself to be worshipped as +a god in the provinces, (Tac. Ann. i. 10: ) he would not have incurred +that blame if he had only done what the governors were accustomed to +do.--G. from W. M. Guizot has been guilty of a still greater inaccuracy +in confounding the deification of the living with the apotheosis of the +dead emperors. The nature of the king-worship of Egypt is still +very obscure; the hero-worship of the Greeks very different from the +adoration of the "praesens numen" in the reigning sovereign.--M.] + +[Footnote 22: See a dissertation of the Abbe Mongault in the first +volume of the Academy of Inscriptions.] + +[Footnote 23: Jurandasque tuum per nomen ponimus aras, says Horace to +the emperor himself, and Horace was well acquainted with the court of +Augustus. Note: The good princes were not those who alone obtained +the honors of an apotheosis: it was conferred on many tyrants. See +an excellent treatise of Schaepflin, de Consecratione Imperatorum +Romanorum, in his Commentationes historicae et criticae. Bale, 1741, p. +184.--W.] + +[Footnote 231: The curious satire in the works of Seneca, is the strongest +remonstrance of profaned religion.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: See Cicero in Philippic. i. 6. Julian in Caesaribus. Inque +Deum templis jurabit Roma per umbras, is the indignant expression of +Lucan; but it is a patriotic rather than a devout indignation.] + +In the consideration of the Imperial government, we have frequently +mentioned the artful founder, under his well-known title of Augustus, +which was not, however, conferred upon him till the edifice was almost +completed. The obscure name of Octavianus he derived from a mean family, +in the little town of Aricia. [241] It was stained with the blood of the +proscription; and he was desirous, had it been possible, to erase all +memory of his former life. The illustrious surname of Caesar he had +assumed, as the adopted son of the dictator: but he had too much good +sense, either to hope to be confounded, or to wish to be compared with +that extraordinary man. It was proposed in the senate to dignify their +minister with a new appellation; and after a serious discussion, that of +Augustus was chosen, among several others, as being the most expressive +of the character of peace and sanctity, which he uniformly affected. +[25] Augustus was therefore a personal, Caesar a family distinction. +The former should naturally have expired with the prince on whom it was +bestowed; and however the latter was diffused by adoption and female +alliance, Nero was the last prince who could allege any hereditary claim +to the honors of the Julian line. But, at the time of his death, the +practice of a century had inseparably connected those appellations with +the Imperial dignity, and they have been preserved by a long succession +of emperors, Romans, Greeks, Franks, and Germans, from the fall of +the republic to the present time. A distinction was, however, soon +introduced. The sacred title of Augustus was always reserved for the +monarch, whilst the name of Caesar was more freely communicated to his +relations; and, from the reign of Hadrian, at least, was appropriated +to the second person in the state, who was considered as the presumptive +heir of the empire. [251] + +[Footnote 241: Octavius was not of an obscure family, but of a considerable +one of the equestrian order. His father, C. Octavius, who possessed +great property, had been praetor, governor of Macedonia, adorned with +the title of Imperator, and was on the point of becoming consul when he +died. His mother Attia, was daughter of M. Attius Balbus, who had also +been praetor. M. Anthony reproached Octavius with having been born in +Aricia, which, nevertheless, was a considerable municipal city: he was +vigorously refuted by Cicero. Philip. iii. c. 6.--W. Gibbon probably +meant that the family had but recently emerged into notice.--M.] + +[Footnote 25: Dion. Cassius, l. liii. p. 710, with the curious +Annotations of Reimar.] + +[Footnote 251: The princes who by their birth or their adoption belonged +to the family of the Caesars, took the name of Caesar. After the +death of Nero, this name designated the Imperial dignity itself, and +afterwards the appointed successor. The time at which it was employed in +the latter sense, cannot be fixed with certainty. Bach (Hist. Jurisprud. +Rom. 304) affirms from Tacitus, H. i. 15, and Suetonius, Galba, 17, that +Galba conferred on Piso Lucinianus the title of Caesar, and from that +time the term had this meaning: but these two historians simply say that +he appointed Piso his successor, and do not mention the word Caesar. +Aurelius Victor (in Traj. 348, ed. Artzen) says that Hadrian first +received this title on his adoption; but as the adoption of Hadrian is +still doubtful, and besides this, as Trajan, on his death-bed, was +not likely to have created a new title for his successor, it is more +probable that Aelius Verus was the first who was called Caesar when +adopted by Hadrian. Spart. in Aelio Vero, 102.--W.] + + + + +Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines.--Part II. + +The tender respect of Augustus for a free constitution which he had +destroyed, can only be explained by an attentive consideration of the +character of that subtle tyrant. A cool head, an unfeeling heart, and a +cowardly disposition, prompted him at the age of nineteen to assume the +mask of hypocrisy, which he never afterwards laid aside. With the same +hand, and probably with the same temper, he signed the proscription of +Cicero, and the pardon of Cinna. His virtues, and even his vices, were +artificial; and according to the various dictates of his interest, he +was at first the enemy, and at last the father, of the Roman world. +[26] When he framed the artful system of the Imperial authority, his +moderation was inspired by his fears. He wished to deceive the people +by an image of civil liberty, and the armies by an image of civil +government. + +[Footnote 26: As Octavianus advanced to the banquet of the Caesars, +his color changed like that of the chameleon; pale at first, then red, +afterwards black, he at last assumed the mild livery of Venus and +the Graces, (Caesars, p. 309.) This image, employed by Julian in his +ingenious fiction, is just and elegant; but when he considers this +change of character as real and ascribes it to the power of philosophy, +he does too much honor to philosophy and to Octavianus.] + + +I. The death of Caesar was ever before his eyes. He had lavished wealth +and honors on his adherents; but the most favored friends of his uncle +were in the number of the conspirators. The fidelity of the legions +might defend his authority against open rebellion; but their vigilance +could not secure his person from the dagger of a determined republican; +and the Romans, who revered the memory of Brutus, [27] would applaud the +imitation of his virtue. Caesar had provoked his fate, as much as by +the ostentation of his power, as by his power itself. The consul or the +tribune might have reigned in peace. The title of king had armed the +Romans against his life. Augustus was sensible that mankind is governed +by names; nor was he deceived in his expectation, that the senate and +people would submit to slavery, provided they were respectfully assured +that they still enjoyed their ancient freedom. A feeble senate and +enervated people cheerfully acquiesced in the pleasing illusion, as +long as it was supported by the virtue, or even by the prudence, of +the successors of Augustus. It was a motive of self-preservation, not a +principle of liberty, that animated the conspirators against Caligula, +Nero, and Domitian. They attacked the person of the tyrant, without +aiming their blow at the authority of the emperor. + +[Footnote 27: Two centuries after the establishment of monarchy, the +emperor Marcus Antoninus recommends the character of Brutus as a perfect +model of Roman virtue. * Note: In a very ingenious essay, Gibbon has +ventured to call in question the preeminent virtue of Brutus. Misc +Works, iv. 95.--M.] + +There appears, indeed, one memorable occasion, in which the senate, +after seventy years of patience, made an ineffectual attempt to +re-assume its long-forgotten rights. When the throne was vacant by the +murder of Caligula, the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol, +condemned the memory of the Caesars, gave the watchword liberty to the +few cohorts who faintly adhered to their standard, and during +eight-and-forty hours acted as the independent chiefs of a free +commonwealth. But while they deliberated, the praetorian guards had +resolved. The stupid Claudius, brother of Germanicus, was already in +their camp, invested with the Imperial purple, and prepared to support +his election by arms. The dream of liberty was at an end; and the senate +awoke to all the horrors of inevitable servitude. Deserted by the +people, and threatened by a military force, that feeble assembly was +compelled to ratify the choice of the praetorians, and to embrace the +benefit of an amnesty, which Claudius had the prudence to offer, and the +generosity to observe. [28] + +[See The Capitol: When the throne was vacant by the murder of Caligula, +the consuls convoked that assembly in the Capitol.] + +[Footnote 28: It is much to be regretted that we have lost the part +of Tacitus which treated of that transaction. We are forced to content +ourselves with the popular rumors of Josephus, and the imperfect hints +of Dion and Suetonius.] + + +II. The insolence of the armies inspired Augustus with fears of a still +more alarming nature. The despair of the citizens could only attempt, +what the power of the soldiers was, at any time, able to execute. How +precarious was his own authority over men whom he had taught to violate +every social duty! He had heard their seditious clamors; he dreaded +their calmer moments of reflection. One revolution had been purchased by +immense rewards; but a second revolution might double those rewards. The +troops professed the fondest attachment to the house of Caesar; but the +attachments of the multitude are capricious and inconstant. Augustus +summoned to his aid whatever remained in those fierce minds of Roman +prejudices; enforced the rigor of discipline by the sanction of law; +and, interposing the majesty of the senate between the emperor and the +army, boldly claimed their allegiance, as the first magistrate of the +republic. + +During a long period of two hundred and twenty years from the +establishment of this artful system to the death of Commodus, the +dangers inherent to a military government were, in a great measure, +suspended. The soldiers were seldom roused to that fatal sense of their +own strength, and of the weakness of the civil authority, which was, +before and afterwards, productive of such dreadful calamities. Caligula +and Domitian were assassinated in their palace by their own domestics: +[281] the convulsions which agitated Rome on the death of the former, were +confined to the walls of the city. But Nero involved the whole empire in +his ruin. In the space of eighteen months, four princes perished by +the sword; and the Roman world was shaken by the fury of the contending +armies. Excepting only this short, though violent eruption of military +license, the two centuries from Augustus [29] to Commodus passed away +unstained with civil blood, and undisturbed by revolutions. The emperor +was elected by the authority of the senate, and the consent of the +soldiers. [30] The legions respected their oath of fidelity; and it +requires a minute inspection of the Roman annals to discover three +inconsiderable rebellions, which were all suppressed in a few months, +and without even the hazard of a battle. [31] + +[Footnote 281: Caligula perished by a conspiracy formed by the officers +of the praetorian troops, and Domitian would not, perhaps, have been +assassinated without the participation of the two chiefs of that guard +in his death.--W.] + +[Footnote 29: Augustus restored the ancient severity of discipline. +After the civil wars, he dropped the endearing name of Fellow-Soldiers, +and called them only Soldiers, (Sueton. in August. c. 25.) See the use +Tiberius made of the Senate in the mutiny of the Pannonian legions, +(Tacit. Annal. i.)] + +[Footnote 30: These words seem to have been the constitutional language. +See Tacit. Annal. xiii. 4. * Note: This panegyric on the soldiery is +rather too liberal. Claudius was obliged to purchase their consent to +his coronation: the presents which he made, and those which the +praetorians received on other occasions, considerably embarrassed the +finances. Moreover, this formidable guard favored, in general, the +cruelties of the tyrants. The distant revolts were more frequent than +Gibbon thinks: already, under Tiberius, the legions of Germany would +have seditiously constrained Germanicus to assume the Imperial purple. +On the revolt of Claudius Civilis, under Vespasian, the legions of Gaul +murdered their general, and offered their assistance to the Gauls who +were in insurrection. Julius Sabinus made himself be proclaimed emperor, +&c. The wars, the merit, and the severe discipline of Trajan, Hadrian, +and the two Antonines, established, for some time, a greater degree of +subordination.--W] + +[Footnote 31: The first was Camillus Scribonianus, who took up arms in +Dalmatia against Claudius, and was deserted by his own troops in five +days, the second, L. Antonius, in Germany, who rebelled against +Domitian; and the third, Avidius Cassius, in the reign of M. Antoninus. +The two last reigned but a few months, and were cut off by their own +adherents. We may observe, that both Camillus and Cassius colored their +ambition with the design of restoring the republic; a task, said Cassius +peculiarly reserved for his name and family.] + +In elective monarchies, the vacancy of the throne is a moment big with +danger and mischief. The Roman emperors, desirous to spare the legions +that interval of suspense, and the temptation of an irregular choice, +invested their designed successor with so large a share of present +power, as should enable him, after their decease, to assume the +remainder, without suffering the empire to perceive the change of +masters. Thus Augustus, after all his fairer prospects had been snatched +from him by untimely deaths, rested his last hopes on Tiberius, obtained +for his adopted son the censorial and tribunitian powers, and dictated a +law, by which the future prince was invested with an authority equal to +his own, over the provinces and the armies. [32] Thus Vespasian subdued +the generous mind of his eldest son. Titus was adored by the eastern +legions, which, under his command, had recently achieved the conquest of +Judaea. His power was dreaded, and, as his virtues were clouded by the +intemperance of youth, his designs were suspected. Instead of listening +to such unworthy suspicions, the prudent monarch associated Titus to the +full powers of the Imperial dignity; and the grateful son ever approved +himself the humble and faithful minister of so indulgent a father. [33] + +[Footnote 32: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 121. Sueton. in Tiber. c. +26.] + +[Footnote 33: Sueton. in Tit. c. 6. Plin. in Praefat. Hist. Natur.] + +The good sense of Vespasian engaged him indeed to embrace every measure +that might confirm his recent and precarious elevation. The military +oath, and the fidelity of the troops, had been consecrated, by the +habits of a hundred years, to the name and family of the Caesars; and +although that family had been continued only by the fictitious rite of +adoption, the Romans still revered, in the person of Nero, the grandson +of Germanicus, and the lineal successor of Augustus. It was not without +reluctance and remorse, that the praetorian guards had been persuaded to +abandon the cause of the tyrant. [34] The rapid downfall of Galba, +Otho, and Vitellus, taught the armies to consider the emperors as the +creatures of their will, and the instruments of their license. The birth +of Vespasian was mean: his grandfather had been a private soldier, his +father a petty officer of the revenue; [35] his own merit had raised him, +in an advanced age, to the empire; but his merit was rather useful than +shining, and his virtues were disgraced by a strict and even sordid +parsimony. Such a prince consulted his true interest by the association +of a son, whose more splendid and amiable character might turn the +public attention from the obscure origin, to the future glories, of the +Flavian house. Under the mild administration of Titus, the Roman world +enjoyed a transient felicity, and his beloved memory served to protect, +above fifteen years, the vices of his brother Domitian. + +[Footnote 34: This idea is frequently and strongly inculcated by +Tacitus. See Hist. i. 5, 16, ii. 76.] + +[Footnote 35: The emperor Vespasian, with his usual good sense, laughed +at the genealogists, who deduced his family from Flavius, the founder of +Reate, (his native country,) and one of the companions of Hercules Suet +in Vespasian, c. 12.] + +Nerva had scarcely accepted the purple from the assassins of Domitian, +before he discovered that his feeble age was unable to stem the torrent +of public disorders, which had multiplied under the long tyranny of his +predecessor. His mild disposition was respected by the good; but the +degenerate Romans required a more vigorous character, whose justice +should strike terror into the guilty. Though he had several relations, +he fixed his choice on a stranger. He adopted Trajan, then about forty +years of age, and who commanded a powerful army in the Lower Germany; +and immediately, by a decree of the senate, declared him his colleague +and successor in the empire. [36] It is sincerely to be lamented, that +whilst we are fatigued with the disgustful relation of Nero's crimes +and follies, we are reduced to collect the actions of Trajan from the +glimmerings of an abridgment, or the doubtful light of a panegyric. +There remains, however, one panegyric far removed beyond the suspicion +of flattery. Above two hundred and fifty years after the death of +Trajan, the senate, in pouring out the customary acclamations on the +accession of a new emperor, wished that he might surpass the felicity of +Augustus, and the virtue of Trajan. [37] + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxviii. p. 1121. Plin. Secund. in Panegyric.] + +[Footnote 37: Felicior Augusto, Melior Trajano. Eutrop. viii. 5.] + +We may readily believe, that the father of his country hesitated whether +he ought to intrust the various and doubtful character of his kinsman +Hadrian with sovereign power. In his last moments the arts of the +empress Plotina either fixed the irresolution of Trajan, or boldly +supposed a fictitious adoption; [38] the truth of which could not be +safely disputed, and Hadrian was peaceably acknowledged as his lawful +successor. Under his reign, as has been already mentioned, the empire +flourished in peace and prosperity. He encouraged the arts, reformed +the laws, asserted military discipline, and visited all his provinces +in person. His vast and active genius was equally suited to the most +enlarged views, and the minute details of civil policy. But the ruling +passions of his soul were curiosity and vanity. As they prevailed, and +as they were attracted by different objects, Hadrian was, by turns, +an excellent prince, a ridiculous sophist, and a jealous tyrant. +The general tenor of his conduct deserved praise for its equity and +moderation. Yet in the first days of his reign, he put to death four +consular senators, his personal enemies, and men who had been judged +worthy of empire; and the tediousness of a painful illness rendered +him, at last, peevish and cruel. The senate doubted whether they should +pronounce him a god or a tyrant; and the honors decreed to his memory +were granted to the prayers of the pious Antoninus. [39] + +[Footnote 38: Dion (l. lxix. p. 1249) affirms the whole to have been +a fiction, on the authority of his father, who, being governor of the +province where Trajan died, had very good opportunities of sifting +this mysterious transaction. Yet Dodwell (Praelect. Camden. xvii.) has +maintained that Hadrian was called to the certain hope of the empire, +during the lifetime of Trajan.] + +[Footnote 39: Dion, (l. lxx. p. 1171.) Aurel. Victor.] + +The caprice of Hadrian influenced his choice of a successor. + +After revolving in his mind several men of distinguished merit, whom +he esteemed and hated, he adopted Aelius Verus a gay and voluptuous +nobleman, recommended by uncommon beauty to the lover of Antinous. [40] +But whilst Hadrian was delighting himself with his own applause, and +the acclamations of the soldiers, whose consent had been secured by an +immense donative, the new Caesar [41] was ravished from his embraces by +an untimely death. He left only one son. Hadrian commended the boy to +the gratitude of the Antonines. He was adopted by Pius; and, on the +accession of Marcus, was invested with an equal share of sovereign +power. Among the many vices of this younger Verus, he possessed +one virtue; a dutiful reverence for his wiser colleague, to whom he +willingly abandoned the ruder cares of empire. The philosophic emperor +dissembled his follies, lamented his early death, and cast a decent veil +over his memory. + +[Footnote 40: The deification of Antinous, his medals, his statues, +temples, city, oracles, and constellation, are well known, and still +dishonor the memory of Hadrian. Yet we may remark, that of the first +fifteen emperors, Claudius was the only one whose taste in love was +entirely correct. For the honors of Antinous, see Spanheim, Commentaire +sui les Caesars de Julien, p. 80.] + +[Footnote 41: Hist. August. p. 13. Aurelius Victor in Epitom.] + +As soon as Hadrian's passion was either gratified or disappointed, he +resolved to deserve the thanks of posterity, by placing the most exalted +merit on the Roman throne. His discerning eye easily discovered a +senator about fifty years of age, blameless in all the offices of life; +and a youth of about seventeen, whose riper years opened a fair prospect +of every virtue: the elder of these was declared the son and successor +of Hadrian, on condition, however, that he himself should immediately +adopt the younger. The two Antonines (for it is of them that we are now +speaking,) governed the Roman world forty-two years, with the same +invariable spirit of wisdom and virtue. Although Pius had two sons, [42] +he preferred the welfare of Rome to the interest of his family, gave his +daughter Faustina, in marriage to young Marcus, obtained from the senate +the tribunitian and proconsular powers, and, with a noble disdain, or +rather ignorance of jealousy, associated him to all the labors of +government. Marcus, on the other hand, revered the character of his +benefactor, loved him as a parent, obeyed him as his sovereign, [43] +and, after he was no more, regulated his own administration by the +example and maxims of his predecessor. Their united reigns are possibly +the only period of history in which the happiness of a great people was +the sole object of government. + +[Footnote 42: Without the help of medals and inscriptions, we should be +ignorant of this fact, so honorable to the memory of Pius. Note: Gibbon +attributes to Antoninus Pius a merit which he either did not possess, or +was not in a situation to display. + +1. He was adopted only on the condition that he would adopt, in his +turn, Marcus Aurelius and L. Verus. + +2. His two sons died children, and one of them, M. Galerius, alone, +appears to have survived, for a few years, his father's coronation. +Gibbon is also mistaken when he says (note 42) that "without the help +of medals and inscriptions, we should be ignorant that Antoninus had +two sons." Capitolinus says expressly, (c. 1,) Filii mares duo, +duae-foeminae; we only owe their names to the medals. Pagi. Cont. Baron, +i. 33, edit Paris.--W.] + +[Footnote 43: During the twenty-three years of Pius's reign, Marcus was +only two nights absent from the palace, and even those were at different +times. Hist. August. p. 25.] + +Titus Antoninus Pius has been justly denominated a second Numa. The +same love of religion, justice, and peace, was the distinguishing +characteristic of both princes. But the situation of the latter opened +a much larger field for the exercise of those virtues. Numa could +only prevent a few neighboring villages from plundering each other's +harvests. Antoninus diffused order and tranquillity over the greatest +part of the earth. His reign is marked by the rare advantage of +furnishing very few materials for history; which is, indeed, little more +than the register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind. +In private life, he was an amiable, as well as a good man. The native +simplicity of his virtue was a stranger to vanity or affectation. +He enjoyed with moderation the conveniences of his fortune, and the +innocent pleasures of society; [44] and the benevolence of his soul +displayed itself in a cheerful serenity of temper. + +[Footnote 44: He was fond of the theatre, and not insensible to the +charms of the fair sex. Marcus Antoninus, i. 16. Hist. August. p. 20, +21. Julian in Caesar.] + +The virtue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus was of severer and more +laborious kind. [45] It was the well-earned harvest of many a learned +conference, of many a patient lecture, and many a midnight lucubration. +At the age of twelve years he embraced the rigid system of the Stoics, +which taught him to submit his body to his mind, his passions to his +reason; to consider virtue as the only good, vice as the only evil, all +things external as things indifferent. [46] His meditations, composed in +the tumult of the camp, are still extant; and he even condescended to +give lessons of philosophy, in a more public manner than was perhaps +consistent with the modesty of sage, or the dignity of an emperor. [47] +But his life was the noblest commentary on the precepts of Zeno. He was +severe to himself, indulgent to the imperfections of others, just +and beneficent to all mankind. He regretted that Avidius Cassius, who +excited a rebellion in Syria, had disappointed him, by a voluntary +death, [471] of the pleasure of converting an enemy into a friend;; and he +justified the sincerity of that sentiment, by moderating the zeal of the +senate against the adherents of the traitor. [48] War he detested, as the +disgrace and calamity of human nature; [481] but when the necessity of +a just defence called upon him to take up arms, he readily exposed his +person to eight winter campaigns, on the frozen banks of the Danube, the +severity of which was at last fatal to the weakness of his constitution. +His memory was revered by a grateful posterity, and above a century +after his death, many persons preserved the image of Marcus Antoninus +among those of their household gods. [49] + +[Footnote 45: The enemies of Marcus charged him with hypocrisy, and +with a want of that simplicity which distinguished Pius and even Verus. +(Hist. August. 6, 34.) This suspicions, unjust as it was, may serve to +account for the superior applause bestowed upon personal qualifications, +in preference to the social virtues. Even Marcus Antoninus has been +called a hypocrite; but the wildest scepticism never insinuated that +Caesar might probably be a coward, or Tully a fool. Wit and valor are +qualifications more easily ascertained than humanity or the love of +justice.] + +[Footnote 46: Tacitus has characterized, in a few words, the principles +of the portico: Doctores sapientiae secutus est, qui sola bona quae +honesta, main tantum quae turpia; potentiam, nobilitatem, aeteraque +extra... bonis neque malis adnumerant. Tacit. Hist. iv. 5.] + +[Footnote 47: Before he went on the second expedition against the +Germans, he read lectures of philosophy to the Roman people, during +three days. He had already done the same in the cities of Greece and +Asia. Hist. August. in Cassio, c. 3.] + +[Footnote 471: Cassius was murdered by his own partisans. Vulcat. Gallic. +in Cassio, c. 7. Dion, lxxi. c. 27.--W.] + +[Footnote 48: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1190. Hist. August. in Avid. Cassio. +Note: See one of the newly discovered passages of Dion Cassius. Marcus +wrote to the senate, who urged the execution of the partisans of +Cassius, in these words: "I entreat and beseech you to preserve my reign +unstained by senatorial blood. None of your order must perish either by +your desire or mine." Mai. Fragm. Vatican. ii. p. 224.--M.] + +[Footnote 481: Marcus would not accept the services of any of the +barbarian allies who crowded to his standard in the war against Avidius +Cassius. "Barbarians," he said, with wise but vain sagacity, "must not +become acquainted with the dissensions of the Roman people." Mai. Fragm +Vatican l. 224.--M.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. in Marc. Antonin. c. 18.] + +If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, +during which the condition of the human race was most happy and +prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from +the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus. The vast extent of +the Roman empire was governed by absolute power, under the guidance of +virtue and wisdom. The armies were restrained by the firm but gentle +hand of four successive emperors, whose characters and authority +commanded involuntary respect. The forms of the civil administration +were carefully preserved by Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, +who delighted in the image of liberty, and were pleased with considering +themselves as the accountable ministers of the laws. Such princes +deserved the honor of restoring the republic, had the Romans of their +days been capable of enjoying a rational freedom. + +The labors of these monarchs were overpaid by the immense reward that +inseparably waited on their success; by the honest pride of virtue, and +by the exquisite delight of beholding the general happiness of which +they were the authors. A just but melancholy reflection imbittered, +however, the noblest of human enjoyments. They must often have +recollected the instability of a happiness which depended on the +character of single man. The fatal moment was perhaps approaching, +when some licentious youth, or some jealous tyrant, would abuse, to the +destruction, that absolute power, which they had exerted for the benefit +of their people. The ideal restraints of the senate and the laws might +serve to display the virtues, but could never correct the vices, of the +emperor. The military force was a blind and irresistible instrument +of oppression; and the corruption of Roman manners would always supply +flatterers eager to applaud, and ministers prepared to serve, the fear +or the avarice, the lust or the cruelty, of their master. These gloomy +apprehensions had been already justified by the experience of the +Romans. The annals of the emperors exhibit a strong and various picture +of human nature, which we should vainly seek among the mixed and +doubtful characters of modern history. In the conduct of those monarchs +we may trace the utmost lines of vice and virtue; the most exalted +perfection, and the meanest degeneracy of our own species. The golden +age of Trajan and the Antonines had been preceded by an age of iron. It +is almost superfluous to enumerate the unworthy successors of Augustus. +Their unparalleled vices, and the splendid theatre on which they were +acted, have saved them from oblivion. The dark, unrelenting Tiberius, +the furious Caligula, the feeble Claudius, the profligate and cruel +Nero, the beastly Vitellius, [50] and the timid, inhuman Domitian, are +condemned to everlasting infamy. During fourscore years (excepting only +the short and doubtful respite of Vespasian's reign) [51] Rome groaned +beneath an unremitting tyranny, which exterminated the ancient families +of the republic, and was fatal to almost every virtue and every talent +that arose in that unhappy period. + +[Footnote 50: Vitellius consumed in mere eating at least six millions +of our money in about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices +with dignity, or even decency. Tacitus fairly calls him a hog, but it +is by substituting for a coarse word a very fine image. "At Vitellius, +umbraculis hortorum abditus, ut ignava animalia, quibus si cibum +suggeras, jacent torpentque, praeterita, instantia, futura, pari +oblivione dimiserat. Atque illum nemore Aricino desidem et marcentum," +&c. Tacit. Hist. iii. 36, ii. 95. Sueton. in Vitell. c. 13. Dion. +Cassius, l xv. p. 1062.] + +[Footnote 51: The execution of Helvidius Priscus, and of the virtuous +Eponina, disgraced the reign of Vespasian.] + +Under the reign of these monsters, the slavery of the Romans was +accompanied with two peculiar circumstances, the one occasioned by their +former liberty, the other by their extensive conquests, which rendered +their condition more completely wretched than that of the victims of +tyranny in any other age or country. From these causes were derived, 1. +The exquisite sensibility of the sufferers; and, 2. The impossibility of +escaping from the hand of the oppressor. + + +I. When Persia was governed by the descendants of Sefi, a race of +princes whose wanton cruelty often stained their divan, their table, and +their bed, with the blood of their favorites, there is a saying recorded +of a young nobleman, that he never departed from the sultan's presence, +without satisfying himself whether his head was still on his shoulders. +The experience of every day might almost justify the scepticism of +Rustan. [52] Yet the fatal sword, suspended above him by a single +thread, seems not to have disturbed the slumbers, or interrupted the +tranquillity, of the Persian. The monarch's frown, he well knew, could +level him with the dust; but the stroke of lightning or apoplexy might +be equally fatal; and it was the part of a wise man to forget the +inevitable calamities of human life in the enjoyment of the fleeting +hour. He was dignified with the appellation of the king's slave; had, +perhaps, been purchased from obscure parents, in a country which he +had never known; and was trained up from his infancy in the severe +discipline of the seraglio. [53] His name, his wealth, his honors, were +the gift of a master, who might, without injustice, resume what he had +bestowed. Rustan's knowledge, if he possessed any, could only serve to +confirm his habits by prejudices. His language afforded not words for +any form of government, except absolute monarchy. The history of the +East informed him, that such had ever been the condition of mankind. +[54] The Koran, and the interpreters of that divine book, inculcated to +him, that the sultan was the descendant of the prophet, and the +vicegerent of heaven; that patience was the first virtue of a Mussulman, +and unlimited obedience the great duty of a subject. + +[Footnote 52: Voyage de Chardin en Perse, vol. iii. p. 293.] + +[Footnote 53: The practice of raising slaves to the great offices of +state is still more common among the Turks than among the Persians. The +miserable countries of Georgia and Circassia supply rulers to the +greatest part of the East.] + +[Footnote 54: Chardin says, that European travellers have diffused among +the Persians some ideas of the freedom and mildness of our governments. +They have done them a very ill office.] + +The minds of the Romans were very differently prepared for slavery. +Oppressed beneath the weight of their own corruption and of military +violence, they for a long while preserved the sentiments, or at least +the ideas, of their free-born ancestors. The education of Helvidius and +Thrasea, of Tacitus and Pliny, was the same as that of Cato and Cicero. +From Grecian philosophy, they had imbibed the justest and most liberal +notions of the dignity of human nature, and the origin of civil society. +The history of their own country had taught them to revere a free, a +virtuous, and a victorious commonwealth; to abhor the successful crimes +of Caesar and Augustus; and inwardly to despise those tyrants whom they +adored with the most abject flattery. As magistrates and senators they +were admitted into the great council, which had once dictated laws +to the earth, whose authority was so often prostituted to the vilest +purposes of tyranny. Tiberius, and those emperors who adopted his +maxims, attempted to disguise their murders by the formalities of +justice, and perhaps enjoyed a secret pleasure in rendering the senate +their accomplice as well as their victim. By this assembly, the last of +the Romans were condemned for imaginary crimes and real virtues. Their +infamous accusers assumed the language of independent patriots, who +arraigned a dangerous citizen before the tribunal of his country; and +the public service was rewarded by riches and honors. [55] The servile +judges professed to assert the majesty of the commonwealth, violated +in the person of its first magistrate, [56] whose clemency they most +applauded when they trembled the most at his inexorable and impending +cruelty. [57] The tyrant beheld their baseness with just contempt, and +encountered their secret sentiments of detestation with sincere and +avowed hatred for the whole body of the senate. + +[Footnote 55: They alleged the example of Scipio and Cato, (Tacit. +Annal. iii. 66.) Marcellus Epirus and Crispus Vibius had acquired two +millions and a half under Nero. Their wealth, which aggravated their +crimes, protected them under Vespasian. See Tacit. Hist. iv. 43. Dialog. +de Orator. c. 8. For one accusation, Regulus, the just object of Pliny's +satire, received from the senate the consular ornaments, and a present +of sixty thousand pounds.] + +[Footnote 56: The crime of majesty was formerly a treasonable offence +against the Roman people. As tribunes of the people, Augustus and +Tiberius applied tit to their own persons, and extended it to an +infinite latitude. Note: It was Tiberius, not Augustus, who first took +in this sense the words crimen laesae majestatis. Bachii Trajanus, 27. +--W.] + +[Footnote 57: After the virtuous and unfortunate widow of Germanicus had +been put to death, Tiberius received the thanks of the senate for his +clemency. she had not been publicly strangled; nor was the body drawn +with a hook to the Gemoniae, where those of common male factors were +exposed. See Tacit. Annal. vi. 25. Sueton. in Tiberio c. 53.] + + +II. The division of Europe into a number of independent states, +connected, however, with each other by the general resemblance of +religion, language, and manners, is productive of the most beneficial +consequences to the liberty of mankind. A modern tyrant, who should find +no resistance either in his own breast, or in his people, would soon +experience a gentle restraint from the example of his equals, the dread +of present censure, the advice of his allies, and the apprehension of +his enemies. The object of his displeasure, escaping from the narrow +limits of his dominions, would easily obtain, in a happier climate, +a secure refuge, a new fortune adequate to his merit, the freedom of +complaint, and perhaps the means of revenge. But the empire of the +Romans filled the world, and when the empire fell into the hands of a +single person, the world became a safe and dreary prison for his enemies. +The slave of Imperial despotism, whether he was condemned to drag his +gilded chain in rome and the senate, or to were out a life of exile on +the barren rock of Seriphus, or the frozen bank of the Danube, expected +his fate in silent despair. [58] To resist was fatal, and it was +impossible to fly. On every side he was encompassed with a vast extent +of sea and land, which he could never hope to traverse without being +discovered, seized, and restored to his irritated master. Beyond the +frontiers, his anxious view could discover nothing, except the ocean, +inhospitable deserts, hostile tribes of barbarians, of fierce manners +and unknown language, or dependent kings, who would gladly purchase +the emperor's protection by the sacrifice of an obnoxious fugitive. [59] +"Wherever you are," said Cicero to the exiled Marcellus, "remember that +you are equally within the power of the conqueror." [60] + +[Footnote 58: Seriphus was a small rocky island in the Aegean Sea, the +inhabitants of which were despised for their ignorance and obscurity. +The place of Ovid's exile is well known, by his just, but unmanly +lamentations. It should seem, that he only received an order to leave +rome in so many days, and to transport himself to Tomi. Guards and +jailers were unnecessary.] + +[Footnote 59: Under Tiberius, a Roman knight attempted to fly to the +Parthians. He was stopped in the straits of Sicily; but so little danger +did there appear in the example, that the most jealous of tyrants +disdained to punish it. Tacit. Annal. vi. 14.] + +[Footnote 60: Cicero ad Familiares, iv. 7.] + + + + +Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.--Part I. + + The Cruelty, Follies, And Murder Of Commodus--Election Of + Pertinax--His Attempts To Reform The State--His + Assassination By The Praetorian Guards. + +The mildness of Marcus, which the rigid discipline of the Stoics was +unable to eradicate, formed, at the same time, the most amiable, and the +only defective part of his character. His excellent understanding was +often deceived by the unsuspecting goodness of his heart. Artful men, +who study the passions of princes, and conceal their own, approached his +person in the disguise of philosophic sanctity, and acquired riches and +honors by affecting to despise them. [1] His excessive indulgence to +his brother, [105] his wife, and his son, exceeded the bounds of private +virtue, and became a public injury, by the example and consequences of +their vices. + +[Footnote 1: See the complaints of Avidius Cassius, Hist. August. p. +45. These are, it is true, the complaints of faction; but even faction +exaggerates, rather than invents.] + +[Footnote 105: His brother by adoption, and his colleague, L. Verus. +Marcus Aurelius had no other brother.--W.] + +Faustina, the daughter of Pius and the wife of Marcus, has been as much +celebrated for her gallantries as for her beauty. The grave simplicity +of the philosopher was ill calculated to engage her wanton levity, or to +fix that unbounded passion for variety, which often discovered personal +merit in the meanest of mankind. [2] The Cupid of the ancients was, in +general, a very sensual deity; and the amours of an empress, as they +exact on her side the plainest advances, are seldom susceptible of much +sentimental delicacy. Marcus was the only man in the empire who seemed +ignorant or insensible of the irregularities of Faustina; which, +according to the prejudices of every age, reflected some disgrace on the +injured husband. He promoted several of her lovers to posts of honor and +profit, [3] and during a connection of thirty years, invariably gave her +proofs of the most tender confidence, and of a respect which ended not +with her life. In his Meditations, he thanks the gods, who had bestowed +on him a wife so faithful, so gentle, and of such a wonderful simplicity +of manners. [4] The obsequious senate, at his earnest request, declared +her a goddess. She was represented in her temples, with the attributes +of Juno, Venus, and Ceres; and it was decreed, that, on the day of their +nuptials, the youth of either sex should pay their vows before the altar +of their chaste patroness. [5] + +[Footnote 2: Faustinam satis constat apud Cajetam conditiones sibi et +nauticas et gladiatorias, elegisse. Hist. August. p. 30. Lampridius +explains the sort of merit which Faustina chose, and the conditions +which she exacted. Hist. August. p. 102.] + +[Footnote 3: Hist. August. p. 34.] + +[Footnote 4: Meditat. l. i. The world has laughed at the credulity of +Marcus but Madam Dacier assures us, (and we may credit a lady,) that the +husband will always be deceived, if the wife condescends to dissemble.] +[Footnote 5: Dion Cassius, l. lxxi. [c. 31,] p. 1195. Hist. August. +p. 33. Commentaire de Spanheim sur les Caesars de Julien, p. 289. The +deification of Faustina is the only defect which Julian's criticism is +able to discover in the all-accomplished character of Marcus.] + +The monstrous vices of the son have cast a shade on the purity of the +father's virtues. It has been objected to Marcus, that he sacrificed the +happiness of millions to a fond partiality for a worthless boy; and that +he chose a successor in his own family, rather than in the republic. +Nothing however, was neglected by the anxious father, and by the men of +virtue and learning whom he summoned to his assistance, to expand the +narrow mind of young Commodus, to correct his growing vices, and to +render him worthy of the throne for which he was designed. But the +power of instruction is seldom of much efficacy, except in those happy +dispositions where it is almost superfluous. The distasteful lesson of +a grave philosopher was, in a moment, obliterated by the whisper of +a profligate favorite; and Marcus himself blasted the fruits of this +labored education, by admitting his son, at the age of fourteen or +fifteen, to a full participation of the Imperial power. He lived +but four years afterwards: but he lived long enough to repent a rash +measure, which raised the impetuous youth above the restraint of reason +and authority. + +Most of the crimes which disturb the internal peace of society, are +produced by the restraints which the necessary but unequal laws of +property have imposed on the appetites of mankind, by confining to a +few the possession of those objects that are coveted by many. Of all our +passions and appetites, the love of power is of the most imperious and +unsociable nature, since the pride of one man requires the submission of +the multitude. In the tumult of civil discord, the laws of society lose +their force, and their place is seldom supplied by those of humanity. +The ardor of contention, the pride of victory, the despair of success, +the memory of past injuries, and the fear of future dangers, all +contribute to inflame the mind, and to silence the voice of pity. From +such motives almost every page of history has been stained with civil +blood; but these motives will not account for the unprovoked cruelties +of Commodus, who had nothing to wish and every thing to enjoy. The +beloved son of Marcus succeeded to his father, amidst the acclamations +of the senate and armies; [6] and when he ascended the throne, the happy +youth saw round him neither competitor to remove, nor enemies to punish. +In this calm, elevated station, it was surely natural that he should +prefer the love of mankind to their detestation, the mild glories of his +five predecessors to the ignominious fate of Nero and Domitian. + +[Footnote 6: Commodus was the first Porphyrogenitus, (born since his +father's accession to the throne.) By a new strain of flattery, +the Egyptian medals date by the years of his life; as if they were +synonymous to those of his reign. Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. +ii. p. 752.] + +Yet Commodus was not, as he has been represented, a tiger born with an +insatiate thirst of human blood, and capable, from his infancy, of the +most inhuman actions. [7] Nature had formed him of a weak rather than a +wicked disposition. His simplicity and timidity rendered him the slave +of his attendants, who gradually corrupted his mind. His cruelty, which +at first obeyed the dictates of others, degenerated into habit, and at +length became the ruling passion of his soul. [8] + +[Footnote 7: Hist. August. p. 46.] + +[Footnote 8: Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1203.] + +Upon the death of his father, Commodus found himself embarrassed with +the command of a great army, and the conduct of a difficult war against +the Quadi and Marcomanni. [9] The servile and profligate youths whom +Marcus had banished, soon regained their station and influence about the +new emperor. They exaggerated the hardships and dangers of a campaign +in the wild countries beyond the Danube; and they assured the indolent +prince that the terror of his name, and the arms of his lieutenants, +would be sufficient to complete the conquest of the dismayed barbarians, +or to impose such conditions as were more advantageous than any +conquest. By a dexterous application to his sensual appetites, they +compared the tranquillity, the splendor, the refined pleasures of Rome, +with the tumult of a Pannonian camp, which afforded neither leisure nor +materials for luxury. [10] Commodus listened to the pleasing advice; but +whilst he hesitated between his own inclination and the awe which he +still retained for his father's counsellors, the summer insensibly +elapsed, and his triumphal entry into the capital was deferred till the +autumn. His graceful person, [11] popular address, and imagined virtues, +attracted the public favor; the honorable peace which he had recently +granted to the barbarians, diffused a universal joy; [12] his impatience +to revisit Rome was fondly ascribed to the love of his country; and +his dissolute course of amusements was faintly condemned in a prince of +nineteen years of age. + +[Footnote 9: According to Tertullian, (Apolog. c. 25,) he died at +Sirmium. But the situation of Vindobona, or Vienna, where both the +Victors place his death, is better adapted to the operations of the war +against the Marcomanni and Quadi.] + +[Footnote 10: Herodian, l. i. p. 12.] + +[Footnote 11: Herodian, l. i. p. 16.] + +[Footnote 12: This universal joy is well described (from the medals as +well as historians) by Mr. Wotton, Hist. of Rome, p. 192, 193.] During +the three first years of his reign, the forms, and even the spirit, of +the old administration, were maintained by those faithful counsellors, +to whom Marcus had recommended his son, and for whose wisdom and +integrity Commodus still entertained a reluctant esteem. The young +prince and his profligate favorites revelled in all the license of +sovereign power; but his hands were yet unstained with blood; and he +had even displayed a generosity of sentiment, which might perhaps have +ripened into solid virtue. [13] A fatal incident decided his fluctuating +character. + +[Footnote 13: Manilius, the confidential secretary of Avidius Cassius, +was discovered after he had lain concealed several years. The emperor +nobly relieved the public anxiety by refusing to see him, and burning +his papers without opening them. Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1209.] + +One evening, as the emperor was returning to the palace, through a dark +and narrow portico in the amphitheatre, [14] an assassin, who waited his +passage, rushed upon him with a drawn sword, loudly exclaiming, "The +senate sends you this." The menace prevented the deed; the assassin +was seized by the guards, and immediately revealed the authors of the +conspiracy. It had been formed, not in the state, but within the walls +of the palace. Lucilla, the emperor's sister, and widow of Lucius Verus, +impatient of the second rank, and jealous of the reigning empress, had +armed the murderer against her brother's life. She had not ventured to +communicate the black design to her second husband, Claudius Pompeiarus, +a senator of distinguished merit and unshaken loyalty; but among the +crowd of her lovers (for she imitated the manners of Faustina) she found +men of desperate fortunes and wild ambition, who were prepared to serve +her more violent, as well as her tender passions. The conspirators +experienced the rigor of justice, and the abandoned princess was +punished, first with exile, and afterwards with death. [15] + +[Footnote 14: See Maffei degli Amphitheatri, p. 126.] + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1205 Herodian, l. i. p. 16 Hist. August +p. 46.] + +But the words of the assassin sunk deep into the mind of Commodus, and +left an indelible impression of fear and hatred against the whole body +of the senate. [151] Those whom he had dreaded as importunate ministers, +he now suspected as secret enemies. The Delators, a race of men +discouraged, and almost extinguished, under the former reigns, again +became formidable, as soon as they discovered that the emperor was +desirous of finding disaffection and treason in the senate. That +assembly, whom Marcus had ever considered as the great council of +the nation, was composed of the most distinguished of the Romans; and +distinction of every kind soon became criminal. The possession of wealth +stimulated the diligence of the informers; rigid virtue implied a tacit +censure of the irregularities of Commodus; important services implied a +dangerous superiority of merit; and the friendship of the father always +insured the aversion of the son. Suspicion was equivalent to proof; +trial to condemnation. The execution of a considerable senator was +attended with the death of all who might lament or revenge his fate; and +when Commodus had once tasted human blood, he became incapable of +pity or remorse. + +[Footnote 151: The conspirators were senators, even the assassin +himself. Herod. 81.--G.] + +Of these innocent victims of tyranny, none died more lamented than the +two brothers of the Quintilian family, Maximus and Condianus; whose +fraternal love has saved their names from oblivion, and endeared their +memory to posterity. Their studies and their occupations, their pursuits +and their pleasures, were still the same. In the enjoyment of a great +estate, they never admitted the idea of a separate interest: some +fragments are now extant of a treatise which they composed in common; +[152] and in every action of life it was observed that their two bodies +were animated by one soul. The Antonines, who valued their virtues, and +delighted in their union, raised them, in the same year, to the +consulship; and Marcus afterwards intrusted to their joint care the +civil administration of Greece, and a great military command, in which +they obtained a signal victory over the Germans. The kind cruelty of +Commodus united them in death. [16] + +[Footnote 152: This work was on agriculture, and is often quoted by later +writers. See P. Needham, Proleg. ad Geoponic. Camb. 1704.--W.] + +[Footnote 16: In a note upon the Augustan History, Casaubon has +collected a number of particulars concerning these celebrated brothers. +See p. 96 of his learned commentary.] + +The tyrant's rage, after having shed the noblest blood of the senate, +at length recoiled on the principal instrument of his cruelty. Whilst +Commodus was immersed in blood and luxury, he devolved the detail of the +public business on Perennis, a servile and ambitious minister, who had +obtained his post by the murder of his predecessor, but who possessed a +considerable share of vigor and ability. By acts of extortion, and +the forfeited estates of the nobles sacrificed to his avarice, he had +accumulated an immense treasure. The Praetorian guards were under +his immediate command; and his son, who already discovered a military +genius, was at the head of the Illyrian legions. Perennis aspired to the +empire; or what, in the eyes of Commodus, amounted to the same crime, he +was capable of aspiring to it, had he not been prevented, surprised, and +put to death. The fall of a minister is a very trifling incident in the +general history of the empire; but it was hastened by an extraordinary +circumstance, which proved how much the nerves of discipline were +already relaxed. The legions of Britain, discontented with the +administration of Perennis, formed a deputation of fifteen hundred +select men, with instructions to march to Rome, and lay their complaints +before the emperor. These military petitioners, by their own determined +behaviour, by inflaming the divisions of the guards, by exaggerating +the strength of the British army, and by alarming the fears of Commodus, +exacted and obtained the minister's death, as the only redress of their +grievances. [17] This presumption of a distant army, and their discovery +of the weakness of government, was a sure presage of the most dreadful +convulsions. + +[Footnote 17: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1210. Herodian, l. i. p. 22. Hist. +August. p. 48. Dion gives a much less odious character of Perennis, than +the other historians. His moderation is almost a pledge of his veracity. +Note: Gibbon praises Dion for the moderation with which he speaks of +Perennis: he follows, nevertheless, in his own narrative, Herodian and +Lampridius. Dion speaks of Perennis not only with moderation, but with +admiration; he represents him as a great man, virtuous in his life, and +blameless in his death: perhaps he may be suspected of partiality; but +it is singular that Gibbon, having adopted, from Herodian and +Lampridius, their judgment on this minister, follows Dion's improbable +account of his death. What likelihood, in fact, that fifteen hundred men +should have traversed Gaul and Italy, and have arrived at Rome without +any understanding with the Praetorians, or without detection or +opposition from Perennis, the Praetorian praefect? Gibbon, foreseeing, +perhaps, this difficulty, has added, that the military deputation +inflamed the divisions of the guards; but Dion says expressly that they +did not reach Rome, but that the emperor went out to meet them: he even +reproaches him for not having opposed them with the guards, who were +superior in number. Herodian relates that Commodus, having learned, from +a soldier, the ambitious designs of Perennis and his son, caused them to +be attacked and massacred by night.--G. from W. Dion's narrative is +remarkably circumstantial, and his authority higher than either of the +other writers. He hints that Cleander, a new favorite, had already +undermined the influence of Perennis.--M.] + +The negligence of the public administration was betrayed, soon +afterwards, by a new disorder, which arose from the smallest beginnings. +A spirit of desertion began to prevail among the troops: and the +deserters, instead of seeking their safety in flight or concealment, +infested the highways. Maternus, a private soldier, of a daring boldness +above his station, collected these bands of robbers into a little army, +set open the prisons, invited the slaves to assert their freedom, and +plundered with impunity the rich and defenceless cities of Gaul and +Spain. The governors of the provinces, who had long been the spectators, +and perhaps the partners, of his depredations, were, at length, roused +from their supine indolence by the threatening commands of the emperor. +Maternus found that he was encompassed, and foresaw that he must be +overpowered. A great effort of despair was his last resource. He ordered +his followers to disperse, to pass the Alps in small parties and various +disguises, and to assemble at Rome, during the licentious tumult of the +festival of Cybele. [18] To murder Commodus, and to ascend the vacant +throne, was the ambition of no vulgar robber. His measures were so ably +concerted that his concealed troops already filled the streets of +Rome. The envy of an accomplice discovered and ruined this singular +enterprise, in a moment when it was ripe for execution. [19] + +[Footnote 18: During the second Punic war, the Romans imported from Asia +the worship of the mother of the gods. Her festival, the Megalesia, +began on the fourth of April, and lasted six days. The streets were +crowded with mad processions, the theatres with spectators, and the +public tables with unbidden guests. Order and police were suspended, and +pleasure was the only serious business of the city. See Ovid. de Fastis, +l. iv. 189, &c.] + +[Footnote 19: Herodian, l. i. p. 23, 23.] + +Suspicious princes often promote the last of mankind, from a vain +persuasion, that those who have no dependence, except on their favor, +will have no attachment, except to the person of their benefactor. +Cleander, the successor of Perennis, was a Phrygian by birth; of +a nation over whose stubborn, but servile temper, blows only could +prevail. [20] He had been sent from his native country to Rome, in the +capacity of a slave. As a slave he entered the Imperial palace, rendered +himself useful to his master's passions, and rapidly ascended to the +most exalted station which a subject could enjoy. His influence over +the mind of Commodus was much greater than that of his predecessor; for +Cleander was devoid of any ability or virtue which could inspire the +emperor with envy or distrust. Avarice was the reigning passion of his +soul, and the great principle of his administration. The rank of Consul, +of Patrician, of Senator, was exposed to public sale; and it would have +been considered as disaffection, if any one had refused to purchase +these empty and disgraceful honors with the greatest part of his +fortune. [21] In the lucrative provincial employments, the minister +shared with the governor the spoils of the people. The execution of the +laws was penal and arbitrary. A wealthy criminal might obtain, not only +the reversal of the sentence by which he was justly condemned, but might +likewise inflict whatever punishment he pleased on the accuser, the +witnesses, and the judge. + +[Footnote 20: Cicero pro Flacco, c. 27.] + +[Footnote 21: One of these dear-bought promotions occasioned a +current... that Julius Solon was banished into the senate.] + +By these means, Cleander, in the space of three years, had accumulated +more wealth than had ever yet been possessed by any freedman. [22] +Commodus was perfectly satisfied with the magnificent presents which +the artful courtier laid at his feet in the most seasonable moments. +To divert the public envy, Cleander, under the emperor's name, erected +baths, porticos, and places of exercise, for the use of the people. +[23] He flattered himself that the Romans, dazzled and amused by this +apparent liberality, would be less affected by the bloody scenes which +were daily exhibited; that they would forget the death of Byrrhus, a +senator to whose superior merit the late emperor had granted one of +his daughters; and that they would forgive the execution of Arrius +Antoninus, the last representative of the name and virtues of the +Antonines. The former, with more integrity than prudence, had attempted +to disclose, to his brother-in-law, the true character of Cleander. An +equitable sentence pronounced by the latter, when proconsul of Asia, +against a worthless creature of the favorite, proved fatal to him. [24] +After the fall of Perennis, the terrors of Commodus had, for a short +time, assumed the appearance of a return to virtue. He repealed the most +odious of his acts; loaded his memory with the public execration, and +ascribed to the pernicious counsels of that wicked minister all the +errors of his inexperienced youth. But his repentance lasted only thirty +days; and, under Cleander's tyranny, the administration of Perennis was +often regretted. + +[Footnote 22: Dion (l. lxxii. p. 12, 13) observes, that no freedman had +possessed riches equal to those of Cleander. The fortune of Pallas +amounted, however, to upwards of five and twenty hundred thousand +pounds; Ter millies.] + +[Footnote 23: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 12, 13. Herodian, l. i. p. 29. Hist. +August. p. 52. These baths were situated near the Porta Capena. See +Nardini Roma Antica, p. 79.] + +[Footnote 24: Hist. August. p. 79.] + + + + +Chapter IV: The Cruelty, Follies And Murder Of Commodus.--Part II. + +Pestilence and famine contributed to fill up the measure of the +calamities of Rome. [25] The first could be only imputed to the just +indignation of the gods; but a monopoly of corn, supported by the riches +and power of the minister, was considered as the immediate cause of +the second. The popular discontent, after it had long circulated in +whispers, broke out in the assembled circus. The people quitted their +favorite amusements for the more delicious pleasure of revenge, +rushed in crowds towards a palace in the suburbs, one of the emperor's +retirements, and demanded, with angry clamors, the head of the public +enemy. Cleander, who commanded the Praetorian guards, [26] ordered a body +of cavalry to sally forth, and disperse the seditious multitude. The +multitude fled with precipitation towards the city; several were slain, +and many more were trampled to death; but when the cavalry entered the +streets, their pursuit was checked by a shower of stones and darts from +the roofs and windows of the houses. The foot guards, [27] who had +been long jealous of the prerogatives and insolence of the Praetorian +cavalry, embraced the party of the people. The tumult became a regular +engagement, and threatened a general massacre. The Praetorians, at +length, gave way, oppressed with numbers; and the tide of popular fury +returned with redoubled violence against the gates of the palace, where +Commodus lay, dissolved in luxury, and alone unconscious of the civil +war. It was death to approach his person with the unwelcome news. He +would have perished in this supine security, had not two women, his +eldest sister Fadilla, and Marcia, the most favored of his concubines, +ventured to break into his presence. Bathed in tears, and with +dishevelled hair, they threw themselves at his feet; and with all the +pressing eloquence of fear, discovered to the affrighted emperor the +crimes of the minister, the rage of the people, and the impending +ruin, which, in a few minutes, would burst over his palace and person. +Commodus started from his dream of pleasure, and commanded that the head +of Cleander should be thrown out to the people. The desired spectacle +instantly appeased the tumult; and the son of Marcus might even yet have +regained the affection and confidence of his subjects. [28] + +[Footnote 25: Herodian, l. i. p. 28. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1215. The +latter says that two thousand persons died every day at Rome, during a +considerable length of time.] + +[Footnote 26: Tuneque primum tres praefecti praetorio fuere: inter quos +libertinus. From some remains of modesty, Cleander declined the title, +whilst he assumed the powers, of Praetorian praefect. As the other +freedmen were styled, from their several departments, a rationibus, +ab epistolis, Cleander called himself a pugione, as intrusted with the +defence of his master's person. Salmasius and Casaubon seem to have +talked very idly upon this passage. * Note: M. Guizot denies that +Lampridius means Cleander as praefect a pugione. The Libertinus seems to +me to mean him.--M.] + +[Footnote 27: Herodian, l. i. p. 31. It is doubtful whether he means +the Praetorian infantry, or the cohortes urbanae, a body of six thousand +men, but whose rank and discipline were not equal to their numbers. +Neither Tillemont nor Wotton choose to decide this question.] + +[Footnote 28: Dion Cassius, l. lxxii. p. 1215. Herodian, l. i. p. 32. +Hist. August. p. 48.] + +But every sentiment of virtue and humanity was extinct in the mind of +Commodus. Whilst he thus abandoned the reins of empire to these unworthy +favorites, he valued nothing in sovereign power, except the unbounded +license of indulging his sensual appetites. His hours were spent in a +seraglio of three hundred beautiful women, and as many boys, of every +rank, and of every province; and, wherever the arts of seduction proved +ineffectual, the brutal lover had recourse to violence. The +ancient historians [29] have expatiated on these abandoned scenes of +prostitution, which scorned every restraint of nature or modesty; but it +would not be easy to translate their too faithful descriptions into the +decency of modern language. The intervals of lust were filled up with +the basest amusements. The influence of a polite age, and the labor of +an attentive education, had never been able to infuse into his rude and +brutish mind the least tincture of learning; and he was the first of +the Roman emperors totally devoid of taste for the pleasures of the +understanding. Nero himself excelled, or affected to excel, in the +elegant arts of music and poetry: nor should we despise his pursuits, +had he not converted the pleasing relaxation of a leisure hour into +the serious business and ambition of his life. But Commodus, from his +earliest infancy, discovered an aversion to whatever was rational or +liberal, and a fond attachment to the amusements of the populace; the +sports of the circus and amphitheatre, the combats of gladiators, and +the hunting of wild beasts. The masters in every branch of learning, +whom Marcus provided for his son, were heard with inattention and +disgust; whilst the Moors and Parthians, who taught him to dart the +javelin and to shoot with the bow, found a disciple who delighted in his +application, and soon equalled the most skilful of his instructors in +the steadiness of the eye and the dexterity of the hand. + +[Footnote 29: Sororibus suis constupratis. Ipsas concubinas suas sub +oculis...stuprari jubebat. Nec irruentium in se juvenum carebat infamia, +omni parte corporis atque ore in sexum utrumque pollutus. Hist. Aug. p. +47.] + +The servile crowd, whose fortune depended on their master's vices, +applauded these ignoble pursuits. The perfidious voice of flattery +reminded him, that by exploits of the same nature, by the defeat of the +Nemaean lion, and the slaughter of the wild boar of Erymanthus, the +Grecian Hercules had acquired a place among the gods, and an immortal +memory among men. They only forgot to observe, that, in the first ages +of society, when the fiercer animals often dispute with man the +possession of an unsettled country, a successful war against those +savages is one of the most innocent and beneficial labors of heroism. In +the civilized state of the Roman empire, the wild beasts had long since +retired from the face of man, and the neighborhood of populous cities. +To surprise them in their solitary haunts, and to transport them to +Rome, that they might be slain in pomp by the hand of an emperor, was an +enterprise equally ridiculous for the prince and oppressive for the +people. [30] Ignorant of these distinctions, Commodus eagerly embraced +the glorious resemblance, and styled himself (as we still read on his +medals [31] the Roman Hercules. [311] The club and the lion's hide were +placed by the side of the throne, amongst the ensigns of sovereignty; +and statues were erected, in which Commodus was represented in the +character, and with the attributes, of the god, whose valor and +dexterity he endeavored to emulate in the daily course of his ferocious +amusements. [32] + +[Footnote 30: The African lions, when pressed by hunger, infested the open +villages and cultivated country; and they infested them with impunity. +The royal beast was reserved for the pleasures of the emperor and the +capital; and the unfortunate peasant who killed one of them though +in his own defence, incurred a very heavy penalty. This extraordinary +game-law was mitigated by Honorius, and finally repealed by Justinian. +Codex Theodos. tom. v. p. 92, et Comment Gothofred.] + +[Footnote 31: Spanheim de Numismat. Dissertat. xii. tom. ii. p. 493.] + +[Footnote 311: Commodus placed his own head on the colossal statue of +Hercules with the inscription, Lucius Commodus Hercules. The wits of +Rome, according to a new fragment of Dion, published an epigram, of +which, like many other ancient jests, the point is not very clear. +It seems to be a protest of the god against being confounded with the +emperor. Mai Fragm. Vatican. ii. 225.--M.] + +[Footnote 32: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1216. Hist. August. p. 49.] + +Elated with these praises, which gradually extinguished the innate sense +of shame, Commodus resolved to exhibit before the eyes of the Roman +people those exercises, which till then he had decently confined within +the walls of his palace, and to the presence of a few favorites. On the +appointed day, the various motives of flattery, fear, and curiosity, +attracted to the amphitheatre an innumerable multitude of spectators; +and some degree of applause was deservedly bestowed on the uncommon +skill of the Imperial performer. Whether he aimed at the head or heart +of the animal, the wound was alike certain and mortal. With arrows whose +point was shaped into the form of crescent, Commodus often intercepted +the rapid career, and cut asunder the long, bony neck of the ostrich. +[33] A panther was let loose; and the archer waited till he had leaped +upon a trembling malefactor. In the same instant the shaft flew, the +beast dropped dead, and the man remained unhurt. The dens of the +amphitheatre disgorged at once a hundred lions: a hundred darts from the +unerring hand of Commodus laid them dead as they run raging round the +Arena. Neither the huge bulk of the elephant, nor the scaly hide of the +rhinoceros, could defend them from his stroke. Aethiopia and India +yielded their most extraordinary productions; and several animals were +slain in the amphitheatre, which had been seen only in the +representations of art, or perhaps of fancy. [34] In all these +exhibitions, the securest precautions were used to protect the person of +the Roman Hercules from the desperate spring of any savage, who might +possibly disregard the dignity of the emperor and the sanctity of the +god. [35] + +[Footnote 33: The ostrich's neck is three feet long, and composed of +seventeen vertebrae. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle.] + +[Footnote 34: Commodus killed a camelopardalis or Giraffe, (Dion, l. +lxxii. p. 1211,) the tallest, the most gentle, and the most useless +of the large quadrupeds. This singular animal, a native only of the +interior parts of Africa, has not been seen in Europe since the revival +of letters; and though M. de Buffon (Hist. Naturelle, tom. xiii.) has +endeavored to describe, he has not ventured to delineate, the Giraffe. * +Note: The naturalists of our days have been more fortunate. London +probably now contains more specimens of this animal than have been seen +in Europe since the fall of the Roman empire, unless in the pleasure +gardens of the emperor Frederic II., in Sicily, which possessed several. +Frederic's collections of wild beasts were exhibited, for the popular +amusement, in many parts of Italy. Raumer, Geschichte der Hohenstaufen, +v. iii. p. 571. Gibbon, moreover, is mistaken; as a giraffe was +presented to Lorenzo de Medici, either by the sultan of Egypt or the +king of Tunis. Contemporary authorities are quoted in the old work, +Gesner de Quadrupedibum p. 162.--M.] + +[Footnote 35: Herodian, l. i. p. 37. Hist. August. p. 50.] + +But the meanest of the populace were affected with shame and indignation +when they beheld their sovereign enter the lists as a gladiator, and +glory in a profession which the laws and manners of the Romans had +branded with the justest note of infamy. [36] He chose the habit and +arms of the Secutor, whose combat with the Retiarius formed one of the +most lively scenes in the bloody sports of the amphitheatre. The Secutor +was armed with a helmet, sword, and buckler; his naked antagonist had +only a large net and a trident; with the one he endeavored to entangle, +with the other to despatch his enemy. If he missed the first throw, he +was obliged to fly from the pursuit of the Secutor, till he had prepared +his net for a second cast. [37] The emperor fought in this character +seven hundred and thirty-five several times. These glorious achievements +were carefully recorded in the public acts of the empire; and that he +might omit no circumstance of infamy, he received from the common fund +of gladiators a stipend so exorbitant that it became a new and most +ignominious tax upon the Roman people. [38] It may be easily supposed, +that in these engagements the master of the world was always successful; +in the amphitheatre, his victories were not often sanguinary; but when +he exercised his skill in the school of gladiators, or his own palace, +his wretched antagonists were frequently honored with a mortal wound +from the hand of Commodus, and obliged to seal their flattery with their +blood. [39] He now disdained the appellation of Hercules. The name of +Paulus, a celebrated Secutor, was the only one which delighted his ear. +It was inscribed on his colossal statues, and repeated in the redoubled +acclamations [40] of the mournful and applauding senate. [41] Claudius +Pompeianus, the virtuous husband of Lucilla, was the only senator who +asserted the honor of his rank. As a father, he permitted his sons to +consult their safety by attending the amphitheatre. As a Roman, he +declared, that his own life was in the emperor's hands, but that he +would never behold the son of Marcus prostituting his person and +dignity. Notwithstanding his manly resolution Pompeianus escaped the +resentment of the tyrant, and, with his honor, had the good fortune to +preserve his life. [42] + +[Footnote 36: The virtuous and even the wise princes forbade the +senators and knights to embrace this scandalous profession, under pain +of infamy, or, what was more dreaded by those profligate wretches, of +exile. The tyrants allured them to dishonor by threats and rewards. +Nero once produced in the arena forty senators and sixty knights. See +Lipsius, Saturnalia, l. ii. c. 2. He has happily corrected a passage +of Suetonius in Nerone, c. 12.] + +[Footnote 37: Lipsius, l. ii. c. 7, 8. Juvenal, in the eighth satire, +gives a picturesque description of this combat.] + +[Footnote 38: Hist. August. p. 50. Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1220. He received, +for each time, decies, about 8000l. sterling.] + +[Footnote 39: Victor tells us, that Commodus only allowed his +antagonists a...weapon, dreading most probably the consequences of their +despair.] + +[Footnote 40: They were obliged to repeat, six hundred and twenty-six +times, Paolus first of the Secutors, &c.] + +[Footnote 41: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1221. He speaks of his own baseness and +danger.] + +[Footnote 42: He mixed, however, some prudence with his courage, and +passed the greatest part of his time in a country retirement; alleging +his advanced age, and the weakness of his eyes. "I never saw him in the +senate," says Dion, "except during the short reign of Pertinax." All his +infirmities had suddenly left him, and they returned as suddenly upon +the murder of that excellent prince. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1227.] + +Commodus had now attained the summit of vice and infamy. Amidst the +acclamations of a flattering court, he was unable to disguise from +himself, that he had deserved the contempt and hatred of every man of +sense and virtue in his empire. His ferocious spirit was irritated by +the consciousness of that hatred, by the envy of every kind of merit, by +the just apprehension of danger, and by the habit of slaughter, which he +contracted in his daily amusements. History has preserved a long list of +consular senators sacrificed to his wanton suspicion, which sought out, +with peculiar anxiety, those unfortunate persons connected, however +remotely, with the family of the Antonines, without sparing even the +ministers of his crimes or pleasures. [43] His cruelty proved at last +fatal to himself. He had shed with impunity the noblest blood of Rome: +he perished as soon as he was dreaded by his own domestics. Marcia, +his favorite concubine, Eclectus, his chamberlain, and Laetus, his +Praetorian praefect, alarmed by the fate of their companions and +predecessors, resolved to prevent the destruction which every hour hung +over their heads, either from the mad caprice of the tyrant, [431] or +the sudden indignation of the people. Marcia seized the occasion of +presenting a draught of wine to her lover, after he had fatigued himself +with hunting some wild beasts. Commodus retired to sleep; but whilst he +was laboring with the effects of poison and drunkenness, a robust youth, +by profession a wrestler, entered his chamber, and strangled him without +resistance. The body was secretly conveyed out of the palace, before the +least suspicion was entertained in the city, or even in the court, of +the emperor's death. Such was the fate of the son of Marcus, and so +easy was it to destroy a hated tyrant, who, by the artificial powers of +government, had oppressed, during thirteen years, so many millions of +subjects, each of whom was equal to their master in personal strength +and personal abilities. [44] + +[Footnote 43: The prefects were changed almost hourly or daily; and the +caprice of Commodus was often fatal to his most favored chamberlains. +Hist. August. p. 46, 51.] + +[Footnote 431: Commodus had already resolved to massacre them the +following night they determined o anticipate his design. Herod. i. +17.--W.] + +[Footnote 44: Dion, l. lxxii. p. 1222. Herodian, l. i. p. 43. Hist. +August. p. 52.] + +The measures of the conspirators were conducted with the deliberate +coolness and celerity which the greatness of the occasion required. +They resolved instantly to fill the vacant throne with an emperor whose +character would justify and maintain the action that had been committed. +They fixed on Pertinax, praefect of the city, an ancient senator of +consular rank, whose conspicuous merit had broke through the obscurity +of his birth, and raised him to the first honors of the state. He had +successively governed most of the provinces of the empire; and in all +his great employments, military as well as civil, he had uniformly +distinguished himself by the firmness, the prudence, and the integrity +of his conduct. [45] He now remained almost alone of the friends and +ministers of Marcus; and when, at a late hour of the night, he was +awakened with the news, that the chamberlain and the praefect were at +his door, he received them with intrepid resignation, and desired they +would execute their master's orders. Instead of death, they offered him +the throne of the Roman world. During some moments he distrusted their +intentions and assurances. Convinced at length of the death of Commodus, +he accepted the purple with a sincere reluctance, the natural effect of +his knowledge both of the duties and of the dangers of the supreme rank. +[46] + +[Footnote 45: Pertinax was a native of Alba Pompeia, in Piedmont, +and son of a timber merchant. The order of his employments (it is marked +by Capitolinus) well deserves to be set down, as expressive of the form +of government and manners of the age. 1. He was a centurion. 2. Praefect +of a cohort in Syria, in the Parthian war, and in Britain. 3. He +obtained an Ala, or squadron of horse, in Maesia. 4. He was commissary +of provisions on the Aemilian way. 5. He commanded the fleet upon the +Rhine. 6. He was procurator of Dacia, with a salary of about 1600l. a +year. 7. He commanded the veterans of a legion. 8. He obtained the rank +of senator. 9. Of praetor. 10. With the command of the first legion +in Rhaetia and Noricum. 11. He was consul about the year 175. 12. He +attended Marcus into the East. 13. He commanded an army on the Danube. +14. He was consular legate of Maesia. 15. Of Dacia. 16. Of Syria. 17. +Of Britain. 18. He had the care of the public provisions at Rome. 19. +He was proconsul of Africa. 20. Praefect of the city. Herodian (l. i. +p. 48) does justice to his disinterested spirit; but Capitolinus, who +collected every popular rumor, charges him with a great fortune acquired +by bribery and corruption.] + +[Footnote 46: Julian, in the Caesars, taxes him with being accessory to +the death of Commodus.] + +Laetus conducted without delay his new emperor to the camp of the +Praetorians, diffusing at the same time through the city a seasonable +report that Commodus died suddenly of an apoplexy; and that the virtuous +Pertinax had already succeeded to the throne. The guards were rather +surprised than pleased with the suspicious death of a prince, whose +indulgence and liberality they alone had experienced; but the emergency +of the occasion, the authority of their praefect, the reputation of +Pertinax, and the clamors of the people, obliged them to stifle their +secret discontents, to accept the donative promised by the new emperor, +to swear allegiance to him, and with joyful acclamations and laurels +in their hands to conduct him to the senate house, that the military +consent might be ratified by the civil authority. This important night +was now far spent; with the dawn of day, and the commencement of the new +year, the senators expected a summons to attend an ignominious ceremony. +[461] In spite of all remonstrances, even of those of his creatures who +yet preserved any regard for prudence or decency, Commodus had resolved +to pass the night in the gladiators' school, and from thence to take +possession of the consulship, in the habit and with the attendance of +that infamous crew. On a sudden, before the break of day, the senate was +called together in the temple of Concord, to meet the guards, and to +ratify the election of a new emperor. For a few minutes they sat in +silent suspense, doubtful of their unexpected deliverance, and +suspicious of the cruel artifices of Commodus: but when at length they +were assured that the tyrant was no more, they resigned themselves to +all the transports of joy and indignation. Pertinax, who modestly +represented the meanness of his extraction, and pointed out several +noble senators more deserving than himself of the empire, was +constrained by their dutiful violence to ascend the throne, and received +all the titles of Imperial power, confirmed by the most sincere vows of +fidelity. The memory of Commodus was branded with eternal infamy. The +names of tyrant, of gladiator, of public enemy resounded in every corner +of the house. They decreed in tumultuous votes, [462] that his honors +should be reversed, his titles erased from the public monuments, his +statues thrown down, his body dragged with a hook into the stripping +room of the gladiators, to satiate the public fury; and they expressed +some indignation against those officious servants who had already +presumed to screen his remains from the justice of the senate. But +Pertinax could not refuse those last rites to the memory of Marcus, and +the tears of his first protector Claudius Pompeianus, who lamented the +cruel fate of his brother-in-law, and lamented still more that he had +deserved it. [47] + +[Footnote 461: The senate always assembled at the beginning of the year, +on the night of the 1st January, (see Savaron on Sid. Apoll. viii. 6,) +and this happened the present year, as usual, without any particular +order.--G from W.] + +[Footnote 462: What Gibbon improperly calls, both here and in the note, +tumultuous decrees, were no more than the applauses and acclamations +which recur so often in the history of the emperors. The custom passed +from the theatre to the forum, from the forum to the senate. Applauses +on the adoption of the Imperial decrees were first introduced under +Trajan. (Plin. jun. Panegyr. 75.) One senator read the form of the +decree, and all the rest answered by acclamations, accompanied with a +kind of chant or rhythm. These were some of the acclamations addressed +to Pertinax, and against the memory of Commodus. Hosti patriae honores +detrahantur. Parricidae honores detrahantur. Ut salvi simus, Jupiter, +optime, maxime, serva nobis Pertinacem. This custom prevailed not only +in the councils of state, but in all the meetings of the senate. However +inconsistent it may appear with the solemnity of a religious assembly, +the early Christians adopted and introduced it into their synods, +notwithstanding the opposition of some of the Fathers, particularly of +St. Chrysostom. See the Coll. of Franc. Bern. Ferrarius de veterum +acclamatione in Graevii Thesaur. Antiq. Rom. i. 6.--W. This note is +rather hypercritical, as regards Gibbon, but appears to be worthy of +preservation.--M.] + +[Footnote 47: Capitolinus gives us the particulars of these tumultuary +votes, which were moved by one senator, and repeated, or rather chanted +by the whole body. Hist. August. p. 52.] + +These effusions of impotent rage against a dead emperor, whom the senate +had flattered when alive with the most abject servility, betrayed a just +but ungenerous spirit of revenge. + +The legality of these decrees was, however, supported by the principles +of the Imperial constitution. To censure, to depose, or to punish +with death, the first magistrate of the republic, who had abused his +delegated trust, was the ancient and undoubted prerogative of the Roman +senate; [48] but the feeble assembly was obliged to content itself with +inflicting on a fallen tyrant that public justice, from which, during +his life and reign, he had been shielded by the strong arm of military +despotism. [481] + +[Footnote 48: The senate condemned Nero to be put to death more majorum. +Sueton. c. 49.] + +[Footnote 481: No particular law assigned this right to the senate: it was +deduced from the ancient principles of the republic. Gibbon appears to +infer, from the passage of Suetonius, that the senate, according to its +ancient right, punished Nero with death. The words, however, more +majerum refer not to the decree of the senate, but to the kind of death, +which was taken from an old law of Romulus. (See Victor. Epit. Ed. +Artzen p. 484, n. 7.)--W.] + +Pertinax found a nobler way of condemning his predecessor's memory; by +the contrast of his own virtues with the vices of Commodus. On the day +of his accession, he resigned over to his wife and son his whole private +fortune; that they might have no pretence to solicit favors at the +expense of the state. He refused to flatter the vanity of the former +with the title of Augusta; or to corrupt the inexperienced youth of +the latter by the rank of Caesar. Accurately distinguishing between the +duties of a parent and those of a sovereign, he educated his son with a +severe simplicity, which, while it gave him no assured prospect of the +throne, might in time have rendered him worthy of it. In public, the +behavior of Pertinax was grave and affable. He lived with the virtuous +part of the senate, (and, in a private station, he had been acquainted +with the true character of each individual,) without either pride or +jealousy; considered them as friends and companions, with whom he had +shared the danger of the tyranny, and with whom he wished to enjoy +the security of the present time. He very frequently invited them to +familiar entertainments, the frugality of which was ridiculed by those +who remembered and regretted the luxurious prodigality of Commodus. [49] + +[Footnote 49: Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1223) speaks of these entertainments, +as a senator who had supped with the emperor; Capitolinus, (Hist. +August. p. 58,) like a slave, who had received his intelligence from one +the scullions.] + +To heal, as far as it was possible, the wounds inflicted +by the hand of tyranny, was the pleasing, but melancholy, task of +Pertinax. The innocent victims, who yet survived, were recalled from +exile, released from prison, and restored to the full possession of +their honors and fortunes. The unburied bodies of murdered senators (for +the cruelty of Commodus endeavored to extend itself beyond death) +were deposited in the sepulchres of their ancestors; their memory +was justified and every consolation was bestowed on their ruined and +afflicted families. Among these consolations, one of the most grateful +was the punishment of the Delators; the common enemies of their master, +of virtue, and of their country. Yet even in the inquisition of these +legal assassins, Pertinax proceeded with a steady temper, which gave +every thing to justice, and nothing to popular prejudice and resentment. +The finances of the state demanded the most vigilant care of the +emperor. Though every measure of injustice and extortion had been +adopted, which could collect the property of the subject into the +coffers of the prince, the rapaciousness of Commodus had been so very +inadequate to his extravagance, that, upon his death, no more than eight +thousand pounds were found in the exhausted treasury, [50] to defray the +current expenses of government, and to discharge the pressing demand of +a liberal donative, which the new emperor had been obliged to promise +to the Praetorian guards. Yet under these distressed circumstances, +Pertinax had the generous firmness to remit all the oppressive taxes +invented by Commodus, and to cancel all the unjust claims of the +treasury; declaring, in a decree of the senate, "that he was better +satisfied to administer a poor republic with innocence, than to acquire +riches by the ways of tyranny and dishonor. Economy and industry he +considered as the pure and genuine sources of wealth; and from them he +soon derived a copious supply for the public necessities. The expense of +the household was immediately reduced to one half. All the instruments +of luxury Pertinax exposed to public auction, [51] gold and silver plate, +chariots of a singular construction, a superfluous wardrobe of silk +and embroidery, and a great number of beautiful slaves of both sexes; +excepting only, with attentive humanity, those who were born in a +state of freedom, and had been ravished from the arms of their weeping +parents. At the same time that he obliged the worthless favorites of +the tyrant to resign a part of their ill-gotten wealth, he satisfied +the just creditors of the state, and unexpectedly discharged the long +arrears of honest services. He removed the oppressive restrictions which +had been laid upon commerce, and granted all the uncultivated lands +in Italy and the provinces to those who would improve them; with an +exemption from tribute during the term of ten years. [52] + +[Footnote 50: Decies. The blameless economy of Pius left his successors +a treasure of vicies septies millies, above two and twenty millions +sterling. Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.] + +[Footnote 51: Besides the design of converting these useless ornaments +into money, Dion (l. lxxiii. p. 1229) assigns two secret motives of +Pertinax. He wished to expose the vices of Commodus, and to discover by +the purchasers those who most resembled him.] + +[Footnote 52: Though Capitolinus has picked up many idle tales of the +private life of Pertinax, he joins with Dion and Herodian in admiring +his public conduct.] + +Such a uniform conduct had already secured to Pertinax the noblest +reward of a sovereign, the love and esteem of his people. + +Those who remembered the virtues of Marcus were happy to contemplate in +their new emperor the features of that bright original; and flattered +themselves, that they should long enjoy the benign influence of his +administration. A hasty zeal to reform the corrupted state, accompanied +with less prudence than might have been expected from the years and +experience of Pertinax, proved fatal to himself and to his country. +His honest indiscretion united against him the servile crowd, who found +their private benefit in the public disorders, and who preferred the +favor of a tyrant to the inexorable equality of the laws. [53] + +[Footnote 53: Leges, rem surdam, inexorabilem esse. T. Liv. ii. 3.] + +Amidst the general joy, the sullen and angry countenance of the +Praetorian guards betrayed their inward dissatisfaction. They had +reluctantly submitted to Pertinax; they dreaded the strictness of +the ancient discipline, which he was preparing to restore; and they +regretted the license of the former reign. Their discontents were +secretly fomented by Laetus, their praefect, who found, when it was +too late, that his new emperor would reward a servant, but would not be +ruled by a favorite. On the third day of his reign, the soldiers seized +on a noble senator, with a design to carry him to the camp, and to +invest him with the Imperial purple. Instead of being dazzled by the +dangerous honor, the affrighted victim escaped from their violence, and +took refuge at the feet of Pertinax. A short time afterwards, Sosius +Falco, one of the consuls of the year, a rash youth, [54] but of an +ancient and opulent family, listened to the voice of ambition; and a +conspiracy was formed during a short absence of Pertinax, which was +crushed by his sudden return to Rome, and his resolute behavior. Falco +was on the point of being justly condemned to death as a public enemy +had he not been saved by the earnest and sincere entreaties of the +injured emperor, who conjured the senate, that the purity of his reign +might not be stained by the blood even of a guilty senator. + +[Footnote 54: If we credit Capitolinus, (which is rather difficult,) +Falco behaved with the most petulant indecency to Pertinax, on the day +of his accession. The wise emperor only admonished him of his youth and +in experience. Hist. August. p. 55.] + +These disappointments served only to irritate the rage of the Praetorian +guards. On the twenty-eighth of March, eighty-six days only after the +death of Commodus, a general sedition broke out in the camp, which the +officers wanted either power or inclination to suppress. Two or three +hundred of the most desperate soldiers marched at noonday, with arms in +their hands and fury in their looks, towards the Imperial palace. +The gates were thrown open by their companions upon guard, and by the +domestics of the old court, who had already formed a secret conspiracy +against the life of the too virtuous emperor. On the news of their +approach, Pertinax, disdaining either flight or concealment, advanced to +meet his assassins; and recalled to their minds his own innocence, +and the sanctity of their recent oath. For a few moments they stood +in silent suspense, ashamed of their atrocious design, and awed by +the venerable aspect and majestic firmness of their sovereign, till at +length, the despair of pardon reviving their fury, a barbarian of the +country of Tongress [55] levelled the first blow against Pertinax, who +was instantly despatched with a multitude of wounds. His head, separated +from his body, and placed on a lance, was carried in triumph to the +Praetorian camp, in the sight of a mournful and indignant people, who +lamented the unworthy fate of that excellent prince, and the transient +blessings of a reign, the memory of which could serve only to aggravate +their approaching misfortunes. [56] + +[Footnote 55: The modern bishopric of Liege. This soldier probably +belonged to the Batavian horse-guards, who were mostly raised in the +duchy of Gueldres and the neighborhood, and were distinguished by their +valor, and by the boldness with which they swam their horses across the +broadest and most rapid rivers. Tacit. Hist. iv. 12 Dion, l. lv p. 797 +Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, l. i. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 56: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1232. Herodian, l. ii. p. 60. Hist. +August. p. 58. Victor in Epitom. et in Caesarib. Eutropius, viii. 16.] + + + + +Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.--Part I. + + Public Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus By The + Praetorian Guards--Clodius Albinus In Britain, Pescennius + Niger In Syria, And Septimius Severus In Pannonia, Declare + Against The Murderers Of Pertinax--Civil Wars And Victory Of + Severus Over His Three Rivals--Relaxation Of Discipline--New + Maxims Of Government. + +The power of the sword is more sensibly felt in an extensive monarchy, +than in a small community. It has been calculated by the ablest +politicians, that no state, without being soon exhausted, can maintain +above the hundredth part of its members in arms and idleness. But +although this relative proportion may be uniform, the influence of the +army over the rest of the society will vary according to the degree of +its positive strength. The advantages of military science and discipline +cannot be exerted, unless a proper number of soldiers are united into +one body, and actuated by one soul. With a handful of men, such a union +would be ineffectual; with an unwieldy host, it would be impracticable; +and the powers of the machine would be alike destroyed by the extreme +minuteness or the excessive weight of its springs. To illustrate this +observation, we need only reflect, that there is no superiority of +natural strength, artificial weapons, or acquired skill, which could +enable one man to keep in constant subjection one hundred of his +fellow-creatures: the tyrant of a single town, or a small district, +would soon discover that a hundred armed followers were a weak defence +against ten thousand peasants or citizens; but a hundred thousand +well-disciplined soldiers will command, with despotic sway, ten millions +of subjects; and a body of ten or fifteen thousand guards will strike +terror into the most numerous populace that ever crowded the streets of +an immense capital. The Praetorian bands, whose licentious fury was the +first symptom and cause of the decline of the Roman empire, scarcely +amounted to the last-mentioned number [1] They derived their institution +from Augustus. That crafty tyrant, sensible that laws might color, but +that arms alone could maintain, his usurped dominion, had gradually +formed this powerful body of guards, in constant readiness to protect +his person, to awe the senate, and either to prevent or to crush the +first motions of rebellion. He distinguished these favored troops by +a double pay and superior privileges; but, as their formidable aspect +would at once have alarmed and irritated the Roman people, three cohorts +only were stationed in the capital, whilst the remainder was dispersed +in the adjacent towns of Italy. [2] But after fifty years of peace +and servitude, Tiberius ventured on a decisive measure, which forever +rivetted the fetters of his country. Under the fair pretences of +relieving Italy from the heavy burden of military quarters, and of +introducing a stricter discipline among the guards, he assembled them at +Rome, in a permanent camp, [3] which was fortified with skilful care, [4] +and placed on a commanding situation. [5] + +[Footnote 1: They were originally nine or ten thousand men, (for Tacitus +and son are not agreed upon the subject,) divided into as many cohorts. +Vitellius increased them to sixteen thousand, and as far as we can learn +from inscriptions, they never afterwards sunk much below that number. +See Lipsius de magnitudine Romana, i. 4.] + +[Footnote 2: Sueton. in August. c. 49.] + +[Footnote 3: Tacit. Annal. iv. 2. Sueton. in Tiber. c. 37. Dion Cassius, +l. lvii. p. 867.] + +[Footnote 4: In the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasian, the +Praetorian camp was attacked and defended with all the machines used in +the siege of the best fortified cities. Tacit. Hist. iii. 84.] + +[Footnote 5: Close to the walls of the city, on the broad summit of the +Quirinal and Viminal hills. See Nardini Roma Antica, p. 174. Donatus de +Roma Antiqua, p. 46. * Note: Not on both these hills: neither Donatus +nor Nardini justify this position. (Whitaker's Review. p. 13.) At the +northern extremity of this hill (the Viminal) are some considerable +remains of a walled enclosure which bears all the appearance of a Roman +camp, and therefore is generally thought to correspond with the Castra +Praetoria. Cramer's Italy 390.--M.] + +Such formidable servants are always necessary, but often +fatal to the throne of despotism. By thus introducing the Praetorian +guards as it were into the palace and the senate, the emperors taught +them to perceive their own strength, and the weakness of the civil +government; to view the vices of their masters with familiar contempt, +and to lay aside that reverential awe, which distance only, and mystery, +can preserve towards an imaginary power. In the luxurious idleness of +an opulent city, their pride was nourished by the sense of their +irresistible weight; nor was it possible to conceal from them, that +the person of the sovereign, the authority of the senate, the public +treasure, and the seat of empire, were all in their hands. To divert the +Praetorian bands from these dangerous reflections, the firmest and best +established princes were obliged to mix blandishments with commands, +rewards with punishments, to flatter their pride, indulge their +pleasures, connive at their irregularities, and to purchase their +precarious faith by a liberal donative; which, since the elevation of +Claudius, was enacted as a legal claim, on the accession of every new +emperor. [6] + +[Footnote 6: Claudius, raised by the soldiers to the empire, was the +first who gave a donative. He gave quina dena, 120l. (Sueton. in Claud. +c. 10: ) when Marcus, with his colleague Lucius Versus, took quiet +possession of the throne, he gave vicena, 160l. to each of the guards. +Hist. August. p. 25, (Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1231.) We may form some idea +of the amount of these sums, by Hadrian's complaint that the promotion +of a Caesar had cost him ter millies, two millions and a half sterling.] + +The advocate of the guards endeavored to justify by arguments the power +which they asserted by arms; and to maintain that, according to the +purest principles of the constitution, their consent was essentially +necessary in the appointment of an emperor. The election of consuls, of +generals, and of magistrates, however it had been recently usurped by +the senate, was the ancient and undoubted right of the Roman people. [7] +But where was the Roman people to be found? Not surely amongst the mixed +multitude of slaves and strangers that filled the streets of Rome; a +servile populace, as devoid of spirit as destitute of property. The +defenders of the state, selected from the flower of the Italian youth, +[8] and trained in the exercise of arms and virtue, were the genuine +representatives of the people, and the best entitled to elect the +military chief of the republic. These assertions, however defective in +reason, became unanswerable when the fierce Praetorians increased their +weight, by throwing, like the barbarian conqueror of Rome, their swords +into the scale. [9] + +[Footnote 7: Cicero de Legibus, iii. 3. The first book of Livy, and the +second of Dionysius of Halicarnassus, show the authority of the people, +even in the election of the kings.] + +[Footnote 8: They were originally recruited in Latium, Etruria, and the +old colonies, (Tacit. Annal. iv. 5.) The emperor Otho compliments +their vanity with the flattering titles of Italiae, Alumni, Romana were +juventus. Tacit. Hist. i. 84.] + +[Footnote 9: In the siege of Rome by the Gauls. See Livy, v. 48. +Plutarch. in Camill. p. 143.] + +The Praetorians had violated the sanctity of the throne by the atrocious +murder of Pertinax; they dishonored the majesty of it by their +subsequent conduct. The camp was without a leader, for even the praefect +Laetus, who had excited the tempest, prudently declined the public +indignation. Amidst the wild disorder, Sulpicianus, the emperor's +father-in-law, and governor of the city, who had been sent to the camp +on the first alarm of mutiny, was endeavoring to calm the fury of the +multitude, when he was silenced by the clamorous return of the +murderers, bearing on a lance the head of Pertinax. Though history has +accustomed us to observe every principle and every passion yielding to +the imperious dictates of ambition, it is scarcely credible that, in +these moments of horror, Sulpicianus should have aspired to ascend a +throne polluted with the recent blood of so near a relation and so +excellent a prince. He had already begun to use the only effectual +argument, and to treat for the Imperial dignity; but the more prudent of +the Praetorians, apprehensive that, in this private contract, they +should not obtain a just price for so valuable a commodity, ran out upon +the ramparts; and, with a loud voice, proclaimed that the Roman world +was to be disposed of to the best bidder by public auction. [10] + +[Footnote 10: Dion, L. lxxiii. p. 1234. Herodian, l. ii. p. 63. Hist. +August p. 60. Though the three historians agree that it was in fact an +auction, Herodian alone affirms that it was proclaimed as such by the +soldiers.] + +This infamous offer, the most insolent excess of military license, +diffused a universal grief, shame, and indignation throughout the city. +It reached at length the ears of Didius Julianus, a wealthy senator, +who, regardless of the public calamities, was indulging himself in the +luxury of the table. [11] His wife and his daughter, his freedmen and +his parasites, easily convinced him that he deserved the throne, and +earnestly conjured him to embrace so fortunate an opportunity. The vain +old man hastened to the Praetorian camp, where Sulpicianus was still in +treaty with the guards, and began to bid against him from the foot +of the rampart. The unworthy negotiation was transacted by faithful +emissaries, who passed alternately from one candidate to the other, and +acquainted each of them with the offers of his rival. Sulpicianus had +already promised a donative of five thousand drachms (above one hundred +and sixty pounds) to each soldier; when Julian, eager for the prize, +rose at once to the sum of six thousand two hundred and fifty drachms, +or upwards of two hundred pounds sterling. The gates of the camp were +instantly thrown open to the purchaser; he was declared emperor, and +received an oath of allegiance from the soldiers, who retained humanity +enough to stipulate that he should pardon and forget the competition of +Sulpicianus. [111] + +[Footnote 11: Spartianus softens the most odious parts of the character +and elevation of Julian.] + +[Footnote 111: One of the principal causes of the preference of Julianus +by the soldiers, was the dexterty dexterity with which he reminded them +that Sulpicianus would not fail to revenge on them the death of his +son-in-law. (See Dion, p. 1234, 1234. c. 11. Herod. ii. 6.)--W.] + +It was now incumbent on the Praetorians to fulfil the conditions of the +sale. They placed their new sovereign, whom they served and despised, +in the centre of their ranks, surrounded him on every side with their +shields, and conducted him in close order of battle through the deserted +streets of the city. The senate was commanded to assemble; and those who +had been the distinguished friends of Pertinax, or the personal enemies +of Julian, found it necessary to affect a more than common share of +satisfaction at this happy revolution. [12] After Julian had filled the +senate house with armed soldiers, he expatiated on the freedom of +his election, his own eminent virtues, and his full assurance of the +affections of the senate. The obsequious assembly congratulated their +own and the public felicity; engaged their allegiance, and conferred on +him all the several branches of the Imperial power. [13] From the +senate Julian was conducted, by the same military procession, to take +possession of the palace. The first objects that struck his eyes, were +the abandoned trunk of Pertinax, and the frugal entertainment prepared +for his supper. The one he viewed with indifference, the other with +contempt. A magnificent feast was prepared by his order, and he amused +himself, till a very late hour, with dice, and the performances of +Pylades, a celebrated dancer. Yet it was observed, that after the +crowd of flatterers dispersed, and left him to darkness, solitude, +and terrible reflection, he passed a sleepless night; revolving most +probably in his mind his own rash folly, the fate of his virtuous +predecessor, and the doubtful and dangerous tenure of an empire which +had not been acquired by merit, but purchased by money. [14] + +[Footnote 12: Dion Cassius, at that time praetor, had been a personal +enemy to Julian, i. lxxiii. p. 1235.] + +[Footnote 13: Hist. August. p. 61. We learn from thence one curious +circumstance, that the new emperor, whatever had been his birth, was +immediately aggregated to the number of patrician families. Note: A new +fragment of Dion shows some shrewdness in the character of Julian. When +the senate voted him a golden statue, he preferred one of brass, as more +lasting. He "had always observed," he said, "that the statues of former +emperors were soon destroyed. Those of brass alone remained." The +indignant historian adds that he was wrong. The virtue of sovereigns +alone preserves their images: the brazen statue of Julian was broken to +pieces at his death. Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 226.--M.] + +[Footnote 14: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235. Hist. August. p. 61. I have +endeavored to blend into one consistent story the seeming contradictions +of the two writers. * Note: The contradiction as M. Guizot observed, is +irreconcilable. He quotes both passages: in one Julianus is represented +as a miser, in the other as a voluptuary. In the one he refuses to eat +till the body of Pertinax has been buried; in the other he gluts himself +with every luxury almost in the sight of his headless remains.--M.] + +He had reason to tremble. On the throne of the world he found himself +without a friend, and even without an adherent. The guards themselves +were ashamed of the prince whom their avarice had persuaded them to +accept; nor was there a citizen who did not consider his elevation +with horror, as the last insult on the Roman name. The nobility, whose +conspicuous station, and ample possessions, exacted the strictest +caution, dissembled their sentiments, and met the affected civility of +the emperor with smiles of complacency and professions of duty. But the +people, secure in their numbers and obscurity, gave a free vent to their +passions. The streets and public places of Rome resounded with clamors +and imprecations. The enraged multitude affronted the person of Julian, +rejected his liberality, and, conscious of the impotence of their own +resentment, they called aloud on the legions of the frontiers to assert +the violated majesty of the Roman empire. The public discontent was soon +diffused from the centre to the frontiers of the empire. The armies of +Britain, of Syria, and of Illyricum, lamented the death of Pertinax, +in whose company, or under whose command, they had so often fought and +conquered. They received with surprise, with indignation, and perhaps +with envy, the extraordinary intelligence, that the Praetorians had +disposed of the empire by public auction; and they sternly refused to +ratify the ignominious bargain. Their immediate and unanimous revolt was +fatal to Julian, but it was fatal at the same time to the public peace, +as the generals of the respective armies, Clodius Albinus, Pescennius +Niger, and Septimius Severus, were still more anxious to succeed than to +revenge the murdered Pertinax. Their forces were exactly balanced. Each +of them was at the head of three legions, [15] with a numerous train of +auxiliaries; and however different in their characters, they were all +soldiers of experience and capacity. + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1235.] + +Clodius Albinus, governor of Britain, surpassed both his competitors in +the nobility of his extraction, which he derived from some of the most +illustrious names of the old republic. [16] But the branch from which he +claimed his descent was sunk into mean circumstances, and transplanted +into a remote province. It is difficult to form a just idea of his true +character. Under the philosophic cloak of austerity, he stands accused +of concealing most of the vices which degrade human nature. [17] But his +accusers are those venal writers who adored the fortune of Severus, +and trampled on the ashes of an unsuccessful rival. Virtue, or the +appearances of virtue, recommended Albinus to the confidence and good +opinion of Marcus; and his preserving with the son the same interest +which he had acquired with the father, is a proof at least that he was +possessed of a very flexible disposition. The favor of a tyrant does +not always suppose a want of merit in the object of it; he may, without +intending it, reward a man of worth and ability, or he may find such a +man useful to his own service. It does not appear that Albinus served +the son of Marcus, either as the minister of his cruelties, or even as +the associate of his pleasures. He was employed in a distant honorable +command, when he received a confidential letter from the emperor, +acquainting him of the treasonable designs of some discontented +generals, and authorizing him to declare himself the guardian and +successor of the throne, by assuming the title and ensigns of Caesar. +[18] The governor of Britain wisely declined the dangerous honor, +which would have marked him for the jealousy, or involved him in the +approaching ruin, of Commodus. He courted power by nobler, or, at +least, by more specious arts. On a premature report of the death of +the emperor, he assembled his troops; and, in an eloquent discourse, +deplored the inevitable mischiefs of despotism, described the happiness +and glory which their ancestors had enjoyed under the consular +government, and declared his firm resolution to reinstate the senate and +people in their legal authority. This popular harangue was answered by +the loud acclamations of the British legions, and received at Rome with +a secret murmur of applause. Safe in the possession of his little world, +and in the command of an army less distinguished indeed for discipline +than for numbers and valor, [19] Albinus braved the menaces of Commodus, +maintained towards Pertinax a stately ambiguous reserve, and instantly +declared against the usurpation of Julian. The convulsions of the +capital added new weight to his sentiments, or rather to his professions +of patriotism. A regard to decency induced him to decline the lofty +titles of Augustus and Emperor; and he imitated perhaps the example of +Galba, who, on a similar occasion, had styled himself the Lieutenant of +the senate and people. [20] + +[Footnote 16: The Posthumian and the Ce'onian; the former of whom was +raised to the consulship in the fifth year after its institution.] + +[Footnote 17: Spartianus, in his undigested collections, mixes up all +the virtues and all the vices that enter into the human composition, and +bestows them on the same object. Such, indeed are many of the characters +in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 18: Hist. August. p. 80, 84.] + +[Footnote 19: Pertinax, who governed Britain a few years before, had +been left for dead, in a mutiny of the soldiers. Hist. August. p 54. +Yet they loved and regretted him; admirantibus eam virtutem cui +irascebantur.] + +[Footnote 20: Sueton. in Galb. c. 10.] + +Personal merit alone had raised Pescennius Niger, from an obscure birth +and station, to the government of Syria; a lucrative and important +command, which in times of civil confusion gave him a near prospect of +the throne. Yet his parts seem to have been better suited to the second +than to the first rank; he was an unequal rival, though he might have +approved himself an excellent lieutenant, to Severus, who afterwards +displayed the greatness of his mind by adopting several useful +institutions from a vanquished enemy. [21] In his government Niger +acquired the esteem of the soldiers and the love of the provincials. His +rigid discipline fortified the valor and confirmed the obedience of the +former, whilst the voluptuous Syrians were less delighted with the mild +firmness of his administration, than with the affability of his manners, +and the apparent pleasure with which he attended their frequent and +pompous festivals. [22] As soon as the intelligence of the atrocious +murder of Pertinax had reached Antioch, the wishes of Asia invited Niger +to assume the Imperial purple and revenge his death. The legions of the +eastern frontier embraced his cause; the opulent but unarmed provinces, +from the frontiers of Aethiopia [23] to the Hadriatic, cheerfully +submitted to his power; and the kings beyond the Tigris and the +Euphrates congratulated his election, and offered him their homage and +services. The mind of Niger was not capable of receiving this sudden +tide of fortune: he flattered himself that his accession would be +undisturbed by competition and unstained by civil blood; and whilst he +enjoyed the vain pomp of triumph, he neglected to secure the means of +victory. Instead of entering into an effectual negotiation with the +powerful armies of the West, whose resolution might decide, or at least +must balance, the mighty contest; instead of advancing without delay +towards Rome and Italy, where his presence was impatiently expected, [24] +Niger trifled away in the luxury of Antioch those irretrievable moments +which were diligently improved by the decisive activity of Severus. [25] +[Footnote 21: Hist. August. p. 76.] + +[Footnote 22: Herod. l. ii. p. 68. The Chronicle of John Malala, of +Antioch, shows the zealous attachment of his countrymen to these +festivals, which at once gratified their superstition, and their love of +pleasure.] + +[Footnote 23: A king of Thebes, in Egypt, is mentioned, in the Augustan +History, as an ally, and, indeed, as a personal friend of Niger. If +Spartianus is not, as I strongly suspect, mistaken, he has brought to +light a dynasty of tributary princes totally unknown to history.] + +[Footnote 24: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1238. Herod. l. ii. p. 67. A verse in +every one's mouth at that time, seems to express the general opinion of +the three rivals; Optimus est Niger, [Fuscus, which preserves the +quantity.--M.] bonus After, pessimus Albus. Hist. August. p. 75.] + +[Footnote 25: Herodian, l. ii. p. 71.] + +The country of Pannonia and Dalmatia, which occupied the space between +the Danube and the Hadriatic, was one of the last and most difficult +conquests of the Romans. In the defence of national freedom, two hundred +thousand of these barbarians had once appeared in the field, alarmed +the declining age of Augustus, and exercised the vigilant prudence +of Tiberius at the head of the collected force of the empire. [26] The +Pannonians yielded at length to the arms and institutions of Rome. Their +recent subjection, however, the neighborhood, and even the mixture, of +the unconquered tribes, and perhaps the climate, adapted, as it has +been observed, to the production of great bodies and slow minds, [27] +all contributed to preserve some remains of their original ferocity, and +under the tame and uniform countenance of Roman provincials, the hardy +features of the natives were still to be discerned. Their warlike youth +afforded an inexhaustible supply of recruits to the legions stationed on +the banks of the Danube, and which, from a perpetual warfare against the +Germans and Sarmazans, were deservedly esteemed the best troops in the +service. + +[Footnote 26: See an account of that memorable war in Velleius +Paterculus, is 110, &c., who served in the army of Tiberius.] + +[Footnote 27: Such is the reflection of Herodian, l. ii. p. 74. Will the +modern Austrians allow the influence?] + +The Pannonian army was at this time commanded by Septimius Severus, +a native of Africa, who, in the gradual ascent of private honors, had +concealed his daring ambition, which was never diverted from its steady +course by the allurements of pleasure, the apprehension of danger, +or the feelings of humanity. [28] On the first news of the murder of +Pertinax, he assembled his troops, painted in the most lively colors +the crime, the insolence, and the weakness of the Praetorian guards, +and animated the legions to arms and to revenge. He concluded (and the +peroration was thought extremely eloquent) with promising every soldier +about four hundred pounds; an honorable donative, double in value to +the infamous bribe with which Julian had purchased the empire. [29] The +acclamations of the army immediately saluted Severus with the names of +Augustus, Pertinax, and Emperor; and he thus attained the lofty station +to which he was invited, by conscious merit and a long train of dreams +and omens, the fruitful offsprings either of his superstition or policy. +[30] + +[Footnote 28: In the letter to Albinus, already mentioned, Commodus +accuses Severus, as one of the ambitious generals who censured his +conduct, and wished to occupy his place. Hist. August. p. 80.] + +[Footnote 29: Pannonia was too poor to supply such a sum. It was +probably promised in the camp, and paid at Rome, after the victory. In +fixing the sum, I have adopted the conjecture of Casaubon. See Hist. +August. p. 66. Comment. p. 115.] + +[Footnote 30: Herodian, l. ii. p. 78. Severus was declared emperor on +the banks of the Danube, either at Carnuntum, according to Spartianus, +(Hist. August. p. 65,) or else at Sabaria, according to Victor. Mr. +Hume, in supposing that the birth and dignity of Severus were too +much inferior to the Imperial crown, and that he marched into Italy +as general only, has not considered this transaction with his usual +accuracy, (Essay on the original contract.) * Note: Carnuntum, opposite +to the mouth of the Morava: its position is doubtful, either Petronel or +Haimburg. A little intermediate village seems to indicate by its name +(Altenburg) the site of an old town. D'Anville Geogr. Anc. Sabaria, now +Sarvar.--G. Compare note 37.--M.] + +The new candidate for empire saw and improved the peculiar advantage of +his situation. His province extended to the Julian Alps, which gave an +easy access into Italy; and he remembered the saying of Augustus, That +a Pannonian army might in ten days appear in sight of Rome. [31] By +a celerity proportioned to the greatness of the occasion, he might +reasonably hope to revenge Pertinax, punish Julian, and receive the +homage of the senate and people, as their lawful emperor, before his +competitors, separated from Italy by an immense tract of sea and land, +were apprised of his success, or even of his election. During the whole +expedition, he scarcely allowed himself any moments for sleep or food; +marching on foot, and in complete armor, at the head of his columns, +he insinuated himself into the confidence and affection of his troops, +pressed their diligence, revived their spirits, animated their hopes, +and was well satisfied to share the hardships of the meanest soldier, +whilst he kept in view the infinite superiority of his reward. + +[Footnote 31: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 3. We must reckon the march +from the nearest verge of Pannonia, and extend the sight of the city as +far as two hundred miles.] + +The wretched Julian had expected, and thought himself prepared, to +dispute the empire with the governor of Syria; but in the invincible and +rapid approach of the Pannonian legions, he saw his inevitable ruin. The +hasty arrival of every messenger increased his just apprehensions. He +was successively informed, that Severus had passed the Alps; that the +Italian cities, unwilling or unable to oppose his progress, had received +him with the warmest professions of joy and duty; that the important +place of Ravenna had surrendered without resistance, and that the +Hadriatic fleet was in the hands of the conqueror. The enemy was now +within two hundred and fifty miles of Rome; and every moment diminished +the narrow span of life and empire allotted to Julian. + +He attempted, however, to prevent, or at least to protract, his ruin. +He implored the venal faith of the Praetorians, filled the city with +unavailing preparations for war, drew lines round the suburbs, and +even strengthened the fortifications of the palace; as if those last +intrenchments could be defended, without hope of relief, against a +victorious invader. Fear and shame prevented the guards from deserting +his standard; but they trembled at the name of the Pannonian legions, +commanded by an experienced general, and accustomed to vanquish the +barbarians on the frozen Danube. [32] They quitted, with a sigh, the +pleasures of the baths and theatres, to put on arms, whose use they had +almost forgotten, and beneath the weight of which they were oppressed. +The unpractised elephants, whose uncouth appearance, it was hoped, would +strike terror into the army of the north, threw their unskilful riders; +and the awkward evolutions of the marines, drawn from the fleet of +Misenum, were an object of ridicule to the populace; whilst the senate +enjoyed, with secret pleasure, the distress and weakness of the usurper. +[33] + +[Footnote 32: This is not a puerile figure of rhetoric, but an allusion +to a real fact recorded by Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1181. It probably happened +more than once.] + +[Footnote 33: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1233. Herodian, l. ii. p. 81. There +is no surer proof of the military skill of the Romans, than their first +surmounting the idle terror, and afterwards disdaining the dangerous +use, of elephants in war. Note: These elephants were kept for +processions, perhaps for the games. Se Herod. in loc.--M.] + +Every motion of Julian betrayed his trembling perplexity. He insisted +that Severus should be declared a public enemy by the senate. He +entreated that the Pannonian general might be associated to the empire. +He sent public ambassadors of consular rank to negotiate with his rival; +he despatched private assassins to take away his life. He designed that +the Vestal virgins, and all the colleges of priests, in their sacerdotal +habits, and bearing before them the sacred pledges of the Roman +religion, should advance in solemn procession to meet the Pannonian +legions; and, at the same time, he vainly tried to interrogate, or to +appease, the fates, by magic ceremonies and unlawful sacrifices. [34] + +[Footnote 34: Hist. August. p. 62, 63. * Note: Quae ad speculum dicunt +fieri in quo pueri praeligatis oculis, incantate..., respicere dicuntur. +* * * Tuncque puer vidisse dicitur et adventun Severi et Juliani +decessionem. This seems to have been a practice somewhat similar to that +of which our recent Egyptian travellers relate such extraordinary +circumstances. See also Apulius, Orat. de Magia.--M.] + + + + +Chapter V: Sale Of The Empire To Didius Julianus.--Part II. + +Severus, who dreaded neither his arms nor his enchantments, guarded +himself from the only danger of secret conspiracy, by the faithful +attendance of six hundred chosen men, who never quitted his person or +their cuirasses, either by night or by day, during the whole march. +Advancing with a steady and rapid course, he passed, without difficulty, +the defiles of the Apennine, received into his party the troops and +ambassadors sent to retard his progress, and made a short halt at +Interamnia, about seventy miles from Rome. His victory was already +secure, but the despair of the Praetorians might have rendered it +bloody; and Severus had the laudable ambition of ascending the throne +without drawing the sword. [35] His emissaries, dispersed in the capital, +assured the guards, that provided they would abandon their worthless +prince, and the perpetrators of the murder of Pertinax, to the justice +of the conqueror, he would no longer consider that melancholy event as +the act of the whole body. The faithless Praetorians, whose resistance +was supported only by sullen obstinacy, gladly complied with the easy +conditions, seized the greatest part of the assassins, and signified +to the senate, that they no longer defended the cause of Julian. That +assembly, convoked by the consul, unanimously acknowledged Severus as +lawful emperor, decreed divine honors to Pertinax, and pronounced a +sentence of deposition and death against his unfortunate successor. +Julian was conducted into a private apartment of the baths of the +palace, and beheaded as a common criminal, after having purchased, with +an immense treasure, an anxious and precarious reign of only sixty-six +days. [36] The almost incredible expedition of Severus, who, in so short +a space of time, conducted a numerous army from the banks of the Danube +to those of the Tyber, proves at once the plenty of provisions produced +by agriculture and commerce, the goodness of the roads, the discipline +of the legions, and the indolent, subdued temper of the provinces. [37] + + +[Footnote 35: Victor and Eutropius, viii. 17, mention a combat near the +Milvian bridge, the Ponte Molle, unknown to the better and more ancient +writers.] + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxxiii. p. 1240. Herodian, l. ii. p. 83. Hist. +August. p. 63.] + +[Footnote 37: From these sixty-six days, we must first deduct sixteen, +as Pertinax was murdered on the 28th of March, and Severus most probably +elected on the 13th of April, (see Hist. August. p. 65, and Tillemont, +Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 393, note 7.) We cannot allow less +than ten days after his election, to put a numerous army in motion. +Forty days remain for this rapid march; and as we may compute about +eight hundred miles from Rome to the neighborhood of Vienna, the army of +Severus marched twenty miles every day, without halt or intermission.] + +The first cares of Severus were bestowed on two measures the one +dictated by policy, the other by decency; the revenge, and the honors, +due to the memory of Pertinax. Before the new emperor entered Rome, he +issued his commands to the Praetorian guards, directing them to wait his +arrival on a large plain near the city, without arms, but in the habits +of ceremony, in which they were accustomed to attend their sovereign. He +was obeyed by those haughty troops, whose contrition was the effect of +their just terrors. A chosen part of the Illyrian army encompassed them +with levelled spears. Incapable of flight or resistance, they expected +their fate in silent consternation. Severus mounted the tribunal, +sternly reproached them with perfidy and cowardice, dismissed them with +ignominy from the trust which they had betrayed, despoiled them of their +splendid ornaments, and banished them, on pain of death, to the distance +of a hundred miles from the capital. During the transaction, another +detachment had been sent to seize their arms, occupy their camp, and +prevent the hasty consequences of their despair. [38] + +[Footnote 38: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1241. Herodian, l. ii. p. 84.] The +funeral and consecration of Pertinax was next solemnized with every +circumstance of sad magnificence. [39] The senate, with a melancholy +pleasure, performed the last rites to that excellent prince, whom they +had loved, and still regretted. The concern of his successor was +probably less sincere; he esteemed the virtues of Pertinax, but those +virtues would forever have confined his ambition to a private station. +Severus pronounced his funeral oration with studied eloquence, inward +satisfaction, and well-acted sorrow; and by this pious regard to his +memory, convinced the credulous multitude, that he alone was worthy to +supply his place. Sensible, however, that arms, not ceremonies, must +assert his claim to the empire, he left Rome at the end of thirty days, +and without suffering himself to be elated by this easy victory, +prepared to encounter his more formidable rivals. + +[Footnote 39: Dion, (l. lxxiv. p. 1244,) who assisted at the ceremony as +a senator, gives a most pompous description of it.] + +The uncommon abilities and fortune of Severus have induced an elegant +historian to compare him with the first and greatest of the Caesars. +[40] The parallel is, at least, imperfect. Where shall we find, in the +character of Severus, the commanding superiority of soul, the generous +clemency, and the various genius, which could reconcile and unite the +love of pleasure, the thirst of knowledge, and the fire of ambition? +[41] In one instance only, they may be compared, with some degree of +propriety, in the celerity of their motions, and their civil victories. +In less than four years, [42] Severus subdued the riches of the East, and +the valor of the West. He vanquished two competitors of reputation +and ability, and defeated numerous armies, provided with weapons and +discipline equal to his own. In that age, the art of fortification, +and the principles of tactics, were well understood by all the Roman +generals; and the constant superiority of Severus was that of an artist, +who uses the same instruments with more skill and industry than his +rivals. I shall not, however, enter into a minute narrative of these +military operations; but as the two civil wars against Niger and against +Albinus were almost the same in their conduct, event, and consequences, +I shall collect into one point of view the most striking circumstances, +tending to develop the character of the conqueror and the state of the +empire. + +[Footnote 40: Herodian, l. iii. p. 112] + +[Footnote 41: Though it is not, most assuredly, the intention of Lucan +to exalt the character of Caesar, yet the idea he gives of that hero, +in the tenth book of the Pharsalia, where he describes him, at the same +time, making love to Cleopatra, sustaining a siege against the power of +Egypt, and conversing with the sages of the country, is, in reality, the +noblest panegyric. * Note: Lord Byron wrote, no doubt, from a +reminiscence of that passage--"It is possible to be a very great man, +and to be still very inferior to Julius Caesar, the most complete +character, so Lord Bacon thought, of all antiquity. Nature seems +incapable of such extraordinary combinations as composed his versatile +capacity, which was the wonder even of the Romans themselves. The first +general; the only triumphant politician; inferior to none in point of +eloquence; comparable to any in the attainments of wisdom, in an age +made up of the greatest commanders, statesmen, orators, and +philosophers, that ever appeared in the world; an author who composed a +perfect specimen of military annals in his travelling carriage; at one +time in a controversy with Cato, at another writing a treatise on +punuing, and collecting a set of good sayings; fighting and making love +at the same moment, and willing to abandon both his empire and his +mistress for a sight of the fountains of the Nile. Such did Julius +Caesar appear to his contemporaries, and to those of the subsequent ages +who were the most inclined to deplore and execrate his fatal genius." +Note 47 to Canto iv. of Childe Harold.--M.] + +[Footnote 42: Reckoning from his election, April 13, 193, to the death +of Albinus, February 19, 197. See Tillemont's Chronology.] + +Falsehood and insincerity, unsuitable as they seem to the dignity of +public transactions, offend us with a less degrading idea of meanness, +than when they are found in the intercourse of private life. In the +latter, they discover a want of courage; in the other, only a defect of +power: and, as it is impossible for the most able statesmen to subdue +millions of followers and enemies by their own personal strength, the +world, under the name of policy, seems to have granted them a very +liberal indulgence of craft and dissimulation. Yet the arts of Severus +cannot be justified by the most ample privileges of state reason. He +promised only to betray, he flattered only to ruin; and however he +might occasionally bind himself by oaths and treaties, his conscience, +obsequious to his interest, always released him from the inconvenient +obligation. [43] + +[Footnote 43: Herodian, l. ii. p. 85.] + +If his two competitors, reconciled by their common danger, had advanced +upon him without delay, perhaps Severus would have sunk under their +united effort. Had they even attacked him, at the same time, with +separate views and separate armies, the contest might have been long and +doubtful. But they fell, singly and successively, an easy prey to the +arts as well as arms of their subtle enemy, lulled into security by the +moderation of his professions, and overwhelmed by the rapidity of his +action. He first marched against Niger, whose reputation and power he +the most dreaded: but he declined any hostile declarations, suppressed +the name of his antagonist, and only signified to the senate and people +his intention of regulating the eastern provinces. In private, he spoke +of Niger, his old friend and intended successor, [44] with the most +affectionate regard, and highly applauded his generous design of +revenging the murder of Pertinax. To punish the vile usurper of the +throne, was the duty of every Roman general. To persevere in arms, and +to resist a lawful emperor, acknowledged by the senate, would alone +render him criminal. [45] The sons of Niger had fallen into his hands +among the children of the provincial governors, detained at Rome as +pledges for the loyalty of their parents. [46] As long as the power of +Niger inspired terror, or even respect, they were educated with the most +tender care, with the children of Severus himself; but they were +soon involved in their father's ruin, and removed first by exile, and +afterwards by death, from the eye of public compassion. [47] + +[Footnote 44: Whilst Severus was very dangerously ill, it was +industriously given out, that he intended to appoint Niger and Albinus +his successors. As he could not be sincere with respect to both, he +might not be so with regard to either. Yet Severus carried his hypocrisy +so far, as to profess that intention in the memoirs of his own life.] + +[Footnote 45: Hist. August. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 46: This practice, invented by Commodus, proved very useful +to Severus. He found at Rome the children of many of the principal +adherents of his rivals; and he employed them more than once to +intimidate, or seduce, the parents.] + +[Footnote 47: Herodian, l. iii. p. 95. Hist. August. p. 67, 68.] + +Whilst Severus was engaged in his eastern war, he had reason to +apprehend that the governor of Britain might pass the sea and the +Alps, occupy the vacant seat of empire, and oppose his return with +the authority of the senate and the forces of the West. The ambiguous +conduct of Albinus, in not assuming the Imperial title, left room for +negotiation. Forgetting, at once, his professions of patriotism, and the +jealousy of sovereign power, he accepted the precarious rank of Caesar, +as a reward for his fatal neutrality. Till the first contest was +decided, Severus treated the man, whom he had doomed to destruction, +with every mark of esteem and regard. Even in the letter, in which he +announced his victory over Niger, he styles Albinus the brother of his +soul and empire, sends him the affectionate salutations of his wife +Julia, and his young family, and entreats him to preserve the armies and +the republic faithful to their common interest. The messengers charged +with this letter were instructed to accost the Caesar with respect, to +desire a private audience, and to plunge their daggers into his heart. +[48] The conspiracy was discovered, and the too credulous Albinus, +at length, passed over to the continent, and prepared for an unequal +contest with his rival, who rushed upon him at the head of a veteran and +victorious army. + +[Footnote 48: Hist. August. p. 84. Spartianus has inserted this curious +letter at full length.] + +The military labors of Severus seem inadequate to the importance of his +conquests. Two engagements, [481] the one near the Hellespont, the other +in the narrow defiles of Cilicia, decided the fate of his Syrian +competitor; and the troops of Europe asserted their usual ascendant +over the effeminate natives of Asia. [49] The battle of Lyons, where one +hundred and fifty thousand Romans [50] were engaged, was equally fatal to +Albinus. The valor of the British army maintained, indeed, a sharp and +doubtful contest, with the hardy discipline of the Illyrian legions. The +fame and person of Severus appeared, during a few moments, irrecoverably +lost, till that warlike prince rallied his fainting troops, and led them +on to a decisive victory. [51] The war was finished by that memorable +day. [511] + +[Footnote 481: There were three actions; one near Cyzicus, on the +Hellespont, one near Nice, in Bithynia, the third near the Issus, in +Cilicia, where Alexander conquered Darius. (Dion, lxiv. c. 6. +Herodian, iii. 2, 4.)--W Herodian represents the second battle as of +less importance than Dion--M.] + +[Footnote 49: Consult the third book of Herodian, and the seventy-fourth +book of Dion Cassius.] + +[Footnote 50: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1260.] + +[Footnote 51: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1261. Herodian, l. iii. p. 110. Hist. +August. p. 68. The battle was fought in the plain of Trevoux, three +or four leagues from Lyons. See Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 406, note 18.] + +[Footnote 511: According to Herodian, it was his lieutenant Laetus who +led back the troops to the battle, and gained the day, which Severus +had almost lost. Dion also attributes to Laetus a great share in the +victory. Severus afterwards put him to death, either from fear or +jealousy.--W. and G. Wenck and M. Guizot have not given the real +statement of Herodian or of Dion. According to the former, Laetus +appeared with his own army entire, which he was suspected of having +designedly kept disengaged when the battle was still doudtful, or rather +after the rout of severus. Dion says that he did not move till Severus +had won the victory.--M.] + +The civil wars of modern Europe have been distinguished, not only by +the fierce animosity, but likewise by the obstinate perseverance, of +the contending factions. They have generally been justified by some +principle, or, at least, colored by some pretext, of religion, freedom, +or loyalty. The leaders were nobles of independent property and +hereditary influence. The troops fought like men interested in the +decision of the quarrel; and as military spirit and party zeal were +strongly diffused throughout the whole community, a vanquished chief was +immediately supplied with new adherents, eager to shed their blood in +the same cause. But the Romans, after the fall of the republic, +combated only for the choice of masters. Under the standard of a popular +candidate for empire, a few enlisted from affection, some from fear, +many from interest, none from principle. The legions, uninflamed by +party zeal, were allured into civil war by liberal donatives, and +still more liberal promises. A defeat, by disabling the chief from the +performance of his engagements, dissolved the mercenary allegiance of +his followers, and left them to consult their own safety by a timely +desertion of an unsuccessful cause. It was of little moment to the +provinces, under whose name they were oppressed or governed; they were +driven by the impulsion of the present power, and as soon as that power +yielded to a superior force, they hastened to implore the clemency of +the conqueror, who, as he had an immense debt to discharge, was obliged +to sacrifice the most guilty countries to the avarice of his soldiers. +In the vast extent of the Roman empire, there were few fortified cities +capable of protecting a routed army; nor was there any person, or +family, or order of men, whose natural interest, unsupported by the +powers of government, was capable of restoring the cause of a sinking +party. [52] + +[Footnote 52: Montesquieu, Considerations sur la Grandeur et la +Decadence des Romains, c. xiii.] + +Yet, in the contest between Niger and Severus, a single city deserves an +honorable exception. As Byzantium was one of the greatest passages from +Europe into Asia, it had been provided with a strong garrison, and +a fleet of five hundred vessels was anchored in the harbor. [53] The +impetuosity of Severus disappointed this prudent scheme of defence; he +left to his generals the siege of Byzantium, forced the less guarded +passage of the Hellespont, and, impatient of a meaner enemy, pressed +forward to encounter his rival. Byzantium, attacked by a numerous and +increasing army, and afterwards by the whole naval power of the empire, +sustained a siege of three years, and remained faithful to the name and +memory of Niger. The citizens and soldiers (we know not from what cause) +were animated with equal fury; several of the principal officers +of Niger, who despaired of, or who disdained, a pardon, had thrown +themselves into this last refuge: the fortifications were esteemed +impregnable, and, in the defence of the place, a celebrated engineer +displayed all the mechanic powers known to the ancients. [54] Byzantium, +at length, surrendered to famine. The magistrates and soldiers were put +to the sword, the walls demolished, the privileges suppressed, and the +destined capital of the East subsisted only as an open village, subject +to the insulting jurisdiction of Perinthus. The historian Dion, who had +admired the flourishing, and lamented the desolate, state of Byzantium, +accused the revenge of Severus, for depriving the Roman people of the +strongest bulwark against the barbarians of Pontus and Asia [55] The +truth of this observation was but too well justified in the succeeding +age, when the Gothic fleets covered the Euxine, and passed through the +undefined Bosphorus into the centre of the Mediterranean. + +[Footnote 53: Most of these, as may be supposed, were small open +vessels; some, however, were galleys of two, and a few of three ranks +of oars.] + +[Footnote 54: The engineer's name was Priscus. His skill saved +his life, and he was taken into the service of the conqueror. For the +particular facts of the siege, consult Dion Cassius (l. lxxv. p. 1251) +and Herodian, (l. iii. p. 95;) for the theory of it, the fanciful +chevalier de Folard may be looked into. See Polybe, tom. i. p. 76.] + +[Footnote 55: Notwithstanding the authority of Spartianus, and +some modern Greeks, we may be assured, from Dion and Herodian, that +Byzantium, many years after the death of Severus, lay in ruins. There is +no contradiction between the relation of Dion and that of Spartianus and +the modern Greeks. Dion does not say that Severus destroyed Byzantium, +but that he deprived it of its franchises and privileges, stripped the +inhabitants of their property, razed the fortifications, and subjected +the city to the jurisdiction of Perinthus. Therefore, when Spartian, +Suidas, Cedrenus, say that Severus and his son Antoninus restored to +Byzantium its rights and franchises, ordered temples to be built, &c., +this is easily reconciled with the relation of Dion. Perhaps the latter +mentioned it in some of the fragments of his history which have been +lost. As to Herodian, his expressions are evidently exaggerated, and he +has been guilty of so many inaccuracies in the history of Severus, that +we have a right to suppose one in this passage.--G. from W Wenck and M. +Guizot have omitted to cite Zosimus, who mentions a particular portico +built by Severus, and called, apparently, by his name. Zosim. Hist. ii. +c. xxx. p. 151, 153, edit Heyne.--M.] + +Both Niger and Albinus were discovered and put to death +in their flight from the field of battle. Their fate excited neither +surprise nor compassion. They had staked their lives against the chance +of empire, and suffered what they would have inflicted; nor did Severus +claim the arrogant superiority of suffering his rivals to live in a +private station. But his unforgiving temper, stimulated by avarice, +indulged a spirit of revenge, where there was no room for apprehension. +The most considerable of the provincials, who, without any dislike to +the fortunate candidate, had obeyed the governor under whose authority +they were accidentally placed, were punished by death, exile, and +especially by the confiscation of their estates. Many cities of the +East were stripped of their ancient honors, and obliged to pay, into the +treasury of Severus, four times the amount of the sums contributed by +them for the service of Niger. [56] + +[Footnote 56: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1250.] + +Till the final decision of the war, the cruelty of Severus was, in some +measure, restrained by the uncertainty of the event, and his pretended +reverence for the senate. The head of Albinus, accompanied with a +menacing letter, announced to the Romans that he was resolved to spare +none of the adherents of his unfortunate competitors. He was irritated +by the just auspicion that he had never possessed the affections of the +senate, and he concealed his old malevolence under the recent discovery +of some treasonable correspondences. Thirty-five senators, however, +accused of having favored the party of Albinus, he freely pardoned, and, +by his subsequent behavior, endeavored to convince them, that he had +forgotten, as well as forgiven, their supposed offences. But, at the +same time, he condemned forty-one [57] other senators, whose names +history has recorded; their wives, children, and clients attended them +in death, [571] and the noblest provincials of Spain and Gaul were involved +in the same ruin. [572] Such rigid justice--for so he termed it--was, in +the opinion of Severus, the only conduct capable of insuring peace to +the people or stability to the prince; and he condescended slightly to +lament, that to be mild, it was necessary that he should first be cruel. +[58] + +[Footnote 57: Dion, (l. lxxv. p. 1264;) only twenty-nine senators +are mentioned by him, but forty-one are named in the Augustan History, +p. 69, among whom were six of the name of Pescennius. Herodian (l. iii. +p. 115) speaks in general of the cruelties of Severus.] + +[Footnote 571: Wenck denies that there is any authority for this massacre +of the wives of the senators. He adds, that only the children and +relatives of Niger and Albinus were put to death. This is true of the +family of Albinus, whose bodies were thrown into the Rhone; those of +Niger, according to Lampridius, were sent into exile, but afterwards put +to death. Among the partisans of Albinus who were put to death were many +women of rank, multae foeminae illustres. Lamprid. in Sever.--M.] + +[Footnote 572: A new fragment of Dion describes the state of Rome during +this contest. All pretended to be on the side of Severus; but their +secret sentiments were often betrayed by a change of countenance on the +arrival of some sudden report. Some were detected by overacting their +loyalty, Mai. Fragm. Vatican. p. 227 Severus told the senate he would +rather have their hearts than their votes.--Ibid.--M.] + +[Footnote 58: Aurelius Victor.] + +The true interest of an absolute monarch generally coincides with that +of his people. Their numbers, their wealth, their order, and their +security, are the best and only foundations of his real greatness; and +were he totally devoid of virtue, prudence might supply its place, and +would dictate the same rule of conduct. Severus considered the Roman +empire as his property, and had no sooner secured the possession, than +he bestowed his care on the cultivation and improvement of so valuable +an acquisition. Salutary laws, executed with inflexible firmness, soon +corrected most of the abuses with which, since the death of Marcus, +every part of the government had been infected. In the administration of +justice, the judgments of the emperor were characterized by attention, +discernment, and impartiality; and whenever he deviated from the strict +line of equity, it was generally in favor of the poor and oppressed; +not so much indeed from any sense of humanity, as from the natural +propensity of a despot to humble the pride of greatness, and to sink +all his subjects to the same common level of absolute dependence. +His expensive taste for building, magnificent shows, and above all +a constant and liberal distribution of corn and provisions, were the +surest means of captivating the affection of the Roman people. [59] The +misfortunes of civil discord were obliterated. The calm of peace and +prosperity was once more experienced in the provinces; and many cities, +restored by the munificence of Severus, assumed the title of his +colonies, and attested by public monuments their gratitude and +felicity. [60] The fame of the Roman arms was revived by that warlike and +successful emperor, [61] and he boasted, with a just pride, that, having +received the empire oppressed with foreign and domestic wars, he left it +established in profound, universal, and honorable peace. [62] + +[Footnote 59: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1272. Hist. August. p. 67. Severus +celebrated the secular games with extraordinary magnificence, and he +left in the public granaries a provision of corn for seven years, at the +rate of 75,000 modii, or about 2500 quarters per day. I am persuaded +that the granaries of Severus were supplied for a long term, but I am +not less persuaded, that policy on one hand, and admiration on the +other, magnified the hoard far beyond its true contents.] + +[Footnote 60: See Spanheim's treatise of ancient medals, the +inscriptions, and our learned travellers Spon and Wheeler, Shaw, Pocock, +&c, who, in Africa, Greece, and Asia, have found more monuments of +Severus than of any other Roman emperor whatsoever.] + +[Footnote 61: He carried his victorious arms to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, +the capitals of the Parthian monarchy. I shall have occasion to mention +this war in its proper place.] + +[Footnote 62: Etiam in Britannis, was his own just and emphatic +expression Hist. August. 73.] + +Although the wounds of civil war appeared completely healed, its mortal +poison still lurked in the vitals of the constitution. + +Severus possessed a considerable share of vigor and ability; but the +daring soul of the first Caesar, or the deep policy of Augustus, were +scarcely equal to the task of curbing the insolence of the victorious +legions. By gratitude, by misguided policy, by seeming necessity, +Severus was reduced to relax the nerves of discipline. [63] The vanity +of his soldiers was flattered with the honor of wearing gold rings their +ease was indulged in the permission of living with their wives in the +idleness of quarters. He increased their pay beyond the example +of former times, and taught them to expect, and soon to claim, +extraordinary donatives on every public occasion of danger or festivity. +Elated by success, enervated by luxury, and raised above the level of +subjects by their dangerous privileges, [64] they soon became incapable +of military fatigue, oppressive to the country, and impatient of a just +subordination. Their officers asserted the superiority of rank by a more +profuse and elegant luxury. There is still extant a letter of Severus, +lamenting the licentious stage of the army, [641] and exhorting one of +his generals to begin the necessary reformation from the tribunes +themselves; since, as he justly observes, the officer who has forfeited +the esteem, will never command the obedience, of his soldiers. [65] Had +the emperor pursued the train of reflection, he would have discovered, +that the primary cause of this general corruption might be ascribed, not +indeed to the example, but to the pernicious indulgence, however, of +the commander-in-chief. + +[Footnote 63: Herodian, l. iii. p. 115. Hist. August. p. 68.] + +[Footnote 64: Upon the insolence and privileges of the soldier, the 16th +satire, falsely ascribed to Juvenal, may be consulted; the style and +circumstances of it would induce me to believe, that it was composed +under the reign of Severus, or that of his son.] + +[Footnote 641: Not of the army, but of the troops in Gaul. The contents +of this letter seem to prove that Severus was really anxious to restore +discipline Herodian is the only historian who accuses him of being the +first cause of its relaxation.--G. from W Spartian mentions his increase +of the pays.--M.] + +[Footnote 65: Hist. August. p. 73.] + +The Praetorians, who murdered their emperor and sold the empire, had +received the just punishment of their treason; but the necessary, though +dangerous, institution of guards was soon restored on a new model by +Severus, and increased to four times the ancient number. [66] Formerly +these troops had been recruited in Italy; and as the adjacent provinces +gradually imbibed the softer manners of Rome, the levies were extended +to Macedonia, Noricum, and Spain. In the room of these elegant troops, +better adapted to the pomp of courts than to the uses of war, it was +established by Severus, that from all the legions of the frontiers, the +soldiers most distinguished for strength, valor, and fidelity, should be +occasionally draughted; and promoted, as an honor and reward, into the +more eligible service of the guards. [67] By this new institution, the +Italian youth were diverted from the exercise of arms, and the capital +was terrified by the strange aspect and manners of a multitude of +barbarians. But Severus flattered himself, that the legions would +consider these chosen Praetorians as the representatives of the whole +military order; and that the present aid of fifty thousand men, superior +in arms and appointments to any force that could be brought into the +field against them, would forever crush the hopes of rebellion, and +secure the empire to himself and his posterity. + +[Footnote 66: Herodian, l. iii. p. 131.] + +[Footnote 67: Dion, l. lxxiv. p. 1243.] + +The command of these favored and formidable troops soon became the +first office of the empire. As the government degenerated into military +despotism, the Praetorian Praefect, who in his origin had been a simple +captain of the guards, [671] was placed not only at the head of the +army, but of the finances, and even of the law. In every department of +administration, he represented the person, and exercised the authority, +of the emperor. The first praefect who enjoyed and abused this immense +power was Plautianus, the favorite minister of Severus. His reign lasted +above ten years, till the marriage of his daughter with the eldest son +of the emperor, which seemed to assure his fortune, proved the occasion +of his ruin. [68] The animosities of the palace, by irritating the +ambition and alarming the fears of Plautianus, [681] threatened to produce +a revolution, and obliged the emperor, who still loved him, to consent +with reluctance to his death. [69] After the fall of Plautianus, an +eminent lawyer, the celebrated Papinian, was appointed to execute the +motley office of Praetorian Praefect. + +[Footnote 671: The Praetorian Praefect had never been a simple captain of +the guards; from the first creation of this office, under Augustus, +it possessed great power. That emperor, therefore, decreed that there +should be always two Praetorian Praefects, who could only be taken from +the equestrian order Tiberius first departed from the former clause of +this edict; Alexander Severus violated the second by naming senators +praefects. It appears that it was under Commodus that the Praetorian +Praefects obtained the province of civil jurisdiction. It extended only +to Italy, with the exception of Rome and its district, which was +governed by the Praefectus urbi. As to the control of the finances, and +the levying of taxes, it was not intrusted to them till after the great +change that Constantine I. made in the organization of the empire at +least, I know no passage which assigns it to them before that time; and +Drakenborch, who has treated this question in his Dissertation de +official praefectorum praetorio, vi., does not quote one.--W.] + +[Footnote 68: One of his most daring and wanton acts of power, was the +castration of a hundred free Romans, some of them married men, and even +fathers of families; merely that his daughter, on her marriage with the +young emperor, might be attended by a train of eunuchs worthy of an +eastern queen. Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1271.] + +[Footnote 681: Plautianus was compatriot, relative, and the old friend, +of Severus; he had so completely shut up all access to the emperor, that +the latter was ignorant how far he abused his powers: at length, +being informed of it, he began to limit his authority. The marriage of +Plautilla with Caracalla was unfortunate; and the prince who had been +forced to consent to it, menaced the father and the daughter with death +when he should come to the throne. It was feared, after that, that +Plautianus would avail himself of the power which he still possessed, +against the Imperial family; and Severus caused him to be assassinated +in his presence, upon the pretext of a conspiracy, which Dion considers +fictitious.--W. This note is not, perhaps, very necessary and does not +contain the whole facts. Dion considers the conspiracy the invention of +Caracalla, by whose command, almost by whose hand, Plautianus was slain +in the presence of Severus.--M.] + +[Footnote 69: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1274. +Herodian, l. iii. p. 122, 129. The grammarian of Alexander seems, as is +not unusual, much better acquainted with this mysterious transaction, +and more assured of the guilt of Plautianus than the Roman senator +ventures to be.] + +Till the reign of Severus, the virtue and even the good sense of the +emperors had been distinguished by their zeal or affected reverence for +the senate, and by a tender regard to the nice frame of civil policy +instituted by Augustus. But the youth of Severus had been trained in the +implicit obedience of camps, and his riper years spent in the despotism +of military command. His haughty and inflexible spirit could not +discover, or would not acknowledge, the advantage of preserving an +intermediate power, however imaginary, between the emperor and the army. +He disdained to profess himself the servant of an assembly that detested +his person and trembled at his frown; he issued his commands, where his +requests would have proved as effectual; assumed the conduct and style +of a sovereign and a conqueror, and exercised, without disguise, the +whole legislative, as well as the executive power. + +The victory over the senate was easy and inglorious. Every eye and every +passion were directed to the supreme magistrate, who possessed the arms +and treasure of the state; whilst the senate, neither elected by the +people, nor guarded by military force, nor animated by public spirit, +rested its declining authority on the frail and crumbling basis of +ancient opinion. The fine theory of a republic insensibly vanished, and +made way for the more natural and substantial feelings of monarchy. As +the freedom and honors of Rome were successively communicated to the +provinces, in which the old government had been either unknown, or +was remembered with abhorrence, the tradition of republican maxims was +gradually obliterated. The Greek historians of the age of the Antonines +[70] observe, with a malicious pleasure, that although the sovereign of +Rome, in compliance with an obsolete prejudice, abstained from the name +of king, he possessed the full measure of regal power. In the reign of +Severus, the senate was filled with polished and eloquent slaves from +the eastern provinces, who justified personal flattery by speculative +principles of servitude. These new advocates of prerogative were heard +with pleasure by the court, and with patience by the people, when +they inculcated the duty of passive obedience, and descanted on the +inevitable mischiefs of freedom. The lawyers and historians concurred +in teaching, that the Imperial authority was held, not by the delegated +commission, but by the irrevocable resignation of the senate; that the +emperor was freed from the restraint of civil laws, could command by his +arbitrary will the lives and fortunes of his subjects, and might dispose +of the empire as of his private patrimony. [71] The most eminent of the +civil lawyers, and particularly Papinian, Paulus, and Ulpian, flourished +under the house of Severus; and the Roman jurisprudence, having closely +united itself with the system of monarchy, was supposed to have attained +its full majority and perfection. + +[Footnote 70: Appian in Prooem.] + +[Footnote 71: Dion Cassius seems to have written with no other view than +to form these opinions into an historical system. The Pandea's will +how how assiduously the lawyers, on their side, laboree in the cause of +prerogative.] + +The contemporaries of Severus in the enjoyment of the peace and glory +of his reign, forgave the cruelties by which it had been introduced. +Posterity, who experienced the fatal effects of his maxims and example, +justly considered him as the principal author of the decline of the +Roman empire. + + + + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus.--Part I. + + The Death Of Severus.--Tyranny Of Caracalla.--Usurpation + Of Macrinus.--Follies Of Elagabalus.--Virtues Of Alexander + Severus.--Licentiousness Of The Army.--General State Of + The Roman Finances. + +The ascent to greatness, however steep and dangerous, may entertain an +active spirit with the consciousness and exercise of its own powers: but +the possession of a throne could never yet afford a lasting satisfaction +to an ambitious mind. This melancholy truth was felt and acknowledged by +Severus. Fortune and merit had, from an humble station, elevated him +to the first place among mankind. "He had been all things," as he said +himself, "and all was of little value." [1] Distracted with the care, +not of acquiring, but of preserving an empire, oppressed with age and +infirmities, careless of fame, [2] and satiated with power, all his +prospects of life were closed. The desire of perpetuating the greatness +of his family was the only remaining wish of his ambition and paternal +tenderness. + +[Footnote 1: Hist. August. p. 71. "Omnia fui, et nihil expedit."] + +[Footnote 2: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvi. p. 1284.] + +Like most of the Africans, Severus was passionately addicted to the vain +studies of magic and divination, deeply versed in the interpretation of +dreams and omens, and perfectly acquainted with the science of judicial +astrology; which, in almost every age except the present, has maintained +its dominion over the mind of man. He had lost his first wife, while +he was governor of the Lionnese Gaul. [3] In the choice of a second, he +sought only to connect himself with some favorite of fortune; and as +soon as he had discovered that the young lady of Emesa in Syria had a +royal nativity, he solicited and obtained her hand. [4] Julia Domna (for +that was her name) deserved all that the stars could promise her. + +She possessed, even in advanced age, the attractions of beauty, [5] +and united to a lively imagination a firmness of mind, and strength of +judgment, seldom bestowed on her sex. Her amiable qualities never made +any deep impression on the dark and jealous temper of her husband; +but in her son's reign, she administered the principal affairs of +the empire, with a prudence that supported his authority, and with a +moderation that sometimes corrected his wild extravagancies. [6] Julia +applied herself to letters and philosophy, with some success, and with +the most splendid reputation. She was the patroness of every art, and +the friend of every man of genius. [7] The grateful flattery of the +learned has celebrated her virtues; but, if we may credit the scandal of +ancient history, chastity was very far from being the most conspicuous +virtue of the empress Julia. [8] + +[Footnote 3: About the year 186. M. de Tillemont is miserably +embarrassed with a passage of Dion, in which the empress Faustina, +who died in the year 175, is introduced as having contributed to the +marriage of Severus and Julia, (l. lxxiv. p. 1243.) The learned compiler +forgot that Dion is relating not a real fact, but a dream of Severus; +and dreams are circumscribed to no limits of time or space. Did M. de +Tillemont imagine that marriages were consummated in the temple of Venus +at Rome? Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 389. Note 6.] + +[Footnote 4: Hist. August. p. 65.] + +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 5.] + +[Footnote 6: Dion Cassius, l. lxxvii. p. 1304, 1314.] + +[Footnote 7: See a dissertation of Menage, at the end of his edition of +Diogenes Laertius, de Foeminis Philosophis.] + +[Footnote 8: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1285. Aurelius Victor.] + +Two sons, Caracalla [9] and Geta, were the fruit of this marriage, and +the destined heirs of the empire. The fond hopes of the father, and +of the Roman world, were soon disappointed by these vain youths, who +displayed the indolent security of hereditary princes; and a presumption +that fortune would supply the place of merit and application. Without +any emulation of virtue or talents, they discovered, almost from their +infancy, a fixed and implacable antipathy for each other. + +[Footnote 9: Bassianus was his first name, as it had been that of his +maternal grandfather. During his reign, he assumed the appellation of +Antoninus, which is employed by lawyers and ancient historians. After +his death, the public indignation loaded him with the nicknames of +Tarantus and Caracalla. The first was borrowed from a celebrated +Gladiator, the second from a long Gallic gown which he distributed to +the people of Rome.] + +Their aversion, confirmed by years, and fomented by the arts of their +interested favorites, broke out in childish, and gradually in more +serious competitions; and, at length, divided the theatre, the circus, +and the court, into two factions, actuated by the hopes and fears of +their respective leaders. The prudent emperor endeavored, by every +expedient of advice and authority, to allay this growing animosity. The +unhappy discord of his sons clouded all his prospects, and threatened to +overturn a throne raised with so much labor, cemented with so much +blood, and guarded with every defence of arms and treasure. With an +impartial hand he maintained between them an exact balance of favor, +conferred on both the rank of Augustus, with the revered name of +Antoninus; and for the first time the Roman world beheld three emperors. +[10] Yet even this equal conduct served only to inflame the contest, +whilst the fierce Caracalla asserted the right of primogeniture, and the +milder Geta courted the affections of the people and the soldiers. In +the anguish of a disappointed father, Severus foretold that the weaker +of his sons would fall a sacrifice to the stronger; who, in his turn, +would be ruined by his own vices. [11] + +[Footnote 10: The elevation of Caracalla is fixed by the accurate M. +de Tillemont to the year 198; the association of Geta to the year 208.] + +[Footnote 11: Herodian, l. iii. p. 130. The lives of Caracalla and Geta, +in the Augustan History.] + +In these circumstances the intelligence of a war in Britain, and of an +invasion of the province by the barbarians of the North, was received +with pleasure by Severus. Though the vigilance of his lieutenants might +have been sufficient to repel the distant enemy, he resolved to embrace +the honorable pretext of withdrawing his sons from the luxury of Rome, +which enervated their minds and irritated their passions; and of inuring +their youth to the toils of war and government. Notwithstanding his +advanced age, (for he was above threescore,) and his gout, which obliged +him to be carried in a litter, he transported himself in person into +that remote island, attended by his two sons, his whole court, and +a formidable army. He immediately passed the walls of Hadrian and +Antoninus, and entered the enemy's country, with a design of completing +the long attempted conquest of Britain. He penetrated to the northern +extremity of the island, without meeting an enemy. But the concealed +ambuscades of the Caledonians, who hung unseen on the rear and flanks of +his army, the coldness of the climate and the severity of a winter march +across the hills and morasses of Scotland, are reported to have cost the +Romans above fifty thousand men. The Caledonians at length yielded to +the powerful and obstinate attack, sued for peace, and surrendered a +part of their arms, and a large tract of territory. But their apparent +submission lasted no longer than the present terror. As soon as the +Roman legions had retired, they resumed their hostile independence. +Their restless spirit provoked Severus to send a new army into +Caledonia, with the most bloody orders, not to subdue, but to extirpate +the natives. They were saved by the death of their haughty enemy. [12] + +[Footnote 12: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1280, &c. Herodian, l. iii. p. 132, +&c.] + +This Caledonian war, neither marked by decisive events, nor attended +with any important consequences, would ill deserve our attention; but it +is supposed, not without a considerable degree of probability, that the +invasion of Severus is connected with the most shining period of the +British history or fable. Fingal, whose fame, with that of his heroes +and bards, has been revived in our language by a recent publication, is +said to have commanded the Caledonians in that memorable juncture, to +have eluded the power of Severus, and to have obtained a signal victory +on the banks of the Carun, in which the son of the King of the World, +Caracul, fled from his arms along the fields of his pride. [13] +Something of a doubtful mist still hangs over these Highland traditions; +nor can it be entirely dispelled by the most ingenious researches of +modern criticism; [14] but if we could, with safety, indulge the +pleasing supposition, that Fingal lived, and that Ossian sung, the +striking contrast of the situation and manners of the contending nations +might amuse a philosophic mind. + +The parallel would be little to the advantage of the more civilized +people, if we compared the unrelenting revenge of Severus with the +generous clemency of Fingal; the timid and brutal cruelty of Caracalla +with the bravery, the tenderness, the elegant genius of Ossian; the +mercenary chiefs, who, from motives of fear or interest, served under +the imperial standard, with the free-born warriors who started to arms +at the voice of the king of Morven; if, in a word, we contemplated the +untutored Caledonians, glowing with the warm virtues of nature, and the +degenerate Romans, polluted with the mean vices of wealth and slavery. + +[Footnote 13: Ossian's Poems, vol. i. p. 175.] + +[Footnote 14: That the Caracul of Ossian is the Caracalla of the Roman +History, is, perhaps, the only point of British antiquity in which Mr. +Macpherson and Mr. Whitaker are of the same opinion; and yet the opinion +is not without difficulty. In the Caledonian war, the son of Severus was +known only by the appellation of Antoninus, and it may seem strange that +the Highland bard should describe him by a nickname, invented four years +afterwards, scarcely used by the Romans till after the death of that +emperor, and seldom employed by the most ancient historians. See Dion, +l. lxxvii. p. 1317. Hist. August. p. 89 Aurel. Victor. Euseb. in Chron. +ad ann. 214. Note: The historical authority of Macpherson's Ossian has +not increased since Gibbon wrote. We may, indeed, consider it exploded. +Mr. Whitaker, in a letter to Gibbon (Misc. Works, vol. ii. p. 100,) +attempts, not very successfully, to weaken this objection of the +historian.--M.] + +The declining health and last illness of Severus inflamed the wild +ambition and black passions of Caracalla's soul. Impatient of any delay +or division of empire, he attempted, more than once, to shorten the +small remainder of his father's days, and endeavored, but without +success, to excite a mutiny among the troops. [15] The old emperor had +often censured the misguided lenity of Marcus, who, by a single act of +justice, might have saved the Romans from the tyranny of his worthless +son. Placed in the same situation, he experienced how easily the rigor +of a judge dissolves away in the tenderness of a parent. He deliberated, +he threatened, but he could not punish; and this last and only instance +of mercy was more fatal to the empire than a long series of cruelty. +[16] The disorder of his mind irritated the pains of his body; he wished +impatiently for death, and hastened the instant of it by his impatience. +He expired at York in the sixty-fifth year of his life, and in the +eighteenth of a glorious and successful reign. In his last moments he +recommended concord to his sons, and his sons to the army. The salutary +advice never reached the heart, or even the understanding, of the +impetuous youths; but the more obedient troops, mindful of their oath of +allegiance, and of the authority of their deceased master, resisted the +solicitations of Caracalla, and proclaimed both brothers emperors of +Rome. The new princes soon left the Caledonians in peace, returned to +the capital, celebrated their father's funeral with divine honors, and +were cheerfully acknowledged as lawful sovereigns, by the senate, the +people, and the provinces. Some preeminence of rank seems to have been +allowed to the elder brother; but they both administered the empire with +equal and independent power. [17] + +[Footnote 15: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1282. Hist. August. p. 71. Aurel. +Victor.] + +[Footnote 16: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1283. Hist. August. p. 89] + +[Footnote 17: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Herodian, l. iii. p. 135.] + +Such a divided form of government would have proved a source of discord +between the most affectionate brothers. It was impossible that it could +long subsist between two implacable enemies, who neither desired nor +could trust a reconciliation. It was visible that one only could reign, +and that the other must fall; and each of them, judging of his rival's +designs by his own, guarded his life with the most jealous vigilance +from the repeated attacks of poison or the sword. Their rapid journey +through Gaul and Italy, during which they never ate at the same table, +or slept in the same house, displayed to the provinces the odious +spectacle of fraternal discord. On their arrival at Rome, they +immediately divided the vast extent of the imperial palace. [18] No +communication was allowed between their apartments; the doors and +passages were diligently fortified, and guards posted and relieved with +the same strictness as in a besieged place. The emperors met only in +public, in the presence of their afflicted mother; and each surrounded +by a numerous train of armed followers. Even on these occasions of +ceremony, the dissimulation of courts could ill disguise the rancor of +their hearts. [19] + +[Footnote 18: Mr. Hume is justly surprised at a passage of Herodian, (l. +iv. p. 139,) who, on this occasion, represents the Imperial palace as +equal in extent to the rest of Rome. The whole region of the Palatine +Mount, on which it was built, occupied, at most, a circumference of +eleven or twelve thousand feet, (see the Notitia and Victor, in +Nardini's Roma Antica.) But we should recollect that the opulent +senators had almost surrounded the city with their extensive gardens and +suburb palaces, the greatest part of which had been gradually +confiscated by the emperors. If Geta resided in the gardens that bore +his name on the Janiculum, and if Caracalla inhabited the gardens of +Maecenas on the Esquiline, the rival brothers were separated from each +other by the distance of several miles; and yet the intermediate space +was filled by the Imperial gardens of Sallust, of Lucullus, of Agrippa, +of Domitian, of Caius, &c., all skirting round the city, and all +connected with each other, and with the palace, by bridges thrown over +the Tiber and the streets. But this explanation of Herodian would +require, though it ill deserves, a particular dissertation, illustrated +by a map of ancient Rome. (Hume, Essay on Populousness of Ancient +Nations.--M.)] + +[Footnote 19: Herodian, l. iv. p. 139] + +This latent civil war already distracted the whole government, when +a scheme was suggested that seemed of mutual benefit to the hostile +brothers. It was proposed, that since it was impossible to reconcile +their minds, they should separate their interest, and divide the empire +between them. The conditions of the treaty were already drawn with some +accuracy. It was agreed that Caracalla, as the elder brother should +remain in possession of Europe and the western Africa; and that he +should relinquish the sovereignty of Asia and Egypt to Geta, who might +fix his residence at Alexandria or Antioch, cities little inferior to +Rome itself in wealth and greatness; that numerous armies should be +constantly encamped on either side of the Thracian Bosphorus, to guard +the frontiers of the rival monarchies; and that the senators of European +extraction should acknowledge the sovereign of Rome, whilst the natives +of Asia followed the emperor of the East. The tears of the empress Julia +interrupted the negotiation, the first idea of which had filled every +Roman breast with surprise and indignation. The mighty mass of conquest +was so intimately united by the hand of time and policy, that it +required the most forcible violence to rend it asunder. The Romans had +reason to dread, that the disjointed members would soon be reduced by +a civil war under the dominion of one master; but if the separation +was permanent, the division of the provinces must terminate in the +dissolution of an empire whose unity had hitherto remained inviolate. +[20] + +[Footnote 20: Herodian, l. iv. p. 144.] + +Had the treaty been carried into execution, the sovereign of Europe +might soon have been the conqueror of Asia; but Caracalla obtained +an easier, though a more guilty, victory. He artfully listened to his +mother's entreaties, and consented to meet his brother in her +apartment, on terms of peace and reconciliation. In the midst of their +conversation, some centurions, who had contrived to conceal themselves, +rushed with drawn swords upon the unfortunate Geta. His distracted +mother strove to protect him in her arms; but, in the unavailing +struggle, she was wounded in the hand, and covered with the blood of +her younger son, while she saw the elder animating and assisting [21] the +fury of the assassins. As soon as the deed was perpetrated, Caracalla, +with hasty steps, and horror in his countenance, ran towards the +Praetorian camp, as his only refuge, and threw himself on the ground +before the statues of the tutelar deities. [22] The soldiers attempted to +raise and comfort him. In broken and disordered words he informed them +of his imminent danger, and fortunate escape; insinuating that he had +prevented the designs of his enemy, and declared his resolution to live +and die with his faithful troops. Geta had been the favorite of the +soldiers; but complaint was useless, revenge was dangerous, and they +still reverenced the son of Severus. Their discontent died away in idle +murmurs, and Caracalla soon convinced them of the justice of his cause, +by distributing in one lavish donative the accumulated treasures of his +father's reign. [23] The real sentiments of the soldiers alone were +of importance to his power or safety. Their declaration in his favor +commanded the dutiful professions of the senate. The obsequious assembly +was always prepared to ratify the decision of fortune; [231] but as +Caracalla wished to assuage the first emotions of public indignation, +the name of Geta was mentioned with decency, and he received the funeral +honors of a Roman emperor. [24] Posterity, in pity to his misfortune, +has cast a veil over his vices. We consider that young prince as the +innocent victim of his brother's ambition, without recollecting that he +himself wanted power, rather than inclination, to consummate the same +attempts of revenge and murder. [241] + +[Footnote 21: Caracalla consecrated, in the temple of Serapis, the +sword with which, as he boasted, he had slain his brother Geta. Dion, l. +lxxvii p. 1307.] + +[Footnote 22: Herodian, l. iv. p. 147. In every Roman camp there was a +small chapel near the head-quarters, in which the statues of the tutelar +deities were preserved and adored; and we may remark that the eagles, +and other military ensigns, were in the first rank of these deities; +an excellent institution, which confirmed discipline by the sanction of +religion. See Lipsius de Militia Romana, iv. 5, v. 2.] + +[Footnote 23: Herodian, l. iv. p. 148. Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1289.] + +[Footnote 231: The account of this transaction, in a new passage of +Dion, varies in some degree from this statement. It adds that the +next morning, in the senate, Antoninus requested their indulgence, not +because he had killed his brother, but because he was hoarse, and could +not address them. Mai. Fragm. p. 228.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: Geta was placed among the gods. Sit divus, dum non sit +vivus said his brother. Hist. August. p. 91. Some marks of Geta's +consecration are still found upon medals.] + +[Footnote 241: The favorable judgment which history has given of Geta +is not founded solely on a feeling of pity; it is supported by the +testimony of contemporary historians: he was too fond of the pleasures +of the table, and showed great mistrust of his brother; but he was +humane, well instructed; he often endeavored to mitigate the rigorous +decrees of Severus and Caracalla. Herod iv. 3. Spartian in Geta.--W.] + +The crime went not unpunished. Neither business, nor pleasure, nor +flattery, could defend Caracalla from the stings of a guilty conscience; +and he confessed, in the anguish of a tortured mind, that his disordered +fancy often beheld the angry forms of his father and his brother rising +into life, to threaten and upbraid him. [25] The consciousness of his +crime should have induced him to convince mankind, by the virtues of +his reign, that the bloody deed had been the involuntary effect of fatal +necessity. But the repentance of Caracalla only prompted him to remove +from the world whatever could remind him of his guilt, or recall the +memory of his murdered brother. On his return from the senate to the +palace, he found his mother in the company of several noble matrons, +weeping over the untimely fate of her younger son. The jealous emperor +threatened them with instant death; the sentence was executed against +Fadilla, the last remaining daughter of the emperor Marcus; [251] and even +the afflicted Julia was obliged to silence her lamentations, to +suppress her sighs, and to receive the assassin with smiles of joy and +approbation. It was computed that, under the vague appellation of the +friends of Geta, above twenty thousand persons of both sexes suffered +death. His guards and freedmen, the ministers of his serious business, +and the companions of his looser hours, those who by his interest had +been promoted to any commands in the army or provinces, with the long +connected chain of their dependants, were included in the proscription; +which endeavored to reach every one who had maintained the smallest +correspondence with Geta, who lamented his death, or who even mentioned +his name. [26] Helvius Pertinax, son to the prince of that name, lost +his life by an unseasonable witticism. [27] It was a sufficient crime +of Thrasea Priscus to be descended from a family in which the love +of liberty seemed an hereditary quality. [28] The particular causes of +calumny and suspicion were at length exhausted; and when a senator +was accused of being a secret enemy to the government, the emperor +was satisfied with the general proof that he was a man of property and +virtue. From this well-grounded principle he frequently drew the most +bloody inferences. [281] + +[Footnote 25: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307] + +[Footnote 251: The most valuable paragraph of dion, which the industry +of M. Manas recovered, relates to this daughter of Marcus, executed by +Caracalla. Her name, as appears from Fronto, as well as from Dion, +was Cornificia. When commanded to choose the kind of death she was +to suffer, she burst into womanish tears; but remembering her father +Marcus, she thus spoke:--"O my hapless soul, (... animula,) now +imprisoned in the body, burst forth! be free! show them, however +reluctant to believe it, that thou art the daughter of Marcus." She then +laid aside all her ornaments, and preparing herself for death, ordered +her veins to be opened. Mai. Fragm. Vatican ii p. 220.--M.] + +[Footnote 26: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1290. Herodian, l. iv. p. 150. Dion +(p. 2298) says, that the comic poets no longer durst employ the name of +Geta in their plays, and that the estates of those who mentioned it in +their testaments were confiscated.] + +[Footnote 27: Caracalla had assumed the names of several conquered +nations; Pertinax observed, that the name of Geticus (he had obtained +some advantage over the Goths, or Getae) would be a proper addition to +Parthieus, Alemannicus, &c. Hist. August. p. 89.] + +[Footnote 28: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1291. He was probably descended from +Helvidius Priscus, and Thrasea Paetus, those patriots, whose firm, but +useless and unseasonable, virtue has been immortalized by Tacitus. Note: +M. Guizot is indignant at this "cold" observation of Gibbon on the noble +character of Thrasea; but he admits that his virtue was useless to the +public, and unseasonable amidst the vices of his age.--M.] + +[Footnote 281: Caracalla reproached all those who demanded no favors of +him. "It is clear that if you make me no requests, you do not trust me; +if you do not trust me, you suspect me; if you suspect me, you fear me; +if you fear me, you hate me." And forthwith he condemned them as +conspirators, a good specimen of the sorites in a tyrant's logic. See +Fragm. Vatican p.--M.] + + + + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus.--Part II. + +The execution of so many innocent citizens was bewailed by the secret +tears of their friends and families. The death of Papinian, the +Praetorian Praefect, was lamented as a public calamity. [282] During the +last seven years of Severus, he had exercised the most important offices +of the state, and, by his salutary influence, guided the emperor's steps +in the paths of justice and moderation. In full assurance of his virtue +and abilities, Severus, on his death-bed, had conjured him to watch over +the prosperity and union of the Imperial family. [29] The honest labors +of Papinian served only to inflame the hatred which Caracalla had +already conceived against his father's minister. After the murder of +Geta, the Praefect was commanded to exert the powers of his skill and +eloquence in a studied apology for that atrocious deed. The philosophic +Seneca had condescended to compose a similar epistle to the senate, in +the name of the son and assassin of Agrippina. [30] "That it was easier +to commit than to justify a parricide," was the glorious reply of +Papinian; [31] who did not hesitate between the loss of life and that of +honor. Such intrepid virtue, which had escaped pure and unsullied +from the intrigues courts, the habits of business, and the arts of his +profession, reflects more lustre on the memory of Papinian, than all his +great employments, his numerous writings, and the superior reputation +as a lawyer, which he has preserved through every age of the Roman +jurisprudence. [32] + +[Footnote 281: Papinian was no longer Praetorian Praefect. Caracalla had +deprived him of that office immediately after the death of Severus. +Such is the statement of Dion; and the testimony of Spartian, who gives +Papinian the Praetorian praefecture till his death, is of little weight +opposed to that of a senator then living at Rome.--W.] + +[Footnote 29: It is said that Papinian was himself a relation of the +empress Julia.] + +[Footnote 30: Tacit. Annal. xiv. 2.] + +[Footnote 31: Hist. August. p. 88.] + +[Footnote 32: With regard to Papinian, see Heineccius's Historia Juris +Roma ni, l. 330, &c.] + +It had hitherto been the peculiar felicity of the Romans, and in the +worst of times the consolation, that the virtue of the emperors was +active, and their vice indolent. Augustus, Trajan, Hadrian, and Marcus +visited their extensive dominions in person, and their progress was +marked by acts of wisdom and beneficence. The tyranny of Tiberius, Nero, +and Domitian, who resided almost constantly at Rome, or in the adjacent +was confined to the senatorial and equestrian orders. [33] But Caracalla +was the common enemy of mankind. He left the capital (and he never returned +to it) about a year after the murder of Geta.murder of Geta. The rest of his reign was +spent in the several provinces of the empire, particularly those of the +East, and every province was by turns the scene of his rapine and cruelty. +The senators, compelled by fear to attend his capricious motions, were +obliged to provide daily entertainments at an immense expense, which +he abandoned with contempt to his guards; and to erect, in every city, +magnificent palaces and theatres, which he either disdained to visit, +or ordered immediately thrown down. The most wealthy families were ruined +by partial fines and confiscations, and the great body of his subjects +oppressed by ingenious and aggravated taxes. [34] In the midst of +peace, and upon the slightest provocation, he issued his commands, at +Alexandria, in Egypt for a general massacre. From a secure post in the +temple of Serapis, he viewed and directed the slaughter of many thousand +citizens, as well as strangers, without distinguishing the number or the +crime of the sufferers; since as he coolly informed the senate, all the +Alexandrians, those who perished, and those who had escaped, were alike +guilty. [35] + +[Footnote 33: Tiberius and Domitian never moved from the neighborhood +of Rome. Nero made a short journey into Greece. "Et laudatorum Principum +usus ex aequo, quamvis procul agentibus. Saevi proximis ingruunt." +Tacit. Hist. iv. 74.] + +[Footnote 34: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1294.] + +[Footnote 35: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307. Herodian, l. iv. p. 158. +The former represents it as a cruel massacre, the latter as a perfidious +one too. It seems probable that the Alexandrians has irritated the +tyrant by their railleries, and perhaps by their tumults. * Note: After +these massacres, Caracalla also deprived the Alexandrians of their +spectacles and public feasts; he divided the city into two parts by a +wall with towers at intervals, to prevent the peaceful communications of +the citizens. Thus was treated the unhappy Alexandria, says Dion, by the +savage beast of Ausonia. This, in fact, was the epithet which the oracle +had applied to him; it is said, indeed, that he was much pleased with +the name and often boasted of it. Dion, lxxvii. p. 1307.--G.] + +The wise instructions of Severus never made any lasting impression on +the mind of his son, who, although not destitute of imagination +and eloquence, was equally devoid of judgment and humanity. [36] One +dangerous maxim, worthy of a tyrant, was remembered and abused by +Caracalla. "To secure the affections of the army, and to esteem the +rest of his subjects as of little moment." [37] But the liberality of the +father had been restrained by prudence, and his indulgence to the troops +was tempered by firmness and authority. The careless profusion of the +son was the policy of one reign, and the inevitable ruin both of the +army and of the empire. The vigor of the soldiers, instead of being +confirmed by the severe discipline of camps, melted away in the luxury +of cities. The excessive increase of their pay and donatives [38] +exhausted the state to enrich the military order, whose modesty in +peace, and service in war, is best secured by an honorable poverty. The +demeanor of Caracalla was haughty and full of pride; but with the troops +he forgot even the proper dignity of his rank, encouraged their insolent +familiarity, and, neglecting the essential duties of a general, affected +to imitate the dress and manners of a common soldier. + +[Footnote 36: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1296.] + +[Footnote 37: Dion, l. lxxvi. p. 1284. Mr. Wotton (Hist. of Rome, p. +330) suspects that this maxim was invented by Caracalla himself, and +attributed to his father.] + +[Footnote 38: Dion (l. lxxviii. p. 1343) informs us that the +extraordinary gifts of Caracalla to the army amounted annually to +seventy millions of drachmae (about two millions three hundred and +fifty thousand pounds.) There is another passage in Dion, concerning the +military pay, infinitely curious, were it not obscure, imperfect, and +probably corrupt. The best sense seems to be, that the Praetorian guards +received twelve hundred and fifty drachmae, (forty pounds a year,) +(Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1307.) Under the reign of Augustus, they were paid +at the rate of two drachmae, or denarii, per day, 720 a year, (Tacit. +Annal. i. 17.) Domitian, who increased the soldiers' pay one fourth, +must have raised the Praetorians to 960 drachmae, (Gronoviue de Pecunia +Veteri, l. iii. c. 2.) These successive augmentations ruined the empire; +for, with the soldiers' pay, their numbers too were increased. We have +seen the Praetorians alone increased from 10,000 to 50,000 men. Note: +Valois and Reimar have explained in a very simple and probable manner +this passage of Dion, which Gibbon seems to me not to have understood. +He ordered that the soldiers should receive, as the reward of their +services the Praetorians 1250 drachms, the other 5000 drachms. Valois +thinks that the numbers have been transposed, and that Caracalla added +5000 drachms to the donations made to the Praetorians, 1250 to those of +the legionaries. The Praetorians, in fact, always received more than +the others. The error of Gibbon arose from his considering that this +referred to the annual pay of the soldiers, while it relates to the +sum they received as a reward for their services on their discharge: +donatives means recompense for service. Augustus had settled that the +Praetorians, after sixteen campaigns, should receive 5000 drachms: the +legionaries received only 3000 after twenty years. Caracalla added +5000 drachms to the donative of the Praetorians, 1250 to that of the +legionaries. Gibbon appears to have been mistaken both in confounding +this donative on discharge with the annual pay, and in not paying +attention to the remark of Valois on the transposition of the numbers in +the text.--G] + +It was impossible that such a character, and such conduct +as that of Caracalla, could inspire either love or esteem; but as long +as his vices were beneficial to the armies, he was secure from the +danger of rebellion. A secret conspiracy, provoked by his own jealousy, +was fatal to the tyrant. The Praetorian praefecture was divided between +two ministers. The military department was intrusted to Adventus, +an experienced rather than able soldier; and the civil affairs were +transacted by Opilius Macrinus, who, by his dexterity in business, had +raised himself, with a fair character, to that high office. But his +favor varied with the caprice of the emperor, and his life might depend +on the slightest suspicion, or the most casual circumstance. Malice or +fanaticism had suggested to an African, deeply skilled in the knowledge +of futurity, a very dangerous prediction, that Macrinus and his son were +destined to reign over the empire. The report was soon diffused through +the province; and when the man was sent in chains to Rome, he still +asserted, in the presence of the praefect of the city, the faith of +his prophecy. That magistrate, who had received the most pressing +instructions to inform himself of the successors of Caracalla, +immediately communicated the examination of the African to the Imperial +court, which at that time resided in Syria. But, notwithstanding the +diligence of the public messengers, a friend of Macrinus found means to +apprise him of the approaching danger. The emperor received the letters +from Rome; and as he was then engaged in the conduct of a chariot race, +he delivered them unopened to the Praetorian Praefect, directing him to +despatch the ordinary affairs, and to report the more important business +that might be contained in them. Macrinus read his fate, and resolved to +prevent it. He inflamed the discontents of some inferior officers, +and employed the hand of Martialis, a desperate soldier, who had been +refused the rank of centurion. The devotion of Caracalla prompted him +to make a pilgrimage from Edessa to the celebrated temple of the Moon at +Carrhae. [381] He was attended by a body of cavalry: but having stopped on +the road for some necessary occasion, his guards preserved a respectful +distance, and Martialis, approaching his person under a presence of +duty, stabbed him with a dagger. The bold assassin was instantly killed +by a Scythian archer of the Imperial guard. Such was the end of a +monster whose life disgraced human nature, and whose reign accused the +patience of the Romans. [39] The grateful soldiers forgot his vices, +remembered only his partial liberality, and obliged the senate to +prostitute their own dignity and that of religion, by granting him a +place among the gods. Whilst he was upon earth, Alexander the Great was +the only hero whom this god deemed worthy his admiration. He assumed the +name and ensigns of Alexander, formed a Macedonian phalanx of guards, +persecuted the disciples of Aristotle, and displayed, with a puerile +enthusiasm, the only sentiment by which he discovered any regard for +virtue or glory. We can easily conceive, that after the battle of Narva, +and the conquest of Poland, Charles XII. (though he still wanted the +more elegant accomplishments of the son of Philip) might boast of having +rivalled his valor and magnanimity; but in no one action of his life +did Caracalla express the faintest resemblance of the Macedonian hero, +except in the murder of a great number of his own and of his father's +friends. [40] + +[Footnote 381: Carrhae, now Harran, between Edessan and Nisibis, famous +for the defeat of Crassus--the Haran from whence Abraham set out for the +land of Canaan. This city has always been remarkable for its attachment +to Sabaism--G] + +[Footnote 39: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1312. Herodian, l. iv. p. 168.] + +[Footnote 40: The fondness of Caracalla for the name and ensigns +of Alexander is still preserved on the medals of that emperor. See +Spanheim, de Usu Numismatum, Dissertat. xii. Herodian (l. iv. p. 154) +had seen very ridiculous pictures, in which a figure was drawn with one +side of the face like Alexander, and the other like Caracalla.] + +After the extinction of the house of Severus, the Roman world remained +three days without a master. The choice of the army (for the authority +of a distant and feeble senate was little regarded) hung in anxious +suspense, as no candidate presented himself whose distinguished birth +and merit could engage their attachment and unite their suffrages. The +decisive weight of the Praetorian guards elevated the hopes of their +praefects, and these powerful ministers began to assert their legal +claim to fill the vacancy of the Imperial throne. Adventus, however, +the senior praefect, conscious of his age and infirmities, of his small +reputation, and his smaller abilities, resigned the dangerous honor to +the crafty ambition of his colleague Macrinus, whose well-dissembled +grief removed all suspicion of his being accessary to his master's +death. [41] The troops neither loved nor esteemed his character. They +cast their eyes around in search of a competitor, and at last yielded +with reluctance to his promises of unbounded liberality and indulgence. +A short time after his accession, he conferred on his son Diadumenianus, +at the age of only ten years, the Imperial title, and the popular +name of Antoninus. The beautiful figure of the youth, assisted by an +additional donative, for which the ceremony furnished a pretext, might +attract, it was hoped, the favor of the army, and secure the doubtful +throne of Macrinus. + +[Footnote 41: Herodian, l. iv. p. 169. Hist. August. p. 94.] + +The authority of the new sovereign had been ratified by the cheerful +submission of the senate and provinces. They exulted in their unexpected +deliverance from a hated tyrant, and it seemed of little consequence to +examine into the virtues of the successor of Caracalla. But as soon as +the first transports of joy and surprise had subsided, they began to +scrutinize the merits of Macrinus with a critical severity, and to +arraign the nasty choice of the army. It had hitherto been considered as +a fundamental maxim of the constitution, that the emperor must be always +chosen in the senate, and the sovereign power, no longer exercised by +the whole body, was always delegated to one of its members. But Macrinus +was not a senator. [42] The sudden elevation of the Praetorian praefects +betrayed the meanness of their origin; and the equestrian order was +still in possession of that great office, which commanded with arbitrary +sway the lives and fortunes of the senate. A murmur of indignation +was heard, that a man, whose obscure [43] extraction had never been +illustrated by any signal service, should dare to invest himself with +the purple, instead of bestowing it on some distinguished senator, equal +in birth and dignity to the splendor of the Imperial station. As soon as +the character of Macrinus was surveyed by the sharp eye of discontent, +some vices, and many defects, were easily discovered. The choice of his +ministers was in many instances justly censured, and the +dissatisfied people, with their usual candor, accused at once his +indolent tameness and his excessive severity. [44] + +[Footnote 42: Dion, l. lxxxviii. p. 1350. Elagabalus reproached his +predecessor with daring to seat himself on the throne; though, as +Praetorian praefect, he could not have been admitted into the senate +after the voice of the crier had cleared the house. The personal favor +of Plautianus and Sejanus had broke through the established rule. +They rose, indeed, from the equestrian order; but they preserved the +praefecture, with the rank of senator and even with the annulship.] + +[Footnote 43: He was a native of Caesarea, in Numidia, and began his +fortune by serving in the household of Plautian, from whose ruin he +narrowly escaped. His enemies asserted that he was born a slave, and +had exercised, among other infamous professions, that of Gladiator. The +fashion of aspersing the birth and condition of an adversary seems +to have lasted from the time of the Greek orators to the learned +grammarians of the last age.] + +[Footnote 44: Both Dion and Herodian speak of the virtues and vices of +Macrinus with candor and impartiality; but the author of his life, in +the Augustan History, seems to have implicitly copied some of the +venal writers, employed by Elagabalus, to blacken the memory of his +predecessor.] + +His rash ambition had climbed a height where it was difficult to stand +with firmness, and impossible to fall without instant destruction. +Trained in the arts of courts and the forms of civil business, he +trembled in the presence of the fierce and undisciplined multitude, over +whom he had assumed the command; his military talents were despised, and +his personal courage suspected; a whisper that circulated in the camp, +disclosed the fatal secret of the conspiracy against the late emperor, +aggravated the guilt of murder by the baseness of hypocrisy, and +heightened contempt by detestation. To alienate the soldiers, and to +provoke inevitable ruin, the character of a reformer was only wanting; +and such was the peculiar hardship of his fate, that Macrinus was +compelled to exercise that invidious office. The prodigality of +Caracalla had left behind it a long train of ruin and disorder; and if +that worthless tyrant had been capable of reflecting on the sure +consequences of his own conduct, he would perhaps have enjoyed the dark +prospect of the distress and calamities which he bequeathed to his +successors. + +In the management of this necessary reformation, Macrinus proceeded with +a cautious prudence, which would have restored health and vigor to the +Roman army in an easy and almost imperceptible manner. To the soldiers +already engaged in the service, he was constrained to leave the +dangerous privileges and extravagant pay given by Caracalla; but the new +recruits were received on the more moderate though liberal establishment +of Severus, and gradually formed to modesty and obedience. [45] One +fatal error destroyed the salutary effects of this judicious plan. The +numerous army, assembled in the East by the late emperor, instead of +being immediately dispersed by Macrinus through the several provinces, +was suffered to remain united in Syria, during the winter that followed +his elevation. In the luxurious idleness of their quarters, the troops +viewed their strength and numbers, communicated their complaints, +and revolved in their minds the advantages of another revolution. The +veterans, instead of being flattered by the advantageous distinction, +were alarmed by the first steps of the emperor, which they considered +as the presage of his future intentions. The recruits, with sullen +reluctance, entered on a service, whose labors were increased while +its rewards were diminished by a covetous and unwarlike sovereign. The +murmurs of the army swelled with impunity into seditious clamors; and +the partial mutinies betrayed a spirit of discontent and disaffection +that waited only for the slightest occasion to break out on every side +into a general rebellion. To minds thus disposed, the occasion soon +presented itself. + +[Footnote 45: Dion, l. lxxxiii. p. 1336. The sense of the author is +as the intention of the emperor; but Mr. Wotton has mistaken both, by +understanding the distinction, not of veterans and recruits, but of old +and new legions. History of Rome, p. 347.] + +The empress Julia had experienced all the vicissitudes of fortune. From +an humble station she had been raised to greatness, only to taste the +superior bitterness of an exalted rank. She was doomed to weep over the +death of one of her sons, and over the life of the other. The cruel fate +of Caracalla, though her good sense must have long taught her to expect +it, awakened the feelings of a mother and of an empress. Notwithstanding +the respectful civility expressed by the usurper towards the widow of +Severus, she descended with a painful struggle into the condition of +a subject, and soon withdrew herself, by a voluntary death, from the +anxious and humiliating dependence. [46] [461] Julia Maesa, her sister, was +ordered to leave the court and Antioch. She retired to Emesa with an +immense fortune, the fruit of twenty years' favor accompanied by her two +daughters, Soaemias and Mamae, each of whom was a widow, and each had +an only son. Bassianus, [462] for that was the name of the son of Soaemias, +was consecrated to the honorable ministry of high priest of the Sun; +and this holy vocation, embraced either from prudence or superstition, +contributed to raise the Syrian youth to the empire of Rome. A numerous +body of troops was stationed at Emesa; and as the severe discipline of +Macrinus had constrained them to pass the winter encamped, they were +eager to revenge the cruelty of such unaccustomed hardships. The +soldiers, who resorted in crowds to the temple of the Sun, beheld +with veneration and delight the elegant dress and figure of the young +pontiff; they recognized, or they thought that they recognized, the +features of Caracalla, whose memory they now adored. The artful Maesa +saw and cherished their rising partiality, and readily sacrificing her +daughter's reputation to the fortune of her grandson, she insinuated +that Bassianus was the natural son of their murdered sovereign. The +sums distributed by her emissaries with a lavish hand silenced every +objection, and the profusion sufficiently proved the affinity, or at +least the resemblance, of Bassianus with the great original. The young +Antoninus (for he had assumed and polluted that respectable name) was +declared emperor by the troops of Emesa, asserted his hereditary right, +and called aloud on the armies to follow the standard of a young and +liberal prince, who had taken up arms to revenge his father's death +and the oppression of the military order. [47] + +[Footnote 46: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1330. The abridgment of Xiphilin, +though less particular, is in this place clearer than the original.] + +[Footnote 461: As soon as this princess heard of the death of Caracalla, +she wished to starve herself to death: the respect shown to her by +Macrinus, in making no change in her attendants or her court, induced +her to prolong her life. But it appears, as far as the mutilated text of +Dion and the imperfect epitome of Xiphilin permit us to judge, that she +conceived projects of ambition, and endeavored to raise herself to the +empire. She wished to tread in the steps of Semiramis and Nitocris, +whose country bordered on her own. Macrinus sent her an order +immediately to leave Antioch, and to retire wherever she chose. She +returned to her former purpose, and starved herself to death.--G.] + +[Footnote 462: He inherited this name from his great-grandfather of the +mother's side, Bassianus, father of Julia Maesa, his grandmother, and +of Julia Domna, wife of Severus. Victor (in his epitome) is perhaps the +only historian who has given the key to this genealogy, when speaking +of Caracalla. His Bassianus ex avi materni nomine dictus. Caracalla, +Elagabalus, and Alexander Seyerus, bore successively this name.--G.] + +[Footnote 47: According to Lampridius, (Hist. August. p. 135,) Alexander +Severus lived twenty-nine years three months and seven days. As he was +killed March 19, 235, he was born December 12, 205 and was consequently +about this time thirteen years old, as his elder cousin might be about +seventeen. This computation suits much better the history of the young +princes than that of Herodian, (l. v. p. 181,) who represents them as +three years younger; whilst, by an opposite error of chronology, he +lengthens the reign of Elagabalus two years beyond its real duration. +For the particulars of the conspiracy, see Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1339. +Herodian, l. v. p. 184.] + +Whilst a conspiracy of women and eunuchs was concerted with prudence, +and conducted with rapid vigor, Macrinus, who, by a decisive motion, +might have crushed his infant enemy, floated between the opposite +extremes of terror and security, which alike fixed him inactive at +Antioch. A spirit of rebellion diffused itself through all the camps and +garrisons of Syria, successive detachments murdered their officers, [48] +and joined the party of the rebels; and the tardy restitution of +military pay and privileges was imputed to the acknowledged weakness of +Macrinus. At length he marched out of Antioch, to meet the increasing +and zealous army of the young pretender. His own troops seemed to take +the field with faintness and reluctance; but, in the heat of the battle, +[49] the Praetorian guards, almost by an involuntary impulse, asserted +the superiority of their valor and discipline. The rebel ranks were +broken; when the mother and grandmother of the Syrian prince, who, +according to their eastern custom, had attended the army, threw +themselves from their covered chariots, and, by exciting the compassion +of the soldiers, endeavored to animate their drooping courage. Antoninus +himself, who, in the rest of his life, never acted like a man, in this +important crisis of his fate, approved himself a hero, mounted his +horse, and, at the head of his rallied troops, charged sword in hand +among the thickest of the enemy; whilst the eunuch Gannys, [491] whose +occupations had been confined to female cares and the soft luxury of +Asia, displayed the talents of an able and experienced general. The +battle still raged with doubtful violence, and Macrinus might have +obtained the victory, had he not betrayed his own cause by a shameful +and precipitate flight. His cowardice served only to protract his life a +few days, and to stamp deserved ignominy on his misfortunes. It is +scarcely necessary to add, that his son Diadumenianus was involved in +the same fate. + +As soon as the stubborn Praetorians could be convinced that they fought +for a prince who had basely deserted them, they surrendered to the +conqueror: the contending parties of the Roman army, mingling tears +of joy and tenderness, united under the banners of the imagined son of +Caracalla, and the East acknowledged with pleasure the first emperor of +Asiatic extraction. + +[Footnote 48: By a most dangerous proclamation of the pretended +Antoninus, every soldier who brought in his officer's head became +entitled to his private estate, as well as to his military commission.] + +[Footnote 49: Dion, l. lxxviii. p. 1345. Herodian, l. v. p. 186. +The battle was fought near the village of Immae, about two-and-twenty +miles from Antioch.] + +[Footnote 491: Gannys was not a eunuch. Dion, p. 1355.--W] + +The letters of Macrinus had condescended to inform the senate of the +slight disturbance occasioned by an impostor in Syria, and a decree +immediately passed, declaring the rebel and his family public enemies; +with a promise of pardon, however, to such of his deluded adherents as +should merit it by an immediate return to their duty. During the twenty +days that elapsed from the declaration of the victory of Antoninus, (for +in so short an interval was the fate of the Roman world decided,) the +capital and the provinces, more especially those of the East, were +distracted with hopes and fears, agitated with tumult, and stained with +a useless effusion of civil blood, since whosoever of the rivals +prevailed in Syria must reign over the empire. The specious letters in +which the young conqueror announced his victory to the obedient senate +were filled with professions of virtue and moderation; the shining +examples of Marcus and Augustus, he should ever consider as the great +rule of his administration; and he affected to dwell with pride on the +striking resemblance of his own age and fortunes with those of Augustus, +who in the earliest youth had revenged, by a successful war, the murder +of his father. By adopting the style of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, son +of Antoninus and grandson of Severus, he tacitly asserted his hereditary +claim to the empire; but, by assuming the tribunitian and proconsular +powers before they had been conferred on him by a decree of the senate, +he offended the delicacy of Roman prejudice. This new and injudicious +violation of the constitution was probably dictated either by the +ignorance of his Syrian courtiers, or the fierce disdain of his military +followers. [50] + +[Footnote 50: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1353.] + +As the attention of the new emperor was diverted by the most trifling +amusements, he wasted many months in his luxurious progress from Syria +to Italy, passed at Nicomedia his first winter after his victory, and +deferred till the ensuing summer his triumphal entry into the capital. +A faithful picture, however, which preceded his arrival, and was placed +by his immediate order over the altar of Victory in the senate house, +conveyed to the Romans the just but unworthy resemblance of his person +and manners. He was drawn in his sacerdotal robes of silk and gold, +after the loose flowing fashion of the Medes and Phoenicians; his head +was covered with a lofty tiara, his numerous collars and bracelets were +adorned with gems of an inestimable value. His eyebrows were tinged with +black, and his cheeks painted with an artificial red and white. [51] +The grave senators confessed with a sigh, that, after having long +experienced the stern tyranny of their own countrymen, Rome was at +length humbled beneath the effeminate luxury of Oriental despotism. + +[Footnote 51: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1363. Herodian, l. v. p. 189.] + +The Sun was worshipped at Emesa, under the name of Elagabalus, [52] and +under the form of a black conical stone, which, as it was universally +believed, had fallen from heaven on that sacred place. To this +protecting deity, Antoninus, not without some reason, ascribed his +elevation to the throne. The display of superstitious gratitude was the +only serious business of his reign. The triumph of the god of Emesa over +all the religions of the earth, was the great object of his zeal and +vanity; and the appellation of Elagabalus (for he presumed as pontiff +and favorite to adopt that sacred name) was dearer to him than all the +titles of Imperial greatness. In a solemn procession through the streets +of Rome, the way was strewed with gold dust; the black stone, set in +precious gems, was placed on a chariot drawn by six milk-white horses +richly caparisoned. The pious emperor held the reins, and, supported by +his ministers, moved slowly backwards, that he might perpetually enjoy +the felicity of the divine presence. In a magnificent temple raised on +the Palatine Mount, the sacrifices of the god Elagabalus were celebrated +with every circumstance of cost and solemnity. The richest wines, the +most extraordinary victims, and the rarest aromatics, were profusely +consumed on his altar. Around the altar, a chorus of Syrian damsels +performed their lascivious dances to the sound of barbarian music, +whilst the gravest personages of the state and army, clothed in long +Phoenician tunics, officiated in the meanest functions, with affected +zeal and secret indignation. [53] + +[Footnote 52: This name is derived by the learned from two Syrian words, +Ela a God, and Gabal, to form, the forming or plastic god, a proper, and +even happy epithet for the sun. Wotton's History of Rome, p. 378 Note: +The name of Elagabalus has been disfigured in various ways. Herodian +calls him; Lampridius, and the more modern writers, make him +Heliogabalus. Dion calls him Elegabalus; but Elegabalus was the true +name, as it appears on the medals. (Eckhel. de Doct. num. vet. t. vii. +p. 250.) As to its etymology, that which Gibbon adduces is given +by Bochart, Chan. ii. 5; but Salmasius, on better grounds. (not. in +Lamprid. in Elagab.,) derives the name of Elagabalus from the idol +of that god, represented by Herodian and the medals in the form of a +mountain, (gibel in Hebrew,) or great stone cut to a point, with marks +which represent the sun. As it was not permitted, at Hierapolis, in +Syria, to make statues of the sun and moon, because, it was said, they +are themselves sufficiently visible, the sun was represented at Emesa +in the form of a great stone, which, as it appeared, had fallen from +heaven. Spanheim, Caesar. notes, p. 46.--G. The name of Elagabalus, in +"nummis rarius legetur." Rasche, Lex. Univ. Ref. Numm. Rasche quotes +two.--M] + +[Footnote 53: Herodian, l. v. p. 190.] + + + + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus.--Part III. + +To this temple, as to the common centre of religious worship, the +Imperial fanatic attempted to remove the Ancilia, the Palladium, [54] and +all the sacred pledges of the faith of Numa. A crowd of inferior deities +attended in various stations the majesty of the god of Emesa; but his +court was still imperfect, till a female of distinguished rank was +admitted to his bed. Pallas had been first chosen for his consort; +but as it was dreaded lest her warlike terrors might affright the soft +delicacy of a Syrian deity, the Moon, adorned by the Africans under the +name of Astarte, was deemed a more suitable companion for the Sun. Her +image, with the rich offerings of her temple as a marriage portion, was +transported with solemn pomp from Carthage to Rome, and the day of these +mystic nuptials was a general festival in the capital and throughout the +empire. [55] + +[Footnote 54: He broke into the sanctuary of Vesta, and carried away a +statue, which he supposed to be the palladium; but the vestals boasted +that, by a pious fraud, they had imposed a counterfeit image on the +profane intruder. Hist. August., p. 103.] + +[Footnote 55: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1360. Herodian, l. v. p. 193. The +subjects of the empire were obliged to make liberal presents to the +new married couple; and whatever they had promised during the life of +Elagabalus was carefully exacted under the administration of Mamaea.] + +A rational voluptuary adheres with invariable respect to the temperate +dictates of nature, and improves the gratifications of sense by social +intercourse, endearing connections, and the soft coloring of taste and +the imagination. But Elagabalus, (I speak of the emperor of that name,) +corrupted by his youth, his country, and his fortune, abandoned himself +to the grossest pleasures with ungoverned fury, and soon found disgust +and satiety in the midst of his enjoyments. The inflammatory powers of +art were summoned to his aid: the confused multitude of women, of wines, +and of dishes, and the studied variety of attitude and sauces, served +to revive his languid appetites. New terms and new inventions in these +sciences, the only ones cultivated and patronized by the monarch, [56] +signalized his reign, and transmitted his infamy to succeeding times. +A capricious prodigality supplied the want of taste and elegance; and +whilst Elagabalus lavished away the treasures of his people in the +wildest extravagance, his own voice and that of his flatterers applauded +a spirit of magnificence unknown to the tameness of his predecessors. +To confound the order of seasons and climates, [57] to sport with the +passions and prejudices of his subjects, and to subvert every law of +nature and decency, were in the number of his most delicious amusements. +A long train of concubines, and a rapid succession of wives, among whom +was a vestal virgin, ravished by force from her sacred asylum, [58] were +insufficient to satisfy the impotence of his passions. The master of the +Roman world affected to copy the dress and manners of the female sex, +preferred the distaff to the sceptre, and dishonored the principal +dignities of the empire by distributing them among his numerous lovers; +one of whom was publicly invested with the title and authority of the +emperor's, or, as he more properly styled himself, of the empress's +husband. [59] + +[Footnote 56: The invention of a new sauce was liberally rewarded; but +if it was not relished, the inventor was confined to eat of nothing else +till he had discovered another more agreeable to the Imperial palate +Hist. August. p. 111.] + +[Footnote 57: He never would eat sea-fish except at a great distance +from the sea; he then would distribute vast quantities of the rarest +sorts, brought at an immense expense, to the peasants of the inland +country. Hist. August. p. 109.] + +[Footnote 58: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1358. Herodian, l. v. p. 192.] + +[Footnote 59: Hierocles enjoyed that honor; but he would have been +supplanted by one Zoticus, had he not contrived, by a potion, to +enervate the powers of his rival, who, being found on trial unequal +to his reputation, was driven with ignominy from the palace. Dion, +l. lxxix. p. 1363, 1364. A dancer was made praefect of the city, a +charioteer praefect of the watch, a barber praefect of the provisions. +These three ministers, with many inferior officers, were all recommended +enormitate membrorum. Hist. August. p. 105.] + +It may seem probable, the vices and follies of Elagabalus have been +adorned by fancy, and blackened by prejudice. [60] Yet, confining +ourselves to the public scenes displayed before the Roman people, and +attested by grave and contemporary historians, their inexpressible +infamy surpasses that of any other age or country. The license of an +eastern monarch is secluded from the eye of curiosity by the +inaccessible walls of his seraglio. The sentiments of honor and +gallantry have introduced a refinement of pleasure, a regard for +decency, and a respect for the public opinion, into the modern courts of +Europe; [601] but the corrupt and opulent nobles of Rome gratified every +vice that could be collected from the mighty conflux of nations and +manners. Secure of impunity, careless of censure, they lived without +restraint in the patient and humble society of their slaves and +parasites. The emperor, in his turn, viewing every rank of his subjects +with the same contemptuous indifference, asserted without control his +sovereign privilege of lust and luxury. + +[Footnote 60: Even the credulous compiler of his life, in the Augustan +History (p. 111) is inclined to suspect that his vices may have been +exaggerated.] + +[Footnote 601: Wenck has justly observed that Gibbon should have +reckoned the influence of Christianity in this great change. In the most +savage times, and the most corrupt courts, since the introduction of +Christianity there have been no Neros or Domitians, no Commodus or +Elagabalus.--M.] + +The most worthless of mankind are not afraid to condemn +in others the same disorders which they allow in themselves; and can +readily discover some nice difference of age, character, or station, to +justify the partial distinction. The licentious soldiers, who had +raised to the throne the dissolute son of Caracalla, blushed at their +ignominious choice, and turned with disgust from that monster, to +contemplate with pleasure the opening virtues of his cousin Alexander, +the son of Mamaea. The crafty Maesa, sensible that her grandson +Elagabalus must inevitably destroy himself by his own vices, had +provided another and surer support of her family. Embracing a favorable +moment of fondness and devotion, she had persuaded the young emperor to +adopt Alexander, and to invest him with the title of Caesar, that his +own divine occupations might be no longer interrupted by the care of +the earth. In the second rank that amiable prince soon acquired the +affections of the public, and excited the tyrant's jealousy, who +resolved to terminate the dangerous competition, either by corrupting +the manners, or by taking away the life, of his rival. His arts proved +unsuccessful; his vain designs were constantly discovered by his own +loquacious folly, and disappointed by those virtuous and faithful +servants whom the prudence of Mamaea had placed about the person of +her son. In a hasty sally of passion, Elagabalus resolved to execute +by force what he had been unable to compass by fraud, and by a despotic +sentence degraded his cousin from the rank and honors of Caesar. The +message was received in the senate with silence, and in the camp with +fury. The Praetorian guards swore to protect Alexander, and to revenge +the dishonored majesty of the throne. The tears and promises of the +trembling Elagabalus, who only begged them to spare his life, and to +leave him in the possession of his beloved Hierocles, diverted their +just indignation; and they contented themselves with empowering their +praefects to watch over the safety of Alexander, and the conduct of the +emperor. [61] + +[Footnote 61: Dion, l. lxxix. p. 1365. Herodian, l. v. p. 195--201. +Hist. August. p. 105. The last of the three historians seems to have +followed the best authors in his account of the revolution.] + +It was impossible that such a reconciliation should last, or that even +the mean soul of Elagabalus could hold an empire on such humiliating +terms of dependence. He soon attempted, by a dangerous experiment, to +try the temper of the soldiers. The report of the death of Alexander, +and the natural suspicion that he had been murdered, inflamed their +passions into fury, and the tempest of the camp could only be appeased +by the presence and authority of the popular youth. Provoked at this new +instance of their affection for his cousin, and their contempt for +his person, the emperor ventured to punish some of the leaders of the +mutiny. His unseasonable severity proved instantly fatal to his minions, +his mother, and himself. Elagabalus was massacred by the indignant +Praetorians, his mutilated corpse dragged through the streets of the +city, and thrown into the Tiber. His memory was branded with eternal +infamy by the senate; the justice of whose decree has been ratified by +posterity. [62] + +[See Island In The Tiber: Elagabalus was thrown into the Tiber] + +[Footnote 62: The aera of the death of Elagabalus, and of the accession +of Alexander, has employed the learning and ingenuity of Pagi, +Tillemont, Valsecchi, Vignoli, and Torre, bishop of Adria. The question +is most assuredly intricate; but I still adhere to the authority of +Dion, the truth of whose calculations is undeniable, and the purity of +whose text is justified by the agreement of Xiphilin, Zonaras, and +Cedrenus. Elagabalus reigned three years nine months and four days, from +his victory over Macrinus, and was killed March 10, 222. But what shall +we reply to the medals, undoubtedly genuine, which reckon the fifth year +of his tribunitian power? We shall reply, with the learned Valsecchi, +that the usurpation of Macrinus was annihilated, and that the son of +Caracalla dated his reign from his father's death? After resolving this +great difficulty, the smaller knots of this question may be easily +untied, or cut asunder. Note: This opinion of Valsecchi has been +triumphantly contested by Eckhel, who has shown the impossibility of +reconciling it with the medals of Elagabalus, and has given the most +satisfactory explanation of the five tribunates of that emperor. He +ascended the throne and received the tribunitian power the 16th of May, +in the year of Rome 971; and on the 1st January of the next year, 972, +he began a new tribunate, according to the custom established by +preceding emperors. During the years 972, 973, 974, he enjoyed the +tribunate, and commenced his fifth in the year 975, during which he was +killed on the 10th March. Eckhel de Doct. Num. viii. 430 &c.--G.] + + +In the room of Elagabalus, his cousin Alexander was raised to the throne by the +Praetorian guards. His relation to the family of Severus, whose name +he assumed, was the same as that of his predecessor; his virtue and his +danger had already endeared him to the Romans, and the eager liberality +of the senate conferred upon him, in one day, the various titles and +powers of the Imperial dignity. [63] But as Alexander was a modest and +dutiful youth, of only seventeen years of age, the reins of government +were in the hands of two women, of his mother, Mamaea, and of Maesa, +his grandmother. After the death of the latter, who survived but a short +time the elevation of Alexander, Mamaea remained the sole regent of +her son and of the empire. + +[Footnote 63: Hist. August. p. 114. By this unusual precipitation, the +senate meant to confound the hopes of pretenders, and prevent the +factions of the armies.] + +In every age and country, the wiser, or at least the stronger, of the +two sexes, has usurped the powers of the state, and confined the other +to the cares and pleasures of domestic life. In hereditary monarchies, +however, and especially in those of modern Europe, the gallant spirit of +chivalry, and the law of succession, have accustomed us to allow a +singular exception; and a woman is often acknowledged the absolute +sovereign of a great kingdom, in which she would be deemed incapable of +exercising the smallest employment, civil or military. But as the Roman +emperors were still considered as the generals and magistrates of the +republic, their wives and mothers, although distinguished by the name of +Augusta were never associated to their personal honors; and a female +reign would have appeared an inexpiable prodigy in the eyes of those +primitive Romans, who married without love, or loved without delicacy +and respect. [64] The haughty Agripina aspired, indeed, to share the +honors of the empire which she had conferred on her son; but her mad +ambition, detested by every citizen who felt for the dignity of Rome, +was disappointed by the artful firmness of Seneca and Burrhus. [65] The +good sense, or the indifference, of succeeding princes, restrained them +from offending the prejudices of their subjects; and it was reserved for +the profligate Elagabalus to discharge the acts of the senate with the +name of his mother Soaemias, who was placed by the side of the consuls, +and subscribed, as a regular member, the decrees of the legislative +assembly. Her more prudent sister, Mamaea, declined the useless and +odious prerogative, and a solemn law was enacted, excluding women +forever from the senate, and devoting to the infernal gods the head of +the wretch by whom this sanction should be violated. [66] The substance, +not the pageantry, of power was the object of Mamaea's manly ambition. +She maintained an absolute and lasting empire over the mind of her son, +and in his affection the mother could not brook a rival. Alexander, with +her consent, married the daughter of a patrician; but his respect for +his father-in-law, and love for the empress, were inconsistent with the +tenderness of interest of Mamaea. The patrician was executed on the +ready accusation of treason, and the wife of Alexander driven with +ignominy from the palace, and banished into Africa. [67] + +[Footnote 64: Metellus Numidicus, the censor, acknowledged to the Roman +people, in a public oration, that had kind nature allowed us to exist +without the help of women, we should be delivered from a very +troublesome companion; and he could recommend matrimony only as the +sacrifice of private pleasure to public duty. Aulus Gellius, i. 6.] + +[Footnote 65: Tacit. Annal. xiii. 5.] + +[Footnote 66: Hist. August. p. 102, 107.] + +[Footnote 67: Dion, l. lxxx. p. 1369. Herodian, l. vi. p. 206. Hist. +August. p. 131. Herodian represents the patrician as innocent. The +Augustian History, on the authority of Dexippus, condemns him, as guilty +of a conspiracy against the life of Alexander. It is impossible to +pronounce between them; but Dion is an irreproachable witness of the +jealousy and cruelty of Mamaea towards the young empress, whose hard +fate Alexander lamented, but durst not oppose.] + +Notwithstanding this act of jealous cruelty, as well as some instances +of avarice, with which Mamaea is charged, the general tenor of her +administration was equally for the benefit of her son and of the empire. +With the approbation of the senate, she chose sixteen of the wisest and +most virtuous senators as a perpetual council of state, before whom +every public business of moment was debated and determined. The +celebrated Ulpian, equally distinguished by his knowledge of, and his +respect for, the laws of Rome, was at their head; and the prudent +firmness of this aristocracy restored order and authority to the +government. As soon as they had purged the city from foreign +superstition and luxury, the remains of the capricious tyranny of +Elagabalus, they applied themselves to remove his worthless creatures +from every department of the public administration, and to supply their +places with men of virtue and ability. Learning, and the love of +justice, became the only recommendations for civil offices; valor, and +the love of discipline, the only qualifications for military +employments. [68] + +[Footnote 68: Herodian, l. vi. p. 203. Hist. August. p. 119. The latter +insinuates, that when any law was to be passed, the council was assisted +by a number of able lawyers and experienced senators, whose opinions +were separately given, and taken down in writing.] + +But the most +important care of Mamaea and her wise counsellors, was to form the +character of the young emperor, on whose personal qualities the +happiness or misery of the Roman world must ultimately depend. The +fortunate soil assisted, and even prevented, the hand of cultivation. +An excellent understanding soon convinced Alexander of the advantages of +virtue, the pleasure of knowledge, and the necessity of labor. A natural +mildness and moderation of temper preserved him from the assaults of +passion, and the allurements of vice. His unalterable regard for his +mother, and his esteem for the wise Ulpian, guarded his unexperienced +youth from the poison of flattery. [581] + +[Footnote 681: Alexander received into his chapel all the religions +which prevailed in the empire; he admitted Jesus Christ, Abraham, +Orpheus, Apollonius of Tyana, &c. It was almost certain that his mother +Mamaea had instructed him in the morality of Christianity. Historians in +general agree in calling her a Christian; there is reason to believe +that she had begun to have a taste for the principles of Christianity. +(See Tillemont, Alexander Severus) Gibbon has not noticed this +circumstance; he appears to have wished to lower the character of this +empress; he has throughout followed the narrative of Herodian, who, by +the acknowledgment of Capitolinus himself, detested Alexander. Without +believing the exaggerated praises of Lampridius, he ought not to have +followed the unjust severity of Herodian, and, above all, not to have +forgotten to say that the virtuous Alexander Severus had insured to the +Jews the preservation of their privileges, and permitted the exercise of +Christianity. Hist. Aug. p. 121. The Christians had established their +worship in a public place, of which the victuallers (cauponarii) +claimed, not the property, but possession by custom. Alexander answered, +that it was better that the place should be used for the service of God, +in any form, than for victuallers.--G. I have scrupled to omit this +note, as it contains some points worthy of notice; but it is very unjust +to Gibbon, who mentions almost all the circumstances, which he is +accused of omitting, in another, and, according to his plan, a better +place, and, perhaps, in stronger terms than M. Guizot. See Chap. xvi.-- +M.] + +The simple journal of his ordinary occupations exhibits a pleasing +picture of an accomplished emperor, [69] and, with some allowance for +the difference of manners, might well deserve the imitation of modern +princes. Alexander rose early: the first moments of the day were +consecrated to private devotion, and his domestic chapel was filled with +the images of those heroes, who, by improving or reforming human life, +had deserved the grateful reverence of posterity. But as he deemed the +service of mankind the most acceptable worship of the gods, the greatest +part of his morning hours was employed in his council, where he +discussed public affairs, and determined private causes, with a patience +and discretion above his years. The dryness of business was relieved by +the charms of literature; and a portion of time was always set apart for +his favorite studies of poetry, history, and philosophy. The works of +Virgil and Horace, the republics of Plato and Cicero, formed his taste, +enlarged his understanding, and gave him the noblest ideas of man and +government. The exercises of the body succeeded to those of the mind; +and Alexander, who was tall, active, and robust, surpassed most of his +equals in the gymnastic arts. Refreshed by the use of the bath and a +slight dinner, he resumed, with new vigor, the business of the day; and, +till the hour of supper, the principal meal of the Romans, he was +attended by his secretaries, with whom he read and answered the +multitude of letters, memorials, and petitions, that must have been +addressed to the master of the greatest part of the world. His table was +served with the most frugal simplicity, and whenever he was at liberty +to consult his own inclination, the company consisted of a few select +friends, men of learning and virtue, amongst whom Ulpian was constantly +invited. Their conversation was familiar and instructive; and the pauses +were occasionally enlivened by the recital of some pleasing composition, +which supplied the place of the dancers, comedians, and even gladiators, +so frequently summoned to the tables of the rich and luxurious Romans. +[70] The dress of Alexander was plain and modest, his demeanor courteous +and affable: at the proper hours his palace was open to all his +subjects, but the voice of a crier was heard, as in the Eleusinian +mysteries, pronouncing the same salutary admonition: "Let none enter +these holy walls, unless he is conscious of a pure and innocent mind." +[71] + +[Footnote 69: See his life in the Augustan History. The undistinguishing +compiler has buried these interesting anecdotes under a load of trivial +unmeaning circumstances.] + +[Footnote 70: See the 13th Satire of Juvenal.] + +[Footnote 71: Hist. August. p. 119.] + +Such a uniform +tenor of life, which left not a moment for vice or folly, is a better +proof of the wisdom and justice of Alexander's government, than all the +trifling details preserved in the compilation of Lampridius. Since the +accession of Commodus, the Roman world had experienced, during the term +of forty years, the successive and various vices of four tyrants. From +the death of Elagabalus, it enjoyed an auspicious calm of thirteen +years. [711] The provinces, relieved from the oppressive taxes invented by +Caracalla and his pretended son, flourished in peace and prosperity, +under the administration of magistrates, who were convinced by +experience that to deserve the love of the subjects, was their best and +only method of obtaining the favor of their sovereign. While some gentle +restraints were imposed on the innocent luxury of the Roman people, the +price of provisions and the interest of money, were reduced by the +paternal care of Alexander, whose prudent liberality, without +distressing the industrious, supplied the wants and amusements of the +populace. The dignity, the freedom, the authority of the senate was +restored; and every virtuous senator might approach the person of the +emperor without a fear and without a blush. + +[Footnote 711: Wenck observes that Gibbon, enchanted with the virtue of +Alexander has heightened, particularly in this sentence, its effect on +the state of the world. His own account, which follows, of the +insurrections and foreign wars, is not in harmony with this beautiful +picture.--M.] + +The name of Antoninus, +ennobled by the virtues of Pius and Marcus, had been communicated by +adoption to the dissolute Verus, and by descent to the cruel Commodus. +It became the honorable appellation of the sons of Severus, was bestowed +on young Diadumenianus, and at length prostituted to the infamy of the +high priest of Emesa. Alexander, though pressed by the studied, and, +perhaps, sincere importunity of the senate, nobly refused the borrowed +lustre of a name; whilst in his whole conduct he labored to restore the +glories and felicity of the age of the genuine Antonines. [72] + +[Footnote 72: See, in the Hist. August. p. 116, 117, the whole contest +between Alexander and the senate, extracted from the journals of that +assembly. It happened on the sixth of March, probably of the year 223, +when the Romans had enjoyed, almost a twelvemonth, the blessings of his +reign. Before the appellation of Antoninus was offered him as a title of +honor, the senate waited to see whether Alexander would not assume it as +a family name.] + +In the civil administration of Alexander, wisdom was +enforced by power, and the people, sensible of the public felicity, +repaid their benefactor with their love and gratitude. There still +remained a greater, a more necessary, but a more difficult enterprise; +the reformation of the military order, whose interest and temper, +confirmed by long impunity, rendered them impatient of the restraints of +discipline, and careless of the blessings of public tranquillity. In the +execution of his design, the emperor affected to display his love, and +to conceal his fear of the army. The most rigid economy in every other +branch of the administration supplied a fund of gold and silver for the +ordinary pay and the extraordinary rewards of the troops. In their +marches he relaxed the severe obligation of carrying seventeen days' +provision on their shoulders. Ample magazines were formed along the +public roads, and as soon as they entered the enemy's country, a +numerous train of mules and camels waited on their haughty laziness. As +Alexander despaired of correcting the luxury of his soldiers, he +attempted, at least, to direct it to objects of martial pomp and +ornament, fine horses, splendid armor, and shields enriched with silver +and gold. He shared whatever fatigues he was obliged to impose, visited, +in person, the sick and wounded, preserved an exact register of their +services and his own gratitude, and expressed on every occasion, the +warmest regard for a body of men, whose welfare, as he affected to +declare, was so closely connected with that of the state. [73] By the +most gentle arts he labored to inspire the fierce multitude with a sense +of duty, and to restore at least a faint image of that discipline to +which the Romans owed their empire over so many other nations, as +warlike and more powerful than themselves. But his prudence was vain, +his courage fatal, and the attempt towards a reformation served only to +inflame the ills it was meant to cure. + +[Footnote 73: It was a favorite saying of the emperor's Se milites magis +servare, quam seipsum, quod salus publica in his esset. Hist. Aug. p. +130.] + +The Praetorian guards +were attached to the youth of Alexander. They loved him as a tender +pupil, whom they had saved from a tyrant's fury, and placed on the +Imperial throne. That amiable prince was sensible of the obligation; but +as his gratitude was restrained within the limits of reason and justice, +they soon were more dissatisfied with the virtues of Alexander, than +they had ever been with the vices of Elagabalus. Their praefect, the +wise Ulpian, was the friend of the laws and of the people; he was +considered as the enemy of the soldiers, and to his pernicious counsels +every scheme of reformation was imputed. Some trifling accident blew up +their discontent into a furious mutiny; and the civil war raged, during +three days, in Rome, whilst the life of that excellent minister was +defended by the grateful people. Terrified, at length, by the sight of +some houses in flames, and by the threats of a general conflagration, +the people yielded with a sigh, and left the virtuous but unfortunate +Ulpian to his fate. He was pursued into the Imperial palace, and +massacred at the feet of his master, who vainly strove to cover him with +the purple, and to obtain his pardon from the inexorable soldiers. [731] +Such was the deplorable weakness of government, that the emperor was +unable to revenge his murdered friend and his insulted dignity, without +stooping to the arts of patience and dissimulation. Epagathus, the +principal leader of the mutiny, was removed from Rome, by the honorable +employment of praefect of Egypt: from that high rank he was gently +degraded to the government of Crete; and when at length, his popularity +among the guards was effaced by time and absence, Alexander ventured to +inflict the tardy but deserved punishment of his crimes. [74] Under the +reign of a just and virtuous prince, the tyranny of the army threatened +with instant death his most faithful ministers, who were suspected of an +intention to correct their intolerable disorders. The historian Dion +Cassius had commanded the Pannonian legions with the spirit of ancient +discipline. Their brethren of Rome, embracing the common cause of +military license, demanded the head of the reformer. Alexander, however, +instead of yielding to their seditious clamors, showed a just sense of +his merit and services, by appointing him his colleague in the +consulship, and defraying from his own treasury the expense of that vain +dignity: but as was justly apprehended, that if the soldiers beheld him +with the ensigns of his office, they would revenge the insult in his +blood, the nominal first magistrate of the state retired, by the +emperor's advice, from the city, and spent the greatest part of his +consulship at his villas in Campania. [75] [751] + +[Footnote 731: Gibbon has confounded two events altogether different-- +the quarrel of the people with the Praetorians, which lasted three days, +and the assassination of Ulpian by the latter. Dion relates first the +death of Ulpian, afterwards, reverting back according to a manner which +is usual with him, he says that during the life of Ulpian, there had +been a war of three days between the Praetorians and the people. But +Ulpian was not the cause. Dion says, on the contrary, that it was +occasioned by some unimportant circumstance; whilst he assigns a weighty +reason for the murder of Ulpian, the judgment by which that Praetorian +praefect had condemned his predecessors, Chrestus and Flavian, to death, +whom the soldiers wished to revenge. Zosimus (l. 1, c. xi.) attributes +this sentence to Mamaera; but, even then, the troops might have imputed +it to Ulpian, who had reaped all the advantage and was otherwise odious +to them.--W.] + +[Footnote 74: Though the author of the life of Alexander (Hist. August. +p. 182) mentions the sedition raised against Ulpian by the soldiers, he +conceals the catastrophe, as it might discover a weakness in the +administration of his hero. From this designed omission, we may judge of +the weight and candor of that author.] + +[Footnote 75: For an account of Ulpian's fate and his own danger, see +the mutilated conclusion of Dion's History, l. lxxx. p. 1371.] + +[Footnote 751: Dion possessed no estates in Campania, and was not rich. +He only says that the emperor advised him to reside, during his +consulate, in some place out of Rome; that he returned to Rome after the +end of his consulate, and had an interview with the emperor in Campania. +He asked and obtained leave to pass the rest of his life in his native +city, (Nice, in Bithynia: ) it was there that he finished his history, +which closes with his second consulship.--W.] + + + + +Chapter VI: Death Of Severus, Tyranny Of Caracalla, Usurpation Of Marcinus.--Part IV. + +The lenity of the emperor confirmed the insolence of the troops; +the legions imitated the example of the guards, and defended their +prerogative of licentiousness with the same furious obstinacy. The +administration of Alexander was an unavailing struggle against the +corruption of his age. In llyricum, in Mauritania, in Armenia, in +Mesopotamia, in Germany, fresh mutinies perpetually broke out; his +officers were murdered, his authority was insulted, and his life at last +sacrificed to the fierce discontents of the army. [76] One particular +fact well deserves to be recorded, as it illustrates the manners of the +troops, and exhibits a singular instance of their return to a sense of +duty and obedience. Whilst the emperor lay at Antioch, in his Persian +expedition, the particulars of which we shall hereafter relate, the +punishment of some soldiers, who had been discovered in the baths +of women, excited a sedition in the legion to which they belonged. +Alexander ascended his tribunal, and with a modest firmness represented +to the armed multitude the absolute necessity, as well as his +inflexible resolution, of correcting the vices introduced by his impure +predecessor, and of maintaining the discipline, which could not be +relaxed without the ruin of the Roman name and empire. Their clamors +interrupted his mild expostulation. "Reserve your shout," said the +undaunted emperor, "till you take the field against the Persians, the +Germans, and the Sarmatians. Be silent in the presence of your sovereign +and benefactor, who bestows upon you the corn, the clothing, and the +money of the provinces. Be silent, or I shall no longer style you +solders, but citizens, [77] if those indeed who disclaim the laws of +Rome deserve to be ranked among the meanest of the people." His menaces +inflamed the fury of the legion, and their brandished arms already +threatened his person. "Your courage," resumed the intrepid Alexander, +"would be more nobly displayed in the field of battle; me you may +destroy, you cannot intimidate; and the severe justice of the republic +would punish your crime and revenge my death." The legion still +persisted in clamorous sedition, when the emperor pronounced, with a loud +voice, the decisive sentence, "Citizens! lay down your arms, and depart +in peace to your respective habitations." The tempest was instantly +appeased: the soldiers, filled with grief and shame, silently confessed +the justice of their punishment, and the power of discipline, yielded up +their arms and military ensigns, and retired in confusion, not to their +camp, but to the several inns of the city. Alexander enjoyed, during +thirty days, the edifying spectacle of their repentance; nor did he +restore them to their former rank in the army, till he had punished with +death those tribunes whose connivance had occasioned the mutiny. The +grateful legion served the emperor whilst living, and revenged him when +dead. [78] + +[Footnote 76: Annot. Reimar. ad Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. p. 1369.] + +[Footnote 77: Julius Caesar had appeased a sedition with the same word, +Quirites; which, thus opposed to soldiers, was used in a sense of +contempt, and reduced the offenders to the less honorable condition of +mere citizens. Tacit. Annal. i. 43.] + +[Footnote 78: Hist. August. p. 132.] + +The resolutions of the multitude generally depend on a moment; and the +caprice of passion might equally determine the seditious legion to +lay down their arms at the emperor's feet, or to plunge them into his +breast. Perhaps, if this singular transaction had been investigated by +the penetration of a philosopher, we should discover the secret causes +which on that occasion authorized the boldness of the prince, and +commanded the obedience of the troops; and perhaps, if it had been +related by a judicious historian, we should find this action, worthy +of Caesar himself, reduced nearer to the level of probability and the +common standard of the character of Alexander Severus. The abilities of +that amiable prince seem to have been inadequate to the difficulties of +his situation, the firmness of his conduct inferior to the purity of his +intentions. His virtues, as well as the vices of Elagabalus, contracted +a tincture of weakness and effeminacy from the soft climate of Syria, +of which he was a native; though he blushed at his foreign origin, and +listened with a vain complacency to the flattering genealogists, who +derived his race from the ancient stock of Roman nobility. [79] The pride +and avarice of his mother cast a shade on the glories of his reign; an +by exacting from his riper years the same dutiful obedience which she +had justly claimed from his unexperienced youth, Mamaea exposed to +public ridicule both her son's character and her own. [80] The fatigues +of the Persian war irritated the military discontent; the unsuccessful +event [801] degraded the reputation of the emperor as a general, and even +as a soldier. Every cause prepared, and every circumstance hastened, +a revolution, which distracted the Roman empire with a long series of +intestine calamities. + +[Footnote 79: From the Metelli. Hist. August. p. 119. The choice was +judicious. In one short period of twelve years, the Metelli could reckon +seven consulships and five triumphs. See Velleius Paterculus, ii. 11, +and the Fasti.] + +[Footnote 80: The life of Alexander, in the Augustan History, is the +mere idea of a perfect prince, an awkward imitation of the Cyropaedia. +The account of his reign, as given by Herodian, is rational and +moderate, consistent with the general history of the age; and, in some +of the most invidious particulars, confirmed by the decisive fragments +of Dion. Yet from a very paltry prejudice, the greater number of our +modern writers abuse Herodian, and copy the Augustan History. See Mess +de Tillemont and Wotton. From the opposite prejudice, the emperor +Julian (in Caesarib. p. 315) dwells with a visible satisfaction on the +effeminate weakness of the Syrian, and the ridiculous avarice of his +mother.] + +[Footnote 801: Historians are divided as to the success of the campaign +against the Persians; Herodian alone speaks of defeat. Lampridius, +Eutropius, Victor, and others, say that it was very glorious to +Alexander; that he beat Artaxerxes in a great battle, and repelled him +from the frontiers of the empire. This much is certain, that Alexander, +on his return to Rome, (Lamp. Hist. Aug. c. 56, 133, 134,) received the +honors of a triumph, and that he said, in his oration to the people. +Quirites, vicimus Persas, milites divites reduximus, vobis congiarium +pollicemur, cras ludos circenses Persicos donabimus. Alexander, says +Eckhel, had too much modesty and wisdom to permit himself to receive +honors which ought only to be the reward of victory, if he had not +deserved them; he would have contented himself with dissembling his +losses. Eckhel, Doct. Num. vet. vii. 276. The medals represent him as in +triumph; one, among others, displays him crowned by Victory between two +rivers, the Euphrates and the Tigris. P. M. TR. P. xii. Cos. iii. PP. +Imperator paludatus D. hastam. S. parazonium, stat inter duos fluvios +humi jacentes, et ab accedente retro Victoria coronatur. Ae. max. mod. +(Mus. Reg. Gall.) Although Gibbon treats this question more in detail +when he speaks of the Persian monarchy, I have thought fit to place here +what contradicts his opinion.--G] + +The dissolute tyranny of Commodus, the civil wars occasioned by his +death, and the new maxims of policy introduced by the house of Severus, +had all contributed to increase the dangerous power of the army, and to +obliterate the faint image of laws and liberty that was still impressed +on the minds of the Romans. The internal change, which undermined the +foundations of the empire, we have endeavored to explain with some +degree of order and perspicuity. The personal characters of the +emperors, their victories, laws, follies, and fortunes, can interest us +no farther than as they are connected with the general history of the +Decline and Fall of the monarchy. Our constant attention to that +great object will not suffer us to overlook a most important edict of +Antoninus Caracalla, which communicated to all the free inhabitants +of the empire the name and privileges of Roman citizens. His unbounded +liberality flowed not, however, from the sentiments of a generous mind; +it was the sordid result of avarice, and will naturally be illustrated +by some observations on the finances of that state, from the victorious +ages of the commonwealth to the reign of Alexander Severus. The siege +of Veii in Tuscany, the first considerable enterprise of the Romans, +was protracted to the tenth year, much less by the strength of the place +than by the unskillfulness of the besiegers. The unaccustomed hardships +of so many winter campaigns, at the distance of near twenty miles from +home, [81] required more than common encouragements; and the senate +wisely prevented the clamors of the people, by the institution of a +regular pay for the soldiers, which was levied by a general tribute, +assessed according to an equitable proportion on the property of the +citizens. [82] During more than two hundred years after the conquest of +Veii, the victories of the republic added less to the wealth than to +the power of Rome. The states of Italy paid their tribute in military +service only, and the vast force, both by sea and land, which was +exerted in the Punic wars, was maintained at the expense of the Romans +themselves. That high-spirited people (such is often the generous +enthusiasm of freedom) cheerfully submitted to the most excessive but +voluntary burdens, in the just confidence that they should speedily +enjoy the rich harvest of their labors. Their expectations were not +disappointed. In the course of a few years, the riches of Syracuse, of +Carthage, of Macedonia, and of Asia, were brought in triumph to Rome. +The treasures of Perseus alone amounted to near two millions sterling, +and the Roman people, the sovereign of so many nations, was forever +delivered from the weight of taxes. [83] The increasing revenue of the +provinces was found sufficient to defray the ordinary establishment +of war and government, and the superfluous mass of gold and silver +was deposited in the temple of Saturn, and reserved for any unforeseen +emergency of the state. [84] + +[Footnote 81: According to the more accurate Dionysius, the city itself +was only a hundred stadia, or twelve miles and a half, from Rome, +though some out-posts might be advanced farther on the side of Etruria. +Nardini, in a professed treatise, has combated the popular opinion and +the authority of two popes, and has removed Veii from Civita Castellana, +to a little spot called Isola, in the midway between Rome and the Lake +Bracianno. * Note: See the interesting account of the site and ruins of +Veii in Sir W Gell's topography of Rome and its Vicinity. v. ii. p. +303.--M.] + +[Footnote 82: See the 4th and 5th books of Livy. In the Roman census, +property, power, and taxation were commensurate with each other.] + +[Footnote 83: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. Cicero de Offic. ii. +22. Plutarch, P. Aemil. p. 275.] + +[Footnote 84: See a fine description of this accumulated wealth of ages +in Phars. l. iii. v. 155, &c.] + +History has never, perhaps, suffered a greater or more irreparable +injury than in the loss of the curious register [841] bequeathed by +Augustus to the senate, in which that experienced prince so accurately +balanced the revenues and expenses of the Roman empire. [85] Deprived of +this clear and comprehensive estimate, we are reduced to collect a few +imperfect hints from such of the ancients as have accidentally turned +aside from the splendid to the more useful parts of history. We are +informed that, by the conquests of Pompey, the tributes of Asia were +raised from fifty to one hundred and thirty-five millions of drachms; or +about four millions and a half sterling. [86] [861] Under the last and most +indolent of the Ptolemies, the revenue of Egypt is said to have amounted +to twelve thousand five hundred talents; a sum equivalent to more +than two millions and a half of our money, but which was afterwards +considerably improved by the more exact economy of the Romans, and the +increase of the trade of Aethiopia and India. [87] Gaul was enriched by +rapine, as Egypt was by commerce, and the tributes of those two great +provinces have been compared as nearly equal to each other in value. +[88] The ten thousand Euboic or Phoenician talents, about four millions +sterling, [89] which vanquished Carthage was condemned to pay within the +term of fifty years, were a slight acknowledgment of the superiority of +Rome, [90] and cannot bear the least proportion with the taxes afterwards +raised both on the lands and on the persons of the inhabitants, when the +fertile coast of Africa was reduced into a province. [91] + +[Footnote 841: See Rationarium imperii. Compare besides Tacitus, Suet. +Aug. c. ult. Dion, p. 832. Other emperors kept and published similar +registers. See a dissertation of Dr. Wolle, de Rationario imperii Rom. +Leipsig, 1773. The last book of Appian also contained the statistics of +the Roman empire, but it is lost.--W.] + +[Footnote 85: Tacit. in Annal. i. ll. It seems to have existed in the +time of Appian.] + +[Footnote 86: Plutarch, in Pompeio, p. 642.] + +[Footnote 861: Wenck contests the accuracy of Gibbon's version of Plutarch, +and supposes that Pompey only raised the revenue from 50,000,000 to +85,000,000 of drachms; but the text of Plutarch seems clearly to mean +that his conquests added 85,000,000 to the ordinary revenue. Wenck adds, +"Plutarch says in another part, that Antony made Asia pay, at one time, +200,000 talents, that is to say, 38,875,000 L. sterling." But Appian +explains this by saying that it was the revenue of ten years, which +brings the annual revenue, at the time of Antony, to 3,875,000 L. +sterling.--M.] + +[Footnote 87: Strabo, l. xvii. p. 798.] + +[Footnote 88: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 39. He seems to give the +preference to the revenue of Gaul.] + +[Footnote 89: The Euboic, the Phoenician, and the Alexandrian talents +were double in weight to the Attic. See Hooper on ancient weights and +measures, p. iv. c. 5. It is very probable that the same talent was +carried from Tyre to Carthage.] + +[Footnote 90: Polyb. l. xv. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 91: Appian in Punicis, p. 84.] + +Spain, by a very singular fatality, was the Peru and Mexico of the old +world. The discovery of the rich western continent by the Phoenicians, +and the oppression of the simple natives, who were compelled to labor in +their own mines for the benefit of strangers, form an exact type of +the more recent history of Spanish America. [92] The Phoenicians were +acquainted only with the sea-coast of Spain; avarice, as well as +ambition, carried the arms of Rome and Carthage into the heart of the +country, and almost every part of the soil was found pregnant with +copper, silver, and gold. [921] Mention is made of a mine near Carthagena +which yielded every day twenty-five thousand drachmns of silver, or +about three hundred thousand pounds a year. [93] Twenty thousand pound +weight of gold was annually received from the provinces of Asturia, +Gallicia, and Lusitania. [94] + +[Footnote 92: Diodorus Siculus, l. 5. Oadiz was built by the Phoenicians +a little more than a thousand years before Christ. See Vell. Pa ter. +i.2.] + +[Footnote 921: Compare Heeren's Researches vol. i. part ii. p.] + +[Footnote 93: Strabo, l. iii. p. 148.] + +[Footnote 94: Plin. Hist. Natur. l. xxxiii. c. 3. He mentions likewise +a silver mine in Dalmatia, that yielded every day fifty pounds to +the state.] We want both leisure and materials to pursue this curious +inquiry through the many potent states that were annihilated in the +Roman empire. Some notion, however, may be formed of the revenue of the +provinces where considerable wealth had been deposited by nature, or +collected by man, if we observe the severe attention that was directed +to the abodes of solitude and sterility. Augustus once received a +petition from the inhabitants of Gyarus, humbly praying that they might +be relieved from one third of their excessive impositions. Their whole +tax amounted indeed to no more than one hundred and fifty drachms, or +about five pounds: but Gyarus was a little island, or rather a rock, of +the Aegean Sea, destitute of fresh water and every necessary of life, +and inhabited only by a few wretched fishermen. [95] + +[Footnote 95: Strabo, l. x. p. 485. Tacit. Annal. iu. 69, and iv. 30. +See Tournefort (Voyages au Levant, Lettre viii.) a very lively picture +of the actual misery of Gyarus.] + +From the faint glimmerings of such doubtful and scattered lights, we +should be inclined to believe, 1st, That (with every fair allowance for +the differences of times and circumstances) the general income of the +Roman provinces could seldom amount to less than fifteen or twenty +millions of our money; [96] and, 2dly, That so ample a revenue must +have been fully adequate to all the expenses of the moderate government +instituted by Augustus, whose court was the modest family of a private +senator, and whose military establishment was calculated for the defence +of the frontiers, without any aspiring views of conquest, or any serious +apprehension of a foreign invasion. + +[Footnote 96: Lipsius de magnitudine Romana (l. ii. c. 3) computes the +revenue at one hundred and fifty millions of gold crowns; but his whole +book, though learned and ingenious, betrays a very heated imagination. +Note: If Justus Lipsius has exaggerated the revenue of the Roman empire +Gibbon, on the other hand, has underrated it. He fixes it at fifteen +or twenty millions of our money. But if we take only, on a moderate +calculation, the taxes in the provinces which he has already cited, they +will amount, considering the augmentations made by Augustus, to nearly +that sum. There remain also the provinces of Italy, of Rhaetia, of +Noricum, Pannonia, and Greece, &c., &c. Let us pay attention, besides, +to the prodigious expenditure of some emperors, (Suet. Vesp. 16;) we +shall see that such a revenue could not be sufficient. The authors of +the Universal History, part xii., assign forty millions sterling as the +sum to about which the public revenue might amount.--G. from W.] + +Notwithstanding the seeming probability of both these conclusions, +the latter of them at least is positively disowned by the language +and conduct of Augustus. It is not easy to determine whether, on this +occasion, he acted as the common father of the Roman world, or as the +oppressor of liberty; whether he wished to relieve the provinces, or +to impoverish the senate and the equestrian order. But no sooner had +he assumed the reins of government, than he frequently intimated the +insufficiency of the tributes, and the necessity of throwing an +equitable proportion of the public burden upon Rome and Italy. [961] In +the prosecution of this unpopular design, he advanced, however, by +cautious and well-weighed steps. The introduction of customs was +followed by the establishment of an excise, and the scheme of taxation +was completed by an artful assessment on the real and personal property +of the Roman citizens, who had been exempted from any kind of +contribution above a century and a half. + +[Footnote 961: It is not astonishing that Augustus held +this language. The senate declared also under Nero, that the state could +not exist without the imposts as well augmented as founded by Augustus. +Tac. Ann. xiii. 50. After the abolition of the different tributes paid +by Italy, an abolition which took place A. U. 646, 694, and 695, the +state derived no revenues from that great country, but the twentieth +part of the manumissions, (vicesima manumissionum,) and Ciero laments +this in many places, particularly in his epistles to ii. 15.--G. from +W.] + +I. In a great empire like that of Rome, a natural balance of money must +have gradually established itself. It has been already observed, that as +the wealth of the provinces was attracted to the capital by the strong +hand of conquest and power, so a considerable part of it was restored to +the industrious provinces by the gentle influence of commerce and arts. +In the reign of Augustus and his successors, duties were imposed on +every kind of merchandise, which through a thousand channels flowed to +the great centre of opulence and luxury; and in whatsoever manner the +law was expressed, it was the Roman purchaser, and not the provincial +merchant, who paid the tax. [97] The rate of the customs varied from the +eighth to the fortieth part of the value of the commodity; and we have +a right to suppose that the variation was directed by the unalterable +maxims of policy; that a higher duty was fixed on the articles of +luxury than on those of necessity, and that the productions raised or +manufactured by the labor of the subjects of the empire were treated +with more indulgence than was shown to the pernicious, or at least the +unpopular commerce of Arabia and India. [98] There is still extant a long +but imperfect catalogue of eastern commodities, which about the time +of Alexander Severus were subject to the payment of duties; cinnamon, +myrrh, pepper, ginger, and the whole tribe of aromatics a great variety +of precious stones, among which the diamond was the most remarkable for +its price, and the emerald for its beauty; [99] Parthian and Babylonian +leather, cottons, silks, both raw and manufactured, ebony ivory, and +eunuchs. [100] We may observe that the use and value of those effeminate +slaves gradually rose with the decline of the empire. + +[Footnote 97: Tacit. Annal. xiii. 31. * Note: The customs (portoria) +existed in the times of the ancient kings of Rome. They were suppressed +in Italy, A. U. 694, by the Praetor, Cecilius Matellus Nepos. Augustus +only reestablished them. See note above.--W.] + +[Footnote 98: See Pliny, (Hist. Natur. l. vi. c. 23, lxii. c. 18.) His +observation that the Indian commodities were sold at Rome at a hundred +times their original price, may give us some notion of the produce of +the customs, since that original price amounted to more than eight +hundred thousand pounds.] + +[Footnote 99: The ancients were unacquainted with the art of cutting +diamonds.] + +[Footnote 100: M. Bouchaud, in his treatise de l'Impot chez les +Romains, has transcribed this catalogue from the Digest, and attempts to +illustrate it by a very prolix commentary. * Note: In the Pandects, l. +39, t. 14, de Publican. Compare Cicero in Verrem. c. 72--74.--W.] + + +II. The excise, introduced by Augustus after the civil wars, was +extremely moderate, but it was general. It seldom exceeded one per +cent.; but it comprehended whatever was sold in the markets or by public +auction, from the most considerable purchases of lands and houses, to +those minute objects which can only derive a value from their infinite +multitude and daily consumption. Such a tax, as it affects the body +of the people, has ever been the occasion of clamor and discontent. An +emperor well acquainted with the wants and resources of the state was +obliged to declare, by a public edict, that the support of the army +depended in a great measure on the produce of the excise. [101] + +[Footnote 101: Tacit. Annal. i. 78. Two years afterwards, the reduction +of the poor kingdom of Cappadocia gave Tiberius a pretence for +diminishing the excise of one half, but the relief was of very short +duration.] + +III. When Augustus resolved to establish a permanent military +force for the defence of his government against foreign and domestic +enemies, he instituted a peculiar treasury for the pay of the soldiers, +the rewards of the veterans, and the extra-ordinary expenses of war. +The ample revenue of the excise, though peculiarly appropriated to +those uses, was found inadequate. To supply the deficiency, the emperor +suggested a new tax of five per cent. on all legacies and inheritances. +But the nobles of Rome were more tenacious of property than of freedom. +Their indignant murmurs were received by Augustus with his usual temper. +He candidly referred the whole business to the senate, and exhorted +them to provide for the public service by some other expedient of a less +odious nature. They were divided and perplexed. He insinuated to them, +that their obstinacy would oblige him to propose a general land tax +and capitation. They acquiesced in silence. [102]. The new imposition on +legacies and inheritances was, however, mitigated by some restrictions. +It did not take place unless the object was of a certain value, most +probably of fifty or a hundred pieces of gold; [103] nor could it be +exacted from the nearest of kin on the father's side. [104] When the +rights of nature and poverty were thus secured, it seemed reasonable, +that a stranger, or a distant relation, who acquired an unexpected +accession of fortune, should cheerfully resign a twentieth part of it, +for the benefit of the state. [105] + +[Footnote 102: Dion Cassius, l. lv. p. 794, l. lvi. p. 825. Note: Dion +neither mentions this proposition nor the capitation. He only says that +the emperor imposed a tax upon landed property, and sent every where +men employed to make a survey, without fixing how much, and for how much +each was to pay. The senators then preferred giving the tax on legacies +and inheritances.--W.] + +[Footnote 103: The sum is only fixed by conjecture.] + +[Footnote 104: As the Roman law subsisted for many ages, the Cognati, or +relations on the mother's side, were not called to the succession. This +harsh institution was gradually undermined by humanity, and finally +abolished by Justinian.] + +[Footnote 105: Plin. Panegyric. c. 37.] + +Such a tax, plentiful as it must prove in every wealthy community, was +most happily suited to the situation of the Romans, who could frame +their arbitrary wills, according to the dictates of reason or +caprice, without any restraint from the modern fetters of entails and +settlements. From various causes, the partiality of paternal affection +often lost its influence over the stern patriots of the commonwealth, +and the dissolute nobles of the empire; and if the father bequeathed to +his son the fourth part of his estate, he removed all ground of legal +complaint. [106] But a rich childish old man was a domestic tyrant, and +his power increased with his years and infirmities. A servile crowd, in +which he frequently reckoned praetors and consuls, courted his smiles, +pampered his avarice, applauded his follies, served his passions, +and waited with impatience for his death. The arts of attendance and +flattery were formed into a most lucrative science; those who professed +it acquired a peculiar appellation; and the whole city, according to +the lively descriptions of satire, was divided between two parties, the +hunters and their game. [107] Yet, while so many unjust and extravagant +wills were every day dictated by cunning and subscribed by folly, a few +were the result of rational esteem and virtuous gratitude. Cicero, who +had so often defended the lives and fortunes of his fellow-citizens, was +rewarded with legacies to the amount of a hundred and seventy thousand +pounds; [108] nor do the friends of the younger Pliny seem to have been +less generous to that amiable orator. [109] Whatever was the motive of +the testator, the treasury claimed, without distinction, the twentieth +part of his estate: and in the course of two or three generations, the +whole property of the subject must have gradually passed through the +coffers of the state. + +[Footnote 106: See Heineccius in the Antiquit. Juris Romani, l. ii.] + +[Footnote 107: Horat. l. ii. Sat. v. Potron. c. 116, &c. Plin. l. ii. +Epist. 20.] + +[Footnote 108: Cicero in Philip. ii. c. 16.] + +[Footnote 109: See his epistles. Every such will gave him an occasion of +displaying his reverence to the dead, and his justice to the living. He +reconciled both in his behavior to a son who had been disinherited by +his mother, (v.l.)] + +In the first and golden years of the reign of Nero, that prince, from a +desire of popularity, and perhaps from a blind impulse of benevolence, +conceived a wish of abolishing the oppression of the customs and excise. +The wisest senators applauded his magnanimity: but they diverted him +from the execution of a design which would have dissolved the strength +and resources of the republic. [110] Had it indeed been possible to +realize this dream of fancy, such princes as Trajan and the Antonines +would surely have embraced with ardor the glorious opportunity of +conferring so signal an obligation on mankind. Satisfied, however, with +alleviating the public burden, they attempted not to remove it. The +mildness and precision of their laws ascertained the rule and measure +of taxation, and protected the subject of every rank against arbitrary +interpretations, antiquated claims, and the insolent vexation of the +farmers of the revenue. [111] For it is somewhat singular, that, in +every age, the best and wisest of the Roman governors persevered in this +pernicious method of collecting the principal branches at least of the +excise and customs. [112] + +[Footnote 110: Tacit. Annal. xiii. 50. Esprit des Loix, l. xii. c. 19.] + +[Footnote 111: See Pliny's Panegyric, the Augustan History, and Burman +de Vectigal. passim.] + +[Footnote 112: The tributes (properly so called) were not farmed; since +the good princes often remitted many millions of arrears.] + +The sentiments, and, indeed, the situation, of Caracalla were very +different from those of the Antonines. Inattentive, or rather averse, +to the welfare of his people, he found himself under the necessity of +gratifying the insatiate avarice which he had excited in the army. +Of the several impositions introduced by Augustus, the twentieth on +inheritances and legacies was the most fruitful, as well as the most +comprehensive. As its influence was not confined to Rome or Italy, the +produce continually increased with the gradual extension of the Roman +City. The new citizens, though charged, on equal terms, [113] with the +payment of new taxes, which had not affected them as subjects, derived +an ample compensation from the rank they obtained, the privileges they +acquired, and the fair prospect of honors and fortune that was thrown +open to their ambition. But the favor which implied a distinction was +lost in the prodigality of Caracalla, and the reluctant provincials were +compelled to assume the vain title, and the real obligations, of Roman +citizens. [1131] Nor was the rapacious son of Severus contented with such +a measure of taxation as had appeared sufficient to his moderate +predecessors. Instead of a twentieth, he exacted a tenth of all legacies +and inheritances; and during his reign (for the ancient proportion was +restored after his death) he crushed alike every part of the empire +under the weight of his iron sceptre. [114] + +[Footnote 113: The situation of the new citizens is minutely described +by Pliny, (Panegyric, c. 37, 38, 39). Trajan published a law very much +in their favor.] + +[Footnote 1131: Gibbon has adopted the opinion of Spanheim and of Burman, +which attributes to Caracalla this edict, which gave the right of +the city to all the inhabitants of the provinces. This opinion may be +disputed. Several passages of Spartianus, of Aurelius Victor, and of +Aristides, attribute this edict to Marc. Aurelius. See a learned essay, +entitled Joh. P. Mahneri Comm. de Marc. Aur. Antonino Constitutionis de +Civitate Universo Orbi Romano data auctore. Halae, 1772, 8vo. It +appears that Marc. Aurelius made some modifications of this edict, which +released the provincials from some of the charges imposed by the right +of the city, and deprived them of some of the advantages which it +conferred. Caracalla annulled these modifications.--W.] + +[Footnote 114: Dion, l. lxxvii. p. 1295.] + +When all the provincials became liable to the peculiar impositions +of Roman citizens, they seemed to acquire a legal exemption from the +tributes which they had paid in their former condition of subjects. Such +were not the maxims of government adopted by Caracalla and his pretended +son. The old as well as the new taxes were, at the same time, levied in +the provinces. It was reserved for the virtue of Alexander to relieve +them in a great measure from this intolerable grievance, by reducing +the tributes to a thirteenth part of the sum exacted at the time of his +accession. [115] It is impossible to conjecture the motive that engaged +him to spare so trifling a remnant of the public evil; but the noxious +weed, which had not been totally eradicated, again sprang up with the +most luxuriant growth, and in the succeeding age darkened the Roman +world with its deadly shade. In the course of this history, we shall +be too often summoned to explain the land tax, the capitation, and the +heavy contributions of corn, wine, oil, and meat, which were exacted +from the provinces for the use of the court, the army, and the capital. + +[Footnote 115: He who paid ten aurei, the usual tribute, was charged +with no more than the third part of an aureus, and proportional pieces +of gold were coined by Alexander's order. Hist. August. p. 127, with the +commentary of Salmasius.] + +As long as Rome and Italy were respected as the centre of government, a +national spirit was preserved by the ancient, and insensibly imbibed by +the adopted, citizens. The principal commands of the army were filled +by men who had received a liberal education, were well instructed in +the advantages of laws and letters, and who had risen, by equal steps, +through the regular succession of civil and military honors. [116] To +their influence and example we may partly ascribe the modest obedience +of the legions during the two first centuries of the Imperial history. + +[Footnote 116: See the lives of Agricola, Vespasian, Trajan, Severus, +and his three competitors; and indeed of all the eminent men of those +times. But when the last enclosure of the Roman constitution was +trampled down by Caracalla, the separation of professions gradually +succeeded to the distinction of ranks. The more polished citizens of +the internal provinces were alone qualified to act as lawyers and +magistrates. The rougher trade of arms was abandoned to the peasants +and barbarians of the frontiers, who knew no country but their camp, no +science but that of war no civil laws, and scarcely those of +military discipline. With bloody hands, savage manners, and desperate +resolutions, they sometimes guarded, but much oftener subverted, the +throne of the emperors.] + + + + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.--Part I. + + The Elevation And Tyranny Of Maximin.--Rebellion In Africa + And Italy, Under The Authority Of The Senate.--Civil Wars + And Seditions.--Violent Deaths Of Maximin And His Son, Of + Maximus And Balbinus, And Of The Three Gordians.-- + Usurpation And Secular Games Of Philip. + +Of the various forms of government which have prevailed in the world, an +hereditary monarchy seems to present the fairest scope for ridicule. Is +it possible to relate without an indignant smile, that, on the father's +decease, the property of a nation, like that of a drove of oxen, +descends to his infant son, as yet unknown to mankind and to himself; +and that the bravest warriors and the wisest statesmen, relinquishing +their natural right to empire, approach the royal cradle with bended +knees and protestations of inviolable fidelity? Satire and declamation +may paint these obvious topics in the most dazzling colors, but our more +serious thoughts will respect a useful prejudice, that establishes a +rule of succession, independent of the passions of mankind; and we shall +cheerfully acquiesce in any expedient which deprives the multitude +of the dangerous, and indeed the ideal, power of giving themselves a +master. + +In the cool shade of retirement, we may easily devise imaginary forms +of government, in which the sceptre shall be constantly bestowed on the +most worthy, by the free and incorrupt suffrage of the whole community. +Experience overturns these airy fabrics, and teaches us, that in a large +society, the election of a monarch can never devolve to the wisest, or +to the most numerous part of the people. The army is the only order of +men sufficiently united to concur in the same sentiments, and powerful +enough to impose them on the rest of their fellow-citizens; but the +temper of soldiers, habituated at once to violence and to slavery, +renders them very unfit guardians of a legal, or even a civil +constitution. Justice, humanity, or political wisdom, are qualities +they are too little acquainted with in themselves, to appreciate them +in others. Valor will acquire their esteem, and liberality will purchase +their suffrage; but the first of these merits is often lodged in the +most savage breasts; the latter can only exert itself at the expense of +the public; and both may be turned against the possessor of the throne, +by the ambition of a daring rival. + +The superior prerogative of birth, when it has obtained the sanction +of time and popular opinion, is the plainest and least invidious of +all distinctions among mankind. The acknowledged right extinguishes the +hopes of faction, and the conscious security disarms the cruelty of +the monarch. To the firm establishment of this idea we owe the peaceful +succession and mild administration of European monarchies. To the +defect of it we must attribute the frequent civil wars, through which an +Asiatic despot is obliged to cut his way to the throne of his fathers. +Yet, even in the East, the sphere of contention is usually limited to +the princes of the reigning house, and as soon as the more fortunate +competitor has removed his brethren by the sword and the bowstring, he +no longer entertains any jealousy of his meaner subjects. But the Roman +empire, after the authority of the senate had sunk into contempt, was +a vast scene of confusion. The royal, and even noble, families of the +provinces had long since been led in triumph before the car of the +haughty republicans. The ancient families of Rome had successively +fallen beneath the tyranny of the Caesars; and whilst those princes +were shackled by the forms of a commonwealth, and disappointed by the +repeated failure of their posterity, [1] it was impossible that any idea +of hereditary succession should have taken root in the minds of their +subjects. The right to the throne, which none could claim from birth, +every one assumed from merit. The daring hopes of ambition were set +loose from the salutary restraints of law and prejudice; and the meanest +of mankind might, without folly, entertain a hope of being raised by +valor and fortune to a rank in the army, in which a single crime +would enable him to wrest the sceptre of the world from his feeble +and unpopular master. After the murder of Alexander Severus, and the +elevation of Maximin, no emperor could think himself safe upon the +throne, and every barbarian peasant of the frontier might aspire to that +august, but dangerous station. + +[Footnote 1: There had been no example of three successive generations +on the throne; only three instances of sons who succeeded their fathers. +The marriages of the Caesars (notwithstanding the permission, and the +frequent practice of divorces) were generally unfruitful.] + +About thirty-two years before that event, the emperor Severus, returning +from an eastern expedition, halted in Thrace, to celebrate, with +military games, the birthday of his younger son, Geta. The country +flocked in crowds to behold their sovereign, and a young barbarian of +gigantic stature earnestly solicited, in his rude dialect, that he +might be allowed to contend for the prize of wrestling. As the pride of +discipline would have been disgraced in the overthrow of a Roman soldier +by a Thracian peasant, he was matched with the stoutest followers of the +camp, sixteen of whom he successively laid on the ground. His victory +was rewarded by some trifling gifts, and a permission to enlist in the +troops. The next day, the happy barbarian was distinguished above +a crowd of recruits, dancing and exulting after the fashion of his +country. As soon as he perceived that he had attracted the emperor's +notice, he instantly ran up to his horse, and followed him on foot, +without the least appearance of fatigue, in a long and rapid career. +"Thracian," said Severus with astonishment, "art thou disposed to +wrestle after thy race?" "Most willingly, sir," replied the unwearied +youth; and, almost in a breath, overthrew seven of the strongest +soldiers in the army. A gold collar was the prize of his matchless +vigor and activity, and he was immediately appointed to serve in the +horseguards who always attended on the person of the sovereign. [2] + +[Footnote 2: Hist. August p. 138.] + +Maximin, for that was his name, though born on the territories of the +empire, descended from a mixed race of barbarians. His father was a +Goth, and his mother of the nation of the Alani. He displayed on every +occasion a valor equal to his strength; and his native fierceness was +soon tempered or disguised by the knowledge of the world. Under the +reign of Severus and his son, he obtained the rank of centurion, with +the favor and esteem of both those princes, the former of whom was an +excellent judge of merit. Gratitude forbade Maximin to serve under +the assassin of Caracalla. Honor taught him to decline the effeminate +insults of Elagabalus. On the accession of Alexander he returned to +court, and was placed by that prince in a station useful to the service, +and honorable to himself. The fourth legion, to which he was appointed +tribune, soon became, under his care, the best disciplined of the whole +army. With the general applause of the soldiers, who bestowed on their +favorite hero the names of Ajax and Hercules, he was successively +promoted to the first military command; [3] and had not he still retained +too much of his savage origin, the emperor might perhaps have given his +own sister in marriage to the son of Maximin. [4] + +[Footnote 3: Hist. August. p. 140. Herodian, l. vi. p. 223. Aurelius +Victor. By comparing these authors, it should seem that Maximin had the +particular command of the Tribellian horse, with the general commission +of disciplining the recruits of the whole army. His biographer ought to +have marked, with more care, his exploits, and the successive steps of +his military promotions.] + +[Footnote 4: See the original letter of Alexander Severus, Hist. August. +p. 149.] + +Instead of securing his fidelity, these favors served only to inflame +the ambition of the Thracian peasant, who deemed his fortune inadequate +to his merit, as long as he was constrained to acknowledge a superior. +Though a stranger to real wisdom, he was not devoid of a selfish cunning, +which showed him that the emperor had lost the affection of the army, +and taught him to improve their discontent to his own advantage. It is +easy for faction and calumny to shed their poison on the administration +of the best of princes, and to accuse even their virtues by artfully +confounding them with those vices to which they bear the nearest +affinity. The troops listened with pleasure to the emissaries of +Maximin. They blushed at their own ignominious patience, which, during +thirteen years, had supported the vexatious discipline imposed by an +effeminate Syrian, the timid slave of his mother and of the senate. It +was time, they cried, to cast away that useless phantom of the civil +power, and to elect for their prince and general a real soldier, +educated in camps, exercised in war, who would assert the glory, and +distribute among his companions the treasures, of the empire. A great +army was at that time assembled on the banks of the Rhine, under the +command of the emperor himself, who, almost immediately after his return +from the Persian war, had been obliged to march against the barbarians +of Germany. The important care of training and reviewing the new levies +was intrusted to Maximin. One day, as he entered the field of exercise, +the troops either from a sudden impulse, or a formed conspiracy, saluted +him emperor, silenced by their loud acclamations his obstinate refusal, +and hastened to consummate their rebellion by the murder of Alexander +Severus. + +The circumstances of his death are variously related. The writers, who +suppose that he died in ignorance of the ingratitude and ambition of +Maximin, affirm, that, after taking a frugal repast in the sight of the +army, he retired to sleep, and that, about the seventh hour of the day, +a part of his own guards broke into the imperial tent, and, with many +wounds, assassinated their virtuous and unsuspecting prince. [5] If we +credit another, and indeed a more probable account, Maximin was invested +with the purple by a numerous detachment, at the distance of several +miles from the head-quarters; and he trusted for success rather to +the secret wishes than to the public declarations of the great army. +Alexander had sufficient time to awaken a faint sense of loyalty among +the troops; but their reluctant professions of fidelity quickly vanished +on the appearance of Maximin, who declared himself the friend and +advocate of the military order, and was unanimously acknowledged emperor +of the Romans by the applauding legions. The son of Mamaea, betrayed +and deserted, withdrew into his tent, desirous at least to conceal his +approaching fate from the insults of the multitude. He was soon followed +by a tribune and some centurions, the ministers of death; but instead +of receiving with manly resolution the inevitable stroke, his unavailing +cries and entreaties disgraced the last moments of his life, and +converted into contempt some portion of the just pity which his +innocence and misfortunes must inspire. His mother, Mamaea, whose pride +and avarice he loudly accused as the cause of his ruin, perished with +her son. The most faithful of his friends were sacrificed to the first +fury of the soldiers. Others were reserved for the more deliberate +cruelty of the usurper; and those who experienced the mildest treatment, +were stripped of their employments, and ignominiously driven from the +court and army. [6] + +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 135. I have softened some of the most +improbable circumstances of this wretched biographer. From his +ill-worded narration, it should seem that the prince's buffoon having +accidentally entered the tent, and awakened the slumbering monarch, the +fear of punishment urged him to persuade the disaffected soldiers to +commit the murder.] + +[Footnote 6: Herodian, l. vi. 223-227.] + +The former tyrants, Caligula and Nero, Commodus, and Caracalla, were +all dissolute and unexperienced youths, [7] educated in the purple, and +corrupted by the pride of empire, the luxury of Rome, and the perfidious +voice of flattery. The cruelty of Maximin was derived from a different +source, the fear of contempt. Though he depended on the attachment of +the soldiers, who loved him for virtues like their own, he was conscious +that his mean and barbarian origin, his savage appearance, and his total +ignorance of the arts and institutions of civil life, [8] formed a very +unfavorable contrast with the amiable manners of the unhappy Alexander. +He remembered, that, in his humbler fortune, he had often waited before +the door of the haughty nobles of Rome, and had been denied admittance +by the insolence of their slaves. He recollected too the friendship of +a few who had relieved his poverty, and assisted his rising hopes. But +those who had spurned, and those who had protected, the Thracian, were +guilty of the same crime, the knowledge of his original obscurity. For +this crime many were put to death; and by the execution of several +of his benefactors, Maximin published, in characters of blood, the +indelible history of his baseness and ingratitude. [9] + +[Footnote 7: Caligula, the eldest of the four, was only twenty-five +years of age when he ascended the throne; Caracalla was twenty-three, +Commodus nineteen, and Nero no more than seventeen.] + +[Footnote 8: It appears that he was totally ignorant of the Greek +language; which, from its universal use in conversation and letters, was +an essential part of every liberal education.] + +[Footnote 9: Hist. August. p. 141. Herodian, l. vii. p. 237. The latter +of these historians has been most unjustly censured for sparing the +vices of Maximin.] + +The dark and sanguinary soul of the tyrant was open to every suspicion +against those among his subjects who were the most distinguished by +their birth or merit. Whenever he was alarmed with the sound of treason, +his cruelty was unbounded and unrelenting. A conspiracy against his life +was either discovered or imagined, and Magnus, a consular senator, was +named as the principal author of it. Without a witness, without a trial, +and without an opportunity of defence, Magnus, with four thousand of his +supposed accomplices, was put to death. Italy and the whole empire +were infested with innumerable spies and informers. On the slightest +accusation, the first of the Roman nobles, who had governed provinces, +commanded armies, and been adorned with the consular and triumphal +ornaments, were chained on the public carriages, and hurried away to the +emperor's presence. Confiscation, exile, or simple death, were esteemed +uncommon instances of his lenity. Some of the unfortunate sufferers he +ordered to be sewed up in the hides of slaughtered animals, others to be +exposed to wild beasts, others again to be beaten to death with clubs. +During the three years of his reign, he disdained to visit either Rome +or Italy. His camp, occasionally removed from the banks of the Rhine to +those of the Danube, was the seat of his stern despotism, which trampled +on every principle of law and justice, and was supported by the avowed +power of the sword. [10] No man of noble birth, elegant accomplishments, +or knowledge of civil business, was suffered near his person; and the +court of a Roman emperor revived the idea of those ancient chiefs of +slaves and gladiators, whose savage power had left a deep impression of +terror and detestation. [11] + +[Footnote 10: The wife of Maximin, by insinuating wise counsels with +female gentleness, sometimes brought back the tyrant to the way of truth +and humanity. See Ammianus Marcellinus, l. xiv. c. l, where he alludes +to the fact which he had more fully related under the reign of the +Gordians. We may collect from the medals, that Paullina was the name +of this benevolent empress; and from the title of Diva, that she died +before Maximin. (Valesius ad loc. cit. Ammian.) Spanheim de U. et P. N. +tom. ii. p. 300. Note: If we may believe Syrcellus and Zonaras, in was +Maximin himself who ordered her death--G] + +[Footnote 11: He was compared to Spartacus and Athenio. Hist. August p. +141.] + +As long as the cruelty of Maximin was confined to the illustrious +senators, or even to the bold adventurers, who in the court or army +expose themselves to the caprice of fortune, the body of the people +viewed their sufferings with indifference, or perhaps with pleasure. +But the tyrant's avarice, stimulated by the insatiate desires of the +soldiers, at length attacked the public property. Every city of the +empire was possessed of an independent revenue, destined to purchase +corn for the multitude, and to supply the expenses of the games and +entertainments. By a single act of authority, the whole mass of wealth +was at once confiscated for the use of the Imperial treasury. The +temples were stripped of their most valuable offerings of gold and +silver, and the statues of gods, heroes, and emperors, were melted +down and coined into money. These impious orders could not be executed +without tumults and massacres, as in many places the people chose rather +to die in the defence of their altars, than to behold in the midst +of peace their cities exposed to the rapine and cruelty of war. +The soldiers themselves, among whom this sacrilegious plunder was +distributed, received it with a blush; and hardened as they were in +acts of violence, they dreaded the just reproaches of their friends and +relations. Throughout the Roman world a general cry of indignation was +heard, imploring vengeance on the common enemy of human kind; and at +length, by an act of private oppression, a peaceful and unarmed province +was driven into rebellion against him. [12] + +[Footnote 12: Herodian, l. vii. p. 238. Zosim. l. i. p. 15.] + +The procurator of Africa was a servant worthy of such a master, who +considered the fines and confiscations of the rich as one of the most +fruitful branches of the Imperial revenue. An iniquitous sentence had +been pronounced against some opulent youths of that country, the +execution of which would have stripped them of far the greater part of +their patrimony. In this extremity, a resolution that must either +complete or prevent their ruin, was dictated by despair. A respite of +three days, obtained with difficulty from the rapacious treasurer, was +employed in collecting from their estates a great number of slaves and +peasants blindly devoted to the commands of their lords, and armed with +the rustic weapons of clubs and axes. The leaders of the conspiracy, as +they were admitted to the audience of the procurator, stabbed him with +the daggers concealed under their garments, and, by the assistance of +their tumultuary train, seized on the little town of Thysdrus, [13] and +erected the standard of rebellion against the sovereign of the Roman +empire. They rested their hopes on the hatred of mankind against +Maximin, and they judiciously resolved to oppose to that detested tyrant +an emperor whose mild virtues had already acquired the love and esteem +of the Romans, and whose authority over the province would give weight +and stability to the enterprise. Gordianus, their proconsul, and the +object of their choice, refused, with unfeigned reluctance, the +dangerous honor, and begged with tears, that they would suffer him to +terminate in peace a long and innocent life, without staining his feeble +age with civil blood. Their menaces compelled him to accept the Imperial +purple, his only refuge, indeed, against the jealous cruelty of Maximin; +since, according to the reasoning of tyrants, those who have been +esteemed worthy of the throne deserve death, and those who deliberate +have already rebelled. [14] + +[Footnote 13: In the fertile territory of Byzacium, one hundred and +fifty miles to the south of Carthage. This city was decorated, probably +by the Gordians, with the title of colony, and with a fine amphitheatre, +which is still in a very perfect state. See Intinerar. Wesseling, p. 59; +and Shaw's Travels, p. 117.] + +[Footnote 14: Herodian, l. vii. p. 239. Hist. August. p. 153.] + +The family of Gordianus was one of the most illustrious of the Roman +senate. On the father's side he was descended from the Gracchi; on his +mother's, from the emperor Trajan. A great estate enabled him to support +the dignity of his birth, and in the enjoyment of it, he displayed an +elegant taste and beneficent disposition. The palace in Rome, formerly +inhabited by the great Pompey, had been, during several generations, in +the possession of Gordian's family. [15] It was distinguished by ancient +trophies of naval victories, and decorated with the works of modern +painting. His villa on the road to Praeneste was celebrated for baths of +singular beauty and extent, for three stately rooms of a hundred feet in +length, and for a magnificent portico, supported by two hundred columns +of the four most curious and costly sorts of marble. [16] The public +shows exhibited at his expense, and in which the people were entertained +with many hundreds of wild beasts and gladiators, [17] seem to surpass +the fortune of a subject; and whilst the liberality of other magistrates +was confined to a few solemn festivals at Rome, the magnificence of +Gordian was repeated, when he was aedile, every month in the year, and +extended, during his consulship, to the principal cities of Italy. He +was twice elevated to the last-mentioned dignity, by Caracalla and by +Alexander; for he possessed the uncommon talent of acquiring the esteem +of virtuous princes, without alarming the jealousy of tyrants. His long +life was innocently spent in the study of letters and the peaceful +honors of Rome; and, till he was named proconsul of Africa by the voice +of the senate and the approbation of Alexander, [18] he appears +prudently to have declined the command of armies and the government of +provinces. [181] As long as that emperor lived, Africa was happy under +the administration of his worthy representative: after the barbarous +Maximin had usurped the throne, Gordianus alleviated the miseries which +he was unable to prevent. When he reluctantly accepted the purple, he +was above fourscore years old; a last and valuable remains of the happy +age of the Antonines, whose virtues he revived in his own conduct, and +celebrated in an elegant poem of thirty books. With the venerable +proconsul, his son, who had accompanied him into Africa as his +lieutenant, was likewise declared emperor. His manners were less pure, +but his character was equally amiable with that of his father. +Twenty-two acknowledged concubines, and a library of sixty-two thousand +volumes, attested the variety of his inclinations; and from the +productions which he left behind him, it appears that the former as well +as the latter were designed for use rather than for ostentation. [19] +The Roman people acknowledged in the features of the younger Gordian the +resemblance of Scipio Africanus, [191] recollected with pleasure that +his mother was the granddaughter of Antoninus Pius, and rested the +public hope on those latent virtues which had hitherto, as they fondly +imagined, lain concealed in the luxurious indolence of private life. + +[Footnote 15: Hist. Aug. p. 152. The celebrated house of Pompey in +carinis was usurped by Marc Antony, and consequently became, after the +Triumvir's death, a part of the Imperial domain. The emperor Trajan +allowed, and even encouraged, the rich senators to purchase those +magnificent and useless places, (Plin. Panegyric. c. 50;) and it may +seem probable, that, on this occasion, Pompey's house came into the +possession of Gordian's great-grandfather.] + +[Footnote 16: The Claudian, the Numidian, the Carystian, and the +Synnadian. The colors of Roman marbles have been faintly described and +imperfectly distinguished. It appears, however, that the Carystian was +a sea-green, and that the marble of Synnada was white mixed with oval +spots of purple. See Salmasius ad Hist. August. p. 164.] + +[Footnote 17: Hist. August. p. 151, 152. He sometimes gave five hundred +pair of gladiators, never less than one hundred and fifty. He once gave +for the use of the circus one hundred Sicilian, and as many Cappaecian +Cappadecian horses. The animals designed for hunting were chiefly bears, +boars, bulls, stags, elks, wild asses, &c. Elephants and lions seem to +have been appropriated to Imperial magnificence.] + +[Footnote 18: See the original letter, in the Augustan History, p. 152, +which at once shows Alexander's respect for the authority of the senate, +and his esteem for the proconsul appointed by that assembly.] + +[Footnote 181: Herodian expressly says that he had administered many +provinces, lib. vii. 10.--W.] + +[Footnote 19: By each of his concubines, the younger Gordian left three +or four children. His literary productions, though less numerous, were +by no means contemptible.] + +[Footnote 191: Not the personal likeness, but the family descent from the +Scipiod.--W.] + +As soon as the Gordians had appeased the first tumult of a popular +election, they removed their court to Carthage. They were received with +the acclamations of the Africans, who honored their virtues, and who, +since the visit of Hadrian, had never beheld the majesty of a Roman +emperor. But these vain acclamations neither strengthened nor confirmed +the title of the Gordians. They were induced by principle, as well as +interest, to solicit the approbation of the senate; and a deputation of +the noblest provincials was sent, without delay, to Rome, to relate and +justify the conduct of their countrymen, who, having long suffered with +patience, were at length resolved to act with vigor. The letters of the +new princes were modest and respectful, excusing the necessity which had +obliged them to accept the Imperial title; but submitting their election +and their fate to the supreme judgment of the senate. [20] + +[Footnote 20: Herodian, l. vii. p. 243. Hist. August. p. 144.] + +The inclinations of the senate were neither doubtful nor divided. The +birth and noble alliances of the Gordians had intimately connected them +with the most illustrious houses of Rome. Their fortune had created many +dependants in that assembly, their merit had acquired many friends. +Their mild administration opened the flattering prospect of the +restoration, not only of the civil but even of the republican +government. The terror of military violence, which had first obliged the +senate to forget the murder of Alexander, and to ratify the election of +a barbarian peasant, [21] now produced a contrary effect, and provoked +them to assert the injured rights of freedom and humanity. The hatred of +Maximin towards the senate was declared and implacable; the tamest +submission had not appeased his fury, the most cautious innocence would +not remove his suspicions; and even the care of their own safety urged +them to share the fortune of an enterprise, of which (if unsuccessful) +they were sure to be the first victims. These considerations, and +perhaps others of a more private nature, were debated in a previous +conference of the consuls and the magistrates. As soon as their +resolution was decided, they convoked in the temple of Castor the whole +body of the senate, according to an ancient form of secrecy, [22] +calculated to awaken their attention, and to conceal their decrees. +"Conscript fathers," said the consul Syllanus, "the two Gordians, both +of consular dignity, the one your proconsul, the other your lieutenant, +have been declared emperors by the general consent of Africa. Let us +return thanks," he boldly continued, "to the youth of Thysdrus; let us +return thanks to the faithful people of Carthage, our generous +deliverers from a horrid monster--Why do you hear me thus coolly, thus +timidly? Why do you cast those anxious looks on each other? Why +hesitate? Maximin is a public enemy! may his enmity soon expire with +him, and may we long enjoy the prudence and felicity of Gordian the +father, the valor and constancy of Gordian the son!" [23] The noble +ardor of the consul revived the languid spirit of the senate. By a +unanimous decree, the election of the Gordians was ratified, Maximin, +his son, and his adherents, were pronounced enemies of their country, +and liberal rewards were offered to whomsoever had the courage and good +fortune to destroy them. [See Temple Of Castor and Pollux] + +[Footnote 21: Quod. tamen patres dum periculosum existimant; inermes +armato esistere approbaverunt.--Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 22: Even the servants of the house, the scribes, &c., were +excluded, and their office was filled by the senators themselves. We +are obliged to the Augustan History. p. 159, for preserving this curious +example of the old discipline of the commonwealth.] + +[Footnote 23: This spirited speech, translated from the Augustan +historian, p. 156, seems transcribed by him from the origina registers +of the senate] + +During the emperor's absence, a detachment of the +Praetorian guards remained at Rome, to protect, or rather to command, +the capital. The praefect Vitalianus had signalized his fidelity to +Maximin, by the alacrity with which he had obeyed, and even prevented +the cruel mandates of the tyrant. His death alone could rescue the +authority of the senate, and the lives of the senators from a state of +danger and suspense. Before their resolves had transpired, a quaestor +and some tribunes were commissioned to take his devoted life. They +executed the order with equal boldness and success; and, with their +bloody daggers in their hands, ran through the streets, proclaiming +to the people and the soldiers the news of the happy revolution. The +enthusiasm of liberty was seconded by the promise of a large donative, +in lands and money; the statues of Maximin were thrown down; the capital +of the empire acknowledged, with transport, the authority of the two +Gordians and the senate; [24] and the example of Rome was followed by the +rest of Italy. + +[Footnote 24: Herodian, l. vii. p. 244] + +A new spirit had arisen in that assembly, whose long patience had been +insulted by wanton despotism and military license. The senate assumed +the reins of government, and, with a calm intrepidity, prepared to +vindicate by arms the cause of freedom. Among the consular senators +recommended by their merit and services to the favor of the emperor +Alexander, it was easy to select twenty, not unequal to the command of +an army, and the conduct of a war. To these was the defence of Italy +intrusted. Each was appointed to act in his respective department, +authorized to enroll and discipline the Italian youth; and instructed +to fortify the ports and highways, against the impending invasion of +Maximin. A number of deputies, chosen from the most illustrious of the +senatorian and equestrian orders, were despatched at the same time to +the governors of the several provinces, earnestly conjuring them to fly +to the assistance of their country, and to remind the nations of their +ancient ties of friendship with the Roman senate and people. The general +respect with which these deputies were received, and the zeal of Italy +and the provinces in favor of the senate, sufficiently prove that the +subjects of Maximin were reduced to that uncommon distress, in which +the body of the people has more to fear from oppression than from +resistance. The consciousness of that melancholy truth, inspires a +degree of persevering fury, seldom to be found in those civil wars +which are artificially supported for the benefit of a few factious and +designing leaders. [25] + +[Footnote 25: Herodian, l. vii. p. 247, l. viii. p. 277. Hist. August. p +156-158.] + +For while the cause of the Gordians was embraced with such diffusive +ardor, the Gordians themselves were no more. The feeble court of +Carthage was alarmed by the rapid approach of Capelianus, governor of +Mauritania, who, with a small band of veterans, and a fierce host of +barbarians, attacked a faithful, but unwarlike province. The younger +Gordian sallied out to meet the enemy at the head of a few guards, and +a numerous undisciplined multitude, educated in the peaceful luxury +of Carthage. His useless valor served only to procure him an honorable +death on the field of battle. His aged father, whose reign had not +exceeded thirty-six days, put an end to his life on the first news of +the defeat. Carthage, destitute of defence, opened her gates to the +conqueror, and Africa was exposed to the rapacious cruelty of a slave, +obliged to satisfy his unrelenting master with a large account of blood +and treasure. [26] + +[Footnote 26: Herodian, l. vii. p. 254. Hist. August. p. 150-160. We +may observe, that one month and six days, for the reign of Gordian, is a +just correction of Casaubon and Panvinius, instead of the absurd reading +of one year and six months. See Commentar. p. 193. Zosimus relates, l. +i. p. 17, that the two Gordians perished by a tempest in the midst of +their navigation. A strange ignorance of history, or a strange abuse of +metaphors!] + +The fate of the Gordians filled Rome with just but unexpected terror. +The senate, convoked in the temple of Concord, affected to transact +the common business of the day; and seemed to decline, with trembling +anxiety, the consideration of their own and the public danger. A silent +consternation prevailed in the assembly, till a senator, of the name and +family of Trajan, awakened his brethren from their fatal lethargy. He +represented to them that the choice of cautious, dilatory measures had +been long since out of their power; that Maximin, implacable by nature, +and exasperated by injuries, was advancing towards Italy, at the head +of the military force of the empire; and that their only remaining +alternative was either to meet him bravely in the field, or tamely to +expect the tortures and ignominious death reserved for unsuccessful +rebellion. "We have lost," continued he, "two excellent princes; but +unless we desert ourselves, the hopes of the republic have not perished +with the Gordians. Many are the senators whose virtues have deserved, +and whose abilities would sustain, the Imperial dignity. Let us elect +two emperors, one of whom may conduct the war against the public enemy, +whilst his colleague remains at Rome to direct the civil administration. +I cheerfully expose myself to the danger and envy of the nomination, +and give my vote in favor of Maximus and Balbinus. Ratify my choice, +conscript fathers, or appoint in their place, others more worthy of the +empire." The general apprehension silenced the whispers of jealousy; +the merit of the candidates was universally acknowledged; and the house +resounded with the sincere acclamations of "Long life and victory to +the emperors Maximus and Balbinus. You are happy in the judgment of the +senate; may the republic be happy under your administration!" [27] + +[Footnote 27: See the Augustan History, p. 166, from the registers of +the senate; the date is confessedly faulty but the coincidence of the +Apollinatian games enables us to correct it.] + + + + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.--Part II. + +The virtues and the reputation of the new emperors justified the most +sanguine hopes of the Romans. The various nature of their talents seemed +to appropriate to each his peculiar department of peace and war, without +leaving room for jealous emulation. Balbinus was an admired orator, a +poet of distinguished fame, and a wise magistrate, who had exercised +with innocence and applause the civil jurisdiction in almost all the +interior provinces of the empire. His birth was noble, [28] his fortune +affluent, his manners liberal and affable. In him the love of pleasure +was corrected by a sense of dignity, nor had the habits of ease deprived +him of a capacity for business. The mind of Maximus was formed in a +rougher mould. By his valor and abilities he had raised himself from +the meanest origin to the first employments of the state and army. His +victories over the Sarmatians and the Germans, the austerity of his +life, and the rigid impartiality of his justice, while he was a Praefect +of the city, commanded the esteem of a people whose affections were +engaged in favor of the more amiable Balbinus. The two colleagues had +both been consuls, (Balbinus had twice enjoyed that honorable office,) +both had been named among the twenty lieutenants of the senate; and +since the one was sixty and the other seventy-four years old, [29] they +had both attained the full maturity of age and experience. + +[Footnote 28: He was descended from Cornelius Balbus, a noble Spaniard, +and the adopted son of Theophanes, the Greek historian. Balbus obtained +the freedom of Rome by the favor of Pompey, and preserved it by the +eloquence of Cicero. (See Orat. pro Cornel. Balbo.) The friendship of +Caesar, (to whom he rendered the most important secret services in the +civil war) raised him to the consulship and the pontificate, honors +never yet possessed by a stranger. The nephew of this Balbus triumphed +over the Garamantes. See Dictionnaire de Bayle, au mot Balbus, where he +distinguishes the several persons of that name, and rectifies, with his +usual accuracy, the mistakes of former writers concerning them.] + +[Footnote 29: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 622. But little dependence is to +be had on the authority of a modern Greek, so grossly ignorant of +the history of the third century, that he creates several imaginary +emperors, and confounds those who really existed.] + +After the senate had conferred on Maximus and Balbinus an equal portion +of the consular and tribunitian powers, the title of Fathers of their +country, and the joint office of Supreme Pontiff, they ascended to the +Capitol to return thanks to the gods, protectors of Rome. [30] The solemn +rites of sacrifice were disturbed by a sedition of the people. The +licentious multitude neither loved the rigid Maximus, nor did they +sufficiently fear the mild and humane Balbinus. Their increasing numbers +surrounded the temple of Jupiter; with obstinate clamors they asserted +their inherent right of consenting to the election of their sovereign; +and demanded, with an apparent moderation, that, besides the two +emperors, chosen by the senate, a third should be added of the family +of the Gordians, as a just return of gratitude to those princes who had +sacrificed their lives for the republic. At the head of the city-guards, +and the youth of the equestrian order, Maximus and Balbinus attempted to +cut their way through the seditious multitude. The multitude, armed with +sticks and stones, drove them back into the Capitol. It is prudent to +yield when the contest, whatever may be the issue of it, must be fatal +to both parties. A boy, only thirteen years of age, the grandson of the +elder, and nephew [301] of the younger Gordian, was produced to the people, +invested with the ornaments and title of Caesar. The tumult was appeased +by this easy condescension; and the two emperors, as soon as they had +been peaceably acknowledged in Rome, prepared to defend Italy against +the common enemy. + +[Footnote 30: Herodian, l. vii. p. 256, supposes that the senate was at +first convoked in the Capitol, and is very eloquent on the occasion. The +Augustar History p. 116, seems much more authentic.] + +[Footnote 301: According to some, the son.--G.] + +Whilst in Rome and Africa, revolutions succeeded each other with such +amazing rapidity, that the mind of Maximin was agitated by the most +furious passions. He is said to have received the news of the rebellion +of the Gordians, and of the decree of the senate against him, not with +the temper of a man, but the rage of a wild beast; which, as it could +not discharge itself on the distant senate, threatened the life of his +son, of his friends, and of all who ventured to approach his person. The +grateful intelligence of the death of the Gordians was quickly followed +by the assurance that the senate, laying aside all hopes of pardon or +accommodation, had substituted in their room two emperors, with whose +merit he could not be unacquainted. Revenge was the only consolation +left to Maximin, and revenge could only be obtained by arms. The +strength of the legions had been assembled by Alexander from all parts +of the empire. Three successful campaigns against the Germans and the +Sarmatians, had raised their fame, confirmed their discipline, and even +increased their numbers, by filling the ranks with the flower of the +barbarian youth. The life of Maximin had been spent in war, and the +candid severity of history cannot refuse him the valor of a soldier, or +even the abilities of an experienced general. [31] It might naturally be +expected, that a prince of such a character, instead of suffering the +rebellion to gain stability by delay, should immediately have marched +from the banks of the Danube to those of the Tyber, and that his +victorious army, instigated by contempt for the senate, and eager to +gather the spoils of Italy, should have burned with impatience to finish +the easy and lucrative conquest. Yet as far as we can trust to the +obscure chronology of that period, [32] it appears that the operations +of some foreign war deferred the Italian expedition till the ensuing +spring. From the prudent conduct of Maximin, we may learn that the +savage features of his character have been exaggerated by the pencil of +party, that his passions, however impetuous, submitted to the force +of reason, and that the barbarian possessed something of the generous +spirit of Sylla, who subdued the enemies of Rome before he suffered +himself to revenge his private injuries. [33] + +[Footnote 31: In Herodian, l. vii. p. 249, and in the Augustan History, +we have three several orations of Maximin to his army, on the rebellion +of Africa and Rome: M. de Tillemont has very justly observed that they +neither agree with each other nor with truth. Histoire des Empereurs, +tom. iii. p. 799.] + +[Footnote 32: The carelessness of the writers of that age, leaves us in +a singular perplexity. 1. We know that Maximus and Balbinus were killed +during the Capitoline games. Herodian, l. viii. p. 285. The authority +of Censorinus (de Die Natali, c. 18) enables us to fix those games with +certainty to the year 238, but leaves us in ignorance of the month +or day. 2. The election of Gordian by the senate is fixed with equal +certainty to the 27th of May; but we are at a loss to discover whether +it was in the same or the preceding year. Tillemont and Muratori, who +maintain the two opposite opinions, bring into the field a desultory +troop of authorities, conjectures and probabilities. The one seems +to draw out, the other to contract the series of events between those +periods, more than can be well reconciled to reason and history. Yet +it is necessary to choose between them. Note: Eckhel has more recently +treated these chronological questions with a perspicuity which gives +great probability to his conclusions. Setting aside all the historians, +whose contradictions are irreconcilable, he has only consulted the +medals, and has arranged the events before us in the following order:-- +Maximin, A. U. 990, after having conquered the Germans, reenters +Pannonia, establishes his winter quarters at Sirmium, and prepares +himself to make war against the people of the North. +In the year 991, in the cal ends of January, commences his fourth +tribunate. The Gordians are chosen emperors in Africa, probably at the +beginning of the month of March. The senate confirms this election with +joy, and declares Maximin the enemy of Rome. Five days after he had +heard of this revolt, Maximin sets out from Sirmium on his march to +Italy. These events took place about the beginning of April; a little +after, the Gordians are slain in Africa by Capellianus, procurator +of Mauritania. The senate, in its alarm, names as emperors Balbus and +Maximus Pupianus, and intrusts the latter with the war against Maximin. +Maximin is stopped on his road near Aquileia, by the want of provisions, +and by the melting of the snows: he begins the siege of Aquileia at the +end of April. Pupianus assembles his army at Ravenna. Maximin and +his son are assassinated by the soldiers enraged at the resistance of +Aquileia: and this was probably in the middle of May. Pupianus returns +to Rome, and assumes the government with Balbinus; they are assassinated +towards the end of July Gordian the younger ascends the throne. Eckhel +de Doct. Vol vii 295.--G.] + +[Footnote 33: Velleius Paterculus, l. ii. c. 24. The president de +Montesquieu (in his dialogue between Sylla and Eucrates) expresses the +sentiments of the dictator in a spirited, and even a sublime manner.] + +When the troops of Maximin, advancing in excellent order, arrived at +the foot of the Julian Alps, they were terrified by the silence and +desolation that reigned on the frontiers of Italy. The villages and +open towns had been abandoned on their approach by the inhabitants, the +cattle was driven away, the provisions removed or destroyed, the bridges +broken down, nor was any thing left which could afford either shelter or +subsistence to an invader. Such had been the wise orders of the generals +of the senate: whose design was to protract the war, to ruin the army of +Maximin by the slow operation of famine, and to consume his strength in +the sieges of the principal cities of Italy, which they had plentifully +stored with men and provisions from the deserted country. Aquileia +received and withstood the first shock of the invasion. The streams that +issue from the head of the Hadriatic Gulf, swelled by the melting of the +winter snows, [34] opposed an unexpected obstacle to the arms of Maximin. +At length, on a singular bridge, constructed with art and difficulty, of +large hogsheads, he transported his army to the opposite bank, rooted up +the beautiful vineyards in the neighborhood of Aquileia, demolished the +suburbs, and employed the timber of the buildings in the engines and +towers, with which on every side he attacked the city. The walls, fallen +to decay during the security of a long peace, had been hastily repaired +on this sudden emergency: but the firmest defence of Aquileia consisted +in the constancy of the citizens; all ranks of whom, instead of being +dismayed, were animated by the extreme danger, and their knowledge +of the tyrant's unrelenting temper. Their courage was supported and +directed by Crispinus and Menophilus, two of the twenty lieutenants +of the senate, who, with a small body of regular troops, had thrown +themselves into the besieged place. The army of Maximin was repulsed in +repeated attacks, his machines destroyed by showers of artificial +fire; and the generous enthusiasm of the Aquileians was exalted into a +confidence of success, by the opinion that Belenus, their tutelar deity, +combated in person in the defence of his distressed worshippers. [35] + +[Footnote 34: Muratori (Annali d' Italia, tom. ii. p. 294) thinks the +melting of the snows suits better with the months of June or July, than +with those of February. The opinion of a man who passed his life between +the Alps and the Apennines, is undoubtedly of great weight; yet I +observe, 1. That the long winter, of which Muratori takes advantage, +is to be found only in the Latin version, and not in the Greek text +of Herodian. 2. That the vicissitudes of suns and rains, to which the +soldiers of Maximin were exposed, (Herodian, l. viii. p. 277,) denote +the spring rather than the summer. We may observe, likewise, that these +several streams, as they melted into one, composed the Timavus, so +poetically (in every sense of the word) described by Virgil. They are +about twelve miles to the east of Aquileia. See Cluver. Italia Antiqua, +tom. i. p. 189, &c.] + +[Footnote 35: Herodian, l. viii. p. 272. The Celtic deity was supposed +to be Apollo, and received under that name the thanks of the senate. A +temple was likewise built to Venus the Bald, in honor of the women of +Aquileia, who had given up their hair to make ropes for the military +engines.] + +The emperor Maximus, who had advanced as far as Ravenna, to secure that +important place, and to hasten the military preparations, beheld the +event of the war in the more faithful mirror of reason and policy. He +was too sensible, that a single town could not resist the persevering +efforts of a great army; and he dreaded, lest the enemy, tired with the +obstinate resistance of Aquileia, should on a sudden relinquish the +fruitless siege, and march directly towards Rome. The fate of the empire +and the cause of freedom must then be committed to the chance of a +battle; and what arms could he oppose to the veteran legions of the +Rhine and Danube? Some troops newly levied among the generous but +enervated youth of Italy; and a body of German auxiliaries, on whose +firmness, in the hour of trial, it was dangerous to depend. In the midst +of these just alarms, the stroke of domestic conspiracy punished the +crimes of Maximin, and delivered Rome and the senate from the calamities +that would surely have attended the victory of an enraged barbarian. + +The people of Aquileia had scarcely experienced any of the common +miseries of a siege; their magazines were plentifully supplied, and +several fountains within the walls assured them of an inexhaustible +resource of fresh water. The soldiers of Maximin were, on the contrary, +exposed to the inclemency of the season, the contagion of disease, and +the horrors of famine. The open country was ruined, the rivers filled +with the slain, and polluted with blood. A spirit of despair and +disaffection began to diffuse itself among the troops; and as they +were cut off from all intelligence, they easily believed that the whole +empire had embraced the cause of the senate, and that they were left as +devoted victims to perish under the impregnable walls of Aquileia. The +fierce temper of the tyrant was exasperated by disappointments, which +he imputed to the cowardice of his army; and his wanton and ill-timed +cruelty, instead of striking terror, inspired hatred, and a just desire +of revenge. A party of Praetorian guards, who trembled for their wives +and children in the camp of Alba, near Rome, executed the sentence of +the senate. + +Maximin, abandoned by his guards, was slain in his tent, with his son, +(whom he had associated to the honors of the purple,) Anulinus the +praefect, and the principal ministers of his tyranny. [36] The sight of +their heads, borne on the point of spears, convinced the citizens of +Aquileia that the siege was at an end; the gates of the city were thrown +open, a liberal market was provided for the hungry troops of Maximin, +and the whole army joined in solemn protestations of fidelity to the +senate and the people of Rome, and to their lawful emperors Maximus and +Balbinus. Such was the deserved fate of a brutal savage, destitute, as +he has generally been represented, of every sentiment that distinguishes +a civilized, or even a human being. The body was suited to the soul. The +stature of Maximin exceeded the measure of eight feet, and circumstances +almost incredible are related of his matchless strength and appetite. +[37] Had he lived in a less enlightened age, tradition and poetry +might well have described him as one of those monstrous giants, whose +supernatural power was constantly exerted for the destruction of +mankind. + +[Footnote 36: Herodian, l. viii. p. 279. Hist. August. p. 146. The +duration of Maximin's reign has not been defined with much accuracy, +except by Eutropius, who allows him three years and a few days, (l. ix. +1;) we may depend on the integrity of the text, as the Latin original is +checked by the Greek version of Paeanius.] + +[Footnote 37: Eight Roman feet and one third, which are equal to +above eight English feet, as the two measures are to each other in the +proportion of 967 to 1000. See Graves's discourse on the Roman foot. We +are told that Maximin could drink in a day an amphora (or about seven +gallons) of wine, and eat thirty or forty pounds of meat. He could move +a loaded wagon, break a horse's leg with his fist, crumble stones in his +hand, and tear up small trees by the roots. See his life in the Augustan +History.] + +It is easier to conceive than to describe the universal joy of the Roman +world on the fall of the tyrant, the news of which is said to have been +carried in four days from Aquileia to Rome. The return of Maximus was a +triumphal procession; his colleague and young Gordian went out to meet +him, and the three princes made their entry into the capital, attended +by the ambassadors of almost all the cities of Italy, saluted with the +splendid offerings of gratitude and superstition, and received with the +unfeigned acclamations of the senate and people, who persuaded +themselves that a golden age would succeed to an age of iron. [38] The +conduct of the two emperors corresponded with these expectations. They +administered justice in person; and the rigor of the one was tempered by +the other's clemency. The oppressive taxes with which Maximin had loaded +the rights of inheritance and succession, were repealed, or at least +moderated. Discipline was revived, and with the advice of the senate +many wise laws were enacted by their imperial ministers, who endeavored +to restore a civil constitution on the ruins of military tyranny. "What +reward may we expect for delivering Rome from a monster?" was the +question asked by Maximus, in a moment of freedom and confidence. + +Balbinus answered it without hesitation--"The love of the senate, of +the people, and of all mankind." "Alas!" replied his more penetrating +colleague--"alas! I dread the hatred of the soldiers, and the fatal +effects of their resentment." [39] His apprehensions were but too well +justified by the event. + +[Footnote 38: See the congratulatory letter of Claudius Julianus, the +consul to the two emperors, in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 39: Hist. August. p. 171.] + +Whilst Maximus was preparing to defend Italy against the common foe, +Balbinus, who remained at Rome, had been engaged in scenes of blood and +intestine discord. Distrust and jealousy reigned in the senate; and even +in the temples where they assembled, every senator carried either open +or concealed arms. In the midst of their deliberations, two veterans +of the guards, actuated either by curiosity or a sinister motive, +audaciously thrust themselves into the house, and advanced by degrees +beyond the altar of Victory. Gallicanus, a consular, and Maecenas, a +Praetorian senator, viewed with indignation their insolent intrusion: +drawing their daggers, they laid the spies (for such they deemed them) +dead at the foot of the altar, and then, advancing to the door of the +senate, imprudently exhorted the multitude to massacre the Praetorians, +as the secret adherents of the tyrant. Those who escaped the first fury +of the tumult took refuge in the camp, which they defended with superior +advantage against the reiterated attacks of the people, assisted by the +numerous bands of gladiators, the property of opulent nobles. The civil +war lasted many days, with infinite loss and confusion on both sides. +When the pipes were broken that supplied the camp with water, the +Praetorians were reduced to intolerable distress; but in their turn +they made desperate sallies into the city, set fire to a great number +of houses, and filled the streets with the blood of the inhabitants. The +emperor Balbinus attempted, by ineffectual edicts and precarious truces, +to reconcile the factions at Rome. But their animosity, though smothered +for a while, burnt with redoubled violence. The soldiers, detesting the +senate and the people, despised the weakness of a prince, who wanted +either the spirit or the power to command the obedience of his subjects. +[40] + +[Footnote 40: Herodian, l. viii. p. 258.] + +After the tyrant's death, his formidable army had acknowledged, from +necessity rather than from choice, the authority of Maximus, who +transported himself without delay to the camp before Aquileia. As soon +as he had received their oath of fidelity, he addressed them in terms +full of mildness and moderation; lamented, rather than arraigned the +wild disorders of the times, and assured the soldiers, that of all their +past conduct the senate would remember only their generous desertion of +the tyrant, and their voluntary return to their duty. Maximus enforced +his exhortations by a liberal donative, purified the camp by a solemn +sacrifice of expiation, and then dismissed the legions to their several +provinces, impressed, as he hoped, with a lively sense of gratitude and +obedience. [41] But nothing could reconcile the haughty spirit of the +Praetorians. They attended the emperors on the memorable day of their +public entry into Rome; but amidst the general acclamations, the sullen, +dejected countenance of the guards sufficiently declared that they +considered themselves as the object, rather than the partners, of the +triumph. When the whole body was united in their camp, those who had +served under Maximin, and those who had remained at Rome, insensibly +communicated to each other their complaints and apprehensions. The +emperors chosen by the army had perished with ignominy; those elected by +the senate were seated on the throne. [42] The long discord between the +civil and military powers was decided by a war, in which the former had +obtained a complete victory. The soldiers must now learn a new doctrine +of submission to the senate; and whatever clemency was affected by that +politic assembly, they dreaded a slow revenge, colored by the name of +discipline, and justified by fair pretences of the public good. But +their fate was still in their own hands; and if they had courage +to despise the vain terrors of an impotent republic, it was easy to +convince the world, that those who were masters of the arms, were +masters of the authority, of the state. + +[Footnote 41: Herodian, l. viii. p. 213.] + +[Footnote 42: The observation had been made imprudently enough in the +acclamations of the senate, and with regard to the soldiers it carried +the appearance of a wanton insult. Hist. August. p. 170.] + +When the senate elected two princes, it is probable that, besides the +declared reason of providing for the various emergencies of peace and +war, they were actuated by the secret desire of weakening by division +the despotism of the supreme magistrate. Their policy was effectual, but +it proved fatal both to their emperors and to themselves. The jealousy +of power was soon exasperated by the difference of character. Maximus +despised Balbinus as a luxurious noble, and was in his turn disdained by +his colleague as an obscure soldier. Their silent discord was understood +rather than seen; [43] but the mutual consciousness prevented them from +uniting in any vigorous measures of defence against their common enemies +of the Praetorian camp. The whole city was employed in the Capitoline +games, and the emperors were left almost alone in the palace. On a +sudden, they were alarmed by the approach of a troop of desperate +assassins. Ignorant of each other's situation or designs, (for they +already occupied very distant apartments,) afraid to give or to receive +assistance, they wasted the important moments in idle debates and +fruitless recriminations. The arrival of the guards put an end to the +vain strife. They seized on these emperors of the senate, for such they +called them with malicious contempt, stripped them of their garments, +and dragged them in insolent triumph through the streets of Rome, with +the design of inflicting a slow and cruel death on these unfortunate +princes. The fear of a rescue from the faithful Germans of the Imperial +guards, shortened their tortures; and their bodies, mangled with a +thousand wounds, were left exposed to the insults or to the pity of the +populace. [44] + +[Footnote 43: Discordiae tacitae, et quae intelligerentur potius +quam viderentur. Hist. August. p. 170. This well-chosen expression is +probably stolen from some better writer.] + +[Footnote 44: Herodian, l. viii. p. 287, 288.] + +In the space of a few months, six princes had been cut off by the sword. +Gordian, who had already received the title of Caesar, was the only +person that occurred to the soldiers as proper to fill the vacant +throne. [45] They carried him to the camp, and unanimously saluted him +Augustus and Emperor. His name was dear to the senate and people; +his tender age promised a long impunity of military license; and the +submission of Rome and the provinces to the choice of the Praetorian +guards, saved the republic, at the expense indeed of its freedom +and dignity, from the horrors of a new civil war in the heart of the +capital. [46] + +[Footnote 45: Quia non alius erat in praesenti, is the expression of the +Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 46: Quintus Curtius (l. x. c. 9,) pays an elegant compliment +to the emperor of the day, for having, by his happy accession, +extinguished so many firebrands, sheathed so many swords, and put an end +to the evils of a divided government. After weighing with attention +every word of the passage, I am of opinion, that it suits better with +the elevation of Gordian, than with any other period of the Roman +history. In that case, it may serve to decide the age of Quintus +Curtius. Those who place him under the first Caesars, argue from the +purity of his style but are embarrassed by the silence of Quintilian, in +his accurate list of Roman historians. * Note: This conjecture of Gibbon +is without foundation. Many passages in the work of Quintus Curtius +clearly place him at an earlier period. Thus, in speaking of the +Parthians, he says, Hinc in Parthicum perventum est, tunc ignobilem +gentem: nunc caput omnium qui post Euphratem et Tigrim amnes siti Rubro +mari terminantur. The Parthian empire had this extent only in the first +age of the vulgar aera: to that age, therefore, must be assigned the +date of Quintus Curtius. Although the critics (says M. de Sainte Croix) +have multiplied conjectures on this subject, most of them have ended by +adopting the opinion which places Quintus Curtius under the reign of +Claudius. See Just. Lips. ad Ann. Tac. ii. 20. Michel le Tellier Praef. +in Curt. Tillemont Hist. des Emp. i. p. 251. Du Bos Reflections sur la +Poesie, 2d Partie. Tiraboschi Storia della, Lett. Ital. ii. 149. Examen. +crit. des Historiens d'Alexandre, 2d ed. p. 104, 849, 850.--G. +----This interminable question seems as much perplexed as ever. The first +argument of M. Guizot is a strong one, except that Parthian is often +used by later writers for Persian. Cunzius, in his preface to an edition +published at Helmstadt, (1802,) maintains the opinion of Bagnolo, which +assigns Q. Curtius to the time of Constantine the Great. Schmieder, +in his edit. Gotting. 1803, sums up in this sentence, aetatem Curtii +ignorari pala mest.--M.] + +As the third Gordian was only nineteen years of age at the time of his +death, the history of his life, were it known to us with greater +accuracy than it really is, would contain little more than the account +of his education, and the conduct of the ministers, who by turns abused +or guided the simplicity of his unexperienced youth. Immediately after +his accession, he fell into the hands of his mother's eunuchs, that +pernicious vermin of the East, who, since the days of Elagabalus, had +infested the Roman palace. By the artful conspiracy of these wretches, +an impenetrable veil was drawn between an innocent prince and his +oppressed subjects, the virtuous disposition of Gordian was deceived, +and the honors of the empire sold without his knowledge, though in a +very public manner, to the most worthless of mankind. We are ignorant by +what fortunate accident the emperor escaped from this ignominious +slavery, and devolved his confidence on a minister, whose wise counsels +had no object except the glory of his sovereign and the happiness of the +people. It should seem that love and learning introduced Misitheus to +the favor of Gordian. The young prince married the daughter of his +master of rhetoric, and promoted his father-in-law to the first offices +of the empire. Two admirable letters that passed between them are still +extant. The minister, with the conscious dignity of virtue, +congratulates Gordian that he is delivered from the tyranny of the +eunuchs, [47] and still more that he is sensible of his deliverance. The +emperor acknowledges, with an amiable confusion, the errors of his past +conduct; and laments, with singular propriety, the misfortune of a +monarch, from whom a venal tribe of courtiers perpetually labor to +conceal the truth. [48] + +[Footnote 47: Hist. August. p. 161. From some hints in the two letters, +I should expect that the eunuchs were not expelled the palace without +some degree of gentle violence, and that the young Gordian rather +approved of, than consented to, their disgrace.] + +[Footnote 48: Duxit uxorem filiam Misithei, quem causa eloquentiae +dignum parentela sua putavit; et praefectum statim fecit; post quod, non +puerile jam et contemptibile videbatur imperium.] + +The life of Misitheus had been spent in the profession of letters, not +of arms; yet such was the versatile genius of that great man, that, when +he was appointed Praetorian Praefect, he discharged the military +duties of his place with vigor and ability. The Persians had invaded +Mesopotamia, and threatened Antioch. By the persuasion of his +father-in-law, the young emperor quitted the luxury of Rome, opened, for +the last time recorded in history, the temple of Janus, and marched in +person into the East. On his approach, with a great army, the Persians +withdrew their garrisons from the cities which they had already taken, +and retired from the Euphrates to the Tigris. Gordian enjoyed the +pleasure of announcing to the senate the first success of his arms, +which he ascribed, with a becoming modesty and gratitude, to the wisdom +of his father and Praefect. During the whole expedition, Misitheus +watched over the safety and discipline of the army; whilst he prevented +their dangerous murmurs by maintaining a regular plenty in the camp, and +by establishing ample magazines of vinegar, bacon, straw, barley, and +wheat in all the cities of the frontier. [49] But the prosperity of +Gordian expired with Misitheus, who died of a flux, not without very +strong suspicions of poison. Philip, his successor in the praefecture, +was an Arab by birth, and consequently, in the earlier part of his life, +a robber by profession. His rise from so obscure a station to the first +dignities of the empire, seems to prove that he was a bold and able +leader. But his boldness prompted him to aspire to the throne, and his +abilities were employed to supplant, not to serve, his indulgent master. +The minds of the soldiers were irritated by an artificial scarcity, +created by his contrivance in the camp; and the distress of the army was +attributed to the youth and incapacity of the prince. It is not in our +power to trace the successive steps of the secret conspiracy and open +sedition, which were at length fatal to Gordian. A sepulchral monument +was erected to his memory on the spot [50] where he was killed, near the +conflux of the Euphrates with the little river Aboras. [51] The fortunate +Philip, raised to the empire by the votes of the soldiers, found a ready +obedience from the senate and the provinces. [52] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 162. Aurelius Victor. Porphyrius in Vit +Plotin. ap. Fabricium, Biblioth. Graec. l. iv. c. 36. The philosopher +Plotinus accompanied the army, prompted by the love of knowledge, and by +the hope of penetrating as far as India.] + +[Footnote 50: About twenty miles from the little town of Circesium, on +the frontier of the two empires. * Note: Now Kerkesia; placed in the +angle formed by the juncture of the Chaboras, or al Khabour, with the +Euphrates. This situation appeared advantageous to Diocletian, that he +raised fortifications to make it the but wark of the empire on the side +of Mesopotamia. D'Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 196.--G. It is the Carchemish +of the Old Testament, 2 Chron. xxxv. 20. ler. xlvi. 2.--M.] + +[Footnote 51: The inscription (which contained a very singular pun) was +erased by the order of Licinius, who claimed some degree of relationship +to Philip, (Hist. August. p. 166;) but the tumulus, or mound of earth +which formed the sepulchre, still subsisted in the time of Julian. See +Ammian Marcellin. xxiii. 5.] + +[Footnote 52: Aurelius Victor. Eutrop. ix. 2. Orosius, vii. 20. Ammianus +Marcellinus, xxiii. 5. Zosimus, l. i. p. 19. Philip, who was a native of +Bostra, was about forty years of age. * Note: Now Bosra. It was once the +metropolis of a province named Arabia, and the chief city of Auranitis, +of which the name is preserved in Beled Hauran, the limits of which meet +the desert. D'Anville. Geog. Anc. ii. 188. According to Victor, (in +Caesar.,) Philip was a native of Tracbonitis another province of +Arabia.--G.] + +We cannot forbear transcribing the ingenious, though somewhat fanciful +description, which a celebrated writer of our own times has traced +of the military government of the Roman empire. What in that age was +called the Roman empire, was only an irregular republic, not unlike +the aristocracy [53] of Algiers, [54] where the militia, possessed of +the sovereignty, creates and deposes a magistrate, who is styled a Dey. +Perhaps, indeed, it may be laid down as a general rule, that a military +government is, in some respects, more republican than monarchical. Nor +can it be said that the soldiers only partook of the government by their +disobedience and rebellions. The speeches made to them by the emperors, +were they not at length of the same nature as those formerly pronounced +to the people by the consuls and the tribunes? And although the armies +had no regular place or forms of assembly; though their debates were +short, their action sudden, and their resolves seldom the result of +cool reflection, did they not dispose, with absolute sway, of the +public fortune? What was the emperor, except the minister of a violent +government, elected for the private benefit of the soldiers? + +[Footnote 53: Can the epithet of Aristocracy be applied, with any +propriety, to the government of Algiers? Every military government +floats between two extremes of absolute monarchy and wild democracy.] + +[Footnote 54: The military republic of the Mamelukes in Egypt would have +afforded M. de Montesquieu (see Considerations sur la Grandeur et la +Decadence des Romains, c. 16) a juster and more noble parallel.] + +"When the army had elected Philip, who was Praetorian praefect to the +third Gordian, the latter demanded that he might remain sole emperor; he +was unable to obtain it. He requested that the power might be equally +divided between them; the army would not listen to his speech. He +consented to be degraded to the rank of Caesar; the favor was refused +him. He desired, at least, he might be appointed Praetorian praefect; +his prayer was rejected. Finally, he pleaded for his life. The army, in +these several judgments, exercised the supreme magistracy." According to +the historian, whose doubtful narrative the President De Montesquieu has +adopted, Philip, who, during the whole transaction, had preserved a +sullen silence, was inclined to spare the innocent life of his +benefactor; till, recollecting that his innocence might excite a +dangerous compassion in the Roman world, he commanded, without regard to +his suppliant cries, that he should be seized, stripped, and led away to +instant death. After a moment's pause, the inhuman sentence was +executed. [55] + +[Footnote 55: The Augustan History (p. 163, 164) cannot, in this +instance, be reconciled with itself or with probability. How could +Philip condemn his predecessor, and yet consecrate his memory? How could +he order his public execution, and yet, in his letters to the senate, +exculpate himself from the guilt of his death? Philip, though an +ambitious usurper, was by no means a mad tyrant. Some chronological +difficulties have likewise been discovered by the nice eyes of Tillemont +and Muratori, in this supposed association of Philip to the empire. * +Note: Wenck endeavors to reconcile these discrepancies. He supposes +that Gordian was led away, and died a natural death in prison. This is +directly contrary to the statement of Capitolinus and of Zosimus, +whom he adduces in support of his theory. He is more successful in +his precedents of usurpers deifying the victims of their ambition. Sit +divus, dummodo non sit vivus.--M.] + + + + +Chapter VII: Tyranny Of Maximin, Rebellion, Civil Wars, Death Of Maximin.--Part III. + +On his return from the East to Rome, Philip, desirous of obliterating +the memory of his crimes, and of captivating the affections of +the people, solemnized the secular games with infinite pomp and +magnificence. Since their institution or revival by Augustus, [56] they +had been celebrated by Claudius, by Domitian, and by Severus, and were +now renewed the fifth time, on the accomplishment of the full period of +a thousand years from the foundation of Rome. Every circumstance of the +secular games was skillfully adapted to inspire the superstitious mind +with deep and solemn reverence. The long interval between them [57] +exceeded the term of human life; and as none of the spectators had +already seen them, none could flatter themselves with the expectation +of beholding them a second time. The mystic sacrifices were performed, +during three nights, on the banks of the Tyber; and the Campus Martius +resounded with music and dances, and was illuminated with innumerable +lamps and torches. Slaves and strangers were excluded from any +participation in these national ceremonies. A chorus of twenty-seven +youths, and as many virgins, of noble families, and whose parents were +both alive, implored the propitious gods in favor of the present, and +for the hope of the rising generation; requesting, in religious hymns, +that according to the faith of their ancient oracles, they would still +maintain the virtue, the felicity, and the empire of the Roman people. +[58] The magnificence of Philip's shows and entertainments dazzled +the eyes of the multitude. The devout were employed in the rites of +superstition, whilst the reflecting few revolved in their anxious minds +the past history and the future fate of the empire.[58] + +[Footnote 56: The account of the last supposed celebration, though in +an enlightened period of history, was so very doubtful and obscure, that +the alternative seems not doubtful. When the popish jubilees, the copy +of the secular games, were invented by Boniface VII., the crafty pope +pretended that he only revived an ancient institution. See M. le Chais, +Lettres sur les Jubiles.] + +[Footnote 57: Either of a hundred or a hundred and ten years. Varro and +Livy adopted the former opinion, but the infallible authority of the +Sybil consecrated the latter, (Censorinus de Die Natal. c. 17.) The +emperors Claudius and Philip, however, did not treat the oracle with +implicit respect.] + +[Footnote 58: The idea of the secular games is best understood from the +poem of Horace, and the description of Zosimus, 1. l. ii. p. 167, &c.] +Since Romulus, with a small band of shepherds and outlaws, fortified +himself on the hills near the Tyber, ten centuries had already elapsed. +[59] During the four first ages, the Romans, in the laborious school of +poverty, had acquired the virtues of war and government: by the vigorous +exertion of those virtues, and by the assistance of fortune, they had +obtained, in the course of the three succeeding centuries, an absolute +empire over many countries of Europe, Asia, and Africa. The last three +hundred years had been consumed in apparent prosperity and internal +decline. The nation of soldiers, magistrates, and legislators, who +composed the thirty-five tribes of the Roman people, were dissolved into +the common mass of mankind, and confounded with the millions of servile +provincials, who had received the name, without adopting the spirit, of +Romans. A mercenary army, levied among the subjects and barbarians of +the frontier, was the only order of men who preserved and abused their +independence. By their tumultuary election, a Syrian, a Goth, or an +Arab, was exalted to the throne of Rome, and invested with despotic +power over the conquests and over the country of the Scipios. + +[Footnote 59: The received calculation of Varro assigns to the +foundation of Rome an aera that corresponds with the 754th year before +Christ. But so little is the chronology of Rome to be depended on, in +the more early ages, that Sir Isaac Newton has brought the same event as +low as the year 627 (Compare Niebuhr vol. i. p. 271.--M.)] + +The limits of the Roman empire still extended from the Western Ocean +to the Tigris, and from Mount Atlas to the Rhine and the Danube. To +the undiscerning eye of the vulgar, Philip appeared a monarch no less +powerful than Hadrian or Augustus had formerly been. The form was still +the same, but the animating health and vigor were fled. The industry of +the people was discouraged and exhausted by a long series of oppression. +The discipline of the legions, which alone, after the extinction +of every other virtue, had propped the greatness of the state, was +corrupted by the ambition, or relaxed by the weakness, of the emperors. +The strength of the frontiers, which had always consisted in arms rather +than in fortifications, was insensibly undermined; and the fairest +provinces were left exposed to the rapaciousness or ambition of the +barbarians, who soon discovered the decline of the Roman empire. + + + + +Chapter VIII: State Of Persia And Restoration Of The Monarchy.--Part I. + + Of The State Of Persia After The Restoration Of The Monarchy + By Artaxerxes. + +Whenever Tacitus indulges himself in those beautiful episodes, in which +he relates some domestic transaction of the Germans or of the Parthians, +his principal object is to relieve the attention of the reader from a +uniform scene of vice and misery. From the reign of Augustus to the time +of Alexander Severus, the enemies of Rome were in her bosom--the tyrants +and the soldiers; and her prosperity had a very distant and feeble +interest in the revolutions that might happen beyond the Rhine and the +Euphrates. But when the military order had levelled, in wild anarchy, +the power of the prince, the laws of the senate, and even the discipline +of the camp, the barbarians of the North and of the East, who had long +hovered on the frontier, boldly attacked the provinces of a declining +monarchy. Their vexatious inroads were changed into formidable +irruptions, and, after a long vicissitude of mutual calamities, +many tribes of the victorious invaders established themselves in the +provinces of the Roman Empire. To obtain a clearer knowledge of +these great events, we shall endeavor to form a previous idea of the +character, forces, and designs of those nations who avenged the cause of +Hannibal and Mithridates. + +In the more early ages of the world, whilst the forest that covered +Europe afforded a retreat to a few wandering savages, the inhabitants +of Asia were already collected into populous cities, and reduced under +extensive empires, the seat of the arts, of luxury, and of despotism. +The Assyrians reigned over the East, [1] till the sceptre of Ninus and +Semiramis dropped from the hands of their enervated successors. The +Medes and the Babylonians divided their power, and were themselves +swallowed up in the monarchy of the Persians, whose arms could not be +confined within the narrow limits of Asia. Followed, as it is said, by +two millions of men, Xerxes, the descendant of Cyrus, invaded Greece. + +Thirty thousand soldiers, under the command of Alexander, the son of +Philip, who was intrusted by the Greeks with their glory and revenge, +were sufficient to subdue Persia. The princes of the house of Seleucus +usurped and lost the Macedonian command over the East. About the same +time, that, by an ignominious treaty, they resigned to the Romans the +country on this side Mount Tarus, they were driven by the Parthians, +[1001] an obscure horde of Scythian origin, from all the provinces of Upper +Asia. The formidable power of the Parthians, which spread from India +to the frontiers of Syria, was in its turn subverted by Ardshir, or +Artaxerxes; the founder of a new dynasty, which, under the name of +Sassanides, governed Persia till the invasion of the Arabs. This great +revolution, whose fatal influence was soon experienced by the Romans, +happened in the fourth year of Alexander Severus, two hundred and +twenty-six years after the Christian era. [2] [201] + +[Footnote 1: An ancient chronologist, quoted by Valleius Paterculus, (l. +i. c. 6,) observes, that the Assyrians, the Medes, the Persians, and the +Macedonians, reigned over Asia one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five +years, from the accession of Ninus to the defeat of Antiochus by the +Romans. As the latter of these great events happened 289 years before +Christ, the former may be placed 2184 years before the same aera. The +Astronomical Observations, found at Babylon, by Alexander, went fifty +years higher.] + +[Footnote 1001: The Parthians were a tribe of the Indo-Germanic branch +which dwelt on the south-east of the Caspian, and belonged to the same +race as the Getae, the Massagetae, and other nations, confounded by the +ancients under the vague denomination of Scythians. Klaproth, Tableaux +Hist. d l'Asie, p. 40. Strabo (p. 747) calls the Parthians Carduchi, +i.e., the inhabitants of Curdistan.--M.] + +[Footnote 2: In the five hundred and thirty-eighth year of the aera +of Seleucus. See Agathias, l. ii. p. 63. This great event (such is the +carelessness of the Orientals) is placed by Eutychius as high as the +tenth year of Commodus, and by Moses of Chorene as low as the reign +of Philip. Ammianus Marcellinus has so servilely copied (xxiii. 6) his +ancient materials, which are indeed very good, that he describes the +family of the Arsacides as still seated on the Persian throne in the +middle of the fourth century.] + +[Footnote 201: The Persian History, if the poetry of the Shah Nameh, the +Book of Kings, may deserve that name mentions four dynasties from the +earliest ages to the invasion of the Saracens. The Shah Nameh was +composed with the view of perpetuating the remains of the original +Persian records or traditions which had survived the Saracenic invasion. +The task was undertaken by the poet Dukiki, and afterwards, under the +patronage of Mahmood of Ghazni, completed by Ferdusi. The first of these +dynasties is that of Kaiomors, as Sir W. Jones observes, the dark and +fabulous period; the second, that of the Kaianian, the heroic and +poetical, in which the earned have discovered some curious, and imagined +some fanciful, analogies with the Jewish, the Greek, and the Roman +accounts of the eastern world. See, on the Shah Nameh, Translation by +Goerres, with Von Hammer's Review, Vienna Jahrbuch von Lit. 17, 75, 77. +Malcolm's Persia, 8vo. ed. i. 503. Macan's Preface to his Critical +Edition of the Shah Nameh. On the early Persian History, a very sensible +abstract of various opinions in Malcolm's Hist. of Persian.--M.] + +Artaxerxes had served with great reputation in the armies of Artaban, +the last king of the Parthians, and it appears that he was driven into +exile and rebellion by royal ingratitude, the customary reward for +superior merit. His birth was obscure, and the obscurity equally +gave room to the aspersions of his enemies, and the flattery of his +adherents. If we credit the scandal of the former, Artaxerxes sprang +from the illegitimate commerce of a tanner's wife with a common soldier. +[3] The latter represent him as descended from a branch of the ancient +kings of Persian, though time and misfortune had gradually reduced his +ancestors to the humble station of private citizens. [4] As the +lineal heir of the monarchy, he asserted his right to the throne, and +challenged the noble task of delivering the Persians from the oppression +under which they groaned above five centuries since the death of Darius. +The Parthians were defeated in three great battles. [401] In the last of +these their king Artaban was slain, and the spirit of the nation was +forever broken. [5] The authority of Artaxerxes was solemnly acknowledged +in a great assembly held at Balch in Khorasan. [501] Two younger branches +of the royal house of Arsaces were confounded among the prostrate +satraps. A third, more mindful of ancient grandeur than of present +necessity, attempted to retire, with a numerous train of vessels, +towards their kinsman, the king of Armenia; but this little army +of deserters was intercepted, and cut off, by the vigilance of the +conqueror, [6] who boldly assumed the double diadem, and the title of +King of Kings, which had been enjoyed by his predecessor. But these +pompous titles, instead of gratifying the vanity of the Persian, served +only to admonish him of his duty, and to inflame in his soul and should +the ambition of restoring in their full splendor, the religion and +empire of Cyrus. + +[Footnote 3: The tanner's name was Babec; the soldier's, Sassan: from +the former Artaxerxes obtained the surname of Babegan, from the latter +all his descendants have been styled Sassanides.] + +[Footnote 4: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, Ardshir.] + +[Footnote 401: In the plain of Hoormuz, the son of Babek was hailed in +the field with the proud title of Shahan Shah, king of kings--a name +ever since assumed by the sovereigns of Persia. Malcolm, i. 71.--M.] + +[Footnote 5: Dion Cassius, l. lxxx. Herodian, l. vi. p. 207. +Abulpharagins Dynast. p. 80.] + +[Footnote 501: See the Persian account of the rise of Ardeschir Babegan +in Malcolm l 69.--M.] + +[Footnote 6: See Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 65--71.] + + +I. During the long servitude of Persia under the Macedonian and the +Parthian yoke, the nations of Europe and Asia had mutually adopted and +corrupted each other's superstitions. The Arsacides, indeed, practised +the worship of the Magi; but they disgraced and polluted it with a +various mixture of foreign idolatry. [601] The memory of Zoroaster, the +ancient prophet and philosopher of the Persians, [7] was still revered +in the East; but the obsolete and mysterious language, in which the +Zendavesta was composed, [8] opened a field of dispute to seventy sects, +who variously explained the fundamental doctrines of their religion, and +were all indifferently devided by a crowd of infidels, who rejected the +divine mission and miracles of the prophet. To suppress the idolaters, +reunite the schismatics, and confute the unbelievers, by the infallible +decision of a general council, the pious Artaxerxes summoned the Magi +from all parts of his dominions. These priests, who had so long sighed +in contempt and obscurity obeyed the welcome summons; and, on the +appointed day, appeared, to the number of about eighty thousand. But as +the debates of so tumultuous an assembly could not have been directed by +the authority of reason, or influenced by the art of policy, the Persian +synod was reduced, by successive operations, to forty thousand, to four +thousand, to four hundred, to forty, and at last to seven Magi, the +most respected for their learning and piety. One of these, Erdaviraph, +a young but holy prelate, received from the hands of his brethren three +cups of soporiferous wine. He drank them off, and instantly fell into a +long and profound sleep. As soon as he waked, he related to the king +and to the believing multitude, his journey to heaven, and his +intimate conferences with the Deity. Every doubt was silenced by this +supernatural evidence; and the articles of the faith of Zoroaster were +fixed with equal authority and precision. [9] A short delineation of +that celebrated system will be found useful, not only to display the +character of the Persian nation, but to illustrate many of their most +important transactions, both in peace and war, with the Roman empire. +[10] + +[Footnote 601: Silvestre de Sacy (Antiquites de la Perse) had proved +the neglect of the Zoroastrian religion under the Parthian kings.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: Hyde and Prideaux, working up the Persian legends and their +own conjectures into a very agreeable story, represent Zoroaster as a +contemporary of Darius Hystaspes. But it is sufficient to observe, that +the Greek writers, who lived almost in the age of Darius, agree in +placing the aera of Zoroaster many hundred, or even thousand, years +before their own time. The judicious criticisms of Mr. Moyle perceived, +and maintained against his uncle, Dr. Prideaux, the antiquity of the +Persian prophet. See his work, vol. ii. * Note: There are three leading +theories concerning the age of Zoroaster: 1. That which assigns him to +an age of great and almost indefinite antiquity--it is that of Moyle, +adopted by Gibbon, Volney, Recherches sur l'Histoire, ii. 2. Rhode, +also, (die Heilige Sage, &c.,) in a very ingenious and ably-developed +theory, throws the Bactrian prophet far back into antiquity 2. Foucher, +(Mem. de l'Acad. xxvii. 253,) Tychsen, (in Com. Soc. Gott. ii. 112), +Heeren, (ldeen. i. 459,) and recently Holty, identify the Gushtasp of +the Persian mythological history with Cyaxares the First, the king of +the Medes, and consider the religion to be Median in its origin. M. +Guizot considers this opinion most probable, note in loc. 3. Hyde, +Prideaux, Anquetil du Perron, Kleuker, Herder, Goerres, +(Mythen-Geschichte,) Von Hammer. (Wien. Jahrbuch, vol. ix.,) Malcolm, +(i. 528,) De Guigniaut, (Relig. de l'Antiq. 2d part, vol. iii.,) +Klaproth, (Tableaux de l'Asie, p. 21,) make Gushtasp Darius Hystaspes, +and Zoroaster his contemporary. The silence of Herodotus appears the +great objection to this theory. Some writers, as M. Foucher (resting, as +M. Guizot observes, on the doubtful authority of Pliny,) make more than +one Zoroaster, and so attempt to reconcile the conflicting theories.-- +M.] + +[Footnote 8: That ancient idiom was called the Zend. The language of the +commentary, the Pehlvi, though much more modern, has ceased many ages +ago to be a living tongue. This fact alone (if it is allowed as +authentic) sufficiently warrants the antiquity of those writings which M +d'Anquetil has brought into Europe, and translated into French. * Note: +Zend signifies life, living. The word means, either the collection of +the canonical books of the followers of Zoroaster, or the language +itself in which they are written. They are the books that contain the +word of life whether the language was originally called Zend, or whether +it was so called from the contents of the books. Avesta means word, +oracle, revelation: this term is not the title of a particular work, but +of the collection of the books of Zoroaster, as the revelation of +Ormuzd. This collection is sometimes called Zendavesta, sometimes +briefly Zend. The Zend was the ancient language of Media, as is proved +by its affinity with the dialects of Armenia and Georgia; it was already +a dead language under the Arsacides in the country which was the scene +of the events recorded in the Zendavesta. Some critics, among others +Richardson and Sir W. Jones, have called in question the antiquity of +these books. The former pretended that Zend had never been a written or +spoken language, but had been invented in the later times by the Magi, +for the purposes of their art; but Kleuker, in the dissertations which +he added to those of Anquetil and the Abbe Foucher, has proved that the +Zend was a living and spoken language.--G. Sir W. Jones appears to have +abandoned his doubts, on discovering the affinity between the Zend and +the Sanskrit. Since the time of Kleuker, this question has been +investigated by many learned scholars. Sir W. Jones, Leyden, (Asiat. +Research. x. 283,) and Mr. Erskine, (Bombay Trans. ii. 299,) consider it +a derivative from the Sanskrit. The antiquity of the Zendavesta has +likewise been asserted by Rask, the great Danish linguist, who, +according to Malcolm, brought back from the East fresh transcripts and +additions to those published by Anquetil. According to Rask, the Zend +and Sanskrit are sister dialects; the one the parent of the Persian, the +other of the Indian family of languages.--G. and M.----But the subject +is more satisfactorily illustrated in Bopp's comparative Grammar of the +Sanscrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic, and German languages. +Berlin. 1833-5. According to Bopp, the Zend is, in some respects, of a +more remarkable structure than the Sanskrit. Parts of the Zendavesta +have been published in the original, by M. Bournouf, at Paris, and M. +Ol. shausen, in Hamburg.--M.----The Pehlvi was the language of the +countries bordering on Assyria, and probably of Assyria itself. Pehlvi +signifies valor, heroism; the Pehlvi, therefore, was the language of the +ancient heroes and kings of Persia, the valiant. (Mr. Erskine prefers +the derivation from Pehla, a border.--M.) It contains a number of +Aramaic roots. Anquetil considered it formed from the Zend. Kleuker does +not adopt this opinion. The Pehlvi, he says, is much more flowing, and +less overcharged with vowels, than the Zend. The books of Zoroaster, +first written in Zend, were afterwards translated into Pehlvi and Parsi. +The Pehlvi had fallen into disuse under the dynasty of the Sassanides, +but the learned still wrote it. The Parsi, the dialect of Pars or +Farristan, was then prevailing dialect. Kleuker, Anhang zum Zend Avesta, +2, ii. part i. p. 158, part ii. 31.--G.----Mr. Erskine (Bombay +Transactions) considers the existing Zendavesta to have been compiled in +the time of Ardeschir Babegan.--M.] + +[Footnote 9: Hyde de Religione veterum Pers. c. 21.] + +[Footnote 10: I have principally drawn this account from the Zendavesta +of M. d'Anquetil, and the Sadder, subjoined to Dr. Hyde's treatise. It +must, however, be confessed, that the studied obscurity of a prophet, +the figurative style of the East, and the deceitful medium of a French +or Latin version may have betrayed us into error and heresy, in this +abridgment of Persian theology. * Note: It is to be regretted that +Gibbon followed the post-Mahometan Sadder of Hyde.--M.] + +The great and fundamental article of the system, was the celebrated +doctrine of the two principles; a bold and injudicious attempt of +Eastern philosophy to reconcile the existence of moral and physical evil +with the attributes of a beneficent Creator and Governor of the world. +The first and original Being, in whom, or by whom, the universe exists, +is denominated in the writings of Zoroaster, Time without bounds; [1001] +but it must be confessed, that this infinite substance seems rather a +metaphysical, abstraction of the mind, than a real object endowed with +self-consciousness, or possessed of moral perfections. From either the +blind or the intelligent operation of this infinite Time, which bears +but too near an affinity with the chaos of the Greeks, the two secondary +but active principles of the universe, were from all eternity produced, +Ormusd and Ahriman, each of them possessed of the powers of creation, +but each disposed, by his invariable nature, to exercise them with +different designs. [1002] The principle of good is eternally aborbed in +light; the principle of evil eternally buried in darkness. The wise +benevolence of Ormusd formed man capable of virtue, and abundantly +provided his fair habitation with the materials of happiness. By +his vigilant providence, the motion of the planets, the order of the +seasons, and the temperate mixture of the elements, are preserved. But +the malice of Ahriman has long since pierced Ormusd's egg; or, in other +words, has violated the harmony of his works. Since that fatal eruption, +the most minute articles of good and evil are intimately intermingled +and agitated together; the rankest poisons spring up amidst the most +salutary plants; deluges, earthquakes, and conflagrations attest the +conflict of Nature, and the little world of man is perpetually shaken by +vice and misfortune. Whilst the rest of human kind are led away captives +in the chains of their infernal enemy, the faithful Persian alone +reserves his religious adoration for his friend and protector Ormusd, +and fights under his banner of light, in the full confidence that he +shall, in the last day, share the glory of his triumph. At that decisive +period, the enlightened wisdom of goodness will render the power of +Ormusd superior to the furious malice of his rival. Ahriman and his +followers, disarmed and subdued, will sink into their native darkness; +and virtue will maintain the eternal peace and harmony of the universe. +[11] [1101] + +[Footnote 1001: Zeruane Akerene, so translated by Anquetil and Kleuker. +There is a dissertation of Foucher on this subject, Mem. de l'Acad. des +Inscr. t. xxix. According to Bohlen (das alte Indien) it is the Sanskrit +Sarvan Akaranam, the Uncreated Whole; or, according to Fred. Schlegel, +Sarvan Akharyam the Uncreate Indivisible.--M.] + +[Footnote 1002: This is an error. Ahriman was not forced by his invariable +nature to do evil; the Zendavesta expressly recognizes (see the +Izeschne) that he was born good, that in his origin he was light; envy +rendered him evil; he became jealous of the power and attributes +of Ormuzd; then light was changed into darkness, and Ahriman was +precipitated into the abyss. See the Abridgment of the Doctrine of the +Ancient Persians, by Anquetil, c. ii Section 2.--G.] + +[Footnote 11: The modern Parsees (and in some degree the Sadder) exalt +Ormusd into the first and omnipotent cause, whilst they degrade Ahriman +into an inferior but rebellious spirit. Their desire of pleasing the +Mahometans may have contributed to refine their theological systems.] + +[Footnote 1101: According to the Zendavesta, Ahriman will not be +annihilated or precipitated forever into darkness: at the resurrection +of the dead he will be entirely defeated by Ormuzd, his power will be +destroyed, his kingdom overthrown to its foundations, he will himself be +purified in torrents of melting metal; he will change his heart and his +will, become holy, heavenly establish in his dominions the law and word +of Ormuzd, unite himself with him in everlasting friendship, and +both will sing hymns in honor of the Great Eternal. See Anquetil's +Abridgment. Kleuker, Anhang part iii. p 85, 36; and the Izeschne, one of +the books of the Zendavesta. According to the Sadder Bun-Dehesch, a more +modern work, Ahriman is to be annihilated: but this is contrary to the +text itself of the Zendavesta, and to the idea its author gives of the +kingdom of Eternity, after the twelve thousand years assigned to the +contest between Good and Evil.--G.] + + + + +Chapter VIII: State Of Persia And Restoration Of The Monarchy.--Part II. + +The theology of Zoroaster was darkly comprehended by foreigners, and +even by the far greater number of his disciples; but the most careless +observers were struck with the philosophic simplicity of the Persian +worship. "That people," said Herodotus, [12] "rejects the use of temples, +of altars, and of statues, and smiles at the folly of those nations who +imagine that the gods are sprung from, or bear any affinity with, the +human nature. The tops of the highest mountains are the places chosen +for sacrifices. Hymns and prayers are the principal worship; the Supreme +God, who fills the wide circle of heaven, is the object to whom they are +addressed." Yet, at the same time, in the true spirit of a polytheist, +he accuseth them of adoring Earth, Water, Fire, the Winds, and the Sun +and Moon. But the Persians of every age have denied the charge, and +explained the equivocal conduct, which might appear to give a color to +it. The elements, and more particularly Fire, Light, and the Sun, whom +they called Mithra, [1201] were the objects of their religious reverence, +because they considered them as the purest symbols, the noblest +productions, and the most powerful agents of the Divine Power and +Nature. [13] + +[Footnote 12: Herodotus, l. i. c. 131. But Dr. Prideaux +thinks, with reason, that the use of temples was afterwards permitted +in the Magian religion. Note: The Pyraea, or fire temples of the +Zoroastrians, (observes Kleuker, Persica, p. 16,) were only to be +found in Media or Aderbidjan, provinces into which Herodotus did not +penetrate.--M.] + +[Footnote 1201: Among the Persians Mithra is not the Sun: Anquetil has +contested and triumphantly refuted the opinion of those who confound +them, and it is evidently contrary to the text of the Zendavesta. Mithra +is the first of the genii, or jzeds, created by Ormuzd; it is he who +watches over all nature. Hence arose the misapprehension of some of the +Greeks, who have said that Mithra was the summus deus of the Persians: +he has a thousand ears and ten thousand eyes. The Chaldeans appear to +have assigned him a higher rank than the Persians. It is he who bestows +upon the earth the light of the sun. The sun. named Khor, (brightness,) +is thus an inferior genius, who, with many other genii, bears a part +in the functions of Mithra. These assistant genii to another genius are +called his kamkars; but in the Zendavesta they are never confounded. On +the days sacred to a particular genius, the Persian ought to recite, not +only the prayers addressed to him, but those also which are addressed to +his kamkars; thus the hymn or iescht of Mithra is recited on the day of +the sun, (Khor,) and vice versa. It is probably this which has sometimes +caused them to be confounded; but Anquetil had himself exposed this +error, which Kleuker, and all who have studied the Zendavesta, have +noticed. See viii. Diss. of Anquetil. Kleuker's Anhang, part iii. p. +132.--G. M. Guizot is unquestionably right, according to the pure +and original doctrine of the Zend. The Mithriac worship, which was so +extensively propagated in the West, and in which Mithra and the sun +were perpetually confounded, seems to have been formed from a fusion +of Zoroastrianism and Chaldaism, or the Syrian worship of the sun. An +excellent abstract of the question, with references to the works of +the chief modern writers on his curious subject, De Sacy, Kleuker, Von +Hammer, &c., may be found in De Guigniaut's translation of Kreuzer. +Relig. d'Antiquite, notes viii. ix. to book ii. vol. i. 2d part, page +728.--M.] + +[Footnote 13: Hyde de Relig. Pers. c. 8. Notwithstanding all their +distinctions and protestations, which seem sincere enough, their +tyrants, the Mahometans, have constantly stigmatized them as idolatrous +worshippers of the fire.] + +Every mode of religion, to make a deep and lasting impression on the +human mind, must exercise our obedience, by enjoining practices of +devotion, for which we can assign no reason; and must acquire our +esteem, by inculcating moral duties analogous to the dictates of our +own hearts. The religion of Zoroaster was abundantly provided with the +former and possessed a sufficient portion of the latter. At the age of +puberty, the faithful Persian was invested with a mysterious girdle, the +badge of the divine protection; and from that moment all the actions +of his life, even the most indifferent, or the most necessary, were +sanctified by their peculiar prayers, ejaculations, or genuflections; +the omission of which, under any circumstances, was a grievous sin, +not inferior in guilt to the violation of the moral duties. The moral +duties, however, of justice, mercy, liberality, &c., were in their +turn required of the disciple of Zoroaster, who wished to escape the +persecution of Ahriman, and to live with Ormusd in a blissful eternity, +where the degree of felicity will be exactly proportioned to the degree +of virtue and piety. [14] + +[Footnote 14: See the Sadder, the smallest part of which consists of +moral precepts. The ceremonies enjoined are infinite and trifling. +Fifteen genuflections, prayers, &c., were required whenever the devout +Persian cut his nails or made water; or as often as he put on the sacred +girdle Sadder, Art. 14, 50, 60. * Note: Zoroaster exacted much less +ceremonial observance, than at a later period, the priests of his +doctrines. This is the progress of all religions the worship, simple in +its origin, is gradually overloaded with minute superstitions. The maxim +of the Zendavesta, on the relative merit of sowing the earth and of +prayers, quoted below by Gibbon, proves that Zoroaster did not attach +too much importance to these observances. Thus it is not from the +Zendavesta that Gibbon derives the proof of his allegation, but from the +Sadder, a much later work.--G] + +But there are some remarkable instances in which Zoroaster lays aside +the prophet, assumes the legislator, and discovers a liberal concern for +private and public happiness, seldom to be found among the grovelling +or visionary schemes of superstition. Fasting and celibacy, the common +means of purchasing the divine favor, he condemns with abhorrence, as +a criminal rejection of the best gifts of Providence. The saint, in the +Magian religion, is obliged to beget children, to plant useful trees, to +destroy noxious animals, to convey water to the dry lands of Persia, and +to work out his salvation by pursuing all the labors of agriculture. +[1401] We may quote from the Zendavesta a wise and benevolent maxim, which +compensates for many an absurdity. "He who sows the ground with care and +diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain +by the repetition of ten thousand prayers." [15] In the spring of every +year a festival was celebrated, destined to represent the primitive +equality, and the present connection, of mankind. The stately kings of +Persia, exchanging their vain pomp for more genuine greatness, freely +mingled with the humblest but most useful of their subjects. On that day +the husbandmen were admitted, without distinction, to the table of the +king and his satraps. The monarch accepted their petitions, inquired +into their grievances, and conversed with them on the most equal terms. +"From your labors," was he accustomed to say, (and to say with truth, if +not with sincerity,) "from your labors we receive our subsistence; you +derive your tranquillity from our vigilance: since, therefore, we are +mutually necessary to each other, let us live together like brothers in +concord and love." [16] Such a festival must indeed have degenerated, in +a wealthy and despotic empire, into a theatrical representation; but it +was at least a comedy well worthy of a royal audience, and which might +sometimes imprint a salutary lesson on the mind of a young prince. + +[Footnote 1401: See, on Zoroaster's encouragement of agriculture, the +ingenious remarks of Heeren, Ideen, vol. i. p. 449, &c., and Rhode, +Heilige Sage, p. 517--M.] + +[Footnote 15: Zendavesta, tom. i. p. 224, and Precis du Systeme de +Zoroastre, tom. iii.] + +[Footnote 16: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 19.] + +Had Zoroaster, in all his institutions, invariably supported this +exalted character, his name would deserve a place with those of Numa and +Confucius, and his system would be justly entitled to all the applause, +which it has pleased some of our divines, and even some of our +philosophers, to bestow on it. But in that motley composition, dictated +by reason and passion, by enthusiasm and by selfish motives, some useful +and sublime truths were disgraced by a mixture of the most abject and +dangerous superstition. The Magi, or sacerdotal order, were extremely +numerous, since, as we have already seen, fourscore thousand of them +were convened in a general council. Their forces were multiplied by +discipline. A regular hierarchy was diffused through all the provinces +of Persia; and the Archimagus, who resided at Balch, was respected as +the visible head of the church, and the lawful successor of Zoroaster. +[17] The property of the Magi was very considerable. Besides the less +invidious possession of a large tract of the most fertile lands of +Media, [18] they levied a general tax on the fortunes and the industry of +the Persians. [19] "Though your good works," says the interested prophet, +"exceed in number the leaves of the trees, the drops of rain, the +stars in the heaven, or the sands on the sea-shore, they will all be +unprofitable to you, unless they are accepted by the destour, or +priest. To obtain the acceptation of this guide to salvation, you must +faithfully pay him tithes of all you possess, of your goods, of your +lands, and of your money. If the destour be satisfied, your soul will +escape hell tortures; you will secure praise in this world and happiness +in the next. For the destours are the teachers of religion; they know +all things, and they deliver all men." [20] [201] + +[Footnote 17: Hyde de Religione Persarum, c. 28. Both Hyde and Prideaux +affect to apply to the Magian the terms consecrated to the Christian +hierarchy.] + +[Footnote 18: Ammian. Marcellin. xxiii. 6. He informs us (as far as we +may credit him) of two curious particulars: 1. That the Magi derived +some of their most secret doctrines from the Indian Brachmans; and 2. +That they were a tribe, or family, as well as order.] + +[Footnote 19: The divine institution of tithes exhibits a singular +instance of conformity between the law of Zoroaster and that of Moses. +Those who cannot otherwise account for it, may suppose, if they please +that the Magi of the latter times inserted so useful an interpolation +into the writings of their prophet.] + +[Footnote 20: Sadder, Art. viii.] + +[Footnote 201: The passage quoted by Gibbon is not taken from the writings +of Zoroaster, but from the Sadder, a work, as has been before said, much +later than the books which form the Zendavesta. and written by a Magus +for popular use; what it contains, therefore, cannot be attributed to +Zoroaster. It is remarkable that Gibbon should fall into this error, for +Hyde himself does not ascribe the Sadder to Zoroaster; he remarks that +it is written inverse, while Zoroaster always wrote in prose. Hyde, i. +p. 27. Whatever may be the case as to the latter assertion, for which +there appears little foundation, it is unquestionable that the Sadder is +of much later date. The Abbe Foucher does not even believe it to be an +extract from the works of Zoroaster. See his Diss. before quoted. Mem. +de l'Acad. des Ins. t. xxvii.--G. Perhaps it is rash to speak of any +part of the Zendavesta as the writing of Zoroaster, though it may be +a genuine representation of his. As to the Sadder, Hyde (in Praef.) +considered it not above 200 years old. It is manifestly post-Mahometan. +See Art. xxv. on fasting.--M.] + +These convenient maxims of reverence and implicit were doubtless +imprinted with care on the tender minds of youth; since the Magi were +the masters of education in Persia, and to their hands the children even +of the royal family were intrusted. [21] The Persian priests, who were of +a speculative genius, preserved and investigated the secrets of Oriental +philosophy; and acquired, either by superior knowledge, or superior art, +the reputation of being well versed in some occult sciences, which +have derived their appellation from the Magi. [22] Those of more active +dispositions mixed with the world in courts and cities; and it is +observed, that the administration of Artaxerxes was in a great measure +directed by the counsels of the sacerdotal order, whose dignity, either +from policy or devotion, that prince restored to its ancient splendor. +[23] + +[Footnote 21: Plato in Alcibiad.] + +[Footnote 22: Pliny (Hist. Natur. l. xxx. c. 1) observes, that magic +held mankind by the triple chain of religion, of physic, and of +astronomy.] + +[Footnote 23: Agathias, l. iv. p. 134.] + +The first counsel of the Magi was agreeable to the unsociable genius of +their faith, [24] to the practice of ancient kings, [25] and even to +the example of their legislator, who had a victim to a religious war, +excited by his own intolerant zeal. [26] By an edict of Artaxerxes, +the exercise of every worship, except that of Zoroaster, was severely +prohibited. The temples of the Parthians, and the statues of their +deified monarchs, were thrown down with ignominy. [27] The sword of +Aristotle (such was the name given by the Orientals to the polytheism +and philosophy of the Greeks) was easily broken; [28] the flames of +persecution soon reached the more stubborn Jews and Christians; [29] +nor did they spare the heretics of their own nation and religion. The +majesty of Ormusd, who was jealous of a rival, was seconded by +the despotism of Artaxerxes, who could not suffer a rebel; and +the schismatics within his vast empire were soon reduced to the +inconsiderable number of eighty thousand. [30] [301] This spirit of +persecution reflects dishonor on the religion of Zoroaster; but as it +was not productive of any civil commotion, it served to strengthen the +new monarchy, by uniting all the various inhabitants of Persia in the +bands of religious zeal. [302] + +[Footnote 24: Mr. Hume, in the Natural History of Religion, sagaciously +remarks, that the most refined and philosophic sects are constantly the +most intolerant. * Note: Hume's comparison is rather between theism and polytheism. In +India, in Greece, and in modern Europe, philosophic religion has +looked down with contemptuous toleration on the superstitions of the +vulgar.--M.] + +[Footnote 25: Cicero de Legibus, ii. 10. Xerxes, by the advice of the +Magi, destroyed the temples of Greece.] + +[Footnote 26: Hyde de Relig. Persar. c. 23, 24. D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque +Orientale, Zurdusht. Life of Zoroaster in tom. ii. of the Zendavesta.] + +[Footnote 27: Compare Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 74, with Ammian. +Marcel lin. xxiii. 6. Hereafter I shall make use of these passages.] + +[Footnote 28: Rabbi Abraham, in the Tarikh Schickard, p. 108, 109.] + +[Footnote 29: Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. viii. c. 3. Sozomen, l. +ii. c. 1 Manes, who suffered an ignominious death, may be deemed a +Magian as well as a Christian heretic.] + +[Footnote 30: Hyde de Religione Persar. c. 21.] + +[Footnote 301: It is incorrect to attribute these persecutions to +Artaxerxes. The Jews were held in honor by him, and their schools +flourished during his reign. Compare Jost, Geschichte der Israeliter, b. +xv. 5, with Basnage. Sapor was forced by the people to temporary +severities; but their real persecution did not begin till the reigns of +Yezdigerd and Kobad. Hist. of Jews, iii. 236. According to Sozomen, i. +viii., Sapor first persecuted the Christians. Manes was put to death by +Varanes the First, A. D. 277. Beausobre, Hist. de Man. i. 209.--M.] + +[Footnote 302: In the testament of Ardischer in Ferdusi, the poet assigns +these sentiments to the dying king, as he addresses his son: Never +forget that as a king, you are at once the protector of religion and +of your country. Consider the altar and the throne as inseparable; they +must always sustain each other. Malcolm's Persia. i. 74--M] + + +II. Artaxerxes, by his valor and conduct, had wrested the sceptre of the +East from the ancient royal family of Parthia. There still remained +the more difficult task of establishing, throughout the vast extent of +Persia, a uniform and vigorous administration. The weak indulgence of +the Arsacides had resigned to their sons and brothers the principal +provinces, and the greatest offices of the kingdom in the nature of +hereditary possessions. The vitaxoe, or eighteen most powerful satraps, +were permitted to assume the regal title; and the vain pride of the +monarch was delighted with a nominal dominion over so many vassal kings. +Even tribes of barbarians in their mountains, and the Greek cities of +Upper Asia, [31] within their walls, scarcely acknowledged, or seldom +obeyed. any superior; and the Parthian empire exhibited, under other +names, a lively image of the feudal system [32] which has since prevailed +in Europe. But the active victor, at the head of a numerous and +disciplined army, visited in person every province of Persia. The +defeat of the boldest rebels, and the reduction of the strongest +fortifications, [33] diffused the terror of his arms, and prepared the +way for the peaceful reception of his authority. An obstinate resistance +was fatal to the chiefs; but their followers were treated with lenity. +[34] A cheerful submission was rewarded with honors and riches, but the +prudent Artaxerxes suffering no person except himself to assume the +title of king, abolished every intermediate power between the throne and +the people. His kingdom, nearly equal in extent to modern Persia, was, +on every side, bounded by the sea, or by great rivers; by the Euphrates, +the Tigris, the Araxes, the Oxus, and the Indus, by the Caspian Sea, +and the Gulf of Persia. [35] That country was computed to contain, in +the last century, five hundred and fifty-four cities, sixty thousand +villages, and about forty millions of souls. [36] If we compare the +administration of the house of Sassan with that of the house of Sefi, +the political influence of the Magian with that of the Mahometan +religion, we shall probably infer, that the kingdom of Artaxerxes +contained at least as great a number of cities, villages, and +inhabitants. But it must likewise be confessed, that in every age the +want of harbors on the sea-coast, and the scarcity of fresh water in +the inland provinces, have been very unfavorable to the commerce and +agriculture of the Persians; who, in the calculation of their numbers, +seem to have indulged one of the nearest, though most common, artifices +of national vanity. + +[Footnote 31: These colonies were extremely numerous. Seleucus Nicator +founded thirty-nine cities, all named from himself, or some of his +relations, (see Appian in Syriac. p. 124.) The aera of Seleucus (still +in use among the eastern Christians) appears as late as the year 508, +of Christ 196, on the medals of the Greek cities within the Parthian +empire. See Moyle's works, vol. i. p. 273, &c., and M. Freret, Mem. de +l'Academie, tom. xix.] + +[Footnote 32: The modern Persians distinguish that period as the dynasty +of the kings of the nations. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. 25.] + +[Footnote 33: Eutychius (tom. i. p. 367, 371, 375) relates the siege of +the island of Mesene in the Tigris, with some circumstances not unlike +the story of Nysus and Scylla.] + +[Footnote 34: Agathias, ii. 64, [and iv. p. 260.] The princes of +Segestan de fended their independence during many years. As romances +generally transport to an ancient period the events of their own time, +it is not impossible that the fabulous exploits of Rustan, Prince of +Segestan, many have been grafted on this real history.] + +[Footnote 35: We can scarcely attribute to the Persian monarchy the +sea-coast of Gedrosia or Macran, which extends along the Indian Ocean +from Cape Jask (the promontory Capella) to Cape Goadel. In the time of +Alexander, and probably many ages afterwards, it was thinly inhabited +by a savage people of Icthyophagi, or Fishermen, who knew no arts, who +acknowledged no master, and who were divided by in-hospitable deserts +from the rest of the world. (See Arrian de Reb. Indicis.) In the twelfth +century, the little town of Taiz (supposed by M. d'Anville to be the +Teza of Ptolemy) was peopled and enriched by the resort of the Arabian +merchants. (See Geographia Nubiens, p. 58, and d'Anville, Geographie +Ancienne, tom. ii. p. 283.) In the last age, the whole country was +divided between three princes, one Mahometan and two Idolaters, who +maintained their independence against the successors of Shah Abbas. +(Voyages de Tavernier, part i. l. v. p. 635.)] + +[Footnote 36: Chardin, tom. iii c 1 2, 3.] + +As soon as the ambitious mind of Artaxerxes had triumphed ever the +resistance of his vassals, he began to threaten the neighboring states, +who, during the long slumber of his predecessors, had insulted Persia +with impunity. He obtained some easy victories over the wild Scythians +and the effeminate Indians; but the Romans were an enemy, who, by their +past injuries and present power, deserved the utmost efforts of his +arms. A forty years' tranquillity, the fruit of valor and moderation, +had succeeded the victories of Trajan. During the period that elapsed +from the accession of Marcus to the reign of Alexander, the Roman and +the Parthian empires were twice engaged in war; and although the whole +strength of the Arsacides contended with a part only of the forces of +Rome, the event was most commonly in favor of the latter. Macrinus, +indeed, prompted by his precarious situation and pusillanimous temper, +purchased a peace at the expense of near two millions of our money; [37] +but the generals of Marcus, the emperor Severus, and his son, erected +many trophies in Armenia, Mesopotamia, and Assyria. Among their +exploits, the imperfect relation of which would have unseasonably +interrupted the more important series of domestic revolutions, we shall +only mention the repeated calamities of the two great cities of Seleucia +and Ctesiphon. + +[Footnote 37: Dion, l. xxviii. p. 1335.] + +Seleucia, on the western bank of the Tigris, about forty-five miles +to the north of ancient Babylon, was the capital of the Macedonian +conquests in Upper Asia. [38] Many ages after the fall of their empire, +Seleucia retained the genuine characters of a Grecian colony, arts, +military virtue, and the love of freedom. The independent republic was +governed by a senate of three hundred nobles; the people consisted of +six hundred thousand citizens; the walls were strong, and as long as +concord prevailed among the several orders of the state, they viewed +with contempt the power of the Parthian: but the madness of faction was +sometimes provoked to implore the dangerous aid of the common enemy, who +was posted almost at the gates of the colony. [39] The Parthian monarchs, +like the Mogul sovereigns of Hindostan, delighted in the pastoral +life of their Scythian ancestors; and the Imperial camp was frequently +pitched in the plain of Ctesiphon, on the eastern bank of the Tigris, +at the distance of only three miles from Seleucia. [40] The innumerable +attendants on luxury and despotism resorted to the court, and the little +village of Ctesiphon insensibly swelled into a great city. [41] Under the +reign of Marcus, the Roman generals penetrated as far as Ctesiphon +and Seleucia. They were received as friends by the Greek colony; they +attacked as enemies the seat of the Parthian kings; yet both cities +experienced the same treatment. The sack and conflagration of Seleucia, +with the massacre of three hundred thousand of the inhabitants, +tarnished the glory of the Roman triumph. [42] Seleucia, already +exhausted by the neighborhood of a too powerful rival, sunk under the +fatal blow; but Ctesiphon, in about thirty-three years, had sufficiently +recovered its strength to maintain an obstinate siege against the +emperor Severus. The city was, however, taken by assault; the king, who +defended it in person, escaped with precipitation; a hundred thousand +captives, and a rich booty, rewarded the fatigues of the Roman soldiers. +[43] Notwithstanding these misfortunes, Ctesiphon succeeded to Babylon +and to Seleucia, as one of the great capitals of the East. In summer, +the monarch of Persia enjoyed at Ecbatana the cool breezes of the +mountains of Media; but the mildness of the climate engaged him to +prefer Ctesiphon for his winter residence. + +[Footnote 38: For the precise situation of Babylon, Seleucia, Ctesiphon, +Moiain, and Bagdad, cities often confounded with each other, see an +excellent Geographical Tract of M. d'Anville, in Mem. de l'Academie, +tom. xxx.] + +[Footnote 39: Tacit. Annal. xi. 42. Plin. Hist. Nat. vi. +26.] + +[Footnote 40: This may be inferred from Strabo, l. xvi. p. 743.] + +[Footnote 41: That most curious traveller, Bernier, who followed the +camp of Aurengzebe from Delhi to Cashmir, describes with great accuracy +the immense moving city. The guard of cavalry consisted of 35,000 men, +that of infantry of 10,000. It was computed that the camp contained +150,000 horses, mules, and elephants; 50,000 camels, 50,000 oxen, and +between 300,000 and 400,000 persons. Almost all Delhi followed the +court, whose magnificence supported its industry.] + +[Footnote 42: Dion, l. lxxi. p. 1178. Hist. August. p. 38. Eutrop. +viii. 10 Euseb. in Chronic. Quadratus (quoted in the Augustan History) +attempted to vindicate the Romans by alleging that the citizens of +Seleucia had first violated their faith.] + +[Footnote 43: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1263. Herodian, l. iii. p. 120. Hist. +August. p. 70.] + +From these successful inroads the Romans derived no real or lasting +benefit; nor did they attempt to preserve such distant conquests, +separated from the provinces of the empire by a large tract of +intermediate desert. The reduction of the kingdom of Osrhoene was an +acquisition of less splendor indeed, but of a far more solid advantage. +That little state occupied the northern and most fertile part of +Mesopotamia, between the Euphrates and the Tigris. Edessa, its capital, +was situated about twenty miles beyond the former of those rivers; +and the inhabitants, since the time of Alexander, were a mixed race +of Greeks, Arabs, Syrians, and Armenians. [44] The feeble sovereigns of +Osrhoene, placed on the dangerous verge of two contending empires, were +attached from inclination to the Parthian cause; but the superior power +of Rome exacted from them a reluctant homage, which is still attested by +their medals. After the conclusion of the Parthian war under Marcus, it +was judged prudent to secure some substantia, pledges of their doubtful +fidelity. Forts were constructed in several parts of the country, and +a Roman garrison was fixed in the strong town of Nisibis. During the +troubles that followed the death of Commodus, the princes of Osrhoene +attempted to shake off the yoke; but the stern policy of Severus +confirmed their dependence, [45] and the perfidy of Caracalla completed +the easy conquest. Abgarus, the last king of Edessa, was sent in +chains to Rome, his dominions reduced into a province, and his capital +dignified with the rank of colony; and thus the Romans, about ten years +before the fall of the Parthian monarchy, obtained a firm and permanent +establishment beyond the Euphrates. [46] + +[Footnote 44: The polished citizens of Antioch called those of Edessa +mixed barbarians. It was, however, some praise, that of the three +dialects of the Syriac, the purest and most elegant (the Aramaean) was +spoken at Edessa. This remark M. Bayer (Hist. Edess. p 5) has borrowed +from George of Malatia, a Syrian writer.] + +[Footnote 45: Dion, l. lxxv. p. 1248, 1249, 1250. M. Bayer has neglected +to use this most important passage.] + +[Footnote 46: This kingdom, from Osrhoes, who gave a new name to the +country, to the last Abgarus, had lasted 353 years. See the learned work +of M. Bayer, Historia Osrhoena et Edessena.] + +Prudence as well as glory might have justified a war on the side of +Artaxerxes, had his views been confined to the defence or acquisition +of a useful frontier. but the ambitious Persian openly avowed a far more +extensive design of conquest; and he thought himself able to support his +lofty pretensions by the arms of reason as well as by those of power. +Cyrus, he alleged, had first subdued, and his successors had for a long +time possessed, the whole extent of Asia, as far as the Propontis and +the Aegean Sea; the provinces of Caria and Ionia, under their empire, +had been governed by Persian satraps, and all Egypt, to the confines of +Aethiopia, had acknowledged their sovereignty. [47] Their rights had been +suspended, but not destroyed, by a long usurpation; and as soon as he +received the Persian diadem, which birth and successful valor had placed +upon his head, the first great duty of his station called upon him to +restore the ancient limits and splendor of the monarchy. The Great King, +therefore, (such was the haughty style of his embassies to the emperor +Alexander,) commanded the Romans instantly to depart from all the +provinces of his ancestors, and, yielding to the Persians the empire of +Asia, to content themselves with the undisturbed possession of Europe. +This haughty mandate was delivered by four hundred of the tallest and +most beautiful of the Persians; who, by their fine horses, splendid +arms, and rich apparel, displayed the pride and greatness of their +master. [48] Such an embassy was much less an offer of negotiation than +a declaration of war. Both Alexander Severus and Artaxerxes, collecting +the military force of the Roman and Persian monarchies, resolved in this +important contest to lead their armies in person. + +[Footnote 47: Xenophon, in the preface to the Cyropaedia, gives a clear +and magnificent idea of the extent of the empire of Cyrus. Herodotus (l. +iii. c. 79, &c.) enters into a curious and particular description of +the twenty great Satrapies into which the Persian empire was divided by +Darius Hystaspes.] + +[Footnote 48: Herodian, vi. 209, 212.] + +If we credit what should seem the most authentic of all records, an +oration, still extant, and delivered by the emperor himself to the +senate, we must allow that the victory of Alexander Severus was not +inferior to any of those formerly obtained over the Persians by the +son of Philip. The army of the Great King consisted of one hundred and +twenty thousand horse, clothed in complete armor of steel; of seven +hundred elephants, with towers filled with archers on their backs, and +of eighteen hundred chariots armed with scythes. This formidable +host, the like of which is not to be found in eastern history, and has +scarcely been imagined in eastern romance, [49] was discomfited in a +great battle, in which the Roman Alexander proved himself an intrepid +soldier and a skilful general. The Great King fled before his valor; +an immense booty, and the conquest of Mesopotamia, were the immediate +fruits of this signal victory. Such are the circumstances of this +ostentatious and improbable relation, dictated, as it too plainly +appears, by the vanity of the monarch, adorned by the unblushing +servility of his flatterers, and received without contradiction by a +distant and obsequious senate. [50] Far from being inclined to believe +that the arms of Alexander obtained any memorable advantage over the +Persians, we are induced to suspect that all this blaze of imaginary +glory was designed to conceal some real disgrace. + +[Footnote 49: There were two hundred scythed chariots at the battle of +Arbela, in the host of Darius. In the vast army of Tigranes, which was +vanquished by Lucullus, seventeen thousand horse only were completely +armed. Antiochus brought fifty-four elephants into the field against the +Romans: by his frequent wars and negotiations with the princes of India, +he had once collected a hundred and fifty of those great animals; but +it may be questioned whether the most powerful monarch of Hindostan evci +formed a line of battle of seven hundred elephants. Instead of three or +four thousand elephants, which the Great Mogul was supposed to possess, +Tavernier (Voyages, part ii. l. i. p. 198) discovered, by a more +accurate inquiry, that he had only five hundred for his baggage, and +eighty or ninety for the service of war. The Greeks have varied with +regard to the number which Porus brought into the field; but Quintus +Curtius, (viii. 13,) in this instance judicious and moderate, is +contented with eighty-five elephants, distinguished by their size and +strength. In Siam, where these animals are the most numerous and the +most esteemed, eighteen elephants are allowed as a sufficient proportion +for each of the nine brigades into which a just army is divided. The +whole number, of one hundred and sixty-two elephants of war, may +sometimes be doubled. Hist. des Voyages, tom. ix. p. 260. * Note: +Compare Gibbon's note 10 to ch. lvii--M.] + +[Footnote 50: Hist. August. p. 133. * Note: See M. Guizot's note, p. +267. According to the Persian authorities Ardeschir extended his +conquests to the Euphrates. Malcolm i. 71.--M.] + +Our suspicious are confirmed by the authority of a contemporary +historian, who mentions the virtues of Alexander with respect, and +his faults with candor. He describes the judicious plan which had been +formed for the conduct of the war. Three Roman armies were destined +to invade Persia at the same time, and by different roads. But the +operations of the campaign, though wisely concerted, were not executed +either with ability or success. The first of these armies, as soon as it +had entered the marshy plains of Babylon, towards the artificial conflux +of the Euphrates and the Tigris, [51] was encompassed by the superior +numbers, and destroyed by the arrows of the enemy. The alliance of +Chosroes, king of Armenia, [52] and the long tract of mountainous +country, in which the Persian cavalry was of little service, opened +a secure entrance into the heart of Media, to the second of the Roman +armies. These brave troops laid waste the adjacent provinces, and by +several successful actions against Artaxerxes, gave a faint color to the +emperor's vanity. But the retreat of this victorious army was imprudent, +or at least unfortunate. In repassing the mountains, great numbers of +soldiers perished by the badness of the roads, and the severity of +the winter season. It had been resolved, that whilst these two great +detachments penetrated into the opposite extremes of the Persian +dominions, the main body, under the command of Alexander himself, should +support their attack, by invading the centre of the kingdom. But the +unexperienced youth, influenced by his mother's counsels, and perhaps by +his own fears, deserted the bravest troops, and the fairest prospect of +victory; and after consuming in Mesopotamia an inactive and inglorious +summer, he led back to Antioch an army diminished by sickness, and +provoked by disappointment. The behavior of Artaxerxes had been very +different. Flying with rapidity from the hills of Media to the marshes +of the Euphrates, he had everywhere opposed the invaders in person; and +in either fortune had united with the ablest conduct the most undaunted +resolution. But in several obstinate engagements against the veteran +legions of Rome, the Persian monarch had lost the flower of his troops. +Even his victories had weakened his power. The favorable opportunities +of the absence of Alexander, and of the confusions that followed that +emperor's death, presented themselves in vain to his ambition. Instead +of expelling the Romans, as he pretended, from the continent of Asia, +he found himself unable to wrest from their hands the little province +of Mesopotamia. [53] + +[Footnote 51: M. de Tillemont has already observed, that Herodian's +geography is somewhat confused.] + +[Footnote 52: Moses of Chorene (Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 71) illustrates +this invasion of Media, by asserting that Chosroes, king of Armenia, +defeated Artaxerxes, and pursued him to the confines of India. The +exploits of Chosroes have been magnified; and he acted as a dependent +ally to the Romans.] + +[Footnote 53: For the account of this war, see Herodian, l. vi. p. 209, +212. The old abbreviators and modern compilers have blindly followed the +Augustan History.] + +The reign of Artaxerxes, which, from the last defeat of the Parthians, +lasted only fourteen years, forms a memorable aera in the history of the +East, and even in that of Rome. His character seems to have been marked +by those bold and commanding features, that generally distinguish the +princes who conquer, from those who inherit an empire. Till the last +period of the Persian monarchy, his code of laws was respected as the +groundwork of their civil and religious policy. [54] Several of his +sayings are preserved. One of them in particular discovers a deep +insight into the constitution of government. "The authority of the +prince," said Artaxerxes, "must be defended by a military force; that +force can only be maintained by taxes; all taxes must, at last, fall +upon agriculture; and agriculture can never flourish except under the +protection of justice and moderation." [55] Artaxerxes bequeathed his new +empire, and his ambitious designs against the Romans, to Sapor, a son +not unworthy of his great father; but those designs were too extensive +for the power of Persia, and served only to involve both nations in a +long series of destructive wars and reciprocal calamities. + +[Footnote 54: Eutychius, tom. ii. p. 180, vers. Pocock. The great +Chosroes Noushirwan sent the code of Artaxerxes to all his satraps, as +the invariable rule of their conduct.] + +[Footnote 55: D'Herbelot, Bibliotheque Orientale, au mot Ardshir. +We may observe, that after an ancient period of fables, and a long +interval of darkness, the modern histories of Persia begin to assume +an air of truth with the dynasty of Sassanides. Compare Malcolm, i. +79.--M.] + +The Persians, long since civilized and corrupted, were very far +from possessing the martial independence, and the intrepid hardiness, +both of mind and body, which have rendered the northern barbarians +masters of the world. The science of war, that constituted the more +rational force of Greece and Rome, as it now does of Europe, never made +any considerable progress in the East. Those disciplined evolutions +which harmonize and animate a confused multitude, were unknown to the +Persians. They were equally unskilled in the arts of constructing, +besieging, or defending regular fortifications. They trusted more to +their numbers than to their courage; more to their courage than to their +discipline. The infantry was a half-armed, spiritless crowd of peasants, +levied in haste by the allurements of plunder, and as easily dispersed +by a victory as by a defeat. The monarch and his nobles transported into +the camp the pride and luxury of the seraglio. Their military operations +were impeded by a useless train of women, eunuchs, horses, and camels; +and in the midst of a successful campaign, the Persian host was often +separated or destroyed by an unexpected famine. [56] + +[Footnote 56: Herodian, l. vi. p. 214. Ammianus Marcellinus, l. xxiii. +c. 6. Some differences may be observed between the two historians, the +natural effects of the changes produced by a century and a half.] + +But the nobles of Persia, in the bosom of luxury and despotism, +preserved a strong sense of personal gallantry and national honor. From +the age of seven years they were taught to speak truth, to shoot with +the bow, and to ride; and it was universally confessed, that in the two +last of these arts, they had made a more than common proficiency. [57] +The most distinguished youth were educated under the monarch's eye, +practised their exercises in the gate of his palace, and were severely +trained up to the habits of temperance and obedience, in their long and +laborious parties of hunting. In every province, the satrap maintained +a like school of military virtue. The Persian nobles (so natural is +the idea of feudal tenures) received from the king's bounty lands and +houses, on the condition of their service in war. They were ready on the +first summons to mount on horseback, with a martial and splendid train +of followers, and to join the numerous bodies of guards, who were +carefully selected from among the most robust slaves, and the bravest +adventures of Asia. These armies, both of light and of heavy cavalry, +equally formidable by the impetuosity of their charge and the rapidity +of their motions, threatened, as an impending cloud, the eastern +provinces of the declining empire of Rome. [58] + +[Footnote 57: The Persians are still the most skilful horsemen, and +their horses the finest in the East.] + +[Footnote 58: From Herodotus, Xenophon, Herodian, Ammianus, Chardin, +&c., I have extracted such probable accounts of the Persian nobility, +as seem either common to every age, or particular to that of the +Sassanides.] + + + + + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.--Part I. + + The State Of Germany Till The Invasion Of The Barbarians In + The Time Of The Emperor Decius. + +The government and religion of Persia have deserved some notice, from +their connection with the decline and fall of the Roman empire. We shall +occasionally mention the Scythian or Sarmatian tribes, [1001] which, with +their arms and horses, their flocks and herds, their wives and families, +wandered over the immense plains which spread themselves from the +Caspian Sea to the Vistula, from the confines of Persia to those of +Germany. But the warlike Germans, who first resisted, then invaded, and +at length overturned the Western monarchy of Rome, will occupy a much +more important place in this history, and possess a stronger, and, if +we may use the expression, a more domestic, claim to our attention and +regard. The most civilized nations of modern Europe issued from the +woods of Germany; and in the rude institutions of those barbarians we +may still distinguish the original principles of our present laws and +manners. In their primitive state of simplicity and independence, the +Germans were surveyed by the discerning eye, and delineated by the +masterly pencil, of Tacitus, [1002] the first of historians who applied the +science of philosophy to the study of facts. The expressive conciseness +of his descriptions has served to exercise the diligence of innumerable +antiquarians, and to excite the genius and penetration of the +philosophic historians of our own times. The subject, however various +and important, has already been so frequently, so ably, and so +successfully discussed, that it is now grown familiar to the reader, +and difficult to the writer. We shall therefore content ourselves +with observing, and indeed with repeating, some of the most important +circumstances of climate, of manners, and of institutions, which +rendered the wild barbarians of Germany such formidable enemies to the +Roman power. + +[Footnote 1001: The Scythians, even according to the ancients, are not +Sarmatians. It may be doubted whether Gibbon intended to confound +them.--M. ----The Greeks, after having divided the world into Greeks and +barbarians. divided the barbarians into four great classes, the Celts, +the Scythians, the Indians, and the Ethiopians. They called Celts all +the inhabitants of Gaul. Scythia extended from the Baltic Sea to the +Lake Aral: the people enclosed in the angle to the north-east, between +Celtica and Scythia, were called Celto-Scythians, and the Sarmatians +were placed in the southern part of that angle. But these names of +Celts, of Scythians, of Celto-Scythians, and Sarmatians, were invented, +says Schlozer, by the profound cosmographical ignorance of the Greeks, +and have no real ground; they are purely geographical divisions, without +any relation to the true affiliation of the different races. Thus all +the inhabitants of Gaul are called Celts by most of the ancient writers; +yet Gaul contained three totally distinct nations, the Belgae, the +Aquitani, and the Gauls, properly so called. Hi omnes lingua institutis, +legibusque inter se differunt. Caesar. Com. c. i. It is thus the Turks +call all Europeans Franks. Schlozer, Allgemeine Nordische Geschichte, p. +289. 1771. Bayer (de Origine et priscis Sedibus Scytharum, in Opusc. +p. 64) says, Primus eorum, de quibus constat, Ephorus, in quarto +historiarum libro, orbem terrarum inter Scythas, Indos, Aethiopas et +Celtas divisit. Fragmentum ejus loci Cosmas Indicopleustes in +topographia Christiana, f. 148, conservavit. Video igitur Ephorum, cum +locorum positus per certa capita distribuere et explicare constitueret, +insigniorum nomina gentium vastioribus spatiis adhibuisse, nulla mala +fraude et successu infelici. Nam Ephoro quoquomodo dicta pro exploratis +habebant Graeci plerique et Romani: ita gliscebat error posteritate. +Igitur tot tamque diversae stirpis gentes non modo intra communem +quandam regionem definitae, unum omnes Scytharum nomen his auctoribus +subierunt, sed etiam ab illa regionis adpellatione in eandem nationem +sunt conflatae. Sic Cimmeriorum res cum Scythicis, Scytharum cum +Sarmaticis, Russicis, Hunnicis, Tataricis commiscentur.--G.] + +[Footnote 1002: The Germania of Tacitus has been a fruitful source of +hypothesis to the ingenuity of modern writers, who have endeavored to +account for the form of the work and the views of the author. According +to Luden, (Geschichte des T. V. i. 432, and note,) it contains the +unfinished and disarranged for a larger work. An anonymous writer, +supposed by Luden to be M. Becker, conceives that it was intended as an +episode in his larger history. According to M. Guizot, "Tacite a peint +les Germains comme Montaigne et Rousseau les sauvages, dans un acces +d'humeur contre sa patrie: son livre est une satire des moeurs Romaines, +l'eloquente boutade d'un patriote philosophe qui veut voir la vertu la, +ou il ne rencontre pas la mollesse honteuse et la depravation savante +d'une vielle societe." Hist. de la Civilisation Moderne, i. 258.--M.] + +Ancient Germany, excluding from its independent limits the province +westward of the Rhine, which had submitted to the Roman yoke, extended +itself over a third part of Europe. [1] Almost the whole of modern +Germany, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Livonia, Prussia, and the +greater part of Poland, were peopled by the various tribes of one great +nation, whose complexion, manners, and language denoted a common origin, +and preserved a striking resemblance. On the west, ancient Germany was +divided by the Rhine from the Gallic, and on the south, by the Danube, +from the Illyrian, provinces of the empire. A ridge of hills, rising +from the Danube, and called the Carpathian Mountains, covered Germany on +the side of Dacia or Hungary. The eastern frontier was faintly marked +by the mutual fears of the Germans and the Sarmatians, and was often +confounded by the mixture of warring and confederating tribes of the two +nations. In the remote darkness of the north, the ancients imperfectly +descried a frozen ocean that lay beyond the Baltic Sea, and beyond the +Peninsula, or islands [1001] of Scandinavia. + +[Footnote 1: Germany was not of such vast extent. It is from Caesar, and +more particularly from Ptolemy, (says Gatterer,) that we can know what +was the state of ancient Germany before the wars with the Romans had +changed the positions of the tribes. Germany, as changed by these wars, +has been described by Strabo, Pliny, and Tacitus. Germany, properly so +called, was bounded on the west by the Rhine, on the east by the +Vistula, on the north by the southern point of Norway, by Sweden, and +Esthonia. On the south, the Maine and the mountains to the north of +Bohemia formed the limits. Before the time of Caesar, the country +between the Maine and the Danube was partly occupied by the Helvetians +and other Gauls, partly by the Hercynian forest but, from the time of +Caesar to the great migration, these boundaries were advanced as far as +the Danube, or, what is the same thing, to the Suabian Alps, although +the Hercynian forest still occupied, from north to south, a space of +nine days' journey on both banks of the Danube. "Gatterer, Versuch einer +all-gemeinen Welt-Geschichte," p. 424, edit. de 1792. This vast country +was far from being inhabited by a single nation divided into different +tribes of the same origin. We may reckon three principal races, very +distinct in their language, their origin, and their customs. 1. To the +east, the Slaves or Vandals. 2. To the west, the Cimmerians or Cimbri. +3. Between the Slaves and Cimbrians, the Germans, properly so called, +the Suevi of Tacitus. The South was inhabited, before Julius Caesar, by +nations of Gaulish origin, afterwards by the Suevi.--G. On the position +of these nations, the German antiquaries differ. I. The Slaves, or +Sclavonians, or Wendish tribes, according to Schlozer, were originally +settled in parts of Germany unknown to the Romans, Mecklenburgh, +Pomerania, Brandenburgh, Upper Saxony; and Lusatia. According to +Gatterer, they remained to the east of the Theiss, the Niemen, and the +Vistula, till the third century. The Slaves, according to Procopius and +Jornandes, formed three great divisions. 1. The Venedi or Vandals, who +took the latter name, (the Wenden,) having expelled the Vandals, +properly so called, (a Suevian race, the conquerors of Africa,) from the +country between the Memel and the Vistula. 2. The Antes, who inhabited +between the Dneister and the Dnieper. 3. The Sclavonians, properly so +called, in the north of Dacia. During the great migration, these races +advanced into Germany as far as the Saal and the Elbe. The Sclavonian +language is the stem from which have issued the Russian, the Polish, the +Bohemian, and the dialects of Lusatia, of some parts of the duchy of +Luneburgh, of Carniola, Carinthia, and Styria, &c.; those of Croatia, +Bosnia, and Bulgaria. Schlozer, Nordische Geschichte, p. 323, 335. II. +The Cimbric race. Adelung calls by this name all who were not Suevi. +This race had passed the Rhine, before the time of Caesar, occupied +Belgium, and are the Belgae of Caesar and Pliny. The Cimbrians also +occupied the Isle of Jutland. The Cymri of Wales and of Britain are of +this race. Many tribes on the right bank of the Rhine, the Guthini in +Jutland, the Usipeti in Westphalia, the Sigambri in the duchy of Berg, +were German Cimbrians. III. The Suevi, known in very early times by the +Romans, for they are mentioned by L. Corn. Sisenna, who lived 123 years +before Christ, (Nonius v. Lancea.) This race, the real Germans, extended +to the Vistula, and from the Baltic to the Hercynian forest. The name of +Suevi was sometimes confined to a single tribe, as by Caesar to the +Catti. The name of the Suevi has been preserved in Suabia. These three +were the principal races which inhabited Germany; they moved from east +to west, and are the parent stem of the modern natives. But northern +Europe, according to Schlozer, was not peopled by them alone; other +races, of different origin, and speaking different languages, have +inhabited and left descendants in these countries. The German tribes +called themselves, from very remote times, by the generic name of +Teutons, (Teuten, Deutschen,) which Tacitus derives from that of one of +their gods, Tuisco. It appears more probable that it means merely men, +people. Many savage nations have given themselves no other name. Thus +the Laplanders call themselves Almag, people; the Samoiedes Nilletz, +Nissetsch, men, &c. As to the name of Germans, (Germani,) Caesar found +it in use in Gaul, and adopted it as a word already known to the Romans. +Many of the learned (from a passage of Tacitus, de Mor Germ. c. 2) have +supposed that it was only applied to the Teutons after Caesar's time; +but Adelung has triumphantly refuted this opinion. The name of Germans +is found in the Fasti Capitolini. See Gruter, Iscrip. 2899, in which the +consul Marcellus, in the year of Rome 531, is said to have defeated the +Gauls, the Insubrians, and the Germans, commanded by Virdomar. See +Adelung, Aelt. Geschichte der Deutsch, p. 102.--Compressed from G.] + +[Footnote 1001: The modern philosophers of Sweden seem agreed that the +waters of the Baltic gradually sink in a regular proportion, which they +have ventured to estimate at half an inch every year. Twenty centuries +ago the flat country of Scandinavia must have been covered by the +sea; while the high lands rose above the waters, as so many islands of +various forms and dimensions. Such, indeed, is the notion given us by +Mela, Pliny, and Tacitus, of the vast countries round the Baltic. See +in the Bibliotheque Raisonnee, tom. xl. and xlv. a large abstract of +Dalin's History of Sweden, composed in the Swedish language. * Note: +Modern geologists have rejected this theory of the depression of the +Baltic, as inconsistent with recent observation. The considerable +changes which have taken place on its shores, Mr. Lyell, from actual +observation now decidedly attributes to the regular and uniform +elevation of the land.--Lyell's Geology, b. ii. c. 17--M.] + +Some ingenious writers [2] have suspected that Europe was much colder +formerly than it is at present; and the most ancient descriptions of the +climate of Germany tend exceedingly to confirm their theory. The general +complaints of intense frost and eternal winter, are perhaps little to be +regarded, since we have no method of reducing to the accurate standard +of the thermometer, the feelings, or the expressions, of an orator +born in the happier regions of Greece or Asia. But I shall select two +remarkable circumstances of a less equivocal nature. 1. The great +rivers which covered the Roman provinces, the Rhine and the Danube, +were frequently frozen over, and capable of supporting the most enormous +weights. The barbarians, who often chose that severe season for their +inroads, transported, without apprehension or danger, their numerous +armies, their cavalry, and their heavy wagons, over a vast and solid +bridge of ice. [3] Modern ages have not presented an instance of a like +phenomenon. 2. The reindeer, that useful animal, from whom the savage +of the North derives the best comforts of his dreary life, is of a +constitution that supports, and even requires, the most intense cold. +He is found on the rock of Spitzberg, within ten degrees of the Pole; he +seems to delight in the snows of Lapland and Siberia: but at present he +cannot subsist, much less multiply, in any country to the south of the +Baltic. [4] In the time of Caesar the reindeer, as well as the elk +and the wild bull, was a native of the Hercynian forest, which +then overshadowed a great part of Germany and Poland. [5] The modern +improvements sufficiently explain the causes of the diminution of the +cold. These immense woods have been gradually cleared, which intercepted +from the earth the rays of the sun. [6] The morasses have been drained, +and, in proportion as the soil has been cultivated, the air has become +more temperate. Canada, at this day, is an exact picture of ancient +Germany. Although situated in the same parallel with the finest +provinces of France and England, that country experiences the most +rigorous cold. The reindeer are very numerous, the ground is covered +with deep and lasting snow, and the great river of St. Lawrence is +regularly frozen, in a season when the waters of the Seine and the +Thames are usually free from ice. [7] + +[Footnote 2: In particular, Mr. Hume, the Abbe du Bos, and M. +Pelloutier. Hist. des Celtes, tom. i.] + +[Footnote 3: Diodorus Siculus, l. v. p. 340, edit. Wessel. Herodian, l. +vi. p. 221. Jornandes, c. 55. On the banks of the Danube, the wine, when +brought to table, was frequently frozen into great lumps, frusta vini. +Ovid. Epist. ex Ponto, l. iv. 7, 9, 10. Virgil. Georgic. l. iii. +355. The fact is confirmed by a soldier and a philosopher, who had +experienced the intense cold of Thrace. See Xenophon, Anabasis, l. vii. +p. 560, edit. Hutchinson. Note: The Danube is constantly frozen over. At +Pesth the bridge is usually taken up, and the traffic and communication +between the two banks carried on over the ice. The Rhine is likewise in +many parts passable at least two years out of five. Winter campaigns are +so unusual, in modern warfare, that I recollect but one instance of an +army crossing either river on the ice. In the thirty years' war, +(1635,) Jan van Werth, an Imperialist partisan, crossed the Rhine from +Heidelberg on the ice with 5000 men, and surprised Spiers. Pichegru's +memorable campaign, (1794-5,) when the freezing of the Meuse and Waal +opened Holland to his conquests, and his cavalry and artillery attacked +the ships frozen in, on the Zuyder Zee, was in a winter of unprecedented +severity.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 4: Buffon, Histoire Naturelle, tom. xii. p. 79, 116.] + +[Footnote 5: Caesar de Bell. Gallic. vi. 23, &c. The most inquisitive of +the Germans were ignorant of its utmost limits, although some of them +had travelled in it more than sixty days' journey. * Note: The passage +of Caesar, "parvis renonum tegumentis utuntur," is obscure, observes +Luden, (Geschichte des Teutschen Volkes,) and insufficient to prove the +reindeer to have existed in Germany. It is supported however, by a +fragment of Sallust. Germani intectum rhenonibus corpus tegunt.--M. It +has been suggested to me that Caesar (as old Gesner supposed) meant the +reindeer in the following description. Est bos cervi figura cujus a +media fronte inter aures unum cornu existit, excelsius magisque directum +(divaricatum, qu?) his quae nobis nota sunt cornibus. At ejus summo, +sicut palmae, rami quam late diffunduntur. Bell. vi.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 6: Cluverius (Germania Antiqua, l. iii. c. 47) investigates +the small and scattered remains of the Hercynian wood.] + +[Footnote 7: Charlevoix, Histoire du Canada.] + +It is difficult to ascertain, and easy to exaggerate, the influence of +the climate of ancient Germany over the minds and bodies of the natives. +Many writers have supposed, and most have allowed, though, as it should +seem, without any adequate proof, that the rigorous cold of the North +was favorable to long life and generative vigor, that the women were +more fruitful, and the human species more prolific, than in warmer or +more temperate climates. [8] We may assert, with greater confidence, +that the keen air of Germany formed the large and masculine limbs of the +natives, who were, in general, of a more lofty stature than the people +of the South, [9] gave them a kind of strength better adapted to violent +exertions than to patient labor, and inspired them with constitutional +bravery, which is the result of nerves and spirits. The severity of +a winter campaign, that chilled the courage of the Roman troops, was +scarcely felt by these hardy children of the North, [10] who, in their +turn, were unable to resist the summer heats, and dissolved away in +languor and sickness under the beams of an Italian sun. [11] + +[Footnote 8: Olaus Rudbeck asserts that the Swedish women often bear +ten or twelve children, and not uncommonly twenty or thirty; but the +authority of Rudbeck is much to be suspected.] + +[Footnote 9: In hos artus, in haec corpora, quae miramur, excrescunt. +Taeit Germania, 3, 20. Cluver. l. i. c. 14.] + +[Footnote 10: Plutarch. in Mario. The Cimbri, by way of amusement, often +did down mountains of snow on their broad shields.] + +[Footnote 11: The Romans made war in all climates, and by their +excellent discipline were in a great measure preserved in health and +vigor. It may be remarked, that man is the only animal which can live +and multiply in every country from the equator to the poles. The hog +seems to approach the nearest to our species in that privilege.] + + + + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.--Part II. + +There is not any where upon the globe a large tract of country, which we +have discovered destitute of inhabitants, or whose first population can +be fixed with any degree of historical certainty. And yet, as the most +philosophic minds can seldom refrain from investigating the infancy +of great nations, our curiosity consumes itself in toilsome and +disappointed efforts. When Tacitus considered the purity of the German +blood, and the forbidding aspect of the country, he was disposed to +pronounce those barbarians Indigenae, or natives of the soil. We may +allow with safety, and perhaps with truth, that ancient Germany was +not originally peopled by any foreign colonies already formed into +a political society; [12] but that the name and nation received their +existence from the gradual union of some wandering savages of the +Hercynian woods. To assert those savages to have been the spontaneous +production of the earth which they inhabited would be a rash inference, +condemned by religion, and unwarranted by reason. + +[Footnote 12: Facit. Germ. c. 3. The emigration of the Gauls followed +the course of the Danube, and discharged itself on Greece and Asia. +Tacitus could discover only one inconsiderable tribe that retained any +traces of a Gallic origin. * Note: The Gothini, who must not be +confounded with the Gothi, a Suevian tribe. In the time of Caesar many +other tribes of Gaulish origin dwelt along the course of the Danube, who +could not long resist the attacks of the Suevi. The Helvetians, who +dwelt on the borders of the Black Forest, between the Maine and the +Danube, had been expelled long before the time of Caesar. He mentions +also the Volci Tectosagi, who came from Languedoc and settled round the +Black Forest. The Boii, who had penetrated into that forest, and also +have left traces of their name in Bohemia, were subdued in the first +century by the Marcomanni. The Boii settled in Noricum, were mingled +afterwards with the Lombards, and received the name of Boio Arii +(Bavaria) or Boiovarii: var, in some German dialects, appearing to mean +remains, descendants. Compare Malte B-m, Geography, vol. i. p. 410, edit +1832--M.] + +Such rational doubt is but ill suited with the genius of popular vanity. +Among the nations who have adopted the Mosaic history of the world, the +ark of Noah has been of the same use, as was formerly to the Greeks and +Romans the siege of Troy. On a narrow basis of acknowledged truth, an +immense but rude superstructure of fable has been erected; and the +wild Irishman, [13] as well as the wild Tartar, [14] could point out the +individual son of Japhet, from whose loins his ancestors were lineally +descended. The last century abounded with antiquarians of profound +learning and easy faith, who, by the dim light of legends and +traditions, of conjectures and etymologies, conducted the great +grandchildren of Noah from the Tower of Babel to the extremities of the +globe. Of these judicious critics, one of the most entertaining was +Oaus Rudbeck, professor in the university of Upsal. [15] Whatever is +celebrated either in history or fable, this zealous patriot ascribes to +his country. From Sweden (which formed so considerable a part of ancient +Germany) the Greeks themselves derived their alphabetical characters, +their astronomy, and their religion. Of that delightful region (for such +it appeared to the eyes of a native) the Atlantis of Plato, the country +of the Hyperboreans, the gardens of the Hesperides, the Fortunate +Islands, and even the Elysian Fields, were all but faint and imperfect +transcripts. A clime so profusely favored by Nature could not long +remain desert after the flood. The learned Rudbeck allows the family +of Noah a few years to multiply from eight to about twenty thousand +persons. He then disperses them into small colonies to replenish +the earth, and to propagate the human species. The German or Swedish +detachment (which marched, if I am not mistaken, under the command of +Askenaz, the son of Gomer, the son of Japhet) distinguished itself by +a more than common diligence in the prosecution of this great work. The +northern hive cast its swarms over the greatest part of Europe, Africa, +and Asia; and (to use the author's metaphor) the blood circulated from +the extremities to the heart. + +[Footnote 13: According to Dr. Keating, (History of Ireland, p. 13, 14,) +the giant Portholanus, who was the son of Seara, the son of Esra, the +son of Sru, the son of Framant, the son of Fathaclan, the son of Magog, +the son of Japhet, the son of Noah, landed on the coast of Munster the +14th day of May, in the year of the world one thousand nine hundred and +seventy-eight. Though he succeeded in his great enterprise, the loose +behavior of his wife rendered his domestic life very unhappy, and +provoked him to such a degree, that he killed--her favorite greyhound. +This, as the learned historian very properly observes, was the first +instance of female falsehood and infidelity ever known in Ireland.] + +[Footnote 14: Genealogical History of the Tartars, by Abulghazi Bahadur +Khan.] + +[Footnote 15: His work, entitled Atlantica, is uncommonly scarce. +Bayle has given two most curious extracts from it. Republique des +Lettres Janvier et Fevrier, 1685.] + +But all this well-labored system of German antiquities is annihilated +by a single fact, too well attested to admit of any doubt, and of too +decisive a nature to leave room for any reply. The Germans, in the age +of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters; [16] and the use +of letters is the principal circumstance that distinguishes a civilized +people from a herd of savages incapable of knowledge or reflection. +Without that artificial help, the human memory soon dissipates or +corrupts the ideas intrusted to her charge; and the nobler faculties of +the mind, no longer supplied with models or with materials, gradually +forget their powers; the judgment becomes feeble and lethargic, the +imagination languid or irregular. Fully to apprehend this important +truth, let us attempt, in an improved society, to calculate the immense +distance between the man of learning and the illiterate peasant. The +former, by reading and reflection, multiplies his own experience, and +lives in distant ages and remote countries; whilst the latter, rooted to +a single spot, and confined to a few years of existence, surpasses but +very little his fellow-laborer, the ox, in the exercise of his mental +faculties. The same, and even a greater, difference will be found +between nations than between individuals; and we may safely pronounce, +that without some species of writing, no people has ever preserved the +faithful annals of their history, ever made any considerable progress +in the abstract sciences, or ever possessed, in any tolerable degree of +perfection, the useful and agreeable arts of life. + +[Footnote 16: Tacit. Germ. ii. 19. Literarum secreta viri pariter ac +foeminae ignorant. We may rest contented with this decisive authority, +without entering into the obscure disputes concerning the antiquity of +the Runic characters. The learned Celsius, a Swede, a scholar, and a +philosopher, was of opinion, that they were nothing more than the Roman +letters, with the curves changed into straight lines for the ease of +engraving. See Pelloutier, Histoire des Celtes, l. ii. c. 11. +Dictionnaire Diplomatique, tom. i. p. 223. We may add, that the oldest +Runic inscriptions are supposed to be of the third century, and the most +ancient writer who mentions the Runic characters is Venan tius +Frotunatus, (Carm. vii. 18,) who lived towards the end of the sixth +century. Barbara fraxineis pingatur Runa tabellis. * Note: The obscure +subject of the Runic characters has exercised the industry and ingenuity +of the modern scholars of the north. There are three distinct theories; +one, maintained by Schlozer, (Nordische Geschichte, p. 481, &c.,) who +considers their sixteen letters to be a corruption of the Roman +alphabet, post-Christian in their date, and Schlozer would attribute +their introduction into the north to the Alemanni. The second, that of +Frederick Schlegel, (Vorlesungen uber alte und neue Literatur,) supposes +that these characters were left on the coasts of the Mediterranean and +Northern Seas by the Phoenicians, preserved by the priestly castes, and +employed for purposes of magic. Their common origin from the Phoenician +would account for heir similarity to the Roman letters. The last, to +which we incline, claims much higher and more venerable antiquity for +the Runic, and supposes them to have been the original characters of the +Indo-Teutonic tribes, brought from the East, and preserved among the +different races of that stock. See Ueber Deutsche Runen von W. C. Grimm, +1821. A Memoir by Dr. Legis. Fundgruben des alten Nordens. Foreign +Quarterly Review vol. ix. p. 438.--M.] + +Of these arts, the ancient Germans were wretchedly destitute. [1601] They +passed their lives in a state of ignorance and poverty, which it has +pleased some declaimers to dignify with the appellation of virtuous +simplicity. Modern Germany is said to contain about two thousand three +hundred walled towns. [17] In a much wider extent of country, the +geographer Ptolemy could discover no more than ninety places which he +decorates with the name of cities; [18] though, according to our ideas, +they would but ill deserve that splendid title. We can only suppose them +to have been rude fortifications, constructed in the centre of the +woods, and designed to secure the women, children, and cattle, whilst +the warriors of the tribe marched out to repel a sudden invasion. [19] +But Tacitus asserts, as a well-known fact, that the Germans, in his +time, had no cities; [20] and that they affected to despise the works of +Roman industry, as places of confinement rather than of security. [21] +Their edifices were not even contiguous, or formed into regular villas; +[22] each barbarian fixed his independent dwelling on the spot to which +a plain, a wood, or a stream of fresh water, had induced him to give the +preference. Neither stone, nor brick, nor tiles, were employed in these +slight habitations. [23] They were indeed no more than low huts, of a +circular figure, built of rough timber, thatched with straw, and pierced +at the top to leave a free passage for the smoke. In the most inclement +winter, the hardy German was satisfied with a scanty garment made of the +skin of some animal. The nations who dwelt towards the North clothed +themselves in furs; and the women manufactured for their own use a +coarse kind of linen. [24] The game of various sorts, with which the +forests of Germany were plentifully stocked, supplied its inhabitants +with food and exercise. [25] Their monstrous herds of cattle, less +remarkable indeed for their beauty than for their utility, [26] formed +the principal object of their wealth. A small quantity of corn was the +only produce exacted from the earth; the use of orchards or artificial +meadows was unknown to the Germans; nor can we expect any improvements +in agriculture from a people, whose prosperity every year experienced a +general change by a new division of the arable lands, and who, in that +strange operation, avoided disputes, by suffering a great part of their +territory to lie waste and without tillage. [27] + +[Footnote 1601: Luden (the author of the Geschichte des Teutschen Volkes) +has surpassed most writers in his patriotic enthusiasm for the virtues +and noble manners of his ancestors. Even the cold of the climate, and +the want of vines and fruit trees, as well as the barbarism of the +inhabitants, are calumnies of the luxurious Italians. M. Guizot, on the +other side, (in his Histoire de la Civilisation, vol. i. p. 272, &c.,) +has drawn a curious parallel between the Germans of Tacitus and the +North American Indians.--M.] + +[Footnote 17: Recherches Philosophiques sur +les Americains, tom. iii. p. 228. The author of that very curious work +is, if I am not misinformed, a German by birth. (De Pauw.)] + +[Footnote 18: The Alexandrian Geographer is often criticized by the +accurate Cluverius.] + +[Footnote 19: See Caesar, and the learned Mr. Whitaker in his History of +Manchester, vol. i.] + +[Footnote 20: Tacit. Germ. 15.] + +[Footnote 21: When the Germans commanded the Ubii of Cologne to cast +off the Roman yoke, and with their new freedom to resume their ancient +manners, they insisted on the immediate demolition of the walls of +the colony. "Postulamus a vobis, muros coloniae, munimenta servitii, +detrahatis; etiam fera animalia, si clausa teneas, virtutis +obliviscuntur." Tacit. Hist. iv. 64.] + +[Footnote 22: The straggling villages of Silesia are several miles in +length. See Cluver. l. i. c. 13.] + +[Footnote 23: One hundred and forty years after Tacitus, a few more +regular structures were erected near the Rhine and Danube. Herodian, l. +vii. p. 234.] + +[Footnote 24: Tacit. Germ. 17.] + +[Footnote 25: Tacit. Germ. 5.] + +[Footnote 26: Caesar de Bell. Gall. vi. 21.] + +[Footnote 27: Tacit. Germ. 26. Caesar, vi. 22.] + +Gold, silver, and iron, were extremely scarce in Germany. Its barbarous +inhabitants wanted both skill and patience to investigate those rich +veins of silver, which have so liberally rewarded the attention of the +princes of Brunswick and Saxony. Sweden, which now supplies Europe with +iron, was equally ignorant of its own riches; and the appearance of the +arms of the Germans furnished a sufficient proof how little iron they +were able to bestow on what they must have deemed the noblest use of +that metal. The various transactions of peace and war had introduced +some Roman coins (chiefly silver) among the borderers of the Rhine and +Danube; but the more distant tribes were absolutely unacquainted with +the use of money, carried on their confined traffic by the exchange of +commodities, and prized their rude earthen vessels as of equal value +with the silver vases, the presents of Rome to their princes and +ambassadors. [28] To a mind capable of reflection, such leading +facts convey more instruction, than a tedious detail of subordinate +circumstances. The value of money has been settled by general consent to +express our wants and our property, as letters were invented to express +our ideas; and both these institutions, by giving a more active energy +to the powers and passions of human nature, have contributed to multiply +the objects they were designed to represent. The use of gold and +silver is in a great measure factitious; but it would be impossible to +enumerate the important and various services which agriculture, and all +the arts, have received from iron, when tempered and fashioned by the +operation of fire, and the dexterous hand of man. Money, in a word, is +the most universal incitement, iron the most powerful instrument, of +human industry; and it is very difficult to conceive by what means a +people, neither actuated by the one, nor seconded by the other, could +emerge from the grossest barbarism. [29] + +[Footnote 28: Tacit. Germ. 6.] + +[Footnote 29: It is said that the Mexicans and Peruvians, without the +use of either money or iron, had made a very great progress in the +arts. Those arts, and the monuments they produced, have been strangely +magnified. See Recherches sur les Americains, tom. ii. p. 153, &c] + +If we contemplate a savage nation in any part of the globe, a supine +indolence and a carelessness of futurity will be found to constitute +their general character. In a civilized state, every faculty of man +is expanded and exercised; and the great chain of mutual dependence +connects and embraces the several members of society. The most numerous +portion of it is employed in constant and useful labor. The select few, +placed by fortune above that necessity, can, however, fill up their time +by the pursuits of interest or glory, by the improvement of their estate +or of their understanding, by the duties, the pleasures, and even the +follies of social life. The Germans were not possessed of these varied +resources. The care of the house and family, the management of the +land and cattle, were delegated to the old and the infirm, to women and +slaves. The lazy warrior, destitute of every art that might employ his +leisure hours, consumed his days and nights in the animal gratifications +of sleep and food. And yet, by a wonderful diversity of nature, +(according to the remark of a writer who had pierced into its darkest +recesses,) the same barbarians are by turns the most indolent and +the most restless of mankind. They delight in sloth, they detest +tranquility. [30] The languid soul, oppressed with its own weight, +anxiously required some new and powerful sensation; and war and danger +were the only amusements adequate to its fierce temper. The sound that +summoned the German to arms was grateful to his ear. It roused him from +his uncomfortable lethargy, gave him an active pursuit, and, by strong +exercise of the body, and violent emotions of the mind, restored him to +a more lively sense of his existence. In the dull intervals of peace, +these barbarians were immoderately addicted to deep gaming and excessive +drinking; both of which, by different means, the one by inflaming their +passions, the other by extinguishing their reason, alike relieved them +from the pain of thinking. They gloried in passing whole days and nights +at table; and the blood of friends and relations often stained their +numerous and drunken assemblies. [31] Their debts of honor (for in that +light they have transmitted to us those of play) they discharged with +the most romantic fidelity. The desperate gamester, who had staked his +person and liberty on a last throw of the dice, patiently submitted to +the decision of fortune, and suffered himself to be bound, chastised, +and sold into remote slavery, by his weaker but more lucky antagonist. +[32] + +[Footnote 30: Tacit. Germ. 15.] + +[Footnote 31: Tacit. Germ. 22, 23.] + +[Footnote 32: Id. 24. The Germans might borrow the arts of play from the +Romans, but the passion is wonderfully inherent in the human species.] + +Strong beer, a liquor extracted with very little art from wheat or +barley, and corrupted (as it is strongly expressed by Tacitus) into +a certain semblance of wine, was sufficient for the gross purposes of +German debauchery. But those who had tasted the rich wines of Italy, +and afterwards of Gaul, sighed for that more delicious species of +intoxication. They attempted not, however, (as has since been executed +with so much success,) to naturalize the vine on the banks of the Rhine +and Danube; nor did they endeavor to procure by industry the materials +of an advantageous commerce. To solicit by labor what might be ravished +by arms, was esteemed unworthy of the German spirit. [33] The intemperate +thirst of strong liquors often urged the barbarians to invade the +provinces on which art or nature had bestowed those much envied +presents. The Tuscan who betrayed his country to the Celtic nations, +attracted them into Italy by the prospect of the rich fruits and +delicious wines, the productions of a happier climate. [34] And in the +same manner the German auxiliaries, invited into France during the civil +wars of the sixteenth century, were allured by the promise of plenteous +quarters in the provinces of Champaigne and Burgundy. [35] Drunkenness, +the most illiberal, but not the most dangerous of our vices, was +sometimes capable, in a less civilized state of mankind, of occasioning +a battle, a war, or a revolution. + +[Footnote 33: Tacit. Germ. 14.] + +[Footnote 34: Plutarch. in Camillo. T. Liv. v. 33.] + +[Footnote 35: Dubos. Hist. de la Monarchie Francoise, tom. i. p. +193.] + +The climate of ancient Germany has been modified, and the soil +fertilized, by the labor of ten centuries from the time of Charlemagne. +The same extent of ground which at present maintains, in ease and +plenty, a million of husbandmen and artificers, was unable to supply a +hundred thousand lazy warriors with the simple necessaries of life. [36] +The Germans abandoned their immense forests to the exercise of hunting, +employed in pasturage the most considerable part of their lands, +bestowed on the small remainder a rude and careless cultivation, and +then accused the scantiness and sterility of a country that refused to +maintain the multitude of its inhabitants. When the return of famine +severely admonished them of the importance of the arts, the national +distress was sometimes alleviated by the emigration of a third, perhaps, +or a fourth part of their youth. [37] The possession and the enjoyment +of property are the pledges which bind a civilized people to an improved +country. But the Germans, who carried with them what they most valued, +their arms, their cattle, and their women, cheerfully abandoned the vast +silence of their woods for the unbounded hopes of plunder and conquest. +The innumerable swarms that issued, or seemed to issue, from the great +storehouse of nations, were multiplied by the fears of the vanquished, +and by the credulity of succeeding ages. And from facts thus +exaggerated, an opinion was gradually established, and has been +supported by writers of distinguished reputation, that, in the age of +Caesar and Tacitus, the inhabitants of the North were far more numerous +than they are in our days. [38] A more serious inquiry into the causes of +population seems to have convinced modern philosophers of the falsehood, +and indeed the impossibility, of the supposition. To the names of +Mariana and of Machiavel, [39] we can oppose the equal names of Robertson +and Hume. [40] + +[Footnote 36: The Helvetian nation, which issued from a country called +Switzerland, contained, of every age and sex, 368,000 persons, (Caesar +de Bell. Gal. i. 29.) At present, the number of people in the Pays +de Vaud (a small district on the banks of the Leman Lake, much more +distinguished for politeness than for industry) amounts to 112,591. See +an excellent tract of M. Muret, in the Memoires de la Societe de Born.] + +[Footnote 37: Paul Diaconus, c. 1, 2, 3. Machiavel, Davila, and the rest +of Paul's followers, represent these emigrations too much as regular and +concerted measures.] + +[Footnote 38: Sir William Temple and Montesquieu have indulged, on this +subject, the usual liveliness of their fancy.] + +[Footnote 39: Machiavel, Hist. di Firenze, l. i. Mariana, Hist. Hispan. +l. v. c. 1] + +[Footnote 40: Robertson's Charles V. Hume's Political Essays. Note: It +is a wise observation of Malthus, that these nations "were not populous +in proportion to the land they occupied, but to the food they produced." +They were prolific from their pure morals and constitutions, but their +institutions were not calculated to produce food for those whom they +brought into being.--M--1845.] + +A warlike nation like the Germans, without either cities, letters, arts, +or money, found some compensation for this savage state in the enjoyment +of liberty. Their poverty secured their freedom, since our desires +and our possessions are the strongest fetters of despotism. "Among the +Suiones (says Tacitus) riches are held in honor. They are therefore +subject to an absolute monarch, who, instead of intrusting his people +with the free use of arms, as is practised in the rest of Germany, +commits them to the safe custody, not of a citizen, or even of a +freedman, but of a slave. The neighbors of the Suiones, the Sitones, +are sunk even below servitude; they obey a woman." [41] In the mention +of these exceptions, the great historian sufficiently acknowledges the +general theory of government. We are only at a loss to conceive by what +means riches and despotism could penetrate into a remote corner of +the North, and extinguish the generous flame that blazed with such +fierceness on the frontier of the Roman provinces, or how the ancestors +of those Danes and Norwegians, so distinguished in latter ages by their +unconquered spirit, could thus tamely resign the great character of +German liberty. [42] Some tribes, however, on the coast of the Baltic, +acknowledged the authority of kings, though without relinquishing the +rights of men, [43] but in the far greater part of Germany, the form of +government was a democracy, tempered, indeed, and controlled, not so +much by general and positive laws, as by the occasional ascendant of +birth or valor, of eloquence or superstition. [44] + +[Footnote 41: Tacit. German. 44, 45. Freinshemius (who dedicated his +supplement to Livy to Christina of Sweden) thinks proper to be very +angry with the Roman who expressed so very little reverence for Northern +queens. Note: The Suiones and the Sitones are the ancient inhabitants +of Scandinavia, their name may be traced in that of Sweden; they did not +belong to the race of the Suevi, but that of the non-Suevi or Cimbri, +whom the Suevi, in very remote times, drove back part to the west, part +to the north; they were afterwards mingled with Suevian tribes, among +others the Goths, who have traces of their name and power in the isle of +Gothland.--G] + +[Footnote 42: May we not suspect that superstition was the parent of +despotism? The descendants of Odin, (whose race was not extinct till the +year 1060) are said to have reigned in Sweden above a thousand years. +The temple of Upsal was the ancient seat of religion and empire. In the +year 1153 I find a singular law, prohibiting the use and profession of +arms to any except the king's guards. Is it not probable that it was +colored by the pretence of reviving an old institution? See Dalin's +History of Sweden in the Bibliotheque Raisonneo tom. xl. and xlv.] + +[Footnote 43: Tacit. Germ. c. 43.] + +[Footnote 44: Id. c. 11, 12, 13, & c.] + +Civil governments, in their first institution, are voluntary +associations for mutual defence. To obtain the desired end, it is +absolutely necessary that each individual should conceive himself +obliged to submit his private opinions and actions to the judgment of +the greater number of his associates. The German tribes were contented +with this rude but liberal outline of political society. As soon as a +youth, born of free parents, had attained the age of manhood, he was +introduced into the general council of his countrymen, solemnly invested +with a shield and spear, and adopted as an equal and worthy member of +the military commonwealth. The assembly of the warriors of the tribe +was convened at stated seasons, or on sudden emergencies. The trial of +public offences, the election of magistrates, and the great business +of peace and war, were determined by its independent voice. Sometimes +indeed, these important questions were previously considered and +prepared in a more select council of the principal chieftains. [45] The +magistrates might deliberate and persuade, the people only could resolve +and execute; and the resolutions of the Germans were for the most part +hasty and violent. Barbarians accustomed to place their freedom in +gratifying the present passion, and their courage in overlooking all +future consequences, turned away with indignant contempt from the +remonstrances of justice and policy, and it was the practice to signify +by a hollow murmur their dislike of such timid counsels. But whenever +a more popular orator proposed to vindicate the meanest citizen +from either foreign or domestic injury, whenever he called upon his +fellow-countrymen to assert the national honor, or to pursue some +enterprise full of danger and glory, a loud clashing of shields and +spears expressed the eager applause of the assembly. For the Germans +always met in arms, and it was constantly to be dreaded, lest an +irregular multitude, inflamed with faction and strong liquors, should +use those arms to enforce, as well as to declare, their furious +resolves. We may recollect how often the diets of Poland have been +polluted with blood, and the more numerous party has been compelled to +yield to the more violent and seditious. [46] + +[Footnote 45: Grotius changes an expression of Tacitus, pertractantur +into Proetractantur. The correction is equally just and ingenious.] + +[Footnote 46: Even in our ancient parliament, the barons often carried a +question, not so much by the number of votes, as by that of their armed +followers.] + +A general of the tribe was elected on occasions of danger; and, if +the danger was pressing and extensive, several tribes concurred in the +choice of the same general. The bravest warrior was named to lead his +countrymen into the field, by his example rather than by his commands. +But this power, however limited, was still invidious. It expired with +the war, and in time of peace the German tribes acknowledged not any +supreme chief. [47] Princes were, however, appointed, in the general +assembly, to administer justice, or rather to compose differences, [48] +in their respective districts. In the choice of these magistrates, as +much regard was shown to birth as to merit. [49] To each was assigned, by +the public, a guard, and a council of a hundred persons, and the first +of the princes appears to have enjoyed a preeminence of rank and honor +which sometimes tempted the Romans to compliment him with the regal +title. [50] + +[Footnote 47: Caesar de Bell. Gal. vi. 23.] + +[Footnote 48: Minuunt controversias, is a very happy expression of +Caesar's.] + +[Footnote 49: Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. +Tacit Germ. 7] + +[Footnote 50: Cluver. Germ. Ant. l. i. c. 38.] + +The comparative view of the powers of the magistrates, in two remarkable +instances, is alone sufficient to represent the whole system of German +manners. The disposal of the landed property within their district was +absolutely vested in their hands, and they distributed it every +year according to a new division. [51] At the same time they were not +authorized to punish with death, to imprison, or even to strike a +private citizen. [52] A people thus jealous of their persons, and +careless of their possessions, must have been totally destitute of +industry and the arts, but animated with a high sense of honor and +independence. + +[Footnote 51: Caesar, vi. 22. Tacit Germ. 26.] + +[Footnote 52: Tacit. Germ. 7.] + + + + +Chapter IX: State Of Germany Until The Barbarians.--Part III. + +The Germans respected only those duties which they imposed on +themselves. The most obscure soldier resisted with disdain the authority +of the magistrates. The noblest youths blushed not to be numbered among +the faithful companions of some renowned chief, to whom they devoted +their arms and service. A noble emulation prevailed among the +companions, to obtain the first place in the esteem of their chief; +amongst the chiefs, to acquire the greatest number of valiant +companions. To be ever surrounded by a band of select youths was the +pride and strength of the chiefs, their ornament in peace, their defence +in war. The glory of such distinguished heroes diffused itself beyond +the narrow limits of their own tribe. Presents and embassies solicited +their friendship, and the fame of their arms often insured victory to +the party which they espoused. In the hour of danger it was shameful for +the chief to be surpassed in valor by his companions; shameful for the +companions not to equal the valor of their chief. To survive his fall +in battle, was indelible infamy. To protect his person, and to adorn his +glory with the trophies of their own exploits, were the most sacred of +their duties. The chiefs combated for victory, the companions for the +chief. The noblest warriors, whenever their native country was sunk into +the laziness of peace, maintained their numerous bands in some distant +scene of action, to exercise their restless spirit, and to acquire +renown by voluntary dangers. Gifts worthy of soldiers--the warlike +steed, the bloody and even victorious lance--were the rewards which the +companions claimed from the liberality of their chief. The rude plenty +of his hospitable board was the only pay that he could bestow, or they +would accept. War, rapine, and the free-will offerings of his friends, +supplied the materials of this munificence. [53] This institution, +however it might accidentally weaken the several republics, invigorated +the general character of the Germans, and even ripened amongst them all +the virtues of which barbarians are susceptible; the faith and valor, +the hospitality and the courtesy, so conspicuous long afterwards in the +ages of chivalry. + +The honorable gifts, bestowed by the chief on his brave companions, have +been supposed, by an ingenious writer, to contain the first rudiments of +the fiefs, distributed after the conquest of the Roman provinces, by the +barbarian lords among their vassals, with a similar duty of homage and +military service. [54] These conditions are, however, very repugnant to +the maxims of the ancient Germans, who delighted in mutual presents; but +without either imposing, or accepting, the weight of obligations. [55] + +[Footnote 53: Tacit. Germ. 13, 14.] + +[Footnote 54: Esprit des Loix, l. xxx. c. 3. The brilliant imagination +of Montesquieu is corrected, however, by the dry, cold reason of the +Abbe de Mably. Observations sur l'Histoire de France, tom. i. p. 356.] + +[Footnote 55: Gaudent muneribus, sed nec data imputant, nec acceptis +obligautur. Tacit. Germ. c. 21.] + +"In the days of chivalry, or more properly of romance, all the men were +brave, and all the women were chaste;" and notwithstanding the latter of +these virtues is acquired and preserved with much more difficulty than +the former, it is ascribed, almost without exception, to the wives of +the ancient Germans. Polygamy was not in use, except among the princes, +and among them only for the sake of multiplying their alliances. +Divorces were prohibited by manners rather than by laws. Adulteries were +punished as rare and inexpiable crimes; nor was seduction justified by +example and fashion. [56] We may easily discover that Tacitus indulges an +honest pleasure in the contrast of barbarian virtue with the dissolute +conduct of the Roman ladies; yet there are some striking circumstances +that give an air of truth, or at least probability, to the conjugal +faith and chastity of the Germans. + +[Footnote 56: The adulteress was whipped through the village. Neither +wealth nor beauty could inspire compassion, or procure her a second +husband. 18, 19.] + +Although the progress of civilization has undoubtedly contributed to +assuage the fiercer passions of human nature, it seems to have been less +favorable to the virtue of chastity, whose most dangerous enemy is the +softness of the mind. The refinements of life corrupt while they polish +the intercourse of the sexes. The gross appetite of love becomes +most dangerous when it is elevated, or rather, indeed, disguised by +sentimental passion. The elegance of dress, of motion, and of +manners, gives a lustre to beauty, and inflames the senses through the +imagination. Luxurious entertainments, midnight dances, and licentious +spectacles, present at once temptation and opportunity to female +frailty. [57] From such dangers the unpolished wives of the barbarians +were secured by poverty, solitude, and the painful cares of a domestic +life. The German huts, open, on every side, to the eye of indiscretion +or jealousy, were a better safeguard of conjugal fidelity, than the +walls, the bolts, and the eunuchs of a Persian haram. To this reason +another may be added, of a more honorable nature. The Germans treated +their women with esteem and confidence, consulted them on every occasion +of importance, and fondly believed, that in their breasts resided a +sanctity and wisdom more than human. Some of the interpreters of fate, +such as Velleda, in the Batavian war, governed, in the name of the +deity, the fiercest nations of Germany. [58] The rest of the sex, +without being adored as goddesses, were respected as the free and equal +companions of soldiers; associated even by the marriage ceremony to a +life of toil, of danger, and of glory. [59] In their great invasions, +the camps of the barbarians were filled with a multitude of women, who +remained firm and undaunted amidst the sound of arms, the various forms +of destruction, and the honorable wounds of their sons and husbands. [60] +Fainting armies of Germans have, more than once, been driven back upon +the enemy, by the generous despair of the women, who dreaded death much +less than servitude. If the day was irrecoverably lost, they well knew +how to deliver themselves and their children, with their own hands, +from an insulting victor. [61] Heroines of such a cast may claim our +admiration; but they were most assuredly neither lovely, nor very +susceptible of love. Whilst they affected to emulate the stern virtues +of man, they must have resigned that attractive softness, in which +principally consist the charm and weakness of woman. Conscious pride +taught the German females to suppress every tender emotion that stood +in competition with honor, and the first honor of the sex has ever been +that of chastity. The sentiments and conduct of these high-spirited +matrons may, at once, be considered as a cause, as an effect, and as a +proof of the general character of the nation. Female courage, however it +may be raised by fanaticism, or confirmed by habit, can be only a faint +and imperfect imitation of the manly valor that distinguishes the age or +country in which it may be found. + +[Footnote 57: Ovid employs two hundred lines in the research of places +the most favorable to love. Above all, he considers the theatre as the +best adapted to collect the beauties of Rome, and to melt them into +tenderness and sensuality,] + +[Footnote 58: Tacit. Germ. iv. 61, 65.] + +[Footnote 59: The marriage present was a yoke of oxen, horses, and +arms. See Germ. c. 18. Tacitus is somewhat too florid on the subject.] + +[Footnote 60: The change of exigere into exugere is a most excellent +correction.] + +[Footnote 61: Tacit. Germ. c. 7. Plutarch in Mario. Before the wives of +the Teutones destroyed themselves and their children, they had offered +to surrender, on condition that they should be received as the slaves +of the vestal virgins.] + +The religious system of the Germans (if the wild opinions of savages can +deserve that name) was dictated by their wants, their fears, and their +ignorance. [62] They adored the great visible objects and agents of +nature, the Sun and the Moon, the Fire and the Earth; together with +those imaginary deities, who were supposed to preside over the most +important occupations of human life. They were persuaded, that, by some +ridiculous arts of divination, they could discover the will of the +superior beings, and that human sacrifices were the most precious and +acceptable offering to their altars. Some applause has been hastily +bestowed on the sublime notion, entertained by that people, of the +Deity, whom they neither confined within the walls of the temple, nor +represented by any human figure; but when we recollect, that the Germans +were unskilled in architecture, and totally unacquainted with the art of +sculpture, we shall readily assign the true reason of a scruple, which +arose not so much from a superiority of reason, as from a want of +ingenuity. The only temples in Germany were dark and ancient groves, +consecrated by the reverence of succeeding generations. Their secret +gloom, the imagined residence of an invisible power, by presenting no +distinct object of fear or worship, impressed the mind with a still +deeper sense of religious horror; [63] and the priests, rude and +illiterate as they were, had been taught by experience the use of every +artifice that could preserve and fortify impressions so well suited to +their own interest. + +[Footnote 62: Tacitus has employed a few lines, and Cluverius one +hundred and twenty-four pages, on this obscure subject. The former +discovers in Germany the gods of Greece and Rome. The latter is +positive, that, under the emblems of the sun, the moon, and the fire, +his pious ancestors worshipped the Trinity in unity] + +[Footnote 63: The sacred wood, described with such sublime horror by +Lucan, was in the neighborhood of Marseilles; but there were many of the +same kind in Germany. * Note: The ancient Germans had shapeless idols, +and, when they began to build more settled habitations, they raised also +temples, such as that to the goddess Teufana, who presided over +divination. See Adelung, Hist. of Ane Germans, p 296--G] + +The same ignorance, which renders barbarians incapable of conceiving or +embracing the useful restraints of laws, exposes them naked and unarmed +to the blind terrors of superstition. The German priests, improving this +favorable temper of their countrymen, had assumed a jurisdiction even in +temporal concerns, which the magistrate could not venture to exercise; +and the haughty warrior patiently submitted to the lash of correction, +when it was inflicted, not by any human power, but by the immediate +order of the god of war. [64] The defects of civil policy were sometimes +supplied by the interposition of ecclesiastical authority. The latter +was constantly exerted to maintain silence and decency in the popular +assemblies; and was sometimes extended to a more enlarged concern for +the national welfare. A solemn procession was occasionally celebrated in +the present countries of Mecklenburgh and Pomerania. The unknown symbol +of the Earth, covered with a thick veil, was placed on a carriage drawn +by cows; and in this manner the goddess, whose common residence was in +the Isles of Rugen, visited several adjacent tribes of her worshippers. +During her progress the sound of war was hushed, quarrels were +suspended, arms laid aside, and the restless Germans had an opportunity +of tasting the blessings of peace and harmony. [65] The truce of God, +so often and so ineffectually proclaimed by the clergy of the eleventh +century, was an obvious imitation of this ancient custom. [66] + +[Footnote 64: Tacit. Germania, c. 7.] + +[Footnote 65: Tacit. Germania, c. 40.] + +[Footnote 66: See Dr. Robertson's History of Charles V. vol. i. note +10.] + +But the influence of religion was far more powerful to inflame, +than to moderate, the fierce passions of the Germans. Interest and +fanaticism often prompted its ministers to sanctify the most daring +and the most unjust enterprises, by the approbation of Heaven, and full +assurances of success. The consecrated standards, long revered in the +groves of superstition, were placed in the front of the battle; [67] and +the hostile army was devoted with dire execrations to the gods of war +and of thunder. [68] In the faith of soldiers (and such were the Germans) +cowardice is the most unpardonable of sins. A brave man was the worthy +favorite of their martial deities; the wretch who had lost his shield +was alike banished from the religious and civil assemblies of his +countrymen. Some tribes of the north seem to have embraced the doctrine +of transmigration, [69] others imagined a gross paradise of immortal +drunkenness. [70] All agreed, that a life spent in arms, and a glorious +death in battle, were the best preparations for a happy futurity, either +in this or in another world. + +[Footnote 67: Tacit. Germania, c. 7. These standards were only the heads +of wild beasts.] + +[Footnote 68: See an instance of this custom, Tacit. Annal. xiii. 57.] + +[Footnote 69: Caesar Diodorus, and Lucan, seem to ascribe this doctrine +to the Gauls, but M. Pelloutier (Histoire des Celtes, l. iii. c. 18) +labors to reduce their expressions to a more orthodox sense.] + +[Footnote 70: Concerning this gross but alluring doctrine of the Edda, +see Fable xx. in the curious version of that book, published by M. +Mallet, in his Introduction to the History of Denmark.] + +The immortality so vainly promised by the priests, was, in some degree, +conferred by the bards. That singular order of men has most deservedly +attracted the notice of all who have attempted to investigate the +antiquities of the Celts, the Scandinavians, and the Germans. Their +genius and character, as well as the reverence paid to that important +office, have been sufficiently illustrated. But we cannot so easily +express, or even conceive, the enthusiasm of arms and glory which they +kindled in the breast of their audience. Among a polished people, a +taste for poetry is rather an amusement of the fancy, than a passion +of the soul. And yet, when in calm retirement we peruse the combats +described by Homer or Tasso, we are insensibly seduced by the fiction, +and feel a momentary glow of martial ardor. But how faint, how cold is +the sensation which a peaceful mind can receive from solitary study! It +was in the hour of battle, or in the feast of victory, that the bards +celebrated the glory of the heroes of ancient days, the ancestors of +those warlike chieftains, who listened with transport to their artless +but animated strains. The view of arms and of danger heightened the +effect of the military song; and the passions which it tended to +excite, the desire of fame, and the contempt of death, were the habitual +sentiments of a German mind. [71] [711] + +[Footnote 71: See Tacit. Germ. c. 3. Diod. Sicul. l. v. Strabo, l. iv. +p. 197. The classical reader may remember the rank of Demodocus in the +Phaeacian court, and the ardor infused by Tyrtaeus into the fainting +Spartans. Yet there is little probability that the Greeks and the +Germans were the same people. Much learned trifling might be spared, if +our antiquarians would condescend to reflect, that similar manners will +naturally be produced by similar situations.] + +[Footnote 711: Besides these battle songs, the Germans sang at their +festival banquets, (Tac. Ann. i. 65,) and around the bodies of their +slain heroes. King Theodoric, of the tribe of the Goths, killed in a +battle against Attila, was honored by songs while he was borne from +the field of battle. Jornandes, c. 41. The same honor was paid to +the remains of Attila. Ibid. c. 49. According to some historians, +the Germans had songs also at their weddings; but this appears to me +inconsistent with their customs, in which marriage was no more than the +purchase of a wife. Besides, there is but one instance of this, that +of the Gothic king, Ataulph, who sang himself the nuptial hymn when +he espoused Placidia, sister of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, +(Olympiodor. p. 8.) But this marriage was celebrated according to the +Roman rites, of which the nuptial songs formed a part. Adelung, p. +382.--G. Charlemagne is said to have collected the national songs of the +ancient Germans. Eginhard, Vit. Car. Mag.--M.] + +Such was the situation, and such were the manners of the ancient +Germans. Their climate, their want of learning, of arts, and of laws, +their notions of honor, of gallantry, and of religion, their sense of +freedom, impatience of peace, and thirst of enterprise, all contributed +to form a people of military heroes. And yet we find, that during more +than two hundred and fifty years that elapsed from the defeat of +Varus to the reign of Decius, these formidable barbarians made few +considerable attempts, and not any material impression on the luxurious +and enslaved provinces of the empire. Their progress was checked by +their want of arms and discipline, and their fury was diverted by the +intestine divisions of ancient Germany. I. It has been observed, with +ingenuity, and not without truth, that the command of iron soon gives +a nation the command of gold. But the rude tribes of Germany, alike +destitute of both those valuable metals, were reduced slowly to acquire, +by their unassisted strength, the possession of the one as well as +the other. The face of a German army displayed their poverty of iron. +Swords, and the longer kind of lances, they could seldom use. Their +frameae (as they called them in their own language) were long spears +headed with a sharp but narrow iron point, and which, as occasion +required, they either darted from a distance, or pushed in close onset. +With this spear, and with a shield, their cavalry was contented. +A multitude of darts, scattered [72] with incredible force, were an +additional resource of the infantry. Their military dress, when they +wore any, was nothing more than a loose mantle. A variety of colors was +the only ornament of their wooden or osier shields. Few of the chiefs +were distinguished by cuirasses, scarcely any by helmets. Though the +horses of Germany were neither beautiful, swift, nor practised in the +skilful evolutions of the Roman manege, several of the nations obtained +renown by their cavalry; but, in general, the principal strength of the +Germans consisted in their infantry, [73] which was drawn up in several +deep columns, according to the distinction of tribes and families. +Impatient of fatigue and delay, these half-armed warriors rushed to +battle with dissonant shouts and disordered ranks; and sometimes, by +the effort of native valor, prevailed over the constrained and more +artificial bravery of the Roman mercenaries. But as the barbarians +poured forth their whole souls on the first onset, they knew not how to +rally or to retire. A repulse was a sure defeat; and a defeat was most +commonly total destruction. When we recollect the complete armor of +the Roman soldiers, their discipline, exercises, evolutions, fortified +camps, and military engines, it appears a just matter of surprise, +how the naked and unassisted valor of the barbarians could dare to +encounter, in the field, the strength of the legions, and the various +troops of the auxiliaries, which seconded their operations. The contest +was too unequal, till the introduction of luxury had enervated the +vigor, and a spirit of disobedience and sedition had relaxed the +discipline, of the Roman armies. The introduction of barbarian +auxiliaries into those armies, was a measure attended with very obvious +dangers, as it might gradually instruct the Germans in the arts of war +and of policy. Although they were admitted in small numbers and with the +strictest precaution, the example of Civilis was proper to convince the +Romans, that the danger was not imaginary, and that their precautions +were not always sufficient. [74] During the civil wars that followed +the death of Nero, that artful and intrepid Batavian, whom his enemies +condescended to compare with Hannibal and Sertorius, [75] formed a great +design of freedom and ambition. Eight Batavian cohorts renowned in the +wars of Britain and Italy, repaired to his standard. He introduced an +army of Germans into Gaul, prevailed on the powerful cities of Treves +and Langres to embrace his cause, defeated the legions, destroyed their +fortified camps, and employed against the Romans the military knowledge +which he had acquired in their service. When at length, after an +obstinate struggle, he yielded to the power of the empire, Civilis +secured himself and his country by an honorable treaty. The Batavians +still continued to occupy the islands of the Rhine, [76] the allies, not +the servants, of the Roman monarchy. + +[Footnote 72: Missilia spargunt, +Tacit. Germ. c. 6. Either that historian used a vague expression, or +he meant that they were thrown at random.] + +[Footnote 73: It was their +principal distinction from the Sarmatians, who generally fought on +horseback.] + +[Footnote 74: The relation of this enterprise occupies a great part +of the fourth and fifth books of the History of Tacitus, and is more +remarkable for its eloquence than perspicuity. Sir Henry Saville has +observed several inaccuracies.] + +[Footnote 75: Tacit. Hist. iv. 13. Like them he had lost an eye.] + +[Footnote 76: It was contained between the two branches of the old +Rhine, as they subsisted before the face of the country was changed by +art and nature. See Cluver German. Antiq. l. iii. c. 30, 37.] + + +II. The strength of ancient Germany appears formidable, when we consider +the effects that might have been produced by its united effort. The wide +extent of country might very possibly contain a million of warriors, as +all who were of age to bear arms were of a temper to use them. But +this fierce multitude, incapable of concerting or executing any plan +of national greatness, was agitated by various and often hostile +intentions. Germany was divided into more than forty independent states; +and, even in each state, the union of the several tribes was extremely +loose and precarious. The barbarians were easily provoked; they knew not +how to forgive an injury, much less an insult; their resentments were +bloody and implacable. The casual disputes that so frequently happened +in their tumultuous parties of hunting or drinking, were sufficient +to inflame the minds of whole nations; the private feuds of any +considerable chieftains diffused itself among their followers and +allies. To chastise the insolent, or to plunder the defenceless, were +alike causes of war. The most formidable states of Germany affected +to encompass their territories with a wide frontier of solitude and +devastation. The awful distance preserved by their neighbors attested +the terror of their arms, and in some measure defended them from the +danger of unexpected incursions. [77] + +[Footnote 77: Caesar de Bell. Gal. l. vi. 23.] + +"The Bructeri [771] (it is Tacitus who now speaks) were totally +exterminated by the neighboring tribes, [78] provoked by their insolence, +allured by the hopes of spoil, and perhaps inspired by the tutelar +deities of the empire. Above sixty thousand barbarians were destroyed; +not by the Roman arms, but in our sight, and for our entertainment. May +the nations, enemies of Rome, ever preserve this enmity to each other! +We have now attained the utmost verge of prosperity, [79] and +have nothing left to demand of fortune, except the discord of the +barbarians." [80]--These sentiments, less worthy of the humanity than of +the patriotism of Tacitus, express the invariable maxims of the policy +of his countrymen. They deemed it a much safer expedient to divide than +to combat the barbarians, from whose defeat they could derive neither +honor nor advantage. The money and negotiations of Rome insinuated +themselves into the heart of Germany; and every art of seduction was +used with dignity, to conciliate those nations whom their proximity to +the Rhine or Danube might render the most useful friends as well as the +most troublesome enemies. Chiefs of renown and power were flattered +by the most trifling presents, which they received either as marks of +distinction, or as the instruments of luxury. In civil dissensions the +weaker faction endeavored to strengthen its interest by entering into +secret connections with the governors of the frontier provinces. Every +quarrel among the Germans was fomented by the intrigues of Rome; and +every plan of union and public good was defeated by the stronger bias of +private jealousy and interest. [81] + +[Footnote 771: The Bructeri were a non-Suevian tribe, who dwelt below the +duchies of Oldenburgh, and Lauenburgh, on the borders of the Lippe, and +in the Hartz Mountains. It was among them that the priestess Velleda +obtained her renown.--G.] + +[Footnote 78: They are mentioned, however, in the ivth and vth centuries +by Nazarius, Ammianus, Claudian, &c., as a tribe of Franks. See Cluver. +Germ. Antiq. l. iii. c. 13.] + +[Footnote 79: Urgentibus is the common reading; but good sense, Lipsius, +and some Mss. declare for Vergentibus.] + +[Footnote 80: Tacit Germania, c. 33. The pious Abbe de la Bleterie is +very angry with Tacitus, talks of the devil, who was a murderer from the +beginning, &c., &c.] + +[Footnote 81: Many traces of this policy may be discovered in Tacitus +and Dion: and many more may be inferred from the principles of human +nature.] + +The general conspiracy which terrified the Romans under the reign of +Marcus Antoninus, comprehended almost all the nations of Germany, and +even Sarmatia, from the mouth of the Rhine to that of the Danube. [82] +It is impossible for us to determine whether this hasty confederation +was formed by necessity, by reason, or by passion; but we may rest +assured, that the barbarians were neither allured by the indolence, nor +provoked by the ambition, of the Roman monarch. This dangerous invasion +required all the firmness and vigilance of Marcus. He fixed generals of +ability in the several stations of attack, and assumed in person the +conduct of the most important province on the Upper Danube. After a long +and doubtful conflict, the spirit of the barbarians was subdued. The +Quadi and the Marcomanni, [83] who had taken the lead in the war, were +the most severely punished in its catastrophe. They were commanded to +retire five miles [84] from their own banks of the Danube, and to +deliver up the flower of the youth, who were immediately sent into +Britain, a remote island, where they might be secure as hostages, and +useful as soldiers. [85] On the frequent rebellions of the Quadi and +Marcomanni, the irritated emperor resolved to reduce their country into +the form of a province. His designs were disappointed by death. This +formidable league, however, the only one that appears in the two first +centuries of the Imperial history, was entirely dissipated, without +leaving any traces behind in Germany. + +[Footnote 82: Hist. Aug. p. 31. Ammian. Marcellin. l. xxxi. c. 5. Aurel. +Victor. The emperor Marcus was reduced to sell the rich furniture of the +palace, and to enlist slaves and robbers.] + +[Footnote 83: The Marcomanni, a colony, who, from the banks of the Rhine +occupied Bohemia and Moravia, had once erected a great and formidable +monarchy under their king Maroboduus. See Strabo, l. vii. [p. 290.] +Vell. Pat. ii. 108. Tacit. Annal. ii. 63. * Note: The Mark-manaen, the +March-men or borderers. There seems little doubt that this was an +appellation, rather than a proper name of a part of the great Suevian or +Teutonic race.--M.] + +[Footnote 84: Mr. Wotton (History of Rome, p. 166) increases the +prohibition to ten times the distance. His reasoning is specious, but +not conclusive. Five miles were sufficient for a fortified barrier.] + +[Footnote 85: Dion, l. lxxi. and lxxii.] + +In the course of this introductory chapter, we have confined ourselves +to the general outlines of the manners of Germany, without attempting +to describe or to distinguish the various tribes which filled that +great country in the time of Caesar, of Tacitus, or of Ptolemy. As the +ancient, or as new tribes successively present themselves in the +series of this history, we shall concisely mention their origin, their +situation, and their particular character. Modern nations are fixed and +permanent societies, connected among themselves by laws and government, +bound to their native soil by arts and agriculture. The German tribes +were voluntary and fluctuating associations of soldiers, almost of +savages. The same territory often changed its inhabitants in the tide +of conquest and emigration. The same communities, uniting in a plan of +defence or invasion, bestowed a new title on their new confederacy. The +dissolution of an ancient confederacy restored to the independent tribes +their peculiar but long-forgotten appellation. A victorious state often +communicated its own name to a vanquished people. Sometimes crowds of +volunteers flocked from all parts to the standard of a favorite leader; +his camp became their country, and some circumstance of the enterprise +soon gave a common denomination to the mixed multitude. The distinctions +of the ferocious invaders were perpetually varied by themselves, and +confounded by the astonished subjects of the Roman empire. [86] + +[Footnote 86: See an excellent dissertation on the origin and migrations +of nations, in the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii. +p. 48--71. It is seldom that the antiquarian and the philosopher are so +happily blended.] + +Wars, and the administration of public affairs, are the principal +subjects of history; but the number of persons interested in these +busy scenes is very different, according to the different condition of +mankind. In great monarchies, millions of obedient subjects pursue their +useful occupations in peace and obscurity. The attention of the writer, +as well as of the reader, is solely confined to a court, a capital, a +regular army, and the districts which happen to be the occasional scene +of military operations. But a state of freedom and barbarism, the season +of civil commotions, or the situation of petty republics, [87] raises +almost every member of the community into action, and consequently into +notice. The irregular divisions, and the restless motions, of the people +of Germany, dazzle our imagination, and seem to multiply their numbers. +The profuse enumeration of kings, of warriors, of armies and nations, +inclines us to forget that the same objects are continually repeated +under a variety of appellations, and that the most splendid appellations +have been frequently lavished on the most inconsiderable objects. + +[Footnote 87: Should we suspect that Athens contained only 21,000 +citizens, and Sparta no more than 39,000? See Hume and Wallace on the +number of mankind in ancient and modern times. * Note: This number, +though too positively stated, is probably not far wrong, as an average +estimate. On the subject of Athenian population, see St. Croix, Acad. +des Inscrip. xlviii. Boeckh, Public Economy of Athens, i. 47. Eng Trans, +Fynes Clinton, Fasti Hellenici, vol. i. p. 381. The latter author +estimates the citizens of Sparta at 33,000--M.] + + + + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And Gallienus--Part I. + + The Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian, And + Gallienus.--The General Irruption Of The Barbari Ans.--The + Thirty Tyrants. + +From the great secular games celebrated by Philip, to the death of the +emperor Gallienus, there elapsed twenty years of shame and misfortune. +During that calamitous period, every instant of time was marked, every +province of the Roman world was afflicted, by barbarous invaders, and +military tyrants, and the ruined empire seemed to approach the last and +fatal moment of its dissolution. The confusion of the times, and the +scarcity of authentic memorials, oppose equal difficulties to the +historian, who attempts to preserve a clear and unbroken thread of +narration. Surrounded with imperfect fragments, always concise, often +obscure, and sometimes contradictory, he is reduced to collect, to +compare, and to conjecture: and though he ought never to place his +conjectures in the rank of facts, yet the knowledge of human nature, and +of the sure operation of its fierce and unrestrained passions, might, on +some occasions, supply the want of historical materials. + +There is not, for instance, any difficulty in conceiving, that the +successive murders of so many emperors had loosened all the ties of +allegiance between the prince and people; that all the generals of +Philip were disposed to imitate the example of their master; and that +the caprice of armies, long since habituated to frequent and violent +revolutions, might every day raise to the throne the most obscure of +their fellow-soldiers. History can only add, that the rebellion against +the emperor Philip broke out in the summer of the year two hundred and +forty-nine, among the legions of Maesia; and that a subaltern officer, +[1] named Marinus, was the object of their seditious choice. Philip was +alarmed. He dreaded lest the treason of the Maesian army should +prove the first spark of a general conflagration. Distracted with +the consciousness of his guilt and of his danger, he communicated the +intelligence to the senate. A gloomy silence prevailed, the effect of +fear, and perhaps of disaffection; till at length Decius, one of the +assembly, assuming a spirit worthy of his noble extraction, ventured to +discover more intrepidity than the emperor seemed to possess. He treated +the whole business with contempt, as a hasty and inconsiderate tumult, +and Philip's rival as a phantom of royalty, who in a very few days would +be destroyed by the same inconstancy that had created him. The speedy +completion of the prophecy inspired Philip with a just esteem for so +able a counsellor; and Decius appeared to him the only person capable +of restoring peace and discipline to an army whose tumultuous spirit did +not immediately subside after the murder of Marinus. Decius, [2] who +long resisted his own nomination, seems to have insinuated the danger of +presenting a leader of merit to the angry and apprehensive minds of +the soldiers; and his prediction was again confirmed by the event. The +legions of Maesia forced their judge to become their accomplice. They +left him only the alternative of death or the purple. His subsequent +conduct, after that decisive measure, was unavoidable. He conducted, or +followed, his army to the confines of Italy, whither Philip, collecting +all his force to repel the formidable competitor whom he had raised up, +advanced to meet him. The Imperial troops were superior in number; +but the rebels formed an army of veterans, commanded by an able and +experienced leader. Philip was either killed in the battle, or put to +death a few days afterwards at Verona. His son and associate in +the empire was massacred at Rome by the Praetorian guards; and the +victorious Decius, with more favorable circumstances than the ambition +of that age can usually plead, was universally acknowledged by the +senate and provinces. It is reported, that, immediately after his +reluctant acceptance of the title of Augustus, he had assured Philip, +by a private message, of his innocence and loyalty, solemnly protesting, +that, on his arrival on Italy, he would resign the Imperial ornaments, +and return to the condition of an obedient subject. His professions +might be sincere; but in the situation where fortune had placed him, it +was scarcely possible that he could either forgive or be forgiven. [3] + +[Footnote 1: The expression used by Zosimus and Zonaras may signify that +Marinus commanded a century, a cohort, or a legion.] + +[Footnote 2: His birth at Bubalia, a little village in Pannonia, +(Eutrop. ix. Victor. in Caesarib. et Epitom.,) seems to contradict, +unless it was merely accidental, his supposed descent from the Decii. +Six hundred years had bestowed nobility on the Decii: but at the +commencement of that period, they were only plebeians of merit, and +among the first who shared the consulship with the haughty patricians. +Plebeine Deciorum animae, &c. Juvenal, Sat. viii. 254. See the spirited +speech of Decius, in Livy. x. 9, 10.] + +[Footnote 3: Zosimus, l. i. p. 20, c. 22. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 624, edit. +Louvre.] + +The emperor Decius had employed a few months in the works of peace and +the administration of justice, when he was summoned to the banks of +the Danube by the invasion of the Goths. This is the first considerable +occasion in which history mentions that great people, who afterwards +broke the Roman power, sacked the Capitol, and reigned in Gaul, Spain, +and Italy. So memorable was the part which they acted in the subversion +of the Western empire, that the name of Goths is frequently but +improperly used as a general appellation of rude and warlike barbarism. + +In the beginning of the sixth century, and after the conquest of Italy, +the Goths, in possession of present greatness, very naturally indulged +themselves in the prospect of past and of future glory. They wished to +preserve the memory of their ancestors, and to transmit to posterity +their own achievements. The principal minister of the court of Ravenna, +the learned Cassiodorus, gratified the inclination of the conquerors in +a Gothic history, which consisted of twelve books, now reduced to the +imperfect abridgment of Jornandes. [4] These writers passed with the most +artful conciseness over the misfortunes of the nation, celebrated its +successful valor, and adorned the triumph with many Asiatic trophies, +that more properly belonged to the people of Scythia. On the faith of +ancient songs, the uncertain, but the only memorials of barbarians, +they deduced the first origin of the Goths from the vast island, or +peninsula, of Scandinavia. [5] [501] That extreme country of the North +was not unknown to the conquerors of Italy: the ties of ancient +consanguinity had been strengthened by recent offices of friendship; and +a Scandinavian king had cheerfully abdicated his savage greatness, that +he might pass the remainder of his days in the peaceful and polished +court of Ravenna. [6] Many vestiges, which cannot be ascribed to the +arts of popular vanity, attest the ancient residence of the Goths in the +countries beyond the Rhine. From the time of the geographer Ptolemy, the +southern part of Sweden seems to have continued in the possession of the +less enterprising remnant of the nation, and a large territory is even +at present divided into east and west Gothland. During the middle +ages, (from the ninth to the twelfth century,) whilst Christianity was +advancing with a slow progress into the North, the Goths and the +Swedes composed two distinct and sometimes hostile members of the +same monarchy. [7] The latter of these two names has prevailed without +extinguishing the former. The Swedes, who might well be satisfied with +their own fame in arms, have, in every age, claimed the kindred glory of +the Goths. In a moment of discontent against the court of Rome, Charles +the Twelfth insinuated, that his victorious troops were not degenerated +from their brave ancestors, who had already subdued the mistress of the +world. [8] + +[Footnote 4: See the prefaces of Cassiodorus and Jornandes; it is +surprising that the latter should be omitted in the excellent edition, +published by Grotius, of the Gothic writers.] + +[Footnote 5: On the authority of Ablavius, Jornandes quotes some old +Gothic chronicles in verse. De Reb. Geticis, c. 4.] + +[Footnote 501: The Goths have inhabited Scandinavia, but it was not +their original habitation. This great nation was anciently of the +Suevian race; it occupied, in the time of Tacitus, and long before, +Mecklenburgh, Pomerania Southern Prussia and the north-west of Poland. A +little before the birth of J. C., and in the first years of that +century, they belonged to the kingdom of Marbod, king of the Marcomanni: +but Cotwalda, a young Gothic prince, delivered them from that tyranny, +and established his own power over the kingdom of the Marcomanni, +already much weakened by the victories of Tiberius. The power of the +Goths at that time must have been great: it was probably from them that +the Sinus Codanus (the Baltic) took this name, as it was afterwards +called Mare Suevicum, and Mare Venedicum, during the superiority of the +proper Suevi and the Venedi. The epoch in which the Goths passed into +Scandinavia is unknown. See Adelung, Hist. of Anc. Germany, p. 200. +Gatterer, Hist. Univ. 458.--G. ----M. St. Martin observes, that the +Scandinavian descent of the Goths rests on the authority of Jornandes, +who professed to derive it from the traditions of the Goths. He is +supported by Procopius and Paulus Diaconus. Yet the Goths are +unquestionably the same with the Getae of the earlier historians. St. +Martin, note on Le Beau, Hist. du bas Empire, iii. 324. The identity of +the Getae and Goths is by no means generally admitted. On the whole, +they seem to be one vast branch of the Indo-Teutonic race, who spread +irregularly towards the north of Europe, and at different periods, and +in different regions, came in contact with the more civilized nations of +the south. At this period, there seems to have been a reflux of these +Gothic tribes from the North. Malte Brun considers that there are strong +grounds for receiving the Islandic traditions commented by the Danish +Varro, M. Suhm. From these, and the voyage of Pytheas, which Malte Brun +considers genuine, the Goths were in possession of Scandinavia, +Ey-Gothland, 250 years before J. C., and of a tract on the continent +(Reid-Gothland) between the mouths of the Vistula and the Oder. In their +southern migration, they followed the course of the Vistula; afterwards, +of the Dnieper. Malte Brun, Geogr. i. p. 387, edit. 1832. Geijer, the +historian of Sweden, ably maintains the Scandinavian origin of the +Goths. The Gothic language, according to Bopp, is the link between the +Sanscrit and the modern Teutonic dialects: "I think that I am reading +Sanscrit when I am reading Olphilas." Bopp, Conjugations System der +Sanscrit Sprache, preface, p. x--M.] + +[Footnote 6: Jornandes, c. 3.] + +[Footnote 7: See in the Prolegomena of Grotius some large extracts from +Adam of Bremen, and Saxo-Grammaticus. The former wrote in the year 1077, +the latter flourished about the year 1200.] + +[Footnote 8: Voltaire, Histoire de Charles XII. l. iii. When the +Austrians desired the aid of the court of Rome against Gustavus +Adolphus, they always represented that conqueror as the lineal successor +of Alaric. Harte's History of Gustavus, vol. ii. p. 123.] + +Till the end of the eleventh century, a celebrated temple subsisted +at Upsal, the most considerable town of the Swedes and Goths. It was +enriched with the gold which the Scandinavians had acquired in their +piratical adventures, and sanctified by the uncouth representations of +the three principal deities, the god of war, the goddess of generation, +and the god of thunder. In the general festival, that was solemnized +every ninth year, nine animals of every species (without excepting +the human) were sacrificed, and their bleeding bodies suspended in the +sacred grove adjacent to the temple. [9] The only traces that now +subsist of this barbaric superstition are contained in the Edda, [901] a +system of mythology, compiled in Iceland about the thirteenth century, +and studied by the learned of Denmark and Sweden, as the most valuable +remains of their ancient traditions. + +[Footnote 9: See Adam of Bremen in Grotii Prolegomenis, p. 105. The +temple of Upsal was destroyed by Ingo, king of Sweden, who began +his reign in the year 1075, and about fourscore years afterwards, a +Christian cathedral was erected on its ruins. See Dalin's History of +Sweden, in the Bibliotheque Raisonee.] + +[Footnote 901: The Eddas have at length been made accessible to European +scholars by the completion of the publication of the Saemundine Edda by +the Arna Magnaean Commission, in 3 vols. 4to., with a copious lexicon of +northern mythology.--M.] + +Notwithstanding the mysterious obscurity of the Edda, we can easily +distinguish two persons confounded under the name of Odin; the god of +war, and the great legislator of Scandinavia. The latter, the Mahomet +of the North, instituted a religion adapted to the climate and to the +people. Numerous tribes on either side of the Baltic were subdued by the +invincible valor of Odin, by his persuasive eloquence, and by the fame +which he acquired of a most skilful magician. The faith that he had +propagated, during a long and prosperous life, he confirmed by a +voluntary death. Apprehensive of the ignominious approach of disease +and infirmity, he resolved to expire as became a warrior. In a solemn +assembly of the Swedes and Goths, he wounded himself in nine mortal +places, hastening away (as he asserted with his dying voice) to prepare +the feast of heroes in the palace of the God of war. [10] + +[Footnote 10: Mallet, Introduction a l'Histoire du Dannemarc.] + +The native and proper habitation of Odin is distinguished by the +appellation of As-gard. The happy resemblance of that name with As-burg, +or As-of, [11] words of a similar signification, has given rise to an +historical system of so pleasing a contexture, that we could almost wish +to persuade ourselves of its truth. It is supposed that Odin was the +chief of a tribe of barbarians which dwelt on the banks of the Lake +Maeotis, till the fall of Mithridates and the arms of Pompey menaced the +North with servitude. That Odin, yielding with indignant fury to a power +which he was unable to resist, conducted his tribe from the frontiers of +the Asiatic Sarmatia into Sweden, with the great design of forming, in +that inaccessible retreat of freedom, a religion and a people, which, in +some remote age, might be subservient to his immortal revenge; when his +invincible Goths, armed with martial fanaticism, should issue in +numerous swarms from the neighborhood of the Polar circle, to chastise +the oppressors of mankind. [12] + +[Footnote 11: Mallet, c. iv. p. 55, has collected from Strabo, Pliny, +Ptolemy, and Stephanus Byzantinus, the vestiges of such a city and +people.] + +[Footnote 12: This wonderful expedition of Odin, which, by deducting the +enmity of the Goths and Romans from so memorable a cause, might supply +the noble groundwork of an epic poem, cannot safely be received as +authentic history. According to the obvious sense of the Edda, and the +interpretation of the most skilful critics, As-gard, instead of denoting +a real city of the Asiatic Sarmatia, is the fictitious appellation of +the mystic abode of the gods, the Olympus of Scandinavia; from whence +the prophet was supposed to descend, when he announced his new religion +to the Gothic nations, who were already seated in the southern parts of +Sweden. * Note: A curious letter may be consulted on this subject from +the Swede, Ihre counsellor in the Chancery of Upsal, printed at Upsal by +Edman, in 1772 and translated into German by M. Schlozer. Gottingen, +printed for Dietericht, 1779.--G. ----Gibbon, at a later period of his +work, recanted his opinion of the truth of this expedition of Odin. The +Asiatic origin of the Goths is almost certain from the affinity of their +language to the Sanscrit and Persian; but their northern writers, when +all mythology was reduced to hero worship.--M.] + +If so many successive generations of Goths were capable of preserving a +faint tradition of their Scandinavian origin, we must not expect, from +such unlettered barbarians, any distinct account of the time and +circumstances of their emigration. To cross the Baltic was an easy and +natural attempt. The inhabitants of Sweden were masters of a sufficient +number of large vessels, with oars, [13] and the distance is little more +than one hundred miles from Carlscroon to the nearest ports of Pomerania +and Prussia. Here, at length, we land on firm and historic ground. At +least as early as the Christian aera, [14] and as late as the age of the +Antonines, [15] the Goths were established towards the mouth of the +Vistula, and in that fertile province where the commercial cities of +Thorn, Elbing, Koningsberg, and Dantzick, were long afterwards founded. +[16] Westward of the Goths, the numerous tribes of the Vandals were +spread along the banks of the Oder, and the sea-coast of Pomerania and +Mecklenburgh. A striking resemblance of manners, complexion, religion, +and language, seemed to indicate that the Vandals and the Goths were +originally one great people. [17] The latter appear to have been +subdivided into Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and Gepidae. [18] The distinction +among the Vandals was more strongly marked by the independent names of +Heruli, Burgundians, Lombards, and a variety of other petty states, many +of which, in a future age, expanded themselves into powerful monarchies. +[181] + +[Footnote 13: Tacit. Germania, c. 44.] + +[Footnote 14: Tacit. Annal. ii. 62. If we could yield a firm assent to +the navigations of Pytheas of Marseilles, we must allow that the Goths +had passed the Baltic at least three hundred years before Christ.] + +[Footnote 15: Ptolemy, l. ii.] + +[Footnote 16: By the German colonies who followed the arms of the +Teutonic knights. The conquest and conversion of Prussia were completed +by those adventurers in the thirteenth century.] + +[Footnote 17: Pliny (Hist. Natur. iv. 14) and Procopius (in Bell. +Vandal. l. i. c. l) agree in this opinion. They lived in distant ages, +and possessed different means of investigating the truth.] + +[Footnote 18: The Ostro and Visi, the eastern and western Goths, +obtained those denominations from their original seats in Scandinavia. +In all their future marches and settlements they preserved, with their +names, the same relative situation. When they first departed from +Sweden, the infant colony was contained in three vessels. The third, +being a heavy sailer, lagged behind, and the crew, which afterwards +swelled into a nation, received from that circumstance the appellation +of Gepidae or Loiterers. Jornandes, c. 17. * Note: It was not in +Scandinavia that the Goths were divided into Ostrogoths and Visigoths; +that division took place after their irruption into Dacia in the third +century: those who came from Mecklenburgh and Pomerania were called +Visigoths; those who came from the south of Prussia, and the northwest +of Poland, called themselves Ostrogoths. Adelung, Hist. All. p. 202 +Gatterer, Hist. Univ. 431.--G.] + +[Footnote 181: This opinion is by no means probable. The Vandals and the +Goths equally belonged to the great division of the Suevi, but the +two tribes were very different. Those who have treated on this part +of history, appear to me to have neglected to remark that the ancients +almost always gave the name of the dominant and conquering people to all +the weaker and conquered races. So Pliny calls Vindeli, Vandals, all the +people of the north-east of Europe, because at that epoch the Vandals +were doubtless the conquering tribe. Caesar, on the contrary, ranges +under the name of Suevi, many of the tribes whom Pliny reckons as +Vandals, because the Suevi, properly so called, were then the most +powerful tribe in Germany. When the Goths, become in their turn +conquerors, had subjugated the nations whom they encountered on their +way, these nations lost their name with their liberty, and became of +Gothic origin. The Vandals themselves were then considered as Goths; the +Heruli, the Gepidae, &c., suffered the same fate. A common origin was +thus attributed to tribes who had only been united by the conquests of +some dominant nation, and this confusion has given rise to a number of +historical errors.--G. ----M. St. Martin has a learned note (to Le Beau, +v. 261) on the origin of the Vandals. The difficulty appears to be in +rejecting the close analogy of the name with the Vend or Wendish race, +who were of Sclavonian, not of Suevian or German, origin. M. St. Martin +supposes that the different races spread from the head of the Adriatic +to the Baltic, and even the Veneti, on the shores of the Adriatic, the +Vindelici, the tribes which gave their name to Vindobena, Vindoduna, +Vindonissa, were branches of the same stock with the Sclavonian Venedi, +who at one time gave their name to the Baltic; that they all spoke +dialects of the Wendish language, which still prevails in Carinthia, +Carniola, part of Bohemia, and Lusatia, and is hardly extinct in +Mecklenburgh and Pomerania. The Vandal race, once so fearfully +celebrated in the annals of mankind, has so utterly perished from the +face of the earth, that we are not aware that any vestiges of their +language can be traced, so as to throw light on the disputed question of +their German, their Sclavonian, or independent origin. The weight of +ancient authority seems against M. St. Martin's opinion. Compare, on the +Vandals, Malte Brun. 394. Also Gibbon's note, c. xli. n. 38.--M.] + +In the age of the Antonines, the Goths were still seated in Prussia. +About the reign of Alexander Severus, the Roman province of Dacia had +already experienced their proximity by frequent and destructive inroads. +[19] In this interval, therefore, of about seventy years, we must place +the second migration of the Goths from the Baltic to the Euxine; but the +cause that produced it lies concealed among the various motives which +actuate the conduct of unsettled barbarians. Either a pestilence or a +famine, a victory or a defeat, an oracle of the gods or the eloquence of +a daring leader, were sufficient to impel the Gothic arms on the milder +climates of the south. Besides the influence of a martial religion, the +numbers and spirit of the Goths were equal to the most dangerous +adventures. The use of round bucklers and short swords rendered them +formidable in a close engagement; the manly obedience which they yielded +to hereditary kings, gave uncommon union and stability to their +councils; [20] and the renowned Amala, the hero of that age, and the +tenth ancestor of Theodoric, king of Italy, enforced, by the ascendant +of personal merit, the prerogative of his birth, which he derived from +the Anses, or demi gods of the Gothic nation. [21] + +[Footnote 19: See a fragment of Peter Patricius in the Excerpta +Legationum and with regard to its probable date, see Tillemont, Hist, +des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 346.] + +[Footnote 20: Omnium harum gentium insigne, rotunda scuta, breves +gladii, et erga rages obsequium. Tacit. Germania, c. 43. The Goths +probably acquired their iron by the commerce of amber.] + +[Footnote 21: Jornandes, c. 13, 14.] + +The fame of a great enterprise excited the bravest warriors from all the +Vandalic states of Germany, many of whom are seen a few years afterwards +combating under the common standard of the Goths. [22] The first motions +of the emigrants carried them to the banks of the Prypec, a river +universally conceived by the ancients to be the southern branch of the +Borysthenes. [23] The windings of that great stream through the plains +of Poland and Russia gave a direction to their line of march, and a +constant supply of fresh water and pasturage to their numerous herds +of cattle. They followed the unknown course of the river, confident in +their valor, and careless of whatever power might oppose their progress. +The Bastarnae and the Venedi were the first who presented themselves; +and the flower of their youth, either from choice or compulsion, +increased the Gothic army. The Bastarnae dwelt on the northern side of +the Carpathian Mountains: the immense tract of land that separated the +Bastarnae from the savages of Finland was possessed, or rather wasted, +by the Venedi; [24] we have some reason to believe that the first of +these nations, which distinguished itself in the Macedonian war, [25] and +was afterwards divided into the formidable tribes of the Peucini, the +Borani, the Carpi, &c., derived its origin from the Germans. [251] With +better authority, a Sarmatian extraction may be assigned to the Venedi, +who rendered themselves so famous in the middle ages. [26] But the +confusion of blood and manners on that doubtful frontier often perplexed +the most accurate observers. [27] As the Goths advanced near the Euxine +Sea, they encountered a purer race of Sarmatians, the Jazyges, the +Alani, [271] and the Roxolani; and they were probably the first Germans +who saw the mouths of the Borysthenes, and of the Tanais. If we inquire +into the characteristic marks of the people of Germany and of Sarmatia, +we shall discover that those two great portions of human kind were +principally distinguished by fixed huts or movable tents, by a close +dress or flowing garments, by the marriage of one or of several wives, +by a military force, consisting, for the most part, either of infantry +or cavalry; and above all, by the use of the Teutonic, or of the +Sclavonian language; the last of which has been diffused by conquest, +from the confines of Italy to the neighborhood of Japan. + +[Footnote 22: The Heruli, and the Uregundi or Burgundi, are particularly +mentioned. See Mascou's History of the Germans, l. v. A passage in the +Augustan History, p. 28, seems to allude to this great emigration. +The Marcomannic war was partly occasioned by the pressure of barbarous +tribes, who fled before the arms of more northern barbarians.] + +[Footnote 23: D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, and the third part of his +incomparable map of Europe.] + +[Footnote 24: Tacit. Germania, c. 46.] + +[Footnote 25: Cluver. Germ. Antiqua, l. iii. c. 43.] + +[Footnote 251: The Bastarnae cannot be considered original inhabitants of +Germany Strabo and Tacitus appear to doubt it; Pliny alone calls them +Germans: Ptolemy and Dion treat them as Scythians, a vague appellation +at this period of history; Livy, Plutarch, and Diodorus Siculus, call +them Gauls, and this is the most probable opinion. They descended from +the Gauls who entered Germany under Signoesus. They are always found +associated with other Gaulish tribes, such as the Boll, the Taurisci, +&c., and not to the German tribes. The names of their chiefs or princes, +Chlonix, Chlondicus. Deldon, are not German names. Those who were +settled in the island of Peuce in the Danube, took the name of Peucini. +The Carpi appear in 237 as a Suevian tribe who had made an irruption +into Maesia. Afterwards they reappear under the Ostrogoths, with whom +they were probably blended. Adelung, p. 236, 278.--G.] + +[Footnote 26: The Venedi, the Slavi, and the Antes, were the three great +tribes of the same people. Jornandes, 24. * Note Dagger: They formed the +great Sclavonian nation.--G.] + +[Footnote 27: Tacitus most assuredly deserves that title, and even his +cautious suspense is a proof of his diligent inquiries.] + +[Footnote 271: Jac. Reineggs supposed that he had found, in the mountains +of Caucasus, some descendants of the Alani. The Tartars call them +Edeki-Alan: they speak a peculiar dialect of the ancient language of the +Tartars of Caucasus. See J. Reineggs' Descr. of Caucasus, p. 11, 13.--G. +According to Klaproth, they are the Ossetes of the present day in Mount +Caucasus and were the same with the Albanians of antiquity. Klaproth, +Hist. de l'Asie, p. 180.--M.] + + + + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.--Part II. + +The Goths were now in possession of the Ukraine, a country of +considerable extent and uncommon fertility, intersected with navigable +rivers, which, from either side, discharge themselves into the +Borysthenes; and interspersed with large and leafy forests of oaks. +The plenty of game and fish, the innumerable bee-hives deposited in the +hollow of old trees, and in the cavities of rocks, and forming, even in +that rude age, a valuable branch of commerce, the size of the cattle, +the temperature of the air, the aptness of the soil for every species of +grain, and the luxuriancy of the vegetation, all displayed the liberality +of Nature, and tempted the industry of man. [28] But the Goths withstood +all these temptations, and still adhered to a life of idleness, of +poverty, and of rapine. + +[Footnote 28: Genealogical History of the Tartars, p. 593. Mr. Bell +(vol. ii. p 379) traversed the Ukraine, in his journey from +Petersburgh to Constantinople. The modern face of the country is a just +representation of the ancient, since, in the hands of the Cossacks, it +still remains in a state of nature.] + +The Scythian hordes, which, towards the east, bordered on the new +settlements of the Goths, presented nothing to their arms, except the +doubtful chance of an unprofitable victory. But the prospect of the +Roman territories was far more alluring; and the fields of Dacia were +covered with rich harvests, sown by the hands of an industrious, and +exposed to be gathered by those of a warlike, people. It is probable +that the conquests of Trajan, maintained by his successors, less for +any real advantage than for ideal dignity, had contributed to weaken the +empire on that side. The new and unsettled province of Dacia was neither +strong enough to resist, nor rich enough to satiate, the rapaciousness +of the barbarians. As long as the remote banks of the Niester were +considered as the boundary of the Roman power, the fortifications of the +Lower Danube were more carelessly guarded, and the inhabitants of +Maesia lived in supine security, fondly conceiving themselves at an +inaccessible distance from any barbarian invaders. The irruptions of +the Goths, under the reign of Philip, fatally convinced them of their +mistake. The king, or leader, of that fierce nation, traversed with +contempt the province of Dacia, and passed both the Niester and the +Danube without encountering any opposition capable of retarding his +progress. The relaxed discipline of the Roman troops betrayed the most +important posts, where they were stationed, and the fear of deserved +punishment induced great numbers of them to enlist under the Gothic +standard. The various multitude of barbarians appeared, at length, +under the walls of Marcianopolis, a city built by Trajan in honor of +his sister, and at that time the capital of the second Maesia. [29] The +inhabitants consented to ransom their lives and property by the payment +of a large sum of money, and the invaders retreated back into their +deserts, animated, rather than satisfied, with the first success of +their arms against an opulent but feeble country. Intelligence was soon +transmitted to the emperor Decius, that Cniva, king of the Goths, had +passed the Danube a second time, with more considerable forces; that his +numerous detachments scattered devastation over the province of Maesia, +whilst the main body of the army, consisting of seventy thousand Germans +and Sarmatians, a force equal to the most daring achievements, required +the presence of the Roman monarch, and the exertion of his military +power. + +[Footnote 29: In the sixteenth chapter of Jornandes, instead +of secundo Maesiam we may venture to substitute secundam, the second +Maesia, of which Marcianopolis was certainly the capital. (See Hierocles +de Provinciis, and Wesseling ad locum, p. 636. Itinerar.) It is +surprising how this palpable error of the scribe should escape the +judicious correction of Grotius. Note: Luden has observed that Jornandes +mentions two passages over the Danube; this relates to the second +irruption into Maesia. Geschichte des T V. ii. p. 448.--M.] + +Decius found the Goths engaged before Nicopolis, one of the many +monuments of Trajan's victories. [30] On his approach they raised the +siege, but with a design only of marching away to a conquest of greater +importance, the siege of Philippopolis, a city of Thrace, founded by the +father of Alexander, near the foot of Mount Haemus. [31] Decius followed +them through a difficult country, and by forced marches; but when he +imagined himself at a considerable distance from the rear of the Goths, +Cniva turned with rapid fury on his pursuers. The camp of the Romans was +surprised and pillaged, and, for the first time, their emperor fled +in disorder before a troop of half-armed barbarians. After a long +resistance, Philoppopolis, destitute of succor, was taken by storm. A +hundred thousand persons are reported to have been massacred in the sack +of that great city. [32] Many prisoners of consequence became a valuable +accession to the spoil; and Priscus, a brother of the late emperor +Philip, blushed not to assume the purple, under the protection of the +barbarous enemies of Rome. [33] The time, however, consumed in that +tedious siege, enabled Decius to revive the courage, restore the +discipline, and recruit the numbers of his troops. He intercepted +several parties of Carpi, and other Germans, who were hastening to +share the victory of their countrymen, [34] intrusted the passes of the +mountains to officers of approved valor and fidelity, [35] repaired and +strengthened the fortifications of the Danube, and exerted his utmost +vigilance to oppose either the progress or the retreat of the Goths. +Encouraged by the return of fortune, he anxiously waited for an +opportunity to retrieve, by a great and decisive blow, his own glory, +and that of the Roman arms. [36] + +[Footnote 30: The place is still called Nicop. D'Anville, Geographie +Ancienne, tom. i. p. 307. The little stream, on whose banks it stood, +falls into the Danube.] + +[Footnote 31: Stephan. Byzant. de Urbibus, p. 740. Wesseling, Itinerar. +p. 136. Zonaras, by an odd mistake, ascribes the foundation of +Philippopolis to the immediate predecessor of Decius. * Note: Now +Philippopolis or Philiba; its situation among the hills caused it to be +also called Trimontium. D'Anville, Geog. Anc. i. 295.--G.] + +[Footnote 32: Ammian. xxxi. 5.] + +[Footnote 33: Aurel. Victor. c. 29.] + +[Footnote 34: Victorioe Carpicoe, on some medals of Decius, insinuate +these advantages.] + +[Footnote 35: Claudius (who afterwards reigned with so much glory) was +posted in the pass of Thermopylae with 200 Dardanians, 100 heavy and +160 light horse, 60 Cretan archers, and 1000 well-armed recruits. See +an original letter from the emperor to his officer, in the Augustan +History, p. 200.] + +[Footnote 36: Jornandes, c. 16--18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 22. In the general +account of this war, it is easy to discover the opposite prejudices of +the Gothic and the Grecian writer. In carelessness alone they are +alike.] + +At the same time when Decius was struggling with the violence of the +tempest, his mind, calm and deliberate amidst the tumult of war, +investigated the more general causes, that, since the age of the +Antonines, had so impetuously urged the decline of the Roman greatness. +He soon discovered that it was impossible to replace that greatness on a +permanent basis, without restoring public virtue, ancient principles and +manners, and the oppressed majesty of the laws. To execute this noble +but arduous design, he first resolved to revive the obsolete office of +censor; an office which, as long as it had subsisted in its pristine +integrity, had so much contributed to the perpetuity of the state, [37] +till it was usurped and gradually neglected by the Caesars. [38] +Conscious that the favor of the sovereign may confer power, but that the +esteem of the people can alone bestow authority, he submitted the choice +of the censor to the unbiased voice of the senate. By their unanimous +votes, or rather acclamations, Valerian, who was afterwards emperor, and +who then served with distinction in the army of Decius, was declared the +most worthy of that exalted honor. As soon as the decree of the senate +was transmitted to the emperor, he assembled a great council in his +camp, and before the investiture of the censor elect, he apprised him of +the difficulty and importance of his great office. "Happy Valerian," +said the prince to his distinguished subject, "happy in the general +approbation of the senate and of the Roman republic! Accept the +censorship of mankind; and judge of our manners. You will select those +who deserve to continue members of the senate; you will restore the +equestrian order to its ancient splendor; you will improve the revenue, +yet moderate the public burdens. You will distinguish into regular +classes the various and infinite multitude of citizens, and accurately +view the military strength, the wealth, the virtue, and the resources of +Rome. Your decisions shall obtain the force of laws. The army, the +palace, the ministers of justice, and the great officers of the empire, +are all subject to your tribunal. None are exempted, excepting only the +ordinary consuls, [39] the praefect of the city, the king of the +sacrifices, and (as long as she preserves her chastity inviolate) the +eldest of the vestal virgins. Even these few, who may not dread the +severity, will anxiously solicit the esteem, of the Roman censor." [40] + +[Footnote 37: Montesquieu, Grandeur et Decadence des Romains, c. viii. +He illustrates the nature and use of the censorship with his usual +ingenuity, and with uncommon precision.] + +[Footnote 38: Vespasian and Titus were the last censors, (Pliny, Hist. +Natur vii. 49. Censorinus de Die Natali.) The modesty of Trajan +refused an honor which he deserved, and his example became a law to the +Antonines. See Pliny's Panegyric, c. 45 and 60.] + +[Footnote 39: Yet in spite of his exemption, Pompey appeared before +that tribunal during his consulship. The occasion, indeed, was equally +singular and honorable. Plutarch in Pomp. p. 630.] + +[Footnote 40: See the original speech in the Augustan Hist. p. 173-174.] + +A magistrate, invested with such extensive powers, would have appeared +not so much the minister, as the colleague of his sovereign. [41] +Valerian justly dreaded an elevation so full of envy and of suspicion. +He modestly argued the alarming greatness of the trust, his own +insufficiency, and the incurable corruption of the times. He artfully +insinuated, that the office of censor was inseparable from the Imperial +dignity, and that the feeble hands of a subject were unequal to the +support of such an immense weight of cares and of power. [42] The +approaching event of war soon put an end to the prosecution of a project +so specious, but so impracticable; and whilst it preserved Valerian +from the danger, saved the emperor Decius from the disappointment, which +would most probably have attended it. A censor may maintain, he can +never restore, the morals of a state. It is impossible for such a +magistrate to exert his authority with benefit, or even with effect, +unless he is supported by a quick sense of honor and virtue in the minds +of the people, by a decent reverence for the public opinion, and by a +train of useful prejudices combating on the side of national manners. +In a period when these principles are annihilated, the censorial +jurisdiction must either sink into empty pageantry, or be converted +into a partial instrument of vexatious oppression. [43] It was easier to +vanquish the Goths than to eradicate the public vices; yet even in the +first of these enterprises, Decius lost his army and his life. + +[Footnote 41: This transaction might deceive Zonaras, who supposes that +Valerian was actually declared the colleague of Decius, l. xii. p. 625.] + +[Footnote 42: Hist. August. p. 174. The emperor's reply is omitted.] + +[Footnote 43: Such as the attempts of Augustus towards a reformation of +manness. Tacit. Annal. iii. 24.] + +The Goths were now, on every side, surrounded and pursued by the Roman +arms. The flower of their troops had perished in the long siege +of Philippopolis, and the exhausted country could no longer afford +subsistence for the remaining multitude of licentious barbarians. +Reduced to this extremity, the Goths would gladly have purchased, by +the surrender of all their booty and prisoners, the permission of +an undisturbed retreat. But the emperor, confident of victory, and +resolving, by the chastisement of these invaders, to strike a salutary +terror into the nations of the North, refused to listen to any terms of +accommodation. The high-spirited barbarians preferred death to slavery. +An obscure town of Maesia, called Forum Terebronii, [44] was the scene of +the battle. The Gothic army was drawn up in three lines, and either from +choice or accident, the front of the third line was covered by a morass. +In the beginning of the action, the son of Decius, a youth of the +fairest hopes, and already associated to the honors of the purple, was +slain by an arrow, in the sight of his afflicted father; who, summoning +all his fortitude, admonished the dismayed troops, that the loss of +a single soldier was of little importance to the republic. [45] The +conflict was terrible; it was the combat of despair against grief and +rage. The first line of the Goths at length gave way in disorder; the +second, advancing to sustain it, shared its fate; and the third only +remained entire, prepared to dispute the passage of the morass, which +was imprudently attempted by the presumption of the enemy. "Here the +fortune of the day turned, and all things became adverse to the Romans; +the place deep with ooze, sinking under those who stood, slippery to +such as advanced; their armor heavy, the waters deep; nor could they +wield, in that uneasy situation, their weighty javelins. The barbarians, +on the contrary, were inured to encounter in the bogs, their persons +tall, their spears long, such as could wound at a distance." [46] In this +morass the Roman army, after an ineffectual struggle, was irrecoverably +lost; nor could the body of the emperor ever be found. [47] Such was the +fate of Decius, in the fiftieth year of his age; an accomplished prince, +active in war and affable in peace; [48] who, together with his son, +has deserved to be compared, both in life and death, with the brightest +examples of ancient virtue. [49] + +[Footnote 44: Tillemont, Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 598. As +Zosimus and some of his followers mistake the Danube for the Tanais, +they place the field of battle in the plains of Scythia.] + +[Footnote 45: Aurelius Victor allows two distinct actions for the +deaths of the two Decii; but I have preferred the account of Jornandes.] + +[Footnote 46: I have ventured to copy from Tacitus (Annal. i. 64) +the picture of a similar engagement between a Roman army and a German +tribe.] + +[Footnote 47: Jornandes, c. 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 22, [c. 23.] +Zonaras, l. xii. p. 627. Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 48: The Decii were killed before the end of the year two +hundred and fifty-one, since the new princes took possession of the +consulship on the ensuing calends of January.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 223, gives them a very honorable place +among the small number of good emperors who reigned between Augustus and +Diocletian.] + +This fatal blow humbled, for a very little time, the insolence of the +legions. They appeared to have patiently expected, and submissively +obeyed, the decree of the senate which regulated the succession to the +throne. From a just regard for the memory of Decius, the Imperial title +was conferred on Hostilianus, his only surviving son; but an equal rank, +with more effectual power, was granted to Gallus, whose experience and +ability seemed equal to the great trust of guardian to the young prince +and the distressed empire. [50] The first care of the new emperor was +to deliver the Illyrian provinces from the intolerable weight of the +victorious Goths. He consented to leave in their hands the rich +fruits of their invasion, an immense booty, and what was still more +disgraceful, a great number of prisoners of the highest merit and +quality. He plentifully supplied their camp with every conveniency that +could assuage their angry spirits or facilitate their so much wished-for +departure; and he even promised to pay them annually a large sum +of gold, on condition they should never afterwards infest the Roman +territories by their incursions. [51] + +[Footnote 50: Haec ubi Patres comperere.. .. decernunt. Victor in +Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 51: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 628.] + +In the age of the Scipios, the most opulent kings of the earth, who +courted the protection of the victorious commonwealth, were gratified +with such trifling presents as could only derive a value from the hand +that bestowed them; an ivory chair, a coarse garment of purple, an +inconsiderable piece of plate, or a quantity of copper coin. [52] After +the wealth of nations had centred in Rome, the emperors displayed their +greatness, and even their policy, by the regular exercise of a steady +and moderate liberality towards the allies of the state. They relieved +the poverty of the barbarians, honored their merit, and recompensed +their fidelity. These voluntary marks of bounty were understood to flow, +not from the fears, but merely from the generosity or the gratitude of +the Romans; and whilst presents and subsidies were liberally distributed +among friends and suppliants, they were sternly refused to such as +claimed them as a debt. [53] But this stipulation, of an annual payment +to a victorious enemy, appeared without disguise in the light of an +ignominious tribute; the minds of the Romans were not yet accustomed to +accept such unequal laws from a tribe of barbarians; and the prince, +who by a necessary concession had probably saved his country, became the +object of the general contempt and aversion. The death of Hostiliamus, +though it happened in the midst of a raging pestilence, was interpreted +as the personal crime of Gallus; [54] and even the defeat of the later +emperor was ascribed by the voice of suspicion to the perfidious +counsels of his hated successor. [55] The tranquillity which the empire +enjoyed during the first year of his administration, [56] served rather +to inflame than to appease the public discontent; and as soon as the +apprehensions of war were removed, the infamy of the peace was more +deeply and more sensibly felt. + +[Footnote 52: A Sella, a Toga, and a golden Patera of five pounds +weight, were accepted with joy and gratitude by the wealthy king of +Egypt. (Livy, xxvii. 4.) Quina millia Aeris, a weight of copper, in +value about eighteen pounds sterling, was the usual present made to +foreign are ambassadors. (Livy, xxxi. 9.)] + +[Footnote 53: See the firmness of a Roman general so late as the time +of Alexander Severus, in the Excerpta Legationum, p. 25, edit. Louvre.] + +[Footnote 54: For the plague, see Jornandes, c. 19, and Victor in +Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 55: These improbable accusations are alleged by Zosimus, l. i. +p. 28, 24.] + +[Footnote 56: Jornandes, c. 19. The Gothic writer at least observed +the peace which his victorious countrymen had sworn to Gallus.] + +But the Romans were irritated to a still higher degree, when they +discovered that they had not even secured their repose, though at the +expense of their honor. The dangerous secret of the wealth and weakness +of the empire had been revealed to the world. New swarms of barbarians, +encouraged by the success, and not conceiving themselves bound by the +obligation of their brethren, spread devastation though the Illyrian +provinces, and terror as far as the gates of Rome. The defence of the +monarchy, which seemed abandoned by the pusillanimous emperor, was +assumed by Aemilianus, governor of Pannonia and Maesia; who rallied the +scattered forces, and revived the fainting spirits of the troops. The +barbarians were unexpectedly attacked, routed, chased, and pursued +beyond the Danube. The victorious leader distributed as a donative the +money collected for the tribute, and the acclamations of the soldiers +proclaimed him emperor on the field of battle. [57] Gallus, who, +careless of the general welfare, indulged himself in the pleasures of +Italy, was almost in the same instant informed of the success, of the +revolt, and of the rapid approach of his aspiring lieutenant. He +advanced to meet him as far as the plains of Spoleto. When the armies +came in sight of each other, the soldiers of Gallus compared the +ignominious conduct of their sovereign with the glory of his rival. They +admired the valor of Aemilianus; they were attracted by his liberality, +for he offered a considerable increase of pay to all deserters. [58] The +murder of Gallus, and of his son Volusianus, put an end to the civil +war; and the senate gave a legal sanction to the rights of conquest. The +letters of Aemilianus to that assembly displayed a mixture of moderation +and vanity. He assured them, that he should resign to their wisdom the +civil administration; and, contenting himself with the quality of their +general, would in a short time assert the glory of Rome, and deliver the +empire from all the barbarians both of the North and of the East. [59] +His pride was flattered by the applause of the senate; and medals are +still extant, representing him with the name and attributes of Hercules +the Victor, and Mars the Avenger. [60] + +[Footnote 57: Zosimus, l. i. p. 25, 26.] + +[Footnote 58: Victor in Caesaribus.] + +[Footnote 59: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 628.] + +[Footnote 60: Banduri Numismata, p. 94.] + +If the new monarch possessed the abilities, he wanted the time, +necessary to fulfil these splendid promises. Less than four months +intervened between his victory and his fall. [61] He had vanquished +Gallus: he sunk under the weight of a competitor more formidable than +Gallus. That unfortunate prince had sent Valerian, already distinguished +by the honorable title of censor, to bring the legions of Gaul and +Germany [62] to his aid. Valerian executed that commission with zeal and +fidelity; and as he arrived too late to save his sovereign, he resolved +to revenge him. The troops of Aemilianus, who still lay encamped in the +plains of Spoleto, were awed by the sanctity of his character, but much +more by the superior strength of his army; and as they were now +become as incapable of personal attachment as they had always been of +constitutional principle, they readily imbrued their hands in the blood +of a prince who so lately had been the object of their partial choice. +The guilt was theirs, [621] but the advantage of it was Valerian's; who +obtained the possession of the throne by the means indeed of a civil +war, but with a degree of innocence singular in that age of revolutions; +since he owed neither gratitude nor allegiance to his predecessor, whom +he dethroned. + +[Footnote 61: Eutropius, l. ix. c. 6, says tertio mense. +Eusebio this emperor.] + +[Footnote 62: Zosimus, l. i. p. 28. Eutropius and Victor station +Valerian's army in Rhaetia.] + +[Footnote 621: Aurelius Victor says that Aemilianus died of a natural +disorder. Tropius, in speaking of his death, does not say that he was +assassinated--G.] + +Valerian was about sixty years of age [63] when he was invested with the +purple, not by the caprice of the populace, or the clamors of the army, +but by the unanimous voice of the Roman world. In his gradual ascent +through the honors of the state, he had deserved the favor of virtuous +princes, and had declared himself the enemy of tyrants. [64] His noble +birth, his mild but unblemished manners, his learning, prudence, and +experience, were revered by the senate and people; and if mankind +(according to the observation of an ancient writer) had been left at +liberty to choose a master, their choice would most assuredly have +fallen on Valerian. [65] Perhaps the merit of this emperor was +inadequate to his reputation; perhaps his abilities, or at least his +spirit, were affected by the languor and coldness of old age. The +consciousness of his decline engaged him to share the throne with a +younger and more active associate; [66] the emergency of the times +demanded a general no less than a prince; and the experience of the +Roman censor might have directed him where to bestow the Imperial +purple, as the reward of military merit. But instead of making a +judicious choice, which would have confirmed his reign and endeared his +memory, Valerian, consulting only the dictates of affection or vanity, +immediately invested with the supreme honors his son Gallienus, a youth +whose effeminate vices had been hitherto concealed by the obscurity of a +private station. The joint government of the father and the son +subsisted about seven, and the sole administration of Gallien continued +about eight, years. But the whole period was one uninterrupted series of +confusion and calamity. As the Roman empire was at the same time, and on +every side, attacked by the blind fury of foreign invaders, and the wild +ambition of domestic usurpers, we shall consult order and perspicuity, +by pursuing, not so much the doubtful arrangement of dates, as the more +natural distribution of subjects. The most dangerous enemies of Rome, +during the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, were, 1. The Franks; 2. The +Alemanni; 3. The Goths; and, 4. The Persians. Under these general +appellations, we may comprehend the adventures of less considerable +tribes, whose obscure and uncouth names would only serve to oppress the +memory and perplex the attention of the reader. + +[Footnote 63: He was about seventy at the time of his accession, or, as +it is more probable, of his death. Hist. August. p. 173. Tillemont, +Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 893, note 1.] + +[Footnote 64: Inimicus tyrannorum. Hist. August. p. 173. In the glorious +struggle of the senate against Maximin, Valerian acted a very spirited +part. Hist. August. p. 156.] + +[Footnote 65: According to the distinction of Victor, he seems to have +received the title of Imperator from the army, and that of Augustus from +the senate.] + +[Footnote 66: From Victor and from the medals, Tillemont (tom. iii. p. +710) very justly infers, that Gallienus was associated to the empire +about the month of August of the year 253.] + +I. As the posterity of the Franks compose one of the greatest and most +enlightened nations of Europe, the powers of learning and ingenuity have +been exhausted in the discovery of their unlettered ancestors. To the +tales of credulity have succeeded the systems of fancy. Every passage +has been sifted, every spot has been surveyed, that might possibly +reveal some faint traces of their origin. It has been supposed that +Pannonia, [67] that Gaul, that the northern parts of Germany, [68] gave +birth to that celebrated colony of warriors. At length the most rational +critics, rejecting the fictitious emigrations of ideal conquerors, have +acquiesced in a sentiment whose simplicity persuades us of its truth. +[69] They suppose, that about the year two hundred and forty, [70] a new +confederacy was formed under the name of Franks, by the old inhabitants +of the Lower Rhine and the Weser. [701] The present circle of Westphalia, +the Landgraviate of Hesse, and the duchies of Brunswick and Luneburg, +were the ancient seat of the Chauci who, in their inaccessible morasses, +defied the Roman arms; [71] of the Cherusci, proud of the fame of +Arminius; of the Catti, formidable by their firm and intrepid infantry; +and of several other tribes of inferior power and renown. [72] The love +of liberty was the ruling passion of these Germans; the enjoyment of it +their best treasure; the word that expressed that enjoyment, the most +pleasing to their ear. They deserved, they assumed, they maintained the +honorable appellation of Franks, or Freemen; which concealed, though +it did not extinguish, the peculiar names of the several states of the +confederacy. [73] Tacit consent, and mutual advantage, dictated the first +laws of the union; it was gradually cemented by habit and experience. +The league of the Franks may admit of some comparison with the Helvetic +body; in which every canton, retaining its independent sovereignty, +consults with its brethren in the common cause, without acknowledging +the authority of any supreme head, or representative assembly. [74] But +the principle of the two confederacies was extremely different. A peace +of two hundred years has rewarded the wise and honest policy of the +Swiss. An inconstant spirit, the thirst of rapine, and a disregard +to the most solemn treaties, disgraced the character of the Franks. +[Footnote 67: Various systems have been formed to explain a difficult +passage in Gregory of Tours, l. ii. c. 9.] + +[Footnote 68: The Geographer of Ravenna, i. 11, by mentioning +Mauringania, on the confines of Denmark, as the ancient seat of the +Franks, gave birth to an ingenious system of Leibritz.] + +[Footnote 69: See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, l. iii. c. 20. M. Freret, in +the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xviii.] + +[Footnote 70: Most probably under the reign of Gordian, from an +accidental circumstance fully canvassed by Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 710, +1181.] + +[Footnote 701: The confederation of the Franks appears to have been +formed, 1. Of the Chauci. 2. Of the Sicambri, the inhabitants of the +duchy of Berg. 3. Of the Attuarii, to the north of the Sicambri, in +the principality of Waldeck, between the Dimel and the Eder. 4. Of +the Bructeri, on the banks of the Lippe, and in the Hartz. 5. Of the +Chamavii, the Gambrivii of Tacitua, who were established, at the time +of the Frankish confederation, in the country of the Bructeri. 6. Of +the Catti, in Hessia.--G. The Salii and Cherasci are added. Greenwood's +Hist. of Germans, i 193.--M.] + +[Footnote 71: Plin. Hist. Natur. xvi. l. The Panegyrists frequently +allude to the morasses of the Franks.] + +[Footnote 72: Tacit. Germania, c. 30, 37.] + +[Footnote 73: In a subsequent period, most of those old names are +occasionally mentioned. See some vestiges of them in Cluver. Germ. +Antiq. l. iii.] + +[Footnote 74: Simler de Republica Helvet. cum notis Fuselin.] + + + + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.--Part III. + +The Romans had long experienced the daring valor of the people of +Lower Germany. The union of their strength threatened Gaul with a more +formidable invasion, and required the presence of Gallienus, the heir +and colleague of Imperial power. [75] Whilst that prince, and his infant +son Salonius, displayed, in the court of Treves, the majesty of the +empire its armies were ably conducted by their general, Posthumus, who, +though he afterwards betrayed the family of Valerian, was ever faithful +to the great interests of the monarchy. The treacherous language of +panegyrics and medals darkly announces a long series of victories. +Trophies and titles attest (if such evidence can attest) the fame of +Posthumus, who is repeatedly styled the Conqueror of the Germans, and +the Savior of Gaul. [76] + +[Footnote 75: Zosimus, l. i. p. 27.] + +[Footnote 76: M. de Brequigny (in the Memoires de l'Academie, tom. xxx.) +has given us a very curious life of Posthumus. A series of the Augustan +History from Medals and Inscriptions has been more than once planned, +and is still much wanted. * Note: M. Eckhel, Keeper of the Cabinet of +Medals, and Professor of Antiquities at Vienna, lately deceased, has +supplied this want by his excellent work, Doctrina veterum Nummorum, +conscripta a Jos. Eckhel, 8 vol. in 4to Vindobona, 1797.--G. Captain +Smyth has likewise printed (privately) a valuable Descriptive Catologue +of a series of Large Brass Medals of this period Bedford, 1834.--M. +1845.] + +But a single fact, the only one indeed of which we have any distinct +knowledge, erases, in a great measure, these monuments of vanity and +adulation. The Rhine, though dignified with the title of Safeguard of +the provinces, was an imperfect barrier against the daring spirit of +enterprise with which the Franks were actuated. Their rapid devastations +stretched from the river to the foot of the Pyrenees; nor were they +stopped by those mountains. Spain, which had never dreaded, was unable +to resist, the inroads of the Germans. During twelve years, the greatest +part of the reign of Gallienus, that opulent country was the theatre of +unequal and destructive hostilities. Tarragona, the flourishing capital +of a peaceful province, was sacked and almost destroyed; [77] and so +late as the days of Orosius, who wrote in the fifth century, wretched +cottages, scattered amidst the ruins of magnificent cities, still +recorded the rage of the barbarians. [78] When the exhausted country no +longer supplied a variety of plunder, the Franks seized on some vessels +in the ports of Spain, [79] and transported themselves into Mauritania. +The distant province was astonished with the fury of these barbarians, +who seemed to fall from a new world, as their name, manners, and +complexion, were equally unknown on the coast of Africa. [80] + +[Footnote 77: Aurel. Victor, c. 33. Instead of Poene direpto, both the +sense and the expression require deleto; though indeed, for different +reasons, it is alike difficult to correct the text of the best, and of +the worst, writers.] + +[Footnote 78: In the time of Ausonius (the end of the fourth century) +Ilerda or Lerida was in a very ruinous state, (Auson. Epist. xxv. 58,) +which probably was the consequence of this invasion.] + +[Footnote 79: Valesius is therefore mistaken in supposing that the +Franks had invaded Spain by sea.] + +[Footnote 80: Aurel. Victor. Eutrop. ix. 6.] + + +II. In that part of Upper Saxony, beyond the Elbe, which is at present +called the Marquisate of Lusace, there existed, in ancient times, a +sacred wood, the awful seat of the superstition of the Suevi. None were +permitted to enter the holy precincts, without confessing, by their +servile bonds and suppliant posture, the immediate presence of the +sovereign Deity. [81] Patriotism contributed, as well as devotion, +to consecrate the Sonnenwald, or wood of the Semnones. [82] It was +universally believed, that the nation had received its first existence +on that sacred spot. At stated periods, the numerous tribes who gloried +in the Suevic blood, resorted thither by their ambassadors; and the +memory of their common extraction was perpetrated by barbaric rites and +human sacrifices. The wide-extended name of Suevi filled the interior +countries of Germany, from the banks of the Oder to those of the Danube. +They were distinguished from the other Germans by their peculiar mode +of dressing their long hair, which they gathered into a rude knot on the +crown of the head; and they delighted in an ornament that showed their +ranks more lofty and terrible in the eyes of the enemy. [83] Jealous as +the Germans were of military renown, they all confessed the superior +valor of the Suevi; and the tribes of the Usipetes and Tencteri, who, +with a vast army, encountered the dictator Caesar, declared that they +esteemed it not a disgrace to have fled before a people to whose arms +the immortal gods themselves were unequal. [84] + +[Footnote 81: Tacit.Germania, 38.] + +[Footnote 82: Cluver. Germ. Antiq. iii. 25.] + +[Footnote 83: Sic Suevi a ceteris Germanis, sic Suerorum ingenui a +servis separantur. A proud separation!] + +[Footnote 84: Caesar in Bello Gallico, iv. 7.] + +In the reign of the emperor Caracalla, an innumerable swarm of Suevi +appeared on the banks of the Mein, and in the neighborhood of the Roman +provinces, in quest either of food, of plunder, or of glory. [85] The +hasty army of volunteers gradually coalesced into a great and permanent +nation, and as it was composed from so many different tribes, assumed +the name of Alemanni, [851] or Allmen; to denote at once their various +lineage and their common bravery. [86] The latter was soon felt by +the Romans in many a hostile inroad. The Alemanni fought chiefly on +horseback; but their cavalry was rendered still more formidable by a +mixture of light infantry, selected from the bravest and most active of +the youth, whom frequent exercise had inured to accompany the horsemen +in the longest march, the most rapid charge, or the most precipitate +retreat. [87] + +[Footnote 85: Victor in Caracal. Dion Cassius, lxvii. p. 1350.] + +[Footnote 851: The nation of the Alemanni was not originally formed by the +Suavi properly so called; these have always preserved their own name. +Shortly afterwards they made (A. D. 357) an irruption into Rhaetia, and +it was not long after that they were reunited with the Alemanni. Still +they have always been a distinct people; at the present day, the people +who inhabit the north-west of the Black Forest call themselves Schwaben, +Suabians, Sueves, while those who inhabit near the Rhine, in Ortenau, +the Brisgaw, the Margraviate of Baden, do not consider themselves +Suabians, and are by origin Alemanni. The Teucteri and the Usipetae, +inhabitants of the interior and of the north of Westphalia, formed, says +Gatterer, the nucleus of the Alemannic nation; they occupied the country +where the name of the Alemanni first appears, as conquered in 213, by +Caracalla. They were well trained to fight on horseback, (according to +Tacitus, Germ. c. 32;) and Aurelius Victor gives the same praise to the +Alemanni: finally, they never made part of the Frankish league. The +Alemanni became subsequently a centre round which gathered a multitude +of German tribes, See Eumen. Panegyr. c. 2. Amm. Marc. xviii. 2, xxix. +4.--G. ----The question whether the Suevi was a generic name +comprehending the clans which peopled central Germany, is rather hastily +decided by M. Guizot Mr. Greenwood, who has studied the modern German +writers on their own origin, supposes the Suevi, Alemanni, and +Marcomanni, one people, under different appellations. History of +Germany, vol i.--M.] + +[Footnote 86: This etymology (far different from those which amuse the +fancy of the learned) is preserved by Asinius Quadratus, an original +historian, quoted by Agathias, i. c. 5.] + +[Footnote 87: The Suevi engaged Caesar in this manner, and the manoeuvre +deserved the approbation of the conqueror, (in Bello Gallico, i. 48.)] + +This warlike people of Germans had been astonished by the immense +preparations of Alexander Severus; they were dismayed by the arms of his +successor, a barbarian equal in valor and fierceness to themselves. +But still hovering on the frontiers of the empire, they increased the +general disorder that ensued after the death of Decius. They inflicted +severe wounds on the rich provinces of Gaul; they were the first who +removed the veil that covered the feeble majesty of Italy. A numerous +body of the Alemanni penetrated across the Danube and through the +Rhaetian Alps into the plains of Lombardy, advanced as far as Ravenna, +and displayed the victorious banners of barbarians almost in sight of +Rome. [88] + +[Footnote 88: Hist. August. p. 215, 216. Dexippus in the Excerpts. +Legationam, p. 8. Hieronym. Chron. Orosius, vii. 22.] + +The insult and the danger rekindled in the senate some sparks of their +ancient virtue. Both the emperors were engaged in far distant wars, +Valerian in the East, and Gallienus on the Rhine. All the hopes and +resources of the Romans were in themselves. In this emergency, the +senators resumed the defence of the republic, drew out the Praetorian +guards, who had been left to garrison the capital, and filled up their +numbers, by enlisting into the public service the stoutest and most +willing of the Plebeians. The Alemanni, astonished with the sudden +appearance of an army more numerous than their own, retired into +Germany, laden with spoil; and their retreat was esteemed as a victory +by the unwarlike Romans. [89] + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus, l. i. p. 34.] + +When Gallienus received the intelligence that his capital was delivered +from the barbarians, he was much less delighted than alarmed with the +courage of the senate, since it might one day prompt them to rescue the +public from domestic tyranny as well as from foreign invasion. His timid +ingratitude was published to his subjects, in an edict which prohibited +the senators from exercising any military employment, and even from +approaching the camps of the legions. But his fears were groundless. +The rich and luxurious nobles, sinking into their natural character, +accepted, as a favor, this disgraceful exemption from military service; +and as long as they were indulged in the enjoyment of their baths, their +theatres, and their villas, they cheerfully resigned the more dangerous +cares of empire to the rough hands of peasants and soldiers. [90] + +[Footnote 90: Aurel. Victor, in Gallieno et Probo. His complaints +breathe as uncommon spirit of freedom.] + +Another invasion of the Alemanni, of a more formidable aspect, but more +glorious event, is mentioned by a writer of the lower empire. Three +hundred thousand are said to have been vanquished, in a battle near +Milan, by Gallienus in person, at the head of only ten thousand Romans. +[91] We may, however, with great probability, ascribe this incredible +victory either to the credulity of the historian, or to some exaggerated +exploits of one of the emperor's lieutenants. It was by arms of a very +different nature, that Gallienus endeavored to protect Italy from the +fury of the Germans. He espoused Pipa, the daughter of a king of the +Marcomanni, a Suevic tribe, which was often confounded with the Alemanni +in their wars and conquests. [92] To the father, as the price of his +alliance, he granted an ample settlement in Pannonia. The native charms +of unpolished beauty seem to have fixed the daughter in the affections +of the inconstant emperor, and the bands of policy were more firmly +connected by those of love. But the haughty prejudice of Rome still +refused the name of marriage to the profane mixture of a citizen and a +barbarian; and has stigmatized the German princess with the opprobrious +title of concubine of Gallienus. [93] + +[Footnote 91: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 631.] + +[Footnote 92: One of the Victors calls him king of the Marcomanni; the +other of the Germans.] + +[Footnote 93: See Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iii. p. 398, +&c.] + +III. We have already traced the emigration of the Goths from +Scandinavia, or at least from Prussia, to the mouth of the Borysthenes, +and have followed their victorious arms from the Borysthenes to the +Danube. Under the reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, the frontier of the +last-mentioned river was perpetually infested by the inroads of Germans +and Sarmatians; but it was defended by the Romans with more than usual +firmness and success. The provinces that were the seat of war, recruited +the armies of Rome with an inexhaustible supply of hardy soldiers; +and more than one of these Illyrian peasants attained the station, and +displayed the abilities, of a general. Though flying parties of +the barbarians, who incessantly hovered on the banks of the Danube, +penetrated sometimes to the confines of Italy and Macedonia, their +progress was commonly checked, or their return intercepted, by the +Imperial lieutenants. [94] But the great stream of the Gothic hostilities +was diverted into a very different channel. The Goths, in their new +settlement of the Ukraine, soon became masters of the northern coast of +the Euxine: to the south of that inland sea were situated the soft and +wealthy provinces of Asia Minor, which possessed all that could attract, +and nothing that could resist, a barbarian conqueror. + +[Footnote 94: See the lives of Claudius, Aurelian, and Probus, in the +Augustan History.] + +The banks of the Borysthenes are only sixty miles distant from the +narrow entrance [95] of the peninsula of Crim Tartary, known to the +ancients under the name of Chersonesus Taurica. [96] On that inhospitable +shore, Euripides, embellishing with exquisite art the tales of +antiquity, has placed the scene of one of his most affecting tragedies. +[97] The bloody sacrifices of Diana, the arrival of Orestes and Pylades, +and the triumph of virtue and religion over savage fierceness, serve to +represent an historical truth, that the Tauri, the original inhabitants +of the peninsula, were, in some degree, reclaimed from their brutal +manners by a gradual intercourse with the Grecian colonies, which +settled along the maritime coast. The little kingdom of Bosphorus, +whose capital was situated on the Straits, through which the Maeotis +communicates itself to the Euxine, was composed of degenerate Greeks and +half-civilized barbarians. It subsisted, as an independent state, from +the time of the Peloponnesian war, [98] was at last swallowed up by the +ambition of Mithridates, [99] and, with the rest of his dominions, sunk +under the weight of the Roman arms. From the reign of Augustus, [100] +the kings of Bosphorus were the humble, but not useless, allies of the +empire. By presents, by arms, and by a slight fortification drawn across +the Isthmus, they effectually guarded against the roving plunderers of +Sarmatia, the access of a country, which, from its peculiar situation +and convenient harbors, commanded the Euxine Sea and Asia Minor. [101] As +long as the sceptre was possessed by a lineal succession of kings, +they acquitted themselves of their important charge with vigilance +and success. Domestic factions, and the fears, or private interest, of +obscure usurpers, who seized on the vacant throne, admitted the Goths +into the heart of Bosphorus. With the acquisition of a superfluous waste +of fertile soil, the conquerors obtained the command of a naval force, +sufficient to transport their armies to the coast of Asia. [102] These +ships used in the navigation of the Euxine were of a very singular +construction. They were slight flat-bottomed barks framed of timber +only, without the least mixture of iron, and occasionally covered with +a shelving roof, on the appearance of a tempest. [103] In these floating +houses, the Goths carelessly trusted themselves to the mercy of an +unknown sea, under the conduct of sailors pressed into the service, +and whose skill and fidelity were equally suspicious. But the hopes of +plunder had banished every idea of danger, and a natural fearlessness +of temper supplied in their minds the more rational confidence, which is +the just result of knowledge and experience. Warriors of such a daring +spirit must have often murmured against the cowardice of their guides, +who required the strongest assurances of a settled calm before they +would venture to embark; and would scarcely ever be tempted to lose +sight of the land. Such, at least, is the practice of the modern Turks; +[104] and they are probably not inferior, in the art of navigation, to +the ancient inhabitants of Bosphorus. + +[Footnote 95: It is about half a league in breadth. Genealogical History +of the Tartars, p 598.] + +[Footnote 96: M. de Peyssonel, who had been French Consul at Caffa, in +his Observations sur les Peuples Barbares, que ont habite les bords du +Danube] + +[Footnote 97: Eeripides in Iphigenia in Taurid.] + +[Footnote 98: Strabo, l. vii. p. 309. The first kings of Bosphorus were +the allies of Athens.] + +[Footnote 99: Appian in Mithridat.] + +[Footnote 100: It was reduced by the arms of Agrippa. Orosius, vi. 21. +Eu tropius, vii. 9. The Romans once advanced within three days' march of +the Tanais. Tacit. Annal. xii. 17.] + +[Footnote 101: See the Toxaris of Lucian, if we credit the sincerity +and the virtues of the Scythian, who relates a great war of his nation +against the kings of Bosphorus.] + +[Footnote 102: Zosimus, l. i. p. 28.] + +[Footnote 103: Strabo, l. xi. Tacit. Hist. iii. 47. They were called +Camaroe.] + +[Footnote 104: See a very natural picture of the Euxine navigation, in +the xvith letter of Tournefort.] + +The fleet of the Goths, leaving the coast of Circassia on the left +hand, first appeared before Pityus, [105] the utmost limits of the Roman +provinces; a city provided with a convenient port, and fortified with +a strong wall. Here they met with a resistance more obstinate than they +had reason to expect from the feeble garrison of a distant fortress. +They were repulsed; and their disappointment seemed to diminish the +terror of the Gothic name. As long as Successianus, an officer of +superior rank and merit, defended that frontier, all their efforts +were ineffectual; but as soon as he was removed by Valerian to a more +honorable but less important station, they resumed the attack of Pityus; +and by the destruction of that city, obliterated the memory of their +former disgrace. [106] + +[Footnote 105: Arrian places the frontier garrison at Dioscurias, or +Sebastopolis, forty-four miles to the east of Pityus. The garrison of +Phasis consisted in his time of only four hundred foot. See the Periplus +of the Euxine. * Note: Pityus is Pitchinda, according to D'Anville, ii. +115.--G. Rather Boukoun.--M. Dioscurias is Iskuriah.--G.] + +[Footnote 106: Zosimus, l. i. p. 30.] + +Circling round the eastern extremity of the Euxine Sea, the navigation +from Pityus to Trebizond is about three hundred miles. [107] The course +of the Goths carried them in sight of the country of Colchis, so famous +by the expedition of the Argonauts; and they even attempted, though +without success, to pillage a rich temple at the mouth of the River +Phasis. Trebizond, celebrated in the retreat of the ten thousand as an +ancient colony of Greeks, [108] derived its wealth and splendor from the +magnificence of the emperor Hadrian, who had constructed an artificial +port on a coast left destitute by nature of secure harbors. [109] The +city was large and populous; a double enclosure of walls seemed to defy +the fury of the Goths, and the usual garrison had been strengthened by +a reenforcement of ten thousand men. But there are not any advantages +capable of supplying the absence of discipline and vigilance. The +numerous garrison of Trebizond, dissolved in riot and luxury, disdained +to guard their impregnable fortifications. The Goths soon discovered +the supine negligence of the besieged, erected a lofty pile of fascines, +ascended the walls in the silence of the night, and entered the +defenceless city sword in hand. A general massacre of the people ensued, +whilst the affrighted soldiers escaped through the opposite gates of +the town. The most holy temples, and the most splendid edifices, were +involved in a common destruction. The booty that fell into the hands +of the Goths was immense: the wealth of the adjacent countries had been +deposited in Trebizond, as in a secure place of refuge. The number of +captives was incredible, as the victorious barbarians ranged without +opposition through the extensive province of Pontus. [110] The rich +spoils of Trebizond filled a great fleet of ships that had been found in +the port. The robust youth of the sea-coast were chained to the oar; and +the Goths, satisfied with the success of their first naval expedition, +returned in triumph to their new establishment in the kingdom of +Bosphorus. [111] + +[Footnote 107: Arrian (in Periplo Maris Euxine, p. 130) calls the +distance 2610 stadia.] + +[Footnote 108: Xenophon, Anabasis, l. iv. p. 348, edit. Hutchinson. +Note: Fallmerayer (Geschichte des Kaiserthums von Trapezunt, p. 6, +&c) assigns a very ancient date to the first (Pelasgic) foundation of +Trapezun (Trebizond)--M.] + +[Footnote 109: Arrian, p. 129. The general observation is Tournefort's.] + +[Footnote 110: See an epistle of Gregory Thaumaturgus, bishop of +Neo-Caeoarea, quoted by Mascou, v. 37.] + +[Footnote 111: Zosimus, l. i. p. 32, 33.] + +The second expedition of the Goths was undertaken with greater powers of +men and ships; but they steered a different course, and, disdaining the +exhausted provinces of Pontus, followed the western coast of the Euxine, +passed before the wide mouths of the Borysthenes, the Niester, and the +Danube, and increasing their fleet by the capture of a great number +of fishing barks, they approached the narrow outlet through which the +Euxine Sea pours its waters into the Mediterranean, and divides the +continents of Europe and Asia. The garrison of Chalcedon was encamped +near the temple of Jupiter Urius, on a promontory that commanded the +entrance of the Strait; and so inconsiderable were the dreaded invasions +of the barbarians that this body of troops surpassed in number the +Gothic army. But it was in numbers alone that they surpassed it. They +deserted with precipitation their advantageous post, and abandoned the +town of Chalcedon, most plentifully stored with arms and money, to the +discretion of the conquerors. Whilst they hesitated whether they +should prefer the sea or land, Europe or Asia, for the scene of their +hostilities, a perfidious fugitive pointed out Nicomedia, [1111] once the +capital of the kings of Bithynia, as a rich and easy conquest. He guided +the march, which was only sixty miles from the camp of Chalcedon, [112] +directed the resistless attack, and partook of the booty; for the Goths +had learned sufficient policy to reward the traitor whom they detested. +Nice, Prusa, Apamaea, Cius, [1121] cities that had sometimes rivalled, or +imitated, the splendor of Nicomedia, were involved in the same calamity, +which, in a few weeks, raged without control through the whole +province of Bithynia. Three hundred years of peace, enjoyed by the soft +inhabitants of Asia, had abolished the exercise of arms, and removed the +apprehension of danger. The ancient walls were suffered to moulder away, +and all the revenue of the most opulent cities was reserved for the +construction of baths, temples, and theatres. [113] + +[Footnote 1111: It has preserved its name, joined to the preposition of place in that of +Nikmid. D'Anv. Geog. Anc. ii. 28.--G.] + +[Footnote 112: Itiner. Hierosolym. p. 572. Wesseling.] + +[Footnote 1121: Now Isnik, Bursa, Mondania Ghio or Kemlik D'Anv. ii. +23.--G.] + +[Footnote 113: Zosimus, l.. p. 32, 33.] + +When the city of Cyzicus withstood the utmost effort of Mithridates, +[114] it was distinguished by wise laws, a naval power of two hundred +galleys, and three arsenals, of arms, of military engines, and of corn. +[115] It was still the seat of wealth and luxury; but of its ancient +strength, nothing remained except the situation, in a little island of +the Propontis, connected with the continent of Asia only by two bridges. +From the recent sack of Prusa, the Goths advanced within eighteen miles. +[116] of the city, which they had devoted to destruction; but the ruin of +Cyzicus was delayed by a fortunate accident. The season was rainy, +and the Lake Apolloniates, the reservoir of all the springs of Mount +Olympus, rose to an uncommon height. The little river of Rhyndacus, +which issues from the lake, swelled into a broad and rapid stream, and +stopped the progress of the Goths. Their retreat to the maritime city of +Heraclea, where the fleet had probably been stationed, was attended by a +long train of wagons, laden with the spoils of Bithynia, and was marked +by the flames of Nico and Nicomedia, which they wantonly burnt. [117] +Some obscure hints are mentioned of a doubtful combat that secured their +retreat. [118] But even a complete victory would have been of little +moment, as the approach of the autumnal equinox summoned them to hasten +their return. To navigate the Euxine before the month of May, or +after that of September, is esteemed by the modern Turks the most +unquestionable instance of rashness and folly. [119] + +[Footnote 114: He besieged the place with 400 galleys, 150,000 foot, and +a numerous cavalry. See Plutarch in Lucul. Appian in Mithridat Cicero +pro Lege Manilia, c. 8.] + +[Footnote 115: Strabo, l. xii. p. 573.] + +[Footnote 116: Pocock's Description of the East, l. ii. c. 23, 24.] + +[Footnote 117: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33.] + +[Footnote 118: Syncellus tells an unintelligible story of Prince +Odenathus, who defeated the Goths, and who was killed by Prince +Odenathus.] + +[Footnote 119: Voyages de Chardin, tom. i. p. 45. He sailed with the +Turks from Constantinople to Caffa.] + +When we are informed that the third fleet, equipped by the Goths in the +ports of Bosphorus, consisted of five hundred sails of ships, [120] +our ready imagination instantly computes and multiplies the formidable +armament; but, as we are assured by the judicious Strabo, [121] that +the piratical vessels used by the barbarians of Pontus and the Lesser +Scythia, were not capable of containing more than twenty-five or thirty +men we may safely affirm, that fifteen thousand warriors, at the most, +embarked in this great expedition. Impatient of the limits of the +Euxine, they steered their destructive course from the Cimmerian to +the Thracian Bosphorus. When they had almost gained the middle of the +Straits, they were suddenly driven back to the entrance of them; till a +favorable wind, springing up the next day, carried them in a few hours +into the placid sea, or rather lake, of the Propontis. Their landing on +the little island of Cyzicus was attended with the ruin of that ancient +and noble city. From thence issuing again through the narrow passage +of the Hellespont, they pursued their winding navigation amidst the +numerous islands scattered over the Archipelago, or the Aegean Sea. The +assistance of captives and deserters must have been very necessary to +pilot their vessels, and to direct their various incursions, as well +on the coast of Greece as on that of Asia. At length the Gothic fleet +anchored in the port of Piraeus, five miles distant from Athens, [122] +which had attempted to make some preparations for a vigorous defence. +Cleodamus, one of the engineers employed by the emperor's orders to +fortify the maritime cities against the Goths, had already begun to +repair the ancient walls, fallen to decay since the time of Scylla. The +efforts of his skill were ineffectual, and the barbarians became masters +of the native seat of the muses and the arts. But while the conquerors +abandoned themselves to the license of plunder and intemperance, their +fleet, that lay with a slender guard in the harbor of Piraeus, was +unexpectedly attacked by the brave Dexippus, who, flying with the +engineer Cleodamus from the sack of Athens, collected a hasty band of +volunteers, peasants as well as soldiers, and in some measure avenged +the calamities of his country. [123] + +[Footnote 120: Syncellus (p. 382) speaks of this expedition, as +undertaken by the Heruli.] + +[Footnote 121: Strabo, l. xi. p. 495.] + +[Footnote 122: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 7.] + +[Footnote 123: Hist. August. p. 181. Victor, c. 33. Orosius, vii. 42. +Zosimus, l. i. p. 35. Zonaras, l. xii. 635. Syncellus, p. 382. It is +not without some attention, that we can explain and conciliate their +imperfect hints. We can still discover some traces of the partiality of +Dexippus, in the relation of his own and his countrymen's exploits. * +Note: According to a new fragment of Dexippus, published by Mai, the 2000 +men took up a strong position in a mountainous and woods district, +and kept up a harassing warfare. He expresses a hope of being speedily +joined by the Imperial fleet. Dexippus in rov. Byzantinorum Collect a +Niebuhr, p. 26, 8--M.] + +But this exploit, whatever lustre it might shed on the declining age of +Athens, served rather to irritate than to subdue the undaunted spirit +of the northern invaders. A general conflagration blazed out at the same +time in every district of Greece. Thebes and Argos, Corinth and Sparta, +which had formerly waged such memorable wars against each other, were +now unable to bring an army into the field, or even to defend their +ruined fortifications. The rage of war, both by land and by sea, spread +from the eastern point of Sunium to the western coast of Epirus. The +Goths had already advanced within sight of Italy, when the approach of +such imminent danger awakened the indolent Gallienus from his dream of +pleasure. The emperor appeared in arms; and his presence seems to have +checked the ardor, and to have divided the strength, of the enemy. +Naulobatus, a chief of the Heruli, accepted an honorable capitulation, +entered with a large body of his countrymen into the service of Rome, +and was invested with the ornaments of the consular dignity, which +had never before been profaned by the hands of a barbarian. [124] Great +numbers of the Goths, disgusted with the perils and hardships of a +tedious voyage, broke into Maesia, with a design of forcing their way +over the Danube to their settlements in the Ukraine. The wild attempt +would have proved inevitable destruction, if the discord of the Roman +generals had not opened to the barbarians the means of an escape. [125] +The small remainder of this destroying host returned on board their +vessels; and measuring back their way through the Hellespont and the +Bosphorus, ravaged in their passage the shores of Troy, whose fame, +immortalized by Homer, will probably survive the memory of the Gothic +conquests. As soon as they found themselves in safety within the basin +of the Euxine, they landed at Anchialus in Thrace, near the foot of +Mount Haemus; and, after all their toils, indulged themselves in the use +of those pleasant and salutary hot baths. What remained of the voyage +was a short and easy navigation. [126] Such was the various fate of this +third and greatest of their naval enterprises. It may seem difficult +to conceive how the original body of fifteen thousand warriors could +sustain the losses and divisions of so bold an adventure. But as their +numbers were gradually wasted by the sword, by shipwrecks, and by the +influence of a warm climate, they were perpetually renewed by troops of +banditti and deserters, who flocked to the standard of plunder, and by +a crowd of fugitive slaves, often of German or Sarmatian extraction, who +eagerly seized the glorious opportunity of freedom and revenge. In these +expeditions, the Gothic nation claimed a superior share of honor +and danger; but the tribes that fought under the Gothic banners are +sometimes distinguished and sometimes confounded in the imperfect +histories of that age; and as the barbarian fleets seemed to issue from +the mouth of the Tanais, the vague but familiar appellation of Scythians +was frequently bestowed on the mixed multitude. [127] + +[Footnote 124: Syncellus, p. 382. This body of Heruli was for a long +time faithful and famous.] + +[Footnote 125: Claudius, who commanded on the Danube, thought with +propriety and acted with spirit. His colleague was jealous of his fame +Hist. August. p. 181.] + +[Footnote 126: Jornandes, c. 20.] + +[Footnote 127: Zosimus and the Greeks (as the author of the Philopatris) +give the name of Scythians to those whom Jornandes, and the Latin +writers, constantly represent as Goths.] + + + + +Chapter X: Emperors Decius, Gallus, Aemilianus, Valerian And Gallienus.--Part IV. + +In the general calamities of mankind, the death of an individual, +however exalted, the ruin of an edifice, however famous, are passed over +with careless inattention. Yet we cannot forget that the temple of +Diana at Ephesus, after having risen with increasing splendor from seven +repeated misfortunes, [128] was finally burnt by the Goths in their +third naval invasion. The arts of Greece, and the wealth of Asia, +had conspired to erect that sacred and magnificent structure. It was +supported by a hundred and twenty-seven marble columns of the Ionic +order. They were the gifts of devout monarchs, and each was sixty feet +high. The altar was adorned with the masterly sculptures of Praxiteles, +who had, perhaps, selected from the favorite legends of the place the +birth of the divine children of Latona, the concealment of Apollo +after the slaughter of the Cyclops, and the clemency of Bacchus to the +vanquished Amazons. [129] Yet the length of the temple of Ephesus was +only four hundred and twenty-five feet, about two thirds of the measure +of the church of St. Peter's at Rome. [130] In the other dimensions, +it was still more inferior to that sublime production of modern +architecture. The spreading arms of a Christian cross require a much +greater breadth than the oblong temples of the Pagans; and the boldest +artists of antiquity would have been startled at the proposal of raising +in the air a dome of the size and proportions of the Pantheon. The +temple of Diana was, however, admired as one of the wonders of the +world. Successive empires, the Persian, the Macedonian, and the Roman, +had revered its sanctity and enriched its splendor. [131] But the rude +savages of the Baltic were destitute of a taste for the elegant arts, +and they despised the ideal terrors of a foreign superstition. [132] + +[Footnote 128: Hist. Aug. p. 178. Jornandes, c. 20.] + +[Footnote 129: Strabo, l. xiv. p. 640. Vitruvius, l. i. c. i. praefat l +vii. Tacit Annal. iii. 61. Plin. Hist. Nat. xxxvi. 14.] + +[Footnote 130: The length of St. Peter's is 840 Roman palms; each palm +is very little short of nine English inches. See Greaves's Miscellanies +vol. i. p. 233; on the Roman Foot. * Note: St. Paul's Cathedral is 500 +feet. Dallaway on Architecture--M.] + +[Footnote 131: The policy, however, of the Romans induced them to +abridge the extent of the sanctuary or asylum, which by successive +privileges had spread itself two stadia round the temple. Strabo, l. +xiv. p. 641. Tacit. Annal. iii. 60, &c.] + +[Footnote 132: They offered no sacrifices to the Grecian gods. See +Epistol Gregor. Thaumat.] + +Another circumstance is related of these invasions, which might deserve +our notice, were it not justly to be suspected as the fanciful conceit +of a recent sophist. We are told, that in the sack of Athens the Goths +had collected all the libraries, and were on the point of setting fire +to this funeral pile of Grecian learning, had not one of their chiefs, +of more refined policy than his brethren, dissuaded them from the +design; by the profound observation, that as long as the Greeks were +addicted to the study of books, they would never apply themselves to the +exercise of arms. [133] The sagacious counsellor (should the truth of +the fact be admitted) reasoned like an ignorant barbarian. In the most +polite and powerful nations, genius of every kind has displayed itself +about the same period; and the age of science has generally been the age +of military virtue and success. + +[Footnote 133: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 635. Such an anecdote was perfectly +suited to the taste of Montaigne. He makes use of it in his agreeable +Essay on Pedantry, l. i. c. 24.] + + +IV. The new sovereign of Persia, Artaxerxes and his son Sapor, had +triumphed (as we have already seen) over the house of Arsaces. Of the +many princes of that ancient race. Chosroes, king of Armenia, had alone +preserved both his life and his independence. He defended himself by the +natural strength of his country; by the perpetual resort of fugitives +and malecontents; by the alliance of the Romans, and above all, by his +own courage. + +Invincible in arms, during a thirty years' war, he was at length +assassinated by the emissaries of Sapor, king of Persia. The patriotic +satraps of Armenia, who asserted the freedom and dignity of the crown, +implored the protection of Rome in favor of Tiridates, the lawful heir. +But the son of Chosroes was an infant, the allies were at a distance, +and the Persian monarch advanced towards the frontier at the head of an +irresistible force. Young Tiridates, the future hope of his country, +was saved by the fidelity of a servant, and Armenia continued above +twenty-seven years a reluctant province of the great monarchy of Persia. +[134] Elated with this easy conquest, and presuming on the distresses or +the degeneracy of the Romans, Sapor obliged the strong garrisons of +Carrhae and Nisibis [1341] to surrender, and spread devastation and +terror on either side of the Euphrates. + +[Footnote 134: Moses Chorenensis, l. ii. c. 71, 73, 74. Zonaras, l. xii. +p. 628. The anthentic relation of the Armenian historian serves to +rectify the confused account of the Greek. The latter talks of the +children of Tiridates, who at that time was himself an infant. (Compare +St Martin Memoires sur l'Armenie, i. p. 301.--M.)] + +[Footnote 1341: Nisibis, according to Persian authors, was taken by a +miracle, the wall fell, in compliance with the prayers of the army. +Malcolm's Persia, l. 76.--M] + +The loss of an important frontier, the ruin of a faithful and natural +ally, and the rapid success of Sapor's ambition, affected Rome with a +deep sense of the insult as well as of the danger. Valerian flattered +himself, that the vigilance of his lieutenants would sufficiently +provide for the safety of the Rhine and of the Danube; but he resolved, +notwithstanding his advanced age, to march in person to the defence of +the Euphrates. + +During his progress through Asia Minor, the naval enterprises of the +Goths were suspended, and the afflicted province enjoyed a transient +and fallacious calm. He passed the Euphrates, encountered the Persian +monarch near the walls of Edessa, was vanquished, and taken prisoner by +Sapor. The particulars of this great event are darkly and imperfectly +represented; yet, by the glimmering light which is afforded us, we +may discover a long series of imprudence, of error, and of deserved +misfortunes on the side of the Roman emperor. He reposed an implicit +confidence in Macrianus, his Praetorian praefect. [135] That worthless +minister rendered his master formidable only to the oppressed subjects, +and contemptible to the enemies of Rome. [136] By his weak or wicked +counsels, the Imperial army was betrayed into a situation where valor +and military skill were equally unavailing. [137] The vigorous attempt of +the Romans to cut their way through the Persian host was repulsed with +great slaughter; [138] and Sapor, who encompassed the camp with superior +numbers, patiently waited till the increasing rage of famine and +pestilence had insured his victory. The licentious murmurs of the +legions soon accused Valerian as the cause of their calamities; their +seditious clamors demanded an instant capitulation. An immense sum of +gold was offered to purchase the permission of a disgraceful retreat. +But the Persian, conscious of his superiority, refused the money with +disdain; and detaining the deputies, advanced in order of battle to the +foot of the Roman rampart, and insisted on a personal conference with +the emperor. Valerian was reduced to the necessity of intrusting his +life and dignity to the faith of an enemy. The interview ended as it was +natural to expect. The emperor was made a prisoner, and his astonished +troops laid down their arms. [139] In such a moment of triumph, the +pride and policy of Sapor prompted him to fill the vacant throne with +a successor entirely dependent on his pleasure. Cyriades, an obscure +fugitive of Antioch, stained with every vice, was chosen to dishonor the +Roman purple; and the will of the Persian victor could not fail of being +ratified by the acclamations, however reluctant, of the captive army. +[140] + +[Footnote 135: Hist. Aug. p. 191. As Macrianus was an enemy to the +Christians, they charged him with being a magician.] + +[Footnote 136: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33.] + +[Footnote 137: Hist. Aug. p. 174.] + +[Footnote 138: Victor in Caesar. Eutropius, ix. 7.] + +[Footnote 139: Zosimus, l. i. p. 33. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 630. Peter +Patricius, in the Excerpta Legat. p. 29.] + +[Footnote 140: Hist. August. p. 185. The reign of Cyriades appears in +that collection prior to the death of Valerian; but I have preferred +a probable series of events to the doubtful chronology of a most +inaccurate writer] + +The Imperial slave was eager to secure the favor of his master by an act +of treason to his native country. He conducted Sapor over the Euphrates, +and, by the way of Chalcis, to the metropolis of the East. So rapid were +the motions of the Persian cavalry, that, if we may credit a very +judicious historian, [141] the city of Antioch was surprised when the +idle multitude was fondly gazing on the amusements of the theatre. The +splendid buildings of Antioch, private as well as public, were either +pillaged or destroyed; and the numerous inhabitants were put to the +sword, or led away into captivity. [142] The tide of devastation was +stopped for a moment by the resolution of the high priest of Emesa. +Arrayed in his sacerdotal robes, he appeared at the head of a great body +of fanatic peasants, armed only with slings, and defended his god and +his property from the sacrilegious hands of the followers of Zoroaster. +[143] But the ruin of Tarsus, and of many other cities, furnishes a +melancholy proof that, except in this singular instance, the conquest of +Syria and Cilicia scarcely interrupted the progress of the Persian arms. +The advantages of the narrow passes of Mount Taurus were abandoned, in +which an invader, whose principal force consisted in his cavalry, would +have been engaged in a very unequal combat: and Sapor was permitted to +form the siege of Caesarea, the capital of Cappadocia; a city, though of +the second rank, which was supposed to contain four hundred thousand +inhabitants. Demosthenes commanded in the place, not so much by the +commission of the emperor, as in the voluntary defence of his country. +For a long time he deferred its fate; and when at last Caesarea was +betrayed by the perfidy of a physician, he cut his way through the +Persians, who had been ordered to exert their utmost diligence to take +him alive. This heroic chief escaped the power of a foe who might either +have honored or punished his obstinate valor; but many thousands of his +fellow-citizens were involved in a general massacre, and Sapor is +accused of treating his prisoners with wanton and unrelenting cruelty. +[144] Much should undoubtedly be allowed for national animosity, much +for humbled pride and impotent revenge; yet, upon the whole, it is +certain, that the same prince, who, in Armenia, had displayed the mild +aspect of a legislator, showed himself to the Romans under the stern +features of a conqueror. He despaired of making any permanent +establishment in the empire, and sought only to leave behind him a +wasted desert, whilst he transported into Persia the people and the +treasures of the provinces. [145] + +[Footnote 141: The sack of Antioch, anticipated by some historians, +is assigned, by the decisive testimony of Ammianus Marcellinus, to the +reign of Gallienus, xxiii. 5. * Note: Heyne, in his note on Zosimus, +contests this opinion of Gibbon and observes, that the testimony of +Ammianus is in fact by no means clear, decisive. Gallienus and Valerian +reigned together. Zosimus, in a passage, l. iiii. 32, 8, distinctly +places this event before the capture of Valerian.--M.] + +[Footnote 142: Zosimus, l. i. p. 35.] + +[Footnote 143: John Malala, tom. i. p. 391. He corrupts this probable +event by some fabulous circumstances.] + +[Footnote 144: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 630. Deep valleys were filled up with +the slain. Crowds of prisoners were driven to water like beasts, and +many perished for want of food.] + +[Footnote 145: Zosimus, l. i. p. 25 asserts, that Sapor, had he not +preferred spoil to conquest, might have remained master of Asia.] + +At the time when the East trembled at the name of Sapor, he received +a present not unworthy of the greatest kings; a long train of camels, +laden with the most rare and valuable merchandises. The rich offering +was accompanied with an epistle, respectful, but not servile, from +Odenathus, one of the noblest and most opulent senators of Palmyra. "Who +is this Odenathus," (said the haughty victor, and he commanded that the +present should be cast into the Euphrates,) "that he thus insolently +presumes to write to his lord? If he entertains a hope of mitigating his +punishment, let him fall prostrate before the foot of our throne, with +his hands bound behind his back. Should he hesitate, swift destruction +shall be poured on his head, on his whole race, and on his country." +[146] The desperate extremity to which the Palmyrenian was reduced, +called into action all the latent powers of his soul. He met Sapor; but +he met him in arms. + +Infusing his own spirit into a little army collected from the villages +of Syria [147] and the tents of the desert, [148] he hovered round the +Persian host, harassed their retreat, carried off part of the treasure, +and, what was dearer than any treasure, several of the women of the +great king; who was at last obliged to repass the Euphrates with some +marks of haste and confusion. [149] By this exploit, Odenathus laid +the foundations of his future fame and fortunes. The majesty of Rome, +oppressed by a Persian, was protected by a Syrian or Arab of Palmyra. + +[Footnote 146: Peter Patricius in Excerpt. Leg. p. 29.] + +[Footnote 147: Syrorum agrestium manu. Sextus Rufus, c. 23. Rufus Victor +the Augustan History, (p. 192,) and several inscriptions, agree in +making Odenathus a citizen of Palmyra.] + +[Footnote 148: He possessed so powerful an interest among the wandering +tribes, that Procopius (Bell. Persic. l. ii. c. 5) and John Malala, +(tom. i. p. 391) style him Prince of the Saracens.] + +[Footnote 149: Peter Patricius, p. 25.] + +The voice of history, which is often little more than the organ of +hatred or flattery, reproaches Sapor with a proud abuse of the rights +of conquest. We are told that Valerian, in chains, but invested with the +Imperial purple, was exposed to the multitude, a constant spectacle +of fallen greatness; and that whenever the Persian monarch mounted +on horseback, he placed his foot on the neck of a Roman emperor. +Notwithstanding all the remonstrances of his allies, who repeatedly +advised him to remember the vicissitudes of fortune, to dread the +returning power of Rome, and to make his illustrious captive the pledge +of peace, not the object of insult, Sapor still remained inflexible. +When Valerian sunk under the weight of shame and grief, his skin, +stuffed with straw, and formed into the likeness of a human figure, was +preserved for ages in the most celebrated temple of Persia; a more real +monument of triumph, than the fancied trophies of brass and marble so +often erected by Roman vanity. [150] The tale is moral and pathetic, but +the truth [1501] of it may very fairly be called in question. The letters +still extant from the princes of the East to Sapor are manifest +forgeries; [151] nor is it natural to suppose that a jealous monarch +should, even in the person of a rival, thus publicly degrade the majesty +of kings. Whatever treatment the unfortunate Valerian might experience +in Persia, it is at least certain that the only emperor of Rome who had +ever fallen into the hands of the enemy, languished away his life in +hopeless captivity. + +[Footnote 150: The Pagan writers lament, the Christian insult, the +misfortunes of Valerian. Their various testimonies are accurately +collected by Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 739, &c. So little has been +preserved of eastern history before Mahomet, that the modern Persians +are totally ignorant of the victory Sapor, an event so glorious to their +nation. See Bibliotheque Orientale. * Note: Malcolm appears to write +from Persian authorities, i. 76.--M.] + +[Footnote 1501: Yet Gibbon himself records a speech of the emperor Galerius, +which alludes to the cruelties exercised against the living, and the +indignities to which they exposed the dead Valerian, vol. ii. ch. 13. +Respect for the kingly character would by no means prevent an eastern +monarch from ratifying his pride and his vengeance on a fallen foe.--M.] + +[Footnote 151: One of these epistles is from Artavasdes, king of +Armenia; since Armenia was then a province of Persia, the king, the +kingdom, and the epistle must be fictitious.] + +The emperor Gallienus, who had long supported with impatience +the censorial severity of his father and colleague, received the +intelligence of his misfortunes with secret pleasure and avowed +indifference. "I knew that my father was a mortal," said he; "and since +he has acted as it becomes a brave man, I am satisfied." Whilst Rome +lamented the fate of her sovereign, the savage coldness of his son was +extolled by the servile courtiers as the perfect firmness of a hero +and a stoic. [152] It is difficult to paint the light, the various, +the inconstant character of Gallienus, which he displayed without +constraint, as soon as he became sole possessor of the empire. In every +art that he attempted, his lively genius enabled him to succeed; and as +his genius was destitute of judgment, he attempted every art, except +the important ones of war and government. He was a master of several +curious, but useless sciences, a ready orator, an elegant poet, [153] a +skilful gardener, an excellent cook, and most contemptible prince. When +the great emergencies of the state required his presence and attention, +he was engaged in conversation with the philosopher Plotinus, [154] +wasting his time in trifling or licentious pleasures, preparing his +initiation to the Grecian mysteries, or soliciting a place in the +Arcopagus of Athens. His profuse magnificence insulted the general +poverty; the solemn ridicule of his triumphs impressed a deeper sense +of the public disgrace. [155] The repeated intelligence of invasions, +defeats, and rebellions, he received with a careless smile; and singling +out, with affected contempt, some particular production of the lost +province, he carelessly asked, whether Rome must be ruined, unless it +was supplied with linen from Egypt, and arras cloth from Gaul. There +were, however, a few short moments in the life of Gallienus, when, +exasperated by some recent injury, he suddenly appeared the intrepid +soldier and the cruel tyrant; till, satiated with blood, or fatigued by +resistance, he insensibly sunk into the natural mildness and indolence +of his character. [156] + +[Footnote 152: See his life in the Augustan History.] + +[Footnote 153: There is still extant a very pretty Epithalamium, +composed by Gallienus for the nuptials of his nephews:--"Ite ait, O +juvenes, pariter sudate medullis Omnibus, inter vos: non murmura vestra +columbae, Brachia non hederae, non vincant oscula conchae."] + +[Footnote 154: He was on the point of giving Plotinus a ruined city of +Campania to try the experiment of realizing Plato's Republic. See the +Life of Plotinus, by Porphyry, in Fabricius's Biblioth. Graec. l. iv.] +[Footnote 155: A medal which bears the head of Gallienus has perplexed +the antiquarians by its legend and reverse; the former Gallienoe +Augustoe, the latter Ubique Pax. M. Spanheim supposes that the coin was +struck by some of the enemies of Gallienus, and was designed as a severe +satire on that effeminate prince. But as the use of irony may seem +unworthy of the gravity of the Roman mint, M. de Vallemont has deduced +from a passage of Trebellius Pollio (Hist. Aug. p. 198) an ingenious +and natural solution. Galliena was first cousin to the emperor. By +delivering Africa from the usurper Celsus, she deserved the title of +Augusta. On a medal in the French king's collection, we read a similar +inscription of Faustina Augusta round the head of Marcus Aurelius. +With regard to the Ubique Pax, it is easily explained by the vanity of +Gallienus, who seized, perhaps, the occasion of some momentary calm. See +Nouvelles de la Republique des Lettres, Janvier, 1700, p. 21--34.] + +[Footnote 156: This singular character has, I believe, been fairly +transmitted to us. The reign of his immediate successor was short and +busy; and the historians who wrote before the elevation of the family of +Constantine could not have the most remote interest to misrepresent the +character of Gallienus.] + +At the time when the reins of government were held with so loose a hand, +it is not surprising, that a crowd of usurpers should start up in every +province of the empire against the son of Valerian. It was probably some +ingenious fancy, of comparing the thirty tyrants of Rome with the thirty +tyrants of Athens, that induced the writers of the Augustan History to +select that celebrated number, which has been gradually received into +a popular appellation. [157] But in every light the parallel is idle and +defective. What resemblance can we discover between a council of thirty +persons, the united oppressors of a single city, and an uncertain list +of independent rivals, who rose and fell in irregular succession through +the extent of a vast empire? Nor can the number of thirty be completed, +unless we include in the account the women and children who were honored +with the Imperial title. The reign of Gallienus, distracted as it was, +produced only nineteen pretenders to the throne: Cyriades, Macrianus, +Balista, Odenathus, and Zenobia, in the East; in Gaul, and the western +provinces, Posthumus, Lollianus, Victorinus, and his mother Victoria, +Marius, and Tetricus; in Illyricum and the confines of the Danube, +Ingenuus, Regillianus, and Aureolus; in Pontus, [158] Saturninus; in +Isauria, Trebellianus; Piso in Thessaly; Valens in Achaia; Aemilianus in +Egypt; and Celsus in Africa. [1581] To illustrate the obscure monuments of +the life and death of each individual, would prove a laborious task, +alike barren of instruction and of amusement. We may content ourselves +with investigating some general characters, that most strongly mark the +condition of the times, and the manners of the men, their pretensions, +their motives, their fate, and their destructive consequences of their +usurpation. [159] + +[Footnote 157: Pollio expresses the most minute anxiety to complete the +number. * Note: Compare a dissertation of Manso on the thirty tyrants at +the end of his Leben Constantius des Grossen. Breslau, 1817.--M.] + +[Footnote 158: The place of his reign is somewhat doubtful; but there +was a tyrant in Pontus, and we are acquainted with the seat of all the +others.] + +[Footnote 1581: Captain Smyth, in his "Catalogue of Medals," p. +307, substitutes two new names to make up the number of nineteen, for +those of Odenathus and Zenobia. He subjoins this list:--1. 2. 3. Of +those whose coins Those whose coins Those of whom no are undoubtedly +true. are suspected. coins are known. Posthumus. Cyriades. Valens. +Laelianus, (Lollianus, G.) Ingenuus. Balista Victorinus Celsus. +Saturninus. Marius. Piso Frugi. Trebellianus. Tetricus. +--M. 1815 Macrianus. Quietus. Regalianus (Regillianus, G.) Alex. +Aemilianus. Aureolus. Sulpicius Antoninus] + +[Footnote 159: Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 1163, reckons them somewhat +differently.] + +It is sufficiently known, that the odious appellation of Tyrant was +often employed by the ancients to express the illegal seizure of +supreme power, without any reference to the abuse of it. Several of the +pretenders, who raised the standard of rebellion against the emperor +Gallienus, were shining models of virtue, and almost all possessed a +considerable share of vigor and ability. Their merit had recommended +them to the favor of Valerian, and gradually promoted them to the most +important commands of the empire. The generals, who assumed the title of +Augustus, were either respected by their troops for their able conduct +and severe discipline, or admired for valor and success in war, or +beloved for frankness and generosity. The field of victory was often +the scene of their election; and even the armorer Marius, the most +contemptible of all the candidates for the purple, was distinguished, +however by intrepid courage, matchless strength, and blunt honesty. +[160] His mean and recent trade cast, indeed, an air of ridicule on his +elevation; [1601] but his birth could not be more obscure than was that of +the greater part of his rivals, who were born of peasants, and enlisted +in the army as private soldiers. In times of confusion, every active +genius finds the place assigned him by nature: in a general state +of war, military merit is the road to glory and to greatness. Of the +nineteen tyrants Tetricus only was a senator; Piso alone was a noble. +The blood of Numa, through twenty-eight successive generations, ran in +the veins of Calphurnius Piso, [161] who, by female alliances, claimed +a right of exhibiting, in his house, the images of Crassus and of the +great Pompey. [162] His ancestors had been repeatedly dignified with all +the honors which the commonwealth could bestow; and of all the ancient +families of Rome, the Calphurnian alone had survived the tyranny of the +Caesars. The personal qualities of Piso added new lustre to his race. +The usurper Valens, by whose order he was killed, confessed, with deep +remorse, that even an enemy ought to have respected the sanctity of +Piso; and although he died in arms against Gallienus, the senate, with +the emperor's generous permission, decreed the triumphal ornaments +to the memory of so virtuous a rebel. [163] [See Roman Coins: From The +British Museum. Number four depicts Crassus.] + +[Footnote 160: See the speech of Marius in the Augustan History, p. 197. +The accidental identity of names was the only circumstance that could +tempt Pollio to imitate Sallust.] + +[Footnote 1601: Marius was killed by a soldier, who had formerly served +as a workman in his shop, and who exclaimed, as he struck, "Behold the +sword which thyself hast forged." Trob vita.--G.] + +[Footnote 161: "Vos, O Pompilius sanguis!" is Horace's address to +the Pisos See Art. Poet. v. 292, with Dacier's and Sanadon's notes.] + +[Footnote 162: Tacit. Annal. xv. 48. Hist. i. 15. In the former of +these passages we may venture to change paterna into materna. In every +generation from Augustus to Alexander Severus, one or more Pisos appear +as consuls. A Piso was deemed worthy of the throne by Augustus, (Tacit. +Annal. i. 13;) a second headed a formidable conspiracy against Nero; and +a third was adopted, and declared Caesar, by Galba.] + +[Footnote 163: Hist. August. p. 195. The senate, in a moment of +enthusiasm, seems to have presumed on the approbation of Gallienus.] + +The lieutenants of Valerian were grateful to the father, whom they +esteemed. They disdained to serve the luxurious indolence of his +unworthy son. The throne of the Roman world was unsupported by any +principle of loyalty; and treason against such a prince might easily be +considered as patriotism to the state. Yet if we examine with candor the +conduct of these usurpers, it will appear, that they were much oftener +driven into rebellion by their fears, than urged to it by their +ambition. They dreaded the cruel suspicions of Gallienus; they equally +dreaded the capricious violence of their troops. If the dangerous favor +of the army had imprudently declared them deserving of the purple, they +were marked for sure destruction; and even prudence would counsel them +to secure a short enjoyment of empire, and rather to try the fortune of +war than to expect the hand of an executioner. + +When the clamor of the soldiers invested the reluctant victims with the +ensigns of sovereign authority, they sometimes mourned in secret their +approaching fate. "You have lost," said Saturninus, on the day of his +elevation, "you have lost a useful commander, and you have made a very +wretched emperor." [164] + +[Footnote 164: Hist. August p. 196.] + +The apprehensions of Saturninus were justified by the repeated +experience of revolutions. Of the nineteen tyrants who started up under +the reign of Gallienus, there was not one who enjoyed a life of peace, +or a natural death. As soon as they were invested with the bloody +purple, they inspired their adherents with the same fears and ambition +which had occasioned their own revolt. Encompassed with domestic +conspiracy, military sedition, and civil war, they trembled on the edge +of precipices, in which, after a longer or shorter term of anxiety, they +were inevitably lost. These precarious monarchs received, however, such +honors as the flattery of their respective armies and provinces could +bestow; but their claim, founded on rebellion, could never obtain the +sanction of law or history. Italy, Rome, and the senate, constantly +adhered to the cause of Gallienus, and he alone was considered as +the sovereign of the empire. That prince condescended, indeed, to +acknowledge the victorious arms of Odenathus, who deserved the honorable +distinction, by the respectful conduct which he always maintained +towards the son of Valerian. With the general applause of the Romans, +and the consent of Gallienus, the senate conferred the title of Augustus +on the brave Palmyrenian; and seemed to intrust him with the government +of the East, which he already possessed, in so independent a manner, +that, like a private succession, he bequeathed it to his illustrious +widow, Zenobia. [165] + +[Footnote 165: The association of the brave Palmyrenian was the most +popular act of the whole reign of Gallienus. Hist. August. p. 180.] + +The rapid and perpetual transitions from the cottage to the throne, and +from the throne to the grave, might have amused an indifferent +philosopher; were it possible for a philosopher to remain indifferent +amidst the general calamities of human kind. The election of these +precarious emperors, their power and their death, were equally +destructive to their subjects and adherents. The price of their fatal +elevation was instantly discharged to the troops by an immense donative, +drawn from the bowels of the exhausted people. However virtuous was +their character, however pure their intentions, they found themselves +reduced to the hard necessity of supporting their usurpation by frequent +acts of rapine and cruelty. When they fell, they involved armies and +provinces in their fall. There is still extant a most savage mandate +from Gallienus to one of his ministers, after the suppression of +Ingenuus, who had assumed the purple in Illyricum. + +"It is not enough," says that soft but inhuman prince, "that you +exterminate such as have appeared in arms; the chance of battle might +have served me as effectually. The male sex of every age must be +extirpated; provided that, in the execution of the children and old men, +you can contrive means to save our reputation. Let every one die who has +dropped an expression, who has entertained a thought against me, against +me, the son of Valerian, the father and brother of so many princes. [166] +Remember that Ingenuus was made emperor: tear, kill, hew in pieces. +I write to you with my own hand, and would inspire you with my own +feelings." [167] Whilst the public forces of the state were dissipated +in private quarrels, the defenceless provinces lay exposed to every +invader. The bravest usurpers were compelled, by the perplexity of their +situation, to conclude ignominious treaties with the common enemy, to +purchase with oppressive tributes the neutrality or services of the +Barbarians, and to introduce hostile and independent nations into the +heart of the Roman monarchy. [168] + +[Footnote 166: Gallienus had given the titles of Caesar and Augustus to +his son Saloninus, slain at Cologne by the usurper Posthumus. A second +son of Gallienus succeeded to the name and rank of his elder brother +Valerian, the brother of Gallienus, was also associated to the empire: +several other brothers, sisters, nephews, and nieces of the emperor +formed a very numerous royal family. See Tillemont, tom iii, and M. de +Brequigny in the Memoires de l'Academie, tom xxxii p. 262.] + +[Footnote 167: Hist. August. p. 188.] + +[Footnote 168: Regillianus had some bands of Roxolani in his service; +Posthumus a body of Franks. It was, perhaps, in the character of +auxiliaries that the latter introduced themselves into Spain.] + +Such were the barbarians, and such the tyrants, who, under the reigns +of Valerian and Gallienus, dismembered the provinces, and reduced the +empire to the lowest pitch of disgrace and ruin, from whence it seemed +impossible that it should ever emerge. As far as the barrenness of +materials would permit, we have attempted to trace, with order and +perspicuity, the general events of that calamitous period. There still +remain some particular facts; I. The disorders of Sicily; II. The +tumults of Alexandria; and, III. The rebellion of the Isaurians, which +may serve to reflect a strong light on the horrid picture. + + +I. Whenever numerous troops of banditti, multiplied by success and +impunity, publicly defy, instead of eluding the justice of their +country, we may safely infer, that the excessive weakness of the +government is felt and abused by the lowest ranks of the community. +The situation of Sicily preserved it from the Barbarians; nor could the +disarmed province have supported a usurper. The sufferings of that once +flourishing and still fertile island were inflicted by baser hands. A +licentious crowd of slaves and peasants reigned for a while over the +plundered country, and renewed the memory of the servile wars of more +ancient times. [169] Devastations, of which the husbandman was either the +victim or the accomplice, must have ruined the agriculture of Sicily; +and as the principal estates were the property of the opulent senators +of Rome, who often enclosed within a farm the territory of an old +republic, it is not improbable, that this private injury might affect +the capital more deeply, than all the conquests of the Goths or the +Persians. + +[Footnote 169: The Augustan History, p. 177. See Diodor. Sicul. l. +xxxiv.] + + +II. The foundation of Alexandria was a noble design, at once +conceived and executed by the son of Philip. The beautiful and regular +form of that great city, second only to Rome itself, comprehended a +circumference of fifteen miles; [170] it was peopled by three hundred +thousand free inhabitants, besides at least an equal number of slaves. +[171] The lucrative trade of Arabia and India flowed through the port of +Alexandria, to the capital and provinces of the empire. [1711] Idleness was +unknown. Some were employed in blowing of glass, others in weaving of +linen, others again manufacturing the papyrus. Either sex, and every +age, was engaged in the pursuits of industry, nor did even the blind or +the lame want occupations suited to their condition. [172] But the people +of Alexandria, a various mixture of nations, united the vanity and +inconstancy of the Greeks with the superstition and obstinacy of the +Egyptians. The most trifling occasion, a transient scarcity of flesh +or lentils, the neglect of an accustomed salutation, a mistake of +precedency in the public baths, or even a religious dispute, [173] were +at any time sufficient to kindle a sedition among that vast multitude, +whose resentments were furious and implacable. [174] After the captivity +of Valerian and the insolence of his son had relaxed the authority of +the laws, the Alexandrians abandoned themselves to the ungoverned rage +of their passions, and their unhappy country was the theatre of a civil +war, which continued (with a few short and suspicious truces) above +twelve years. [175] All intercourse was cut off between the several +quarters of the afflicted city, every street was polluted with blood, +every building of strength converted into a citadel; nor did the tumults +subside till a considerable part of Alexandria was irretrievably ruined. +The spacious and magnificent district of Bruchion, [1751] with its palaces +and musaeum, the residence of the kings and philosophers of Egypt, is +described above a century afterwards, as already reduced to its present +state of dreary solitude. [176] + +[Footnote 170: Plin. Hist. Natur. v. 10.] + +[Footnote 171: Diodor. Sicul. l. xvii. p. 590, edit. Wesseling.] + +[Footnote 1711: Berenice, or Myos-Hormos, on the Red Sea, received the +eastern commodities. From thence they were transported to the Nile, and +down the Nile to Alexandria.--M.] + +[Footnote 172: See a very curious letter of Hadrian, in the Augustan +History, p. 245.] + +[Footnote 173: Such as the sacrilegious murder of a divine cat. See +Diodor. Sicul. l. i. * Note: The hostility between the Jewish and +Grecian part of the population afterwards between the two former and the +Christian, were unfailing causes of tumult, sedition, and massacre. In +no place were the religious disputes, after the establishment of +Christianity, more frequent or more sanguinary. See Philo. de Legat. +Hist. of Jews, ii. 171, iii. 111, 198. Gibbon, iii c. xxi. viii. c. +xlvii.--M.] + +[Footnote 174: Hist. August. p. 195. This long and terrible sedition was +first occasioned by a dispute between a soldier and a townsman about a +pair of shoes.] + +[Footnote 175: Dionysius apud. Euses. Hist. Eccles. vii. p. 21. Ammian +xxii. 16.] + +[Footnote 1751: The Bruchion was a quarter of Alexandria which extended +along the largest of the two ports, and contained many palaces, +inhabited by the Ptolemies. D'Anv. Geogr. Anc. iii. 10.--G.] + +[Footnote 176: Scaliger. Animadver. ad Euseb. Chron. p. 258. Three +dissertations of M. Bonamy, in the Mem. de l'Academie, tom. ix.] + + +III. The obscure rebellion of Trebellianus, who assumed the purple in +Isauria, a petty province of Asia Minor, was attended with strange and +memorable consequences. The pageant of royalty was soon destroyed by an +officer of Gallienus; but his followers, despairing of mercy, resolved +to shake off their allegiance, not only to the emperor, but to the +empire, and suddenly returned to the savage manners from which they +had never perfectly been reclaimed. Their craggy rocks, a branch of the +wide-extended Taurus, protected their inaccessible retreat. The tillage +of some fertile valleys [177] supplied them with necessaries, and a habit +of rapine with the luxuries of life. In the heart of the Roman monarchy, +the Isaurians long continued a nation of wild barbarians. Succeeding +princes, unable to reduce them to obedience, either by arms or policy, +were compelled to acknowledge their weakness, by surrounding the hostile +and independent spot with a strong chain of fortifications, [178] which +often proved insufficient to restrain the incursions of these domestic +foes. The Isaurians, gradually extending their territory to the +sea-coast, subdued the western and mountainous part of Cilicia, formerly +the nest of those daring pirates, against whom the republic had once +been obliged to exert its utmost force, under the conduct of the great +Pompey. [179] + +[Footnote 177: Strabo, l. xiii. p. 569.] + +[Footnote 178: Hist. August. p. 197.] + +[Footnote 179: See Cellarius, Geogr Antiq. tom. ii. p. 137, upon the +limits of Isauria.] + +Our habits of thinking so fondly connect the order of the universe with +the fate of man, that this gloomy period of history has been decorated +with inundations, earthquakes, uncommon meteors, preternatural darkness, +and a crowd of prodigies fictitious or exaggerated. [180] But a long +and general famine was a calamity of a more serious kind. It was the +inevitable consequence of rapine and oppression, which extirpated the +produce of the present, and the hope of future harvests. Famine is +almost always followed by epidemical diseases, the effect of scanty and +unwholesome food. Other causes must, however, have contributed to the +furious plague, which, from the year two hundred and fifty to the +year two hundred and sixty-five, raged without interruption in every +province, every city, and almost every family, of the Roman empire. +During some time five thousand persons died daily in Rome; and many +towns, that had escaped the hands of the Barbarians, were entirely +depopulated. [181] + +[Footnote 180: Hist August p 177.] + +[Footnote 181: Hist. August. p. 177. Zosimus, l. i. p. 24. Zonaras, +l. xii. p. 623. Euseb. Chronicon. Victor in Epitom. Victor in Caesar. +Eutropius, ix. 5. Orosius, vii. 21.] + +We have the knowledge of a very curious circumstance, of some use +perhaps in the melancholy calculation of human calamities. An exact +register was kept at Alexandria of all the citizens entitled to receive +the distribution of corn. It was found, that the ancient number of those +comprised between the ages of forty and seventy, had been equal to the +whole sum of claimants, from fourteen to fourscore years of age, +who remained alive after the reign of Gallienus. [182] Applying this +authentic fact to the most correct tables of mortality, it evidently +proves, that above half the people of Alexandria had perished; and +could we venture to extend the analogy to the other provinces, we might +suspect, that war, pestilence, and famine, had consumed, in a few +years, the moiety of the human species. [183] + +[Footnote 182: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. vii. 21. The fact is taken from the +Letters of Dionysius, who, in the time of those troubles, was bishop of +Alexandria.] + +[Footnote 183: In a great number of parishes, 11,000 persons were found +between fourteen and eighty; 5365 between forty and seventy. See Buffon, +Histoire Naturelle, tom. ii. p. 590.] + + + + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.--Part I. + + Reign Of Claudius.--Defeat Of The Goths.--Victories, + Triumph, And Death Of Aurelian. + +Under the deplorable reigns of Valerian and Gallienus, the empire was +oppressed and almost destroyed by the soldiers, the tyrants, and the +barbarians. It was saved by a series of great princes, who derived their +obscure origin from the martial provinces of Illyricum. Within a period +of about thirty years, Claudius, Aurelian, Probus, Diocletian and his +colleagues, triumphed over the foreign and domestic enemies of the +state, reestablished, with the military discipline, the strength of the +frontiers, and deserved the glorious title of Restorers of the Roman +world. + +The removal of an effeminate tyrant made way for a succession of heroes. +The indignation of the people imputed all their calamities to Gallienus, +and the far greater part were indeed, the consequence of his dissolute +manners and careless administration. He was even destitute of a sense of +honor, which so frequently supplies the absence of public virtue; and as +long as he was permitted to enjoy the possession of Italy, a victory of +the barbarians, the loss of a province, or the rebellion of a general, +seldom disturbed the tranquil course of his pleasures. At length, a +considerable army, stationed on the Upper Danube, invested with the +Imperial purple their leader Aureolus; who, disdaining a confined and +barren reign over the mountains of Rhaetia, passed the Alps, occupied +Milan, threatened Rome, and challenged Gallienus to dispute in the +field the sovereignty of Italy. The emperor, provoked by the insult, and +alarmed by the instant danger, suddenly exerted that latent vigor which +sometimes broke through the indolence of his temper. Forcing himself +from the luxury of the palace, he appeared in arms at the head of his +legions, and advanced beyond the Po to encounter his competitor. The +corrupted name of Pontirolo [1] still preserves the memory of a bridge +over the Adda, which, during the action, must have proved an object +of the utmost importance to both armies. The Rhaetian usurper, after +receiving a total defeat and a dangerous wound, retired into Milan. The +siege of that great city was immediately formed; the walls were battered +with every engine in use among the ancients; and Aureolus, doubtful +of his internal strength, and hopeless of foreign succors already +anticipated the fatal consequences of unsuccessful rebellion. + +[Footnote 1: Pons Aureoli, thirteen miles from Bergamo, and thirty-two +from Milan. See Cluver. Italia, Antiq. tom. i. p. 245. Near this place, +in the year 1703, the obstinate battle of Cassano was fought between the +French and Austrians. The excellent relation of the Chevalier de Folard, +who was present, gives a very distinct idea of the ground. See Polybe de +Folard, tom. iii. p. 233-248.] + +His last resource was an attempt to seduce the loyalty of the besiegers. +He scattered libels through the camp, inviting the troops to desert an +unworthy master, who sacrificed the public happiness to his luxury, and +the lives of his most valuable subjects to the slightest suspicions. +The arts of Aureolus diffused fears and discontent among the principal +officers of his rival. A conspiracy was formed by Heraclianus the +Praetorian praefect, by Marcian, a general of rank and reputation, and +by Cecrops, who commanded a numerous body of Dalmatian guards. The death +of Gallienus was resolved; and notwithstanding their desire of first +terminating the siege of Milan, the extreme danger which accompanied +every moment's delay obliged them to hasten the execution of their +daring purpose. At a late hour of the night, but while the emperor still +protracted the pleasures of the table, an alarm was suddenly given, that +Aureolus, at the head of all his forces, had made a desperate sally +from the town; Gallienus, who was never deficient in personal bravery, +started from his silken couch, and without allowing himself time either +to put on his armor, or to assemble his guards, he mounted on +horseback, and rode full speed towards the supposed place of the attack. +Encompassed by his declared or concealed enemies, he soon, amidst the +nocturnal tumult, received a mortal dart from an uncertain hand. Before +he expired, a patriotic sentiment rising in the mind of Gallienus, +induced him to name a deserving successor; and it was his last request, +that the Imperial ornaments should be delivered to Claudius, who then +commanded a detached army in the neighborhood of Pavia. The report at +least was diligently propagated, and the order cheerfully obeyed by the +conspirators, who had already agreed to place Claudius on the throne. +On the first news of the emperor's death, the troops expressed some +suspicion and resentment, till the one was removed, and the other +assuaged, by a donative of twenty pieces of gold to each soldier. They +then ratified the election, and acknowledged the merit of their new +sovereign. [2] + +[Footnote 2: On the death of Gallienus, see Trebellius Pollio in Hist. +August. p. 181. Zosimus, l. i. p. 37. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 634. Eutrop. +ix. ll. Aurelius Victor in Epitom. Victor in Caesar. I have compared and +blended them all, but have chiefly followed Aurelius Victor, who seems +to have had the best memoirs.] + +The obscurity which covered the origin of Claudius, though it was +afterwards embellished by some flattering fictions, [3] sufficiently +betrays the meanness of his birth. We can only discover that he was a +native of one of the provinces bordering on the Danube; that his youth +was spent in arms, and that his modest valor attracted the favor and +confidence of Decius. The senate and people already considered him as an +excellent officer, equal to the most important trusts; and censured the +inattention of Valerian, who suffered him to remain in the subordinate +station of a tribune. But it was not long before that emperor +distinguished the merit of Claudius, by declaring him general and chief +of the Illyrian frontier, with the command of all the troops in Thrace, +Maesia, Dacia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, the appointments of the praefect +of Egypt, the establishment of the proconsul of Africa, and the sure +prospect of the consulship. By his victories over the Goths, he +deserved from the senate the honor of a statue, and excited the jealous +apprehensions of Gallienus. It was impossible that a soldier could +esteem so dissolute a sovereign, nor is it easy to conceal a just +contempt. Some unguarded expressions which dropped from Claudius were +officiously transmitted to the royal ear. The emperor's answer to an +officer of confidence describes in very lively colors his own character, +and that of the times. "There is not any thing capable of giving me more +serious concern, than the intelligence contained in your last despatch; +[4] that some malicious suggestions have indisposed towards us the mind +of our friend and parent Claudius. As you regard your allegiance, use +every means to appease his resentment, but conduct your negotiation with +secrecy; let it not reach the knowledge of the Dacian troops; they are +already provoked, and it might inflame their fury. I myself have sent +him some presents: be it your care that he accept them with pleasure. +Above all, let him not suspect that I am made acquainted with his +imprudence. The fear of my anger might urge him to desperate counsels." +[5] The presents which accompanied this humble epistle, in which the +monarch solicited a reconciliation with his discontented subject, +consisted of a considerable sum of money, a splendid wardrobe, and +a valuable service of silver and gold plate. By such arts Gallienus +softened the indignation and dispelled the fears of his Illyrian +general; and during the remainder of that reign, the formidable sword of +Claudius was always drawn in the cause of a master whom he despised. +At last, indeed, he received from the conspirators the bloody purple +of Gallienus: but he had been absent from their camp and counsels; and +however he might applaud the deed, we may candidly presume that he was +innocent of the knowledge of it. [6] When Claudius ascended the throne, +he was about fifty-four years of age. + +[Footnote 3: Some supposed him, oddly enough, to be a bastard of the +younger Gordian. Others took advantage of the province of Dardania, to +deduce his origin from Dardanus, and the ancient kings of Troy.] + +[Footnote 4: Notoria, a periodical and official despatch which the +emperor received from the frumentarii, or agents dispersed through the +provinces. Of these we may speak hereafter.] + +[Footnote 5: Hist. August. p. 208. Gallienus describes the plate, +vestments, etc., like a man who loved and understood those splendid +trifles.] + +[Footnote 6: Julian (Orat. i. p. 6) affirms that Claudius acquired the +empire in a just and even holy manner. But we may distrust the +partiality of a kinsman.] + +The siege of Milan was still continued, and Aureolus soon discovered +that the success of his artifices had only raised up a more determined +adversary. He attempted to negotiate with Claudius a treaty of alliance +and partition. "Tell him," replied the intrepid emperor, "that such +proposals should have been made to Gallienus; he, perhaps, might have +listened to them with patience, and accepted a colleague as despicable +as himself." [7] This stern refusal, and a last unsuccessful effort, +obliged Aureolus to yield the city and himself to the discretion of the +conqueror. The judgment of the army pronounced him worthy of death; and +Claudius, after a feeble resistance, consented to the execution of the +sentence. Nor was the zeal of the senate less ardent in the cause of +their new sovereign. They ratified, perhaps with a sincere transport +of zeal, the election of Claudius; and, as his predecessor had shown +himself the personal enemy of their order, they exercised, under the +name of justice, a severe revenge against his friends and family. The +senate was permitted to discharge the ungrateful office of punishment, +and the emperor reserved for himself the pleasure and merit of obtaining +by his intercession a general act of indemnity. [8] + +[Footnote 7: Hist. August. p. 203. There are some trifling differences +concerning the circumstances of the last defeat and death of Aureolus] + +[Footnote 8: Aurelius Victor in Gallien. The people loudly prayed for +the damnation of Gallienus. The senate decreed that his relations and +servants should be thrown down headlong from the Gemonian stairs. An +obnoxious officer of the revenue had his eyes torn out whilst under +examination. Note: The expression is curious, "terram matrem deosque +inferos impias uti Gallieno darent."--M.] + +Such ostentatious clemency discovers less of the real character of +Claudius, than a trifling circumstance in which he seems to have +consulted only the dictates of his heart. The frequent rebellions of +the provinces had involved almost every person in the guilt of treason, +almost every estate in the case of confiscation; and Gallienus often +displayed his liberality by distributing among his officers the property +of his subjects. On the accession of Claudius, an old woman threw +herself at his feet, and complained that a general of the late emperor +had obtained an arbitrary grant of her patrimony. This general was +Claudius himself, who had not entirely escaped the contagion of the +times. The emperor blushed at the reproach, but deserved the confidence +which she had reposed in his equity. The confession of his fault was +accompanied with immediate and ample restitution. [9] + +[Footnote 9: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 137.] + +In the arduous task which Claudius had undertaken, of restoring the +empire to its ancient splendor, it was first necessary to revive among +his troops a sense of order and obedience. With the authority of +a veteran commander, he represented to them that the relaxation of +discipline had introduced a long train of disorders, the effects of +which were at length experienced by the soldiers themselves; that a +people ruined by oppression, and indolent from despair, could no longer +supply a numerous army with the means of luxury, or even of subsistence; +that the danger of each individual had increased with the despotism of +the military order, since princes who tremble on the throne will guard +their safety by the instant sacrifice of every obnoxious subject. +The emperor expiated on the mischiefs of a lawless caprice, which the +soldiers could only gratify at the expense of their own blood; as their +seditious elections had so frequently been followed by civil wars, which +consumed the flower of the legions either in the field of battle, or +in the cruel abuse of victory. He painted in the most lively colors the +exhausted state of the treasury, the desolation of the provinces, +the disgrace of the Roman name, and the insolent triumph of rapacious +barbarians. It was against those barbarians, he declared, that he +intended to point the first effort of their arms. Tetricus might reign +for a while over the West, and even Zenobia might preserve the dominion +of the East. [10] These usurpers were his personal adversaries; nor +could he think of indulging any private resentment till he had saved +an empire, whose impending ruin would, unless it was timely prevented, +crush both the army and the people. + +[Footnote 10: Zonaras on this occasion mentions Posthumus but the +registers of the senate (Hist. August. p. 203) prove that Tetricus was +already emperor of the western provinces.] + +The various nations of Germany and Sarmatia, who fought under the Gothic +standard, had already collected an armament more formidable than any +which had yet issued from the Euxine. On the banks of the Niester, +one of the great rivers that discharge themselves into that sea, they +constructed a fleet of two thousand, or even of six thousand vessels; +[11] numbers which, however incredible they may seem, would have been +insufficient to transport their pretended army of three hundred and +twenty thousand barbarians. Whatever might be the real strength of the +Goths, the vigor and success of the expedition were not adequate to the +greatness of the preparations. In their passage through the Bosphorus, +the unskilful pilots were overpowered by the violence of the current; +and while the multitude of their ships were crowded in a narrow +channel, many were dashed against each other, or against the shore. The +barbarians made several descents on the coasts both of Europe and Asia; +but the open country was already plundered, and they were repulsed with +shame and loss from the fortified cities which they assaulted. A spirit +of discouragement and division arose in the fleet, and some of their +chiefs sailed away towards the islands of Crete and Cyprus; but the main +body, pursuing a more steady course, anchored at length near the foot of +Mount Athos, and assaulted the city of Thessalonica, the wealthy capital +of all the Macedonian provinces. Their attacks, in which they displayed +a fierce but artless bravery, were soon interrupted by the rapid +approach of Claudius, hastening to a scene of action that deserved the +presence of a warlike prince at the head of the remaining powers of the +empire. Impatient for battle, the Goths immediately broke up their camp, +relinquished the siege of Thessalonica, left their navy at the foot of +Mount Athos, traversed the hills of Macedonia, and pressed forwards to +engage the last defence of Italy. + +[Footnote 11: The Augustan History mentions the smaller, Zonaras the +larger number; the lively fancy of Montesquieu induced him to prefer the +latter.] + +We still posses an original letter addressed by Claudius to the senate +and people on this memorable occasion. "Conscript fathers," says the +emperor, "know that three hundred and twenty thousand Goths have invaded +the Roman territory. If I vanquish them, your gratitude will reward my +services. Should I fall, remember that I am the successor of Gallienus. +The whole republic is fatigued and exhausted. We shall fight after +Valerian, after Ingenuus, Regillianus, Lollianus, Posthumus, Celsus, and +a thousand others, whom a just contempt for Gallienus provoked into +rebellion. We are in want of darts, of spears, and of shields. The +strength of the empire, Gaul, and Spain, are usurped by Tetricus, and we +blush to acknowledge that the archers of the East serve under the +banners of Zenobia. Whatever we shall perform will be sufficiently +great." [12] The melancholy firmness of this epistle announces a hero +careless of his fate, conscious of his danger, but still deriving a +well-grounded hope from the resources of his own mind. + +[Footnote 12: Trebell. Pollio in Hist. August. p. 204.] + +The event surpassed his own expectations and those of the world. By +the most signal victories he delivered the empire from this host of +barbarians, and was distinguished by posterity under the glorious +appellation of the Gothic Claudius. The imperfect historians of +an irregular war [13] do not enable as to describe the order and +circumstances of his exploits; but, if we could be indulged in the +allusion, we might distribute into three acts this memorable tragedy. +I. The decisive battle was fought near Naissus, a city of Dardania. +The legions at first gave way, oppressed by numbers, and dismayed by +misfortunes. Their ruin was inevitable, had not the abilities of their +emperor prepared a seasonable relief. A large detachment, rising out of +the secret and difficult passes of the mountains, which, by his order, +they had occupied, suddenly assailed the rear of the victorious Goths. + +The favorable instant was improved by the activity of Claudius. He +revived the courage of his troops, restored their ranks, and pressed the +barbarians on every side. Fifty thousand men are reported to have been +slain in the battle of Naissus. Several large bodies of barbarians, +covering their retreat with a movable fortification of wagons, retired, +or rather escaped, from the field of slaughter. + +II. We may presume that some insurmountable difficulty, the fatigue, +perhaps, or the disobedience, of the conquerors, prevented Claudius from +completing in one day the destruction of the Goths. The war was diffused +over the province of Maesia, Thrace, and Macedonia, and its operations +drawn out into a variety of marches, surprises, and tumultuary +engagements, as well by sea as by land. When the Romans suffered any +loss, it was commonly occasioned by their own cowardice or rashness; but +the superior talents of the emperor, his perfect knowledge of the +country, and his judicious choice of measures as well as officers, +assured on most occasions the success of his arms. The immense booty, +the fruit of so many victories, consisted for the greater part of cattle +and slaves. A select body of the Gothic youth was received among the +Imperial troops; the remainder was sold into servitude; and so +considerable was the number of female captives, that every soldier +obtained to his share two or three women. A circumstance from which we +may conclude, that the invaders entertained some designs of settlement +as well as of plunder; since even in a naval expedition, they were +accompanied by their families. + +III. The loss of their fleet, which was either taken or sunk, had +intercepted the retreat of the Goths. A vast circle of Roman posts, +distributed with skill, supported with firmness, and gradually closing +towards a common centre, forced the barbarians into the most +inaccessible parts of Mount Haemus, where they found a safe refuge, but +a very scanty subsistence. During the course of a rigorous winter in +which they were besieged by the emperor's troops, famine and pestilence, +desertion and the sword, continually diminished the imprisoned +multitude. On the return of spring, nothing appeared in arms except a +hardy and desperate band, the remnant of that mighty host which had +embarked at the mouth of the Niester. + +[Footnote 13: Hist. August. in Claud. Aurelian. et Prob. Zosimus, l. +i. p. 38-42. Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638. Aurel. Victor in Epitom. Victor +Junior in Caesar. Eutrop. ix ll. Euseb. in Chron.] + +The pestilence which swept away such numbers of the barbarians, at +length proved fatal to their conqueror. After a short but glorious +reign of two years, Claudius expired at Sirmium, amidst the tears and +acclamations of his subjects. In his last illness, he convened the +principal officers of the state and army, and in their presence +recommended Aurelian, [14] one of his generals, as the most deserving of +the throne, and the best qualified to execute the great design which he +himself had been permitted only to undertake. The virtues of Claudius, +his valor, affability, justice, and temperance, his love of fame and of +his country, place him in that short list of emperors who added lustre +to the Roman purple. Those virtues, however, were celebrated with +peculiar zeal and complacency by the courtly writers of the age of +Constantine, who was the great grandson of Crispus, the elder brother +of Claudius. The voice of flattery was soon taught to repeat, that gods, +who so hastily had snatched Claudius from the earth, rewarded his merit +and piety by the perpetual establishment of the empire in his family. +[15] + +[Footnote 14: According to Zonaras, (l. xii. p. 638,) Claudius, +before his death, invested him with the purple; but this singular fact +is rather contradicted than confirmed by other writers.] + +[Footnote 15: See the Life of Claudius by Pollio, and the Orations of +Mamertinus, Eumenius, and Julian. See likewise the Caesars of Julian +p. 318. In Julian it was not adulation, but superstition and vanity.] + +Notwithstanding these oracles, the greatness of the Flavian family (a +name which it had pleased them to assume) was deferred above twenty +years, and the elevation of Claudius occasioned the immediate ruin +of his brother Quintilius, who possessed not sufficient moderation or +courage to descend into the private station to which the patriotism +of the late emperor had condemned him. Without delay or reflection, he +assumed the purple at Aquileia, where he commanded a considerable force; +and though his reign lasted only seventeen days, [151] he had time to +obtain the sanction of the senate, and to experience a mutiny of the +troops. + +As soon as he was informed that the great army of the Danube had +invested the well-known valor of Aurelian with Imperial power, he sunk +under the fame and merit of his rival; and ordering his veins to be +opened, prudently withdrew himself from the unequal contest. [16] + +[Footnote 151: Such is the narrative of the greater part of the older +historians; but the number and the variety of his medals seem to require +more time, and give probability to the report of Zosimus, who makes him +reign some months.--G.] + +[Footnote 16: Zosimus, l. i. p. 42. Pollio (Hist. August. p. 107) +allows him virtues, and says, that, like Pertinax, he was killed by the +licentious soldiers. According to Dexippus, he died of a disease.] + +The general design of this work will not permit us minutely to relate +the actions of every emperor after he ascended the throne, much less to +deduce the various fortunes of his private life. We shall only observe, +that the father of Aurelian was a peasant of the territory of Sirmium, +who occupied a small farm, the property of Aurelius, a rich senator. +His warlike son enlisted in the troops as a common soldier, successively +rose to the rank of a centurion, a tribune, the praefect of a legion, +the inspector of the camp, the general, or, as it was then called, the +duke, of a frontier; and at length, during the Gothic war, exercised the +important office of commander-in-chief of the cavalry. In every station +he distinguished himself by matchless valor, [17] rigid discipline, and +successful conduct. He was invested with the consulship by the emperor +Valerian, who styles him, in the pompous language of that age, the +deliverer of Illyricum, the restorer of Gaul, and the rival of the +Scipios. At the recommendation of Valerian, a senator of the highest +rank and merit, Ulpius Crinitus, whose blood was derived from the same +source as that of Trajan, adopted the Pannonian peasant, gave him his +daughter in marriage, and relieved with his ample fortune the honorable +poverty which Aurelian had preserved inviolate. [18] + +[Footnote 17: Theoclius (as quoted in the Augustan History, p. 211) +affirms that in one day he killed with his own hand forty-eight +Sarmatians, and in several subsequent engagements nine hundred and +fifty. This heroic valor was admired by the soldiers, and celebrated in +their rude songs, the burden of which was, mille, mile, mille, occidit.] + +[Footnote 18: Acholius (ap. Hist. August. p. 213) describes the ceremony +of the adoption, as it was performed at Byzantium, in the presence of +the emperor and his great officers.] + +The reign of Aurelian lasted only four years and about nine months; +but every instant of that short period was filled by some memorable +achievement. He put an end to the Gothic war, chastised the Germans who +invaded Italy, recovered Gaul, Spain, and Britain out of the hands of +Tetricus, and destroyed the proud monarchy which Zenobia had erected in +the East on the ruins of the afflicted empire. + +It was the rigid attention of Aurelian, even to the minutest articles of +discipline, which bestowed such uninterrupted success on his arms. His +military regulations are contained in a very concise epistle to one of +his inferior officers, who is commanded to enforce them, as he wishes +to become a tribune, or as he is desirous to live. Gaming, drinking, and +the arts of divination, were severely prohibited. Aurelian expected that +his soldiers should be modest, frugal, and laborous; that their armor +should be constantly kept bright, their weapons sharp, their clothing +and horses ready for immediate service; that they should live in their +quarters with chastity and sobriety, without damaging the cornfields, +without stealing even a sheep, a fowl, or a bunch of grapes, without +exacting from their landlords, either salt, or oil, or wood. "The public +allowance," continues the emperor, "is sufficient for their support; +their wealth should be collected from the spoils of the enemy, not +from the tears of the provincials." [19] A single instance will serve to +display the rigor, and even cruelty, of Aurelian. One of the soldiers +had seduced the wife of his host. The guilty wretch was fastened to two +trees forcibly drawn towards each other, and his limbs were torn asunder +by their sudden separation. A few such examples impressed a salutary +consternation. The punishments of Aurelian were terrible; but he had +seldom occasion to punish more than once the same offence. His own +conduct gave a sanction to his laws, and the seditious legions dreaded a +chief who had learned to obey, and who was worthy to command. + +[Footnote 19: Hist. August, p. 211 This laconic epistle is truly the +work of a soldier; it abounds with military phrases and words, some of +which cannot be understood without difficulty. Ferramenta samiata is +well explained by Salmasius. The former of the words means all weapons +of offence, and is contrasted with Arma, defensive armor The latter +signifies keen and well sharpened.] + + + + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.--Part II. + +The death of Claudius had revived the fainting spirit of the Goths. The +troops which guarded the passes of Mount Haemus, and the banks of the +Danube, had been drawn away by the apprehension of a civil war; and it +seems probable that the remaining body of the Gothic and Vandalic tribes +embraced the favorable opportunity, abandoned their settlements of +the Ukraine, traversed the rivers, and swelled with new multitudes the +destroying host of their countrymen. Their united numbers were at length +encountered by Aurelian, and the bloody and doubtful conflict ended only +with the approach of night. [20] Exhausted by so many calamities, which +they had mutually endured and inflicted during a twenty years' war, the +Goths and the Romans consented to a lasting and beneficial treaty. It +was earnestly solicited by the barbarians, and cheerfully ratified by +the legions, to whose suffrage the prudence of Aurelian referred the +decision of that important question. The Gothic nation engaged to supply +the armies of Rome with a body of two thousand auxiliaries, consisting +entirely of cavalry, and stipulated in return an undisturbed retreat, +with a regular market as far as the Danube, provided by the emperor's +care, but at their own expense. The treaty was observed with such +religious fidelity, that when a party of five hundred men straggled +from the camp in quest of plunder, the king or general of the barbarians +commanded that the guilty leader should be apprehended and shot to death +with darts, as a victim devoted to the sanctity of their engagements. +[201] It is, however, not unlikely, that the precaution of Aurelian, who +had exacted as hostages the sons and daughters of the Gothic chiefs, +contributed something to this pacific temper. The youths he trained in +the exercise of arms, and near his own person: to the damsels he gave a +liberal and Roman education, and by bestowing them in marriage on some +of his principal officers, gradually introduced between the two nations +the closest and most endearing connections. [21] + +[Footnote 20: Zosimus, l. i. p. 45.] + +[Footnote 201: The five hundred stragglers were all slain.--M.] + +[Footnote 21: Dexipphus (ap. Excerpta Legat. p. 12) relates the whole +transaction under the name of Vandals. Aurelian married one of the +Gothic ladies to his general Bonosus, who was able to drink with the +Goths and discover their secrets. Hist. August. p. 247.] + +But the most important condition of peace was understood rather than +expressed in the treaty. Aurelian withdrew the Roman forces from Dacia, +and tacitly relinquished that great province to the Goths and Vandals. +[22] His manly judgment convinced him of the solid advantages, and taught +him to despise the seeming disgrace, of thus contracting the frontiers +of the monarchy. The Dacian subjects, removed from those distant +possessions which they were unable to cultivate or defend, added +strength and populousness to the southern side of the Danube. A fertile +territory, which the repetition of barbarous inroads had changed into a +desert, was yielded to their industry, and a new province of Dacia still +preserved the memory of Trajan's conquests. The old country of that name +detained, however, a considerable number of its inhabitants, who dreaded +exile more than a Gothic master. [23] These degenerate Romans continued +to serve the empire, whose allegiance they had renounced, by introducing +among their conquerors the first notions of agriculture, the useful +arts, and the conveniences of civilized life. An intercourse of commerce +and language was gradually established between the opposite banks of the +Danube; and after Dacia became an independent state, it often proved the +firmest barrier of the empire against the invasions of the savages of +the North. A sense of interest attached these more settled barbarians +to the alliance of Rome, and a permanent interest very frequently ripens +into sincere and useful friendship. This various colony, which filled +the ancient province, and was insensibly blended into one great people, +still acknowledged the superior renown and authority of the Gothic +tribe, and claimed the fancied honor of a Scandinavian origin. At the +same time, the lucky though accidental resemblance of the name of Getae, +[231] infused among the credulous Goths a vain persuasion, that in a +remote age, their own ancestors, already seated in the Dacian provinces, +had received the instructions of Zamolxis, and checked the victorious +arms of Sesostris and Darius. [24] + +[Footnote 22: Hist. August. p. 222. Eutrop. ix. 15. Sextus Rufus, c. 9. +de Mortibus Persecutorum, c. 9.] + +[Footnote 23: The Walachians still preserve many traces of the Latin +language and have boasted, in every age, of their Roman descent. They +are surrounded by, but not mixed with, the barbarians. See a Memoir +of M. d'Anville on ancient Dacia, in the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. +xxx.] + +[Footnote 231: The connection between the Getae and the Goths is still in +my opinion incorrectly maintained by some learned writers--M.] + +[Footnote 24: See the first chapter of Jornandes. The Vandals, however, +(c. 22,) maintained a short independence between the Rivers Marisia and +Crissia, (Maros and Keres,) which fell into the Teiss.] + +While the vigorous and moderate conduct of Aurelian restored the +Illyrian frontier, the nation of the Alemanni [25] violated the +conditions of peace, which either Gallienus had purchased, or Claudius +had imposed, and, inflamed by their impatient youth, suddenly flew to +arms. Forty thousand horse appeared in the field, [26] and the numbers +of the infantry doubled those of the cavalry. [27] The first objects +of their avarice were a few cities of the Rhaetian frontier; but their +hopes soon rising with success, the rapid march of the Alemanni traced a +line of devastation from the Danube to the Po. [28] + +[Footnote 25: Dexippus, p. 7--12. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43. Vopiscus in +Aurelian in Hist. August. However these historians differ in names, +(Alemanni Juthungi, and Marcomanni,) it is evident that they mean the +same people, and the same war; but it requires some care to conciliate +and explain them.] + +[Footnote 26: Cantoclarus, with his usual accuracy, chooses to translate +three hundred thousand: his version is equally repugnant to sense and to +grammar.] + +[Footnote 27: We may remark, as an instance of bad taste, that Dexippus +applies to the light infantry of the Alemanni the technical terms proper +only to the Grecian phalanx.] + +[Footnote 28: In Dexippus, we at present read Rhodanus: M. de Valois +very judiciously alters the word to Eridanus.] + +The emperor was almost at the same time informed of the irruption, and +of the retreat, of the barbarians. Collecting an active body of troops, +he marched with silence and celerity along the skirts of the Hercynian +forest; and the Alemanni, laden with the spoils of Italy, arrived at +the Danube, without suspecting, that on the opposite bank, and in an +advantageous post, a Roman army lay concealed and prepared to intercept +their return. Aurelian indulged the fatal security of the barbarians, +and permitted about half their forces to pass the river without +disturbance and without precaution. Their situation and astonishment +gave him an easy victory; his skilful conduct improved the advantage. +Disposing the legions in a semicircular form, he advanced the two horns +of the crescent across the Danube, and wheeling them on a sudden +towards the centre, enclosed the rear of the German host. The dismayed +barbarians, on whatsoever side they cast their eyes, beheld, with +despair, a wasted country, a deep and rapid stream, a victorious and +implacable enemy. + +Reduced to this distressed condition, the Alemanni no longer disdained +to sue for peace. Aurelian received their ambassadors at the head of his +camp, and with every circumstance of martial pomp that could display +the greatness and discipline of Rome. The legions stood to their arms +in well-ordered ranks and awful silence. The principal commanders, +distinguished by the ensigns of their rank, appeared on horseback on +either side of the Imperial throne. Behind the throne the consecrated +images of the emperor, and his predecessors, [29] the golden eagles, and +the various titles of the legions, engraved in letters of gold, were +exalted in the air on lofty pikes covered with silver. When Aurelian +assumed his seat, his manly grace and majestic figure [30] taught +the barbarians to revere the person as well as the purple of their +conqueror. The ambassadors fell prostrate on the ground in silence. They +were commanded to rise, and permitted to speak. By the assistance of +interpreters they extenuated their perfidy, magnified their exploits, +expatiated on the vicissitudes of fortune and the advantages of peace, +and, with an ill-timed confidence, demanded a large subsidy, as the +price of the alliance which they offered to the Romans. The answer +of the emperor was stern and imperious. He treated their offer with +contempt, and their demand with indignation, reproached the barbarians, +that they were as ignorant of the arts of war as of the laws of peace, +and finally dismissed them with the choice only of submitting to this +unconditional mercy, or awaiting the utmost severity of his resentment. +[31] Aurelian had resigned a distant province to the Goths; but it was +dangerous to trust or to pardon these perfidious barbarians, whose +formidable power kept Italy itself in perpetual alarms. + +[Footnote 29: The emperor Claudius was certainly of the number; but we +are ignorant how far this mark of respect was extended; if to Caesar and +Augustus, it must have produced a very awful spectacle; a long line of +the masters of the world.] + +[Footnote 30: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 210.] + +[Footnote 31: Dexippus gives them a subtle and prolix oration, worthy of +a Grecian sophist.] + +Immediately after this conference, it should seem that some unexpected +emergency required the emperor's presence in Pannonia. + +He devolved on his lieutenants the care of finishing the destruction of +the Alemanni, either by the sword, or by the surer operation of famine. +But an active despair has often triumphed over the indolent assurance +of success. The barbarians, finding it impossible to traverse the Danube +and the Roman camp, broke through the posts in their rear, which were +more feebly or less carefully guarded; and with incredible diligence, +but by a different road, returned towards the mountains of Italy. [32] +Aurelian, who considered the war as totally extinguished, received the +mortifying intelligence of the escape of the Alemanni, and of the ravage +which they already committed in the territory of Milan. The legions were +commanded to follow, with as much expedition as those heavy bodies were +capable of exerting, the rapid flight of an enemy whose infantry and +cavalry moved with almost equal swiftness. A few days afterwards, the +emperor himself marched to the relief of Italy, at the head of a chosen +body of auxiliaries, (among whom were the hostages and cavalry of the +Vandals,) and of all the Praetorian guards who had served in the wars on +the Danube. [33] + +[Footnote 32: Hist. August. p. 215.] + +[Footnote 33: Dexippus, p. 12.] + +As the light troops of the Alemanni had spread themselves from the Alps +to the Apennine, the incessant vigilance of Aurelian and his officers +was exercised in the discovery, the attack, and the pursuit of the +numerous detachments. Notwithstanding this desultory war, three +considerable battles are mentioned, in which the principal force of +both armies was obstinately engaged. [34] The success was various. In +the first, fought near Placentia, the Romans received so severe a blow, +that, according to the expression of a writer extremely partial to +Aurelian, the immediate dissolution of the empire was apprehended. [35] +The crafty barbarians, who had lined the woods, suddenly attacked the +legions in the dusk of the evening, and, it is most probable, after the +fatigue and disorder of a long march. + +The fury of their charge was irresistible; but, at length, after a +dreadful slaughter, the patient firmness of the emperor rallied his +troops, and restored, in some degree, the honor of his arms. The second +battle was fought near Fano in Umbria; on the spot which, five hundred +years before, had been fatal to the brother of Hannibal. [36] Thus far +the successful Germans had advanced along the Aemilian and Flaminian +way, with a design of sacking the defenceless mistress of the world. +But Aurelian, who, watchful for the safety of Rome, still hung on their +rear, found in this place the decisive moment of giving them a total +and irretrievable defeat. [37] The flying remnant of their host was +exterminated in a third and last battle near Pavia; and Italy was +delivered from the inroads of the Alemanni. + +[Footnote 34: Victor Junior in Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 35: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216.] + +[Footnote 36: The little river, or rather torrent, of, Metaurus, near +Fano, has been immortalized, by finding such an historian as Livy, and +such a poet as Horace.] + +[Footnote 37: It is recorded by an inscription found at Pesaro. See +Gruter cclxxvi. 3.] + +Fear has been the original parent of superstition, and every new +calamity urges trembling mortals to deprecate the wrath of their +invisible enemies. Though the best hope of the republic was in the valor +and conduct of Aurelian, yet such was the public consternation, when the +barbarians were hourly expected at the gates of Rome, that, by a decree +of the senate the Sibylline books were consulted. Even the emperor +himself from a motive either of religion or of policy, recommended this +salutary measure, chided the tardiness of the senate, [38] and offered +to supply whatever expense, whatever animals, whatever captives of any +nation, the gods should require. Notwithstanding this liberal offer, it +does not appear, that any human victims expiated with their blood the +sins of the Roman people. The Sibylline books enjoined ceremonies of a +more harmless nature, processions of priests in white robes, attended +by a chorus of youths and virgins; lustrations of the city and +adjacent country; and sacrifices, whose powerful influence disabled +the barbarians from passing the mystic ground on which they had been +celebrated. However puerile in themselves, these superstitious arts were +subservient to the success of the war; and if, in the decisive battle of +Fano, the Alemanni fancied they saw an army of spectres combating on +the side of Aurelian, he received a real and effectual aid from this +imaginary reenforcement. [39] + +[Footnote 38: One should imagine, he said, that you were assembled in a +Christian church, not in the temple of all the gods.] + +[Footnote 39: Vopiscus, in Hist. August. p. 215, 216, gives a long +account of these ceremonies from the Registers of the senate.] + +But whatever confidence might be placed in ideal ramparts, the +experience of the past, and the dread of the future, induced the Romans +to construct fortifications of a grosser and more substantial kind. The +seven hills of Rome had been surrounded, by the successors of Romulus, +with an ancient wall of more than thirteen miles. [40] The vast enclosure +may seem disproportioned to the strength and numbers of the infant +state. But it was necessary to secure an ample extent of pasture and +arable land, against the frequent and sudden incursions of the tribes +of Latium, the perpetual enemies of the republic. With the progress +of Roman greatness, the city and its inhabitants gradually increased, +filled up the vacant space, pierced through the useless walls, covered +the field of Mars, and, on every side, followed the public highways in +long and beautiful suburbs. [41] The extent of the new walls, erected by +Aurelian, and finished in the reign of Probus, was magnified by popular +estimation to near fifty, [42] but is reduced by accurate measurement to +about twenty-one miles. [43] It was a great but a melancholy labor, since +the defence of the capital betrayed the decline of the monarchy. The +Romans of a more prosperous age, who trusted to the arms of the legions +the safety of the frontier camps, [44] were very far from entertaining +a suspicion, that it would ever become necessary to fortify the seat of +empire against the inroads of the barbarians. [45] + +[Footnote 40: Plin. Hist. Natur. iii. 5. To confirm our idea, we may +observe, that for a long time Mount Caelius was a grove of oaks, and +Mount Viminal was overrun with osiers; that, in the fourth century, the +Aventine was a vacant and solitary retirement; that, till the time of +Augustus, the Esquiline was an unwholesome burying-ground; and that +the numerous inequalities, remarked by the ancients in the Quirinal, +sufficiently prove that it was not covered with buildings. Of the seven +hills, the Capitoline and Palatine only, with the adjacent valleys, were +the primitive habitations of the Roman people. But this subject would +require a dissertation.] + +[Footnote 41: Exspatiantia tecta multas addidere urbes, is the +expression of Pliny.] + +[Footnote 42: Hist. August. p. 222. Both Lipsius and Isaac Vossius have +eagerly embraced this measure.] + +[Footnote 43: See Nardini, Roman Antica, l. i. c. 8. * Note: But compare +Gibbon, ch. xli. note 77.--M.] + +[Footnote 44: Tacit. Hist. iv. 23.] + +[Footnote 45: For Aurelian's walls, see Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. +216, 222. Zosimus, l. i. p. 43. Eutropius, ix. 15. Aurel. Victor in +Aurelian Victor Junior in Aurelian. Euseb. Hieronym. et Idatius in +Chronic] + +The victory of Claudius over the Goths, and the success of Aurelian +against the Alemanni, had already restored to the arms of Rome their +ancient superiority over the barbarous nations of the North. To chastise +domestic tyrants, and to reunite the dismembered parts of the empire, +was a task reserved for the second of those warlike emperors. Though he +was acknowledged by the senate and people, the frontiers of Italy, +Africa, Illyricum, and Thrace, confined the limits of his reign. Gaul, +Spain, and Britain, Egypt, Syria, and Asia Minor, were still possessed +by two rebels, who alone, out of so numerous a list, had hitherto +escaped the dangers of their situation; and to complete the ignominy of +Rome, these rival thrones had been usurped by women. + +A rapid succession of monarchs had arisen and fallen in the provinces +of Gaul. The rigid virtues of Posthumus served only to hasten his +destruction. After suppressing a competitor, who had assumed the purple +at Mentz, he refused to gratify his troops with the plunder of the +rebellious city; and in the seventh year of his reign, became the victim +of their disappointed avarice. [46] The death of Victorinus, his friend +and associate, was occasioned by a less worthy cause. The shining +accomplishments [47] of that prince were stained by a licentious passion, +which he indulged in acts of violence, with too little regard to the +laws of society, or even to those of love. [48] He was slain at Cologne, +by a conspiracy of jealous husbands, whose revenge would have appeared +more justifiable, had they spared the innocence of his son. After the +murder of so many valiant princes, it is somewhat remarkable, that a +female for a long time controlled the fierce legions of Gaul, and still +more singular, that she was the mother of the unfortunate Victorinus. +The arts and treasures of Victoria enabled her successively to place +Marius and Tetricus on the throne, and to reign with a manly vigor under +the name of those dependent emperors. Money of copper, of silver, and +of gold, was coined in her name; she assumed the titles of Augusta and +Mother of the Camps: her power ended only with her life; but her life +was perhaps shortened by the ingratitude of Tetricus. [49] + +[Footnote 46: His competitor was Lollianus, or Aelianus, if, indeed, +these names mean the same person. See Tillemont, tom. iii. p. 1177. +Note: The medals which bear the name of Lollianus are considered +forgeries except one in the museum of the Prince of Waldeck there are +many extent bearing the name of Laelianus, which appears to have been +that of the competitor of Posthumus. Eckhel. Doct. Num. t. vi. 149--G.] + +[Footnote 47: The character of this prince by Julius Aterianus (ap. +Hist. August. p. 187) is worth transcribing, as it seems fair and +impartial Victorino qui Post Junium Posthumium Gallias rexit neminem +existemo praeferendum; non in virtute Trajanum; non Antoninum +in clementia; non in gravitate Nervam; non in gubernando aerario +Vespasianum; non in Censura totius vitae ac severitate militari +Pertinacem vel Severum. Sed omnia haec libido et cupiditas voluptatis +mulierriae sic perdidit, ut nemo audeat virtutes ejus in literas mittere +quem constat omnium judicio meruisse puniri.] + +[Footnote 48: He ravished the wife of Attitianus, an actuary, or army +agent, Hist. August. p. 186. Aurel. Victor in Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 49: Pollio assigns her an article among the thirty tyrants. +Hist. August. p. 200.] + +When, at the instigation of his ambitious patroness, Tetricus assumed +the ensigns of royalty, he was governor of the peaceful province of +Aquitaine, an employment suited to his character and education. He +reigned four or five years over Gaul, Spain, and Britain, the slave +and sovereign of a licentious army, whom he dreaded, and by whom he +was despised. The valor and fortune of Aurelian at length opened the +prospect of a deliverance. He ventured to disclose his melancholy +situation, and conjured the emperor to hasten to the relief of his +unhappy rival. Had this secret correspondence reached the ears of the +soldiers, it would most probably have cost Tetricus his life; nor could +he resign the sceptre of the West without committing an act of treason +against himself. He affected the appearances of a civil war, led +his forces into the field, against Aurelian, posted them in the most +disadvantageous manner, betrayed his own counsels to his enemy, and with +a few chosen friends deserted in the beginning of the action. The rebel +legions, though disordered and dismayed by the unexpected treachery of +their chief, defended themselves with desperate valor, till they were +cut in pieces almost to a man, in this bloody and memorable battle, +which was fought near Chalons in Champagne. [50] The retreat of the +irregular auxiliaries, Franks and Batavians, [51] whom the conqueror +soon compelled or persuaded to repass the Rhine, restored the general +tranquillity, and the power of Aurelian was acknowledged from the wall +of Antoninus to the columns of Hercules. + +[Footnote 50: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 196. Vopiscus in Hist. August. +p. 220. The two Victors, in the lives of Gallienus and Aurelian. Eutrop. +ix. 13. Euseb. in Chron. Of all these writers, only the two last (but +with strong probability) place the fall of Tetricus before that of +Zenobia. M. de Boze (in the Academy of Inscriptions, tom. xxx.) does not +wish, and Tillemont (tom. iii. p. 1189) does not dare to follow them. I +have been fairer than the one, and bolder than the other.] + +[Footnote 51: Victor Junior in Aurelian. Eumenius mentions Batavicoe; +some critics, without any reason, would fain alter the word to +Bagandicoe.] As early as the reign of Claudius, the city of Autun, alone +and unassisted, had ventured to declare against the legions of +Gaul. After a siege of seven months, they stormed and plundered that +unfortunate city, already wasted by famine. [52] Lyons, on the contrary, +had resisted with obstinate disaffection the arms of Aurelian. We read +of the punishment of Lyons, [53] but there is not any mention of the +rewards of Autun. Such, indeed, is the policy of civil war; severely to +remember injuries, and to forget the most important services. Revenge is +profitable, gratitude is expensive. + +[Footnote 52: Eumen. in Vet. Panegyr. iv. 8.] + +[Footnote 53: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246. Autun was not restored +till the reign of Diocletian. See Eumenius de restaurandis scholis.] + +Aurelian had no sooner secured the person and provinces of Tetricus, +than he turned his arms against Zenobia, the celebrated queen of Palmyra +and the East. Modern Europe has produced several illustrious women +who have sustained with glory the weight of empire; nor is our own +age destitute of such distinguished characters. But if we except the +doubtful achievements of Semiramis, Zenobia is perhaps the only female +whose superior genius broke through the servile indolence imposed on her +sex by the climate and manners of Asia. [54] She claimed her descent +from the Macedonian kings of Egypt, [541] equalled in beauty her ancestor +Cleopatra, and far surpassed that princess in chastity [55] and valor. +Zenobia was esteemed the most lovely as well as the most heroic of her +sex. She was of a dark complexion, (for in speaking of a lady these +trifles become important.) Her teeth were of a pearly whiteness, and +her large black eyes sparkled with uncommon fire, tempered by the most +attractive sweetness. Her voice was strong and harmonious. Her manly +understanding was strengthened and adorned by study. She was not +ignorant of the Latin tongue, but possessed in equal perfection the +Greek, the Syriac, and the Egyptian languages. She had drawn up for +her own use an epitome of oriental history, and familiarly compared the +beauties of Homer and Plato under the tuition of the sublime Longinus. + +[Footnote 54: Almost everything that is said of the manners of Odenathus +and Zenobia is taken from their lives in the Augustan History, by +Trebeljus Pollio; see p. 192, 198.] + +[Footnote 541: According to some Christian writers, Zenobia was a Jewess. +(Jost Geschichte der Israel. iv. 16. Hist. of Jews, iii. 175.)--M.] + +[Footnote 55: She never admitted her husband's embraces but for the +sake of posterity. If her hopes were baffled, in the ensuing month she +reiterated the experiment.] + +This accomplished woman gave her hand to Odenathus, [551] who, from a +private station, raised himself to the dominion of the East. She soon +became the friend and companion of a hero. In the intervals of war, +Odenathus passionately delighted in the exercise of hunting; he pursued +with ardor the wild beasts of the desert, lions, panthers, and bears; +and the ardor of Zenobia in that dangerous amusement was not inferior to +his own. She had inured her constitution to fatigue, disdained the use +of a covered carriage, generally appeared on horseback in a military +habit, and sometimes marched several miles on foot at the head of the +troops. The success of Odenathus was in a great measure ascribed to her +incomparable prudence and fortitude. Their splendid victories over the +Great King, whom they twice pursued as far as the gates of Ctesiphon, +laid the foundations of their united fame and power. The armies which +they commanded, and the provinces which they had saved, acknowledged not +any other sovereigns than their invincible chiefs. The senate and people +of Rome revered a stranger who had avenged their captive emperor, +and even the insensible son of Valerian accepted Odenathus for his +legitimate colleague. + +[Footnote 551: According to Zosimus, Odenathus was of a noble family in +Palmyra and according to Procopius, he was prince of the Saracens, who +inhabit the ranks of the Euphrates. Echhel. Doct. Num. vii. 489.--G.] + + + + +Chapter XI: Reign Of Claudius, Defeat Of The Goths.--Part III. + +After a successful expedition against the Gothic plunderers of Asia, the +Palmyrenian prince returned to the city of Emesa in Syria. Invincible +in war, he was there cut off by domestic treason, and his favorite +amusement of hunting was the cause, or at least the occasion, of his +death. [56] His nephew Maeonius presumed to dart his javelin before that +of his uncle; and though admonished of his error, repeated the same +insolence. As a monarch, and as a sportsman, Odenathus was provoked, +took away his horse, a mark of ignominy among the barbarians, and +chastised the rash youth by a short confinement. The offence was soon +forgot, but the punishment was remembered; and Maeonius, with a few +daring associates, assassinated his uncle in the midst of a great +entertainment. Herod, the son of Odenathus, though not of Zenobia, +a young man of a soft and effeminate temper, [57] was killed with his +father. But Maeonius obtained only the pleasure of revenge by this +bloody deed. He had scarcely time to assume the title of Augustus, +before he was sacrificed by Zenobia to the memory of her husband. [58] + +[Footnote 56: Hist. August. p. 192, 193. Zosimus, l. i. p. 36. Zonaras, +l. xii p. 633. The last is clear and probable, the others confused +and inconsistent. The text of Syncellus, if not corrupt, is absolute +nonsense.] + +[Footnote 57: Odenathus and Zenobia often sent him, from the +spoils of the enemy, presents of gems and toys, which he received with +infinite delight.] + +[Footnote 58: Some very unjust suspicions have been cast on Zenobia, as +if she was accessory to her husband's death.] + +With the assistance of his most faithful friends, she immediately filled +the vacant throne, and governed with manly counsels Palmyra, Syria, and +the East, above five years. By the death of Odenathus, that authority +was at an end which the senate had granted him only as a personal +distinction; but his martial widow, disdaining both the senate and +Gallienus, obliged one of the Roman generals, who was sent against her, +to retreat into Europe, with the loss of his army and his reputation. +[59] Instead of the little passions which so frequently perplex a female +reign, the steady administration of Zenobia was guided by the most +judicious maxims of policy. If it was expedient to pardon, she could +calm her resentment; if it was necessary to punish, she could impose +silence on the voice of pity. Her strict economy was accused of avarice; +yet on every proper occasion she appeared magnificent and liberal. The +neighboring states of Arabia, Armenia, and Persia, dreaded her enmity, +and solicited her alliance. To the dominions of Odenathus, which +extended from the Euphrates to the frontiers of Bithynia, his widow +added the inheritance of her ancestors, the populous and fertile kingdom +of Egypt. [60] [601] The emperor Claudius acknowledged her merit, and was +content, that, while he pursued the Gothic war, she should assert the +dignity of the empire in the East. [61] The conduct, however, of Zenobia, +was attended with some ambiguity; not is it unlikely that she had +conceived the design of erecting an independent and hostile monarchy. +She blended with the popular manners of Roman princes the stately pomp +of the courts of Asia, and exacted from her subjects the same adoration +that was paid to the successor of Cyrus. She bestowed on her three sons +[61] a Latin education, and often showed them to the troops adorned +with the Imperial purple. For herself she reserved the diadem, with the +splendid but doubtful title of Queen of the East. + +[Footnote 59: Hist. August. p. 180, 181.] + +[Footnote 60: See, in Hist. August. p. 198, Aurelian's testimony to +her merit; and for the conquest of Egypt, Zosimus, l. i. p. 39, 40.] + +[Footnote 601: This seems very doubtful. Claudius, during all his reign, +is represented as emperor on the medals of Alexandria, which are very +numerous. If Zenobia possessed any power in Egypt, it could only have +been at the beginning of the reign of Aurelian. The same circumstance +throws great improbability on her conquests in Galatia. Perhaps Zenobia +administered Egypt in the name of Claudius, and emboldened by the death +of that prince, subjected it to her own power.--G.] + +[Footnote 61: Timolaus, Herennianus, and Vaballathus. It is supposed +that the two former were already dead before the war. On the last, +Aurelian bestowed a small province of Armenia, with the title of King; +several of his medals are still extant. See Tillemont, tom. 3, p. 1190.] + +When Aurelian passed over into Asia, against an adversary whose sex +alone could render her an object of contempt, his presence restored +obedience to the province of Bithynia, already shaken by the arms and +intrigues of Zenobia. [62] Advancing at the head of his legions, he +accepted the submission of Ancyra, and was admitted into Tyana, after +an obstinate siege, by the help of a perfidious citizen. The generous +though fierce temper of Aurelian abandoned the traitor to the rage of +the soldiers; a superstitious reverence induced him to treat with lenity +the countrymen of Apollonius the philosopher. [63] Antioch was deserted +on his approach, till the emperor, by his salutary edicts, recalled +the fugitives, and granted a general pardon to all, who, from necessity +rather than choice, had been engaged in the service of the Palmyrenian +Queen. The unexpected mildness of such a conduct reconciled the minds of +the Syrians, and as far as the gates of Emesa, the wishes of the people +seconded the terror of his arms. [64] + +[Footnote 62: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44.] + +[Footnote 63: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) gives us an authentic +letter and a doubtful vision, of Aurelian. Apollonius of Tyana was born +about the same time as Jesus Christ. His life (that of the former) is +related in so fabulous a manner by his disciples, that we are at a loss +to discover whether he was a sage, an impostor, or a fanatic.] + +[Footnote 64: Zosimus, l. i. p. 46.] + +Zenobia would have ill deserved her reputation, had she indolently +permitted the emperor of the West to approach within a hundred miles of +her capital. The fate of the East was decided in two great battles; so +similar in almost every circumstance, that we can scarcely distinguish +them from each other, except by observing that the first was fought near +Antioch, [65] and the second near Emesa. [66] In both the queen of Palmyra +animated the armies by her presence, and devolved the execution of her +orders on Zabdas, who had already signalized his military talents by the +conquest of Egypt. The numerous forces of Zenobia consisted for the most +part of light archers, and of heavy cavalry clothed in complete steel. +The Moorish and Illyrian horse of Aurelian were unable to sustain the +ponderous charge of their antagonists. They fled in real or affected +disorder, engaged the Palmyrenians in a laborious pursuit, harassed them +by a desultory combat, and at length discomfited this impenetrable but +unwieldy body of cavalry. The light infantry, in the mean time, when +they had exhausted their quivers, remaining without protection against +a closer onset, exposed their naked sides to the swords of the legions. +Aurelian had chosen these veteran troops, who were usually stationed +on the Upper Danube, and whose valor had been severely tried in +the Alemannic war. [67] After the defeat of Emesa, Zenobia found it +impossible to collect a third army. As far as the frontier of Egypt, the +nations subject to her empire had joined the standard of the conqueror, +who detached Probus, the bravest of his generals, to possess himself of +the Egyptian provinces. Palmyra was the last resource of the widow +of Odenathus. She retired within the walls of her capital, made +every preparation for a vigorous resistance, and declared, with the +intrepidity of a heroine, that the last moment of her reign and of +her life should be the same. + +[Footnote 65: At a place called Immae. Eutropius, Sextus Rufus, and +Jerome, mention only this first battle.] + +[Footnote 66: Vopiscus (in Hist. August. p. 217) mentions only the +second.] + +[Footnote 67: Zosimus, l. i. p. 44--48. His account of the two +battles is clear and circumstantial.] + +Amid the barren deserts of Arabia, a few cultivated spots rise like +islands out of the sandy ocean. Even the name of Tadmor, or Palmyra, +by its signification in the Syriac as well as in the Latin language, +denoted the multitude of palm-trees which afforded shade and verdure to +that temperate region. The air was pure, and the soil, watered by some +invaluable springs, was capable of producing fruits as well as corn. +A place possessed of such singular advantages, and situated at +a convenient distance [68] between the Gulf of Persia and the +Mediterranean, was soon frequented by the caravans which conveyed to the +nations of Europe a considerable part of the rich commodities of India. +Palmyra insensibly increased into an opulent and independent city, and +connecting the Roman and the Parthian monarchies by the mutual benefits +of commerce, was suffered to observe an humble neutrality, till at +length, after the victories of Trajan, the little republic sunk into the +bosom of Rome, and flourished more than one hundred and fifty years in +the subordinate though honorable rank of a colony. It was during that +peaceful period, if we may judge from a few remaining inscriptions, +that the wealthy Palmyrenians constructed those temples, palaces, and +porticos of Grecian architecture, whose ruins, scattered over an extent +of several miles, have deserved the curiosity of our travellers. The +elevation of Odenathus and Zenobia appeared to reflect new splendor on +their country, and Palmyra, for a while, stood forth the rival of Rome: +but the competition was fatal, and ages of prosperity were sacrificed +to a moment of glory. [69] + +[Footnote 68: It was five hundred and thirty-seven miles from Seleucia, +and two hundred and three from the nearest coast of Syria, according to +the reckoning of Pliny, who, in a few words, (Hist. Natur. v. 21,) gives +an excellent description of Palmyra. * Note: Talmor, or Palmyra, was +probably at a very early period the connecting link between the commerce +of Tyre and Babylon. Heeren, Ideen, v. i. p. ii. p. 125. Tadmor was +probably built by Solomon as a commercial station. Hist. of Jews, v. p. +271--M.] + +[Footnote 69: Some English travellers from Aleppo discovered the ruins +of Palmyra about the end of the last century. Our curiosity has since +been gratified in a more splendid manner by Messieurs Wood and Dawkins. +For the history of Palmyra, we may consult the masterly dissertation +of Dr. Halley in the Philosophical Transactions: Lowthorp's Abridgment, +vol. iii. p. 518.] + +In his march over the sandy desert between Emesa and Palmyra, the +emperor Aurelian was perpetually harassed by the Arabs; nor could he +always defend his army, and especially his baggage, from those flying +troops of active and daring robbers, who watched the moment of surprise, +and eluded the slow pursuit of the legions. The siege of Palmyra was an +object far more difficult and important, and the emperor, who, with +incessant vigor, pressed the attacks in person, was himself wounded with +a dart. "The Roman people," says Aurelian, in an original letter, "speak +with contempt of the war which I am waging against a woman. They are +ignorant both of the character and of the power of Zenobia. It is +impossible to enumerate her warlike preparations, of stones, of arrows, +and of every species of missile weapons. Every part of the walls is +provided with two or three balistae and artificial fires are thrown from +her military engines. The fear of punishment has armed her with a +desperate courage. Yet still I trust in the protecting deities of Rome, +who have hitherto been favorable to all my undertakings." [70] Doubtful, +however, of the protection of the gods, and of the event of the siege, +Aurelian judged it more prudent to offer terms of an advantageous +capitulation; to the queen, a splendid retreat; to the citizens, their +ancient privileges. His proposals were obstinately rejected, and the +refusal was accompanied with insult. + +[Footnote 70: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 218.] + +The firmness of Zenobia was supported by the hope, that in a very short +time famine would compel the Roman army to repass the desert; and by the +reasonable expectation that the kings of the East, and particularly the +Persian monarch, would arm in the defence of their most natural ally. +But fortune, and the perseverance of Aurelian, overcame every obstacle. +The death of Sapor, which happened about this time, [71] distracted the +councils of Persia, and the inconsiderable succors that attempted to +relieve Palmyra, were easily intercepted either by the arms or +the liberality of the emperor. From every part of Syria, a regular +succession of convoys safely arrived in the camp, which was increased +by the return of Probus with his victorious troops from the conquest +of Egypt. It was then that Zenobia resolved to fly. She mounted the +fleetest of her dromedaries, [72] and had already reached the banks of +the Euphrates, about sixty miles from Palmyra, when she was overtaken +by the pursuit of Aurelian's light horse, seized, and brought back +a captive to the feet of the emperor. Her capital soon afterwards +surrendered, and was treated with unexpected lenity. The arms, horses, +and camels, with an immense treasure of gold, silver, silk, and precious +stones, were all delivered to the conqueror, who, leaving only a +garrison of six hundred archers, returned to Emesa, and employed some +time in the distribution of rewards and punishments at the end of so +memorable a war, which restored to the obedience of Rome those provinces +that had renounced their allegiance since the captivity of Valerian. + +[Footnote 71: From a very doubtful chronology I have endeavored to +extract the most probable date.] + +[Footnote 72: Hist. August. p. 218. Zosimus, l. i. p. 50. Though the +camel is a heavy beast of burden, the dromedary, which is either of the +same or of a kindred species, is used by the natives of Asia and Africa +on all occasions which require celerity. The Arabs affirm, that he will +run over as much ground in one day as their fleetest horses can perform +in eight or ten. See Buffon, Hist. Naturelle, tom. xi. p. 222, and +Shaw's Travels p. 167] + +When the Syrian queen was brought into the presence of Aurelian, he +sternly asked her, How she had presumed to rise in arms against the +emperors of Rome! The answer of Zenobia was a prudent mixture of respect +and firmness. "Because I disdained to consider as Roman emperors an +Aureolus or a Gallienus. You alone I acknowledge as my conqueror and my +sovereign." [73] But as female fortitude is commonly artificial, so it +is seldom steady or consistent. The courage of Zenobia deserted her in +the hour of trial; she trembled at the angry clamors of the soldiers, +who called aloud for her immediate execution, forgot the generous +despair of Cleopatra, which she had proposed as her model, and +ignominiously purchased life by the sacrifice of her fame and her +friends. It was to their counsels, which governed the weakness of her +sex, that she imputed the guilt of her obstinate resistance; it was on +their heads that she directed the vengeance of the cruel Aurelian. The +fame of Longinus, who was included among the numerous and perhaps +innocent victims of her fear, will survive that of the queen who +betrayed, or the tyrant who condemned him. Genius and learning were +incapable of moving a fierce unlettered soldier, but they had served to +elevate and harmonize the soul of Longinus. Without uttering a +complaint, he calmly followed the executioner, pitying his unhappy +mistress, and bestowing comfort on his afflicted friends. [74] + +[Footnote 73: Pollio in Hist. August. p. 199.] + +[Footnote 74: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 219. Zosimus, l. i. p. 51.] + +Returning from the conquest of the East, Aurelian had already crossed +the Straits which divided Europe from Asia, when he was provoked by +the intelligence that the Palmyrenians had massacred the governor and +garrison which he had left among them, and again erected the standard +of revolt. Without a moment's deliberation, he once more turned his +face towards Syria. Antioch was alarmed by his rapid approach, and the +helpless city of Palmyra felt the irresistible weight of his resentment. +We have a letter of Aurelian himself, in which he acknowledges, [75] +that old men, women, children, and peasants, had been involved in that +dreadful execution, which should have been confined to armed rebellion; +and although his principal concern seems directed to the reestablishment +of a temple of the Sun, he discovers some pity for the remnant of +the Palmyrenians, to whom he grants the permission of rebuilding and +inhabiting their city. But it is easier to destroy than to restore. +The seat of commerce, of arts, and of Zenobia, gradually sunk into an +obscure town, a trifling fortress, and at length a miserable village. +The present citizens of Palmyra, consisting of thirty or forty +families, have erected their mud cottages within the spacious court of a +magnificent temple. + +[Footnote 75: Hist. August. p. 219.] + +Another and a last labor still awaited the indefatigable Aurelian; to +suppress a dangerous though obscure rebel, who, during the revolt of +Palmyra, had arisen on the banks of the Nile. Firmus, the friend and +ally, as he proudly styled himself, of Odenathus and Zenobia, was no +more than a wealthy merchant of Egypt. In the course of his trade to +India, he had formed very intimate connections with the Saracens and the +Blemmyes, whose situation on either coast of the Red Sea gave them an +easy introduction into the Upper Egypt. The Egyptians he inflamed with +the hope of freedom, and, at the head of their furious multitude, broke +into the city of Alexandria, where he assumed the Imperial purple, +coined money, published edicts, and raised an army, which, as he vainly +boasted, he was capable of maintaining from the sole profits of his +paper trade. Such troops were a feeble defence against the approach of +Aurelian; and it seems almost unnecessary to relate, that Firmus was +routed, taken, tortured, and put to death. [76] Aurelian might now +congratulate the senate, the people, and himself, that in little more +than three years, he had restored universal peace and order to the Roman +world. + +[Footnote 76: See Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 220, 242. As an +instance of luxury, it is observed, that he had glass windows. He was +remarkable for his strength and appetite, his courage and dexterity. +From the letter of Aurelian, we may justly infer, that Firmus was +the last of the rebels, and consequently that Tetricus was already +suppressed.] + +Since the foundation of Rome, no general had more nobly deserved a +triumph than Aurelian; nor was a triumph ever celebrated with superior +pride and magnificence. [77] The pomp was opened by twenty elephants, +four royal tigers, and above two hundred of the most curious animals +from every climate of the North, the East, and the South. They were +followed by sixteen hundred gladiators, devoted to the cruel amusement +of the amphitheatre. The wealth of Asia, the arms and ensigns of so many +conquered nations, and the magnificent plate and wardrobe of the +Syrian queen, were disposed in exact symmetry or artful disorder. The +ambassadors of the most remote parts of the earth, of Aethiopia, Arabia, +Persia, Bactriana, India, and China, all remarkable by their rich or +singular dresses, displayed the fame and power of the Roman emperor, who +exposed likewise to the public view the presents that he had received, +and particularly a great number of crowns of gold, the offerings of +grateful cities. + +The victories of Aurelian were attested by the long train of captives +who reluctantly attended his triumph, Goths, Vandals, Sarmatians, +Alemanni, Franks, Gauls, Syrians, and Egyptians. Each people was +distinguished by its peculiar inscription, and the title of Amazons was +bestowed on ten martial heroines of the Gothic nation who had been taken +in arms. [78] But every eye, disregarding the crowd of captives, was +fixed on the emperor Tetricus and the queen of the East. The former, +as well as his son, whom he had created Augustus, was dressed in Gallic +trousers, [79] a saffron tunic, and a robe of purple. The beauteous +figure of Zenobia was confined by fetters of gold; a slave supported the +gold chain which encircled her neck, and she almost fainted under the +intolerable weight of jewels. She preceded on foot the magnificent +chariot, in which she once hoped to enter the gates of Rome. It was +followed by two other chariots, still more sumptuous, of Odenathus and +of the Persian monarch. The triumphal car of Aurelian (it had formerly +been used by a Gothic king) was drawn, on this memorable occasion, +either by four stags or by four elephants. [80] The most illustrious +of the senate, the people, and the army closed the solemn procession. +Unfeigned joy, wonder, and gratitude, swelled the acclamations of +the multitude; but the satisfaction of the senate was clouded by the +appearance of Tetricus; nor could they suppress a rising murmur, that +the haughty emperor should thus expose to public ignominy the person of +a Roman and a magistrate. [81] + +[Footnote 77: See the triumph of Aurelian, described by Vopiscus. +He relates the particulars with his usual minuteness; and, on this +occasion, they happen to be interesting. Hist. August. p. 220.] + +[Footnote 78: Among barbarous nations, women have often combated by the +side of their husbands. But it is almost impossible that a society of +Amazons should ever have existed either in the old or new world. * +Note: Klaproth's theory on the origin of such traditions is at least +recommended by its ingenuity. The males of a tribe having gone out on a +marauding expedition, and having been cut off to a man, the females may +have endeavored, for a time, to maintain their independence in their +camp village, till their children grew up. Travels, ch. xxx. Eng. +Trans--M.] + +[Footnote 79: The use of braccoe, breeches, or trousers, was +still considered in Italy as a Gallic and barbarian fashion. The Romans, +however, had made great advances towards it. To encircle the legs and +thighs with fascioe, or bands, was understood, in the time of Pompey and +Horace, to be a proof of ill health or effeminacy. In the age of Trajan, +the custom was confined to the rich and luxurious. It gradually was +adopted by the meanest of the people. See a very curious note of +Casaubon, ad Sueton. in August. c. 82.] + +[Footnote 80: Most probably the former; the latter seen on the medals of +Aurelian, only denote (according to the learned Cardinal Norris) an +oriental victory.] + +[Footnote 81: The expression of Calphurnius, (Eclog. i. 50) Nullos decet +captiva triumphos, as applied to Rome, contains a very manifest allusion +and censure.] + +But however, in the treatment of his unfortunate rivals, Aurelian might +indulge his pride, he behaved towards them with a generous clemency, +which was seldom exercised by the ancient conquerors. Princes who, +without success, had defended their throne or freedom, were frequently +strangled in prison, as soon as the triumphal pomp ascended the Capitol. +These usurpers, whom their defeat had convicted of the crime of treason, +were permitted to spend their lives in affluence and honorable repose. + +The emperor presented Zenobia with an elegant villa at Tibur, or Tivoli, +about twenty miles from the capital; the Syrian queen insensibly sunk +into a Roman matron, her daughters married into noble families, and her +race was not yet extinct in the fifth century. [82] Tetricus and his son +were reinstated in their rank and fortunes. They erected on the Caelian +hill a magnificent palace, and as soon as it was finished, invited +Aurelian to supper. On his entrance, he was agreeably surprised with a +picture which represented their singular history. They were delineated +offering to the emperor a civic crown and the sceptre of Gaul, and again +receiving at his hands the ornaments of the senatorial dignity. The +father was afterwards invested with the government of Lucania, [83] and +Aurelian, who soon admitted the abdicated monarch to his friendship and +conversation, familiarly asked him, Whether it were not more desirable +to administer a province of Italy, than to reign beyond the Alps. The +son long continued a respectable member of the senate; nor was there any +one of the Roman nobility more esteemed by Aurelian, as well as by +his successors. [84] + +[Footnote 82: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 199. Hieronym. in Chron. +Prosper in Chron. Baronius supposes that Zenobius, bishop of Florence in +the time of St. Ambrose, was of her family.] + +[Footnote 83: Vopisc. in Hist. August. p. 222. Eutropius, ix. 13. Victor +Junior. But Pollio, in Hist. August. p. 196, says, that Tetricus was +made corrector of all Italy.] + +[Footnote 84: Hist. August. p. 197.] + +So long and so various was the pomp of Aurelian's triumph, that although +it opened with the dawn of day, the slow majesty of the procession +ascended not the Capitol before the ninth hour; and it was already dark +when the emperor returned to the palace. The festival was protracted by +theatrical representations, the games of the circus, the hunting of wild +beasts, combats of gladiators, and naval engagements. Liberal donatives +were distributed to the army and people, and several institutions, +agreeable or beneficial to the city, contributed to perpetuate the +glory of Aurelian. A considerable portion of his oriental spoils was +consecrated to the gods of Rome; the Capitol, and every other temple, +glittered with the offerings of his ostentatious piety; and the temple +of the Sun alone received above fifteen thousand pounds of gold. [85] +This last was a magnificent structure, erected by the emperor on the +side of the Quirinal hill, and dedicated, soon after the triumph, to +that deity whom Aurelian adored as the parent of his life and fortunes. +His mother had been an inferior priestess in a chapel of the Sun; +a peculiar devotion to the god of Light was a sentiment which the +fortunate peasant imbibed in his infancy; and every step of his +elevation, every victory of his reign, fortified superstition by +gratitude. [86] + +[Footnote 85: Vopiscus in Hist. August. 222. Zosimus, l. i. p. 56. He +placed in it the images of Belus and of the Sun, which he had brought +from Palmyra. It was dedicated in the fourth year of his reign, (Euseb +in Chron.,) but was most assuredly begun immediately on his accession.] + +[Footnote 86: See, in the Augustan History, p. 210, the omens of his +fortune. His devotion to the Sun appears in his letters, on his medals, +and is mentioned in the Caesars of Julian. Commentaire de Spanheim, p. +109.] + +The arms of Aurelian had vanquished the foreign and domestic foes of the +republic. We are assured, that, by his salutary rigor, crimes and +factions, mischievous arts and pernicious connivance, the luxurious +growth of a feeble and oppressive government, were eradicated throughout +the Roman world. [87] But if we attentively reflect how much swifter is +the progress of corruption than its cure, and if we remember that the +years abandoned to public disorders exceeded the months allotted to the +martial reign of Aurelian, we must confess that a few short intervals of +peace were insufficient for the arduous work of reformation. Even his +attempt to restore the integrity of the coin was opposed by a formidable +insurrection. The emperor's vexation breaks out in one of his private +letters. "Surely," says he, "the gods have decreed that my life should +be a perpetual warfare. A sedition within the walls has just now given +birth to a very serious civil war. The workmen of the mint, at the +instigation of Felicissimus, a slave to whom I had intrusted an +employment in the finances, have risen in rebellion. They are at length +suppressed; but seven thousand of my soldiers have been slain in the +contest, of those troops whose ordinary station is in Dacia, and the +camps along the Danube." [88] Other writers, who confirm the same fact, +add likewise, that it happened soon after Aurelian's triumph; that the +decisive engagement was fought on the Caelian hill; that the workmen of +the mint had adulterated the coin; and that the emperor restored the +public credit, by delivering out good money in exchange for the bad, +which the people was commanded to bring into the treasury. [89] + +[Footnote 87: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221.] + +[Footnote 88: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurelian calls these soldiers Hiberi +Riporiences Castriani, and Dacisci.] + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus, l. i. p. 56. Eutropius, ix. 14. Aurel Victor.] + +We might content ourselves with relating this extraordinary transaction, +but we cannot dissemble how much in its present form it appears to us +inconsistent and incredible. The debasement of the coin is indeed well +suited to the administration of Gallienus; nor is it unlikely that the +instruments of the corruption might dread the inflexible justice of +Aurelian. But the guilt, as well as the profit, must have been confined +to a very few; nor is it easy to conceive by what arts they could arm a +people whom they had injured, against a monarch whom they had betrayed. +We might naturally expect that such miscreants should have shared +the public detestation with the informers and the other ministers of +oppression; and that the reformation of the coin should have been an +action equally popular with the destruction of those obsolete accounts, +which by the emperor's order were burnt in the forum of Trajan. [90] In +an age when the principles of commerce were so imperfectly understood, +the most desirable end might perhaps be effected by harsh and +injudicious means; but a temporary grievance of such a nature can +scarcely excite and support a serious civil war. The repetition of +intolerable taxes, imposed either on the land or on the necessaries of +life, may at last provoke those who will not, or who cannot, relinquish +their country. But the case is far otherwise in every operation +which, by whatsoever expedients, restores the just value of money. The +transient evil is soon obliterated by the permanent benefit, the loss is +divided among multitudes; and if a few wealthy individuals experience +a sensible diminution of treasure, with their riches, they at the same +time lose the degree of weight and importance which they derived from +the possession of them. However Aurelian might choose to disguise +the real cause of the insurrection, his reformation of the coin +could furnish only a faint pretence to a party already powerful and +discontented. Rome, though deprived of freedom, was distracted by +faction. The people, towards whom the emperor, himself a plebeian, +always expressed a peculiar fondness, lived in perpetual dissension with +the senate, the equestrian order, and the Praetorian guards. [91] Nothing +less than the firm though secret conspiracy of those orders, of the +authority of the first, the wealth of the second, and the arms of the +third, could have displayed a strength capable of contending in battle +with the veteran legions of the Danube, which, under the conduct of +a martial sovereign, had achieved the conquest of the West and of the +East. + +[Footnote 90: Hist. August. p. 222. Aurel Victor.] + +[Footnote 91: It already raged before Aurelian's return from Egypt. See +Vipiscus, who quotes an original letter. Hist. August. p. 244.] + +Whatever was the cause or the object of this rebellion, imputed with so +little probability to the workmen of the mint, Aurelian used his victory +with unrelenting rigor. [92] He was naturally of a severe disposition. A +peasant and a soldier, his nerves yielded not easily to the impressions +of sympathy, and he could sustain without emotion the sight of tortures +and death. Trained from his earliest youth in the exercise of arms, he +set too small a value on the life of a citizen, chastised by military +execution the slightest offences, and transferred the stern discipline +of the camp into the civil administration of the laws. His love of +justice often became a blind and furious passion and whenever he deemed +his own or the public safety endangered, he disregarded the rules of +evidence, and the proportion of punishments. The unprovoked rebellion +with which the Romans rewarded his services, exasperated his haughty +spirit. The noblest families of the capital were involved in the guilt +or suspicion of this dark conspiracy. A nasty spirit of revenge urged +the bloody prosecution, and it proved fatal to one of the nephews of the +emperor. The executioners (if we may use the expression of a +contemporary poet) were fatigued, the prisons were crowded, and the +unhappy senate lamented the death or absence of its most illustrious +members. [93] Nor was the pride of Aurelian less offensive to that +assembly than his cruelty. Ignorant or impatient of the restraints of +civil institutions, he disdained to hold his power by any other title +than that of the sword, and governed by right of conquest an empire +which he had saved and subdued. [94] + +[Footnote 92: Vopiscus in Hist. August p. 222. The two Victors. +Eutropius ix. 14. Zosimus (l. i. p. 43) mentions only three senators, +and placed their death before the eastern war.] + +[Footnote 93: Nulla catenati feralis pompa senatus Carnificum lassabit +opus; nec carcere pleno Infelix raros numerabit curia Patres. +Calphurn. Eclog. i. 60.] + +[Footnote 94: According to the younger Victor, he sometimes wore the +diadem, Deus and Dominus appear on his medals.] + +It was observed by one of the most sagacious of the Roman princes, +that the talents of his predecessor Aurelian were better suited to the +command of an army, than to the government of an empire. [95] Conscious +of the character in which nature and experience had enabled him to +excel, he again took the field a few months after his triumph. It was +expedient to exercise the restless temper of the legions in some foreign +war, and the Persian monarch, exulting in the shame of Valerian, still +braved with impunity the offended majesty of Rome. At the head of an +army, less formidable by its numbers than by its discipline and valor, +the emperor advanced as far as the Straits which divide Europe from +Asia. He there experienced that the most absolute power is a weak +defence against the effects of despair. He had threatened one of his +secretaries who was accused of extortion; and it was known that +he seldom threatened in vain. The last hope which remained for the +criminal, was to involve some of the principal officers of the army +in his danger, or at least in his fears. Artfully counterfeiting his +master's hand, he showed them, in a long and bloody list, their own +names devoted to death. Without suspecting or examining the fraud, they +resolved to secure their lives by the murder of the emperor. On his +march, between Byzanthium and Heraclea, Aurelian was suddenly attacked +by the conspirators, whose stations gave them a right to surround his +person, and after a short resistance, fell by the hand of Mucapor, a +general whom he had always loved and trusted. He died regretted by the +army, detested by the senate, but universally acknowledged as a warlike +and fortunate prince, the useful, though severe reformer of a degenerate +state. [96] + +[Footnote 95: It was the observation of Dioclatian. See Vopiscus in +Hist. August. p. 224.] + +[Footnote 96: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 221. Zosimus, l. i. p. 57. +Eutrop ix. 15. The two Victors.] + + + + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.--Part I. + + Conduct Of The Army And Senate After The Death Of Aurelian. + --Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus, And His Sons. + +Such was the unhappy condition of the Roman emperors, that, whatever +might be their conduct, their fate was commonly the same. A life of +pleasure or virtue, of severity or mildness, of indolence or glory, +alike led to an untimely grave; and almost every reign is closed by the +same disgusting repetition of treason and murder. The death of Aurelian, +however, is remarkable by its extraordinary consequences. The legions +admired, lamented, and revenged their victorious chief. The artifice of +his perfidious secretary was discovered and punished. + +The deluded conspirators attended the funeral of their injured +sovereign, with sincere or well-feigned contrition, and submitted to the +unanimous resolution of the military order, which was signified by the +following epistle: "The brave and fortunate armies to the senate and +people of Rome.--The crime of one man, and the error of many, have +deprived us of the late emperor Aurelian. May it please you, venerable +lords and fathers! to place him in the number of the gods, and to +appoint a successor whom your judgment shall declare worthy of +the Imperial purple! None of those whose guilt or misfortune have +contributed to our loss, shall ever reign over us." [1] The Roman +senators heard, without surprise, that another emperor had been +assassinated in his camp; they secretly rejoiced in the fall of +Aurelian; but the +modest and dutiful address of the legions, when it was communicated in +full assembly by the consul, diffused the most pleasing astonishment. +Such honors as fear and perhaps esteem could extort, they liberally +poured forth on the memory of their deceased sovereign. Such +acknowledgments as gratitude could inspire, they returned to the +faithful armies of the republic, who entertained so just a sense of +the legal authority of the senate in the choice of an emperor. Yet, +notwithstanding this flattering appeal, the most prudent of the assembly +declined exposing their safety and dignity to the caprice of an armed +multitude. The strength of the legions was, indeed, a pledge of their +sincerity, since those who may command are seldom reduced to the +necessity of dissembling; but could it naturally be expected, that a +hasty repentance would correct the inveterate habits of fourscore years? +Should the soldiers relapse into their accustomed seditions, their +insolence might disgrace the majesty of the senate, and prove fatal to +the object of its choice. Motives like these dictated a decree, by +which the election of a new emperor was referred to the suffrage of the +military order. + +[Footnote 1: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 222. Aurelius Victor mentions +a formal deputation from the troops to the senate.] + +The contention that ensued is one of the best attested, but most +improbable events in the history of mankind. [2] The troops, as if +satiated with the exercise of power, again conjured the senate to invest +one of its own body with the Imperial purple. The senate still persisted +in its refusal; the army in its request. The reciprocal offer was +pressed and rejected at least three times, and, whilst the obstinate +modesty of either party was resolved to receive a master from the hands +of the other, eight months insensibly elapsed; an amazing period of +tranquil anarchy, during which the Roman world remained without a +sovereign, without a usurper, and without a sedition. [201] The generals +and magistrates appointed by Aurelian continued to execute their +ordinary functions; and it is observed, that a proconsul of Asia was the +only considerable person removed from his office in the whole course of +the interregnum. + +[Footnote 2: Vopiscus, our principal authority, wrote at Rome, sixteen +years only after the death of Aurelian; and, besides the recent +notoriety of the facts, constantly draws his materials from the Journals +of the Senate, and the original papers of the Ulpian library. Zosimus +and Zonaras appear as ignorant of this transaction as they were in +general of the Roman constitution.] + +[Footnote 201: The interregnum could not be more than seven months; +Aurelian was assassinated in the middle of March, the year of Rome 1028. +Tacitus was elected the 25th September in the same year.--G.] + +An event somewhat similar, but much less authentic, is supposed to have +happened after the death of Romulus, who, in his life and character, +bore some affinity with Aurelian. The throne was vacant during twelve +months, till the election of a Sabine philosopher, and the public peace +was guarded in the same manner, by the union of the several orders of +the state. But, in the time of Numa and Romulus, the arms of the people +were controlled by the authority of the Patricians; and the balance of +freedom was easily preserved in a small and virtuous community. [3] The +decline of the Roman state, far different from its infancy, was attended +with every circumstance that could banish from an interregnum the +prospect of obedience and harmony: an immense and tumultuous capital, +a wide extent of empire, the servile equality of despotism, an army +of four hundred thousand mercenaries, and the experience of frequent +revolutions. Yet, notwithstanding all these temptations, the discipline +and memory of Aurelian still restrained the seditious temper of the +troops, as well as the fatal ambition of their leaders. The flower of +the legions maintained their stations on the banks of the Bosphorus, and +the Imperial standard awed the less powerful camps of Rome and of the +provinces. A generous though transient enthusiasm seemed to animate the +military order; and we may hope that a few real patriots cultivated the +returning friendship of the army and the senate, as the only expedient +capable of restoring the republic to its ancient beauty and vigor. + +[Footnote 3: Liv. i. 17 Dionys. Halicarn. l. ii. p. 115. Plutarch +in Numa, p. 60. The first of these writers relates the story like an +orator, the second like a lawyer, and the third like a moralist, and +none of them probably without some intermixture of fable.] + +On the twenty-fifth of September, near eight months after the murder of +Aurelian, the consul convoked an assembly of the senate, and reported +the doubtful and dangerous situation of the empire. He slightly +insinuated, that the precarious loyalty of the soldiers depended on the +chance of every hour, and of every accident; but he represented, with +the most convincing eloquence, the various dangers that might attend any +further delay in the choice of an emperor. Intelligence, he said, was +already received, that the Germans had passed the Rhine, and occupied +some of the strongest and most opulent cities of Gaul. The ambition of +the Persian king kept the East in perpetual alarms; Egypt, Africa, and +Illyricum, were exposed to foreign and domestic arms, and the levity of +Syria would prefer even a female sceptre to the sanctity of the Roman +laws. The consul, then addressing himself to Tacitus, the first of the +senators, [4] required his opinion on the important subject of a proper +candidate for the vacant throne. + +[Footnote 4: Vopiscus (in Hist. August p. 227) calls him "primae +sententia consularis;" and soon afterwards Princeps senatus. It is +natural to suppose, that the monarchs of Rome, disdaining that humble +title, resigned it to the most ancient of the senators.] + +If we can prefer personal merit to accidental greatness, we shall esteem +the birth of Tacitus more truly noble than that of kings. He claimed his +descent from the philosophic historian, whose writings will instruct +the last generations of mankind. [5] The senator Tacitus was then +seventy-five years of age. [6] The long period of his innocent life was +adorned with wealth and honors. He had twice been invested with the +consular dignity, [7] and enjoyed with elegance and sobriety his ample +patrimony of between two and three millions sterling. [8] The experience +of so many princes, whom he had esteemed or endured, from the vain +follies of Elagabalus to the useful rigor of Aurelian, taught him to +form a just estimate of the duties, the dangers, and the temptations +of their sublime station. From the assiduous study of his immortal +ancestor, he derived the knowledge of the Roman constitution, and of +human nature. [9] The voice of the people had already named Tacitus as +the citizen the most worthy of empire. The ungrateful rumor reached his +ears, and induced him to seek the retirement of one of his villas in +Campania. He had passed two months in the delightful privacy of Baiae, +when he reluctantly obeyed the summons of the consul to resume his +honorable place in the senate, and to assist the republic with his +counsels on this important occasion. + +[Footnote 5: The only objection to this genealogy is, that the historian +was named Cornelius, the emperor, Claudius. But under the lower empire, +surnames were extremely various and uncertain.] + +[Footnote 6: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 637. The Alexandrian Chronicle, by an +obvious mistake, transfers that age to Aurelian.] + +[Footnote 7: In the year 273, he was ordinary consul. But he must have +been Suffectus many years before, and most probably under Valerian.] + +[Footnote 8: Bis millies octingenties. Vopiscus in Hist. August p. 229. +This sum, according to the old standard, was equivalent to eight hundred +and forty thousand Roman pounds of silver, each of the value of three +pounds sterling. But in the age of Tacitus, the coin had lost much of +its weight and purity.] + +[Footnote 9: After his accession, he gave orders that ten copies of +the historian should be annually transcribed and placed in the public +libraries. The Roman libraries have long since perished, and the most +valuable part of Tacitus was preserved in a single Ms., and discovered +in a monastery of Westphalia. See Bayle, Dictionnaire, Art. Tacite, and +Lipsius ad Annal. ii. 9.] + +He arose to speak, when from every quarter of the house, he was saluted +with the names of Augustus and emperor. "Tacitus Augustus, the gods +preserve thee! we choose thee for our sovereign; to thy care we intrust +the republic and the world. Accept the empire from the authority of the +senate. It is due to thy rank, to thy conduct, to thy manners." As soon +as the tumult of acclamations subsided, Tacitus attempted to decline the +dangerous honor, and to express his wonder, that they should elect his +age and infirmities to succeed the martial vigor of Aurelian. "Are these +limbs, conscript fathers! fitted to sustain the weight of armor, or to +practise the exercises of the camp? The variety of climates, and the +hardships of a military life, would soon oppress a feeble constitution, +which subsists only by the most tender management. My exhausted strength +scarcely enables me to discharge the duty of a senator; how insufficient +would it prove to the arduous labors of war and government! Can you +hope, that the legions will respect a weak old man, whose days have been +spent in the shade of peace and retirement? Can you desire that I should +ever find reason to regret the favorable opinion of the senate?" [10] + +[Footnote 10: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 227.] + +The reluctance of Tacitus (and it might possibly be sincere) was +encountered by the affectionate obstinacy of the senate. Five hundred +voices repeated at once, in eloquent confusion, that the greatest of the +Roman princes, Numa, Trajan, Hadrian, and the Antonines, had ascended +the throne in a very advanced season of life; that the mind, not the +body, a sovereign, not a soldier, was the object of their choice; and +that they expected from him no more than to guide by his wisdom the +valor of the legions. These pressing though tumultuary instances were +seconded by a more regular oration of Metius Falconius, the next on the +consular bench to Tacitus himself. He reminded the assembly of the +evils which Rome had endured from the vices of headstrong and capricious +youths, congratulated them on the election of a virtuous and experienced +senator, and, with a manly, though perhaps a selfish, freedom, exhorted +Tacitus to remember the reasons of his elevation, and to seek a +successor, not in his own family, but in the republic. The speech of +Falconius was enforced by a general acclamation. The emperor elect +submitted to the authority of his country, and received the voluntary +homage of his equals. The judgment of the senate was confirmed by the +consent of the Roman people, and of the Praetorian guards. [11] + +[Footnote 11: Hist. August. p. 228. Tacitus addressed the Praetorians +by the appellation of sanctissimi milites, and the people by that of +sacratissim. Quirites.] + +The administration of Tacitus was not unworthy of his life and +principles. A grateful servant of the senate, he considered that +national council as the author, and himself as the subject, of the laws. +[12] He studied to heal the wounds which Imperial pride, civil discord, +and military violence, had inflicted on the constitution, and to +restore, at least, the image of the ancient republic, as it had been +preserved by the policy of Augustus, and the virtues of Trajan and +the Antonines. It may not be useless to recapitulate some of the most +important prerogatives which the senate appeared to have regained by the +election of Tacitus. [13] 1. To invest one of their body, under the title +of emperor, with the general command of the armies, and the government +of the frontier provinces. 2. To determine the list, or, as it was then +styled, the College of Consuls. They were twelve in number, who, in +successive pairs, each, during the space of two months, filled the year, +and represented the dignity of that ancient office. The authority of +the senate, in the nomination of the consuls, was exercised with such +independent freedom, that no regard was paid to an irregular request of +the emperor in favor of his brother Florianus. "The senate," exclaimed +Tacitus, with the honest transport of a patriot, "understand the +character of a prince whom they have chosen." 3. To appoint the +proconsuls and presidents of the provinces, and to confer on all the +magistrates their civil jurisdiction. 4. To receive appeals through the +intermediate office of the praefect of the city from all the tribunals +of the empire. 5. To give force and validity, by their decrees, to such +as they should approve of the emperor's edicts. 6. To these several +branches of authority we may add some inspection over the finances, +since, even in the stern reign of Aurelian, it was in their power to +divert a part of the revenue from the public service. [14] + +[Footnote 12: In his manumissions he never exceeded the number of +a hundred, as limited by the Caninian law, which was enacted under +Augustus, and at length repealed by Justinian. See Casaubon ad locum +Vopisci.] + +[Footnote 13: See the lives of Tacitus, Florianus, and Probus, +in the Augustan History; we may be well assured, that whatever the +soldier gave the senator had already given.] + +[Footnote 14: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 216. The passage is perfectly +clear, both Casaubon and Salmasius wish to correct it.] + +Circular epistles were sent, without delay, to all the principal cities +of the empire, Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Thessalonica, Corinth, Athens, +Antioch, Alexandria, and Carthage, to claim their obedience, and to +inform them of the happy revolution, which had restored the Roman senate +to its ancient dignity. Two of these epistles are still extant. +We likewise possess two very singular fragments of the private +correspondence of the senators on this occasion. They discover the most +excessive joy, and the most unbounded hopes. "Cast away your indolence," +it is thus that one of the senators addresses his friend, "emerge from +your retirements of Baiae and Puteoli. Give yourself to the city, to the +senate. Rome flourishes, the whole republic flourishes. Thanks to the +Roman army, to an army truly Roman; at length we have recovered our +just authority, the end of all our desires. We hear appeals, we appoint +proconsuls, we create emperors; perhaps too we may restrain them--to the +wise a word is sufficient." [15] These lofty expectations were, however, +soon disappointed; nor, indeed, was it possible that the armies and the +provinces should long obey the luxurious and unwarlike nobles of Rome. +On the slightest touch, the unsupported fabric of their pride and power +fell to the ground. The expiring senate displayed a sudden lustre, +blazed for a moment and was extinguished forever. + +[Footnote 15: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 230, 232, 233. The senators +celebrated the happy restoration with hecatombs and public rejoicings.] + +All that had yet passed at Rome was no more than a theatrical +representation, unless it was ratified by the more substantial power of +the legions. Leaving the senators to enjoy their dream of freedom and +ambition, Tacitus proceeded to the Thracian camp, and was there, by the +Praetorian praefect, presented to the assembled troops, as the prince +whom they themselves had demanded, and whom the senate had bestowed. As +soon as the praefect was silent, the emperor addressed himself to the +soldiers with eloquence and propriety. He gratified their avarice by a +liberal distribution of treasure, under the names of pay and donative. +He engaged their esteem by a spirited declaration, that although his age +might disable him from the performance of military exploits, his +counsels should never be unworthy of a Roman general, the successor of +the brave Aurelian. [16] + +[Footnote 16: Hist. August. p. 228.] + +Whilst the deceased emperor was making preparations for a second +expedition into the East, he had negotiated with the Alani, [161] a +Scythian people, who pitched their tents in the neighborhood of the +Lake Moeotis. Those barbarians, allured by presents and subsidies, had +promised to invade Persia with a numerous body of light cavalry. They +were faithful to their engagements; but when they arrived on the Roman +frontier, Aurelian was already dead, the design of the Persian war +was at least suspended, and the generals, who, during the interregnum, +exercised a doubtful authority, were unprepared either to receive or +to oppose them. Provoked by such treatment, which they considered as +trifling and perfidious, the Alani had recourse to their own valor for +their payment and revenge; and as they moved with the usual swiftness of +Tartars, they had soon spread themselves over the provinces of Pontus, +Cappadocia, Cilicia, and Galatia. The legions, who from the opposite +shores of the Bosphorus could almost distinguish the flames of the +cities and villages, impatiently urged their general to lead them +against the invaders. The conduct of Tacitus was suitable to his age and +station. He convinced the barbarians of the faith, as well as the power, +of the empire. Great numbers of the Alani, appeased by the punctual +discharge of the engagements which Aurelian had contracted with them, +relinquished their booty and captives, and quietly retreated to their +own deserts, beyond the Phasis. Against the remainder, who refused +peace, the Roman emperor waged, in person, a successful war. Seconded by +an army of brave and experienced veterans, in a few weeks he delivered +the provinces of Asia from the terror of the Scythian invasion. [17] + +[Footnote 161: On the Alani, see ch. xxvi. note 55.--M.] + +[Footnote 17: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 230. Zosimus, l. i. p. 57. +Zonaras, l. xii. p. 637. Two passages in the life of Probus (p. 236, +238) convince me, that these Scythian invaders of Pontus were Alani. If +we may believe Zosimus, (l. i. p. 58,) Florianus pursued them as far +as the Cimmerian Bosphorus. But he had scarcely time for so long and +difficult an expedition.] + +But the glory and life of Tacitus were of short duration. Transported, +in the depth of winter, from the soft retirement of Campania to the +foot of Mount Caucasus, he sunk under the unaccustomed hardships of a +military life. The fatigues of the body were aggravated by the cares of +the mind. For a while, the angry and selfish passions of the soldiers +had been suspended by the enthusiasm of public virtue. They soon broke +out with redoubled violence, and raged in the camp, and even in the +tent of the aged emperor. His mild and amiable character served only to +inspire contempt, and he was incessantly tormented with factions which +he could not assuage, and by demands which it was impossible to satisfy. +Whatever flattering expectations he had conceived of reconciling the +public disorders, Tacitus soon was convinced that the licentiousness of +the army disdained the feeble restraint of laws, and his last hour was +hastened by anguish and disappointment. It may be doubtful whether the +soldiers imbrued their hands in the blood of this innocent prince. +[18] It is certain that their insolences was the cause of his death. He +expired at Tyana in Cappadocia, after a reign of only six months and +about twenty days. [19] + +[Footnote 18: Eutropius and Aurelius Victor only say that he died; +Victor Junior adds, that it was of a fever. Zosimus and Zonaras affirm, +that he was killed by the soldiers. Vopiscus mentions both accounts, +and seems to hesitate. Yet surely these jarring opinions are easily +reconciled.] + +[Footnote 19: According to the two Victors, he reigned exactly two +hundred days.] + +The eyes of Tacitus were scarcely closed, before his brother Florianus +showed himself unworthy to reign, by the hasty usurpation of the purple, +without expecting the approbation of the senate. The reverence for the +Roman constitution, which yet influenced the camp and the provinces, was +sufficiently strong to dispose them to censure, but not to provoke them +to oppose, the precipitate ambition of Florianus. The discontent would +have evaporated in idle murmurs, had not the general of the East, the +heroic Probus, boldly declared himself the avenger of the senate. + +The contest, however, was still unequal; nor could the most able leader, +at the head of the effeminate troops of Egypt and Syria, encounter, with +any hopes of victory, the legions of Europe, whose irresistible strength +appeared to support the brother of Tacitus. But the fortune and activity +of Probus triumphed over every obstacle. The hardy veterans of his +rival, accustomed to cold climates, sickened and consumed away in the +sultry heats of Cilicia, where the summer proved remarkably unwholesome. +Their numbers were diminished by frequent desertion; the passes of +the mountains were feebly defended; Tarsus opened its gates; and the +soldiers of Florianus, when they had permitted him to enjoy the Imperial +title about three months, delivered the empire from civil war by the +easy sacrifice of a prince whom they despised. [20] + +[Footnote 20: Hist. August, p. 231. Zosimus, l. i. p. 58, 59. Zonaras, +l. xii. p. 637. Aurelius Victor says, that Probus assumed the empire in +Illyricum; an opinion which (though adopted by a very learned man) would +throw that period of history into inextricable confusion.] + +The perpetual revolutions of the throne had so perfectly erased every +notion of hereditary title, that the family of an unfortunate emperor +was incapable of exciting the jealousy of his successors. The children +of Tacitus and Florianus were permitted to descend into a private +station, and to mingle with the general mass of the people. Their +poverty indeed became an additional safeguard to their innocence. When +Tacitus was elected by the senate, he resigned his ample patrimony to +the public service; [21] an act of generosity specious in appearance, +but which evidently disclosed his intention of transmitting the empire +to his descendants. The only consolation of their fallen state was the +remembrance of transient greatness, and a distant hope, the child of a +flattering prophecy, that at the end of a thousand years, a monarch of +the race of Tacitus should arise, the protector of the senate, the +restorer of Rome, and the conqueror of the whole earth. [22] + +[Footnote 21: Hist. August. p. 229] + +[Footnote 22: He was to send judges to the Parthians, Persians, and +Sarmatians, a president to Taprobani, and a proconsul to the Roman +island, (supposed by Casaubon and Salmasius to mean Britain.) Such a +history as mine (says Vopiscus with proper modesty) will not subsist a +thousand years, to expose or justify the prediction.] + +The peasants of Illyricum, who had already given Claudius and Aurelian +to the sinking empire, had an equal right to glory in the elevation of +Probus. [23] Above twenty years before, the emperor Valerian, with his +usual penetration, had discovered the rising merit of the young soldier, +on whom he conferred the rank of tribune, long before the age prescribed +by the military regulations. The tribune soon justified his choice, by a +victory over a great body of Sarmatians, in which he saved the life of +a near relation of Valerian; and deserved to receive from the emperor's +hand the collars, bracelets, spears, and banners, the mural and the +civic crown, and all the honorable rewards reserved by ancient Rome +for successful valor. The third, and afterwards the tenth, legion were +intrusted to the command of Probus, who, in every step of his promotion, +showed himself superior to the station which he filled. Africa and +Pontus, the Rhine, the Danube, the Euphrates, and the Nile, by turns +afforded him the most splendid occasions of displaying his personal +prowess and his conduct in war. Aurelian was indebted for the honest +courage with which he often checked the cruelty of his master. +Tacitus, who desired by the abilities of his generals to supply his own +deficiency of military talents, named him commander-in-chief of all the +eastern provinces, with five times the usual salary, the promise of the +consulship, and the hope of a triumph. When Probus ascended the Imperial +throne, he was about forty-four years of age; [24] in the full possession +of his fame, of the love of the army, and of a mature vigor of mind +and body. + +[Footnote 23: For the private life of Probus, see Vopiscus in Hist. +August p. 234--237] + +[Footnote 24: According to the Alexandrian chronicle, he was fifty at +the time of his death.] + +His acknowledge merit, and the success of his arms against Florianus, +left him without an enemy or a competitor. Yet, if we may credit his own +professions, very far from being desirous of the empire, he had accepted +it with the most sincere reluctance. "But it is no longer in my power," +says Probus, in a private letter, "to lay down a title so full of envy +and of danger. I must continue to personate the character which the +soldiers have imposed upon me." [25] His dutiful address to the senate +displayed the sentiments, or at least the language, of a Roman patriot: +"When you elected one of your order, conscript fathers! to succeed the +emperor Aurelian, you acted in a manner suitable to your justice and +wisdom. For you are the legal sovereigns of the world, and the power +which you derive from your ancestors will descend to your posterity. +Happy would it have been, if Florianus, instead of usurping the purple +of his brother, like a private inheritance, had expected what your +majesty might determine, either in his favor, or in that of other +person. The prudent soldiers have punished his rashness. To me they +have offered the title of Augustus. But I submit to your clemency my +pretensions and my merits." [26] When this respectful epistle was read +by the consul, the senators were unable to disguise their satisfaction, +that Probus should condescend thus numbly to solicit a sceptre which +he already possessed. They celebrated with the warmest gratitude +his virtues, his exploits, and above all his moderation. A decree +immediately passed, without a dissenting voice, to ratify the election +of the eastern armies, and to confer on their chief all the several +branches of the Imperial dignity: the names of Caesar and Augustus, +the title of Father of his country, the right of making in the same day +three motions in the senate, [27] the office of Pontifex, Maximus, the +tribunitian power, and the proconsular command; a mode of investiture, +which, though it seemed to multiply the authority of the emperor, +expressed the constitution of the ancient republic. The reign of Probus +corresponded with this fair beginning. The senate was permitted to +direct the civil administration of the empire. Their faithful general +asserted the honor of the Roman arms, and often laid at their feet +crowns of gold and barbaric trophies, the fruits of his numerous +victories. [28] Yet, whilst he gratified their vanity, he must secretly +have despised their indolence and weakness. Though it was every moment +in their power to repeal the disgraceful edict of Gallienus, the proud +successors of the Scipios patiently acquiesced in their exclusion from +all military employments. They soon experienced, that those who refuse +the sword must renounce the sceptre. + +[Footnote 25: This letter was addressed to the Praetorian praefect, whom +(on condition of his good behavior) he promised to continue in his great +office. See Hist. August. p. 237.] + +[Footnote 26: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 237. The date of the letter +is assuredly faulty. Instead of Nen. Februar. we may read Non August.] + +[Footnote 27: Hist. August. p. 238. It is odd that the senate should +treat Probus less favorably than Marcus Antoninus. That prince had +received, even before the death of Pius, Jus quintoe relationis. See +Capitolin. in Hist. August. p. 24.] + +[Footnote 28: See the dutiful letter of Probus to the senate, after his +German victories. Hist. August. p. 239.] + + + + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.--Part II. + +The strength of Aurelian had crushed on every side the enemies of Rome. +After his death they seemed to revive with an increase of fury and of +numbers. They were again vanquished by the active vigor of Probus, who, +in a short reign of about six years, [29] equalled the fame of ancient +heroes, and restored peace and order to every province of the Roman +world. The dangerous frontier of Rhaetia he so firmly secured, that he +left it without the suspicion of an enemy. He broke the wandering power +of the Sarmatian tribes, and by the terror of his arms compelled those +barbarians to relinquish their spoil. The Gothic nation courted the +alliance of so warlike an emperor. [30] He attacked the Isaurians in +their mountains, besieged and took several of their strongest castles, +[31] and flattered himself that he had forever suppressed a domestic +foe, whose independence so deeply wounded the majesty of the empire. The +troubles excited by the usurper Firmus in the Upper Egypt had never been +perfectly appeased, and the cities of Ptolemais and Coptos, fortified by +the alliance of the Blemmyes, still maintained an obscure rebellion. The +chastisement of those cities, and of their auxiliaries the savages of +the South, is said to have alarmed the court of Persia, [32] and the +Great King sued in vain for the friendship of Probus. Most of the +exploits which distinguished his reign were achieved by the personal +valor and conduct of the emperor, insomuch that the writer of his life +expresses some amazement how, in so short a time, a single man could be +present in so many distant wars. The remaining actions he intrusted +to the care of his lieutenants, the judicious choice of whom forms +no inconsiderable part of his glory. Carus, Diocletian, Maximian, +Constantius, Galerius, Asclepiodatus, Annibalianus, and a crowd of other +chiefs, who afterwards ascended or supported the throne, were trained to +arms in the severe school of Aurelian and Probus. [33] + +[Footnote 29: The date and duration of the reign of Probus are very +correctly ascertained by Cardinal Noris in his learned work, De Epochis +Syro-Macedonum, p. 96--105. A passage of Eusebius connects the second +year of Probus with the aeras of several of the Syrian cities.] + +[Footnote 30: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 239.] + +[Footnote 31: Zosimus (l. i. p. 62--65) tells us a very long and +trifling story of Lycius, the Isaurian robber.] + +[Footnote 32: Zosim. l. i. p. 65. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 239, +240. But it seems incredible that the defeat of the savages of Aethiopia +could affect the Persian monarch.] + +[Footnote 33: Besides these well-known chiefs, several others are named +by Vopiscus, (Hist. August. p. 241,) whose actions have not reached +knowledge.] + +But the most important service which Probus rendered to the republic was +the deliverance of Gaul, and the recovery of seventy flourishing cities +oppressed by the barbarians of Germany, who, since the death of +Aurelian, had ravaged that great province with impunity. [34] Among the +various multitude of those fierce invaders we may distinguish, with some +degree of clearness, three great armies, or rather nations, successively +vanquished by the valor of Probus. He drove back the Franks into their +morasses; a descriptive circumstance from whence we may infer, that the +confederacy known by the manly appellation of Free, already occupied the +flat maritime country, intersected and almost overflown by the +stagnating waters of the Rhine, and that several tribes of the Frisians +and Batavians had acceded to their alliance. He vanquished the +Burgundians, a considerable people of the Vandalic race. [341] They had +wandered in quest of booty from the banks of the Oder to those of the +Seine. They esteemed themselves sufficiently fortunate to purchase, by +the restitution of all their booty, the permission of an undisturbed +retreat. They attempted to elude that article of the treaty. Their +punishment was immediate and terrible. [35] But of all the invaders of +Gaul, the most formidable were the Lygians, a distant people, who +reigned over a wide domain on the frontiers of Poland and Silesia. [36] +In the Lygian nation, the Arii held the first rank by their numbers and +fierceness. "The Arii" (it is thus that they are described by the energy +of Tacitus) "study to improve by art and circumstances the innate +terrors of their barbarism. Their shields are black, their bodies are +painted black. They choose for the combat the darkest hour of the night. +Their host advances, covered as it were with a funeral shade; [37] nor do +they often find an enemy capable of sustaining so strange and infernal +an aspect. Of all our senses, the eyes are the first vanquished +in battle." [38] Yet the arms and discipline of the Romans easily +discomfited these horrid phantoms. The Lygii were defeated in a general +engagement, and Semno, the most renowned of their chiefs, fell alive +into the hands of Probus. That prudent emperor, unwilling to reduce a +brave people to despair, granted them an honorable capitulation, and +permitted them to return in safety to their native country. But the +losses which they suffered in the march, the battle, and the retreat, +broke the power of the nation: nor is the Lygian name ever repeated in +the history either of Germany or of the empire. The deliverance of +Gaul is reported to have cost the lives of four hundred thousand of the +invaders; a work of labor to the Romans, and of expense to the emperor, +who gave a piece of gold for the head of every barbarian. [39] But as +the fame of warriors is built on the destruction of human kind, we may +naturally suspect, that the sanguinary account was multiplied by +the avarice of the soldiers, and accepted without any very severe +examination by the liberal vanity of Probus. + +[Footnote 34: See the Caesars of Julian, and Hist. August. p. 238, 240, +241.] + +[Footnote 341: It was only under the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, +that the Burgundians, in concert with the Alemanni, invaded the interior +of Gaul; under the reign of Probus, they did no more than pass the river +which separated them from the Roman Empire: they were repelled. Gatterer +presumes that this river was the Danube; a passage in Zosimus appears to +me rather to indicate the Rhine. Zos. l. i. p. 37, edit H. Etienne, +1581.--G. On the origin of the Burgundians may be consulted Malte Brun, +Geogr vi. p. 396, (edit. 1831,) who observes that all the remains of the +Burgundian language indicate that they spoke a Gothic dialect.--M.] + +[Footnote 35: Zosimus, l. i. p. 62. Hist. August. p. 240. But the latter +supposes the punishment inflicted with the consent of their kings: if +so, it was partial, like the offence.] + +[Footnote 36: See Cluver. Germania Antiqua, l. iii. Ptolemy places in +their country the city of Calisia, probably Calish in Silesia. * +Note: Luden (vol ii. 501) supposes that these have been erroneously +identified with the Lygii of Tacitus. Perhaps one fertile source +of mistakes has been, that the Romans have turned appellations into +national names. Malte Brun observes of the Lygii, "that their name +appears Sclavonian, and signifies 'inhabitants of plains;' they are +probably the Lieches of the middle ages, and the ancestors of the Poles. +We find among the Arii the worship of the two twin gods known in the +Sclavian mythology." Malte Brun, vol. i. p. 278, (edit. 1831.)--M. +But compare Schafarik, Slawische Alterthumer, 1, p. 406. They were of +German or Keltish descent, occupying the Wendish (or Slavian) district, +Luhy.--M. 1845.] + +[Footnote 37: Feralis umbra, is the expression of Tacitus: it is surely +a very bold one.] + +[Footnote 38: Tacit. Germania, (c. 43.)] + +[Footnote 39: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 238] + +Since the expedition of Maximin, the Roman generals had confined +their ambition to a defensive war against the nations of Germany, who +perpetually pressed on the frontiers of the empire. The more daring +Probus pursued his Gallic victories, passed the Rhine, and displayed his +invincible eagles on the banks of the Elbe and the Necker. He was fully +convinced that nothing could reconcile the minds of the barbarians to +peace, unless they experienced, in their own country, the calamities of +war. Germany, exhausted by the ill success of the last emigration, +was astonished by his presence. Nine of the most considerable princes +repaired to his camp, and fell prostrate at his feet. Such a treaty was +humbly received by the Germans, as it pleased the conqueror to dictate. +He exacted a strict restitution of the effects and captives which they +had carried away from the provinces; and obliged their own magistrates +to punish the more obstinate robbers who presumed to detain any part of +the spoil. A considerable tribute of corn, cattle, and horses, the only +wealth of barbarians, was reserved for the use of the garrisons which +Probus established on the limits of their territory. He even entertained +some thoughts of compelling the Germans to relinquish the exercise of +arms, and to trust their differences to the justice, their safety to +the power, of Rome. To accomplish these salutary ends, the constant +residence of an Imperial governor, supported by a numerous army, was +indispensably requisite. Probus therefore judged it more expedient to +defer the execution of so great a design; which was indeed rather of +specious than solid utility. [40] Had Germany been reduced into the state +of a province, the Romans, with immense labor and expense, would have +acquired only a more extensive boundary to defend against the fiercer +and more active barbarians of Scythia. + +[Footnote 40: Hist. August. 238, 239. Vopiscus quotes a letter from +the emperor to the senate, in which he mentions his design of reducing +Germany into a province.] + +Instead of reducing the warlike natives of Germany to the condition of +subjects, Probus contented himself with the humble expedient of raising +a bulwark against their inroads. The country which now forms the circle +of Swabia had been left desert in the age of Augustus by the emigration +of its ancient inhabitants. [41] The fertility of the soil soon attracted +a new colony from the adjacent provinces of Gaul. Crowds of adventurers, +of a roving temper and of desperate fortunes, occupied the doubtful +possession, and acknowledged, by the payment of tithes the majesty +of the empire. [42] To protect these new subjects, a line of frontier +garrisons was gradually extended from the Rhine to the Danube. About the +reign of Hadrian, when that mode of defence began to be practised, these +garrisons were connected and covered by a strong intrenchment of trees +and palisades. In the place of so rude a bulwark, the emperor Probus +constructed a stone wall of a considerable height, and strengthened it +by towers at convenient distances. From the neighborhood of Newstadt and +Ratisbon on the Danube, it stretched across hills, valleys, rivers, and +morasses, as far as Wimpfen on the Necker, and at length terminated +on the banks of the Rhine, after a winding course of near two hundred +miles. [43] This important barrier, uniting the two mighty streams that +protected the provinces of Europe, seemed to fill up the vacant space +through which the barbarians, and particularly the Alemanni, could +penetrate with the greatest facility into the heart of the empire. But +the experience of the world, from China to Britain, has exposed the +vain attempt of fortifying any extensive tract of country. [44] An active +enemy, who can select and vary his points of attack, must, in the end, +discover some feeble spot, on some unguarded moment. The strength, as +well as the attention, of the defenders is divided; and such are the +blind effects of terror on the firmest troops, that a line broken in a +single place is almost instantly deserted. The fate of the wall which +Probus erected may confirm the general observation. Within a few years +after his death, it was overthrown by the Alemanni. Its scattered ruins, +universally ascribed to the power of the Daemon, now serve only to +excite the wonder of the Swabian peasant. + +[Footnote 41: Strabo, l. vii. According to Valleius Paterculus, (ii. +108,) Maroboduus led his Marcomanni into Bohemia; Cluverius (German. +Antiq. iii. 8) proves that it was from Swabia.] + +[Footnote 42: These settlers, from the payment of tithes, were +denominated Decunates. Tacit. Germania, c. 29] + +[Footnote 43: See notes de l'Abbe de la Bleterie a la Germanie de +Tacite, p. 183. His account of the wall is chiefly borrowed (as he says +himself) from the Alsatia Illustrata of Schoepflin.] + +[Footnote 44: See Recherches sur les Chinois et les Egyptiens, tom. ii. +p. 81--102. The anonymous author is well acquainted with the globe in +general, and with Germany in particular: with regard to the latter, +he quotes a work of M. Hanselman; but he seems to confound the wall of +Probus, designed against the Alemanni, with the fortification of the +Mattiaci, constructed in the neighborhood of Frankfort against the +Catti. * Note: De Pauw is well known to have been the author of this +work, as of the Recherches sur les Americains before quoted. The +judgment of M. Remusat on this writer is in a very different, I fear a +juster tone. Quand au lieu de rechercher, d'examiner, d'etudier, on se +borne, comme cet ecrivain, a juger a prononcer, a decider, sans +connoitre ni l'histoire. ni les langues, sans recourir aux sources, sans +meme se douter de leur existence, on peut en imposer pendant quelque +temps a des lecteurs prevenus ou peu instruits; mais le mepris qui ne +manque guere de succeder a cet engouement fait bientot justice de ces +assertions hazardees, et elles retombent dans l'oubli d'autant plus +promptement, qu'elles ont ete posees avec plus de confiance. Sur les l +angues Tartares, p. 231.--M.] + +Among the useful conditions of peace imposed by Probus on the vanquished +nations of Germany, was the obligation of supplying the Roman army with +sixteen thousand recruits, the bravest and most robust of their youth. +The emperor dispersed them through all the provinces, and distributed +this dangerous reenforcement, in small bands of fifty or sixty each, +among the national troops; judiciously observing, that the aid which the +republic derived from the barbarians should be felt but not seen. [45] +Their aid was now become necessary. The feeble elegance of Italy and the +internal provinces could no longer support the weight of arms. The hardy +frontiers of the Rhine and Danube still produced minds and bodies equal +to the labors of the camp; but a perpetual series of wars had gradually +diminished their numbers. The infrequency of marriage, and the ruin +of agriculture, affected the principles of population, and not only +destroyed the strength of the present, but intercepted the hope +of future, generations. The wisdom of Probus embraced a great and +beneficial plan of replenishing the exhausted frontiers, by new colonies +of captive or fugitive barbarians, on whom he bestowed lands, cattle, +instruments of husbandry, and every encouragement that might engage +them to educate a race of soldiers for the service of the republic. Into +Britain, and most probably into Cambridgeshire, [46] he transported a +considerable body of Vandals. The impossibility of an escape reconciled +them to their situation, and in the subsequent troubles of that island, +they approved themselves the most faithful servants of the state. [47] +Great numbers of Franks and Gepidae were settled on the banks of the +Danube and the Rhine. A hundred thousand Bastarnae, expelled from their +own country, cheerfully accepted an establishment in Thrace, and soon +imbibed the manners and sentiments of Roman subjects. [48] But the +expectations of Probus were too often disappointed. The impatience +and idleness of the barbarians could ill brook the slow labors of +agriculture. Their unconquerable love of freedom, rising against +despotism, provoked them into hasty rebellions, alike fatal to +themselves and to the provinces; [49] nor could these artificial +supplies, however repeated by succeeding emperors, restore the important +limit of Gaul and Illyricum to its ancient and native vigor. + +[Footnote 45: He distributed about fifty or sixty barbarians to a +Numerus, as it was then called, a corps with whose established number we +are not exactly acquainted.] + +[Footnote 46: Camden's Britannia, Introduction, p. 136; but he speaks +from a very doubtful conjecture.] + +[Footnote 47: Zosimus, l. i. p. 62. According to Vopiscus, another body +of Vandals was less faithful.] + +[Footnote 48: Hist. August. p. 240. They were probably expelled by the +Goths. Zosim. l. i. p. 66.] + +[Footnote 49: Hist. August. p. 240.] + +Of all the barbarians who abandoned their new settlements, and disturbed +the public tranquillity, a very small number returned to their own +country. For a short season they might wander in arms through the +empire; but in the end they were surely destroyed by the power of +a warlike emperor. The successful rashness of a party of Franks was +attended, however, with such memorable consequences, that it ought not +to be passed unnoticed. They had been established by Probus, on the +sea-coast of Pontus, with a view of strengthening the frontier against +the inroads of the Alani. A fleet stationed in one of the harbors of +the Euxine fell into the hands of the Franks; and they resolved, through +unknown seas, to explore their way from the mouth of the Phasis to +that of the Rhine. They easily escaped through the Bosphorus and +the Hellespont, and cruising along the Mediterranean, indulged +their appetite for revenge and plunder by frequent descents on the +unsuspecting shores of Asia, Greece, and Africa. The opulent city of +Syracuse, in whose port the navies of Athens and Carthage had formerly +been sunk, was sacked by a handful of barbarians, who massacred the +greatest part of the trembling inhabitants. From the Island of Sicily, +the Franks proceeded to the columns of Hercules, trusted themselves to +the ocean, coasted round Spain and Gaul, and steering their triumphant +course through the British Channel, at length finished their surprising +voyage, by landing in safety on the Batavian or Frisian shores. [50] The +example of their success, instructing their countrymen to conceive the +advantages and to despise the dangers of the sea, pointed out to their +enterprising spirit a new road to wealth and glory. + +[Footnote 50: Panegyr. Vet. v. 18. Zosimus, l. i. p. 66.] + +Notwithstanding the vigilance and activity of Probus, it was almost +impossible that he could at once contain in obedience every part of his +wide-extended dominions. The barbarians, who broke their chains, had +seized the favorable opportunity of a domestic war. When the emperor +marched to the relief of Gaul, he devolved the command of the East on +Saturninus. That general, a man of merit and experience, was driven into +rebellion by the absence of his sovereign, the levity of the Alexandrian +people, the pressing instances of his friends, and his own fears; but +from the moment of his elevation, he never entertained a hope of empire, +or even of life. "Alas!" he said, "the republic has lost a useful +servant, and the rashness of an hour has destroyed the services of many +years. You know not," continued he, "the misery of sovereign power; a +sword is perpetually suspended over our head. We dread our very guards, +we distrust our companions. The choice of action or of repose is no +longer in our disposition, nor is there any age, or character, or +conduct, that can protect us from the censure of envy. In thus exalting +me to the throne, you have doomed me to a life of cares, and to an +untimely fate. The only consolation which remains is, the assurance that +I shall not fall alone." [51] But as the former part of his prediction +was verified by the victory, so the latter was disappointed by the +clemency of Probus. That amiable prince attempted even to save the +unhappy Saturninus from the fury of the soldiers. He had more than once +solicited the usurper himself to place some confidence in the mercy of a +sovereign who so highly esteemed his character, that he had punished, as +a malicious informer, the first who related the improbable news of his +disaffection. [52] Saturninus might, perhaps, have embraced the generous +offer, had he not been restrained by the obstinate distrust of his +adherents. Their guilt was deeper, and their hopes more sanguine, than +those of their experienced leader. + +[Footnote 51: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 245, 246. The unfortunate +orator had studied rhetoric at Carthage; and was therefore more probably +a Moor (Zosim. l. i. p. 60) than a Gaul, as Vopiscus calls him.] + +[Footnote 52: Zonaras, l. xii. p. 638.] + +The revolt of Saturninus was scarcely extinguished in the East, before +new troubles were excited in the West, by the rebellion of Bonosus and +Proculus, in Gaul. The most distinguished merit of those two officers +was their respective prowess, of the one in the combats of Bacchus, of +the other in those of Venus, [53] yet neither of them was destitute +of courage and capacity, and both sustained, with honor, the august +character which the fear of punishment had engaged them to assume, till +they sunk at length beneath the superior genius of Probus. He used the +victory with his accustomed moderation, and spared the fortune, as well +as the lives of their innocent families. [54] + +[Footnote 53: A very surprising instance is recorded of the prowess of +Proculus. He had taken one hundred Sarmatian virgins. The rest of the +story he must relate in his own language: "Ex his una necte decem inivi; +omnes tamen, quod in me erat, mulieres intra dies quindecim reddidi." +Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 246.] + +[Footnote 54: Proculus, who was a native of Albengue, on the Genoese +coast armed two thousand of his own slaves. His riches were great, but +they were acquired by robbery. It was afterwards a saying of his family, +sibi non placere esse vel principes vel latrones. Vopiscus in Hist. +August. p. 247.] + +The arms of Probus had now suppressed all the foreign and domestic +enemies of the state. His mild but steady administration confirmed the +reestablishment of the public tranquillity; nor was there left in the +provinces a hostile barbarian, a tyrant, or even a robber, to revive the +memory of past disorders. It was time that the emperor should revisit +Rome, and celebrate his own glory and the general happiness. The triumph +due to the valor of Probus was conducted with a magnificence suitable to +his fortune, and the people who had so lately admired the trophies of +Aurelian, gazed with equal pleasure on those of his heroic successor. +[55] We cannot, on this occasion, forget the desperate courage of about +fourscore gladiators, reserved, with near six hundred others, for the +inhuman sports of the amphitheatre. Disdaining to shed their blood for +the amusement of the populace, they killed their keepers, broke from the +place of their confinement, and filled the streets of Rome with blood +and confusion. After an obstinate resistance, they were overpowered and +cut in pieces by the regular forces; but they obtained at least an +honorable death, and the satisfaction of a just revenge. [56] + +[Footnote 55: Hist. August. p. 240.] + +[Footnote 56: Zosim. l. i. p. 66.] + +The military discipline which reigned in the camps of Probus was less +cruel than that of Aurelian, but it was equally rigid and exact. The +latter had punished the irregularities of the soldiers with unrelenting +severity, the former prevented them by employing the legions in constant +and useful labors. When Probus commanded in Egypt, he executed many +considerable works for the splendor and benefit of that rich country. +The navigation of the Nile, so important to Rome itself, was improved; +and temples, buildings, porticos, and palaces were constructed by the +hands of the soldiers, who acted by turns as architects, as engineers, +and as husbandmen. [57] It was reported of Hannibal, that in order to +preserve his troops from the dangerous temptations of idleness, he had +obliged them to form large plantations of olive-trees along the coast +of Africa. [58] From a similar principle, Probus exercised his legions +in covering with rich vineyards the hills of Gaul and Pannonia, and two +considerable spots are described, which were entirely dug and planted +by military labor. [59] One of these, known under the name of Mount Almo, +was situated near Sirmium, the country where Probus was born, for which +he ever retained a partial affection, and whose gratitude he endeavored +to secure, by converting into tillage a large and unhealthy tract +of marshy ground. An army thus employed constituted perhaps the most +useful, as well as the bravest, portion of Roman subjects. + +[Footnote 57: Hist. August. p. 236.] + +[Footnote 58: Aurel. Victor. in Prob. But the policy of Hannibal, +unnoticed by any more ancient writer, is irreconcilable with the history +of his life. He left Africa when he was nine years old, returned to it +when he was forty-five, and immediately lost his army in the decisive +battle of Zama. Livilus, xxx. 37.] + +[Footnote 59: Hist. August. p. 240. Eutrop. ix. 17. Aurel. Victor. in +Prob. Victor Junior. He revoked the prohibition of Domitian, and granted +a general permission of planting vines to the Gauls, the Britons, and +the Pannonians.] + +But in the prosecution of a favorite scheme, the best of men, satisfied +with the rectitude of their intentions, are subject to forget the bounds +of moderation; nor did Probus himself sufficiently consult the patience +and disposition of his fierce legionaries. [60] The dangers of the +military profession seem only to be compensated by a life of pleasure +and idleness; but if the duties of the soldier are incessantly +aggravated by the labors of the peasant, he will at last sink under the +intolerable burden, or shake it off with indignation. The imprudence of +Probus is said to have inflamed the discontent of his troops. More +attentive to the interests of mankind than to those of the army, he +expressed the vain hope, that, by the establishment of universal peace, +he should soon abolish the necessity of a standing and mercenary force. +[61] The unguarded expression proved fatal to him. In one of the hottest +days of summer, as he severely urged the unwholesome labor of draining +the marshes of Sirmium, the soldiers, impatient of fatigue, on a sudden +threw down their tools, grasped their arms, and broke out into a furious +mutiny. The emperor, conscious of his danger, took refuge in a lofty +tower, constructed for the purpose of surveying the progress of the +work. [62] The tower was instantly forced, and a thousand swords were +plunged at once into the bosom of the unfortunate Probus. The rage of +the troops subsided as soon as it had been gratified. They then lamented +their fatal rashness, forgot the severity of the emperor, whom they had +massacred, and hastened to perpetuate, by an honorable monument, the +memory of his virtues and victories. [63] + +[Footnote 60: Julian bestows a severe, and indeed excessive, censure +on the rigor of Probus, who, as he thinks, almost deserved his fate.] + +[Footnote 61: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 241. He lavishes on this idle +hope a large stock of very foolish eloquence.] + +[Footnote 62: Turris ferrata. It seems to have been a movable tower, and +cased with iron.] + +[Footnote 63: Probus, et vere probus situs est; Victor omnium gentium +Barbararum; victor etiam tyrannorum.] + +When the legions had indulged their grief and repentance for the death +of Probus, their unanimous consent declared Carus, his Praetorian +praefect, the most deserving of the Imperial throne. Every circumstance +that relates to this prince appears of a mixed and doubtful nature. +He gloried in the title of Roman Citizen; and affected to compare the +purity of his blood with the foreign and even barbarous origin of the +preceding emperors; yet the most inquisitive of his contemporaries, very +far from admitting his claim, have variously deduced his own birth, +or that of his parents, from Illyricum, from Gaul, or from Africa. [64] +Though a soldier, he had received a learned education; though a senator, +he was invested with the first dignity of the army; and in an age when +the civil and military professions began to be irrecoverably +separated from each other, they were united in the person of Carus. +Notwithstanding the severe justice which he exercised against the +assassins of Probus, to whose favor and esteem he was highly indebted, +he could not escape the suspicion of being accessory to a deed from +whence he derived the principal advantage. He enjoyed, at least, before +his elevation, an acknowledged character of virtue and abilities; +[65] but his austere temper insensibly degenerated into moroseness and +cruelty; and the imperfect writers of his life almost hesitate whether +they shall not rank him in the number of Roman tyrants. [66] When Carus +assumed the purple, he was about sixty years of age, and his two sons, +Carinus and Numerian had already attained the season of manhood. [67] + +[Footnote 64: Yet all this may be conciliated. He was born at Narbonne +in Illyricum, confounded by Eutropius with the more famous city of that +name in Gaul. His father might be an African, and his mother a +noble Roman. Carus himself was educated in the capital. See Scaliger +Animadversion. ad Euseb. Chron. p. 241.] + +[Footnote 65: Probus had requested of the senate an equestrian statue +and a marble palace, at the public expense, as a just recompense of the +singular merit of Carus. Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 249.] + +[Footnote 66: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 242, 249. Julian excludes +the emperor Carus and both his sons from the banquet of the Caesars.] + +[Footnote 67: John Malala, tom. i. p. 401. But the authority of that +ignorant Greek is very slight. He ridiculously derives from Carus the +city of Carrhae, and the province of Caria, the latter of which is +mentioned by Homer.] + +The authority of the senate expired with Probus; nor was the repentance +of the soldiers displayed by the same dutiful regard for the civil +power, which they had testified after the unfortunate death of Aurelian. +The election of Carus was decided without expecting the approbation of +the senate, and the new emperor contented himself with announcing, in a +cold and stately epistle, that he had ascended the vacant throne. [68] A +behavior so very opposite to that of his amiable predecessor afforded +no favorable presage of the new reign: and the Romans, deprived of power +and freedom, asserted their privilege of licentious murmurs. [69] The +voice of congratulation and flattery was not, however, silent; and we +may still peruse, with pleasure and contempt, an eclogue, which was +composed on the accession of the emperor Carus. Two shepherds, avoiding +the noontide heat, retire into the cave of Faunus. On a spreading beech +they discover some recent characters. The rural deity had described, in +prophetic verses, the felicity promised to the empire under the reign +of so great a prince. Faunus hails the approach of that hero, who, +receiving on his shoulders the sinking weight of the Roman world, shall +extinguish war and faction, and once again restore the innocence and +security of the golden age. [70] + +[Footnote 68: Hist. August. p. 249. Carus congratulated the senate, that +one of their own order was made emperor.] + +[Footnote 69: Hist. August. p. 242.] + +[Footnote 70: See the first eclogue of Calphurnius. The design of it +is preferes by Fontenelle to that of Virgil's Pollio. See tom. iii. p. +148.] + +It is more than probable, that these elegant trifles never reached +the ears of a veteran general, who, with the consent of the legions, +was preparing to execute the long-suspended design of the Persian war. +Before his departure for this distant expedition, Carus conferred on his +two sons, Carinus and Numerian, the title of Caesar, and investing the +former with almost an equal share of the Imperial power, directed the +young prince, first to suppress some troubles which had arisen in Gaul, +and afterwards to fix the seat of his residence at Rome, and to assume +the government of the Western provinces. [71] The safety of Illyricum was +confirmed by a memorable defeat of the Sarmatians; sixteen thousand +of those barbarians remained on the field of battle, and the number of +captives amounted to twenty thousand. The old emperor, animated with the +fame and prospect of victory, pursued his march, in the midst of winter, +through the countries of Thrace and Asia Minor, and at length, with his +younger son, Numerian, arrived on the confines of the Persian monarchy. +There, encamping on the summit of a lofty mountain, he pointed out to +his troops the opulence and luxury of the enemy whom they were about to +invade. + +[Footnote 71: Hist. August. p. 353. Eutropius, ix. 18. Pagi. Annal.] + +The successor of Artaxerxes, [711] Varanes, or Bahram, though he had subdued +the Segestans, one of the most warlike nations of Upper Asia, [72] was +alarmed at the approach of the Romans, and endeavored to retard their +progress by a negotiation of peace. [721] + +His ambassadors entered the camp about sunset, at the time when the +troops were satisfying their hunger with a frugal repast. The Persians +expressed their desire of being introduced to the presence of the Roman +emperor. They were at length conducted to a soldier, who was seated +on the grass. A piece of stale bacon and a few hard peas composed his +supper. A coarse woollen garment of purple was the only circumstance +that announced his dignity. The conference was conducted with the same +disregard of courtly elegance. Carus, taking off a cap which he wore to +conceal his baldness, assured the ambassadors, that, unless their master +acknowledged the superiority of Rome, he would speedily render Persia +as naked of trees as his own head was destitute of hair. [73] +Notwithstanding some traces of art and preparation, we may discover in +this scene the manners of Carus, and the severe simplicity which the +martial princes, who succeeded Gallienus, had already restored in the +Roman camps. The ministers of the Great King trembled and retired. + +[Footnote 711: Three monarchs had intervened, Sapor, (Shahpour,) +Hormisdas, (Hormooz,) Varanes; Baharam the First.--M.] + +[Footnote 72: Agathias, l. iv. p. 135. We find one of his sayings in +the Bibliotheque Orientale of M. d'Herbelot. "The definition of humanity +includes all other virtues."] + +[Footnote 721: The manner in which his life was saved by the Chief Pontiff +from a conspiracy of his nobles, is as remarkable as his saying. "By the +advice (of the Pontiff) all the nobles absented themselves from court. +The king wandered through his palace alone. He saw no one; all was +silence around. He became alarmed and distressed. At last the Chief +Pontiff appeared, and bowed his head in apparent misery, but spoke not a +word. The king entreated him to declare what had happened. The virtuous +man boldly related all that had passed, and conjured Bahram, in the name +of his glorious ancestors, to change his conduct and save himself from +destruction. The king was much moved, professed himself most penitent, +and said he was resolved his future life should prove his sincerity. +The overjoyed High Priest, delighted at this success, made a signal, at +which all the nobles and attendants were in an instant, as if by magic, +in their usual places. The monarch now perceived that only one opinion +prevailed on his past conduct. He repeated therefore to his nobles all +he had said to the Chief Pontiff, and his future reign was unstained by +cruelty or oppression." Malcolm's Persia,--M.] + +[Footnote 73: Synesius tells this story of Carinus; and it is much more +natural to understand it of Carus, than (as Petavius and Tillemont +choose to do) of Probus.] + +The threats of Carus were not without effect. He ravaged Mesopotamia, +cut in pieces whatever opposed his passage, made himself master of +the great cities of Seleucia and Ctesiphon, (which seemed to have +surrendered without resistance,) and carried his victorious arms beyond +the Tigris. [74] He had seized the favorable moment for an invasion. The +Persian councils were distracted by domestic factions, and the greater +part of their forces were detained on the frontiers of India. Rome and +the East received with transports the news of such important advantages. +Flattery and hope painted, in the most lively colors, the fall of +Persia, the conquest of Arabia, the submission of Egypt, and a lasting +deliverance from the inroads of the Scythian nations. [75] But the reign +of Carus was destined to expose the vanity of predictions. They were +scarcely uttered before they were contradicted by his death; an event +attended with such ambiguous circumstances, that it may be related in a +letter from his own secretary to the praefect of the city. "Carus," says +he, "our dearest emperor, was confined by sickness to his bed, when a +furious tempest arose in the camp. The darkness which overspread the sky +was so thick, that we could no longer distinguish each other; and the +incessant flashes of lightning took from us the knowledge of all that +passed in the general confusion. Immediately after the most violent clap +of thunder, we heard a sudden cry that the emperor was dead; and it soon +appeared, that his chamberlains, in a rage of grief, had set fire to the +royal pavilion; a circumstance which gave rise to the report that Carus +was killed by lightning. But, as far as we have been able to investigate +the truth, his death was the natural effect of his disorder." [76] + +[Footnote 74: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 250. Eutropius, ix. 18. The +two Victors.] + +[Footnote 75: To the Persian victory of Carus I refer the dialogue of +the Philopatris, which has so long been an object of dispute among +the learned. But to explain and justify my opinion, would require a +dissertation. Note: Niebuhr, in the new edition of the Byzantine +Historians, (vol. x.) has boldly assigned the Philopatris to the tenth +century, and to the reign of Nicephorus Phocas. An opinion so decisively +pronounced by Niebuhr and favorably received by Hase, the learned editor +of Leo Diaconus, commands respectful consideration. But the whole tone +of the work appears to me altogether inconsistent with any period in +which philosophy did not stand, as it were, on some ground of equality +with Christianity. The doctrine of the Trinity is sarcastically +introduced rather as the strange doctrine of a new religion, than +the established tenet of a faith universally prevalent. The argument, +adopted from Solanus, concerning the formula of the procession of the +Holy Ghost, is utterly worthless, as it is a mere quotation in the words +of the Gospel of St. John, xv. 26. The only argument of any value is the +historic one, from the allusion to the recent violation of many virgins +in the Island of Crete. But neither is the language of Niebuhr quite +accurate, nor his reference to the Acroases of Theodosius satisfactory. +When, then, could this occurrence take place? Why not in the devastation +of the island by the Gothic pirates, during the reign of Claudius. Hist. +Aug. in Claud. p. 814. edit. Var. Lugd. Bat 1661.--M.] + +[Footnote 76: Hist. August. p. 250. Yet Eutropius, Festus, Rufus, the +two Victors, Jerome, Sidonius Apollinaris, Syncellus, and Zonaras, all +ascribe the death of Carus to lightning.] + + + + +Chapter XII: Reigns Of Tacitus, Probus, Carus And His Sons.--Part III. + +The vacancy of the throne was not productive of any disturbance. The +ambition of the aspiring generals was checked by their natural fears, +and young Numerian, with his absent brother Carinus, were unanimously +acknowledged as Roman emperors. + +The public expected that the successor of Carus would pursue his +father's footsteps, and, without allowing the Persians to recover from +their consternation, would advance sword in hand to the palaces of +Susa and Ecbatana. [77] But the legions, however strong in numbers +and discipline, were dismayed by the most abject superstition. +Notwithstanding all the arts that were practised to disguise the manner +of the late emperor's death, it was found impossible to remove the +opinion of the multitude, and the power of opinion is irresistible. +Places or persons struck with lightning were considered by the ancients +with pious horror, as singularly devoted to the wrath of Heaven. [78] +An oracle was remembered, which marked the River Tigris as the fatal +boundary of the Roman arms. The troops, terrified with the fate of Carus +and with their own danger, called aloud on young Numerian to obey the +will of the gods, and to lead them away from this inauspicious scene of +war. The feeble emperor was unable to subdue their obstinate prejudice, +and the Persians wondered at the unexpected retreat of a victorious +enemy. [79] + +[Footnote 77: See Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v. 71, &c.] + +[Footnote 78: See Festus and his commentators on the word Scribonianum. +Places struck by lightning were surrounded with a wall; things were +buried with mysterious ceremony.] + +[Footnote 79: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 250. Aurelius Victor seems to +believe the prediction, and to approve the retreat.] + +The intelligence of the mysterious fate of the late emperor was soon +carried from the frontiers of Persia to Rome; and the senate, as well as +the provinces, congratulated the accession of the sons of Carus. These +fortunate youths were strangers, however, to that conscious superiority, +either of birth or of merit, which can alone render the possession of +a throne easy, and as it were natural. Born and educated in a private +station, the election of their father raised them at once to the rank of +princes; and his death, which happened about sixteen months afterwards, +left them the unexpected legacy of a vast empire. To sustain with temper +this rapid elevation, an uncommon share of virtue and prudence was +requisite; and Carinus, the elder of the brothers, was more than +commonly deficient in those qualities. In the Gallic war he discovered +some degree of personal courage; [80] but from the moment of his arrival +at Rome, he abandoned himself to the luxury of the capital, and to the +abuse of his fortune. He was soft, yet cruel; devoted to pleasure, +but destitute of taste; and though exquisitely susceptible of vanity, +indifferent to the public esteem. In the course of a few months, he +successively married and divorced nine wives, most of whom he left +pregnant; and notwithstanding this legal inconstancy, found time to +indulge such a variety of irregular appetites, as brought dishonor on +himself and on the noblest houses of Rome. He beheld with inveterate +hatred all those who might remember his former obscurity, or censure +his present conduct. He banished, or put to death, the friends +and counsellors whom his father had placed about him, to guide his +inexperienced youth; and he persecuted with the meanest revenge his +school-fellows and companions who had not sufficiently respected the +latent majesty of the emperor. + +With the senators, Carinus affected a lofty and regal demeanor, +frequently declaring, that he designed to distribute their estates among +the populace of Rome. From the dregs of that populace he selected his +favorites, and even his ministers. The palace, and even the Imperial +table, were filled with singers, dancers, prostitutes, and all the +various retinue of vice and folly. One of his doorkeepers [81] he +intrusted with the government of the city. In the room of the Praetorian +praefect, whom he put to death, Carinus substituted one of the ministers +of his looser pleasures. Another, who possessed the same, or even a +more infamous, title to favor, was invested with the consulship. A +confidential secretary, who had acquired uncommon skill in the art of +forgery, delivered the indolent emperor, with his own consent from the +irksome duty of signing his name. + +[Footnote 80: Nemesian. Cynegeticon, v 69. He was a contemporary, but a +poet.] + +[Footnote 81: Cancellarius. This word, so humble in its origin, has, by +a singular fortune, risen into the title of the first great office of +state in the monarchies of Europe. See Casaubon and Salmasius, ad Hist. +August, p. 253.] + +When the emperor Carus undertook the Persian war, he was induced, by +motives of affection as well as policy, to secure the fortunes of +his family, by leaving in the hands of his eldest son the armies and +provinces of the West. The intelligence which he soon received of +the conduct of Carinus filled him with shame and regret; nor had he +concealed his resolution of satisfying the republic by a severe act of +justice, and of adopting, in the place of an unworthy son, the brave and +virtuous Constantius, who at that time was governor of Dalmatia. But the +elevation of Constantius was for a while deferred; and as soon as the +father's death had released Carinus from the control of fear or decency, +he displayed to the Romans the extravagancies of Elagabalus, aggravated +by the cruelty of Domitian. [82] + +[Footnote 82: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 253, 254. Eutropius, x. +19. Vic to Junior. The reign of Diocletian indeed was so long and +prosperous, that it must have been very unfavorable to the reputation of +Carinus.] + +The only merit of the administration of Carinus that history could +record, or poetry celebrate, was the uncommon splendor with which, in +his own and his brother's name, he exhibited the Roman games of the +theatre, the circus, and the amphitheatre. More than twenty years +afterwards, when the courtiers of Diocletian represented to their frugal +sovereign the fame and popularity of his munificent predecessor, he +acknowledged that the reign of Carinus had indeed been a reign of +pleasure. [83] But this vain prodigality, which the prudence of +Diocletian might justly despise, was enjoyed with surprise and transport +by the Roman people. The oldest of the citizens, recollecting the +spectacles of former days, the triumphal pomp of Probus or Aurelian, and +the secular games of the emperor Philip, acknowledged that they were all +surpassed by the superior magnificence of Carinus. [84] + +[Footnote 83: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 254. He calls him Carus, but +the sense is sufficiently obvious, and the words were often confounded.] + + +[Footnote 84: See Calphurnius, Eclog. vii. 43. We may observe, that the +spectacles of Probus were still recent, and that the poet is seconded by +the historian.] + +The spectacles of Carinus may therefore be best illustrated by the +observation of some particulars, which history has condescended to +relate concerning those of his predecessors. If we confine ourselves +solely to the hunting of wild beasts, however we may censure the vanity +of the design or the cruelty of the execution, we are obliged to confess +that neither before nor since the time of the Romans so much art and +expense have ever been lavished for the amusement of the people. [85] +By the order of Probus, a great quantity of large trees, torn up by the +roots, were transplanted into the midst of the circus. The spacious +and shady forest was immediately filled with a thousand ostriches, a +thousand stags, a thousand fallow deer, and a thousand wild boars; and +all this variety of game was abandoned to the riotous impetuosity of the +multitude. The tragedy of the succeeding day consisted in the massacre +of a hundred lions, an equal number of lionesses, two hundred leopards, +and three hundred bears. [86] The collection prepared by the younger +Gordian for his triumph, and which his successor exhibited in the +secular games, was less remarkable by the number than by the singularity +of the animals. Twenty zebras displayed their elegant forms and +variegated beauty to the eyes of the Roman people. [87] Ten elks, and as +many camelopards, the loftiest and most harmless creatures that wander +over the plains of Sarmatia and Aethiopia, were contrasted with thirty +African hyaenas and ten Indian tigers, the most implacable savages of +the torrid zone. The unoffending strength with which Nature has endowed +the greater quadrupeds was admired in the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus +of the Nile, [88] and a majestic troop of thirty-two elephants. [89] +While the populace gazed with stupid wonder on the splendid show, the +naturalist might indeed observe the figure and properties of so many +different species, transported from every part of the ancient world into +the amphitheatre of Rome. But this accidental benefit, which science +might derive from folly, is surely insufficient to justify such a wanton +abuse of the public riches. There occurs, however, a single instance in +the first Punic war, in which the senate wisely connected this amusement +of the multitude with the interest of the state. A considerable number +of elephants, taken in the defeat of the Carthaginian army, were driven +through the circus by a few slaves, armed only with blunt javelins. [90] +The useful spectacle served to impress the Roman soldier with a just +contempt for those unwieldy animals; and he no longer dreaded to +encounter them in the ranks of war. + +[Footnote 85: The philosopher Montaigne (Essais, l. iii. 6) gives a +very just and lively view of Roman magnificence in these spectacles.] + +[Footnote 86: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 240.] + +[Footnote 87: They are called Onagri; but the number is too +inconsiderable for mere wild asses. Cuper (de Elephantis Exercitat. ii. +7) has proved from Oppian, Dion, and an anonymous Greek, that zebras +had been seen at Rome. They were brought from some island of the ocean, +perhaps Madagascar.] + +[Footnote 88: Carinus gave a hippopotamus, (see Calphurn. Eclog. vi. +66.) In the latter spectacles, I do not recollect any crocodiles, of +which Augustus once exhibited thirty-six. Dion Cassius, l. lv. p. 781.] + +[Footnote 89: Capitolin. in Hist. August. p. 164, 165. We are not +acquainted with the animals which he calls archeleontes; some read +argoleontes others agrioleontes: both corrections are very nugatory] + +[Footnote 90: Plin. Hist. Natur. viii. 6, from the annals of Piso.] + +The hunting or exhibition of wild beasts was conducted with a +magnificence suitable to a people who styled themselves the masters of +the world; nor was the edifice appropriated to that entertainment less +expressive of Roman greatness. Posterity admires, and will long admire, +the awful remains of the amphitheatre of Titus, which so well deserved +the epithet of Colossal. [91] It was a building of an elliptic figure, +five hundred and sixty-four feet in length, and four hundred and +sixty-seven in breadth, founded on fourscore arches, and rising, with four +successive orders of architecture, to the height of one hundred and +forty feet. [92] The outside of the edifice was encrusted with marble, +and decorated with statues. The slopes of the vast concave, which formed +the inside, were filled and surrounded with sixty or eighty rows of +seats of marble likewise, covered with cushions, and capable of +receiving with ease about fourscore thousand spectators. [93] Sixty-four +vomitories (for by that name the doors were very aptly distinguished) +poured forth the immense multitude; and the entrances, passages, and +staircases were contrived with such exquisite skill, that each person, +whether of the senatorial, the equestrian, or the plebeian order, +arrived at his destined place without trouble or confusion. [94] Nothing +was omitted, which, in any respect, could be subservient to the +convenience and pleasure of the spectators. + +They were protected from the sun and rain by an ample canopy, +occasionally drawn over their heads. The air was continally refreshed +by the playing of fountains, and profusely impregnated by the grateful +scent of aromatics. In the centre of the edifice, the arena, or stage, +was strewed with the finest sand, and successively assumed the most +different forms. At one moment it seemed to rise out of the earth, like +the garden of the Hesperides, and was afterwards broken into the rocks +and caverns of Thrace. The subterraneous pipes conveyed an inexhaustible +supply of water; and what had just before appeared a level plain, might +be suddenly converted into a wide lake, covered with armed vessels, +and replenished with the monsters of the deep. [95] In the decoration of +these scenes, the Roman emperors displayed their wealth and liberality; +and we read on various occasions that the whole furniture of the +amphitheatre consisted either of silver, or of gold, or of amber. [96] +The poet who describes the games of Carinus, in the character of a +shepherd, attracted to the capital by the fame of their magnificence, +affirms that the nets designed as a defence against the wild beasts, +were of gold wire; that the porticos were gilded; and that the belt or +circle which divided the several ranks of spectators from each other was +studded with a precious mosaic of beautiful stones. [97] + +[Footnote 91: +See Maffei, Verona Illustrata, p. iv. l. i. c. 2.] + +[Footnote 92: Maffei, +l. ii. c. 2. The height was very much exaggerated by the ancients. It +reached almost to the heavens, according to Calphurnius, (Eclog. +vii. 23,) and surpassed the ken of human sight, according to Ammianus +Marcellinus (xvi. 10.) Yet how trifling to the great pyramid of Egypt, +which rises 500 feet perpendicular] + +[Footnote 93: According to different copies of Victor, we read 77,000, +or 87,000 spectators; but Maffei (l. ii. c. 12) finds room on the open +seats for no more than 34,000. The remainder were contained in the upper +covered galleries.] + +[Footnote 94: See Maffei, l. ii. c. 5--12. He treats the very difficult +subject with all possible clearness, and like an architect, as well as +an antiquarian.] + +[Footnote 95: Calphurn. Eclog vii. 64, 73. These lines are curious, and +the whole eclogue has been of infinite use to Maffei. Calphurnius, +as well as Martial, (see his first book,) was a poet; but when they +described the amphitheatre, they both wrote from their own senses, and +to those of the Romans.] + +[Footnote 96: Consult Plin. Hist. Natur. xxxiii. 16, xxxvii. 11.] + +[Footnote 97: Balteus en gemmis, en inlita porticus auro Certatim +radiant, &c. Calphurn. vii.] + +In the midst of this glittering pageantry, the emperor Carinus, secure +of his fortune, enjoyed the acclamations of the people, the flattery +of his courtiers, and the songs of the poets, who, for want of a more +essential merit, were reduced to celebrate the divine graces of his +person. [98] In the same hour, but at the distance of nine hundred miles +from Rome, his brother expired; and a sudden revolution transferred into +the hands of a stranger the sceptre of the house of Carus. [99] + +[Footnote 98: Et Martis vultus et Apollinis esse putavi, says +Calphurnius; but John Malala, who had perhaps seen pictures of Carinus, +describes him as thick, short, and white, tom. i. p. 403.] + +[Footnote 99: With regard to the time when these Roman games were +celebrated, Scaliger, Salmasius, and Cuper have given themselves a great +deal of trouble to perplex a very clear subject.] + +The sons of Carus never saw each other after their father's death. The +arrangements which their new situation required were probably deferred +till the return of the younger brother to Rome, where a triumph was +decreed to the young emperors for the glorious success of the Persian +war. [100] It is uncertain whether they intended to divide between them +the administration, or the provinces, of the empire; but it is very +unlikely that their union would have proved of any long duration. +The jealousy of power must have been inflamed by the opposition of +characters. In the most corrupt of times, Carinus was unworthy to live: +Numerian deserved to reign in a happier period. His affable manners and +gentle virtues secured him, as soon as they became known, the regard and +affections of the public. He possessed the elegant accomplishments of +a poet and orator, which dignify as well as adorn the humblest and the +most exalted station. His eloquence, however it was applauded by the +senate, was formed not so much on the model of Cicero, as on that of +the modern declaimers; but in an age very far from being destitute of +poetical merit, he contended for the prize with the most celebrated +of his contemporaries, and still remained the friend of his rivals; +a circumstance which evinces either the goodness of his heart, or the +superiority of his genius. [101] But the talents of Numerian were +rather of the contemplative than of the active kind. When his father's +elevation reluctantly forced him from the shade of retirement, neither +his temper nor his pursuits had qualified him for the command of armies. +His constitution was destroyed by the hardships of the Persian war; and +he had contracted, from the heat of the climate, [102] such a weakness +in his eyes, as obliged him, in the course of a long retreat, to confine +himself to the solitude and darkness of a tent or litter. + +The administration of all affairs, civil as well as military, was +devolved on Arrius Aper, the Praetorian praefect, who to the power of +his important office added the honor of being father-in-law to Numerian. +The Imperial pavilion was strictly guarded by his most trusty adherents; +and during many days, Aper delivered to the army the supposed mandates +of their invisible sovereign. [103] + +[Footnote 100: Nemesianus (in the Cynegeticon) seems to anticipate in +his fancy that auspicious day.] + +[Footnote 101: He won all the crowns from Nemesianus, with whom he vied +in didactic poetry. The senate erected a statue to the son of Carus, +with a very ambiguous inscription, "To the most powerful of orators." +See Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 251.] + +[Footnote 102: A more natural cause, at least, than that assigned by +Vopiscus, (Hist. August. p. 251,) incessantly weeping for his father's +death.] + +[Footnote 103: In the Persian war, Aper was suspected of a design to +betray Carus. Hist. August. p. 250.] + +It was not till eight months after the death of Carus, that the Roman +army, returning by slow marches from the banks of the Tigris, arrived +on those of the Thracian Bosphorus. The legions halted at Chalcedon in +Asia, while the court passed over to Heraclea, on the European side of +the Propontis. [104] But a report soon circulated through the camp, +at first in secret whispers, and at length in loud clamors, of the +emperor's death, and of the presumption of his ambitious minister, who +still exercised the sovereign power in the name of a prince who was no +more. The impatience of the soldiers could not long support a state of +suspense. With rude curiosity they broke into the Imperial tent, and +discovered only the corpse of Numerian. [105] The gradual decline of his +health might have induced them to believe that his death was natural; +but the concealment was interpreted as an evidence of guilt, and +the measures which Aper had taken to secure his election became the +immediate occasion of his ruin Yet, even in the transport of their rage +and grief, the troops observed a regular proceeding, which proves how +firmly discipline had been reestablished by the martial successors of +Gallienus. A general assembly of the army was appointed to be held at +Chalcedon, whither Aper was transported in chains, as a prisoner and a +criminal. A vacant tribunal was erected in the midst of the camp, and +the generals and tribunes formed a great military council. They soon +announced to the multitude that their choice had fallen on Diocletian, +commander of the domestics or body-guards, as the person the most +capable of revenging and succeeding their beloved emperor. The future +fortunes of the candidate depended on the chance or conduct of the +present hour. Conscious that the station which he had filled exposed him +to some suspicions, Diocletian ascended the tribunal, and raising his +eyes towards the Sun, made a solemn profession of his own innocence, in +the presence of that all-seeing Deity. [106] Then, assuming the tone of +a sovereign and a judge, he commanded that Aper should be brought +in chains to the foot of the tribunal. "This man," said he, "is the +murderer of Numerian;" and without giving him time to enter on a +dangerous justification, drew his sword, and buried it in the breast of +the unfortunate praefect. A charge supported by such decisive proof +was admitted without contradiction, and the legions, with repeated +acclamations, acknowledged the justice and authority of the emperor +Diocletian. [107] + +[Footnote 104: We are obliged to the Alexandrian Chronicle, p. 274, for +the knowledge of the time and place where Diocletian was elected +emperor.] + +[Footnote 105: Hist. August. p. 251. Eutrop. ix. 88. Hieronym. in Chron. +According to these judicious writers, the death of Numerian was +discovered by the stench of his dead body. Could no aromatics be found +in the Imperial household?] + +[Footnote 106: Aurel. Victor. Eutropius, ix. 20. Hieronym. in Chron.] + +[Footnote 107: Vopiscus in Hist. August. p. 252. The reason why +Diocletian killed Aper, (a wild boar,) was founded on a prophecy and a +pun, as foolish as they are well known.] + +Before we enter upon the memorable reign of that prince, it will be +proper to punish and dismiss the unworthy brother of Numerian. Carinus +possessed arms and treasures sufficient to support his legal title to +the empire. But his personal vices overbalanced every advantage of birth +and situation. The most faithful servants of the father despised the +incapacity, and dreaded the cruel arrogance, of the son. The hearts of +the people were engaged in favor of his rival, and even the senate +was inclined to prefer a usurper to a tyrant. The arts of Diocletian +inflamed the general discontent; and the winter was employed in secret +intrigues, and open preparations for a civil war. In the spring, the +forces of the East and of the West encountered each other in the plains +of Margus, a small city of Maesia, in the neighborhood of the Danube. +[108] The troops, so lately returned from the Persian war, had acquired +their glory at the expense of health and numbers; nor were they in a +condition to contend with the unexhausted strength of the legions of +Europe. Their ranks were broken, and, for a moment, Diocletian despaired +of the purple and of life. But the advantage which Carinus had obtained +by the valor of his soldiers, he quickly lost by the infidelity of his +officers. A tribune, whose wife he had seduced, seized the opportunity +of revenge, and, by a single blow, extinguished civil discord in the +blood of the adulterer. [109] + +[Footnote 108: Eutropius marks its situation very accurately; it +was between the Mons Aureus and Viminiacum. M. d'Anville (Geographic +Ancienne, tom. i. p. 304) places Margus at Kastolatz in Servia, a little +below Belgrade and Semendria. * Note: Kullieza--Eton Atlas--M.] + +[Footnote 109: Hist. August. p. 254. Eutropius, ix. 20. Aurelius Victor +et Epitome] + + + + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates.--Part I. + + The Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates, Maximian, + Galerius, And Constantius.--General Reestablishment Of + Order And Tranquillity.--The Persian War, Victory, And + Triumph.--The New Form Of Administration.--Abdication And + Retirement Of Diocletian And Maximian. + +As the reign of Diocletian was more illustrious than that of any of +his predecessors, so was his birth more abject and obscure. The strong +claims of merit and of violence had frequently superseded the ideal +prerogatives of nobility; but a distinct line of separation was hitherto +preserved between the free and the servile part of mankind. The parents +of Diocletian had been slaves in the house of Anulinus, a Roman senator; +nor was he himself distinguished by any other name than that which he +derived from a small town in Dalmatia, from whence his mother deduced +her origin. [1] It is, however, probable that his father obtained the +freedom of the family, and that he soon acquired an office of scribe, +which was commonly exercised by persons of his condition. [2] Favorable +oracles, or rather the consciousness of superior merit, prompted his +aspiring son to pursue the profession of arms and the hopes of fortune; +and it would be extremely curious to observe the gradation of arts and +accidents which enabled him in the end to fulfil those oracles, and to +display that merit to the world. Diocletian was successively promoted +to the government of Maesia, the honors of the consulship, and the +important command of the guards of the palace. He distinguished his +abilities in the Persian war; and after the death of Numerian, the +slave, by the confession and judgment of his rivals, was declared the +most worthy of the Imperial throne. The malice of religious zeal, +whilst it arraigns the savage fierceness of his colleague Maximian, +has affected to cast suspicions on the personal courage of the emperor +Diocletian. [3] It would not be easy to persuade us of the cowardice of a +soldier of fortune, who acquired and preserved the esteem of the legions +as well as the favor of so many warlike princes. Yet even calumny is +sagacious enough to discover and to attack the most vulnerable part. The +valor of Diocletian was never found inadequate to his duty, or to the +occasion; but he appears not to have possessed the daring and generous +spirit of a hero, who courts danger and fame, disdains artifice, and +boldly challenges the allegiance of his equals. His abilities were +useful rather than splendid; a vigorous mind, improved by the experience +and study of mankind; dexterity and application in business; a judicious +mixture of liberality and economy, of mildness and rigor; profound +dissimulation, under the disguise of military frankness; steadiness +to pursue his ends; flexibility to vary his means; and, above all, the +great art of submitting his own passions, as well as those of others, to +the interest of his ambition, and of coloring his ambition with the +most specious pretences of justice and public utility. Like Augustus, +Diocletian may be considered as the founder of a new empire. Like the +adopted son of Caesar, he was distinguished as a statesman rather than +as a warrior; nor did either of those princes employ force, whenever +their purpose could be effected by policy. + +[Footnote 1: Eutrop. ix. 19. Victor in Epitome. The town seems to have +been properly called Doclia, from a small tribe of Illyrians, (see +Cellarius, Geograph. Antiqua, tom. i. p. 393;) and the original name of +the fortunate slave was probably Docles; he first lengthened it to +the Grecian harmony of Diocles, and at length to the Roman majesty of +Diocletianus. He likewise assumed the Patrician name of Valerius and it +is usually given him by Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 2: See Dacier on the sixth satire of the second book of Horace +Cornel. Nepos, 'n Vit. Eumen. c. l.] + +[Footnote 3: Lactantius (or whoever was the author of the little +treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum) accuses Diocletian of timidity in +two places, c. 7. 8. In chap. 9 he says of him, "erat in omni tumultu +meticulosu et animi disjectus."] + +The victory of Diocletian was remarkable for its singular mildness. A +people accustomed to applaud the clemency of the conqueror, if the usual +punishments of death, exile, and confiscation, were inflicted with +any degree of temper and equity, beheld, with the most pleasing +astonishment, a civil war, the flames of which were extinguished in the +field of battle. Diocletian received into his confidence Aristobulus, +the principal minister of the house of Carus, respected the lives, the +fortunes, and the dignity, of his adversaries, and even continued in +their respective stations the greater number of the servants of Carinus. +[4] It is not improbable that motives of prudence might assist the +humanity of the artful Dalmatian; of these servants, many had purchased +his favor by secret treachery; in others, he esteemed their grateful +fidelity to an unfortunate master. The discerning judgment of Aurelian, +of Probus, and of Carus, had filled the several departments of the +state and army with officers of approved merit, whose removal would +have injured the public service, without promoting the interest of his +successor. Such a conduct, however, displayed to the Roman world the +fairest prospect of the new reign, and the emperor affected to confirm +this favorable prepossession, by declaring, that, among all the virtues +of his predecessors, he was the most ambitious of imitating the humane +philosophy of Marcus Antoninus. [5] + +[Footnote 4: In this encomium, Aurelius Victor seems to convey a just, +though indirect, censure of the cruelty of Constantius. It appears from +the Fasti, that Aristobulus remained praefect of the city, and that +he ended with Diocletian the consulship which he had commenced with +Carinus.] + +[Footnote 5: Aurelius Victor styles Diocletian, "Parentum potius quam +Dominum." See Hist. August. p. 30.] + +The first considerable action of his reign seemed to evince his +sincerity as well as his moderation. After the example of Marcus, he +gave himself a colleague in the person of Maximian, on whom he bestowed +at first the title of Caesar, and afterwards that of Augustus. [6] But +the motives of his conduct, as well as the object of his choice, were +of a very different nature from those of his admired predecessor. By +investing a luxurious youth with the honors of the purple, Marcus had +discharged a debt of private gratitude, at the expense, indeed, of the +happiness of the state. By associating a friend and a fellow-soldier +to the labors of government, Diocletian, in a time of public danger, +provided for the defence both of the East and of the West. Maximian +was born a peasant, and, like Aurelian, in the territory of Sirmium. +Ignorant of letters, [7] careless of laws, the rusticity of his +appearance and manners still betrayed in the most elevated fortune the +meanness of his extraction. War was the only art which he professed. In +a long course of service, he had distinguished himself on every frontier +of the empire; and though his military talents were formed to obey +rather than to command, though, perhaps, he never attained the skill +of a consummate general, he was capable, by his valor, constancy, and +experience, of executing the most arduous undertakings. Nor were the +vices of Maximian less useful to his benefactor. Insensible to pity, and +fearless of consequences, he was the ready instrument of every act of +cruelty which the policy of that artful prince might at once suggest and +disclaim. As soon as a bloody sacrifice had been offered to prudence +or to revenge, Diocletian, by his seasonable intercession, saved the +remaining few whom he had never designed to punish, gently censured the +severity of his stern colleague, and enjoyed the comparison of a golden +and an iron age, which was universally applied to their opposite maxims +of government. Notwithstanding the difference of their characters, the +two emperors maintained, on the throne, that friendship which they +had contracted in a private station. The haughty, turbulent spirit of +Maximian, so fatal, afterwards, to himself and to the public peace, +was accustomed to respect the genius of Diocletian, and confessed the +ascendant of reason over brutal violence. [8] From a motive either of +pride or superstition, the two emperors assumed the titles, the one of +Jovius, the other of Herculius. Whilst the motion of the world (such was +the language of their venal orators) was maintained by the all-seeing +wisdom of Jupiter, the invincible arm of Hercules purged the earth from +monsters and tyrants. [9] + +[Footnote 6: The question of the time when Maximian received the honors +of Caesar and Augustus has divided modern critics, and given occasion +to a great deal of learned wrangling. I have followed M. de Tillemont, +(Histoire des Empereurs, tom. iv. p. 500-505,) who has weighed the +several reasons and difficulties with his scrupulous accuracy. * +Note: Eckbel concurs in this view, viii p. 15.--M.] + +[Footnote 7: In an oration delivered before him, (Panegyr. Vet. ii. 8,) +Mamertinus expresses a doubt, whether his hero, in imitating the conduct +of Hannibal and Scipio, had ever heard of their names. From thence we +may fairly infer, that Maximian was more desirous of being considered as +a soldier than as a man of letters; and it is in this manner that we can +often translate the language of flattery into that of truth.] + +[Footnote 8: Lactantius de M. P. c. 8. Aurelius Victor. As among the +Panegyrics, we find orations pronounced in praise of Maximian, and +others which flatter his adversaries at his expense, we derive some +knowledge from the contrast.] + +[Footnote 9: See the second and third Panegyrics, particularly iii. +3, 10, 14 but it would be tedious to copy the diffuse and affected +expressions of their false eloquence. With regard to the titles, consult +Aurel. Victor Lactantius de M. P. c. 52. Spanheim de Usu Numismatum, &c. +xii 8.] + +But even the omnipotence of Jovius and Herculius was insufficient +to sustain the weight of the public administration. The prudence of +Diocletian discovered that the empire, assailed on every side by the +barbarians, required on every side the presence of a great army, and of +an emperor. With this view, he resolved once more to divide his unwieldy +power, and with the inferior title of Caesars, [901] to confer on two +generals of approved merit an unequal share of the sovereign authority. +[10] Galerius, surnamed Armentarius, from his original profession of a +herdsman, and Constantius, who from his pale complexion had acquired +the denomination of Chlorus, [11] were the two persons invested with +the second honors of the Imperial purple. In describing the country, +extraction, and manners of Herculius, we have already delineated those +of Galerius, who was often, and not improperly, styled the younger +Maximian, though, in many instances both of virtue and ability, he +appears to have possessed a manifest superiority over the elder. The +birth of Constantius was less obscure than that of his colleagues. +Eutropius, his father, was one of the most considerable nobles of +Dardania, and his mother was the niece of the emperor Claudius. [12] +Although the youth of Constantius had been spent in arms, he was endowed +with a mild and amiable disposition, and the popular voice had long +since acknowledged him worthy of the rank which he at last attained. To +strengthen the bonds of political, by those of domestic, union, each of +the emperors assumed the character of a father to one of the Caesars, +Diocletian to Galerius, and Maximian to Constantius; and each, obliging +them to repudiate their former wives, bestowed his daughter in marriage +or his adopted son. [13] These four princes distributed among themselves +the wide extent of the Roman empire. The defence of Gaul, Spain, [14] +and Britain, was intrusted to Constantius: Galerius was stationed on the +banks of the Danube, as the safeguard of the Illyrian provinces. Italy +and Africa were considered as the department of Maximian; and for +his peculiar portion, Diocletian reserved Thrace, Egypt, and the rich +countries of Asia. Every one was sovereign with his own jurisdiction; +but their united authority extended over the whole monarchy, and each +of them was prepared to assist his colleagues with his counsels or +presence. The Caesars, in their exalted rank, revered the majesty of +the emperors, and the three younger princes invariably acknowledged, by +their gratitude and obedience, the common parent of their fortunes. The +suspicious jealousy of power found not any place among them; and the +singular happiness of their union has been compared to a chorus of +music, whose harmony was regulated and maintained by the skilful hand of +the first artist. [15] + +[Footnote 901: On the relative power of the Augusti and the Caesars, +consult a dissertation at the end of Manso's Leben Constantius des +Grossen--M.] + +[Footnote 10: Aurelius Victor. Victor in Epitome. Eutrop. ix. 22. +Lactant de M. P. c. 8. Hieronym. in Chron.] + +[Footnote 11: It is only among the modern Greeks that Tillemont can +discover his appellation of Chlorus. Any remarkable degree of paleness +seems inconsistent with the rubor mentioned in Panegyric, v. 19.] + +[Footnote 12: Julian, the grandson of Constantius, boasts that his +family was derived from the warlike Maesians. Misopogon, p. 348. The +Dardanians dwelt on the edge of Maesia.] + +[Footnote 13: Galerius married Valeria, the daughter of Diocletian; +if we speak with strictness, Theodora, the wife of Constantius, was +daughter only to the wife of Maximian. Spanheim, Dissertat, xi. 2.] + +[Footnote 14: This division agrees with that of the four praefectures; +yet there is some reason to doubt whether Spain was not a province of +Maximian. See Tillemont, tom. iv. p. 517. * Note: According to Aurelius +Victor and other authorities, Thrace belonged to the division of +Galerius. See Tillemont, iv. 36. But the laws of Diocletian are in +general dated in Illyria or Thrace.--M.] + +[Footnote 15: Julian in Caesarib. p. 315. Spanheim's notes to the French +translation, p. 122.] + +This important measure was not carried into execution till about six +years after the association of Maximian, and that interval of time had +not been destitute of memorable incidents. But we have preferred, for +the sake of perspicuity, first to describe the more perfect form of +Diocletian's government, and afterwards to relate the actions of his +reign, following rather the natural order of the events, than the dates +of a very doubtful chronology. + +The first exploit of Maximian, though it is mentioned in a few words by +our imperfect writers, deserves, from its singularity, to be recorded +in a history of human manners. He suppressed the peasants of Gaul, +who, under the appellation of Bagaudae, [16] had risen in a general +insurrection; very similar to those which in the fourteenth century +successively afflicted both France and England. [17] It should seem that +very many of those institutions, referred by an easy solution to the +feudal system, are derived from the Celtic barbarians. When Caesar +subdued the Gauls, that great nation was already divided into three +orders of men; the clergy, the nobility, and the common people. The +first governed by superstition, the second by arms, but the third and +last was not of any weight or account in their public councils. It was +very natural for the plebeians, oppressed by debt, or apprehensive of +injuries, to implore the protection of some powerful chief, who acquired +over their persons and property the same absolute right as, among the +Greeks and Romans, a master exercised over his slaves. [18] The greatest +part of the nation was gradually reduced into a state of servitude; +compelled to perpetual labor on the estates of the Gallic nobles, and +confined to the soil, either by the real weight of fetters, or by the no +less cruel and forcible restraints of the laws. During the long series +of troubles which agitated Gaul, from the reign of Gallienus to that +of Diocletian, the condition of these servile peasants was peculiarly +miserable; and they experienced at once the complicated tyranny of their +masters, of the barbarians, of the soldiers, and of the officers of +the revenue. [19] + +[Footnote 16: The general name of Bagaudae (in the signification of +rebels) continued till the fifth century in Gaul. Some critics derive it +from a Celtic word Bagad, a tumultuous assembly. Scaliger ad Euseb. Du +Cange Glossar. (Compare S. Turner, Anglo-Sax. History, i. 214.--M.)] + +[Footnote 17: Chronique de Froissart, vol. i. c. 182, ii. 73, 79. The +naivete of his story is lost in our best modern writers.] + +[Footnote 18: Caesar de Bell. Gallic. vi. 13. Orgetorix, the Helvetian, +could arm for his defence a body of ten thousand slaves.] + +[Footnote 19: Their oppression and misery are acknowledged by Eumenius +(Panegyr. vi. 8,) Gallias efferatas injuriis.] + +Their patience was at last provoked into despair. On every side they +rose in multitudes, armed with rustic weapons, and with irresistible +fury. The ploughman became a foot soldier, the shepherd mounted on +horseback, the deserted villages and open towns were abandoned to the +flames, and the ravages of the peasants equalled those of the fiercest +barbarians. [20] They asserted the natural rights of men, but they +asserted those rights with the most savage cruelty. The Gallic nobles, +justly dreading their revenge, either took refuge in the fortified +cities, or fled from the wild scene of anarchy. The peasants reigned +without control; and two of their most daring leaders had the folly and +rashness to assume the Imperial ornaments. [21] Their power soon expired +at the approach of the legions. The strength of union and discipline +obtained an easy victory over a licentious and divided multitude. [22] A +severe retaliation was inflicted on the peasants who were found in arms; +the affrighted remnant returned to their respective habitations, and +their unsuccessful effort for freedom served only to confirm their +slavery. So strong and uniform is the current of popular passions, +that we might almost venture, from very scanty materials, to relate the +particulars of this war; but we are not disposed to believe that the +principal leaders, Aelianus and Amandus, were Christians, [23] or to +insinuate, that the rebellion, as it happened in the time of Luther, was +occasioned by the abuse of those benevolent principles of Christianity, +which inculcate the natural freedom of mankind. + +[Footnote 20: Panegyr. Vet. ii. 4. Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 21: Aelianus and Amandus. We have medals coined by them +Goltzius in Thes. R. A. p. 117, 121.] + +[Footnote 22: Levibus proeliis domuit. Eutrop. ix. 20.] + +[Footnote 23: The fact rests indeed on very slight authority, a life of +St. Babolinus, which is probably of the seventh century. See Duchesne +Scriptores Rer. Francicar. tom. i. p. 662.] + +Maximian had no sooner recovered Gaul from the hands of the peasants, +than he lost Britain by the usurpation of Carausius. Ever since the rash +but successful enterprise of the Franks under the reign of Probus, their +daring countrymen had constructed squadrons of light brigantines, in +which they incessantly ravaged the provinces adjacent to the ocean. [24] +To repel their desultory incursions, it was found necessary to create a +naval power; and the judicious measure was prosecuted with prudence and +vigor. Gessoriacum, or Boulogne, in the straits of the British Channel, +was chosen by the emperor for the station of the Roman fleet; and the +command of it was intrusted to Carausius, a Menapian of the meanest +origin, [25] but who had long signalized his skill as a pilot, and his +valor as a soldier. The integrity of the new admiral corresponded +not with his abilities. When the German pirates sailed from their own +harbors, he connived at their passage, but he diligently intercepted +their return, and appropriated to his own use an ample share of the +spoil which they had acquired. The wealth of Carausius was, on this +occasion, very justly considered as an evidence of his guilt; and +Maximian had already given orders for his death. But the crafty Menapian +foresaw and prevented the severity of the emperor. By his liberality he +had attached to his fortunes the fleet which he commanded, and secured +the barbarians in his interest. From the port of Boulogne he sailed over +to Britain, persuaded the legion, and the auxiliaries which guarded that +island, to embrace his party, and boldly assuming, with the Imperial +purple, the title of Augustus defied the justice and the arms of his +injured sovereign. [26] + +[Footnote 24: Aurelius Victor calls them Germans. Eutropius (ix. 21) +gives them the name of Saxons. But Eutropius lived in the ensuing +century, and seems to use the language of his own times.] + +[Footnote 25: The three expressions of Eutropius, Aurelius Victor, and +Eumenius, "vilissime natus," "Bataviae alumnus," and "Menapiae civis," +give us a very doubtful account of the birth of Carausius. Dr. Stukely, +however, (Hist. of Carausius, p. 62,) chooses to make him a native of +St. David's and a prince of the blood royal of Britain. The former idea +he had found in Richard of Cirencester, p. 44. * Note: The Menapians +were settled between the Scheldt and the Meuse, is the northern part of +Brabant. D'Anville, Geogr. Anc. i. 93.--G.] + +[Footnote 26: Panegyr. v. 12. Britain at this time was secure, and +slightly guarded.] + +When Britain was thus dismembered from the empire, its importance was +sensibly felt, and its loss sincerely lamented. The Romans celebrated, +and perhaps magnified, the extent of that noble island, provided on +every side with convenient harbors; the temperature of the climate, and +the fertility of the soil, alike adapted for the production of corn +or of vines; the valuable minerals with which it abounded; its rich +pastures covered with innumerable flocks, and its woods free from wild +beasts or venomous serpents. Above all, they regretted the large amount +of the revenue of Britain, whilst they confessed, that such a province +well deserved to become the seat of an independent monarchy. [27] During +the space of seven years it was possessed by Carausius; and fortune +continued propitious to a rebellion supported with courage and ability. +The British emperor defended the frontiers of his dominions against the +Caledonians of the North, invited, from the continent, a great number +of skilful artists, and displayed, on a variety of coins that are still +extant, his taste and opulence. Born on the confines of the Franks, +he courted the friendship of that formidable people, by the flattering +imitation of their dress and manners. The bravest of their youth he +enlisted among his land or sea forces; and, in return for their useful +alliance, he communicated to the barbarians the dangerous knowledge of +military and naval arts. Carausius still preserved the possession of +Boulogne and the adjacent country. His fleets rode triumphant in the +channel, commanded the mouths of the Seine and of the Rhine, ravaged +the coasts of the ocean, and diffused beyond the columns of Hercules the +terror of his name. Under his command, Britain, destined in a future +age to obtain the empire of the sea, already assumed its natural and +respectable station of a maritime power. [28] + +[Footnote 27: Panegyr. Vet v 11, vii. 9. The orator Eumenius wished to +exalt the glory of the hero (Constantius) with the importance of +the conquest. Notwithstanding our laudable partiality for our native +country, it is difficult to conceive, that, in the beginning of the +fourth century England deserved all these commendations. A century and a +half before, it hardly paid its own establishment.] + +[Footnote 28: As a great number of medals of Carausius are still +preserved, he is become a very favorite object of antiquarian curiosity, +and every circumstance of his life and actions has been investigated +with sagacious accuracy. Dr. Stukely, in particular, has devoted a large +volume to the British emperor. I have used his materials, and rejected +most of his fanciful conjectures.] + +By seizing the fleet of Boulogne, Carausius had deprived his master of +the means of pursuit and revenge. And when, after a vast expense of time +and labor, a new armament was launched into the water, [29] the Imperial +troops, unaccustomed to that element, were easily baffled and defeated +by the veteran sailors of the usurper. This disappointed effort was +soon productive of a treaty of peace. Diocletian and his colleague, who +justly dreaded the enterprising spirit of Carausius, resigned to him +the sovereignty of Britain, and reluctantly admitted their perfidious +servant to a participation of the Imperial honors. [30] But the adoption +of the two Caesars restored new vigor to the Romans arms; and while +the Rhine was guarded by the presence of Maximian, his brave associate +Constantius assumed the conduct of the British war. His first enterprise +was against the important place of Boulogne. A stupendous mole, raised +across the entrance of the harbor, intercepted all hopes of relief. The +town surrendered after an obstinate defence; and a considerable part of +the naval strength of Carausius fell into the hands of the besiegers. +During the three years which Constantius employed in preparing a fleet +adequate to the conquest of Britain, he secured the coast of Gaul, +invaded the country of the Franks, and deprived the usurper of the +assistance of those powerful allies. + +[Footnote 29: When Mamertinus pronounced his first panegyric, the naval +preparations of Maximian were completed; and the orator presaged an +assured victory. His silence in the second panegyric might alone inform +us that the expedition had not succeeded.] + +[Footnote 30: Aurelius Victor, Eutropius, and the medals, (Pax Augg.) +inform us of this temporary reconciliation; though I will not presume +(as Dr. Stukely has done, Medallic History of Carausius, p. 86, &c) to +insert the identical articles of the treaty.] + +Before the preparations were finished, Constantius received the +intelligence of the tyrant's death, and it was considered as a sure +presage of the approaching victory. The servants of Carausius imitated +the example of treason which he had given. He was murdered by his first +minister, Allectus, and the assassin succeeded to his power and to his +danger. But he possessed not equal abilities either to exercise the one +or to repel the other. + +He beheld, with anxious terror, the opposite shores of the continent +already filled with arms, with troops, and with vessels; for Constantius +had very prudently divided his forces, that he might likewise divide the +attention and resistance of the enemy. The attack was at length made +by the principal squadron, which, under the command of the praefect +Asclepiodatus, an officer of distinguished merit, had been assembled +in the north of the Seine. So imperfect in those times was the art +of navigation, that orators have celebrated the daring courage of the +Romans, who ventured to set sail with a side-wind, and on a stormy day. +The weather proved favorable to their enterprise. Under the cover of a +thick fog, they escaped the fleet of Allectus, which had been stationed +off the Isle of Wight to receive them, landed in safety on some part +of the western coast, and convinced the Britons, that a superiority +of naval strength will not always protect their country from a foreign +invasion. Asclepiodatus had no sooner disembarked the imperial troops, +then he set fire to his ships; and, as the expedition proved fortunate, +his heroic conduct was universally admired. The usurper had posted +himself near London, to expect the formidable attack of Constantius, +who commanded in person the fleet of Boulogne; but the descent of a new +enemy required his immediate presence in the West. He performed this +long march in so precipitate a manner, that he encountered the whole +force of the praefect with a small body of harassed and disheartened +troops. The engagement was soon terminated by the total defeat and death +of Allectus; a single battle, as it has often happened, decided the fate +of this great island; and when Constantius landed on the shores of Kent, +he found them covered with obedient subjects. Their acclamations were +loud and unanimous; and the virtues of the conqueror may induce us to +believe, that they sincerely rejoiced in a revolution, which, after +a separation of ten years, restored Britain to the body of the Roman +empire. [31] + +[Footnote 31: With regard to the recovery of Britain, we obtain a few +hints from Aurelius Victor and Eutropius.] + + + + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates.--Part II. + +Britain had none but domestic enemies to dread; and as long as the +governors preserved their fidelity, and the troops their discipline, +the incursions of the naked savages of Scotland or Ireland could never +materially affect the safety of the province. + +The peace of the continent, and the defence of the principal rivers +which bounded the empire, were objects of far greater difficulty and +importance. The policy of Diocletian, which inspired the councils of his +associates, provided for the public tranquility, by encouraging a +spirit of dissension among the barbarians, and by strengthening the +fortifications of the Roman limit. In the East he fixed a line of camps +from Egypt to the Persian dominions, and for every camp, he instituted +an adequate number of stationary troops, commanded by their respective +officers, and supplied with every kind of arms, from the new arsenals +which he had formed at Antioch, Emesa, and Damascus. [32] Nor was the +precaution of the emperor less watchful against the well-known valor +of the barbarians of Europe. From the mouth of the Rhine to that of +the Danube, the ancient camps, towns, and citidels, were diligently +reestablished, and, in the most exposed places, new ones were skilfully +constructed: the strictest vigilance was introduced among the garrisons +of the frontier, and every expedient was practised that could render +the long chain of fortifications firm and impenetrable. [33] A barrier so +respectable was seldom violated, and the barbarians often turned against +each other their disappointed rage. The Goths, the Vandals, the +Gepidae, the Burgundians, the Alemanni, wasted each other's strength by +destructive hostilities: and whosoever vanquished, they vanquished +the enemies of Rome. The subjects of Diocletian enjoyed the bloody +spectacle, and congratulated each other, that the mischiefs of civil war +were now experienced only by the barbarians. [34] + +[Footnote 32: John Malala, in Chron, Antiochen. tom. i. p. 408, 409.] + +[Footnote 33: Zosim. l. i. p. 3. That partial historian seems to +celebrate the vigilance of Diocletian with a design of exposing the +negligence of Constantine; we may, however, listen to an orator: "Nam +quid ego alarum et cohortium castra percenseam, toto Rheni et Istri et +Euphraus limite restituta." Panegyr. Vet. iv. 18.] + +[Footnote 34: Ruunt omnes in sanguinem suum populi, quibus ron +contigilesse Romanis, obstinataeque feritatis poenas nunc sponte +persolvunt. Panegyr. Vet. iii. 16. Mamertinus illustrates the fact by +the example of almost all the nations in the world.] + +Notwithstanding the policy of Diocletian, it was impossible to maintain +an equal and undisturbed tranquillity during a reign of twenty years, +and along a frontier of many hundred miles. Sometimes the barbarians +suspended their domestic animosities, and the relaxed vigilance of +the garrisons sometimes gave a passage to their strength or dexterity. +Whenever the provinces were invaded, Diocletian conducted himself with +that calm dignity which he always affected or possessed; reserved his +presence for such occasions as were worthy of his interposition, never +exposed his person or reputation to any unnecessary danger, insured his +success by every means that prudence could suggest, and displayed, +with ostentation, the consequences of his victory. In wars of a more +difficult nature, and more doubtful event, he employed the rough valor +of Maximian; and that faithful soldier was content to ascribe his +own victories to the wise counsels and auspicious influence of his +benefactor. But after the adoption of the two Caesars, the emperors +themselves, retiring to a less laborious scene of action, devolved +on their adopted sons the defence of the Danube and of the Rhine. The +vigilant Galerius was never reduced to the necessity of vanquishing +an army of barbarians on the Roman territory. [35] The brave and active +Constantius delivered Gaul from a very furious inroad of the Alemanni; +and his victories of Langres and Vindonissa appear to have been actions +of considerable danger and merit. As he traversed the open country with +a feeble guard, he was encompassed on a sudden by the superior multitude +of the enemy. He retreated with difficulty towards Langres; but, in the +general consternation, the citizens refused to open their gates, and the +wounded prince was drawn up the wall by the means of a rope. But, on the +news of his distress, the Roman troops hastened from all sides to his +relief, and before the evening he had satisfied his honor and revenge by +the slaughter of six thousand Alemanni. [36] From the monuments of those +times, the obscure traces of several other victories over the barbarians +of Sarmatia and Germany might possibly be collected; but the tedious +search would not be rewarded either with amusement or with instruction. + +[Footnote 35: He complained, though not with the strictest truth, +"Jam fluxisse annos quindecim in quibus, in Illyrico, ad ripam Danubii +relegatus cum gentibus barbaris luctaret." Lactant. de M. P. c. 18.] + +[Footnote 36: In the Greek text of Eusebius, we read six thousand, a +number which I have preferred to the sixty thousand of Jerome, Orosius +Eutropius, and his Greek translator Paeanius.] + +The conduct which the emperor Probus had adopted in the disposal of the +vanquished, was imitated by Diocletian and his associates. The captive +barbarians, exchanging death for slavery, were distributed among the +provincials, and assigned to those districts (in Gaul, the territories +of Amiens, Beauvais, Cambray, Treves, Langres, and Troyes, are +particularly specified) [37] which had been depopulated by the calamities +of war. They were usefully employed as shepherds and husbandmen, but +were denied the exercise of arms, except when it was found expedient +to enroll them in the military service. Nor did the emperors refuse the +property of lands, with a less servile tenure, to such of the barbarians +as solicited the protection of Rome. They granted a settlement to +several colonies of the Carpi, the Bastarnae, and the Sarmatians; and, +by a dangerous indulgence, permitted them in some measure to retain +their national manners and independence. [38] Among the provincials, it +was a subject of flattering exultation, that the barbarian, so lately an +object of terror, now cultivated their lands, drove their cattle to the +neighboring fair, and contributed by his labor to the public plenty. +They congratulated their masters on the powerful accession of subjects +and soldiers; but they forgot to observe, that multitudes of secret +enemies, insolent from favor, or desperate from oppression, were +introduced into the heart of the empire. [39] + +[Footnote 37: Panegyr. Vet. vii. 21.] + +[Footnote 38: There was a settlement of the Sarmatians in the +neighborhood of Treves, which seems to have been deserted by those lazy +barbarians. Ausonius speaks of them in his Mosella:---- "Unde iter +ingrediens nemorosa per avia solum, Et nulla humani spectans vestigia +cultus; ........ Arvaque Sauromatum nuper metata colonis."] + +[Footnote 39: There was a town of the Carpi in the Lower Maesia. See the +rhetorical exultation of Eumenius.] + +While the Caesars exercised their valor on the banks of the Rhine +and Danube, the presence of the emperors was required on the southern +confines of the Roman world. From the Nile to Mount Atlas Africa was in +arms. A confederacy of five Moorish nations issued from their deserts +to invade the peaceful provinces. [40] Julian had assumed the purple at +Carthage. [41] Achilleus at Alexandria, and even the Blemmyes, renewed, +or rather continued, their incursions into the Upper Egypt. Scarcely +any circumstances have been preserved of the exploits of Maximian in the +western parts of Africa; but it appears, by the event, that the progress +of his arms was rapid and decisive, that he vanquished the fiercest +barbarians of Mauritania, and that he removed them from the mountains, +whose inaccessible strength had inspired their inhabitants with +a lawless confidence, and habituated them to a life of rapine and +violence. [42] Diocletian, on his side, opened the campaign in Egypt by +the siege of Alexandria, cut off the aqueducts which conveyed the waters +of the Nile into every quarter of that immense city, [43] and rendering +his camp impregnable to the sallies of the besieged multitude, he pushed +his reiterated attacks with caution and vigor. After a siege of eight +months, Alexandria, wasted by the sword and by fire, implored the +clemency of the conqueror, but it experienced the full extent of his +severity. Many thousands of the citizens perished in a promiscuous +slaughter, and there were few obnoxious persons in Egypt who escaped a +sentence either of death or at least of exile. [44] The fate of Busiris +and of Coptos was still more melancholy than that of Alexandria: those +proud cities, the former distinguished by its antiquity, the latter +enriched by the passage of the Indian trade, were utterly destroyed by +the arms and by the severe order of Diocletian. [45] The character of the +Egyptian nation, insensible to kindness, but extremely susceptible +of fear, could alone justify this excessive rigor. The seditions of +Alexandria had often affected the tranquillity and subsistence of Rome +itself. Since the usurpation of Firmus, the province of Upper Egypt, +incessantly relapsing into rebellion, had embraced the alliance of the +savages of Aethiopia. The number of the Blemmyes, scattered between +the Island of Meroe and the Red Sea, was very inconsiderable, their +disposition was unwarlike, their weapons rude and inoffensive. [46] Yet +in the public disorders, these barbarians, whom antiquity, shocked +with the deformity of their figure, had almost excluded from the human +species, presumed to rank themselves among the enemies of Rome. [47] Such +had been the unworthy allies of the Egyptians; and while the attention +of the state was engaged in more serious wars, their vexations inroads +might again harass the repose of the province. With a view of opposing +to the Blemmyes a suitable adversary, Diocletian persuaded the Nobatae, +or people of Nubia, to remove from their ancient habitations in the +deserts of Libya, and resigned to them an extensive but unprofitable +territory above Syene and the cataracts of the Nile, with the +stipulation, that they should ever respect and guard the frontier of +the empire. The treaty long subsisted; and till the establishment of +Christianity introduced stricter notions of religious worship, it was +annually ratified by a solemn sacrifice in the Isle of Elephantine, in +which the Romans, as well as the barbarians, adored the same visible or +invisible powers of the universe. [48] + +[Footnote 40: Scaliger (Animadvers. ad Euseb. p. 243) decides, in his +usual manner, that the Quinque gentiani, or five African nations, were +the five great cities, the Pentapolis of the inoffensive province of +Cyrene.] + +[Footnote 41: After his defeat, Julian stabbed himself with a +dagger, and immediately leaped into the flames. Victor in Epitome.] + +[Footnote 42: Tu ferocissimos Mauritaniae populos inaccessis +montium jugis et naturali munitione fidentes, expugnasti, recepisti, +transtulisti. Panegyr Vet. vi. 8.] + +[Footnote 43: See the description of Alexandria, in Hirtius de Bel. +Alexandrin c. 5.] + +[Footnote 44: Eutrop. ix. 24. Orosius, vii. 25. John Malala in Chron. +Antioch. p. 409, 410. Yet Eumenius assures us, that Egypt was pacified +by the clemency of Diocletian.] + +[Footnote 45: Eusebius (in Chron.) places their destruction several +years sooner and at a time when Egypt itself was in a state of rebellion +against the Romans.] + +[Footnote 46: Strabo, l. xvii. p. 172. Pomponius Mela, l. i. c. 4. +His words are curious: "Intra, si credere libet vix, homines magisque +semiferi Aegipanes, et Blemmyes, et Satyri."] + +[Footnote 47: Ausus sese inserere fortunae et provocare arma Romana.] + +[Footnote 48: See Procopius de Bell. Persic. l. i. c. 19. Note: Compare, +on the epoch of the final extirpation of the rites of Paganism from +the Isle of Philae, (Elephantine,) which subsisted till the edict of +Theodosius, in the sixth century, a dissertation of M. Letronne, +on certain Greek inscriptions. The dissertation contains some very +interesting observations on the conduct and policy of Diocletian +in Egypt. Mater pour l'Hist. du Christianisme en Egypte, Nubie et +Abyssinie, Paris 1817--M.] + +At the same time that Diocletian chastised the past crimes of the +Egyptians, he provided for their future safety and happiness by many +wise regulations, which were confirmed and enforced under the succeeding +reigns. [49] One very remarkable edict which he published, instead of +being condemned as the effect of jealous tyranny, deserves to be +applauded as an act of prudence and humanity. He caused a diligent +inquiry to be made "for all the ancient books which treated of the +admirable art of making gold and silver, and without pity, committed +them to the flames; apprehensive, as we are assumed, lest the opulence +of the Egyptians should inspire them with confidence to rebel against +the empire." [50] But if Diocletian had been convinced of the reality of +that valuable art, far from extinguishing the memory, he would have +converted the operation of it to the benefit of the public revenue. It +is much more likely, that his good sense discovered to him the folly of +such magnificent pretensions, and that he was desirous of preserving the +reason and fortunes of his subjects from the mischievous pursuit. It may +be remarked, that these ancient books, so liberally ascribed to +Pythagoras, to Solomon, or to Hermes, were the pious frauds of more +recent adepts. The Greeks were inattentive either to the use or to the +abuse of chemistry. In that immense register, where Pliny has deposited +the discoveries, the arts, and the errors of mankind, there is not the +least mention of the transmutation of metals; and the persecution of +Diocletian is the first authentic event in the history of alchemy. The +conquest of Egypt by the Arabs diffused that vain science over the +globe. Congenial to the avarice of the human heart, it was studied in +China as in Europe, with equal eagerness, and with equal success. The +darkness of the middle ages insured a favorable reception to every tale +of wonder, and the revival of learning gave new vigor to hope, and +suggested more specious arts of deception. Philosophy, with the aid of +experience, has at length banished the study of alchemy; and the present +age, however desirous of riches, is content to seek them by the humbler +means of commerce and industry. [51] + +[Footnote 49: He fixed the public allowance of corn, for the people +of Alexandria, at two millions of medimni; about four hundred thousand +quarters. Chron. Paschal. p. 276 Procop. Hist. Arcan. c. 26.] + +[Footnote 50: John Antioch, in Excerp. Valesian. p. 834. Suidas in +Diocletian.] + +[Footnote 51: See a short history and confutation of Alchemy, in the +works of that philosophical compiler, La Mothe le Vayer, tom. i. p. 32--353.] + +The reduction of Egypt was immediately followed by the Persian war. It +was reserved for the reign of Diocletian to vanquish that powerful +nation, and to extort a confession from the successors of Artaxerxes, of +the superior majesty of the Roman empire. + +We have observed, under the reign of Valerian, that Armenia was subdued +by the perfidy and the arms of the Persians, and that, after the +assassination of Chosroes, his son Tiridates, the infant heir of the +monarchy, was saved by the fidelity of his friends, and educated under +the protection of the emperors. Tiridates derived from his exile such +advantages as he could never have obtained on the throne of Armenia; the +early knowledge of adversity, of mankind, and of the Roman discipline. +He signalized his youth by deeds of valor, and displayed a matchless +dexterity, as well as strength, in every martial exercise, and even in +the less honorable contests of the Olympian games. [52] Those qualities +were more nobly exerted in the defence of his benefactor Licinius. [53] +That officer, in the sedition which occasioned the death of Probus, +was exposed to the most imminent danger, and the enraged soldiers were +forcing their way into his tent, when they were checked by the single +arm of the Armenian prince. The gratitude of Tiridates contributed soon +afterwards to his restoration. Licinius was in every station the friend +and companion of Galerius, and the merit of Galerius, long before he +was raised to the dignity of Caesar, had been known and esteemed by +Diocletian. In the third year of that emperor's reign Tiridates was +invested with the kingdom of Armenia. The justice of the measure was +not less evident than its expediency. It was time to rescue from the +usurpation of the Persian monarch an important territory, which, since +the reign of Nero, had been always granted under the protection of the +empire to a younger branch of the house of Arsaces. [54] + +[Footnote 52: See the education and strength of Tiridates in the +Armenian history of Moses of Chorene, l. ii. c. 76. He could seize two +wild bulls by the horns, and break them off with his hands.] + +[Footnote 53: If we give credit to the younger Victor, who supposes that +in the year 323 Licinius was only sixty years of age, he could scarcely +be the same person as the patron of Tiridates; but we know from much +better authority, (Euseb. Hist. Ecclesiast. l. x. c. 8,) that Licinius +was at that time in the last period of old age: sixteen years before, he +is represented with gray hairs, and as the contemporary of Galerius. See +Lactant. c. 32. Licinius was probably born about the year 250.] + +[Footnote 54: See the sixty-second and sixty-third books of Dion +Cassius.] + +When Tiridates appeared on the frontiers of Armenia, he was received +with an unfeigned transport of joy and loyalty. During twenty-six years, +the country had experienced the real and imaginary hardships of a +foreign yoke. The Persian monarchs adorned their new conquest with +magnificent buildings; but those monuments had been erected at the +expense of the people, and were abhorred as badges of slavery. The +apprehension of a revolt had inspired the most rigorous precautions: +oppression had been aggravated by insult, and the consciousness of the +public hatred had been productive of every measure that could render it +still more implacable. We have already remarked the intolerant spirit of +the Magian religion. The statues of the deified kings of Armenia, and +the sacred images of the sun and moon, were broke in pieces by the zeal +of the conqueror; and the perpetual fire of Ormuzd was kindled and +preserved upon an altar erected on the summit of Mount Bagavan. [55] It +was natural, that a people exasperated by so many injuries, should arm +with zeal in the cause of their independence, their religion, and their +hereditary sovereign. The torrent bore down every obstacle, and the +Persian garrisons retreated before its fury. The nobles of Armenia flew +to the standard of Tiridates, all alleging their past merit, offering +their future service, and soliciting from the new king those honors and +rewards from which they had been excluded with disdain under the foreign +government. [56] The command of the army was bestowed on Artavasdes, +whose father had saved the infancy of Tiridates, and whose family had +been massacred for that generous action. The brother of Artavasdes +obtained the government of a province. One of the first military +dignities was conferred on the satrap Otas, a man of singular temperance +and fortitude, who presented to the king his sister [57] and a +considerable treasure, both of which, in a sequestered fortress, Otas +had preserved from violation. Among the Armenian nobles appeared an +ally, whose fortunes are too remarkable to pass unnoticed. His name was +Mamgo, [571] his origin was Scythian, and the horde which acknowledge his +authority had encamped a very few years before on the skirts of the +Chinese empire, [58] which at that time extended as far as the +neighborhood of Sogdiana. [59] Having incurred the displeasure of his +master, Mamgo, with his followers, retired to the banks of the Oxus, and +implored the protection of Sapor. The emperor of China claimed the +fugitive, and alleged the rights of sovereignty. The Persian monarch +pleaded the laws of hospitality, and with some difficulty avoided a war, +by the promise that he would banish Mamgo to the uttermost parts of the +West, a punishment, as he described it, not less dreadful than death +itself. Armenia was chosen for the place of exile, and a large district +was assigned to the Scythian horde, on which they might feed their +flocks and herds, and remove their encampment from one place to another, +according to the different seasons of the year. + +They were employed to repel the invasion of Tiridates; but their leader, +after weighing the obligations and injuries which he had received from +the Persian monarch, resolved to abandon his party. + +The Armenian prince, who was well acquainted with this merit as well +as power of Mamgo, treated him with distinguished respect; and, by +admitting him into his confidence, acquired a brave and faithful +servant, who contributed very effectually to his restoration. [60] + +[Footnote 55: Moses of Chorene. Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 74. The statues +had been erected by Valarsaces, who reigned in Armenia about 130 years +before Christ, and was the first king of the family of Arsaces, (see +Moses, Hist. Armen. l. ii. 2, 3.) The deification of the Arsacides is +mentioned by Justin, (xli. 5,) and by Ammianus Marcellinus, (xxiii. 6.)] + +[Footnote 56: The Armenian nobility was numerous and powerful. Moses +mentions many families which were distinguished under the reign of +Valarsaces, (l. ii. 7,) and which still subsisted in his own time, +about the middle of the fifth century. See the preface of his Editors.] + +[Footnote 57: She was named Chosroiduchta, and had not the os patulum +like other women. (Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 79.) I do not understand the +expression. * Note: Os patulum signifies merely a large and widely +opening mouth. Ovid (Metam. xv. 513) says, speaking of the monster who +attacked Hippolytus, patulo partem maris evomit ore. Probably a wide +mouth was a common defect among the Armenian women.--G.] + +[Footnote 571: Mamgo (according to M. St. Martin, note to Le Beau. ii. +213) belonged to the imperial race of Hon, who had filled the throne of +China for four hundred years. Dethroned by the usurping race of Wei, +Mamgo found a hospitable reception in Persia in the reign of Ardeschir. +The emperor of china having demanded the surrender of the fugitive and +his partisans, Sapor, then king, threatened with war both by Rome and +China, counselled Mamgo to retire into Armenia. "I have expelled him +from my dominions, (he answered the Chinese ambassador;) I have banished +him to the extremity of the earth, where the sun sets; I have dismissed +him to certain death." Compare Mem. sur l'Armenie, ii. 25.--M.] + +[Footnote 58: In the Armenian history, (l. ii. 78,) as well as in +the Geography, (p. 367,) China is called Zenia, or Zenastan. It is +characterized by the production of silk, by the opulence of the natives, +and by their love of peace, above all the other nations of the earth. * +Note: See St. Martin, Mem. sur l'Armenie, i. 304.] + +[Footnote 59: Vou-ti, the first emperor of the seventh dynasty, who then +reigned in China, had political transactions with Fergana, a province +of Sogdiana, and is said to have received a Roman embassy, (Histoire +des Huns, tom. i. p. 38.) In those ages the Chinese kept a garrison at +Kashgar, and one of their generals, about the time of Trajan, marched as +far as the Caspian Sea. With regard to the intercourse between China and +the Western countries, a curious memoir of M. de Guignes may be +consulted, in the Academie des Inscriptions, tom. xxii. p. 355. * Note: +The Chinese Annals mention, under the ninth year of Yan-hi, which +corresponds with the year 166 J. C., an embassy which arrived from +Tathsin, and was sent by a prince called An-thun, who can be no other +than Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who then ruled over the Romans. St. +Martin, Mem. sur l'Armaenic. ii. 30. See also Klaproth, Tableaux +Historiques de l'Asie, p. 69. The embassy came by Jy-nan, Tonquin.--M.] + +[Footnote 60: See Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 81.] + +For a while, fortune appeared to favor the enterprising valor of +Tiridates. He not only expelled the enemies of his family and country +from the whole extent of Armenia, but in the prosecution of his revenge +he carried his arms, or at least his incursions, into the heart of +Assyria. The historian, who has preserved the name of Tiridates from +oblivion, celebrates, with a degree of national enthusiasm, his personal +prowess: and, in the true spirit of eastern romance, describes the +giants and the elephants that fell beneath his invincible arm. It is +from other information that we discover the distracted state of the +Persian monarchy, to which the king of Armenia was indebted for some +part of his advantages. The throne was disputed by the ambition of +contending brothers; and Hormuz, after exerting without success the +strength of his own party, had recourse to the dangerous assistance of +the barbarians who inhabited the banks of the Caspian Sea. [61] The +civil war was, however, soon terminated, either by a victor or by a +reconciliation; and Narses, who was universally acknowledged as king of +Persia, directed his whole force against the foreign enemy. The contest +then became too unequal; nor was the valor of the hero able to withstand +the power of the monarch, Tiridates, a second time expelled from the +throne of Armenia, once more took refuge in the court of the emperors. +[611] Narses soon reestablished his authority over the revolted province; +and loudly complaining of the protection afforded by the Romans to +rebels and fugitives, aspired to the conquest of the East. [62] + +[Footnote 61: Ipsos Persas ipsumque Regem ascitis Saccis, et Russis, et +Gellis, petit frater Ormies. Panegyric. Vet. iii. 1. The Saccae were a +nation of wandering Scythians, who encamped towards the sources of the +Oxus and the Jaxartes. The Gelli where the inhabitants of Ghilan, along +the Caspian Sea, and who so long, under the name of Dilemines, infested +the Persian monarchy. See d'Herbelot, Bibliotheque] + +[Footnote 611: M St. Martin represents this differently. Le roi de Perse +* * * profits d'un voyage que Tiridate avoit fait a Rome pour attaquer +ce royaume. This reads like the evasion of the national historians to +disguise the fact discreditable to their hero. See Mem. sur l'Armenie, +i. 304.--M.] + +[Footnote 62: Moses of Chorene takes no notice of this second +revolution, which I have been obliged to collect from a passage of +Ammianus Marcellinus, (l. xxiii. c. 5.) Lactantius speaks of the +ambition of Narses: "Concitatus domesticis exemplis avi sui Saporis ad +occupandum orientem magnis copiis inhiabat." De Mort. Persecut. c. 9.] + +Neither prudence nor honor could permit the emperors to forsake the +cause of the Armenian king, and it was resolved to exert the force of +the empire in the Persian war. Diocletian, with the calm dignity which +he constantly assumed, fixed his own station in the city of Antioch, +from whence he prepared and directed the military operations. [63] The +conduct of the legions was intrusted to the intrepid valor of Galerius, +who, for that important purpose, was removed from the banks of the +Danube to those of the Euphrates. The armies soon encountered each other +in the plains of Mesopotamia, and two battles were fought with various +and doubtful success; but the third engagement was of a more decisive +nature; and the Roman army received a total overthrow, which is +attributed to the rashness of Galerius, who, with an inconsiderable body +of troops, attacked the innumerable host of the Persians. [64] But the +consideration of the country that was the scene of action, may suggest +another reason for his defeat. The same ground on which Galerius was +vanquished, had been rendered memorable by the death of Crassus, and the +slaughter of ten legions. It was a plain of more than sixty miles, which +extended from the hills of Carrhae to the Euphrates; a smooth and barren +surface of sandy desert, without a hillock, without a tree, and without +a spring of fresh water. [65] The steady infantry of the Romans, fainting +with heat and thirst, could neither hope for victory if they preserved +their ranks, nor break their ranks without exposing themselves to the +most imminent danger. In this situation they were gradually encompassed +by the superior numbers, harassed by the rapid evolutions, and destroyed +by the arrows of the barbarian cavalry. + +The king of Armenia had signalized his valor in the battle, and acquired +personal glory by the public misfortune. He was pursued as far as the +Euphrates; his horse was wounded, and it appeared impossible for him to +escape the victorious enemy. In this extremity Tiridates embraced the +only refuge which appeared before him: he dismounted and plunged into +the stream. His armor was heavy, the river very deep, and at those +parts at least half a mile in breadth; [66] yet such was his strength and +dexterity, that he reached in safety the opposite bank. [67] With regard +to the Roman general, we are ignorant of the circumstances of his +escape; but when he returned to Antioch, Diocletian received him, not +with the tenderness of a friend and colleague, but with the indignation +of an offended sovereign. The haughtiest of men, clothed in his purple, +but humbled by the sense of his fault and misfortune, was obliged to +follow the emperor's chariot above a mile on foot, and to exhibit, +before the whole court, the spectacle of his disgrace. [68] + +[Footnote 63: We may readily believe, that Lactantius ascribes to +cowardice the conduct of Diocletian. Julian, in his oration, says, +that he remained with all the forces of the empire; a very hyperbolical +expression.] + +[Footnote 64: Our five abbreviators, Eutropius, Festus, the two Victors, +and Orosius, all relate the last and great battle; but Orosius is the +only one who speaks of the two former.] + +[Footnote 65: The nature of the country is finely described by Plutarch, +in the life of Crassus; and by Xenophon, in the first book of the +Anabasis] + +[Footnote 66: See Foster's Dissertation in the second volume of the +translation of the Anabasis by Spelman; which I will venture to +recommend as one of the best versions extant.] + +[Footnote 67: Hist. Armen. l. ii. c. 76. I have transferred this exploit +of Tiridates from an imaginary defeat to the real one of Galerius.] + +[Footnote 68: Ammian. Marcellin. l. xiv. The mile, in the hands of +Eutropoius, (ix. 24,) of Festus (c. 25,) and of Orosius, (vii 25), +easily increased to several miles] + +As soon as Diocletian had indulged his private resentment, and asserted +the majesty of supreme power, he yielded to the submissive entreaties of +the Caesar, and permitted him to retrieve his own honor, as well as that +of the Roman arms. In the room of the unwarlike troops of Asia, which +had most probably served in the first expedition, a second army was +drawn from the veterans and new levies of the Illyrian frontier, and +a considerable body of Gothic auxiliaries were taken into the Imperial +pay. [69] At the head of a chosen army of twenty-five thousand men, +Galerius again passed the Euphrates; but, instead of exposing his +legions in the open plains of Mesopotamia he advanced through the +mountains of Armenia, where he found the inhabitants devoted to his +cause, and the country as favorable to the operations of infantry as it +was inconvenient for the motions of cavalry. [70] Adversity had confirmed +the Roman discipline, while the barbarians, elated by success, were +become so negligent and remiss, that in the moment when they least +expected it, they were surprised by the active conduct of Galerius, who, +attended only by two horsemen, had with his own eyes secretly examined +the state and position of their camp. A surprise, especially in the +night time, was for the most part fatal to a Persian army. "Their horses +were tied, and generally shackled, to prevent their running away; and +if an alarm happened, a Persian had his housing to fix, his horse to +bridle, and his corselet to put on, before he could mount." [71] On this +occasion, the impetuous attack of Galerius spread disorder and dismay +over the camp of the barbarians. A slight resistance was followed by +a dreadful carnage, and, in the general confusion, the wounded monarch +(for Narses commanded his armies in person) fled towards the deserts +of Media. His sumptuous tents, and those of his satraps, afforded an +immense booty to the conqueror; and an incident is mentioned, which +proves the rustic but martial ignorance of the legions in the elegant +superfluities of life. A bag of shining leather, filled with pearls, +fell into the hands of a private soldier; he carefully preserved the +bag, but he threw away its contents, judging that whatever was of no use +could not possibly be of any value. [72] The principal loss of Narses was +of a much more affecting nature. Several of his wives, his sisters, and +children, who had attended the army, were made captives in the defeat. +But though the character of Galerius had in general very little affinity +with that of Alexander, he imitated, after his victory, the amiable +behavior of the Macedonian towards the family of Darius. The wives and +children of Narses were protected from violence and rapine, conveyed +to a place of safety, and treated with every mark of respect and +tenderness, that was due from a generous enemy to their age, their sex, +and their royal dignity. [73] + +[Footnote 69: Aurelius Victor. Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21.] + +[Footnote 70: Aurelius Victor says, "Per Armeniam in hostes contendit, +quae fermo sola, seu facilior vincendi via est." He followed the conduct +of Trajan, and the idea of Julius Caesar.] + +[Footnote 71: Xenophon's Anabasis, l. iii. For that reason the Persian +cavalry encamped sixty stadia from the enemy.] + +[Footnote 72: The story is told by Ammianus, l. xxii. Instead of saccum, +some read scutum.] + +[Footnote 73: The Persians confessed the Roman superiority in morals +as well as in arms. Eutrop. ix. 24. But this respect and gratitude of +enemies is very seldom to be found in their own accounts.] + + + + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates.--Part III. + +While the East anxiously expected the decision of this great contest, +the emperor Diocletian, having assembled in Syria a strong army of +observation, displayed from a distance the resources of the Roman +power, and reserved himself for any future emergency of the war. On +the intelligence of the victory he condescended to advance towards the +frontier, with a view of moderating, by his presence and counsels, the +pride of Galerius. The interview of the Roman princes at Nisibis was +accompanied with every expression of respect on one side, and of +esteem on the other. It was in that city that they soon afterwards gave +audience to the ambassador of the Great King. [74] The power, or at +least the spirit, of Narses, had been broken by his last defeat; and +he considered an immediate peace as the only means that could stop +the progress of the Roman arms. He despatched Apharban, a servant who +possessed his favor and confidence, with a commission to negotiate a +treaty, or rather to receive whatever conditions the conqueror should +impose. Apharban opened the conference by expressing his master's +gratitude for the generous treatment of his family, and by soliciting +the liberty of those illustrious captives. He celebrated the valor of +Galerius, without degrading the reputation of Narses, and thought it +no dishonor to confess the superiority of the victorious Caesar, over +a monarch who had surpassed in glory all the princes of his race. +Notwithstanding the justice of the Persian cause, he was empowered +to submit the present differences to the decision of the emperors +themselves; convinced as he was, that, in the midst of prosperity, +they would not be unmindful of the vicissitudes of fortune. Apharban +concluded his discourse in the style of eastern allegory, by observing +that the Roman and Persian monarchies were the two eyes of the world, +which would remain imperfect and mutilated if either of them should be +put out. + +[Footnote 74: The account of the negotiation is taken from the fragments +of Peter the Patrician, in the Excerpta Legationum, published in the +Byzantine Collection. Peter lived under Justinian; but it is very +evident, by the nature of his materials, that they are drawn from the +most authentic and respectable writers.] + +"It well becomes the Persians," replied Galerius, with a transport of +fury, which seemed to convulse his whole frame, "it well becomes the +Persians to expatiate on the vicissitudes of fortune, and calmly to read +us lectures on the virtues of moderation. Let them remember their own +moderation, towards the unhappy Valerian. They vanquished him by fraud, +they treated him with indignity. They detained him till the last moment +of his life in shameful captivity, and after his death they exposed +his body to perpetual ignominy." Softening, however, his tone, Galerius +insinuated to the ambassador, that it had never been the practice of the +Romans to trample on a prostrate enemy; and that, on this occasion, +they should consult their own dignity rather than the Persian merit. +He dismissed Apharban with a hope that Narses would soon be informed on +what conditions he might obtain, from the clemency of the emperors, a +lasting peace, and the restoration of his wives and children. In this +conference we may discover the fierce passions of Galerius, as well as +his deference to the superior wisdom and authority of Diocletian. The +ambition of the former grasped at the conquest of the East, and had +proposed to reduce Persia into the state of a province. The prudence +of the latter, who adhered to the moderate policy of Augustus and +the Antonines, embraced the favorable opportunity of terminating a +successful war by an honorable and advantageous peace. [75] + +[Footnote 75: Adeo victor (says Aurelius) ut ni Valerius, cujus nutu +omnis gerebantur, abnuisset, Romani fasces in provinciam novam ferrentur +Verum pars terrarum tamen nobis utilior quaesita.] + +In pursuance of their promise, the emperors soon afterwards appointed +Sicorius Probus, one of their secretaries, to acquaint the Persian court +with their final resolution. As the minister of peace, he was received +with every mark of politeness and friendship; but, under the pretence of +allowing him the necessary repose after so long a journey, the audience +of Probus was deferred from day to day; and he attended the slow motions +of the king, till at length he was admitted to his presence, near the +River Asprudus in Media. The secret motive of Narses, in this delay, +had been to collect such a military force as might enable him, though +sincerely desirous of peace, to negotiate with the greater weight and +dignity. Three persons only assisted at this important conference, the +minister Apharban, the praefect of the guards, and an officer who had +commanded on the Armenian frontier. [76] The first condition proposed by +the ambassador is not at present of a very intelligible nature; that the +city of Nisibis might be established for the place of mutual exchange, +or, as we should formerly have termed it, for the staple of trade, +between the two empires. There is no difficulty in conceiving the +intention of the Roman princes to improve their revenue by some +restraints upon commerce; but as Nisibis was situated within their own +dominions, and as they were masters both of the imports and exports, it +should seem that such restraints were the objects of an internal law, +rather than of a foreign treaty. To render them more effectual, some +stipulations were probably required on the side of the king of Persia, +which appeared so very repugnant either to his interest or to his +dignity, that Narses could not be persuaded to subscribe them. As this +was the only article to which he refused his consent, it was no longer +insisted on; and the emperors either suffered the trade to flow in its +natural channels, or contented themselves with such restrictions, as it +depended on their own authority to establish. + +[Footnote 76: He had been governor of Sumium, (Pot. Patricius in +Excerpt. Legat. p. 30.) This province seems to be mentioned by Moses of +Chorene, (Geograph. p. 360,) and lay to the east of Mount Ararat. * +Note: The Siounikh of the Armenian writers St. Martin i. 142.--M.] + +As soon as this difficulty was removed, a solemn peace was concluded and +ratified between the two nations. The conditions of a treaty so glorious +to the empire, and so necessary to Persia, may deserve a +more peculiar attention, as the history of Rome presents very few +transactions of a similar nature; most of her wars having either been +terminated by absolute conquest, or waged against barbarians ignorant of +the use of letters. I. The Aboras, or, as it is called by Xenophon, the +Araxes, was fixed as the boundary between the two monarchies. [77] That +river, which rose near the Tigris, was increased, a few miles below +Nisibis, by the little stream of the Mygdonius, passed under the walls +of Singara, and fell into the Euphrates at Circesium, a frontier town, +which, by the care of Diocletian, was very strongly fortified. [78] +Mesopotomia, the object of so many wars, was ceded to the empire; and +the Persians, by this treaty, renounced all pretensions to that great +province. II. They relinquished to the Romans five provinces beyond +the Tigris. [79] Their situation formed a very useful barrier, and their +natural strength was soon improved by art and military skill. Four of +these, to the north of the river, were districts of obscure fame and +inconsiderable extent; Intiline, Zabdicene, Arzanene, and Moxoene; +[791] but on the east of the Tigris, the empire acquired the large and +mountainous territory of Carduene, the ancient seat of the Carduchians, +who preserved for many ages their manly freedom in the heart of the +despotic monarchies of Asia. The ten thousand Greeks traversed their +country, after a painful march, or rather engagement, of seven days; +and it is confessed by their leader, in his incomparable relation of +the retreat, that they suffered more from the arrows of the Carduchians, +than from the power of the Great King. [80] Their posterity, the Curds, +with very little alteration either of name or manners, [801] acknowledged +the nominal sovereignty of the Turkish sultan. III. It is almost +needless to observe, that Tiridates, the faithful ally of Rome, was +restored to the throne of his fathers, and that the rights of the +Imperial supremacy were fully asserted and secured. The limits of +Armenia were extended as far as the fortress of Sintha in Media, and +this increase of dominion was not so much an act of liberality as of +justice. Of the provinces already mentioned beyond the Tigris, the four +first had been dismembered by the Parthians from the crown of +Armenia; [81] and when the Romans acquired the possession of them, they +stipulated, at the expense of the usurpers, an ample compensation, +which invested their ally with the extensive and fertile country of +Atropatene. Its principal city, in the same situation perhaps as the +modern Tauris, was frequently honored by the residence of Tiridates; and +as it sometimes bore the name of Ecbatana, he imitated, in the buildings +and fortifications, the splendid capital of the Medes. [82] IV. The +country of Iberia was barren, its inhabitants rude and savage. But they +were accustomed to the use of arms, and they separated from the empire +barbarians much fiercer and more formidable than themselves. The narrow +defiles of Mount Caucasus were in their hands, and it was in their +choice, either to admit or to exclude the wandering tribes of Sarmatia, +whenever a rapacious spirit urged them to penetrate into the richer +climes of the South. [83] The nomination of the kings of Iberia, which +was resigned by the Persian monarch to the emperors, contributed to the +strength and security of the Roman power in Asia. [84] The East enjoyed +a profound tranquillity during forty years; and the treaty between the +rival monarchies was strictly observed till the death of Tiridates; when +a new generation, animated with different views and different passions, +succeeded to the government of the world; and the grandson of Narses +undertook a long and memorable war against the princes of the house of +Constantine. + +[Footnote 77: By an error of the geographer Ptolemy, the position of +Singara is removed from the Aboras to the Tigris, which may have +produced the mistake of Peter, in assigning the latter river for the +boundary, instead of the former. The line of the Roman frontier +traversed, but never followed, the course of the Tigris. * Note: There +are here several errors. Gibbon has confounded the streams, and the +towns which they pass. The Aboras, or rather the Chaboras, the Araxes of +Xenophon, has its source above Ras-Ain or Re-Saina, (Theodosiopolis,) +about twenty-seven leagues from the Tigris; it receives the waters of +the Mygdonius, or Saocoras, about thirty-three leagues below Nisibis. at +a town now called Al Nahraim; it does not pass under the walls of +Singara; it is the Saocoras that washes the walls of that town: the +latter river has its source near Nisibis. at five leagues from the +Tigris. See D'Anv. l'Euphrate et le Tigre, 46, 49, 50, and the map.---- +To the east of the Tigris is another less considerable river, named also +the Chaboras, which D'Anville calls the Centrites, Khabour, Nicephorius, +without quoting the authorities on which he gives those names. Gibbon +did not mean to speak of this river, which does not pass by Singara, and +does not fall into the Euphrates. See Michaelis, Supp. ad Lex. Hebraica. +3d part, p. 664, 665.--G.] + +[Footnote 78: Procopius de Edificiis, l. ii. c. 6.] + +[Footnote 79: Three of the provinces, Zabdicene, Arzanene, and Carduene, +are allowed on all sides. But instead of the other two, Peter (in +Excerpt. Leg. p. 30) inserts Rehimene and Sophene. I have preferred +Ammianus, (l. xxv. 7,) because it might be proved that Sophene was never +in the hands of the Persians, either before the reign of Diocletian, or +after that of Jovian. For want of correct maps, like those of M. +d'Anville, almost all the moderns, with Tillemont and Valesius at their +head, have imagined, that it was in respect to Persia, and not to Rome, +that the five provinces were situate beyond the Tigris.] + +[Footnote 791: See St. Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 380. He would read, for +Intiline, Ingeleme, the name of a small province of Armenia, near the +sources of the Tigris, mentioned by St. Epiphanius, (Haeres, 60;) for +the unknown name Arzacene, with Gibbon, Arzanene. These provinces do +not appear to have made an integral part of the Roman empire; Roman +garrisons replaced those of Persia, but the sovereignty remained in the +hands of the feudatory princes of Armenia. A prince of Carduene, ally or +dependent on the empire, with the Roman name of Jovianus, occurs in the +reign of Julian.--M.] + +[Footnote 80: Xenophon's Anabasis, l. iv. Their bows were three cubits +in length, their arrows two; they rolled down stones that were each a +wagon load. The Greeks found a great many villages in that rude +country.] + +[Footnote 801: I travelled through this country in 1810, and should +judge, from what I have read and seen of its inhabitants, that they have +remained unchanged in their appearance and character for more than +twenty centuries Malcolm, note to Hist. of Persia, vol. i. p. 82.--M.] + +[Footnote 81: According to Eutropius, (vi. 9, as the text is represented +by the best Mss.,) the city of Tigranocerta was in Arzanene. The names +and situation of the other three may be faintly traced.] + +[Footnote 82: Compare Herodotus, l. i. c. 97, with Moses Choronens. +Hist Armen. l. ii. c. 84, and the map of Armenia given by his editors.] + +[Footnote 83: Hiberi, locorum potentes, Caspia via Sarmatam in Armenios +raptim effundunt. Tacit. Annal. vi. 34. See Strabon. Geograph. l. xi. p. +764, edit. Casaub.] + +[Footnote 84: Peter Patricius (in Excerpt. Leg. p. 30) is the only +writer who mentions the Iberian article of the treaty.] + +The arduous work of rescuing the distressed empire from tyrants and +barbarians had now been completely achieved by a succession of Illyrian +peasants. As soon as Diocletian entered into the twentieth year of his +reign, he celebrated that memorable aera, as well as the success of his +arms, by the pomp of a Roman triumph. [85] Maximian, the equal partner +of his power, was his only companion in the glory of that day. The two +Caesars had fought and conquered, but the merit of their exploits was +ascribed, according to the rigor of ancient maxims, to the auspicious +influence of their fathers and emperors. [86] The triumph of Diocletian +and Maximian was less magnificent, perhaps, than those of Aurelian and +Probus, but it was dignified by several circumstances of superior fame +and good fortune. Africa and Britain, the Rhine, the Danube, and the +Nile, furnished their respective trophies; but the most distinguished +ornament was of a more singular nature, a Persian victory followed by +an important conquest. The representations of rivers, mountains, and +provinces, were carried before the Imperial car. The images of the +captive wives, the sisters, and the children of the Great King, afforded +a new and grateful spectacle to the vanity of the people. [87] In the +eyes of posterity, this triumph is remarkable, by a distinction of a +less honorable kind. It was the last that Rome ever beheld. Soon after +this period, the emperors ceased to vanquish, and Rome ceased to be the +capital of the empire. + +[Footnote 85: Euseb. in Chron. Pagi ad annum. Till the discovery of the +treatise De Mortibus Persecutorum, it was not certain that the triumph +and the Vicennalia was celebrated at the same time.] + +[Footnote 86: At the time of the Vicennalia, Galerius seems to have kept +station on the Danube. See Lactant. de M. P. c. 38.] + +[Footnote 87: Eutropius (ix. 27) mentions them as a part of the triumph. +As the persons had been restored to Narses, nothing more than their +images could be exhibited.] + +The spot on which Rome was founded had been consecrated by ancient +ceremonies and imaginary miracles. The presence of some god, or the +memory of some hero, seemed to animate every part of the city, and the +empire of the world had been promised to the Capitol. [88] The native +Romans felt and confessed the power of this agreeable illusion. It was +derived from their ancestors, had grown up with their earliest habits +of life, and was protected, in some measure, by the opinion of political +utility. The form and the seat of government were intimately blended +together, nor was it esteemed possible to transport the one without +destroying the other. [89] But the sovereignty of the capital was +gradually annihilated in the extent of conquest; the provinces rose +to the same level, and the vanquished nations acquired the name and +privileges, without imbibing the partial affections, of Romans. During +a long period, however, the remains of the ancient constitution, and the +influence of custom, preserved the dignity of Rome. The emperors, though +perhaps of African or Illyrian extraction, respected their adopted +country, as the seat of their power, and the centre of their extensive +dominions. The emergencies of war very frequently required their +presence on the frontiers; but Diocletian and Maximian were the first +Roman princes who fixed, in time of peace, their ordinary residence +in the provinces; and their conduct, however it might be suggested +by private motives, was justified by very specious considerations of +policy. The court of the emperor of the West was, for the most part, +established at Milan, whose situation, at the foot of the Alps, appeared +far more convenient than that of Rome, for the important purpose of +watching the motions of the barbarians of Germany. Milan soon assumed +the splendor of an Imperial city. The houses are described as numerous +and well built; the manners of the people as polished and liberal. A +circus, a theatre, a mint, a palace, baths, which bore the name of +their founder Maximian; porticos adorned with statues, and a double +circumference of walls, contributed to the beauty of the new capital; +nor did it seem oppressed even by the proximity of Rome. [90] To rival +the majesty of Rome was the ambition likewise of Diocletian, who +employed his leisure, and the wealth of the East, in the embellishment +of Nicomedia, a city placed on the verge of Europe and Asia, almost at +an equal distance between the Danube and the Euphrates. By the taste of +the monarch, and at the expense of the people, Nicomedia acquired, in +the space of a few years, a degree of magnificence which might appear +to have required the labor of ages, and became inferior only to Rome, +Alexandria, and Antioch, in extent of populousness. [91] The life of +Diocletian and Maximian was a life of action, and a considerable portion +of it was spent in camps, or in the long and frequent marches; but +whenever the public business allowed them any relaxation, they seemed to +have retired with pleasure to their favorite residences of Nicomedia and +Milan. Till Diocletian, in the twentieth year of his reign, celebrated +his Roman triumph, it is extremely doubtful whether he ever visited the +ancient capital of the empire. Even on that memorable occasion his stay +did not exceed two months. Disgusted with the licentious familiarity of +the people, he quitted Rome with precipitation thirteen days before it +was expected that he should have appeared in the senate, invested with +the ensigns of the consular dignity. [92] + +[Footnote 88: Livy gives us a speech of Camillus on that subject, (v. +51--55,) full of eloquence and sensibility, in opposition to a design +of removing the seat of government from Rome to the neighboring city of +Veii.] + +[Footnote 89: Julius Caesar was reproached with the intention of +removing the empire to Ilium or Alexandria. See Sueton. in Caesar. c. +79. According to the ingenious conjecture of Le Fevre and Dacier, +the ode of the third book of Horace was intended to divert from the +execution of a similar design.] + +[Footnote 90: See Aurelius Victor, who likewise mentions the buildings +erected by Maximian at Carthage, probably during the Moorish war. We +shall insert some verses of Ausonius de Clar. Urb. v.---- Et Mediolani +miraeomnia: copia rerum; Innumerae cultaeque domus; facunda virorum +Ingenia, et mores laeti: tum duplice muro Amplificata loci species; +populique voluptas Circus; et inclusi moles cuneata Theatri; Templa, +Palatinaeque arces, opulensque Moneta, Et regio Herculei celebris sub +honore lavacri. Cunctaque marmoreis ornata Peristyla signis; Moeniaque +in valli formam circumdata labro, Omnia quae magnis operum velut aemula +formis Excellunt: nec juncta premit vicinia Romae.] + +[Footnote 91: Lactant. de M. P. c. 17. Libanius, Orat. viii. p. 203.] + +[Footnote 92: Lactant. de M. P. c. 17. On a similar occasion, Ammianus +mentions the dicacitas plebis, as not very agreeable to an Imperial ear. +(See l. xvi. c. 10.)] + +The dislike expressed by Diocletian towards Rome and Roman freedom, was +not the effect of momentary caprice, but the result of the most +artful policy. That crafty prince had framed a new system of Imperial +government, which was afterwards completed by the family of Constantine; +and as the image of the old constitution was religiously preserved in +the senate, he resolved to deprive that order of its small remains of +power and consideration. We may recollect, about eight years before +the elevation, of Diocletian the transient greatness, and the ambitious +hopes, of the Roman senate. As long as that enthusiasm prevailed, many +of the nobles imprudently displayed their zeal in the cause of freedom; +and after the successes of Probus had withdrawn their countenance +from the republican party, the senators were unable to disguise their +impotent resentment. As the sovereign of Italy, Maximian was intrusted +with the care of extinguishing this troublesome, rather than dangerous +spirit, and the task was perfectly suited to his cruel temper. The most +illustrious members of the senate, whom Diocletian always affected to +esteem, were involved, by his colleague, in the accusation of imaginary +plots; and the possession of an elegant villa, or a well-cultivated +estate, was interpreted as a convincing evidence of guilt. [93] The camp +of the Praetorians, which had so long oppressed, began to protect, +the majesty of Rome; and as those haughty troops were conscious of the +decline of their power, they were naturally disposed to unite their +strength with the authority of the senate. By the prudent measures of +Diocletian, the numbers of the Praetorians were insensibly reduced, +their privileges abolished, [94] and their place supplied by two +faithful legions of Illyricum, who, under the new titles of Jovians +and Herculians, were appointed to perform the service of the Imperial +guards. [95] But the most fatal though secret wound, which the senate +received from the hands of Diocletian and Maximian, was inflicted by the +inevitable operation of their absence. As long as the emperors resided +at Rome, that assembly might be oppressed, but it could scarcely be +neglected. The successors of Augustus exercised the power of dictating +whatever laws their wisdom or caprice might suggest; but those laws were +ratified by the sanction of the senate. The model of ancient freedom +was preserved in its deliberations and decrees; and wise princes, who +respected the prejudices of the Roman people, were in some measure +obliged to assume the language and behavior suitable to the general and +first magistrate of the republic. In the armies and in the provinces, +they displayed the dignity of monarchs; and when they fixed their +residence at a distance from the capital, they forever laid aside the +dissimulation which Augustus had recommended to his successors. In +the exercise of the legislative as well as the executive power, the +sovereign advised with his ministers, instead of consulting the great +council of the nation. The name of the senate was mentioned with honor +till the last period of the empire; the vanity of its members was still +flattered with honorary distinctions; [96] but the assembly which had +so long been the source, and so long the instrument of power, was +respectfully suffered to sink into oblivion. The senate of Rome, losing +all connection with the Imperial court and the actual constitution, was +left a venerable but useless monument of antiquity on the Capitoline +hill. + +[Footnote 93: Lactantius accuses Maximian of destroying fictis +criminationibus lumina senatus, (De M. P. c. 8.) Aurelius Victor +speaks very doubtfully of the faith of Diocletian towards his friends.] + +[Footnote 94: Truncatae vires urbis, imminuto praetoriarum cohortium +atque in armis vulgi numero. Aurelius Victor. Lactantius attributes to +Galerius the prosecution of the same plan, (c. 26.)] + +[Footnote 95: They were old corps stationed in Illyricum; and according +to the ancient establishment, they each consisted of six thousand men. +They had acquired much reputation by the use of the plumbatae, or darts +loaded with lead. Each soldier carried five of these, which he darted +from a considerable distance, with great strength and dexterity. See +Vegetius, i. 17.] + +[Footnote 96: See the Theodosian Code, l. vi. tit. ii. with Godefroy's +commentary.] + + + + +Chapter XIII: Reign Of Diocletian And His Three Associates.--Part IV. + +When the Roman princes had lost sight of the senate and of their ancient +capital, they easily forgot the origin and nature of their legal power. +The civil offices of consul, of proconsul, of censor, and of tribune, +by the union of which it had been formed, betrayed to the people its +republican extraction. Those modest titles were laid aside; [97] and +if they still distinguished their high station by the appellation +of Emperor, or Imperator, that word was understood in a new and more +dignified sense, and no longer denoted the general of the Roman armies, +but the sovereign of the Roman world. The name of Emperor, which was +at first of a military nature, was associated with another of a +more servile kind. The epithet of Dominus, or Lord, in its primitive +signification, was expressive, not of the authority of a prince over his +subjects, or of a commander over his soldiers, but of the despotic power +of a master over his domestic slaves. [98] Viewing it in that odious +light, it had been rejected with abhorrence by the first Caesars. Their +resistance insensibly became more feeble, and the name less odious; till +at length the style of our Lord and Emperor was not only bestowed by +flattery, but was regularly admitted into the laws and public monuments. +Such lofty epithets were sufficient to elate and satisfy the most +excessive vanity; and if the successors of Diocletian still declined +the title of King, it seems to have been the effect not so much of their +moderation as of their delicacy. Wherever the Latin tongue was in use, +(and it was the language of government throughout the empire,) the +Imperial title, as it was peculiar to themselves, conveyed a more +respectable idea than the name of king, which they must have shared with +a hundred barbarian chieftains; or which, at the best, they could derive +only from Romulus, or from Tarquin. But the sentiments of the East +were very different from those of the West. From the earliest period +of history, the sovereigns of Asia had been celebrated in the Greek +language by the title of Basileus, or King; and since it was considered +as the first distinction among men, it was soon employed by the servile +provincials of the East, in their humble addresses to the Roman throne. +[99] Even the attributes, or at least the titles, of the Divinity, were +usurped by Diocletian and Maximian, who transmitted them to a succession +of Christian emperors. [100] Such extravagant compliments, however, soon +lose their impiety by losing their meaning; and when the ear is once +accustomed to the sound, they are heard with indifference, as vague +though excessive professions of respect. + +[Footnote 97: See the 12th dissertation in Spanheim's excellent work de +Usu Numismatum. From medals, inscriptions, and historians, he examines +every title separately, and traces it from Augustus to the moment of its +disappearing.] + +[Footnote 98: Pliny (in Panegyr. c. 3, 55, &c.) speaks of Dominus with +execration, as synonymous to Tyrant, and opposite to Prince. And the +same Pliny regularly gives that title (in the tenth book of the +epistles) to his friend rather than master, the virtuous Trajan. This +strange contradiction puzzles the commentators, who think, and the +translators, who can write.] + +[Footnote 99: Synesius de Regno, edit. Petav. p. 15. I am indebted for +this quotation to the Abbe de la Bleterie.] + +[Footnote 100: Soe Vandale de Consecratione, p. 354, &c. It was +customary for the emperors to mention (in the preamble of laws) their +numen, sacreo majesty, divine oracles, &c. According to Tillemont, +Gregory Nazianzen complains most bitterly of the profanation, especially +when it was practised by an Arian emperor. * Note: In the time of the +republic, says Hegewisch, when the consuls, the praetors, and the other +magistrates appeared in public, to perform the functions of their +office, their dignity was announced both by the symbols which use had +consecrated, and the brilliant cortege by which they were accompanied. +But this dignity belonged to the office, not to the individual; this +pomp belonged to the magistrate, not to the man. * * The consul, +followed, in the comitia, by all the senate, the praetors, the +quaestors, the aediles, the lictors, the apparitors, and the heralds, on +reentering his house, was served only by freedmen and by his slaves. The +first emperors went no further. Tiberius had, for his personal +attendance, only a moderate number of slaves, and a few freedmen. +(Tacit. Ann. iv. 7.) But in proportion as the republican forms +disappeared, one after another, the inclination of the emperors to +environ themselves with personal pomp, displayed itself more and more. +** The magnificence and the ceremonial of the East were entirely +introduced by Diocletian, and were consecrated by Constantine to the +Imperial use. Thenceforth the palace, the court, the table, all the +personal attendance, distinguished the emperor from his subjects, still +more than his superior dignity. The organization which Diocletian gave +to his new court, attached less honor and distinction to rank than to +services performed towards the members of the Imperial family. +Hegewisch, Essai, Hist. sur les Finances Romains. Few historians have +characterized, in a more philosophic manner, the influence of a new +institution.--G.----It is singular that the son of a slave reduced the +haughty aristocracy of Home to the offices of servitude.--M.] + +From the time of Augustus to that of Diocletian, the Roman princes, +conversing in a familiar manner among their fellow-citizens, were +saluted only with the same respect that was usually paid to senators and +magistrates. Their principal distinction was the Imperial or military +robe of purple; whilst the senatorial garment was marked by a broad, and +the equestrian by a narrow, band or stripe of the same honorable color. +The pride, or rather the policy, of Diocletian, engaged that artful +prince to introduce the stately magnificence of the court of Persia. +[101] He ventured to assume the diadem, an ornament detested by the +Romans as the odious ensign of royalty, and the use of which had been +considered as the most desperate act of the madness of Caligula. It was +no more than a broad white fillet set with pearls, which encircled the +emperor's head. The sumptuous robes of Diocletian and his successors +were of silk and gold; and it is remarked with indignation, that even +their shoes were studded with the most precious gems. The access +to their sacred person was every day rendered more difficult by the +institution of new forms and ceremonies. The avenues of the palace were +strictly guarded by the various schools, as they began to be called, of +domestic officers. The interior apartments were intrusted to the jealous +vigilance of the eunuchs, the increase of whose numbers and influence +was the most infallible symptom of the progress of despotism. When a +subject was at length admitted to the Imperial presence, he was obliged, +whatever might be his rank, to fall prostrate on the ground, and to +adore, according to the eastern fashion, the divinity of his lord +and master. [102] Diocletian was a man of sense, who, in the course +of private as well as public life, had formed a just estimate both of +himself and of mankind: nor is it easy to conceive, that in substituting +the manners of Persia to those of Rome, he was seriously actuated by +so mean a principle as that of vanity. He flattered himself, that an +ostentation of splendor and luxury would subdue the imagination of the +multitude; that the monarch would be less exposed to the rude license of +the people and the soldiers, as his person was secluded from the public +view; and that habits of submission would insensibly be productive of +sentiments of veneration. Like the modesty affected by Augustus, the +state maintained by Diocletian was a theatrical representation; but it +must be confessed, that of the two comedies, the former was of a much +more liberal and manly character than the latter. It was the aim of the +one to disguise, and the object of the other to display, the unbounded +power which the emperors possessed over the Roman world. + +[Footnote 101: See Spanheim de Usu Numismat. Dissert. xii.] + +[Footnote 102: Aurelius Victor. Eutropius, ix. 26. It appears by the +Panegyrists, that the Romans were soon reconciled to the name and +ceremony of adoration.] + +Ostentation was the first principle of the new system instituted +by Diocletian. The second was division. He divided the empire, +the provinces, and every branch of the civil as well as military +administration. He multiplied the wheels of the machine of government, +and rendered its operations less rapid, but more secure. Whatever +advantages and whatever defects might attend these innovations, they +must be ascribed in a very great degree to the first inventor; but +as the new frame of policy was gradually improved and completed +by succeeding princes, it will be more satisfactory to delay the +consideration of it till the season of its full maturity and perfection. +[103] Reserving, therefore, for the reign of Constantine a more exact +picture of the new empire, we shall content ourselves with describing +the principal and decisive outline, as it was traced by the hand of +Diocletian. He had associated three colleagues in the exercise of the +supreme power; and as he was convinced that the abilities of a single +man were inadequate to the public defence, he considered the joint +administration of four princes not as a temporary expedient, but as a +fundamental law of the constitution. It was his intention, that the two +elder princes should be distinguished by the use of the diadem, and +the title of Augusti; that, as affection or esteem might direct their +choice, they should regularly call to their assistance two subordinate +colleagues; and that the Caesars, rising in their turn to the first +rank, should supply an uninterrupted succession of emperors. The empire +was divided into four parts. The East and Italy were the most honorable, +the Danube and the Rhine the most laborious stations. The former +claimed the presence of the Augusti, the latter were intrusted to the +administration of the Caesars. The strength of the legions was in +the hands of the four partners of sovereignty, and the despair of +successively vanquishing four formidable rivals might intimidate the +ambition of an aspiring general. In their civil government, the emperors +were supposed to exercise the undivided power of the monarch, and their +edicts, inscribed with their joint names, were received in all the +provinces, as promulgated by their mutual councils and authority. +Notwithstanding these precautions, the political union of the Roman +world was gradually dissolved, and a principle of division was +introduced, which, in the course of a few years, occasioned the +perpetual separation of the Eastern and Western Empires. + +[Footnote 103: The innovations introduced by Diocletian are chiefly +deduced, 1st, from some very strong passages in Lactantius; and, 2dly, +from the new and various offices which, in the Theodosian code, appear +already established in the beginning of the reign of Constantine.] + +The system of Diocletian was accompanied with another very material +disadvantage, which cannot even at present be totally overlooked; a more +expensive establishment, and consequently an increase of taxes, and +the oppression of the people. Instead of a modest family of slaves and +freedmen, such as had contented the simple greatness of Augustus and +Trajan, three or four magnificent courts were established in the various +parts of the empire, and as many Roman kings contended with each other +and with the Persian monarch for the vain superiority of pomp and +luxury. The number of ministers, of magistrates, of officers, and +of servants, who filled the different departments of the state, was +multiplied beyond the example of former times; and (if we may borrow +the warm expression of a contemporary) "when the proportion of those +who received, exceeded the proportion of those who contributed, the +provinces were oppressed by the weight of tributes." [104] From this +period to the extinction of the empire, it would be easy to deduce +an uninterrupted series of clamors and complaints. According to his +religion and situation, each writer chooses either Diocletian, or +Constantine, or Valens, or Theodosius, for the object of his invectives; +but they unanimously agree in representing the burden of the public +impositions, and particularly the land tax and capitation, as the +intolerable and increasing grievance of their own times. From such a +concurrence, an impartial historian, who is obliged to extract truth +from satire, as well as from panegyric, will be inclined to divide the +blame among the princes whom they accuse, and to ascribe their exactions +much less to their personal vices, than to the uniform system of their +administration. [1041] The emperor Diocletian was indeed the author of that +system; but during his reign, the growing evil was confined within +the bounds of modesty and discretion, and he deserves the reproach of +establishing pernicious precedents, rather than of exercising actual +oppression. [105] It may be added, that his revenues were managed +with prudent economy; and that after all the current expenses were +discharged, there still remained in the Imperial treasury an ample +provision either for judicious liberality or for any emergency of the +state. + +[Footnote 104: Lactant. de M. P. c. 7.] + +[Footnote 1041: The most curious document which has come to light since +the publication of Gibbon's History, is the edict of Diocletian, +published from an inscription found at Eskihissar, (Stratoniccia,) by +Col. Leake. This inscription was first copied by Sherard, afterwards +much more completely by Mr. Bankes. It is confirmed and illustrated by a +more imperfect copy of the same edict, found in the Levant by a +gentleman of Aix, and brought to this country by M. Vescovali. This +edict was issued in the name of the four Caesars, Diocletian, Maximian, +Constantius, and Galerius. It fixed a maximum of prices throughout the +empire, for all the necessaries and commodities of life. The preamble +insists, with great vehemence on the extortion and inhumanity of the +venders and merchants. Quis enim adeo obtunisi (obtusi) pectores (is) et +a sensu inhumanitatis extorris est qui ignorare potest immo non senserit +in venalibus rebus quaevel in mercimoniis aguntur vel diurna urbium +conversatione tractantur, in tantum se licen liam defusisse, ut +effraenata libido rapien--rum copia nec annorum ubertatibus mitigaretur. +The edict, as Col. Leake clearly shows, was issued A. C. 303. Among the +articles of which the maximum value is assessed, are oil, salt, honey, +butchers' meat, poultry, game, fish, vegetables, fruit the wages of +laborers and artisans, schoolmasters and skins, boots and shoes, +harness, timber, corn, wine, and beer, (zythus.) The depreciation in the +value of money, or the rise in the price of commodities, had been so +great during the past century, that butchers' meat, which, in the second +century of the empire, was in Rome about two denaril the pound, was now +fixed at a maximum of eight. Col. Leake supposes the average price could +not be less than four: at the same time the maximum of the wages of the +agricultural laborers was twenty-five. The whole edict is, perhaps, the +most gigantic effort of a blind though well-intentioned despotism, to +control that which is, and ought to be, beyond the regulation of the +government. See an Edict of Diocletian, by Col. Leake, London, 1826. +Col. Leake has not observed that this Edict is expressly named in the +treatise de Mort. Persecut. ch. vii. Idem cum variis iniquitatibus +immensam faceret caritatem, legem pretiis rerum venalium statuere +conatus.--M] + +[Footnote 105: Indicta lex nova quae sane illorum temporum modestia +tolerabilis, in perniciem processit. Aurel. Victor., who has treated the +character of Diocletian with good sense, though in bad Latin.] + +It was in the twenty first year of his reign that Diocletian +executed his memorable resolution of abdicating the empire; an action +more naturally to have been expected from the elder or the younger +Antoninus, than from a prince who had never practised the lessons of +philosophy either in the attainment or in the use of supreme power. +Diocletian acquired the glory of giving to the world the first example +of a resignation, [106] which has not been very frequently imitated by +succeeding monarchs. The parallel of Charles the Fifth, however, will +naturally offer itself to our mind, not only since the eloquence of +a modern historian has rendered that name so familiar to an English +reader, but from the very striking resemblance between the characters +of the two emperors, whose political abilities were superior to their +military genius, and whose specious virtues were much less the effect +of nature than of art. The abdication of Charles appears to have been +hastened by the vicissitude of fortune; and the disappointment of +his favorite schemes urged him to relinquish a power which he found +inadequate to his ambition. But the reign of Diocletian had flowed with +a tide of uninterrupted success; nor was it till after he had vanquished +all his enemies, and accomplished all his designs, that he seems to +have entertained any serious thoughts of resigning the empire. Neither +Charles nor Diocletian were arrived at a very advanced period of life; +since the one was only fifty-five, and the other was no more than +fifty-nine years of age; but the active life of those princes, their +wars and journeys, the cares of royalty, and their application to +business, had already impaired their constitution, and brought on the +infirmities of a premature old age. [107] + +[Footnote 106: Solus omnium post conditum Romanum Imperium, qui extanto +fastigio sponte ad privatae vitae statum civilitatemque remearet, +Eutrop. ix. 28.] + +[Footnote 107: The particulars of the journey and illness are taken +from Laclantius, c. 17, who may sometimes be admitted as an evidence of +public facts, though very seldom of private anecdotes.] + +Notwithstanding the severity of a very cold and rainy winter, Diocletian +left Italy soon after the ceremony of his triumph, and began his +progress towards the East round the circuit of the Illyrian provinces. +From the inclemency of the weather, and the fatigue of the journey, he +soon contracted a slow illness; and though he made easy marches, and was +generally carried in a close litter, his disorder, before he arrived +at Nicomedia, about the end of the summer, was become very serious and +alarming. During the whole winter he was confined to his palace: his +danger inspired a general and unaffected concern; but the people could +only judge of the various alterations of his health, from the joy or +consternation which they discovered in the countenances and behavior +of his attendants. The rumor of his death was for some time universally +believed, and it was supposed to be concealed with a view to prevent +the troubles that might have happened during the absence of the Caesar +Galerius. At length, however, on the first of March, Diocletian once +more appeared in public, but so pale and emaciated, that he could +scarcely have been recognized by those to whom his person was the most +familiar. It was time to put an end to the painful struggle, which he +had sustained during more than a year, between the care of his health +and that of his dignity. The former required indulgence and relaxation, +the latter compelled him to direct, from the bed of sickness, the +administration of a great empire. He resolved to pass the remainder of +his days in honorable repose, to place his glory beyond the reach of +fortune, and to relinquish the theatre of the world to his younger and +more active associates. [108] + +[Footnote 108: Aurelius Victor ascribes the abdication, which had been +so variously accounted for, to two causes: 1st, Diocletian's contempt of +ambition; and 2dly, His apprehension of impending troubles. One of the +panegyrists (vi. 9) mentions the age and infirmities of Diocletian as a +very natural reason for his retirement. * Note: Constantine (Orat. ad +Sanct. c. 401) more than insinuated that derangement of mind, connected +with the conflagration of the palace at Nicomedia by lightning, was the +cause of his abdication. But Heinichen. in a very sensible note on this +passage in Eusebius, while he admits that his long illness might produce +a temporary depression of spirits, triumphantly appeals to the +philosophical conduct of Diocletian in his retreat, and the influence +which he still retained on public affairs.--M.] + +The ceremony of his abdication was performed in a spacious plain, about +three miles from Nicomedia. The emperor ascended a lofty throne, and in +a speech, full of reason and dignity, declared his intention, both to +the people and to the soldiers who were assembled on this extraordinary +occasion. As soon as he had divested himself of his purple, he withdrew +from the gazing multitude; and traversing the city in a covered chariot, +proceeded, without delay, to the favorite retirement which he had chosen +in his native country of Dalmatia. On the same day, which was the first +of May, [109] Maximian, as it had been previously concerted, made his +resignation of the Imperial dignity at Milan. + +Even in the splendor of the Roman triumph, Diocletian had meditated +his design of abdicating the government. As he wished to secure the +obedience of Maximian, he exacted from him either a general assurance +that he would submit his actions to the authority of his benefactor, or +a particular promise that he would descend from the throne, whenever he +should receive the advice and the example. This engagement, though +it was confirmed by the solemnity of an oath before the altar of the +Capitoline Jupiter, [110] would have proved a feeble restraint on the +fierce temper of Maximian, whose passion was the love of power, and +who neither desired present tranquility nor future reputation. But he +yielded, however reluctantly, to the ascendant which his wiser colleague +had acquired over him, and retired, immediately after his abdication, +to a villa in Lucania, where it was almost impossible that such an +impatient spirit could find any lasting tranquility. + +[Footnote 109: The difficulties as well as mistakes attending the dates +both of the year and of the day of Diocletian's abdication are perfectly +cleared up by Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. p 525, note 19, +and by Pagi ad annum.] + +[Footnote 110: See Panegyr. Veter. vi. 9. The oration was pronounced +after Maximian had resumed the purple.] + +Diocletian, who, from a servile origin, had raised himself to the +throne, passed the nine last years of his life in a private condition. +Reason had dictated, and content seems to have accompanied, his retreat, +in which he enjoyed, for a long time, the respect of those princes to +whom he had resigned the possession of the world. [111] It is seldom that +minds long exercised in business have formed the habits of conversing +with themselves, and in the loss of power they principally regret the +want of occupation. The amusements of letters and of devotion, which +afford so many resources in solitude, were incapable of fixing the +attention of Diocletian; but he had preserved, or at least he soon +recovered, a taste for the most innocent as well as natural pleasures, +and his leisure hours were sufficiently employed in building, planting, +and gardening. His answer to Maximian is deservedly celebrated. He was +solicited by that restless old man to reassume the reins of government, +and the Imperial purple. He rejected the temptation with a smile of +pity, calmly observing, that if he could show Maximian the cabbages +which he had planted with his own hands at Salona, he should no longer +be urged to relinquish the enjoyment of happiness for the pursuit +of power. [112] In his conversations with his friends, he frequently +acknowledged, that of all arts, the most difficult was the art of +reigning; and he expressed himself on that favorite topic with a degree +of warmth which could be the result only of experience. "How often," was +he accustomed to say, "is it the interest of four or five ministers to +combine together to deceive their sovereign! Secluded from mankind by +his exalted dignity, the truth is concealed from his knowledge; he can +see only with their eyes, he hears nothing but their misrepresentations. +He confers the most important offices upon vice and weakness, and +disgraces the most virtuous and deserving among his subjects. By such +infamous arts," added Diocletian, "the best and wisest princes are sold +to the venal corruption of their courtiers." [113] A just estimate of +greatness, and the assurance of immortal fame, improve our relish +for the pleasures of retirement; but the Roman emperor had filled too +important a character in the world, to enjoy without alloy the comforts +and security of a private condition. It was impossible that he could +remain ignorant of the troubles which afflicted the empire after his +abdication. It was impossible that he could be indifferent to their +consequences. Fear, sorrow, and discontent, sometimes pursued him into +the solitude of Salona. His tenderness, or at least his pride, was +deeply wounded by the misfortunes of his wife and daughter; and the last +moments of Diocletian were imbittered by some affronts, which Licinius +and Constantine might have spared the father of so many emperors, +and the first author of their own fortune. A report, though of a very +doubtful nature, has reached our times, that he prudently withdrew +himself from their power by a voluntary death. [114] + +[Footnote 111: Eumenius pays him a very fine compliment: "At enim +divinum illum virum, qui primus imperium et participavit et posuit, +consilii et fact isui non poenitet; nec amisisse se putat quod sponte +transcripsit. Felix beatusque vere quem vestra, tantorum principum, +colunt privatum." Panegyr. Vet. vii. 15.] + +[Footnote 112: We are obliged to the younger Victor for this celebrated +item. Eutropius mentions the thing in a more general manner.] + +[Footnote 113: Hist. August. p. 223, 224. Vopiscus had learned this +conversation from his father.] + +[Footnote 114: The younger Victor slightly mentions the report. But as +Diocletian had disobliged a powerful and successful party, his memory +has been loaded with every crime and misfortune. It has been affirmed +that he died raving mad, that he was condemned as a criminal by the +Roman senate, &c.] + +Before we dismiss the consideration of the life and character of +Diocletian, we may, for a moment, direct our view to the place of his +retirement. Salona, a principal city of his native province of Dalmatia, +was near two hundred Roman miles (according to the measurement of the +public highways) from Aquileia and the confines of Italy, and about two +hundred and seventy from Sirmium, the usual residence of the emperors +whenever they visited the Illyrian frontier. [115] A miserable village +still preserves the name of Salona; but so late as the sixteenth +century, the remains of a theatre, and a confused prospect of broken +arches and marble columns, continued to attest its ancient splendor. +[116] About six or seven miles from the city, Diocletian constructed a +magnificent palace, and we may infer, from the greatness of the work, +how long he had meditated his design of abdicating the empire. The +choice of a spot which united all that could contribute either to health +or to luxury, did not require the partiality of a native. "The soil was +dry and fertile, the air is pure and wholesome, and though extremely +hot during the summer months, this country seldom feels those sultry and +noxious winds, to which the coasts of Istria and some parts of Italy are +exposed. The views from the palace are no less beautiful than the soil +and climate were inviting. Towards the west lies the fertile shore that +stretches along the Adriatic, in which a number of small islands +are scattered in such a manner, as to give this part of the sea the +appearance of a great lake. On the north side lies the bay, which led +to the ancient city of Salona; and the country beyond it, appearing in +sight, forms a proper contrast to that more extensive prospect of water, +which the Adriatic presents both to the south and to the east. Towards +the north, the view is terminated by high and irregular mountains, +situated at a proper distance, and in many places covered with villages, +woods, and vineyards." [117] + +[Footnote 115: See the Itiner. p. 269, 272, edit. Wessel.] + +[Footnote 116: The Abate Fortis, in his Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. 43, +(printed at Venice in the year 1774, in two small volumes in quarto,) +quotes a Ms account of the antiquities of Salona, composed by +Giambattista Giustiniani about the middle of the xvith century.] + +[Footnote 117: Adam's Antiquities of Diocletian's Palace at Spalatro, +p. 6. We may add a circumstance or two from the Abate Fortis: the little +stream of the Hyader, mentioned by Lucan, produces most exquisite trout, +which a sagacious writer, perhaps a monk, supposes to have been one of +the principal reasons that determined Diocletian in the choice of his +retirement. Fortis, p. 45. The same author (p. 38) observes, that a +taste for agriculture is reviving at Spalatro; and that an experimental +farm has lately been established near the city, by a society of +gentlemen.] + +Though Constantine, from a very obvious prejudice, affects to +mention the palace of Diocletian with contempt, [118] yet one of their +successors, who could only see it in a neglected and mutilated state, +celebrates its magnificence in terms of the highest admiration. [119] It +covered an extent of ground consisting of between nine and ten English +acres. The form was quadrangular, flanked with sixteen towers. Two of +the sides were near six hundred, and the other two near seven hundred +feet in length. The whole was constructed of a beautiful freestone, +extracted from the neighboring quarries of Trau, or Tragutium, and very +little inferior to marble itself. Four streets, intersecting each other +at right angles, divided the several parts of this great edifice, +and the approach to the principal apartment was from a very stately +entrance, which is still denominated the Golden Gate. The approach was +terminated by a peristylium of granite columns, on one side of which +we discover the square temple of Aesculapius, on the other the octagon +temple of Jupiter. The latter of those deities Diocletian revered as the +patron of his fortunes, the former as the protector of his health. +By comparing the present remains with the precepts of Vitruvius, the +several parts of the building, the baths, bed-chamber, the atrium, the +basilica, and the Cyzicene, Corinthian, and Egyptian halls have been +described with some degree of precision, or at least of probability. +Their forms were various, their proportions just; but they all were +attended with two imperfections, very repugnant to our modern notions +of taste and conveniency. These stately rooms had neither windows nor +chimneys. They were lighted from the top, (for the building seems to +have consisted of no more than one story,) and they received their heat +by the help of pipes that were conveyed along the walls. The range of +principal apartments was protected towards the south-west by a portico +five hundred and seventeen feet long, which must have formed a very +noble and delightful walk, when the beauties of painting and sculpture +were added to those of the prospect. + +[Footnote 118: Constantin. Orat. ad Coetum Sanct. c. 25. In this sermon, +the emperor, or the bishop who composed it for him, affects to relate +the miserable end of all the persecutors of the church.] + +[Footnote 119: Constantin. Porphyr. de Statu Imper. p. 86.] + +Had this magnificent edifice remained in a solitary country, it would +have been exposed to the ravages of time; but it might, perhaps, have +escaped the rapacious industry of man. The village of Aspalathus, [120] +and, long afterwards, the provincial town of Spalatro, have grown out of +its ruins. The Golden Gate now opens into the market-place. St. John the +Baptist has usurped the honors of Aesculapius; and the temple of +Jupiter, under the protection of the Virgin, is converted into the +cathedral church. + +For this account of Diocletian's palace we are principally indebted to +an ingenious artist of our own time and country, whom a very liberal +curiosity carried into the heart of Dalmatia. [121] But there is room +to suspect that the elegance of his designs and engraving has somewhat +flattered the objects which it was their purpose to represent. We are +informed by a more recent and very judicious traveller, that the awful +ruins of Spalatro are not less expressive of the decline of the art than +of the greatness of the Roman empire in the time of Diocletian. [122] +If such was indeed the state of architecture, we must naturally believe +that painting and sculpture had experienced a still more sensible decay. +The practice of architecture is directed by a few general and even +mechanical rules. But sculpture, and above all, painting, propose to +themselves the imitation not only of the forms of nature, but of the +characters and passions of the human soul. In those sublime arts, the +dexterity of the hand is of little avail, unless it is animated by +fancy, and guided by the most correct taste and observation. + +[Footnote 120: D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 162.] + +[Footnote 121: Messieurs Adam and Clerisseau, attended by two +draughtsmen visited Spalatro in the month of July, 1757. The magnificent +work which their journey produced was published in London seven years +afterwards.] + +[Footnote 122: I shall quote the words of the Abate Fortis. +"E'bastevolmente agli amatori dell' Architettura, e dell' Antichita, +l'opera del Signor Adams, che a donato molto a que' superbi vestigi +coll'abituale eleganza del suo toccalapis e del bulino. In generale la +rozzezza del scalpello, e'l cattivo gusto del secolo vi gareggiano colla +magnificenz del fabricato." See Viaggio in Dalmazia, p. 40.] + +It is almost unnecessary to remark, that the civil distractions of the +empire, the license of the soldiers, the inroads of the barbarians, and +the progress of despotism, had proved very unfavorable to genius, and +even to learning. The succession of Illyrian princes restored the +empire without restoring the sciences. Their military education was not +calculated to inspire them with the love of letters; and even the mind +of Diocletian, however active and capacious in business, was totally +uninformed by study or speculation. The professions of law and physic +are of such common use and certain profit, that they will always secure +a sufficient number of practitioners, endowed with a reasonable degree +of abilities and knowledge; but it does not appear that the students in +those two faculties appeal to any celebrated masters who have flourished +within that period. The voice of poetry was silent. History was reduced +to dry and confused abridgments, alike destitute of amusement and +instruction. A languid and affected eloquence was still retained in +the pay and service of the emperors, who encouraged not any arts except +those which contributed to the gratification of their pride, or the +defence of their power. [123] + +[Footnote 123: The orator Eumenius was secretary to the emperors +Maximian and Constantius, and Professor of Rhetoric in the college of +Autun. His salary was six hundred thousand sesterces, which, according +to the lowest computation of that age, must have exceeded three thousand +pounds a year. He generously requested the permission of employing it in +rebuilding the college. See his Oration De Restaurandis Scholis; which, +though not exempt from vanity, may atone for his panegyrics.] + +The declining age of learning and of mankind is marked, however, by the +rise and rapid progress of the new Platonists. The school of Alexandria +silenced those of Athens; and the ancient sects enrolled themselves +under the banners of the more fashionable teachers, who recommended +their system by the novelty of their method, and the austerity of their +manners. Several of these masters, Ammonius, Plotinus, Amelius, and +Porphyry, [124] were men of profound thought and intense application; +but by mistaking the true object of philosophy, their labors contributed +much less to improve than to corrupt the human understanding. The +knowledge that is suited to our situation and powers, the whole compass +of moral, natural, and mathematical science, was neglected by the new +Platonists; whilst they exhausted their strength in the verbal disputes +of metaphysics, attempted to explore the secrets of the invisible world, +and studied to reconcile Aristotle with Plato, on subjects of which both +these philosophers were as ignorant as the rest of mankind. Consuming +their reason in these deep but unsubstantial meditations, their minds +were exposed to illusions of fancy. They flattered themselves that they +possessed the secret of disengaging the soul from its corporal prison; +claimed a familiar intercourse with demons and spirits; and, by a very +singular revolution, converted the study of philosophy into that of +magic. The ancient sages had derided the popular superstition; after +disguising its extravagance by the thin pretence of allegory, the +disciples of Plotinus and Porphyry became its most zealous defenders. +As they agreed with the Christians in a few mysterious points of faith, +they attacked the remainder of their theological system with all the +fury of civil war. The new Platonists would scarcely deserve a place in +the history of science, but in that of the church the mention of them +will very frequently occur. + +[Footnote 124: Porphyry died about the time of Diocletian's abdication. +The life of his master Plotinus, which he composed, will give us the +most complete idea of the genius of the sect, and the manners of its +professors. This very curious piece is inserted in Fabricius Bibliotheca +Graeca tom. iv. p. 88--148.] + + + + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part I. + + Troubles After The Abdication Of Diocletian.--Death Of + Constantius.--Elevation Of Constantine And Maxen Tius.-- + Six Emperors At The Same Time.--Death Of Maximian And + Galerius.--Victories Of Constantine Over Maxentius And + Licinus.--Reunion Of The Empire Under The Authority Of + Constantine. + +The balance of power established by Diocletian subsisted no longer than +while it was sustained by the firm and dexterous hand of the founder. It +required such a fortunate mixture of different tempers and abilities, +as could scarcely be found or even expected a second time; two emperors +without jealousy, two Caesars without ambition, and the same general +interest invariably pursued by four independent princes. The abdication +of Diocletian and Maximian was succeeded by eighteen years of discord +and confusion. The empire was afflicted by five civil wars; and the +remainder of the time was not so much a state of tranquillity as a +suspension of arms between several hostile monarchs, who, viewing +each other with an eye of fear and hatred, strove to increase their +respective forces at the expense of their subjects. + +As soon as Diocletian and Maximian had resigned the purple, their +station, according to the rules of the new constitution, was filled by +the two Caesars, Constantius and Galerius, who immediately assumed the +title of Augustus. [1] + +[Footnote 1: M. de Montesquieu (Considerations sur la Grandeur et La +Decadence des Romains, c. 17) supposes, on the authority of Orosius and +Eusebius, that, on this occasion, the empire, for the first time, was +really divided into two parts. It is difficult, however, to discover in +what respect the plan of Galerius differed from that of Diocletian.] + +The honors of seniority and precedence were allowed to the former of +those princes, and he continued under a new appellation to administer +his ancient department of Gaul, Spain, and Britain. + +The government of those ample provinces was sufficient to exercise +his talents and to satisfy his ambition. Clemency, temperance, and +moderation, distinguished the amiable character of Constantius, and his +fortunate subjects had frequently occasion to compare the virtues of +their sovereign with the passions of Maximian, and even with the arts +of Diocletian. [2] Instead of imitating their eastern pride and +magnificence, Constantius preserved the modesty of a Roman prince. He +declared, with unaffected sincerity, that his most valued treasure +was in the hearts of his people, and that, whenever the dignity of the +throne, or the danger of the state, required any extraordinary supply, +he could depend with confidence on their gratitude and liberality. [3] +The provincials of Gaul, Spain, and Britain, sensible of his worth, and +of their own happiness, reflected with anxiety on the declining health +of the emperor Constantius, and the tender age of his numerous family, +the issue of his second marriage with the daughter of Maximian. + +[Footnote 2: Hic non modo amabilis, sed etiam venerabilis Gallis +fuit; praecipuc quod Diocletiani suspectam prudentiam, et Maximiani +sanguinariam violentiam imperio ejus evaserant. Eutrop. Breviar. x. i.] + +[Footnote 3: Divitiis Provincialium (mel. provinciarum) ac privatorum +studens, fisci commoda non admodum affectans; ducensque melius publicas +opes a privatis haberi, quam intra unum claustrum reservari. Id. ibid. +He carried this maxim so far, that whenever he gave an entertainment, he +was obliged to borrow a service of plate.] + +The stern temper of Galerius was cast in a very different mould; and +while he commanded the esteem of his subjects, he seldom condescended to +solicit their affections. His fame in arms, and, above all, the success +of the Persian war, had elated his haughty mind, which was naturally +impatient of a superior, or even of an equal. If it were possible to +rely on the partial testimony of an injudicious writer, we might ascribe +the abdication of Diocletian to the menaces of Galerius, and relate the +particulars of a private conversation between the two princes, in which +the former discovered as much pusillanimity as the latter displayed +ingratitude and arrogance. [4] But these obscure anecdotes are +sufficiently refuted by an impartial view of the character and conduct of +Diocletian. Whatever might otherwise have been his intentions, if he +had apprehended any danger from the violence of Galerius, his good sense +would have instructed him to prevent the ignominious contest; and as +he had held the sceptre with glory, he would have resigned it without +disgrace. + +[Footnote 4: Lactantius de Mort. Persecutor. c. 18. Were the particulars +of this conference more consistent with truth and decency, we might +still ask how they came to the knowledge of an obscure rhetorician. But +there are many historians who put us in mind of the admirable saying of +the great Conde to Cardinal de Retz: "Ces coquins nous font parlor et +agir, comme ils auroient fait eux-memes a notre place." * Note: This +attack upon Lactantius is unfounded. Lactantius was so far from having +been an obscure rhetorician, that he had taught rhetoric publicly, and +with the greatest success, first in Africa, and afterwards in Nicomedia. +His reputation obtained him the esteem of Constantine, who invited him +to his court, and intrusted to him the education of his son Crispus. The +facts which he relates took place during his own time; he cannot be +accused of dishonesty or imposture. Satis me vixisse arbitrabor et +officium hominis implesse si labor meus aliquos homines, ab erroribus +iberatos, ad iter coeleste direxerit. De Opif. Dei, cap. 20. The +eloquence of Lactantius has caused him to be called the Christian +Cicero. Annon Gent.--G. ----Yet no unprejudiced person can read this +coarse and particular private conversation of the two emperors, without +assenting to the justice of Gibbon's severe sentence. But the authorship +of the treatise is by no means certain. The fame of Lactantius for +eloquence as well as for truth, would suffer no loss if it should be +adjudged to some more "obscure rhetorician." Manso, in his Leben +Constantins des Grossen, concurs on this point with Gibbon Beylage, iv. +--M.] + +After the elevation of Constantius and Galerius to the rank of Augusti, +two new Caesars were required to supply their place, and to complete the +system of the Imperial government. Diocletian, was sincerely desirous +of withdrawing himself from the world; he considered Galerius, who had +married his daughter, as the firmest support of his family and of the +empire; and he consented, without reluctance, that his successor should +assume the merit as well as the envy of the important nomination. It was +fixed without consulting the interest or inclination of the princes of +the West. Each of them had a son who was arrived at the age of manhood, +and who might have been deemed the most natural candidates for the +vacant honor. But the impotent resentment of Maximian was no longer to +be dreaded; and the moderate Constantius, though he might despise the +dangers, was humanely apprehensive of the calamities, of civil war. +The two persons whom Galerius promoted to the rank of Caesar, were much +better suited to serve the views of his ambition; and their principal +recommendation seems to have consisted in the want of merit or personal +consequence. The first of these was Daza, or, as he was afterwards +called, Maximin, whose mother was the sister of Galerius. The +unexperienced youth still betrayed, by his manners and language, his +rustic education, when, to his own astonishment, as well as that of the +world, he was invested by Diocletian with the purple, exalted to the +dignity of Caesar, and intrusted with the sovereign command of Egypt +and Syria. [5] At the same time, Severus, a faithful servant, addicted to +pleasure, but not incapable of business, was sent to Milan, to receive, +from the reluctant hands of Maximian, the Caesarian ornaments, and +the possession of Italy and Africa. According to the forms of the +constitution, Severus acknowledged the supremacy of the western +emperor; but he was absolutely devoted to the commands of his benefactor +Galerius, who, reserving to himself the intermediate countries from the +confines of Italy to those of Syria, firmly established his power +over three fourths of the monarchy. In the full confidence that the +approaching death of Constantius would leave him sole master of the +Roman world, we are assured that he had arranged in his mind a long +succession of future princes, and that he meditated his own retreat from +public life, after he should have accomplished a glorious reign of about +twenty years. [7] + +[Footnote 5: Sublatus nuper a pecoribus et silvis (says Lactantius de M. +P. c. 19) statim Scutarius, continuo Protector, mox Tribunus, postridie +Caesar, accepit Orientem. Aurelius Victor is too liberal in giving +him the whole portion of Diocletian.] + +[Footnote 6: His diligence and fidelity are acknowledged even by +Lactantius, de M. P. c. 18.] + +[Footnote 7: These schemes, however, rest only on the very doubtful +authority of Lactantius de M. P. c. 20.] + +But within less than eighteen months, two unexpected revolutions +overturned the ambitious schemes of Galerius. The hopes of uniting the +western provinces to his empire were disappointed by the elevation of +Constantine, whilst Italy and Africa were lost by the successful revolt +of Maxentius. + + +I. The fame of Constantine has rendered posterity attentive to the most +minute circumstances of his life and actions. The place of his birth, as +well as the condition of his mother Helena, have been the subject, not +only of literary, but of national disputes. Notwithstanding the recent +tradition, which assigns for her father a British king, [8] we are +obliged to confess, that Helena was the daughter of an innkeeper; but at +the same time, we may defend the legality of her marriage, against those +who have represented her as the concubine of Constantius. [9] The great +Constantine was most probably born at Naissus, in Dacia; [10] and it is +not surprising that, in a family and province distinguished only by the +profession of arms, the youth should discover very little inclination +to improve his mind by the acquisition of knowledge. [11] He was about +eighteen years of age when his father was promoted to the rank of +Caesar; but that fortunate event was attended with his mother's divorce; +and the splendor of an Imperial alliance reduced the son of Helena to a +state of disgrace and humiliation. Instead of following Constantius in +the West, he remained in the service of Diocletian, signalized his valor +in the wars of Egypt and Persia, and gradually rose to the honorable +station of a tribune of the first order. The figure of Constantine was +tall and majestic; he was dexterous in all his exercises, intrepid in +war, affable in peace; in his whole conduct, the active spirit of youth +was tempered by habitual prudence; and while his mind was engrossed +by ambition, he appeared cold and insensible to the allurements of +pleasure. The favor of the people and soldiers, who had named him as a +worthy candidate for the rank of Caesar, served only to exasperate +the jealousy of Galerius; and though prudence might restrain him from +exercising any open violence, an absolute monarch is seldom at a loss +how to execute a sure and secret revenge. [12] Every hour increased the +danger of Constantine, and the anxiety of his father, who, by repeated +letters, expressed the warmest desire of embracing his son. For some +time the policy of Galerius supplied him with delays and excuses; but +it was impossible long to refuse so natural a request of his associate, +without maintaining his refusal by arms. The permission of the journey +was reluctantly granted, and whatever precautions the emperor might have +taken to intercept a return, the consequences of which he, with so +much reason, apprehended, they were effectually disappointed by the +incredible diligence of Constantine. [13] Leaving the palace of Nicomedia +in the night, he travelled post through Bithynia, Thrace, Dacia, +Pannonia, Italy, and Gaul, and, amidst the joyful acclamations of the +people, reached the port of Boulogne in the very moment when his father +was preparing to embark for Britain. [14] + +[Footnote 8: This tradition, unknown to the contemporaries of +Constantine was invented in the darkness of monestaries, was embellished +by Jeffrey of Monmouth, and the writers of the xiith century, has been +defended by our antiquarians of the last age, and is seriously related +in the ponderous History of England, compiled by Mr. Carte, (vol. i. p. +147.) He transports, however, the kingdom of Coil, the imaginary father +of Helena, from Essex to the wall of Antoninus.] + +[Footnote 9: Eutropius (x. 2) expresses, in a few words, the real truth, +and the occasion of the error "ex obscuriori matrimonio ejus filius." +Zosimus (l. ii. p. 78) eagerly seized the most unfavorable report, +and is followed by Orosius, (vii. 25,) whose authority is oddly enough +overlooked by the indefatigable, but partial Tillemont. By insisting on +the divorce of Helena, Diocletian acknowledged her marriage.] + +[Footnote 10: There are three opinions with regard to the place of +Constantine's birth. 1. Our English antiquarians were used to dwell +with rapture on the words of his panegyrist, "Britannias illic oriendo +nobiles fecisti." But this celebrated passage may be referred with as +much propriety to the accession, as to the nativity of Constantine. +2. Some of the modern Greeks have ascribed the honor of his birth to +Drepanum, a town on the Gulf of Nicomedia, (Cellarius, tom. ii. p. 174,) +which Constantine dignified with the name of Helenopolis, and Justinian +adorned with many splendid buildings, (Procop. de Edificiis, v. 2.) It +is indeed probable enough, that Helena's father kept an inn at Drepanum, +and that Constantius might lodge there when he returned from a Persian +embassy, in the reign of Aurelian. But in the wandering life of a +soldier, the place of his marriage, and the places where his children +are born, have very little connection with each other. 3. The claim of +Naissus is supported by the anonymous writer, published at the end of +Ammianus, p. 710, and who in general copied very good materials; and +it is confirmed by Julius Firmicus, (de Astrologia, l. i. c. 4,) who +flourished under the reign of Constantine himself. Some objections have +been raised against the integrity of the text, and the application of +the passage of Firmicus but the former is established by the best Mss., +and the latter is very ably defended by Lipsius de Magnitudine Romana, +l. iv. c. 11, et Supplement.] + +[Footnote 11: Literis minus instructus. Anonym. ad Ammian. p. 710.] + +[Footnote 12: Galerius, or perhaps his own courage, exposed him to +single combat with a Sarmatian, (Anonym. p. 710,) and with a monstrous +lion. See Praxagoras apud Photium, p. 63. Praxagoras, an Athenian +philosopher, had written a life of Constantine in two books, which are +now lost. He was a contemporary.] + +[Footnote 13: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 78, 79. Lactantius de M. P. c. 24. The +former tells a very foolish story, that Constantine caused all the +post-horses which he had used to be hamstrung. Such a bloody execution, +without preventing a pursuit, would have scattered suspicions, and might +have stopped his journey. * Note: Zosimus is not the only writer who +tells this story. The younger Victor confirms it. Ad frustrandos +insequentes, publica jumenta, quaqua iter ageret, interficiens. Aurelius +Victor de Caesar says the same thing, G. as also the Anonymus Valesii.-- +M. ----Manso, (Leben Constantins,) p. 18, observes that the story has +been exaggerated; he took this precaution during the first stage of his +journey.--M.] + +[Footnote 14: Anonym. p. 710. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 4. But Zosimus, l. +ii. p. 79, Eusebius de Vit. Constant. l. i. c. 21, and Lactantius de M. +P. c. 24. suppose, with less accuracy, that he found his father on +his death-bed.] + +The British expedition, and an easy victory over the barbarians of +Caledonia, were the last exploits of the reign of Constantius. He ended +his life in the Imperial palace of York, fifteen months after he had +received the title of Augustus, and almost fourteen years and a half +after he had been promoted to the rank of Caesar. His death was +immediately succeeded by the elevation of Constantine. The ideas of +inheritance and succession are so very familiar, that the generality of +mankind consider them as founded, not only in reason, but in nature +itself. Our imagination readily transfers the same principles from +private property to public dominion: and whenever a virtuous father +leaves behind him a son whose merit seems to justify the esteem, or even +the hopes, of the people, the joint influence of prejudice and of +affection operates with irresistible weight. The flower of the western +armies had followed Constantius into Britain, and the national troops +were reenforced by a numerous body of Alemanni, who obeyed the orders of +Crocus, one of their hereditary chieftains. [15] The opinion of their +own importance, and the assurance that Britain, Gaul, and Spain would +acquiesce in their nomination, were diligently inculcated to the legions +by the adherents of Constantine. The soldiers were asked, whether they +could hesitate a moment between the honor of placing at their head the +worthy son of their beloved emperor, and the ignominy of tamely +expecting the arrival of some obscure stranger, on whom it might please +the sovereign of Asia to bestow the armies and provinces of the West. It +was insinuated to them, that gratitude and liberality held a +distinguished place among the virtues of Constantine; nor did that +artful prince show himself to the troops, till they were prepared to +salute him with the names of Augustus and Emperor. The throne was the +object of his desires; and had he been less actuated by ambition, it was +his only means of safety. He was well acquainted with the character and +sentiments of Galerius, and sufficiently apprised, that if he wished to +live he must determine to reign. The decent and even obstinate +resistance which he chose to affect, [16] was contrived to justify his +usurpation; nor did he yield to the acclamations of the army, till he +had provided the proper materials for a letter, which he immediately +despatched to the emperor of the East. Constantine informed him of the +melancholy event of his father's death, modestly asserted his natural +claim to the succession, and respectfully lamented, that the +affectionate violence of his troops had not permitted him to solicit the +Imperial purple in the regular and constitutional manner. The first +emotions of Galerius were those of surprise, disappointment, and rage; +and as he could seldom restrain his passions, he loudly threatened, that +he would commit to the flames both the letter and the messenger. But his +resentment insensibly subsided; and when he recollected the doubtful +chance of war, when he had weighed the character and strength of his +adversary, he consented to embrace the honorable accommodation which the +prudence of Constantine had left open to him. Without either condemning +or ratifying the choice of the British army, Galerius accepted the son +of his deceased colleague as the sovereign of the provinces beyond the +Alps; but he gave him only the title of Caesar, and the fourth rank +among the Roman princes, whilst he conferred the vacant place of +Augustus on his favorite Severus. The apparent harmony of the empire was +still preserved, and Constantine, who already possessed the substance, +expected, without impatience, an opportunity of obtaining the honors, of +supreme power. [17] + +[Footnote 15: Cunctis qui aderant, annitentibus, sed praecipue Croco +(alii Eroco) [Erich?] Alamannorum Rege, auxilii gratia Constantium +comitato, imperium capit. Victor Junior, c. 41. This is perhaps the +first instance of a barbarian king, who assisted the Roman arms with an +independent body of his own subjects. The practice grew familiar and +at last became fatal.] + +[Footnote 16: His panegyrist Eumenius (vii. 8) ventures to affirm in the +presence of Constantine, that he put spurs to his horse, and tried, but +in vain, to escape from the hands of his soldiers.] + +[Footnote 17: Lactantius de M. P. c. 25. Eumenius (vii. 8.) gives a +rhetorical turn to the whole transaction.] + +The children of Constantius by his second marriage were six in number, +three of either sex, and whose Imperial descent might have solicited +a preference over the meaner extraction of the son of Helena. But +Constantine was in the thirty-second year of his age, in the full vigor +both of mind and body, at the time when the eldest of his brothers could +not possibly be more than thirteen years old. His claim of superior +merit had been allowed and ratified by the dying emperor. [18] In his +last moments Constantius bequeathed to his eldest son the care of the +safety as well as greatness of the family; conjuring him to assume both +the authority and the sentiments of a father with regard to the children +of Theodora. Their liberal education, advantageous marriages, the secure +dignity of their lives, and the first honors of the state with which +they were invested, attest the fraternal affection of Constantine; +and as those princes possessed a mild and grateful disposition, they +submitted without reluctance to the superiority of his genius and +fortune. [19] + +[Footnote 18: The choice of Constantine, by his dying father, which is +warranted by reason, and insinuated by Eumenius, seems to be confirmed +by the most unexceptionable authority, the concurring evidence of +Lactantius (de M. P. c. 24) and of Libanius, (Oratio i.,) of Eusebius +(in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 18, 21) and of Julian, (Oratio i)] + +[Footnote 19: Of the three sisters of Constantine, Constantia married +the emperor Licinius, Anastasia the Caesar Bassianus, and Eutropia +the consul Nepotianus. The three brothers were, Dalmatius, Julius +Constantius, and Annibalianus, of whom we shall have occasion to speak +hereafter.] + + +II. The ambitious spirit of Galerius was scarcely reconciled +to the disappointment of his views upon the Gallic provinces, before the +unexpected loss of Italy wounded his pride as well as power in a still +more sensible part. The long absence of the emperors had filled Rome +with discontent and indignation; and the people gradually discovered, +that the preference given to Nicomedia and Milan was not to be ascribed +to the particular inclination of Diocletian, but to the permanent form +of government which he had instituted. It was in vain that, a few months +after his abdication, his successors dedicated, under his name, those +magnificent baths, whose ruins still supply the ground as well as the +materials for so many churches and convents. [20] The tranquility of +those elegant recesses of ease and luxury was disturbed by the impatient +murmurs of the Romans, and a report was insensibly circulated, that +the sums expended in erecting those buildings would soon be required +at their hands. About that time the avarice of Galerius, or perhaps +the exigencies of the state, had induced him to make a very strict and +rigorous inquisition into the property of his subjects, for the purpose +of a general taxation, both on their lands and on their persons. A very +minute survey appears to have been taken of their real estates; and +wherever there was the slightest suspicion of concealment, torture was +very freely employed to obtain a sincere declaration of their personal +wealth. [21] The privileges which had exalted Italy above the rank of the +provinces were no longer regarded: [211] and the officers of the revenue +already began to number the Roman people, and to settle the proportion +of the new taxes. Even when the spirit of freedom had been utterly +extinguished, the tamest subjects have sometimes ventured to resist +an unprecedented invasion of their property; but on this occasion the +injury was aggravated by the insult, and the sense of private interest +was quickened by that of national honor. The conquest of Macedonia, as +we have already observed, had delivered the Roman people from the weight +of personal taxes. + +Though they had experienced every form of despotism, they had now +enjoyed that exemption near five hundred years; nor could they patiently +brook the insolence of an Illyrian peasant, who, from his distant +residence in Asia, presumed to number Rome among the tributary cities +of his empire. The rising fury of the people was encouraged by the +authority, or at least the connivance, of the senate; and the feeble +remains of the Praetorian guards, who had reason to apprehend their +own dissolution, embraced so honorable a pretence, and declared their +readiness to draw their swords in the service of their oppressed +country. It was the wish, and it soon became the hope, of every citizen, +that after expelling from Italy their foreign tyrants, they should +elect a prince who, by the place of his residence, and by his maxims +of government, might once more deserve the title of Roman emperor. The +name, as well as the situation, of Maxentius determined in his favor the +popular enthusiasm. + +[Footnote 20: See Gruter. Inscrip. p. 178. The six princes are all +mentioned, Diocletian and Maximian as the senior Augusti, and fathers +of the emperors. They jointly dedicate, for the use of their own Romans, +this magnificent edifice. The architects have delineated the ruins of +these Thermoe, and the antiquarians, particularly Donatus and Nardini, +have ascertained the ground which they covered. One of the great rooms +is now the Carthusian church; and even one of the porter's lodges is +sufficient to form another church, which belongs to the Feuillans.] + +[Footnote 21: See Lactantius de M. P. c. 26, 31. ] + +[Footnote 211: Saviguy, in his memoir on Roman taxation, (Mem. Berl. +Academ. 1822, 1823, p. 5,) dates from this period the abolition of the +Jus Italicum. He quotes a remarkable passage of Aurelius Victor. Hinc +denique parti Italiae invec tum tributorum ingens malum. Aur. Vict. c. +39. It was a necessary consequence of the division of the empire: it +became impossible to maintain a second court and executive, and leave +so large and fruitful a part of the territory exempt from +contribution.--M.] + +Maxentius was the son of the emperor Maximian, and he had married the +daughter of Galerius. His birth and alliance seemed to offer him +the fairest promise of succeeding to the empire; but his vices and +incapacity procured him the same exclusion from the dignity of Caesar, +which Constantine had deserved by a dangerous superiority of merit. The +policy of Galerius preferred such associates as would never disgrace +the choice, nor dispute the commands, of their benefactor. An obscure +stranger was therefore raised to the throne of Italy, and the son of +the late emperor of the West was left to enjoy the luxury of a private +fortune in a villa a few miles distant from the capital. The gloomy +passions of his soul, shame, vexation, and rage, were inflamed by envy +on the news of Constantine's success; but the hopes of Maxentius revived +with the public discontent, and he was easily persuaded to unite his +personal injury and pretensions with the cause of the Roman people. +Two Praetorian tribunes and a commissary of provisions undertook the +management of the conspiracy; and as every order of men was actuated by +the same spirit, the immediate event was neither doubtful nor difficult. +The praefect of the city, and a few magistrates, who maintained their +fidelity to Severus, were massacred by the guards; and Maxentius, +invested with the Imperial ornaments, was acknowledged by the applauding +senate and people as the protector of the Roman freedom and dignity. +It is uncertain whether Maximian was previously acquainted with the +conspiracy; but as soon as the standard of rebellion was erected at +Rome, the old emperor broke from the retirement where the authority of +Diocletian had condemned him to pass a life of melancholy and solitude, +and concealed his returning ambition under the disguise of paternal +tenderness. At the request of his son and of the senate, he condescended +to reassume the purple. His ancient dignity, his experience, and his +fame in arms, added strength as well as reputation to the party of +Maxentius. [22] + +[Footnote 22: The sixth Panegyric represents the conduct of Maximian +in the most favorable light, and the ambiguous expression of Aurelius +Victor, "retractante diu," may signify either that he contrived, or that +he opposed, the conspiracy. See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 79, and Lactantius +de M. P. c. 26.] + +According to the advice, or rather the orders, of his colleague, the +emperor Severus immediately hastened to Rome, in the full confidence, +that, by his unexpected celerity, he should easily suppress the tumult +of an unwarlike populace, commanded by a licentious youth. But he found +on his arrival the gates of the city shut against him, the walls filled +with men and arms, an experienced general at the head of the rebels, and +his own troops without spirit or affection. A large body of Moors +deserted to the enemy, allured by the promise of a large donative; and, +if it be true that they had been levied by Maximian in his African war, +preferring the natural feelings of gratitude to the artificial ties of +allegiance. Anulinus, the Praetorian praefect, declared himself in favor +of Maxentius, and drew after him the most considerable part of the +troops, accustomed to obey his commands. + +Rome, according to the expression of an orator, recalled her armies; and +the unfortunate Severus, destitute of force and of counsel, retired, or +rather fled, with precipitation, to Ravenna. + +Here he might for some time have been safe. The fortifications of +Ravenna were able to resist the attempts, and the morasses that +surrounded the town, were sufficient to prevent the approach, of the +Italian army. The sea, which Severus commanded with a powerful fleet, +secured him an inexhaustible supply of provisions, and gave a free +entrance to the legions, which, on the return of spring, would advance +to his assistance from Illyricum and the East. Maximian, who conducted +the siege in person, was soon convinced that he might waste his time and +his army in the fruitless enterprise, and that he had nothing to hope +either from force or famine. With an art more suitable to the character +of Diocletian than to his own, he directed his attack, not so much +against the walls of Ravenna, as against the mind of Severus. The +treachery which he had experienced disposed that unhappy prince to +distrust the most sincere of his friends and adherents. The emissaries +of Maximian easily persuaded his credulity, that a conspiracy was formed +to betray the town, and prevailed upon his fears not to expose himself +to the discretion of an irritated conqueror, but to accept the faith of +an honorable capitulation. He was at first received with humanity and +treated with respect. Maximian conducted the captive emperor to Rome, +and gave him the most solemn assurances that he had secured his life by +the resignation of the purple. But Severus, could obtain only an easy +death and an Imperial funeral. When the sentence was signified to him, +the manner of executing it was left to his own choice; he preferred the +favorite mode of the ancients, that of opening his veins; and as soon +as he expired, his body was carried to the sepulchre which had been +constructed for the family of Gallienus. [23] + +[Footnote 23: The circumstances of this war, and the death of Severus, +are very doubtfully and variously told in our ancient fragments, +(see Tillemont, Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. 555.) I have +endeavored to extract from them a consistent and probable narration. +* Note: Manso justly observes that two totally different narratives might +be formed, almost upon equal authority. Beylage, iv.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part II. + +Though the characters of Constantine and Maxentius had very little +affinity with each other, their situation and interest were the same; +and prudence seemed to require that they should unite their forces +against the common enemy. Notwithstanding the superiority of his age +and dignity, the indefatigable Maximian passed the Alps, and, courting +a personal interview with the sovereign of Gaul, carried with him his +daughter Fausta as the pledge of the new alliance. The marriage was +celebrated at Arles with every circumstance of magnificence; and the +ancient colleague of Diocletian, who again asserted his claim to the +Western empire, conferred on his son-in-law and ally the title of +Augustus. By consenting to receive that honor from Maximian, Constantine +seemed to embrace the cause of Rome and of the senate; but his +professions were ambiguous, and his assistance slow and ineffectual. He +considered with attention the approaching contest between the masters of +Italy and the emperor of the East, and was prepared to consult his own +safety or ambition in the event of the war. [24] + +[Footnote 24: The sixth Panegyric was pronounced to celebrate the +elevation of Constantine; but the prudent orator avoids the mention +either of Galerius or of Maxentius. He introduces only one slight +allusion to the actual troubles, and to the majesty of Rome. * +Note: Compare Manso, Beylage, iv. p. 302. Gibbon's account is at least +as probable as that of his critic.--M.] + +The importance of the occasion called for the presence and abilities of +Galerius. At the head of a powerful army, collected from Illyricum and +the East, he entered Italy, resolved to revenge the death of Severus, +and to chastise the rebellions Romans; or, as he expressed his +intentions, in the furious language of a barbarian, to extirpate +the senate, and to destroy the people by the sword. But the skill of +Maximian had concerted a prudent system of defence. The invader found +every place hostile, fortified, and inaccessible; and though he forced +his way as far as Narni, within sixty miles of Rome, his dominion in +Italy was confined to the narrow limits of his camp. Sensible of the +increasing difficulties of his enterprise, the haughty Galerius made the +first advances towards a reconciliation, and despatched two of his +most considerable officers to tempt the Roman princes by the offer of +a conference, and the declaration of his paternal regard for Maxentius, +who might obtain much more from his liberality than he could hope from +the doubtful chance of war. [25] The offers of Galerius were rejected +with firmness, his perfidious friendship refused with contempt, and +it was not long before he discovered, that, unless he provided for his +safety by a timely retreat, he had some reason to apprehend the fate +of Severus. The wealth which the Romans defended against his rapacious +tyranny, they freely contributed for his destruction. The name of +Maximian, the popular arts of his son, the secret distribution of large +sums, and the promise of still more liberal rewards, checked the ardor +and corrupted the fidelity of the Illyrian legions; and when Galerius at +length gave the signal of the retreat, it was with some difficulty that +he could prevail on his veterans not to desert a banner which had so +often conducted them to victory and honor. A contemporary writer assigns +two other causes for the failure of the expedition; but they are both of +such a nature, that a cautious historian will scarcely venture to adopt +them. We are told that Galerius, who had formed a very imperfect notion +of the greatness of Rome by the cities of the East with which he was +acquainted, found his forces inadequate to the siege of that immense +capital. + +But the extent of a city serves only to render it more accessible to the +enemy: Rome had long since been accustomed to submit on the approach of +a conqueror; nor could the temporary enthusiasm of the people have +long contended against the discipline and valor of the legions. We are +likewise informed that the legions themselves were struck with horror +and remorse, and that those pious sons of the republic refused to +violate the sanctity of their venerable parent. [26] But when we +recollect with how much ease, in the more ancient civil wars, the zeal +of party and the habits of military obedience had converted the native +citizens of Rome into her most implacable enemies, we shall be inclined +to distrust this extreme delicacy of strangers and barbarians, who had +never beheld Italy till they entered it in a hostile manner. Had they +not been restrained by motives of a more interested nature, they would +probably have answered Galerius in the words of Caesar's veterans: "If +our general wishes to lead us to the banks of the Tyber, we are prepared +to trace out his camp. Whatsoever walls he has determined to level +with the ground, our hands are ready to work the engines: nor shall we +hesitate, should the name of the devoted city be Rome itself." These +are indeed the expressions of a poet; but of a poet who has been +distinguished, and even censured, for his strict adherence to the truth +of history. [27] + +[Footnote 25: With regard to this negotiation, see the fragments of an +anonymous historian, published by Valesius at the end of his edition +of Ammianus Marcellinus, p. 711. These fragments have furnished with +several curious, and, as it should seem, authentic anecdotes.] + +[Footnote 26: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. The former of these reasons +is probably taken from Virgil's Shepherd: "Illam * * * ego huic notra +similem, Meliboee, putavi," &c. Lactantius delights in these poetical +illusions.] + +[Footnote 27: Castra super Tusci si ponere Tybridis undas; (jubeus) +Hesperios audax veniam metator in agros. Tu quoscunque voles in planum +effundere muros, His aries actus disperget saxa lacertis; Illa licet +penitus tolli quam jusseris urbem Roma sit. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 381.] + +The legions of Galerius exhibited a very melancholy proof of their +disposition, by the ravages which they committed in their retreat. They +murdered, they ravished, they plundered, they drove away the flocks +and herds of the Italians; they burnt the villages through which they +passed, and they endeavored to destroy the country which it had not +been in their power to subdue. During the whole march, Maxentius hung +on their rear, but he very prudently declined a general engagement with +those brave and desperate veterans. His father had undertaken a second +journey into Gaul, with the hope of persuading Constantine, who had +assembled an army on the frontier, to join in the pursuit, and to +complete the victory. But the actions of Constantine were guided by +reason, and not by resentment. He persisted in the wise resolution of +maintaining a balance of power in the divided empire, and he no longer +hated Galerius, when that aspiring prince had ceased to be an object of +terror. [28] + +[Footnote 28: Lactantius de M. P. c. 27. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. The +latter, that Constantine, in his interview with Maximian, had promised +to declare war against Galerius.] + +The mind of Galerius was the most susceptible of the sterner passions, +but it was not, however, incapable of a sincere and lasting friendship. +Licinius, whose manners as well as character, were not unlike his own, +seems to have engaged both his affection and esteem. Their intimacy had +commenced in the happier period perhaps of their youth and obscurity. +It had been cemented by the freedom and dangers of a military life; they +had advanced almost by equal steps through the successive honors of the +service; and as soon as Galerius was invested with the Imperial dignity, +he seems to have conceived the design of raising his companion to the +same rank with himself. During the short period of his prosperity, +he considered the rank of Caesar as unworthy of the age and merit of +Licinius, and rather chose to reserve for him the place of Constantius, +and the empire of the West. While the emperor was employed in the +Italian war, he intrusted his friend with the defence of the Danube; +and immediately after his return from that unfortunate expedition, he +invested Licinius with the vacant purple of Severus, resigning to +his immediate command the provinces of Illyricum. [29] The news of +his promotion was no sooner carried into the East, than Maximin, +who governed, or rather oppressed, the countries of Egypt and Syria, +betrayed his envy and discontent, disdained the inferior name of Caesar, +and, notwithstanding the prayers as well as arguments of Galerius, +exacted, almost by violence, the equal title of Augustus. [30] For the +first, and indeed for the last time, the Roman world was administered +by six emperors. In the West, Constantine and Maxentius affected to +reverence their father Maximian. In the East, Licinius and Maximin +honored with more real consideration their benefactor Galerius. The +opposition of interest, and the memory of a recent war, divided the +empire into two great hostile powers; but their mutual fears produced an +apparent tranquillity, and even a feigned reconciliation, till the death +of the elder princes, of Maximian, and more particularly of Galerius, +gave a new direction to the views and passions of their surviving +associates. + +[Footnote 29: M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. +part i. p. 559) has proved that Licinius, without passing through +the intermediate rank of Caesar, was declared Augustus, the 11th of +November, A. D. 307, after the return of Galerius from Italy.] + +[Footnote 30: Lactantius de M. P. c. 32. When Galerius declared Licinius +Augustus with himself, he tried to satisfy his younger associates, by +inventing for Constantine and Maximin (not Maxentius; see Baluze, p. 81) +the new title of sons of the Augusti. But when Maximin acquainted him +that he had been saluted Augustus by the army, Galerius was obliged +to acknowledge him as well as Constantine, as equal associates in the +Imperial dignity.] + +When Maximian had reluctantly abdicated the empire, the venal orators of +the times applauded his philosophic moderation. When his ambition +excited, or at least encouraged, a civil war, they returned thanks to +his generous patriotism, and gently censured that love of ease and +retirement which had withdrawn him from the public service. [31] But it +was impossible that minds like those of Maximian and his son could long +possess in harmony an undivided power. Maxentius considered himself as +the legal sovereign of Italy, elected by the Roman senate and people; +nor would he endure the control of his father, who arrogantly declared +that by his name and abilities the rash youth had been established on +the throne. The cause was solemnly pleaded before the Praetorian guards; +and those troops, who dreaded the severity of the old emperor, espoused +the party of Maxentius. [32] The life and freedom of Maximian were, +however, respected, and he retired from Italy into Illyricum, affecting +to lament his past conduct, and secretly contriving new mischiefs. But +Galerius, who was well acquainted with his character, soon obliged him +to leave his dominions, and the last refuge of the disappointed Maximian +was the court of his son-in-law Constantine. [33] He was received with +respect by that artful prince, and with the appearance of filial +tenderness by the empress Fausta. That he might remove every suspicion, +he resigned the Imperial purple a second time, [34] professing himself +at length convinced of the vanity of greatness and ambition. Had he +persevered in this resolution, he might have ended his life with less +dignity, indeed, than in his first retirement, yet, however, with +comfort and reputation. But the near prospect of a throne brought back +to his remembrance the state from whence he was fallen, and he resolved, +by a desperate effort either to reign or to perish. An incursion of the +Franks had summoned Constantine, with a part of his army, to the banks +of the Rhine; the remainder of the troops were stationed in the southern +provinces of Gaul, which lay exposed to the enterprises of the Italian +emperor, and a considerable treasure was deposited in the city of Arles. +Maximian either craftily invented, or easily credited, a vain report of +the death of Constantine. Without hesitation he ascended the throne, +seized the treasure, and scattering it with his accustomed profusion +among the soldiers, endeavored to awake in their minds the memory of his +ancient dignity and exploits. Before he could establish his authority, +or finish the negotiation which he appears to have entered into with his +son Maxentius, the celerity of Constantine defeated all his hopes. On +the first news of his perfidy and ingratitude, that prince returned by +rapid marches from the Rhine to the Saone, embarked on the last +mentioned river at Chalons, and at Lyons trusting himself to the +rapidity of the Rhone, arrived at the gates of Arles, with a military +force which it was impossible for Maximian to resist, and which scarcely +permitted him to take refuge in the neighboring city of Marseilles. The +narrow neck of land which joined that place to the continent was +fortified against the besiegers, whilst the sea was open, either for the +escape of Maximian, or for the succor of Maxentius, if the latter should +choose to disguise his invasion of Gaul under the honorable pretence of +defending a distressed, or, as he might allege, an injured father. +Apprehensive of the fatal consequences of delay, Constantine gave orders +for an immediate assault; but the scaling-ladders were found too short +for the height of the walls, and Marseilles might have sustained as long +a siege as it formerly did against the arms of Caesar, if the garrison, +conscious either of their fault or of their danger, had not purchased +their pardon by delivering up the city and the person of Maximian. A +secret but irrevocable sentence of death was pronounced against the +usurper; he obtained only the same favor which he had indulged to +Severus, and it was published to the world, that, oppressed by the +remorse of his repeated crimes, he strangled himself with his own hands. +After he had lost the assistance, and disdained the moderate counsels of +Diocletian, the second period of his active life was a series of public +calamities and personal mortifications, which were terminated, in about +three years, by an ignominious death. He deserved his fate; but we +should find more reason to applaud the humanity of Constantine, if he +had spared an old man, the benefactor of his father, and the father of +his wife. During the whole of this melancholy transaction, it appears +that Fausta sacrificed the sentiments of nature to her conjugal duties. +[35] + +[Footnote 31: See Panegyr. Vet. vi. 9. Audi doloris nostri liberam +vocem, &c. The whole passage is imagined with artful flattery, and +expressed with an easy flow of eloquence.] + +[Footnote 32: Lactantius de M. P. c. 28. Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. A report +was spread, that Maxentius was the son of some obscure Syrian, and had +been substituted by the wife of Maximian as her own child. See Aurelius +Victor, Anonym. Valesian, and Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3, 4.] + +[Footnote 33: Ab urbe pulsum, ab Italia fugatum, ab Illyrico repudiatum, +provinciis, tuis copiis, tuo palatio recepisti. Eumen. in Panegyr Vet. +vii. 14.] + +[Footnote 34: Lactantius de M. P. c. 29. Yet, after the resignation of +the purple, Constantine still continued to Maximian the pomp and honors +of the Imperial dignity; and on all public occasions gave the right hand +place to his father-in-law. Panegyr. Vet. viii. 15.] + +[Footnote 35: Zosim. l. ii. p. 82. Eumenius in Panegyr. Vet. vii. +16--21. The latter of these has undoubtedly represented the whole +affair in the most favorable light for his sovereign. Yet even from +this partial narrative we may conclude, that the repeated clemency +of Constantine, and the reiterated treasons of Maximian, as they +are described by Lactantius, (de M. P. c. 29, 30,) and copied by the +moderns, are destitute of any historical foundation. Note: Yet some +pagan authors relate and confirm them. Aurelius Victor speaking of +Maximin, says, cumque specie officii, dolis compositis, Constantinum +generum tentaret acerbe, jure tamen interierat. Aur. Vict. de Caesar l. +p. 623. Eutropius also says, inde ad Gallias profectus est (Maximianus) +composito tamquam a filio esset expulsus, ut Constantino genero jun +geretur: moliens tamen Constantinum, reperta occasione, interficere, +dedit justissimo exitu. Eutrop. x. p. 661. (Anon. Gent.)--G. ---- +These writers hardly confirm more than Gibbon admits; he denies the +repeated clemency of Constantine, and the reiterated treasons of +Maximian Compare Manso, p. 302.--M.] + +The last years of Galerius were less shameful and unfortunate; and +though he had filled with more glory the subordinate station of Caesar +than the superior rank of Augustus, he preserved, till the moment of his +death, the first place among the princes of the Roman world. He survived +his retreat from Italy about four years; and wisely relinquishing his +views of universal empire, he devoted the remainder of his life to the +enjoyment of pleasure, and to the execution of some works of public +utility, among which we may distinguish the discharging into the Danube +the superfluous waters of the Lake Pelso, and the cutting down the +immense forests that encompassed it; an operation worthy of a monarch, +since it gave an extensive country to the agriculture of his Pannonian +subjects. [36] His death was occasioned by a very painful and lingering +disorder. His body, swelled by an intemperate course of life to +an unwieldy corpulence, was covered with ulcers, and devoured by +innumerable swarms of those insects which have given their name to a +most loathsome disease; [37] but as Galerius had offended a very zealous +and powerful party among his subjects, his sufferings, instead of +exciting their compassion, have been celebrated as the visible effects +of divine justice. [38] He had no sooner expired in his palace of +Nicomedia, than the two emperors who were indebted for their purple to +his favors, began to collect their forces, with the intention either +of disputing, or of dividing, the dominions which he had left without a +master. They were persuaded, however, to desist from the former design, +and to agree in the latter. The provinces of Asia fell to the share +of Maximin, and those of Europe augmented the portion of Licinius. The +Hellespont and the Thracian Bosphorus formed their mutual boundary, and +the banks of those narrow seas, which flowed in the midst of the Roman +world, were covered with soldiers, with arms, and with fortifications. +The deaths of Maximian and of Galerius reduced the number of emperors +to four. The sense of their true interest soon connected Licinius +and Constantine; a secret alliance was concluded between Maximin and +Maxentius, and their unhappy subjects expected with terror the bloody +consequences of their inevitable dissensions, which were no longer +restrained by the fear or the respect which they had entertained for +Galerius. [39] + +[Footnote 36: Aurelius Victor, c. 40. But that lake was situated on the +upper Pannonia, near the borders of Noricum; and the province of Valeria +(a name which the wife of Galerius gave to the drained country) +undoubtedly lay between the Drave and the Danube, (Sextus Rufus, c. 9.) +I should therefore suspect that Victor has confounded the Lake Pelso +with the Volocean marshes, or, as they are now called, the Lake Sabaton. +It is placed in the heart of Valeria, and its present extent is not less +than twelve Hungarian miles (about seventy English) in length, and two +in breadth. See Severini Pannonia, l. i. c. +9.] + +[Footnote 37: Lactantius (de M. P. c. 33) and Eusebius (l. viii. c. +16) describe the symptoms and progress of his disorder with singular +accuracy and apparent pleasure.] + +[Footnote 38: If any (like the late Dr. Jortin, Remarks on +Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. p. 307--356) still delight in recording +the wonderful deaths of the persecutors, I would recommend to their +perusal an admirable passage of Grotius (Hist. l. vii. p. 332) +concerning the last illness of Philip II. of Spain.] + +[Footnote 39: See Eusebius, l. ix. 6, 10. Lactantius de M. P. c. 36. +Zosimus is less exact, and evidently confounds Maximian with Maximin.] + +Among so many crimes and misfortunes, occasioned by the passions of the +Roman princes, there is some pleasure in discovering a single action +which may be ascribed to their virtue. In the sixth year of his reign, +Constantine visited the city of Autun, and generously remitted the +arrears of tribute, reducing at the same time the proportion of their +assessment from twenty-five to eighteen thousand heads, subject to the +real and personal capitation. [40] Yet even this indulgence affords +the most unquestionable proof of the public misery. This tax was so +extremely oppressive, either in itself or in the mode of collecting it, +that whilst the revenue was increased by extortion, it was diminished +by despair: a considerable part of the territory of Autun was left +uncultivated; and great numbers of the provincials rather chose to live +as exiles and outlaws, than to support the weight of civil society. It +is but too probable, that the bountiful emperor relieved, by a partial +act of liberality, one among the many evils which he had caused by his +general maxims of administration. But even those maxims were less +the effect of choice than of necessity. And if we except the death of +Maximian, the reign of Constantine in Gaul seems to have been the most +innocent and even virtuous period of his life. + +The provinces were protected by his presence from the inroads of the +barbarians, who either dreaded or experienced his active valor. After +a signal victory over the Franks and Alemanni, several of their princes +were exposed by his order to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre of +Treves, and the people seem to have enjoyed the spectacle, without +discovering, in such a treatment of royal captives, any thing that was +repugnant to the laws of nations or of humanity. [41] + +[Footnote 40: See the viiith Panegyr., in which Eumenius displays, in +the presence of Constantine, the misery and the gratitude of the city of +Autun.] + +[Footnote 41: Eutropius, x. 3. Panegyr. Veter. vii. 10, 11, 12. +A great number of the French youth were likewise exposed to the same +cruel and ignominious death.] + +[Footnote 41: Yet the panegyric assumes something of an apologetic tone. +Te vero Constantine, quantumlibet oderint hoses, dum perhorrescant. Haec +est enim vera virtus, ut non ament et quiescant. The orator appeals to +the ancient ideal of the republic.--M.] + +The virtues of Constantine were rendered more illustrious by the vices +of Maxentius. Whilst the Gallic provinces enjoyed as much happiness as +the condition of the times was capable of receiving, Italy and Africa +groaned under the dominion of a tyrant, as contemptible as he was +odious. The zeal of flattery and faction has indeed too frequently +sacrificed the reputation of the vanquished to the glory of their +successful rivals; but even those writers who have revealed, with +the most freedom and pleasure, the faults of Constantine, unanimously +confess that Maxentius was cruel, rapacious, and profligate. [42] He had +the good fortune to suppress a slight rebellion in Africa. The governor +and a few adherents had been guilty; the province suffered for their +crime. The flourishing cities of Cirtha and Carthage, and the whole +extent of that fertile country, were wasted by fire and sword. The abuse +of victory was followed by the abuse of law and justice. A formidable +army of sycophants and delators invaded Africa; the rich and the noble +were easily convicted of a connection with the rebels; and those among +them who experienced the emperor's clemency, were only punished by the +confiscation of their estates. [43] So signal a victory was celebrated by +a magnificent triumph, and Maxentius exposed to the eyes of the people +the spoils and captives of a Roman province. The state of the capital +was no less deserving of compassion than that of Africa. The wealth of +Rome supplied an inexhaustible fund for his vain and prodigal expenses, +and the ministers of his revenue were skilled in the arts of rapine. +It was under his reign that the method of exacting a free gift from the +senators was first invented; and as the sum was insensibly increased, +the pretences of levying it, a victory, a birth, a marriage, or an +imperial consulship, were proportionably multiplied. [44] Maxentius +had imbibed the same implacable aversion to the senate, which had +characterized most of the former tyrants of Rome; nor was it possible +for his ungrateful temper to forgive the generous fidelity which had +raised him to the throne, and supported him against all his enemies. +The lives of the senators were exposed to his jealous suspicions, the +dishonor of their wives and daughters heightened the gratification of +his sensual passions. [45] It may be presumed, that an Imperial lover +was seldom reduced to sigh in vain; but whenever persuasion proved +ineffectual, he had recourse to violence; and there remains one +memorable example of a noble matron, who preserved her chastity by +a voluntary death. The soldiers were the only order of men whom he +appeared to respect, or studied to please. He filled Rome and Italy with +armed troops, connived at their tumults, suffered them with impunity to +plunder, and even to massacre, the defenceless people; [46] and indulging +them in the same licentiousness which their emperor enjoyed, Maxentius +often bestowed on his military favorites the splendid villa, or the +beautiful wife, of a senator. A prince of such a character, alike +incapable of governing, either in peace or in war, might purchase the +support, but he could never obtain the esteem, of the army. Yet his +pride was equal to his other vices. Whilst he passed his indolent life +either within the walls of his palace, or in the neighboring gardens of +Sallust, he was repeatedly heard to declare, that he alone was emperor, +and that the other princes were no more than his lieutenants, on whom he +had devolved the defence of the frontier provinces, that he might enjoy +without interruption the elegant luxury of the capital. Rome, which had +so long regretted the absence, lamented, during the six years of his +reign, the presence of her sovereign. [47] + +[Footnote 42: Julian excludes Maxentius from the banquet of the Caesars +with abhorrence and contempt; and Zosimus (l. ii. p. 85) accuses him of +every kind of cruelty and profligacy.] + +[Footnote 43: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 83--85. Aurelius Victor.] + +[Footnote 44: The passage of Aurelius Victor should be read in the +following manner: Primus instituto pessimo, munerum specie, Patres +Oratores que pecuniam conferre prodigenti sibi cogeret.] + +[Footnote 45: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. Euseb. Hist Eccles. viii. 14, et in +Vit. Constant i. 33, 34. Rufinus, c. 17. The virtuous matron who stabbed +herself to escape the violence of Maxentius, was a Christian, wife to +the praefect of the city, and her name was Sophronia. It still remains +a question among the casuists, whether, on such occasions, suicide is +justifiable.] + +[Footnote 46: Praetorianis caedem vulgi quondam annueret, is the vague +expression of Aurelius Victor. See more particular, though somewhat +different, accounts of a tumult and massacre which happened at Rome, in +Eusebius, (l. viii. c. 14,) and in Zosimus, (l. ii. p. 84.)] + +[Footnote 47: See, in the Panegyrics, (ix. 14,) a lively description of +the indolence and vain pride of Maxentius. In another place the orator +observes that the riches which Rome had accumulated in a period of 1060 +years, were lavished by the tyrant on his mercenary bands; redemptis ad +civile latrocinium manibus in gesserat.] + +Though Constantine might view the conduct of Maxentius with abhorrence, +and the situation of the Romans with compassion, we have no reason to +presume that he would have taken up arms to punish the one or to +relieve the other. But the tyrant of Italy rashly ventured to provoke +a formidable enemy, whose ambition had been hitherto restrained by +considerations of prudence, rather than by principles of justice. [48] +After the death of Maximian, his titles, according to the established +custom, had been erased, and his statues thrown down with ignominy. His +son, who had persecuted and deserted him when alive, effected to display +the most pious regard for his memory, and gave orders that a similar +treatment should be immediately inflicted on all the statues that had +been erected in Italy and Africa to the honor of Constantine. + +That wise prince, who sincerely wished to decline a war, with the +difficulty and importance of which he was sufficiently acquainted, +at first dissembled the insult, and sought for redress by the milder +expedient of negotiation, till he was convinced that the hostile and +ambitious designs of the Italian emperor made it necessary for him to +arm in his own defence. Maxentius, who openly avowed his pretensions to +the whole monarchy of the West, had already prepared a very considerable +force to invade the Gallic provinces on the side of Rhaetia; and though +he could not expect any assistance from Licinius, he was flattered with +the hope that the legions of Illyricum, allured by his presents and +promises, would desert the standard of that prince, and unanimously +declare themselves his soldiers and subjects. [49] Constantine no longer +hesitated. He had deliberated with caution, he acted with vigor. He gave +a private audience to the ambassadors, who, in the name of the senate +and people, conjured him to deliver Rome from a detested tyrant; and +without regarding the timid remonstrances of his council, he resolved to +prevent the enemy, and to carry the war into the heart of Italy. [50] + +[Footnote 48: After the victory of Constantine, it was universally +allowed, that the motive of delivering the republic from a detested +tyrant, would, at any time, have justified his expedition into Italy. +Euseb in Vi'. Constantin. l. i. c. 26. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2.] + +[Footnote 49: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 84, 85. Nazarius in Panegyr. x. 7--13.] + +[Footnote 50: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 2. Omnibus fere tuis Comitibus +et Ducibus non solum tacite mussantibus, sed etiam aperte timentibus; +contra consilia hominum, contra Haruspicum monita, ipse per temet +liberandae arbis tempus venisse sentires. The embassy of the Romans is +mentioned only by Zonaras, (l. xiii.,) and by Cedrenus, (in Compend. +Hist. p. 370;) but those modern Greeks had the opportunity of consulting +many writers which have since been lost, among which we may reckon the +life of Constantine by Praxagoras. Photius (p. 63) has made a short +extract from that historical work.] + +The enterprise was as full of danger as of glory; and the unsuccessful +event of two former invasions was sufficient to inspire the most serious +apprehensions. The veteran troops, who revered the name of Maximian, had +embraced in both those wars the party of his son, and were now +restrained by a sense of honor, as well as of interest, from +entertaining an idea of a second desertion. Maxentius, who considered +the Praetorian guards as the firmest defence of his throne, had +increased them to their ancient establishment; and they composed, +including the rest of the Italians who were enlisted into his service, a +formidable body of fourscore thousand men. Forty thousand Moors and +Carthaginians had been raised since the reduction of Africa. Even Sicily +furnished its proportion of troops; and the armies of Maxentius amounted +to one hundred and seventy thousand foot and eighteen thousand horse. +The wealth of Italy supplied the expenses of the war; and the adjacent +provinces were exhausted, to form immense magazines of corn and every +other kind of provisions. + +The whole force of Constantine consisted of ninety thousand foot and +eight thousand horse; [51] and as the defence of the Rhine required an +extraordinary attention during the absence of the emperor, it was not +in his power to employ above half his troops in the Italian expedition, +unless he sacrificed the public safety to his private quarrel. [52] At +the head of about forty thousand soldiers he marched to encounter an +enemy whose numbers were at least four times superior to his own. +But the armies of Rome, placed at a secure distance from danger, were +enervated by indulgence and luxury. Habituated to the baths and theatres +of Rome, they took the field with reluctance, and were chiefly composed +of veterans who had almost forgotten, or of new levies who had never +acquired, the use of arms and the practice of war. The hardy legions +of Gaul had long defended the frontiers of the empire against the +barbarians of the North; and in the performance of that laborious +service, their valor was exercised and their discipline confirmed. There +appeared the same difference between the leaders as between the armies. +Caprice or flattery had tempted Maxentius with the hopes of conquest; +but these aspiring hopes soon gave way to the habits of pleasure and the +consciousness of his inexperience. The intrepid mind of Constantine had +been trained from his earliest youth to war, to action, and to military +command. + +[Footnote 51: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 86) has given us this curious account +of the forces on both sides. He makes no mention of any naval armaments, +though we are assured (Panegyr. Vet. ix. 25) that the war was carried on +by sea as well as by land; and that the fleet of Constantine took +possession of Sardinia, Corsica, and the ports of Italy.] + +[Footnote 52: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 3. It is not surprising that the orator +should diminish the numbers with which his sovereign achieved the +conquest of Italy; but it appears somewhat singular that he should +esteem the tyrant's army at no more than 100,000 men.] + + + + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part III. + +When Hannibal marched from Gaul into Italy, he was obliged, first to +discover, and then to open, a way over mountains, and through savage +nations, that had never yielded a passage to a regular army. [53] +The Alps were then guarded by nature, they are now fortified by art. +Citadels, constructed with no less skill than labor and expense, command +every avenue into the plain, and on that side render Italy almost +inaccessible to the enemies of the king of Sardinia. [54] But in the +course of the intermediate period, the generals, who have attempted the +passage, have seldom experienced any difficulty or resistance. In the +age of Constantine, the peasants of the mountains were civilized and +obedient subjects; the country was plentifully stocked with provisions, +and the stupendous highways, which the Romans had carried over the Alps, +opened several communications between Gaul and Italy. [55] Constantine +preferred the road of the Cottian Alps, or, as it is now called, of +Mount Cenis, and led his troops with such active diligence, that he +descended into the plain of Piedmont before the court of Maxentius had +received any certain intelligence of his departure from the banks of the +Rhine. The city of Susa, however, which is situated at the foot of +Mount Cenis, was surrounded with walls, and provided with a garrison +sufficiently numerous to check the progress of an invader; but the +impatience of Constantine's troops disdained the tedious forms of a +siege. The same day that they appeared before Susa, they applied fire to +the gates, and ladders to the walls; and mounting to the assault amidst +a shower of stones and arrows, they entered the place sword in hand, +and cut in pieces the greatest part of the garrison. The flames were +extinguished by the care of Constantine, and the remains of Susa +preserved from total destruction. About forty miles from thence, a more +severe contest awaited him. A numerous army of Italians was assembled +under the lieutenants of Maxentius, in the plains of Turin. Its +principal strength consisted in a species of heavy cavalry, which the +Romans, since the decline of their discipline, had borrowed from the +nations of the East. The horses, as well as the men, were clothed in +complete armor, the joints of which were artfully adapted to the motions +of their bodies. The aspect of this cavalry was formidable, their weight +almost irresistible; and as, on this occasion, their generals had drawn +them up in a compact column or wedge, with a sharp point, and with +spreading flanks, they flattered themselves that they could easily break +and trample down the army of Constantine. They might, perhaps, have +succeeded in their design, had not their experienced adversary embraced +the same method of defence, which in similar circumstances had been +practised by Aurelian. The skilful evolutions of Constantine divided and +baffled this massy column of cavalry. The troops of Maxentius fled in +confusion towards Turin; and as the gates of the city were shut against +them, very few escaped the sword of the victorious pursuers. By this +important service, Turin deserved to experience the clemency and even +favor of the conqueror. He made his entry into the Imperial palace of +Milan, and almost all the cities of Italy between the Alps and the Po +not only acknowledged the power, but embraced with zeal the party, of +Constantine. [56] + +[Footnote 53: The three principal passages of the Alps between Gaul and +Italy, are those of Mount St. Bernard, Mount Cenis, and Mount Genevre. +Tradition, and a resemblance of names, (Alpes Penninoe,) had assigned +the first of these for the march of Hannibal, (see Simler de Alpibus.) +The Chevalier de Folard (Polyp. tom. iv.) and M. d'Anville have led him +over Mount Genevre. But notwithstanding the authority of an experienced +officer and a learned geographer, the pretensions of Mount Cenis are +supported in a specious, not to say a convincing, manner, by M. Grosley. +Observations sur l'Italie, tom. i. p. 40, &c. ----The dissertation of +Messrs. Cramer and Wickham has clearly shown that the Little St. Bernard +must claim the honor of Hannibal's passage. Mr. Long (London, 1831) has +added some sensible corrections re Hannibal's march to the Alps.--M] + +[Footnote 54: La Brunette near Suse, Demont, Exiles, Fenestrelles, Coni, +&c.] + +[Footnote 55: See Ammian. Marcellin. xv. 10. His description of the +roads over the Alps is clear, lively, and accurate.] + +[Footnote 56: Zosimus as well as Eusebius hasten from the passage of +the Alps to the decisive action near Rome. We must apply to the two +Panegyrics for the intermediate actions of Constantine.] + +From Milan to Rome, the Aemilian and Flaminian highways offered an easy +march of about four hundred miles; but though Constantine was impatient +to encounter the tyrant, he prudently directed his operations against +another army of Italians, who, by their strength and position, might +either oppose his progress, or, in case of a misfortune, might intercept +his retreat. Ruricius Pompeianus, a general distinguished by his valor +and ability, had under his command the city of Verona, and all the +troops that were stationed in the province of Venetia. As soon as he was +informed that Constantine was advancing towards him, he detached a large +body of cavalry which was defeated in an engagement near Brescia, +and pursued by the Gallic legions as far as the gates of Verona. The +necessity, the importance, and the difficulties of the siege of Verona, +immediately presented themselves to the sagacious mind of Constantine. +[57] The city was accessible only by a narrow peninsula towards the west, +as the other three sides were surrounded by the Adige, a rapid river, +which covered the province of Venetia, from whence the besieged derived +an inexhaustible supply of men and provisions. It was not without great +difficulty, and after several fruitless attempts, that Constantine found +means to pass the river at some distance above the city, and in a place +where the torrent was less violent. He then encompassed Verona with +strong lines, pushed his attacks with prudent vigor, and repelled a +desperate sally of Pompeianus. That intrepid general, when he had used +every means of defence that the strength of the place or that of the +garrison could afford, secretly escaped from Verona, anxious not for +his own, but for the public safety. With indefatigable diligence he soon +collected an army sufficient either to meet Constantine in the field, or +to attack him if he obstinately remained within his lines. The emperor, +attentive to the motions, and informed of the approach of so formidable +an enemy, left a part of his legions to continue the operations of the +siege, whilst, at the head of those troops on whose valor and fidelity +he more particularly depended, he advanced in person to engage the +general of Maxentius. The army of Gaul was drawn up in two lines, +according to the usual practice of war; but their experienced leader, +perceiving that the numbers of the Italians far exceeded his own, +suddenly changed his disposition, and, reducing the second, extended +the front of his first line to a just proportion with that of the enemy. +Such evolutions, which only veteran troops can execute without confusion +in a moment of danger, commonly prove decisive; but as this engagement +began towards the close of the day, and was contested with great +obstinacy during the whole night, there was less room for the conduct of +the generals than for the courage of the soldiers. The return of light +displayed the victory of Constantine, and a field of carnage covered +with many thousands of the vanquished Italians. Their general, +Pompeianus, was found among the slain; Verona immediately surrendered +at discretion, and the garrison was made prisoners of war. [58] When +the officers of the victorious army congratulated their master on this +important success, they ventured to add some respectful complaints, +of such a nature, however, as the most jealous monarchs will listen +to without displeasure. They represented to Constantine, that, not +contented with all the duties of a commander, he had exposed his own +person with an excess of valor which almost degenerated into rashness; +and they conjured him for the future to pay more regard to the +preservation of a life in which the safety of Rome and of the empire was +involved. [59] + +[Footnote 57: The Marquis Maffei has examined the siege and battle of +Verona with that degree of attention and accuracy which was due to a +memorable action that happened in his native country. The fortifications +of that city, constructed by Gallienus, were less extensive than the +modern walls, and the amphitheatre was not included within their +circumference. See Verona Illustrata, part i. p. 142 150.] + +[Footnote 58: They wanted chains for so great a multitude of captives; +and the whole council was at a loss; but the sagacious conqueror +imagined the happy expedient of converting into fetters the swords of +the vanquished. Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.] + +[Footnote 59: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 11.] + +While Constantine signalized his conduct and valor in the field, the +sovereign of Italy appeared insensible of the calamities and danger of +a civil war which reigned in the heart of his dominions. Pleasure was +still the only business of Maxentius. Concealing, or at least attempting +to conceal, from the public knowledge the misfortunes of his arms, [60] +he indulged himself in a vain confidence which deferred the remedies of +the approaching evil, without deferring the evil itself. [61] The rapid +progress of Constantine [62] was scarcely sufficient to awaken him +from his fatal security; he flattered himself, that his well-known +liberality, and the majesty of the Roman name, which had already +delivered him from two invasions, would dissipate with the same facility +the rebellious army of Gaul. The officers of experience and ability, who +had served under the banners of Maximian, were at length compelled +to inform his effeminate son of the imminent danger to which he was +reduced; and, with a freedom that at once surprised and convinced him, +to urge the necessity of preventing his ruin, by a vigorous exertion of +his remaining power. The resources of Maxentius, both of men and money, +were still considerable. The Praetorian guards felt how strongly their +own interest and safety were connected with his cause; and a third army +was soon collected, more numerous than those which had been lost in +the battles of Turin and Verona. It was far from the intention of the +emperor to lead his troops in person. A stranger to the exercises of +war, he trembled at the apprehension of so dangerous a contest; and as +fear is commonly superstitious, he listened with melancholy attention +to the rumors of omens and presages which seemed to menace his life and +empire. Shame at length supplied the place of courage, and forced him +to take the field. He was unable to sustain the contempt of the Roman +people. The circus resounded with their indignant clamors, and +they tumultuously besieged the gates of the palace, reproaching the +pusillanimity of their indolent sovereign, and celebrating the heroic +spirit of Constantine. [63] Before Maxentius left Rome, he consulted the +Sibylline books. The guardians of these ancient oracles were as well +versed in the arts of this world as they were ignorant of the secrets +of fate; and they returned him a very prudent answer, which might adapt +itself to the event, and secure their reputation, whatever should be the +chance of arms. [64] + +[Footnote 60: Literas calamitatum suarum indices supprimebat. Panegyr +Vet. ix. 15.] + +[Footnote 61: Remedia malorum potius quam mala differebat, is the fine +censure which Tacitus passes on the supine indolence of Vitellius.] + +[Footnote 62: The Marquis Maffei has made it extremely probable that +Constantine was still at Verona, the 1st of September, A.D. 312, and +that the memorable aera of the indications was dated from his conquest +of the Cisalpine Gaul.] + +[Footnote 63: See Panegyr. Vet. xi. 16. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44.] + +[Footnote 64: Illo die hostem Romanorum esse periturum. The vanquished +became of course the enemy of Rome.] + +The celerity of Constantine's march has been compared to the rapid +conquest of Italy by the first of the Caesars; nor is the flattering +parallel repugnant to the truth of history, since no more than +fifty-eight days elapsed between the surrender of Verona and the final +decision of the war. Constantine had always apprehended that the tyrant +would consult the dictates of fear, and perhaps of prudence; and that, +instead of risking his last hopes in a general engagement, he would shut +himself up within the walls of Rome. His ample magazines secured him +against the danger of famine; and as the situation of Constantine +admitted not of delay, he might have been reduced to the sad necessity +of destroying with fire and sword the Imperial city, the noblest reward +of his victory, and the deliverance of which had been the motive, or +rather indeed the pretence, of the civil war. [65] It was with equal +surprise and pleasure, that on his arrival at a place called Saxa Rubra, +about nine miles from Rome, [66] he discovered the army of Maxentius +prepared to give him battle. [67] Their long front filled a very spacious +plain, and their deep array reached to the banks of the Tyber, which +covered their rear, and forbade their retreat. We are informed, and we +may believe, that Constantine disposed his troops with consummate +skill, and that he chose for himself the post of honor and danger. +Distinguished by the splendor of his arms, he charged in person the +cavalry of his rival; and his irresistible attack determined the fortune +of the day. The cavalry of Maxentius was principally composed either of +unwieldy cuirassiers, or of light Moors and Numidians. They yielded to +the vigor of the Gallic horse, which possessed more activity than the +one, more firmness than the other. The defeat of the two wings left the +infantry without any protection on its flanks, and the undisciplined +Italians fled without reluctance from the standard of a tyrant whom +they had always hated, and whom they no longer feared. The Praetorians, +conscious that their offences were beyond the reach of mercy, were +animated by revenge and despair. Notwithstanding their repeated efforts, +those brave veterans were unable to recover the victory: they obtained, +however, an honorable death; and it was observed that their bodies +covered the same ground which had been occupied by their ranks. [68] The +confusion then became general, and the dismayed troops of Maxentius, +pursued by an implacable enemy, rushed by thousands into the deep and +rapid stream of the Tyber. The emperor himself attempted to escape back +into the city over the Milvian bridge; but the crowds which pressed +together through that narrow passage forced him into the river, where he +was immediately drowned by the weight of his armor. [69] His body, which +had sunk very deep into the mud, was found with some difficulty the +next day. The sight of his head, when it was exposed to the eyes of +the people, convinced them of their deliverance, and admonished them +to receive with acclamations of loyalty and gratitude the fortunate +Constantine, who thus achieved by his valor and ability the most +splendid enterprise of his life. [70] + +[Footnote 65: See Panegyr. Vet. ix. 16, x. 27. The former of these +orators magnifies the hoards of corn, which Maxentius had collected from +Africa and the Islands. And yet, if there is any truth in the scarcity +mentioned by Eusebius, (in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 36,) the Imperial +granaries must have been open only to the soldiers.] + +[Footnote 66: Maxentius... tandem urbe in Saxa Rubra, millia ferme novem +aegerrime progressus. Aurelius Victor. See Cellarius Geograph. Antiq. +tom. i. p. 463. Saxa Rubra was in the neighborhood of the Cremera, a +trifling rivulet, illustrated by the valor and glorious death of the +three hundred Fabii.] + +[Footnote 67: The post which Maxentius had taken, with the Tyber in his +rear is very clearly described by the two Panegyrists, ix. 16, x. +28.] + +[Footnote 68: Exceptis latrocinii illius primis auctoribus, qui +desperata venia ocum quem pugnae sumpserant texere corporibus. Panegyr. +Vet 17.] + +[Footnote 69: A very idle rumor soon prevailed, that Maxentius, +who had not taken any precaution for his own retreat, had contrived +a very artful snare to destroy the army of the pursuers; but that +the wooden bridge, which was to have been loosened on the approach +of Constantine, unluckily broke down under the weight of the flying +Italians. M. de Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. iv. part i. p. 576) +very seriously examines whether, in contradiction to common sense, the +testimony of Eusebius and Zosimus ought to prevail over the silence of +Lactantius, Nazarius, and the anonymous, but contemporary orator, who +composed the ninth Panegyric. * Note: Manso (Beylage, vi.) examines the +question, and adduces two manifest allusions to the bridge, from the +Life of Constantine by Praxagoras, and from Libanius. Is it not very +probable that such a bridge was thrown over the river to facilitate the +advance, and to secure the retreat, of the army of Maxentius? In case of +defeat, orders were given for destroying it, in order to check the +pursuit: it broke down accidentally, or in the confusion was destroyed, +as has not unfrequently been the case, before the proper time.--M.] + +[Footnote 70: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 86-88, and the two Panegyrics, the +former of which was pronounced a few months afterwards, afford the +clearest notion of this great battle. Lactantius, Eusebius, and even the +Epitomes, supply several useful hints.] + +In the use of victory, Constantine neither deserved the praise of +clemency, nor incurred the censure of immoderate rigor. [71] He inflicted +the same treatment to which a defeat would have exposed his own person +and family, put to death the two sons of the tyrant, and carefully +extirpated his whole race. The most distinguished adherents of Maxentius +must have expected to share his fate, as they had shared his prosperity +and his crimes; but when the Roman people loudly demanded a greater +number of victims, the conqueror resisted with firmness and humanity, +those servile clamors, which were dictated by flattery as well as by +resentment. Informers were punished and discouraged; the innocent, +who had suffered under the late tyranny, were recalled from exile, and +restored to their estates. A general act of oblivion quieted the minds +and settled the property of the people, both in Italy and in Africa. [72] +The first time that Constantine honored the senate with his presence, he +recapitulated his own services and exploits in a modest oration, +assured that illustrious order of his sincere regard, and promised to +reestablish its ancient dignity and privileges. The grateful senate +repaid these unmeaning professions by the empty titles of honor, which +it was yet in their power to bestow; and without presuming to ratify the +authority of Constantine, they passed a decree to assign him the first +rank among the three Augusti who governed the Roman world. [73] Games +and festivals were instituted to preserve the fame of his victory, and +several edifices, raised at the expense of Maxentius, were dedicated +to the honor of his successful rival. The triumphal arch of Constantine +still remains a melancholy proof of the decline of the arts, and a +singular testimony of the meanest vanity. As it was not possible to find +in the capital of the empire a sculptor who was capable of adorning that +public monument, the arch of Trajan, without any respect either for his +memory or for the rules of propriety, was stripped of its most elegant +figures. The difference of times and persons, of actions and characters, +was totally disregarded. The Parthian captives appear prostrate at the +feet of a prince who never carried his arms beyond the Euphrates; +and curious antiquarians can still discover the head of Trajan on the +trophies of Constantine. The new ornaments which it was necessary to +introduce between the vacancies of ancient sculpture are executed in the +rudest and most unskillful manner. [74] + +[Footnote 71: Zosimus, the enemy of Constantine, allows (l. ii. p. 88) +that only a few of the friends of Maxentius were put to death; but we +may remark the expressive passage of Nazarius, (Panegyr. Vet. x. 6.) +Omnibus qui labefactari statum ejus poterant cum stirpe deletis. The +other orator (Panegyr. Vet. ix. 20, 21) contents himself with observing, +that Constantine, when he entered Rome, did not imitate the cruel +massacres of Cinna, of Marius, or of Sylla. * Note: This may refer to +the son or sons of Maxentius.--M.] + +[Footnote 72: See the two Panegyrics, and the laws of this and the +ensuing year, in the Theodosian Code.] + +[Footnote 73: Panegyr. Vet. ix. 20. Lactantius de M. P. c. 44. Maximin, +who was confessedly the eldest Caesar, claimed, with some show of +reason, the first rank among the Augusti.] + +[Footnote 74: Adhuc cuncta opera quae magnifice construxerat, urbis +fanum atque basilicam, Flavii meritis patres sacravere. Aurelius Victor. +With regard to the theft of Trajan's trophies, consult Flaminius Vacca, +apud Montfaucon, Diarium Italicum, p. 250, and l'Antiquite Expliquee of +the latter, tom. iv. p. 171.] + +The final abolition of the Praetorian guards was a measure of prudence +as well as of revenge. Those haughty troops, whose numbers and +privileges had been restored, and even augmented, by Maxentius, were +forever suppressed by Constantine. Their fortified camp was destroyed, +and the few Praetorians who had escaped the fury of the sword were +dispersed among the legions, and banished to the frontiers of the +empire, where they might be serviceable without again becoming +dangerous. [75] By suppressing the troops which were usually stationed in +Rome, Constantine gave the fatal blow to the dignity of the senate and +people, and the disarmed capital was exposed without protection to the +insults or neglect of its distant master. We may observe, that in this +last effort to preserve their expiring freedom, the Romans, from the +apprehension of a tribute, had raised Maxentius to the throne. He +exacted that tribute from the senate under the name of a free gift. They +implored the assistance of Constantine. He vanquished the tyrant, and +converted the free gift into a perpetual tax. The senators, according to +the declaration which was required of their property, were divided into +several classes. The most opulent paid annually eight pounds of gold, +the next class paid four, the last two, and those whose poverty might +have claimed an exemption, were assessed, however, at seven pieces +of gold. Besides the regular members of the senate, their sons, their +descendants, and even their relations, enjoyed the vain privileges, and +supported the heavy burdens, of the senatorial order; nor will it any +longer excite our surprise, that Constantine should be attentive to +increase the number of persons who were included under so useful a +description. [76] After the defeat of Maxentius, the victorious emperor +passed no more than two or three months in Rome, which he visited twice +during the remainder of his life, to celebrate the solemn festivals +of the tenth and of the twentieth years of his reign. Constantine was +almost perpetually in motion, to exercise the legions, or to inspect the +state of the provinces. Treves, Milan, Aquileia, Sirmium, Naissus, +and Thessalonica, were the occasional places of his residence, till he +founded a new Rome on the confines of Europe and Asia. [77] + +[Footnote 75: Praetoriae legiones ac subsidia factionibus aptiora quam +urbi Romae, sublata penitus; simul arma atque usus indumenti militaris +Aurelius Victor. Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) mentions this fact as an +historian, and it is very pompously celebrated in the ninth Panegyric.] + +[Footnote 76: Ex omnibus provinciis optimates viros Curiae tuae +pigneraveris ut Senatus dignitas.... ex totius Orbis flore consisteret. +Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet x. 35. The word pigneraveris might almost seem +maliciously chosen. Concerning the senatorial tax, see Zosimus, l. ii. +p. 115, the second title of the sixth book of the Theodosian Code, with +Godefroy's Commentary, and Memoires de l'Academic des Inscriptions, tom. +xxviii. p. 726.] + +[Footnote 77: From the Theodosian Code, we may now begin to trace the +motions of the emperors; but the dates both of time and place have +frequently been altered by the carelessness of transcribers.] + +Before Constantine marched into Italy, he had secured the friendship, +or at least the neutrality, of Licinius, the Illyrian emperor. He had +promised his sister Constantia in marriage to that prince; but the +celebration of the nuptials was deferred till after the conclusion +of the war, and the interview of the two emperors at Milan, which +was appointed for that purpose, appeared to cement the union of their +families and interests. [78] In the midst of the public festivity they +were suddenly obliged to take leave of each other. An inroad of the +Franks summoned Constantine to the Rhine, and the hostile approach +of the sovereign of Asia demanded the immediate presence of Licinius. +Maximin had been the secret ally of Maxentius, and without being +discouraged by his fate, he resolved to try the fortune of a civil war. +He moved out of Syria, towards the frontiers of Bithynia, in the depth +of winter. The season was severe and tempestuous; great numbers of men +as well as horses perished in the snow; and as the roads were broken up +by incessant rains, he was obliged to leave behind him a considerable +part of the heavy baggage, which was unable to follow the rapidity +of his forced marches. By this extraordinary effort of diligence, +he arrived with a harassed but formidable army, on the banks of the +Thracian Bosphorus before the lieutenants of Licinius were apprised of +his hostile intentions. Byzantium surrendered to the power of Maximin, +after a siege of eleven days. He was detained some days under the walls +of Heraclea; and he had no sooner taken possession of that city, than he +was alarmed by the intelligence, that Licinius had pitched his camp at +the distance of only eighteen miles. After a fruitless negotiation, in +which the two princes attempted to seduce the fidelity of each other's +adherents, they had recourse to arms. The emperor of the East commanded +a disciplined and veteran army of above seventy thousand men; and +Licinius, who had collected about thirty thousand Illyrians, was at +first oppressed by the superiority of numbers. His military skill, and +the firmness of his troops, restored the day, and obtained a decisive +victory. The incredible speed which Maximin exerted in his flight is +much more celebrated than his prowess in the battle. Twenty-four hours +afterwards he was seen, pale, trembling, and without his Imperial +ornaments, at Nicomedia, one hundred and sixty miles from the place +of his defeat. The wealth of Asia was yet unexhausted; and though the +flower of his veterans had fallen in the late action, he had still +power, if he could obtain time, to draw very numerous levies from Syria +and Egypt. But he survived his misfortune only three or four months. His +death, which happened at Tarsus, was variously ascribed to despair, to +poison, and to the divine justice. As Maximin was alike destitute of +abilities and of virtue, he was lamented neither by the people nor by +the soldiers. The provinces of the East, delivered from the terrors of +civil war, cheerfully acknowledged the authority of Licinius. [79] + +[Footnote 78: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 89) observes, that before the war the +sister of Constantine had been betrothed to Licinius. According to +the younger Victor, Diocletian was invited to the nuptials; but having +ventured to plead his age and infirmities, he received a second letter, +filled with reproaches for his supposed partiality to the cause of +Maxentius and Maximin.] + +[Footnote 79: Zosimus mentions the defeat and death of Maximin as +ordinary events; but Lactantius expatiates on them, (de M. P. c. 45-50,) +ascribing them to the miraculous interposition of Heaven. Licinius at +that time was one of the protectors of the church.] + +The vanquished emperor left behind him two children, a boy of about +eight, and a girl of about seven, years old. Their inoffensive age +might have excited compassion; but the compassion of Licinius was a very +feeble resource, nor did it restrain him from extinguishing the name +and memory of his adversary. The death of Severianus will admit of +less excuse, as it was dictated neither by revenge nor by policy. The +conqueror had never received any injury from the father of that unhappy +youth, and the short and obscure reign of Severus, in a distant part of +the empire, was already forgotten. But the execution of Candidianus was +an act of the blackest cruelty and ingratitude. He was the natural son +of Galerius, the friend and benefactor of Licinius. The prudent father +had judged him too young to sustain the weight of a diadem; but he hoped +that, under the protection of princes who were indebted to his favor for +the Imperial purple, Candidianus might pass a secure and honorable life. +He was now advancing towards the twentieth year of his age, and the +royalty of his birth, though unsupported either by merit or ambition, +was sufficient to exasperate the jealous mind of Licinius. [80] To these +innocent and illustrious victims of his tyranny, we must add the wife +and daughter of the emperor Diocletian. When that prince conferred on +Galerius the title of Caesar, he had given him in marriage his daughter +Valeria, whose melancholy adventures might furnish a very singular +subject for tragedy. She had fulfilled and even surpassed the duties of +a wife. As she had not any children herself, she condescended to adopt +the illegitimate son of her husband, and invariably displayed towards +the unhappy Candidianus the tenderness and anxiety of a real mother. +After the death of Galerius, her ample possessions provoked the avarice, +and her personal attractions excited the desires, of his successor, +Maximin. [81] He had a wife still alive; but divorce was permitted by the +Roman law, and the fierce passions of the tyrant demanded an immediate +gratification. The answer of Valeria was such as became the daughter +and widow of emperors; but it was tempered by the prudence which her +defenceless condition compelled her to observe. She represented to the +persons whom Maximin had employed on this occasion, "that even if honor +could permit a woman of her character and dignity to entertain a thought +of second nuptials, decency at least must forbid her to listen to his +addresses at a time when the ashes of her husband, and his benefactor +were still warm, and while the sorrows of her mind were still expressed +by her mourning garments. She ventured to declare, that she could +place very little confidence in the professions of a man whose cruel +inconstancy was capable of repudiating a faithful and affectionate +wife." [82] On this repulse, the love of Maximin was converted into fury; +and as witnesses and judges were always at his disposal, it was easy for +him to cover his fury with an appearance of legal proceedings, and to +assault the reputation as well as the happiness of Valeria. Her estates +were confiscated, her eunuchs and domestics devoted to the most inhuman +tortures; and several innocent and respectable matrons, who were honored +with her friendship, suffered death, on a false accusation of adultery. +The empress herself, together with her mother Prisca, was condemned to +exile; and as they were ignominiously hurried from place to place before +they were confined to a sequestered village in the deserts of Syria, +they exposed their shame and distress to the provinces of the East, +which, during thirty years, had respected their august dignity. +Diocletian made several ineffectual efforts to alleviate the misfortunes +of his daughter; and, as the last return that he expected for the +Imperial purple, which he had conferred upon Maximin, he entreated that +Valeria might be permitted to share his retirement of Salona, and to +close the eyes of her afflicted father. [83] He entreated; but as he +could no longer threaten, his prayers were received with coldness and +disdain; and the pride of Maximin was gratified, in treating Diocletian +as a suppliant, and his daughter as a criminal. The death of Maximin +seemed to assure the empresses of a favorable alteration in their +fortune. The public disorders relaxed the vigilance of their guard, and +they easily found means to escape from the place of their exile, and to +repair, though with some precaution, and in disguise, to the court +of Licinius. His behavior, in the first days of his reign, and the +honorable reception which he gave to young Candidianus, inspired Valeria +with a secret satisfaction, both on her own account and on that of her +adopted son. But these grateful prospects were soon succeeded by horror +and astonishment; and the bloody executions which stained the palace +of Nicomedia sufficiently convinced her that the throne of Maximin was +filled by a tyrant more inhuman than himself. Valeria consulted her +safety by a hasty flight, and, still accompanied by her mother Prisca, +they wandered above fifteen months [84] through the provinces, concealed +in the disguise of plebeian habits. They were at length discovered at +Thessalonica; and as the sentence of their death was already pronounced, +they were immediately beheaded, and their bodies thrown into the sea. +The people gazed on the melancholy spectacle; but their grief and +indignation were suppressed by the terrors of a military guard. Such +was the unworthy fate of the wife and daughter of Diocletian. We lament +their misfortunes, we cannot discover their crimes; and whatever idea we +may justly entertain of the cruelty of Licinius, it remains a matter +of surprise that he was not contented with some more secret and decent +method of revenge. [85] + +[Footnote 80: Lactantius de M. P. c. 50. Aurelius Victor touches on +the different conduct of Licinius, and of Constantine, in the use of +victory.] + +[Footnote 81: The sensual appetites of Maximin were gratified at the +expense of his subjects. His eunuchs, who forced away wives and virgins, +examined their naked charms with anxious curiosity, lest any part of +their body should be found unworthy of the royal embraces. Coyness and +disdain were considered as treason, and the obstinate fair one was +condemned to be drowned. A custom was gradually introduced, that no +person should marry a wife without the permission of the emperor, "ut +ipse in omnibus nuptiis praegustator esset." Lactantius de M. P. c. 38.] + +[Footnote 82: Lactantius de M. P. c. 39.] + +[Footnote 83: Diocletian at last sent cognatum suum, quendam militarem +ae potentem virum, to intercede in favor of his daughter, (Lactantius +de M. P. c. 41.) We are not sufficiently acquainted with the history of +these times to point out the person who was employed.] + +[Footnote 84: Valeria quoque per varias provincias quindecim mensibus +plebeio cultu pervagata. Lactantius de M. P. c. 51. There is some doubt +whether we should compute the fifteen months from the moment of her +exile, or from that of her escape. The expression of parvagata seems to +denote the latter; but in that case we must suppose that the treatise +of Lactantius was written after the first civil war between Licinius and +Constantine. See Cuper, p. 254.] + +[Footnote 85: Ita illis pudicitia et conditio exitio fuit. Lactantius +de M. P. c. 51. He relates the misfortunes of the innocent wife +and daughter of Discletian with a very natural mixture of pity and +exultation.] + +The Roman world was now divided between Constantine and Licinius, the +former of whom was master of the West, and the latter of the East. It +might perhaps have been expected that the conquerors, fatigued with +civil war, and connected by a private as well as public alliance, would +have renounced, or at least would have suspended, any further designs of +ambition. And yet a year had scarcely elapsed after the death of +Maximin, before the victorious emperors turned their arms against each +other. The genius, the success, and the aspiring temper of Constantine, +may seem to mark him out as the aggressor; but the perfidious character +of Licinius justifies the most unfavorable suspicions, and by the faint +light which history reflects on this transaction, [86] we may discover a +conspiracy fomented by his arts against the authority of his colleague. +Constantine had lately given his sister Anastasia in marriage to +Bassianus, a man of a considerable family and fortune, and had elevated +his new kinsman to the rank of Caesar. According to the system of +government instituted by Diocletian, Italy, and perhaps Africa, were +designed for his department in the empire. But the performance of the +promised favor was either attended with so much delay, or accompanied +with so many unequal conditions, that the fidelity of Bassianus was +alienated rather than secured by the honorable distinction which he had +obtained. His nomination had been ratified by the consent of Licinius; +and that artful prince, by the means of his emissaries, soon contrived +to enter into a secret and dangerous correspondence with the new Caesar, +to irritate his discontents, and to urge him to the rash enterprise of +extorting by violence what he might in vain solicit from the justice of +Constantine. But the vigilant emperor discovered the conspiracy before +it was ripe for execution; and after solemnly renouncing the alliance of +Bassianus, despoiled him of the purple, and inflicted the deserved +punishment on his treason and ingratitude. The haughty refusal of +Licinius, when he was required to deliver up the criminals who had taken +refuge in his dominions, confirmed the suspicions already entertained of +his perfidy; and the indignities offered at Aemona, on the frontiers of +Italy, to the statues of Constantine, became the signal of discord +between the two princes. [87] + +[Footnote 86: The curious reader, who consults the Valesian fragment, p. +713, will probably accuse me of giving a bold and licentious paraphrase; +but if he considers it with attention, he will acknowledge that my +interpretation is probable and consistent.] + +[Footnote 87: The situation of Aemona, or, as it is now called, Laybach, +in Carniola, (D'Anville, Geographie Ancienne, tom. i. p. 187,) may +suggest a conjecture. As it lay to the north-east of the Julian Alps, +that important territory became a natural object of dispute between the +sovereigns of Italy and of Illyricum.] + +The first battle was fought near Cibalis, a city of Pannonia, situated +on the River Save, about fifty miles above Sirmium. [88] From the +inconsiderable forces which in this important contest two such powerful +monarchs brought into the field, it may be inferred that the one was +suddenly provoked, and that the other was unexpectedly surprised. The +emperor of the West had only twenty thousand, and the sovereign of the +East no more than five and thirty thousand, men. The inferiority +of number was, however, compensated by the advantage of the ground. +Constantine had taken post in a defile about half a mile in breadth, +between a steep hill and a deep morass, and in that situation he +steadily expected and repulsed the first attack of the enemy. He pursued +his success, and advanced into the plain. But the veteran legions of +Illyricum rallied under the standard of a leader who had been trained to +arms in the school of Probus and Diocletian. The missile weapons on both +sides were soon exhausted; the two armies, with equal valor, rushed to +a closer engagement of swords and spears, and the doubtful contest had +already lasted from the dawn of the day to a late hour of the evening, +when the right wing, which Constantine led in person, made a vigorous +and decisive charge. The judicious retreat of Licinius saved the +remainder of his troops from a total defeat; but when he computed his +loss, which amounted to more than twenty thousand men, he thought it +unsafe to pass the night in the presence of an active and victorious +enemy. Abandoning his camp and magazines, he marched away with secrecy +and diligence at the head of the greatest part of his cavalry, and was +soon removed beyond the danger of a pursuit. His diligence preserved +his wife, his son, and his treasures, which he had deposited at Sirmium. +Licinius passed through that city, and breaking down the bridge on the +Save, hastened to collect a new army in Dacia and Thrace. In his flight +he bestowed the precarious title of Caesar on Valens, his general of the +Illyrian frontier. [89] + +[Footnote 88: Cibalis or Cibalae (whose name is still preserved in the +obscure ruins of Swilei) was situated about fifty miles from Sirmium, +the capital of Illyricum, and about one hundred from Taurunum, or +Belgrade, and the conflux of the Danube and the Save. The Roman +garrisons and cities on those rivers are finely illustrated by M. +d'Anville in a memoir inserted in l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. +xxviii.] + +[Footnote 89: Zosimus (l. ii. p. 90, 91) gives a very particular account +of this battle; but the descriptions of Zosimus are rhetorical rather +than military] + + + + +Chapter XIV: Six Emperors At The Same Time, Reunion Of The Empire.--Part IV. + +The plain of Mardia in Thrace was the theatre of a second battle no less +obstinate and bloody than the former. The troops on both sides displayed +the same valor and discipline; and the victory was once more decided +by the superior abilities of Constantine, who directed a body of five +thousand men to gain an advantageous height, from whence, during the +heat of the action, they attacked the rear of the enemy, and made a very +considerable slaughter. The troops of Licinius, however, presenting a +double front, still maintained their ground, till the approach of +night put an end to the combat, and secured their retreat towards the +mountains of Macedonia. [90] The loss of two battles, and of his bravest +veterans, reduced the fierce spirit of Licinius to sue for peace. His +ambassador Mistrianus was admitted to the audience of Constantine: he +expatiated on the common topics of moderation and humanity, which are +so familiar to the eloquence of the vanquished; represented in the most +insinuating language, that the event of the war was still doubtful, +whilst its inevitable calamities were alike pernicious to both the +contending parties; and declared that he was authorized to propose a +lasting and honorable peace in the name of the two emperors his +masters. Constantine received the mention of Valens with indignation and +contempt. "It was not for such a purpose," he sternly replied, "that we +have advanced from the shores of the western ocean in an uninterrupted +course of combats and victories, that, after rejecting an ungrateful +kinsman, we should accept for our colleague a contemptible slave. The +abdication of Valens is the first article of the treaty." [91] It was +necessary to accept this humiliating condition; and the unhappy Valens, +after a reign of a few days, was deprived of the purple and of his life. +As soon as this obstacle was removed, the tranquillity of the Roman +world was easily restored. The successive defeats of Licinius had +ruined his forces, but they had displayed his courage and abilities. His +situation was almost desperate, but the efforts of despair are sometimes +formidable, and the good sense of Constantine preferred a great and +certain advantage to a third trial of the chance of arms. He consented +to leave his rival, or, as he again styled Licinius, his friend and +brother, in the possession of Thrace, Asia Minor, Syria, and Egypt; but +the provinces of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Dacia, Macedonia, and Greece, were +yielded to the Western empire, and the dominions of Constantine +now extended from the confines of Caledonia to the extremity of +Peloponnesus. It was stipulated by the same treaty, that three royal +youths, the sons of emperors, should be called to the hopes of the +succession. Crispus and the young Constantine were soon afterwards +declared Caesars in the West, while the younger Licinius was invested +with the same dignity in the East. In this double proportion of honors, +the conqueror asserted the superiority of his arms and power. [92] + +[Footnote 90: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 92, 93. Anonym. Valesian. p. 713. The +Epitomes furnish some circumstances; but they frequently confound the +two wars between Licinius and Constantine.] + +[Footnote 91: Petrus Patricius in Excerpt. Legat. p. 27. If it should be +thought that signifies more properly a son-in-law, we might conjecture +that Constantine, assuming the name as well as the duties of a father, +had adopted his younger brothers and sisters, the children of Theodora. +But in the best authors sometimes signifies a husband, sometimes +a father-in-law, and sometimes a kinsman in general. See Spanheim, +Observat. ad Julian. Orat. i. p. 72.] + +[Footnote 92: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93. Anonym. Valesian. p. 713. +Eutropius, x. v. Aurelius Victor, Euseb. in Chron. Sozomen, l. i. c. 2. +Four of these writers affirm that the promotion of the Caesars was +an article of the treaty. It is, however, certain, that the younger +Constantine and Licinius were not yet born; and it is highly probable +that the promotion was made the 1st of March, A. D. 317. The treaty +had probably stipulated that the two Caesars might be created by the +western, and one only by the eastern emperor; but each of them reserved +to himself the choice of the persons.] + +The reconciliation of Constantine and Licinius, though it was imbittered +by resentment and jealousy, by the remembrance of recent injuries, and +by the apprehension of future dangers, maintained, however, above eight +years, the tranquility of the Roman world. As a very regular series of +the Imperial laws commences about this period, it would not be difficult +to transcribe the civil regulations which employed the leisure of +Constantine. But the most important of his institutions are intimately +connected with the new system of policy and religion, which was not +perfectly established till the last and peaceful years of his reign. +There are many of his laws, which, as far as they concern the rights and +property of individuals, and the practice of the bar, are more properly +referred to the private than to the public jurisprudence of the empire; +and he published many edicts of so local and temporary a nature, that +they would ill deserve the notice of a general history. Two laws, +however, may be selected from the crowd; the one for its importance, the +other for its singularity; the former for its remarkable benevolence, +the latter for its excessive severity. 1. The horrid practice, so +familiar to the ancients, of exposing or murdering their new-born +infants, was become every day more frequent in the provinces, and +especially in Italy. It was the effect of distress; and the distress was +principally occasioned by the intolerant burden of taxes, and by the +vexatious as well as cruel prosecutions of the officers of the revenue +against their insolvent debtors. The less opulent or less industrious +part of mankind, instead of rejoicing in an increase of family, deemed +it an act of paternal tenderness to release their children from the +impending miseries of a life which they themselves were unable to +support. The humanity of Constantine; moved, perhaps, by some recent and +extraordinary instances of despair, engaged him to address an edict +to all the cities of Italy, and afterwards of Africa, directing +immediate and sufficient relief to be given to those parents who should +produce before the magistrates the children whom their own poverty would +not allow them to educate. But the promise was too liberal, and the +provision too vague, to effect any general or permanent benefit. [93] +The law, though it may merit some praise, served rather to display than +to alleviate the public distress. It still remains an authentic monument +to contradict and confound those venal orators, who were too well +satisfied with their own situation to discover either vice or misery +under the government of a generous sovereign. [94] 2. The laws of +Constantine against rapes were dictated with very little indulgence for +the most amiable weaknesses of human nature; since the description of +that crime was applied not only to the brutal violence which compelled, +but even to the gentle seduction which might persuade, an unmarried +woman, under the age of twenty-five, to leave the house of her parents. +"The successful ravisher was punished with death;" and as if simple death +was inadequate to the enormity of his guilt, he was either burnt alive, +or torn in pieces by wild beasts in the amphitheatre. The virgin's +declaration, that she had been carried away with her own consent, +instead of saving her lover, exposed her to share his fate. The duty of +a public prosecution was intrusted to the parents of the guilty or +unfortunate maid; and if the sentiments of nature prevailed on them to +dissemble the injury, and to repair by a subsequent marriage the honor +of their family, they were themselves punished by exile and +confiscation. The slaves, whether male or female, who were convicted of +having been accessory to rape or seduction, were burnt alive, or put to +death by the ingenious torture of pouring down their throats a quantity +of melted lead. As the crime was of a public kind, the accusation was +permitted even to strangers.[9401] + +[Footnote 9401: This explanation appears to me little probable. Godefroy +has made a much more happy conjecture, supported by all the historical +circumstances which relate to this edict. It was published the 12th of +May, A. D. 315. at Naissus in Pannonia, the birthplace of Constantine. +The 8th of October, in that year, Constantine gained the victory of +Cibalis over Licinius. He was yet uncertain as to the fate of the war: +the Christians, no doubt, whom he favored, had prophesied his victory. +Lactantius, then preceptor of Crispus, had just written his work upon +Christianity, (his Divine Institutes;) he had dedicated it to +Constantine. In this book he had inveighed with great force against +infanticide, and the exposure of infants, (l. vi. c. 20.) Is it not +probable that Constantine had read this work, that he had conversed on +the subject with Lactantius, that he was moved, among other things, by +the passage to which I have referred, and in the first transport of his +enthusiasm, he published the edict in question? The whole of the edict +bears the character of precipitation, of excitement, (entrainement,) +rather than of deliberate reflection--the extent of the promises, the +indefiniteness of the means, of the conditions, and of the time during +which the parents might have a right to the succor of the state. Is +there not reason to believe that the humanity of Constantine was excited +by the influence of Lactantius, by that of the principles of +Christianity, and of the Christians themselves, already in high esteem +with the emperor, rather than by some "extraordinary instances of +despair"? * * * See Hegewisch, Essai Hist. sur les Finances Romaines. +The edict for Africa was not published till 322: of that we may say in +truth that its origin was in the misery of the times. Africa had +suffered much from the cruelty of Maxentius. Constantine says expressly, +that he had learned that parents, under the pressure of distress, were +there selling their children. This decree is more distinct, more +maturely deliberated than the former; the succor which was to be given +to the parents, and the source from which it was to be derived, are +determined. (Code Theod. l. xi. tit. 27, c 2.) If the direct utility of +these laws may not have been very extensive, they had at least the great +and happy effect of establishing a decisive opposition between the +principles of the government and those which, at this time, had +prevailed among the subjects of the empire.--G.] + +The commencement of the action was not limited to any term of years, and +the consequences of the sentence were extended to the innocent offspring +of such an irregular union. [95] But whenever the offence inspires less +horror than the punishment, the rigor of penal law is obliged to give +way to the common feelings of mankind. The most odious parts of this +edict were softened or repealed in the subsequent reigns; [96] and even +Constantine himself very frequently alleviated, by partial acts of +mercy, the stern temper of his general institutions. Such, indeed, was +the singular humor of that emperor, who showed himself as indulgent, and +even remiss, in the execution of his laws, as he was severe, and even +cruel, in the enacting of them. It is scarcely possible to observe +a more decisive symptom of weakness, either in the character of the +prince, or in the constitution of the government. [97] + +[Footnote 93: Codex Theodosian. l. xi. tit. 27, tom. iv. p. 188, with +Godefroy's observations. See likewise l. v. tit. 7, 8.] + +[Footnote 94: Omnia foris placita, domi prospera, annonae ubertate, +fructuum copia, &c. Panegyr. Vet. x. 38. This oration of Nazarius was +pronounced on the day of the Quinquennalia of the Caesars, the 1st of +March, A. D. 321.] + +[Footnote 95: See the edict of Constantine, addressed +to the Roman people, in the Theodosian Code, l. ix. tit. 24, tom. iii. +p. 189.] + +[Footnote 96: His son very fairly assigns the true reason of the repeal: +"Na sub specie atrocioris judicii aliqua in ulciscendo crimine dilatio +nae ceretur." Cod. Theod. tom. iii. p. 193] + +[Footnote 97: Eusebius (in Vita Constant. l. iii. c. 1) chooses to +affirm, that in the reign of this hero, the sword of justice hung idle +in the hands of the magistrates. Eusebius himself, (l. iv. c. 29, 54,) +and the Theodosian Code, will inform us that this excessive lenity was +not owing to the want either of atrocious criminals or of penal laws.] + +The civil administration was sometimes interrupted by the military +defence of the empire. Crispus, a youth of the most amiable character, +who had received with the title of Caesar the command of the Rhine, +distinguished his conduct, as well as valor, in several victories over +the Franks and Alemanni, and taught the barbarians of that frontier to +dread the eldest son of Constantine, and the grandson of Constantius. +[98] The emperor himself had assumed the more difficult and important +province of the Danube. The Goths, who in the time of Claudius and +Aurelian had felt the weight of the Roman arms, respected the power +of the empire, even in the midst of its intestine divisions. But the +strength of that warlike nation was now restored by a peace of near +fifty years; a new generation had arisen, who no longer remembered the +misfortunes of ancient days; the Sarmatians of the Lake Maeotis followed +the Gothic standard either as subjects or as allies, and their united +force was poured upon the countries of Illyricum. Campona, Margus, and +Benonia, [981] appear to have been the scenes of several memorable sieges +and battles; [99] and though Constantine encountered a very obstinate +resistance, he prevailed at length in the contest, and the Goths were +compelled to purchased an ignominious retreat, by restoring the booty +and prisoners which they had taken. Nor was this advantage sufficient to +satisfy the indignation of the emperor. He resolved to chastise as +well as to repulse the insolent barbarians who had dared to invade the +territories of Rome. At the head of his legions he passed the Danube +after repairing the bridge which had been constructed by Trajan, +penetrated into the strongest recesses of Dacia, [100] and when he had +inflicted a severe revenge, condescended to give peace to the suppliant +Goths, on condition that, as often as they were required, they should +supply his armies with a body of forty thousand soldiers. [101] Exploits +like these were no doubt honorable to Constantine, and beneficial to +the state; but it may surely be questioned, whether they can justify +the exaggerated assertion of Eusebius, that All Scythia, as far as the +extremity of the North, divided as it was into so many names and nations +of the most various and savage manners, had been added by his victorious +arms to the Roman empire. [102] + +[Footnote 98: Nazarius in Panegyr. Vet. x. The victory of Crispus over +the Alemanni is expressed on some medals. * Note: Other medals are +extant, the legends of which commemorate the success of Constantine over +the Sarmatians and other barbarous nations, Sarmatia Devicta. Victoria +Gothica. Debellatori Gentium Barbarorum. Exuperator Omnium Gentium. St. +Martin, note on Le Beau, i. 148.--M.] + +[Footnote 981]: Campona, Old Buda in Hungary; Margus, Benonia, Widdin, in +Maesia--G and M.] + +[Footnote 99: See Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93, 94; though the narrative +of that historian is neither clear nor consistent. The Panegyric of +Optatianus (c. 23) mentions the alliance of the Sarmatians with the +Carpi and Getae, and points out the several fields of battle. It is +supposed that the Sarmatian games, celebrated in the month of November, +derived their origin from the success of this war.] + +[Footnote 100: In the Caesars of Julian, (p. 329. Commentaire de +Spanheim, p. 252.) Constantine boasts, that he had recovered the +province (Dacia) which Trajan had subdued. But it is insinuated by +Silenus, that the conquests of Constantine were like the gardens of +Adonis, which fade and wither almost the moment they appear.] + +[Footnote 101: Jornandes de Rebus Geticis, c. 21. I know not whether we +may entirely depend on his authority. Such an alliance has a very recent +air, and scarcely is suited to the maxims of the beginning of the fourth +century.] + +[Footnote 102: Eusebius in Vit. Constantin. l. i. c. 8. This +passage, however, is taken from a general declamation on the greatness +of Constantine, and not from any particular account of the Gothic war.] + +In this exalted state of glory, it was impossible that Constantine +should any longer endure a partner in the empire. Confiding in the +superiority of his genius and military power, he determined, without any +previous injury, to exert them for the destruction of Licinius, whose +advanced age and unpopular vices seemed to offer a very easy conquest. +[103] But the old emperor, awakened by the approaching danger, deceived +the expectations of his friends, as well as of his enemies. Calling +forth that spirit and those abilities by which he had deserved the +friendship of Galerius and the Imperial purple, he prepared himself +for the contest, collected the forces of the East, and soon filled the +plains of Hadrianople with his troops, and the Straits of the Hellespont +with his fleet. The army consisted of one hundred and fifty thousand +foot, and fifteen thousand horse; and as the cavalry was drawn, for the +most part, from Phrygia and Cappadocia, we may conceive a more favorable +opinion of the beauty of the horses, than of the courage and dexterity +of their riders. The fleet was composed of three hundred and fifty +galleys of three ranks of oars. A hundred and thirty of these were +furnished by Egypt and the adjacent coast of Africa. A hundred and +ten sailed from the ports of Phoenicia and the Isle of Cyprus; and the +maritime countries of Bithynia, Ionia, and Caria, were likewise obliged +to provide a hundred and ten galleys. The troops of Constantine were +ordered to a rendezvous at Thessalonica; they amounted to above a +hundred and twenty thousand horse and foot. [104] Their emperor was +satisfied with their martial appearance, and his army contained more +soldiers, though fewer men, than that of his eastern competitor. The +legions of Constantine were levied in the warlike provinces of Europe; +action had confirmed their discipline, victory had elevated their +hopes, and there were among them a great number of veterans, who, after +seventeen glorious campaigns under the same leader, prepared themselves +to deserve an honorable dismission by a last effort of their valor. [105] +But the naval preparations of Constantine were in every respect much +inferior to those of Licinius. The maritime cities of Greece sent their +respective quotas of men and ships to the celebrated harbor of Piraeus, +and their united forces consisted of no more than two hundred small +vessels--a very feeble armament, if it is compared with those formidable +fleets which were equipped and maintained by the republic of Athens +during the Peloponnesian war. [106] Since Italy was no longer the seat +of government, the naval establishments of Misenum and Ravenna had been +gradually neglected; and as the shipping and mariners of the empire +were supported by commerce rather than by war, it was natural that they +should the most abound in the industrious provinces of Egypt and Asia. +It is only surprising that the eastern emperor, who possessed so great a +superiority at sea, should have neglected the opportunity of carrying an +offensive war into the centre of his rival's dominions. + +[Footnote 103: Constantinus tamen, vir ingens, et omnia efficere nitens +quae animo praeparasset, simul principatum totius urbis affectans, +Licinio bellum intulit. Eutropius, x. 5. Zosimus, l. ii. p 89. The +reasons which they have assigned for the first civil war, may, with more +propriety, be applied to the second.] + +[Footnote 104: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 94, 95.] + +[Footnote 105: Constantine was very attentive to the privileges and +comforts of his fellow-veterans, (Conveterani,) as he now began to style +them. See the Theodosian Code, l. vii. tit. 10, tom. ii. p. 419, 429.] + +[Footnote 106: Whilst the Athenians maintained the empire of the sea, +their fleet consisted of three, and afterwards of four, hundred galleys +of three ranks of oars, all completely equipped and ready for immediate +service. The arsenal in the port of Piraeus had cost the republic a +thousand talents, about two hundred and sixteen thousand pounds. See +Thucydides de Bel. Pelopon. l. ii. c. 13, and Meursius de Fortuna +Attica, c. 19.] + +Instead of embracing such an active resolution, which might have changed +the whole face of the war, the prudent Licinius expected the approach of +his rival in a camp near Hadrianople, which he had fortified with an +anxious care, that betrayed his apprehension of the event. Constantine +directed his march from Thessalonica towards that part of Thrace, till +he found himself stopped by the broad and rapid stream of the Hebrus, +and discovered the numerous army of Licinius, which filled the steep +ascent of the hill, from the river to the city of Hadrianople. Many days +were spent in doubtful and distant skirmishes; but at length the +obstacles of the passage and of the attack were removed by the intrepid +conduct of Constantine. In this place we might relate a wonderful +exploit of Constantine, which, though it can scarcely be paralleled +either in poetry or romance, is celebrated, not by a venal orator +devoted to his fortune, but by an historian, the partial enemy of his +fame. We are assured that the valiant emperor threw himself into the +River Hebrus, accompanied only by twelve horsemen, and that by the +effort or terror of his invincible arm, he broke, slaughtered, and put +to flight a host of a hundred and fifty thousand men. The credulity of +Zosimus prevailed so strongly over his passion, that among the events of +the memorable battle of Hadrianople, he seems to have selected and +embellished, not the most important, but the most marvellous. The valor +and danger of Constantine are attested by a slight wound which he +received in the thigh; but it may be discovered even from an imperfect +narration, and perhaps a corrupted text, that the victory was obtained +no less by the conduct of the general than by the courage of the hero; +that a body of five thousand archers marched round to occupy a thick +wood in the rear of the enemy, whose attention was diverted by the +construction of a bridge, and that Licinius, perplexed by so many artful +evolutions, was reluctantly drawn from his advantageous post to combat +on equal ground on the plain. The contest was no longer equal. His +confused multitude of new levies was easily vanquished by the +experienced veterans of the West. Thirty-four thousand men are reported +to have been slain. The fortified camp of Licinius was taken by assault +the evening of the battle; the greater part of the fugitives, who had +retired to the mountains, surrendered themselves the next day to the +discretion of the conqueror; and his rival, who could no longer keep the +field, confined himself within the walls of Byzantium. [107] + +[Footnote 107: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 95, 96. This great battle is described +in the Valesian fragment, (p. 714,) in a clear though concise manner. +"Licinius vero circum Hadrianopolin maximo exercitu latera ardui montis +impleverat; illuc toto agmine Constantinus inflexit. Cum bellum +terra marique traheretur, quamvis per arduum suis nitentibus, attamen +disciplina militari et felicitate, Constantinus Licinu confusum et sine +ordine agentem vicit exercitum; leviter femore sau ciatus."] + +The siege of Byzantium, which was immediately undertaken by Constantine, +was attended with great labor and uncertainty. In the late civil wars, +the fortifications of that place, so justly considered as the key of +Europe and Asia, had been repaired and strengthened; and as long as +Licinius remained master of the sea, the garrison was much less exposed +to the danger of famine than the army of the besiegers. The naval +commanders of Constantine were summoned to his camp, and received his +positive orders to force the passage of the Hellespont, as the fleet +of Licinius, instead of seeking and destroying their feeble enemy, +continued inactive in those narrow straits, where its superiority of +numbers was of little use or advantage. Crispus, the emperor's eldest +son, was intrusted with the execution of this daring enterprise, which +he performed with so much courage and success, that he deserved the +esteem, and most probably excited the jealousy, of his father. The +engagement lasted two days; and in the evening of the first, the +contending fleets, after a considerable and mutual loss, retired into +their respective harbors of Europe and Asia. The second day, about noon, +a strong south wind [108] sprang up, which carried the vessels of Crispus +against the enemy; and as the casual advantage was improved by his +skilful intrepidity, he soon obtained a complete victory. A hundred +and thirty vessels were destroyed, five thousand men were slain, and +Amandus, the admiral of the Asiatic fleet, escaped with the utmost +difficulty to the shores of Chalcedon. As soon as the Hellespont +was open, a plentiful convoy of provisions flowed into the camp of +Constantine, who had already advanced the operations of the siege. +He constructed artificial mounds of earth of an equal height with the +ramparts of Byzantium. The lofty towers which were erected on that +foundation galled the besieged with large stones and darts from the +military engines, and the battering rams had shaken the walls in several +places. If Licinius persisted much longer in the defence, he exposed +himself to be involved in the ruin of the place. Before he was +surrounded, he prudently removed his person and treasures to Chalcedon +in Asia; and as he was always desirous of associating companions to the +hopes and dangers of his fortune, he now bestowed the title of Caesar +on Martinianus, who exercised one of the most important offices of the +empire. [109] + +[Footnote 108: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 97, 98. The current always sets out +of the Hellespont; and when it is assisted by a north wind, no vessel +can attempt the passage. A south wind renders the force of the current +almost imperceptible. See Tournefort's Voyage au Levant, Let. xi.] + +[Footnote 109: Aurelius Victor. Zosimus, l. ii. p. 93. According to the +latter, Martinianus was Magister Officiorum, (he uses the Latin +appellation in Greek.) Some medals seem to intimate, that during his +short reign he received the title of Augustus.] + +Such were still the resources, and such the abilities, of Licinius, +that, after so many successive defeats, he collected in Bithynia a new +army of fifty or sixty thousand men, while the activity of Constantine +was employed in the siege of Byzantium. The vigilant emperor did not, +however, neglect the last struggles of his antagonist. A considerable +part of his victorious army was transported over the Bosphorus in small +vessels, and the decisive engagement was fought soon after their landing +on the heights of Chrysopolis, or, as it is now called, of Scutari. The +troops of Licinius, though they were lately raised, ill armed, and +worse disciplined, made head against their conquerors with fruitless but +desperate valor, till a total defeat, and a slaughter of five and twenty +thousand men, irretrievably determined the fate of their leader. [110] +He retired to Nicomedia, rather with the view of gaining some time for +negotiation, than with the hope of any effectual defence. Constantia, +his wife, and the sister of Constantine, interceded with her brother in +favor of her husband, and obtained from his policy, rather than from +his compassion, a solemn promise, confirmed by an oath, that after the +sacrifice of Martinianus, and the resignation of the purple, Licinius +himself should be permitted to pass the remainder of this life in peace +and affluence. The behavior of Constantia, and her relation to the +contending parties, naturally recalls the remembrance of that virtuous +matron who was the sister of Augustus, and the wife of Antony. But the +temper of mankind was altered, and it was no longer esteemed infamous +for a Roman to survive his honor and independence. Licinius solicited +and accepted the pardon of his offences, laid himself and his purple +at the feet of his lord and master, was raised from the ground with +insulting pity, was admitted the same day to the Imperial banquet, and +soon afterwards was sent away to Thessalonica, which had been chosen for +the place of his confinement. [111] His confinement was soon terminated +by death, and it is doubtful whether a tumult of the soldiers, or a +decree of the senate, was suggested as the motive for his execution. +According to the rules of tyranny, he was accused of forming a +conspiracy, and of holding a treasonable correspondence with the +barbarians; but as he was never convicted, either by his own conduct or +by any legal evidence, we may perhaps be allowed, from his weakness, +to presume his innocence. [112] The memory of Licinius was branded with +infamy, his statues were thrown down, and by a hasty edict, of such +mischievous tendency that it was almost immediately corrected, all +his laws, and all the judicial proceedings of his reign, were at once +abolished. [113] By this victory of Constantine, the Roman world was +again united under the authority of one emperor, thirty-seven years +after Diocletian had divided his power and provinces with his associate +Maximian. + +[Footnote 110: Eusebius (in Vita Constantin. I. ii. c. 16, 17) ascribes +this decisive victory to the pious prayers of the emperor. The Valesian +fragment (p. 714) mentions a body of Gothic auxiliaries, under their +chief Aliquaca, who adhered to the party of Licinius.] + +[Footnote 111: Zosimus, l. ii. p. 102. Victor Junior in Epitome. +Anonym. Valesian. p. 714.] + +[Footnote 112: Contra religionem sacramenti Thessalonicae privatus +occisus est. Eutropius, x. 6; and his evidence is confirmed by Jerome +(in Chronic.) as well as by Zosimus, l. ii. p. 102. The Valesian writer +is the only one who mentions the soldiers, and it is Zonaras alone who +calls in the assistance of the senate. Eusebius prudently slides over +this delicate transaction. But Sozomen, a century afterwards, ventures +to assert the treasonable practices of Licinius.] + +[Footnote 113: See the Theodosian Code, l. xv. tit. 15, tom. v. p +404, 405. These edicts of Constantine betray a degree of passion and +precipitation very unbecoming the character of a lawgiver.] + +The successive steps of the elevation of Constantine, from his first +assuming the purple at York, to the resignation of Licinius, at +Nicomedia, have been related with some minuteness and precision, not +only as the events are in themselves both interesting and important, +but still more, as they contributed to the decline of the empire by the +expense of blood and treasure, and by the perpetual increase, as well +of the taxes, as of the military establishment. The foundation of +Constantinople, and the establishment of the Christian religion, were +the immediate and memorable consequences of this revolution. + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part I. + + The Progress Of The Christian Religion, And The Sentiments, + Manners, Numbers, And Condition Of The Primitive Christians. + [101] + +[Footnote 101: In spite of my resolution, Lardner led me to look through +the famous fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of Gibbon. I could not lay +them down without finishing them. The causes assigned, in the fifteenth +chapter, for the diffusion of Christianity, must, no doubt, have +contributed to it materially; but I doubt whether he saw them all. +Perhaps those which he enumerates are among the most obvious. They might +all be safely adopted by a Christian writer, with some change in the +language and manner. Mackintosh see Life, i. p. 244.--M.] + +A candid but rational inquiry into the progress and establishment of +Christianity may be considered as a very essential part of the history +of the Roman empire. While that great body was invaded by open +violence, or undermined by slow decay, a pure and humble religion +gently insinuated itself into the minds of men, grew up in silence and +obscurity, derived new vigor from opposition, and finally erected the +triumphant banner of the Cross on the ruins of the Capitol. Nor was the +influence of Christianity confined to the period or to the limits of the +Roman empire. After a revolution of thirteen or fourteen centuries, +that religion is still professed by the nations of Europe, the most +distinguished portion of human kind in arts and learning as well as +in arms. By the industry and zeal of the Europeans, it has been widely +diffused to the most distant shores of Asia and Africa; and by the means +of their colonies has been firmly established from Canada to Chili, in a +world unknown to the ancients. + +But this inquiry, however useful or entertaining, is attended with +two peculiar difficulties. The scanty and suspicious materials of +ecclesiastical history seldom enable us to dispel the dark cloud that +hangs over the first age of the church. The great law of impartiality +too often obliges us to reveal the imperfections of the uninspired +teachers and believers of the gospel; and, to a careless observer, their +faults may seem to cast a shade on the faith which they professed. But +the scandal of the pious Christian, and the fallacious triumph of the +Infidel, should cease as soon as they recollect not only by whom, but +likewise to whom, the Divine Revelation was given. The theologian may +indulge the pleasing task of describing Religion as she descended from +Heaven, arrayed in her native purity. A more melancholy duty is imposed +on the historian. He must discover the inevitable mixture of error and +corruption, which she contracted in a long residence upon earth, among a +weak and degenerate race of beings. [102] + +[Footnote 102: The art of Gibbon, or at least the unfair impression +produced by these two memorable chapters, consists in confounding +together, in one undistinguishable mass, the origin and apostolic +propagation of the Christian religion with its later progress. The main +question, the divine origin of the religion, is dexterously eluded or +speciously conceded; his plan enables him to commence his account, in +most parts, below the apostolic times; and it is only by the strength +of the dark coloring with which he has brought out the failings and +the follies of succeeding ages, that a shadow of doubt and suspicion is +thrown back on the primitive period of Christianity. Divest this whole +passage of the latent sarcasm betrayed by the subsequent one of the +whole disquisition, and it might commence a Christian history, written +in the most Christian spirit of candor.--M.] + +Our curiosity is naturally prompted to inquire by what means the +Christian faith obtained so remarkable a victory over the established +religions of the earth. To this inquiry, an obvious but satisfactory +answer may be returned; that it was owing to the convincing evidence of +the doctrine itself, and to the ruling providence of its great Author. +But as truth and reason seldom find so favorable a reception in the +world, and as the wisdom of Providence frequently condescends to use the +passions of the human heart, and the general circumstances of mankind, +as instruments to execute its purpose, we may still be permitted, though +with becoming submission, to ask, not indeed what were the first, but +what were the secondary causes of the rapid growth of the Christian +church. It will, perhaps, appear, that it was most effectually favored +and assisted by the five following causes: I. The inflexible, and if we +may use the expression, the intolerant zeal of the Christians, derived, +it is true, from the Jewish religion, but purified from the narrow and +unsocial spirit, which, instead of inviting, had deterred the Gentiles +from embracing the law of Moses. + +II. The doctrine of a future life, improved by every additional +circumstance which could give weight and efficacy to that important +truth. III. The miraculous powers ascribed to the primitive church. IV. +The pure and austere morals of the Christians. + +V. The union and discipline of the Christian republic, which gradually +formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman +empire. + +[Footnote!: Though we are thus far agreed with respect to the +inflexibility and intolerance of Christian zeal, yet as to the principle +from which it was derived, we are, toto coelo, divided in opinion. You +deduce it from the Jewish religion; I would refer it to a more adequate +and a more obvious source, a full persuasion of the truth of +Christianity. Watson. Letters Gibbon, i. 9.--M.] + +I. We have already described the religious harmony of the ancient world, +and the facility [102] with which the most different and even hostile +nations embraced, or at least respected, each other's superstitions. A +single people refused to join in the common intercourse of mankind. The +Jews, who, under the Assyrian and Persian monarchies, had languished +for many ages the most despised portion of their slaves, [1] emerged from +obscurity under the successors of Alexander; and as they multiplied to +a surprising degree in the East, and afterwards in the West, they +soon excited the curiosity and wonder of other nations. [2] The sullen +obstinacy with which they maintained their peculiar rites and unsocial +manners, seemed to mark them out as a distinct species of men, who +boldly professed, or who faintly disguised, their implacable habits to +the rest of human kind. [3] Neither the violence of Antiochus, nor the +arts of Herod, nor the example of the circumjacent nations, could +ever persuade the Jews to associate with the institutions of Moses the +elegant mythology of the Greeks. [4] According to the maxims of universal +toleration, the Romans protected a superstition which they despised. [5] +The polite Augustus condescended to give orders, that sacrifices should +be offered for his prosperity in the temple of Jerusalem; [6] whilst +the meanest of the posterity of Abraham, who should have paid the same +homage to the Jupiter of the Capitol, would have been an object of +abhorrence to himself and to his brethren. + +But the moderation of the conquerors was insufficient to appease the +jealous prejudices of their subjects, who were alarmed and scandalized +at the ensigns of paganism, which necessarily introduced themselves into +a Roman province. [7] The mad attempt of Caligula to place his own statue +in the temple of Jerusalem was defeated by the unanimous resolution of a +people who dreaded death much less than such an idolatrous profanation. +[8] Their attachment to the law of Moses was equal to their detestation +of foreign religions. The current of zeal and devotion, as it was +contracted into a narrow channel, ran with the strength, and sometimes +with the fury, of a torrent. + +[Footnote 102: This facility has not always prevented intolerance, which +seems inherent in the religious spirit, when armed with authority. The +separation of the ecclesiastical and civil power, appears to be the only +means of at once maintaining religion and tolerance: but this is a very +modern notion. The passions, which mingle themselves with opinions, made +the Pagans very often intolerant and persecutors; witness the Persians, +the Egyptians even the Greeks and Romans. + +1st. The Persians.--Cambyses, conqueror of the Egyptians, condemned to +death the magistrates of Memphis, because they had offered divine honors +to their god. Apis: he caused the god to be brought before him, struck +him with his dagger, commanded the priests to be scourged, and ordered +a general massacre of all the Egyptians who should be found celebrating +the festival of the statues of the gods to be burnt. Not content with +this intolerance, he sent an army to reduce the Ammonians to slavery, +and to set on fire the temple in which Jupiter delivered his oracles. +See Herod. iii. 25--29, 37. Xerxes, during his invasion of Greece, acted +on the same principles: l c destroyed all the temples of Greece and +Ionia, except that of Ephesus. See Paus. l. vii. p. 533, and x. p. 887. + +Strabo, l. xiv. b. 941. 2d. The Egyptians.--They thought themselves +defiled when they had drunk from the same cup or eaten at the same table +with a man of a different belief from their own. "He who has voluntarily +killed any sacred animal is punished with death; but if any one, even +involuntarily, has killed a cat or an ibis, he cannot escape the extreme +penalty: the people drag him away, treat him in the most cruel manner, +sometimes without waiting for a judicial sentence. * * * Even at the +time when King Ptolemy was not yet the acknowledged friend of the +Roman people, while the multitude were paying court with all possible +attention to the strangers who came from Italy * * a Roman having killed +a cat, the people rushed to his house, and neither the entreaties of the +nobles, whom the king sent to them, nor the terror of the Roman name, +were sufficiently powerful to rescue the man from punishment, though he +had committed the crime involuntarily." Diod. Sic. i 83. Juvenal, in his +13th Satire, describes the sanguinary conflict between the inhabitants +of Ombos and of Tentyra, from religious animosity. The fury was carried +so far, that the conquerors tore and devoured the quivering limbs of the +conquered. + +Ardet adhuc Ombos et Tentyra, summus utrinque Inde furor vulgo, quod +numina vicinorum Odit uterque locus; quum solos credat habendos Esse +Deos quos ipse colit. Sat. xv. v. 85. + +3d. The Greeks.--"Let us not here," says the Abbe Guenee, "refer to the +cities of Peloponnesus and their severity against atheism; the Ephesians +prosecuting Heraclitus for impiety; the Greeks armed one against the +other by religious zeal, in the Amphictyonic war. Let us say nothing +either of the frightful cruelties inflicted by three successors of +Alexander upon the Jews, to force them to abandon their religion, nor +of Antiochus expelling the philosophers from his states. Let us not seek +our proofs of intolerance so far off. Athens, the polite and learned +Athens, will supply us with sufficient examples. Every citizen made +a public and solemn vow to conform to the religion of his country, to +defend it, and to cause it to be respected. An express law severely +punished all discourses against the gods, and a rigid decree ordered the +denunciation of all who should deny their existence. * * * The practice +was in unison with the severity of the law. The proceedings commenced +against Protagoras; a price set upon the head of Diagoras; the danger of +Alcibiades; Aristotle obliged to fly; Stilpo banished; Anaxagoras hardly +escaping death; Pericles himself, after all his services to his country, +and all the glory he had acquired, compelled to appear before the +tribunals and make his defence; * * a priestess executed for having +introduced strange gods; Socrates condemned and drinking the hemlock, +because he was accused of not recognizing those of his country, &c.; +these facts attest too loudly, to be called in question, the religious +intolerance of the most humane and enlightened people in Greece." +Lettres de quelques Juifs a Mons. Voltaire, i. p. 221. (Compare Bentley +on Freethinking, from which much of this is derived.)--M. + +4th. The Romans.--The laws of Rome were not less express and severe. The +intolerance of foreign religions reaches, with the Romans, as high as +the laws of the twelve tables; the prohibitions were afterwards renewed +at different times. Intolerance did not discontinue under the emperors; +witness the counsel of Maecenas to Augustus. This counsel is so +remarkable, that I think it right to insert it entire. "Honor the gods +yourself," says Maecenas to Augustus, "in every way according to the +usage of your ancestors, and compel others to worship them. Hate and +punish those who introduce strange gods, not only for the sake of the +gods, (he who despises them will respect no one,) but because those who +introduce new gods engage a multitude of persons in foreign laws and +customs. From hence arise unions bound by oaths and confederacies, and +associations, things dangerous to a monarchy." Dion Cass. l. ii. c. 36. +(But, though some may differ from it, see Gibbon's just observation on +this passage in Dion Cassius, ch. xvi. note 117; impugned, indeed, by M. +Guizot, note in loc.)--M. + +Even the laws which the philosophers of Athens and of Rome wrote for +their imaginary republics are intolerant. Plato does not leave to his +citizens freedom of religious worship; and Cicero expressly prohibits +them from having other gods than those of the state. Lettres de quelques +Juifs a Mons. Voltaire, i. p. 226.--G. + +According to M. Guizot's just remarks, religious intolerance will always +ally itself with the passions of man, however different those passions +may be. In the instances quoted above, with the Persians it was the +pride of despotism; to conquer the gods of a country was the last mark +of subjugation. With the Egyptians, it was the gross Fetichism of the +superstitious populace, and the local jealousy of neighboring towns. In +Greece, persecution was in general connected with political party; +in Rome, with the stern supremacy of the law and the interests of the +state. Gibbon has been mistaken in attributing to the tolerant spirit +of Paganism that which arose out of the peculiar circumstances of the +times. 1st. The decay of the old Polytheism, through the progress of +reason and intelligence, and the prevalence of philosophical opinions +among the higher orders. + +2d. The Roman character, in which the political always predominated over +the religious party. The Romans were contented with having bowed the +world to a uniformity of subjection to their power, and cared not for +establishing the (to them) less important uniformity of religion.--M. + +[Footnote 1: Dum Assyrios penes, Medosque, et Persas Oriens fuit, +despectissima pars servientium. Tacit. Hist. v. 8. Herodotus, who +visited Asia whilst it obeyed the last of those empires, slightly +mentions the Syrians of Palestine, who, according to their own +confession, had received from Egypt the rite of circumcision. See l. ii. +c. 104.] + +[Footnote 2: Diodorus Siculus, l. xl. Dion Cassius, l. xxxvii. p. 121. +Tacit Hist. v. 1--9. Justin xxxvi. 2, 3.] + +[Footnote 3: Tradidit arcano quaecunque volumine Moses, Non monstrare +vias cadem nisi sacra colenti, Quaesitum ad fontem solos deducere +verpas. The letter of this law is not to be found in the present volume +of Moses. But the wise, the humane Maimonides openly teaches that if an +idolater fall into the water, a Jew ought not to save him from instant +death. See Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. vi. c. 28. * Note: It is +diametrically opposed to its spirit and to its letter, see, among other +passages, Deut. v. 18. 19, (God) "loveth the stranger in giving him food +and raiment. Love ye, therefore, the stranger: for ye were strangers in +the land of Egypt." Comp. Lev. xxiii. 25. Juvenal is a satirist, whose +strong expressions can hardly be received as historic evidence; and he +wrote after the horrible cruelties of the Romans, which, during and +after the war, might give some cause for the complete isolation of the +Jew from the rest of the world. The Jew was a bigot, but his religion +was not the only source of his bigotry. After how many centuries of +mutual wrong and hatred, which had still further estranged the Jew from +mankind, did Maimonides write?--M.] + +[Footnote 4: A Jewish sect, which indulged themselves in a sort +of occasional conformity, derived from Herod, by whose example and +authority they had been seduced, the name of Herodians. But their +numbers were so inconsiderable, and their duration so short, that +Josephus has not thought them worthy of his notice. See Prideaux's +Connection, vol. ii. p. 285. * Note: The Herodians were probably more of +a political party than a religious sect, though Gibbon is most likely +right as to their occasional conformity. See Hist. of the Jews, ii. +108.--M.] + +[Footnote 5: Cicero pro Flacco, c. 28. * Note: The edicts of Julius +Caesar, and of some of the cities in Asia Minor (Krebs. Decret. pro +Judaeis,) in favor of the nation in general, or of the Asiatic Jews, +speak a different language.--M.] + +[Footnote 6: Philo de Legatione. Augustus left a foundation for a +perpetual sacrifice. Yet he approved of the neglect which his grandson +Caius expressed towards the temple of Jerusalem. See Sueton. in August. +c. 93, and Casaubon's notes on that passage.] + +[Footnote 7: See, in particular, Joseph. Antiquitat. xvii. 6, xviii. 3; +and de Bell. Judiac. i. 33, and ii. 9, edit. Havercamp. * Note: This was +during the government of Pontius Pilate. (Hist. of Jews, ii. 156.) +Probably in part to avoid this collision, the Roman governor, in +general, resided at Caesarea.--M.] + +[Footnote 8: Jussi a Caio Caesare, effigiem ejus in templo locare, +arma potius sumpsere. Tacit. Hist. v. 9. Philo and Josephus gave a very +circumstantial, but a very rhetorical, account of this transaction, +which exceedingly perplexed the governor of Syria. At the first mention +of this idolatrous proposal, King Agrippa fainted away; and did not +recover his senses until the third day. (Hist. of Jews, ii. 181, &c.)] + + +This inflexible perseverance, which appeared so odious or so ridiculous +to the ancient world, assumes a more awful character, since Providence +has deigned to reveal to us the mysterious history of the chosen people. +But the devout and even scrupulous attachment to the Mosaic religion, +so conspicuous among the Jews who lived under the second temple, becomes +still more surprising, if it is compared with the stubborn incredulity +of their forefathers. When the law was given in thunder from Mount +Sinai, when the tides of the ocean and the course of the planets were +suspended for the convenience of the Israelites, and when temporal +rewards and punishments were the immediate consequences of their piety +or disobedience, they perpetually relapsed into rebellion against the +visible majesty of their Divine King, placed the idols of the nations in +the sanctuary of Jehovah, and imitated every fantastic ceremony that was +practised in the tents of the Arabs, or in the cities of Phoenicia. [9] +As the protection of Heaven was deservedly withdrawn from the ungrateful +race, their faith acquired a proportionable degree of vigor and purity. + +The contemporaries of Moses and Joshua had beheld with careless +indifference the most amazing miracles. Under the pressure of every +calamity, the belief of those miracles has preserved the Jews of a later +period from the universal contagion of idolatry; and in contradiction to +every known principle of the human mind, that singular people seems to +have yielded a stronger and more ready assent to the traditions of their +remote ancestors, than to the evidence of their own senses. [10] + +[Footnote 9: For the enumeration of the Syrian and Arabian deities, it +may be observed, that Milton has comprised in one hundred and thirty +very beautiful lines the two large and learned syntagmas which Selden +had composed on that abstruse subject.] + +[Footnote 10: "How long will this people provoke me? and how long will +it be ere they believe me, for all the signs which I have shown among +them?" (Numbers xiv. 11.) It would be easy, but it would be unbecoming, +to justify the complaint of the Deity from the whole tenor of the Mosaic +history. Note: Among a rude and barbarous people, religious impressions +are easily made, and are as soon effaced. The ignorance which multiplies +imaginary wonders, would weaken and destroy the effect of real miracle. +At the period of the Jewish history, referred to in the passage from +Numbers, their fears predominated over their faith,--the fears of an +unwarlike people, just rescued from debasing slavery, and commanded to +attack a fierce, a well-armed, a gigantic, and a far more numerous race, +the inhabitants of Canaan. As to the frequent apostasy of the Jews, +their religion was beyond their state of civilization. Nor is it +uncommon for a people to cling with passionate attachment to that of +which, at first, they could not appreciate the value. Patriotism and +national pride will contend, even to death, for political rights which +have been forced upon a reluctant people. The Christian may at +least retort, with justice, that the great sign of his religion, the +resurrection of Jesus, was most ardently believed, and most resolutely +asserted, by the eye witnesses of the fact.--M.] + +The Jewish religion was admirably fitted for defence, but it was +never designed for conquest; and it seems probable that the number of +proselytes was never much superior to that of apostates. The divine +promises were originally made, and the distinguishing rite of +circumcision was enjoined, to a single family. When the posterity of +Abraham had multiplied like the sands of the sea, the Deity, from whose +mouth they received a system of laws and ceremonies, declared himself +the proper and as it were the national God of Israel and with the most +jealous care separated his favorite people from the rest of mankind. The +conquest of the land of Canaan was accompanied with so many wonderful +and with so many bloody circumstances, that the victorious Jews were +left in a state of irreconcilable hostility with all their neighbors. +They had been commanded to extirpate some of the most idolatrous tribes, +and the execution of the divine will had seldom been retarded by the +weakness of humanity. + +With the other nations they were forbidden to contract any marriages or +alliances; and the prohibition of receiving them into the congregation, +which in some cases was perpetual, almost always extended to the third, +to the seventh, or even to the tenth generation. The obligation of +preaching to the Gentiles the faith of Moses had never been inculcated +as a precept of the law, nor were the Jews inclined to impose it on +themselves as a voluntary duty. + +In the admission of new citizens, that unsocial people was actuated by +the selfish vanity of the Greeks, rather than by the generous policy of +Rome. The descendants of Abraham were flattered by the opinion that +they alone were the heirs of the covenant, and they were apprehensive of +diminishing the value of their inheritance by sharing it too easily with +the strangers of the earth. A larger acquaintance with mankind extended +their knowledge without correcting their prejudices; and whenever the +God of Israel acquired any new votaries, he was much more indebted to +the inconstant humor of polytheism than to the active zeal of his own +missionaries. [11] The religion of Moses seems to be instituted for +a particular country as well as for a single nation; and if a strict +obedience had been paid to the order, that every male, three times in +the year, should present himself before the Lord Jehovah, it would have +been impossible that the Jews could ever have spread themselves beyond +the narrow limits of the promised land. [12] That obstacle was indeed +removed by the destruction of the temple of Jerusalem; but the +most considerable part of the Jewish religion was involved in its +destruction; and the Pagans, who had long wondered at the strange report +of an empty sanctuary, [13] were at a loss to discover what could be +the object, or what could be the instruments, of a worship which was +destitute of temples and of altars, of priests and of sacrifices. + +Yet even in their fallen state, the Jews, still asserting their lofty +and exclusive privileges, shunned, instead of courting, the society of +strangers. They still insisted with inflexible rigor on those parts +of the law which it was in their power to practise. Their peculiar +distinctions of days, of meats, and a variety of trivial though +burdensome observances, were so many objects of disgust and aversion +for the other nations, to whose habits and prejudices they were +diametrically opposite. The painful and even dangerous rite of +circumcision was alone capable of repelling a willing proselyte from the +door of the synagogue. [14] + +[Footnote 11: All that relates to the Jewish proselytes has been very +ably by Basnage, Hist. des Juifs, l. vi. c. 6, 7.] + +[Footnote 12: See Exod. xxiv. 23, Deut. xvi. 16, the commentators, and a +very sensible note in the Universal History, vol. i. p. 603, edit. +fol.] + +[Footnote 13: When Pompey, using or abusing the right of conquest, +entered into the Holy of Holies, it was observed with amazement, "Nulli +intus Deum effigie, vacuam sedem et inania arcana." Tacit. Hist. v. 9. +It was a popular saying, with regard to the Jews, "Nil praeter nubes et +coeli numen adorant."] + +[Footnote 14: A second kind of circumcision was inflicted on a Samaritan +or Egyptian proselyte. The sullen indifference of the Talmudists, with +respect to the conversion of strangers, may be seen in Basnage Histoire +des Juifs, l. xi. c. 6.] + +Under these circumstances, Christianity offered itself to the world, +armed with the strength of the Mosaic law, and delivered from the weight +of its fetters. An exclusive zeal for the truth of religion, and the +unity of God, was as carefully inculcated in the new as in the ancient +system: and whatever was now revealed to mankind concerning the nature +and designs of the Supreme Being, was fitted to increase their reverence +for that mysterious doctrine. The divine authority of Moses and the +prophets was admitted, and even established, as the firmest basis of +Christianity. From the beginning of the world, an uninterrupted series +of predictions had announced and prepared the long-expected coming of +the Messiah, who, in compliance with the gross apprehensions of the +Jews, had been more frequently represented under the character of a King +and Conqueror, than under that of a Prophet, a Martyr, and the Son of +God. By his expiatory sacrifice, the imperfect sacrifices of the temple +were at once consummated and abolished. The ceremonial law, which +consisted only of types and figures, was succeeded by a pure and +spiritual worship, equally adapted to all climates, as well as to every +condition of mankind; and to the initiation of blood was substituted a +more harmless initiation of water. The promise of divine favor, instead +of being partially confined to the posterity of Abraham, was universally +proposed to the freeman and the slave, to the Greek and to the +barbarian, to the Jew and to the Gentile. Every privilege that could +raise the proselyte from earth to heaven, that could exalt his devotion, +secure his happiness, or even gratify that secret pride which, under the +semblance of devotion, insinuates itself into the human heart, was still +reserved for the members of the Christian church; but at the same time +all mankind was permitted, and even solicited, to accept the glorious +distinction, which was not only proffered as a favor, but imposed as an +obligation. It became the most sacred duty of a new convert to diffuse +among his friends and relations the inestimable blessing which he had +received, and to warn them against a refusal that would be severely +punished as a criminal disobedience to the will of a benevolent but +all-powerful Deity. + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part II. + +The enfranchisement of the church from the bonds of the synagogue was a +work, however, of some time and of some difficulty. The Jewish converts, +who acknowledged Jesus in the character of the Messiah foretold by their +ancient oracles, respected him as a prophetic teacher of virtue and +religion; but they obstinately adhered to the ceremonies of their +ancestors, and were desirous of imposing them on the Gentiles, +who continually augmented the number of believers. These Judaizing +Christians seem to have argued with some degree of plausibility from the +divine origin of the Mosaic law, and from the immutable perfections +of its great Author. They affirmed, that if the Being, who is the same +through all eternity, had designed to abolish those sacred rites which +had served to distinguish his chosen people, the repeal of them would +have been no less clear and solemn than their first promulgation: that, +instead of those frequent declarations, which either suppose or assert +the perpetuity of the Mosaic religion, it would have been represented +as a provisionary scheme intended to last only to the coming of the +Messiah, who should instruct mankind in a more perfect mode of faith +and of worship: [15] that the Messiah himself, and his disciples who +conversed with him on earth, instead of authorizing by their example the +most minute observances of the Mosaic law, [16] would have published +to the world the abolition of those useless and obsolete ceremonies, +without suffering Christianity to remain during so many years obscurely +confounded among the sects of the Jewish church. Arguments like these +appear to have been used in the defence of the expiring cause of the +Mosaic law; but the industry of our learned divines has abundantly +explained the ambiguous language of the Old Testament, and the ambiguous +conduct of the apostolic teachers. It was proper gradually to unfold +the system of the gospel, and to pronounce, with the utmost caution and +tenderness, a sentence of condemnation so repugnant to the inclination +and prejudices of the believing Jews. + +[Footnote 15: These arguments were urged with great ingenuity by the +Jew Orobio, and refuted with equal ingenuity and candor by the Christian +Limborch. See the Amica Collatio, (it well deserves that name,) or +account of the dispute between them.] + +[Footnote 16: Jesus... circumcisus erat; cibis utebatur Judaicis; +vestitu simili; purgatos scabie mittebat ad sacerdotes; Paschata et +alios dies festos religiose observabat: Si quos sanavit sabbatho, +ostendit non tantum ex lege, sed et exceptis sententiis, talia opera +sabbatho non interdicta. Grotius de Veritate Religionis Christianae, +l. v. c. 7. A little afterwards, (c. 12,) he expatiates on the +condescension of the apostles.] + +The history of the church of Jerusalem affords a lively proof of the +necessity of those precautions, and of the deep impression which the +Jewish religion had made on the minds of its sectaries. The first +fifteen bishops of Jerusalem were all circumcised Jews; and the +congregation over which they presided united the law of Moses with the +doctrine of Christ. [17] It was natural that the primitive tradition of a +church which was founded only forty days after the death of Christ, and +was governed almost as many years under the immediate inspection of +his apostle, should be received as the standard of orthodoxy. [18] The +distant churches very frequently appealed to the authority of their +venerable Parent, and relieved her distresses by a liberal contribution +of alms. But when numerous and opulent societies were established in the +great cities of the empire, in Antioch, Alexandria, Ephesus, Corinth, +and Rome, the reverence which Jerusalem had inspired to all the +Christian colonies insensibly diminished. The Jewish converts, or, as +they were afterwards called, the Nazarenes, who had laid the foundations +of the church, soon found themselves overwhelmed by the increasing +multitudes, that from all the various religions of polytheism enlisted +under the banner of Christ: and the Gentiles, who, with the approbation +of their peculiar apostle, had rejected the intolerable weight of the +Mosaic ceremonies, at length refused to their more scrupulous brethren +the same toleration which at first they had humbly solicited for their +own practice. The ruin of the temple of the city, and of the public +religion of the Jews, was severely felt by the Nazarenes; as in their +manners, though not in their faith, they maintained so intimate a +connection with their impious countrymen, whose misfortunes were +attributed by the Pagans to the contempt, and more justly ascribed by +the Christians to the wrath, of the Supreme Deity. The Nazarenes retired +from the ruins of Jerusalem [18] to the little town of Pella beyond +the Jordan, where that ancient church languished above sixty years in +solitude and obscurity. [19] They still enjoyed the comfort of making +frequent and devout visits to the Holy City, and the hope of being one +day restored to those seats which both nature and religion taught them +to love as well as to revere. But at length, under the reign of Hadrian, +the desperate fanaticism of the Jews filled up the measure of their +calamities; and the Romans, exasperated by their repeated rebellions, +exercised the rights of victory with unusual rigor. The emperor founded, +under the name of Aelia Capitolina, a new city on Mount Sion, [20] to +which he gave the privileges of a colony; and denouncing the severest +penalties against any of the Jewish people who should dare to approach +its precincts, he fixed a vigilant garrison of a Roman cohort to enforce +the execution of his orders. The Nazarenes had only one way left to +escape the common proscription, and the force of truth was on this +occasion assisted by the influence of temporal advantages. They elected +Marcus for their bishop, a prelate of the race of the Gentiles, and most +probably a native either of Italy or of some of the Latin provinces. At +his persuasion, the most considerable part of the congregation renounced +the Mosaic law, in the practice of which they had persevered above +a century. By this sacrifice of their habits and prejudices, they +purchased a free admission into the colony of Hadrian, and more firmly +cemented their union with the Catholic church. [21] + +[Footnote 17: Paene omnes Christum Deum sub legis observatione credebant +Sulpicius Severus, ii. 31. See Eusebius, Hist. Ecclesiast. l. iv. c. +5.] + +[Footnote 18: Mosheim de Rebus Christianis ante Constantinum +Magnum, page 153. In this masterly performance, which I shall often +have occasion to quote he enters much more fully into the state of the +primitive church than he has an opportunity of doing in his General +History.] + +[Footnote 18: This is incorrect: all the traditions concur in placing +the abandonment of the city by the Christians, not only before it was +in ruins, but before the seige had commenced. Euseb. loc. cit., and +Le Clerc.--M.] + +[Footnote 19: Eusebius, l. iii. c. 5. Le Clerc, Hist. +Ecclesiast. p. 605. During this occasional absence, the bishop and +church of Pella still retained the title of Jerusalem. In the same +manner, the Roman pontiffs resided seventy years at Avignon; and the +patriarchs of Alexandria have long since transferred their episcopal +seat to Cairo.] + +[Footnote 20: Dion Cassius, l. lxix. The exile of the Jewish nation from +Jerusalem is attested by Aristo of Pella, (apud Euseb. l. iv. c. 6,) and +is mentioned by several ecclesiastical writers; though some of them too +hastily extend this interdiction to the whole country of Palestine.] + +[Footnote 21: Eusebius, l. iv. c. 6. Sulpicius Severus, ii. 31. By +comparing their unsatisfactory accounts, Mosheim (p. 327, &c.) has drawn +out a very distinct representation of the circumstances and motives of +this revolution.] + +When the name and honors of the church of Jerusalem had been restored to +Mount Sion, the crimes of heresy and schism were imputed to the obscure +remnant of the Nazarenes, which refused to accompany their Latin bishop. +They still preserved their former habitation of Pella, spread themselves +into the villages adjacent to Damascus, and formed an inconsiderable +church in the city of Beroea, or, as it is now called, of Aleppo, in +Syria. [22] The name of Nazarenes was deemed too honorable for those +Christian Jews, and they soon received, from the supposed poverty of +their understanding, as well as of their condition, the contemptuous +epithet of Ebionites. [23] In a few years after the return of the church +of Jerusalem, it became a matter of doubt and controversy, whether a man +who sincerely acknowledged Jesus as the Messiah, but who still continued +to observe the law of Moses, could possibly hope for salvation. The +humane temper of Justin Martyr inclined him to answer this question in +the affirmative; and though he expressed himself with the most guarded +diffidence, he ventured to determine in favor of such an imperfect +Christian, if he were content to practise the Mosaic ceremonies, without +pretending to assert their general use or necessity. But when Justin was +pressed to declare the sentiment of the church, he confessed that there +were very many among the orthodox Christians, who not only excluded +their Judaizing brethren from the hope of salvation, but who declined +any intercourse with them in the common offices of friendship, +hospitality, and social life. [24] The more rigorous opinion prevailed, +as it was natural to expect, over the milder; and an eternal bar of +separation was fixed between the disciples of Moses and those of Christ. +The unfortunate Ebionites, rejected from one religion as apostates, and +from the other as heretics, found themselves compelled to assume a more +decided character; and although some traces of that obsolete sect may be +discovered as late as the fourth century, they insensibly melted away, +either into the church or the synagogue. [25] + +[Footnote 22: Le Clerc (Hist. Ecclesiast. p. 477, 535) seems to have +collected from Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, and other writers, all the +principal circumstances that relate to the Nazarenes or Ebionites. The +nature of their opinions soon divided them into a stricter and a milder +sect; and there is some reason to conjecture, that the family of Jesus +Christ remained members, at least, of the latter and more moderate +party.] + +[Footnote 23: Some writers have been pleased to create an Ebion, +the imaginary author of their sect and name. But we can more safely +rely on the learned Eusebius than on the vehement Tertullian, or the +credulous Epiphanius. According to Le Clerc, the Hebrew word Ebjonim may +be translated into Latin by that of Pauperes. See Hist. Ecclesiast. p. +477. * Note: The opinion of Le Clerc is generally admitted; but Neander has +suggested some good reasons for supposing that this term only applied to +poverty of condition. The obscure history of their tenets and divisions, +is clearly and rationally traced in his History of the Church, vol. i. +part ii. p. 612, &c., Germ. edit.--M.] + +[Footnote 24: See the very curious Dialogue of Justin Martyr with the +Jew Tryphon. The conference between them was held at Ephesus, in the +reign of Antoninus Pius, and about twenty years after the return of the +church of Pella to Jerusalem. For this date consult the accurate note of +Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. ii. p. 511. * Note: Justin +Martyr makes an important distinction, which Gibbon has neglected to +notice. * * * There were some who were not content with observing the +Mosaic law themselves, but enforced the same observance, as necessary to +salvation, upon the heathen converts, and refused all social intercourse +with them if they did not conform to the law. Justin Martyr himself +freely admits those who kept the law themselves to Christian communion, +though he acknowledges that some, not the Church, thought otherwise; of +the other party, he himself thought less favorably. The former by some +are considered the Nazarenes the atter the Ebionites--G and M.] + +[Footnote 25: Of all the systems of Christianity, that of Abyssinia is +the only one which still adheres to the Mosaic rites. (Geddes's Church +History of Aethiopia, and Dissertations de La Grand sur la Relation du +P. Lobo.) The eunuch of the queen Candace might suggest some suspicious; +but as we are assured (Socrates, i. 19. Sozomen, ii. 24. Ludolphus, p. +281) that the Aethiopians were not converted till the fourth century, it +is more reasonable to believe that they respected the sabbath, and +distinguished the forbidden meats, in imitation of the Jews, who, in a +very early period, were seated on both sides of the Red Sea. +Circumcision had been practised by the most ancient Aethiopians, from +motives of health and cleanliness, which seem to be explained in the +Recherches Philosophiques sur les Americains, tom. ii. p. 117.] + +While the orthodox church preserved a just medium between excessive +veneration and improper contempt for the law of Moses, the various +heretics deviated into equal but opposite extremes of error and +extravagance. From the acknowledged truth of the Jewish religion, the +Ebionites had concluded that it could never be abolished. From its +supposed imperfections, the Gnostics as hastily inferred that it never +was instituted by the wisdom of the Deity. There are some objections +against the authority of Moses and the prophets, which too readily +present themselves to the sceptical mind; though they can only be +derived from our ignorance of remote antiquity, and from our incapacity +to form an adequate judgment of the divine economy. These objections +were eagerly embraced and as petulantly urged by the vain science of the +Gnostics. [26] As those heretics were, for the most part, averse to +the pleasures of sense, they morosely arraigned the polygamy of the +patriarchs, the gallantries of David, and the seraglio of Solomon. The +conquest of the land of Canaan, and the extirpation of the unsuspecting +natives, they were at a loss how to reconcile with the common notions of +humanity and justice. [261] But when they recollected the sanguinary list +of murders, of executions, and of massacres, which stain almost every +page of the Jewish annals, they acknowledged that the barbarians of +Palestine had exercised as much compassion towards their idolatrous +enemies, as they had ever shown to their friends or countrymen. [27] +Passing from the sectaries of the law to the law itself, they asserted +that it was impossible that a religion which consisted only of bloody +sacrifices and trifling ceremonies, and whose rewards as well as +punishments were all of a carnal and temporal nature, could inspire +the love of virtue, or restrain the impetuosity of passion. The Mosaic +account of the creation and fall of man was treated with profane +derision by the Gnostics, who would not listen with patience to the +repose of the Deity after six days' labor, to the rib of Adam, the +garden of Eden, the trees of life and of knowledge, the speaking +serpent, the forbidden fruit, and the condemnation pronounced against +human kind for the venial offence of their first progenitors. [28] The +God of Israel was impiously represented by the Gnostics as a being +liable to passion and to error, capricious in his favor, implacable +in his resentment, meanly jealous of his superstitious worship, and +confining his partial providence to a single people, and to this +transitory life. In such a character they could discover none of the +features of the wise and omnipotent Father of the universe. [29] They +allowed that the religion of the Jews was somewhat less criminal than +the idolatry of the Gentiles; but it was their fundamental doctrine, +that the Christ whom they adored as the first and brightest emanation +of the Deity appeared upon earth to rescue mankind from their various +errors, and to reveal a new system of truth and perfection. The +most learned of the fathers, by a very singular condescension, have +imprudently admitted the sophistry of the Gnostics. [291] Acknowledging +that the literal sense is repugnant to every principle of faith as well +as reason, they deem themselves secure and invulnerable behind the ample +veil of allegory, which they carefully spread over every tender part of +the Mosaic dispensation. [30] + +[Footnote 26: Beausobre, Histoire du Manicheisme, l. i. c. 3, has +stated their objections, particularly those of Faustus, the adversary of +Augustin, with the most learned impartiality.] + +[Footnote 261: On the "war law" of the Jews, see Hist. of Jews, i. +137.--M.] + +[Footnote 27: Apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu: +adversus amnes alios hostile odium. Tacit. Hist. v. 4. Surely Tacitus +had seen the Jews with too favorable an eye. The perusal of Josephus +must have destroyed the antithesis. * Note: Few writers have suspected +Tacitus of partiality towards the Jews. The whole later history of the +Jews illustrates as well their strong feelings of humanity to their +brethren, as their hostility to the rest of mankind. The character and +the position of Josephus with the Roman authorities, must be kept in +mind during the perusal of his History. Perhaps he has not exaggerated +the ferocity and fanaticism of the Jews at that time; but +insurrectionary warfare is not the best school for the humaner virtues, +and much must be allowed for the grinding tyranny of the later Roman +governors. See Hist. of Jews, ii. 254.--M.] + +[Footnote 28: Dr. Burnet (Archaeologia, l. ii. c. 7) has discussed the +first chapters of Genesis with too much wit and freedom. * Note: Dr. +Burnet apologized for the levity with which he had conducted some of his +arguments, by the excuse that he wrote in a learned language for +scholars alone, not for the vulgar. Whatever may be thought of his +success in tracing an Eastern allegory in the first chapters of Genesis, +his other works prove him to have been a man of great genius, and of +sincere piety.--M] + +[Footnote 29: The milder Gnostics considered Jehovah, the Creator, as a +Being of a mixed nature between God and the Daemon. Others confounded +him with an evil principle. Consult the second century of the general +history of Mosheim, which gives a very distinct, though concise, account +of their strange opinions on this subject.] + +[Footnote 291: The Gnostics, and the historian who has stated these +plausible objections with so much force as almost to make them his own, +would have shown a more considerate and not less reasonable philosophy, +if they had considered the religion of Moses with reference to the age +in which it was promulgated; if they had done justice to its sublime as +well as its more imperfect views of the divine nature; the humane and +civilizing provisions of the Hebrew law, as well as those adapted for an +infant and barbarous people. See Hist of Jews, i. 36, 37, &c.--M.] + +[Footnote 30: See Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. i. c. 4. Origen +and St. Augustin were among the allegorists.] + +It has been remarked with more ingenuity than truth, that the virgin +purity of the church was never violated by schism or heresy before the +reign of Trajan or Hadrian, about one hundred years after the death of +Christ. [31] We may observe with much more propriety, that, during that +period, the disciples of the Messiah were indulged in a freer latitude, +both of faith and practice, than has ever been allowed in succeeding +ages. As the terms of communion were insensibly narrowed, and the +spiritual authority of the prevailing party was exercised with +increasing severity, many of its most respectable adherents, who were +called upon to renounce, were provoked to assert their private opinions, +to pursue the consequences of their mistaken principles, and openly to +erect the standard of rebellion against the unity of the church. The +Gnostics were distinguished as the most polite, the most learned, and +the most wealthy of the Christian name; and that general appellation, +which expressed a superiority of knowledge, was either assumed by their +own pride, or ironically bestowed by the envy of their adversaries. They +were almost without exception of the race of the Gentiles, and their +principal founders seem to have been natives of Syria or Egypt, where +the warmth of the climate disposes both the mind and the body to +indolent and contemplative devotion. The Gnostics blended with the +faith of Christ many sublime but obscure tenets, which they derived from +oriental philosophy, and even from the religion of Zoroaster, concerning +the eternity of matter, the existence of two principles, and the +mysterious hierarchy of the invisible world. [32] As soon as they +launched out into that vast abyss, they delivered themselves to the +guidance of a disordered imagination; and as the paths of error are +various and infinite, the Gnostics were imperceptibly divided into more +than fifty particular sects, [33] of whom the most celebrated appear to +have been the Basilidians, the Valentinians, the Marcionites, and, in a +still later period, the Manichaeans. Each of these sects could boast +of its bishops and congregations, of its doctors and martyrs; [34] and, +instead of the Four Gospels adopted by the church, [341] the heretics +produced a multitude of histories, in which the actions and discourses +of Christ and of his apostles were adapted to their respective tenets. +[35] The success of the Gnostics was rapid and extensive. [36] They +covered Asia and Egypt, established themselves in Rome, and sometimes +penetrated into the provinces of the West. For the most part they arose +in the second century, flourished during the third, and were suppressed +in the fourth or fifth, by the prevalence of more fashionable +controversies, and by the superior ascendant of the reigning power. +Though they constantly disturbed the peace, and frequently disgraced the +name, of religion, they contributed to assist rather than to retard +the progress of Christianity. The Gentile converts, whose strongest +objections and prejudices were directed against the law of Moses, could +find admission into many Christian societies, which required not from +their untutored mind any belief of an antecedent revelation. Their faith +was insensibly fortified and enlarged, and the church was ultimately +benefited by the conquests of its most inveterate enemies. [37] + +[Footnote 31: Hegesippus, ap. Euseb. l. iii. 32, iv. 22. Clemens +Alexandrin Stromat. vii. 17. * Note: The assertion of Hegesippus is not +so positive: it is sufficient to read the whole passage in Eusebius, to +see that the former part is modified by the matter. Hegesippus adds, +that up to this period the church had remained pure and immaculate as a +virgin. Those who labored to corrupt the doctrines of the gospel worked +as yet in obscurity--G] + +[Footnote 32: In the account of the Gnostics of the second and third +centuries, Mosheim is ingenious and candid; Le Clerc dull, but exact; +Beausobre almost always an apologist; and it is much to be feared that +the primitive fathers are very frequently calumniators. * Note The +Histoire du Gnosticisme of M. Matter is at once the fairest and most +complete account of these sects.--M.] + +[Footnote 33: See the catalogues of Irenaeus and Epiphanius. It must +indeed be allowed, that those writers were inclined to multiply the +number of sects which opposed the unity of the church.] + +[Footnote 34: Eusebius, l. iv. c. 15. Sozomen, l. ii. c. 32. See in +Bayle, in the article of Marcion, a curious detail of a dispute on that +subject. It should seem that some of the Gnostics (the Basilidians) +declined, and even refused the honor of Martyrdom. Their reasons were +singular and abstruse. See Mosheim, p. 539.] + +[Footnote 341: M. Hahn has restored the Marcionite Gospel with great +ingenuity. His work is reprinted in Thilo. Codex. Apoc. Nov. Test. vol. +i.--M.] + +[Footnote 35: See a very remarkable passage of Origen, (Proem. +ad Lucam.) That indefatigable writer, who had consumed his life in the +study of the Scriptures, relies for their authenticity on the inspired +authority of the church. It was impossible that the Gnostics could +receive our present Gospels, many parts of which (particularly in the +resurrection of Christ) are directly, and as it might seem designedly, +pointed against their favorite tenets. It is therefore somewhat singular +that Ignatius (Epist. ad Smyrn. Patr. Apostol. tom. ii. p. 34) should +choose to employ a vague and doubtful tradition, instead of quoting the +certain testimony of the evangelists. Note: Bishop Pearson has attempted +very happily to explain this singularity.' The first Christians were +acquainted with a number of sayings of Jesus Christ, which are not +related in our Gospels, and indeed have never been written. Why might +not St. Ignatius, who had lived with the apostles or their disciples, +repeat in other words that which St. Luke has related, particularly at a +time when, being in prison, he could have the Gospels at hand? Pearson, +Vind Ign. pp. 2, 9 p. 396 in tom. ii. Patres Apost. ed. Coteler--G.] + +[Footnote 36: Faciunt favos et vespae; faciunt ecclesias et Marcionitae, +is the strong expression of Tertullian, which I am obliged to quote +from memory. In the time of Epiphanius (advers. Haereses, p. 302) the +Marcionites were very numerous in Italy, Syria, Egypt, Arabia, and +Persia.] + +[Footnote 37: Augustin is a memorable instance of this gradual progress +from reason to faith. He was, during several years, engaged in the +Manichaear sect.] + +But whatever difference of opinion might subsist between the Orthodox, +the Ebionites, and the Gnostics, concerning the divinity or the +obligation of the Mosaic law, they were all equally animated by the +same exclusive zeal; and by the same abhorrence for idolatry, which had +distinguished the Jews from the other nations of the ancient world. The +philosopher, who considered the system of polytheism as a composition of +human fraud and error, could disguise a smile of contempt under the +mask of devotion, without apprehending that either the mockery, or the +compliance, would expose him to the resentment of any invisible, or, as +he conceived them, imaginary powers. But the established religions of +Paganism were seen by the primitive Christians in a much more odious and +formidable light. It was the universal sentiment both of the church and +of heretics, that the daemons were the authors, the patrons, and the +objects of idolatry. [38] Those rebellious spirits who had been degraded +from the rank of angels, and cast down into the infernal pit, were still +permitted to roam upon earth, to torment the bodies, and to seduce the +minds, of sinful men. The daemons soon discovered and abused the natural +propensity of the human heart towards devotion, and artfully withdrawing +the adoration of mankind from their Creator, they usurped the place +and honors of the Supreme Deity. By the success of their malicious +contrivances, they at once gratified their own vanity and revenge, and +obtained the only comfort of which they were yet susceptible, the hope +of involving the human species in the participation of their guilt and +misery. It was confessed, or at least it was imagined, that they +had distributed among themselves the most important characters of +polytheism, one daemon assuming the name and attributes of Jupiter, +another of Aesculapius, a third of Venus, and a fourth perhaps of +Apollo; [39] and that, by the advantage of their long experience and +aerial nature, they were enabled to execute, with sufficient skill +and dignity, the parts which they had undertaken. They lurked in +the temples, instituted festivals and sacrifices, invented fables, +pronounced oracles, and were frequently allowed to perform miracles. The +Christians, who, by the interposition of evil spirits, could so readily +explain every preternatural appearance, were disposed and even desirous +to admit the most extravagant fictions of the Pagan mythology. But the +belief of the Christian was accompanied with horror. The most trifling +mark of respect to the national worship he considered as a direct homage +yielded to the daemon, and as an act of rebellion against the majesty of +God. + +[Footnote 38: The unanimous sentiment of the primitive church is very +clearly explained by Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, by Athenagoras, +Legat. c. 22. &c., and by Lactantius, Institut. Divin. ii. 14--19.] + +[Footnote 39: Tertullian (Apolog. c. 23) alleges the confession of the +daemons themselves as often as they were tormented by the Christian +exorcists] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part III. + +In consequence of this opinion, it was the first but arduous duty of +a Christian to preserve himself pure and undefiled by the practice +of idolatry. The religion of the nations was not merely a speculative +doctrine professed in the schools or preached in the temples. The +innumerable deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven +with every circumstance of business or pleasure, of public or of +private life; and it seemed impossible to escape the observance of them, +without, at the same time, renouncing the commerce of mankind, and all +the offices and amusements of society. [40] The important transactions of +peace and war were prepared or concluded by solemn sacrifices, in which +the magistrate, the senator, and the soldier, were obliged to preside or +to participate. [41] The public spectacles were an essential part of the +cheerful devotion of the Pagans, and the gods were supposed to accept, +as the most grateful offering, the games that the prince and people +celebrated in honor of their peculiar festivals. [42] The Christians, who +with pious horror avoided the abomination of the circus or the theatre, +found himself encompassed with infernal snares in every convivial +entertainment, as often as his friends, invoking the hospitable deities, +poured out libations to each other's happiness. [43] When the bride, +struggling with well-affected reluctance, was forced into hymenaeal pomp +over the threshold of her new habitation, [44] or when the sad procession +of the dead slowly moved towards the funeral pile; [45] the Christian, +on these interesting occasions, was compelled to desert the persons +who were the dearest to him, rather than contract the guilt inherent +to those impious ceremonies. Every art and every trade that was in the +least concerned in the framing or adorning of idols was polluted by the +stain of idolatry; [46] a severe sentence, since it devoted to eternal +misery the far greater part of the community, which is employed in the +exercise of liberal or mechanic professions. If we cast our eyes over +the numerous remains of antiquity, we shall perceive, that besides the +immediate representations of the gods, and the holy instruments of their +worship, the elegant forms and agreeable fictions consecrated by the +imagination of the Greeks, were introduced as the richest ornaments of +the houses, the dress, and the furniture of the Pagan. [47] Even the arts +of music and painting, of eloquence and poetry, flowed from the same +impure origin. In the style of the fathers, Apollo and the Muses were +the organs of the infernal spirit; Homer and Virgil were the most +eminent of his servants; and the beautiful mythology which pervades and +animates the compositions of their genius, is destined to celebrate +the glory of the daemons. Even the common language of Greece and Rome +abounded with familiar but impious expressions, which the imprudent +Christian might too carelessly utter, or too patiently hear. [48] + +[Footnote 40: Tertullian has written a most severe treatise against +idolatry, to caution his brethren against the hourly danger of incurring +that guilt. Recogita sylvam, et quantae latitant spinae. De Corona +Militis, c. 10.] + +[Footnote 41: The Roman senate was always held in a temple or +consecrated place. (Aulus Gellius, xiv. 7.) Before they entered on +business, every senator dropped some wine and frankincense on the altar. +Sueton. in August. c. 35.] + +[Footnote 42: See Tertullian, De Spectaculis. This severe reformer +shows no more indulgence to a tragedy of Euripides, than to a combat of +gladiators. The dress of the actors particularly offends him. By the +use of the lofty buskin, they impiously strive to add a cubit to their +stature. c. 23.] + +[Footnote 43: The ancient practice of concluding the entertainment with +libations, may be found in every classic. Socrates and Seneca, in their +last moments, made a noble application of this custom. Postquam stagnum, +calidae aquae introiit, respergens proximos servorum, addita voce, +libare se liquorem illum Jovi Liberatori. Tacit. Annal. xv. 64.] + +[Footnote 44: See the elegant but idolatrous hymn of Catullus, on the +nuptials of Manlius and Julia. O Hymen, Hymenaee Io! Quis huic Deo +compararier ausit?] + +[Footnote 45: The ancient funerals (in those of Misenus and Pallas) are +no less accurately described by Virgil, than they are illustrated by his +commentator Servius. The pile itself was an altar, the flames were fed +with the blood of victims, and all the assistants were sprinkled with +lustral water.] + +[Footnote 46: Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 11. * Note: The exaggerated +and declamatory opinions of Tertullian ought not to be taken as the +general sentiment of the early Christians. Gibbon has too often allowed +himself to consider the peculiar notions of certain Fathers of the +Church as inherent in Christianity. This is not accurate.--G.] + +[Footnote 47: See every part of Montfaucon's Antiquities. Even the +reverses of the Greek and Roman coins were frequently of an idolatrous +nature. Here indeed the scruples of the Christian were suspended by a +stronger passion. Note: All this scrupulous nicety is at variance with +the decision of St. Paul about meat offered to idols, 1, Cor. x. 21-- +32.--M.] + +[Footnote 48: Tertullian de Idololatria, c. 20, 21, 22. If a Pagan +friend (on the occasion perhaps of sneezing) used the familiar +expression of "Jupiter bless you," the Christian was obliged to protest +against the divinity of Jupiter.] + +The dangerous temptations which on every side lurked in ambush to +surprise the unguarded believer, assailed him with redoubled violence on +the days of solemn festivals. So artfully were they framed and disposed +throughout the year, that superstition always wore the appearance of +pleasure, and often of virtue. Some of the most sacred festivals in the +Roman ritual were destined to salute the new calends of January with +vows of public and private felicity; to indulge the pious remembrance of +the dead and living; to ascertain the inviolable bounds of property; +to hail, on the return of spring, the genial powers of fecundity; to +perpetuate the two memorable aeras of Rome, the foundation of the city +and that of the republic, and to restore, during the humane license +of the Saturnalia, the primitive equality of mankind. Some idea may +be conceived of the abhorrence of the Christians for such impious +ceremonies, by the scrupulous delicacy which they displayed on a much +less alarming occasion. On days of general festivity, it was the custom +of the ancients to adorn their doors with lamps and with branches +of laurel, and to crown their heads with a garland of flowers. This +innocent and elegant practice might perhaps have been tolerated as a +mere civil institution. But it most unluckily happened that the doors +were under the protection of the household gods, that the laurel was +sacred to the lover of Daphne, and that garlands of flowers, though +frequently worn as a symbol of joy or mourning, had been dedicated +in their first origin to the service of superstition. The trembling +Christians, who were persuaded in this instance to comply with the +fashion of their country, and the commands of the magistrate, labored +under the most gloomy apprehensions, from the reproaches of his own +conscience, the censures of the church, and the denunciations of divine +vengeance. [50] + +[Footnote 49: Consult the most labored work of Ovid, his imperfect +Fasti. He finished no more than the first six months of the year. The +compilation of Macrobius is called the Saturnalia, but it is only a +small part of the first book that bears any relation to the title.] + +[Footnote 50: Tertullian has composed a defence, or rather panegyric, of +the rash action of a Christian soldier, who, by throwing away his crown +of laurel, had exposed himself and his brethren to the most imminent +danger. By the mention of the emperors, (Severus and Caracalla,) it is +evident, notwithstanding the wishes of M. de Tillemont, that Tertullian +composed his treatise De Corona long before he was engaged in the errors +of the Montanists. See Memoires Ecclesiastiques, tom. iii. p. 384. Note: +The soldier did not tear off his crown to throw it down with contempt; +he did not even throw it away; he held it in his hand, while others were +it on their heads. Solus libero capite, ornamento in manu otioso.--G +Note: Tertullian does not expressly name the two emperors, Severus and +Caracalla: he speaks only of two emperors, and of a long peace which +the church had enjoyed. It is generally agreed that Tertullian became +a Montanist about the year 200: his work, de Corona Militis, appears +to have been written, at the earliest about the year 202 before +the persecution of Severus: it may be maintained, then, that it is +subsequent to the Montanism of the author. See Mosheim, Diss. de Apol. +Tertull. p. 53. Biblioth. Amsterd. tom. x. part ii. p. 292. Cave's Hist. +Lit. p. 92, 93.--G. ----The state of Tertullian's opinions at the +particular period is almost an idle question. "The fiery African" is not +at any time to be considered a fair representative of Christianity.--M.] + +Such was the anxious diligence which was required to guard the chastity +of the gospel from the infectious breath of idolatry. The superstitious +observances of public or private rites were carelessly practised, from +education and habit, by the followers of the established religion. But +as often as they occurred, they afforded the Christians an opportunity +of declaring and confirming their zealous opposition. By these frequent +protestations their attachment to the faith was continually fortified; +and in proportion to the increase of zeal, they combated with the more +ardor and success in the holy war, which they had undertaken against the +empire of the demons. + +II. The writings of Cicero [51] represent in the most lively colors the +ignorance, the errors, and the uncertainty of the ancient philosophers +with regard to the immortality of the soul. When they are desirous of +arming their disciples against the fear of death, they inculcate, as +an obvious, though melancholy position, that the fatal stroke of our +dissolution releases us from the calamities of life; and that those can +no longer suffer, who no longer exist. Yet there were a few sages of +Greece and Rome who had conceived a more exalted, and, in some respects, +a juster idea of human nature, though it must be confessed, that in +the sublime inquiry, their reason had been often guided by their +imagination, and that their imagination had been prompted by their +vanity. When they viewed with complacency the extent of their own mental +powers, when they exercised the various faculties of memory, of +fancy, and of judgment, in the most profound speculations, or the most +important labors, and when they reflected on the desire of fame, which +transported them into future ages, far beyond the bounds of death and of +the grave, they were unwilling to confound themselves with the beasts +of the field, or to suppose that a being, for whose dignity they +entertained the most sincere admiration, could be limited to a spot of +earth, and to a few years of duration. With this favorable prepossession +they summoned to their aid the science, or rather the language, of +Metaphysics. They soon discovered, that as none of the properties of +matter will apply to the operations of the mind, the human soul must +consequently be a substance distinct from the body, pure, simple, and +spiritual, incapable of dissolution, and susceptible of a much higher +degree of virtue and happiness after the release from its corporeal +prison. From these specious and noble principles, the philosophers who +trod in the footsteps of Plato deduced a very unjustifiable conclusion, +since they asserted, not only the future immortality, but the past +eternity, of the human soul, which they were too apt to consider as a +portion of the infinite and self-existing spirit, which pervades and +sustains the universe. [52] A doctrine thus removed beyond the senses +and the experience of mankind, might serve to amuse the leisure of a +philosophic mind; or, in the silence of solitude, it might sometimes +impart a ray of comfort to desponding virtue; but the faint impression +which had been received in the schools, was soon obliterated by the +commerce and business of active life. We are sufficiently acquainted +with the eminent persons who flourished in the age of Cicero, and of the +first Caesars, with their actions, their characters, and their motives, +to be assured that their conduct in this life was never regulated by any +serious conviction of the rewards or punishments of a future state. +At the bar and in the senate of Rome the ablest orators were not +apprehensive of giving offence to their hearers, by exposing that +doctrine as an idle and extravagant opinion, which was rejected with +contempt by every man of a liberal education and understanding. [53] + +[Footnote 51: In particular, the first book of the Tusculan Questions, +and the treatise De Senectute, and the Somnium Scipionis, contain, in +the most beautiful language, every thing that Grecian philosophy, on +Roman good sense, could possibly suggest on this dark but important +object.] + +[Footnote 52: The preexistence of human souls, so far at least +as that doctrine is compatible with religion, was adopted by many of the +Greek and Latin fathers. See Beausobre, Hist. du Manicheisme, l. vi. c. +4.] + +[Footnote 53: See Cicero pro Cluent. c. 61. Caesar ap. Sallust. de +Bell. Catilis n 50. Juvenal. Satir. ii. 149. ----Esse aliquid manes, et +subterranea regna, ----------Nec pueri credunt, nisi qui nondum aeree +lavantae.] + +Since therefore the most sublime efforts of philosophy can extend no +further than feebly to point out the desire, the hope, or, at most, +the probability, of a future state, there is nothing, except a +divine revelation, that can ascertain the existence, and describe the +condition, of the invisible country which is destined to receive the +souls of men after their separation from the body. But we may perceive +several defects inherent to the popular religions of Greece and Rome, +which rendered them very unequal to so arduous a task. 1. The general +system of their mythology was unsupported by any solid proofs; and the +wisest among the Pagans had already disclaimed its usurped authority. 2. +The description of the infernal regions had been abandoned to the fancy +of painters and of poets, who peopled them with so many phantoms and +monsters, who dispensed their rewards and punishments with so little +equity, that a solemn truth, the most congenial to the human heart, was +opposed and disgraced by the absurd mixture of the wildest fictions. +[54] 3. The doctrine of a future state was scarcely considered among the +devout polytheists of Greece and Rome as a fundamental article of faith. +The providence of the gods, as it related to public communities rather +than to private individuals, was principally displayed on the visible +theatre of the present world. The petitions which were offered on the +altars of Jupiter or Apollo, expressed the anxiety of their worshippers +for temporal happiness, and their ignorance or indifference concerning +a future life. [55] The important truth of the of the immortality of the +soul was inculcated with more diligence, as well as success, in India, +in Assyria, in Egypt, and in Gaul; and since we cannot attribute such +a difference to the superior knowledge of the barbarians, we must +ascribe it to the influence of an established priesthood, which employed +the motives of virtue as the instrument of ambition. [56] + +[Footnote 54: The xith book of the Odyssey gives a very dreary and +incoherent account of the infernal shades. Pindar and Virgil have +embellished the picture; but even those poets, though more correct +than their great model, are guilty of very strange inconsistencies. See +Bayle, Responses aux Questions d'un Provincial, part iii. c. 22.] + +[Footnote 55: See xvith epistle of the first book of Horace, the +xiiith Satire of Juvenal, and the iid Satire of Persius: these popular +discourses express the sentiment and language of the multitude.] + +[Footnote 56: If we confine ourselves to the Gauls, we may observe, +that they intrusted, not only their lives, but even their money, to +the security of another world. Vetus ille mos Gallorum occurrit (says +Valerius Maximus, l. ii. c. 6, p. 10) quos, memoria proditum est +pecunias montuas, quae his apud inferos redderentur, dare solitos. +The same custom is more darkly insinuated by Mela, l. iii. c. 2. It is +almost needless to add, that the profits of trade hold a just proportion +to the credit of the merchant, and that the Druids derived from their +holy profession a character of responsibility, which could scarcely be +claimed by any other order of men.] + +We might naturally expect that a principle so essential to religion, +would have been revealed in the clearest terms to the chosen people of +Palestine, and that it might safely have been intrusted to the +hereditary priesthood of Aaron. It is incumbent on us to adore the +mysterious dispensations of Providence, [57] when we discover that the +doctrine of the immortality of the soul is omitted in the law of Moses +it is darkly insinuated by the prophets; and during the long period +which clasped between the Egyptian and the Babylonian servitudes, the +hopes as well as fears of the Jews appear to have been confined within +the narrow compass of the present life. [58] After Cyrus had permitted +the exiled nation to return into the promised land, and after Ezra had +restored the ancient records of their religion, two celebrated sects, +the Sadducees and the Pharisees, insensibly arose at Jerusalem. [59] The +former, selected from the more opulent and distinguished ranks of +society, were strictly attached to the literal sense of the Mosaic law, +and they piously rejected the immortality of the soul, as an opinion +that received no countenance from the divine book, which they revered as +the only rule of their faith. To the authority of Scripture the +Pharisees added that of tradition, and they accepted, under the name of +traditions, several speculative tenets from the philosophy or religion +of the eastern nations. The doctrines of fate or predestination, of +angels and spirits, and of a future state of rewards and punishments, +were in the number of these new articles of belief; and as the +Pharisees, by the austerity of their manners, had drawn into their party +the body of the Jewish people, the immortality of the soul became the +prevailing sentiment of the synagogue, under the reign of the Asmonaean +princes and pontiffs. The temper of the Jews was incapable of contenting +itself with such a cold and languid assent as might satisfy the mind of +a Polytheist; and as soon as they admitted the idea of a future state, +they embraced it with the zeal which has always formed the +characteristic of the nation. Their zeal, however, added nothing to its +evidence, or even probability: and it was still necessary that the +doctrine of life and immortality, which had been dictated by nature, +approved by reason, and received by superstition, should obtain the +sanction of divine truth from the authority and example of Christ. + +[Footnote 57: The right reverend author of the Divine Legation of Moses +as signs a very curious reason for the omission, and most ingeniously +retorts it on the unbelievers. * Note: The hypothesis of Warburton +concerning this remarkable fact, which, as far as the Law of Moses, is +unquestionable, made few disciples; and it is difficult to suppose that +it could be intended by the author himself for more than a display of +intellectual strength. Modern writers have accounted in various ways for +the silence of the Hebrew legislator on the immortality of the soul. +According to Michaelis, "Moses wrote as an historian and as a lawgiver; +he regulated the ecclesiastical discipline, rather than the religious +belief of his people; and the sanctions of the law being temporal, he +had no occasion, and as a civil legislator could not with propriety, +threaten punishments in another world." See Michaelis, Laws of Moses, +art. 272, vol. iv. p. 209, Eng. Trans.; and Syntagma Commentationum, p. +80, quoted by Guizot. M. Guizot adds, the "ingenious conjecture of a +philosophic theologian," which approximates to an opinion long +entertained by the Editor. That writer believes, that in the state of +civilization at the time of the legislator, this doctrine, become +popular among the Jews, would necessarily have given birth to a +multitude of idolatrous superstitions which he wished to prevent. His +primary object was to establish a firm theocracy, to make his people the +conservators of the doctrine of the Divine Unity, the basis upon which +Christianity was hereafter to rest. He carefully excluded everything +which could obscure or weaken that doctrine. Other nations had strangely +abused their notions on the immortality of the soul; Moses wished to +prevent this abuse: hence he forbade the Jews from consulting +necromancers, (those who evoke the spirits of the dead.) Deut. xviii. +11. Those who reflect on the state of the Pagans and the Jews, and on +the facility with which idolatry crept in on every side, will not be +astonished that Moses has not developed a doctrine of which the +influence might be more pernicious than useful to his people. Orat. +Fest. de Vitae Immort. Spe., &c., auct. Ph. Alb. Stapfer, p. 12 13, 20. +Berne, 1787. ----Moses, as well from the intimations scattered in his +writings, the passage relating to the translation of Enoch, (Gen. v. +24,) the prohibition of necromancy, (Michaelis believes him to be the +author of the Book of Job though this opinion is in general rejected; +other learned writers consider this Book to be coeval with and known to +Moses,) as from his long residence in Egypt, and his acquaintance with +Egyptian wisdom, could not be ignorant of the doctrine of the +immortality of the soul. But this doctrine if popularly known among the +Jews, must have been purely Egyptian, and as so, intimately connected +with the whole religious system of that country. It was no doubt moulded +up with the tenet of the transmigration of the soul, perhaps with +notions analogous to the emanation system of India in which the human +soul was an efflux from or indeed a part of, the Deity. The Mosaic +religion drew a wide and impassable interval between the Creator and +created human beings: in this it differed from the Egyptian and all the +Eastern religions. As then the immortality of the soul was thus +inseparably blended with those foreign religions which were altogether +to be effaced from the minds of the people, and by no means necessary +for the establishment of the theocracy, Moses maintained silence on this +point and a purer notion of it was left to be developed at a more +favorable period in the history of man.--M.] + +[Footnote 58: See Le Clerc (Prolegomena ad Hist. Ecclesiast. sect. 1, c. +8) His authority seems to carry the greater weight, as he has written a +learned and judicious commentary on the books of the Old Testament.] + +[Footnote 59: Joseph. Antiquitat. l. xiii. c. 10. De Bell. Jud. ii. 8. +According to the most natural interpretation of his words, the Sadducees +admitted only the Pentateuch; but it has pleased some modern critics +to add the Prophets to their creed, and to suppose that they contented +themselves with rejecting the traditions of the Pharisees. Dr. Jortin +has argued that point in his Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. ii. +p. 103.] + +When the promise of eternal happiness was proposed to mankind +on condition of adopting the faith, and of observing the precepts, of +the gospel, it is no wonder that so advantageous an offer should have +been accepted by great numbers of every religion, of every rank, and of +every province in the Roman empire. The ancient Christians were animated +by a contempt for their present existence, and by a just confidence of +immortality, of which the doubtful and imperfect faith of modern +ages cannot give us any adequate notion. In the primitive church, the +influence of truth was very powerfully strengthened by an opinion, +which, however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, +has not been found agreeable to experience. It was universally believed, +that the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were at hand. +[591] The near approach of this wonderful event had been predicted by the +apostles; the tradition of it was preserved by their earliest disciples, +and those who understood in their literal senses the discourse of Christ +himself, were obliged to expect the second and glorious coming of +the Son of Man in the clouds, before that generation was totally +extinguished, which had beheld his humble condition upon earth, and +which might still be witness of the calamities of the Jews under +Vespasian or Hadrian. The revolution of seventeen centuries has +instructed us not to press too closely the mysterious language of +prophecy and revelation; but as long as, for wise purposes, this error +was permitted to subsist in the church, it was productive of the most +salutary effects on the faith and practice of Christians, who lived in +the awful expectation of that moment, when the globe itself, and all +the various race of mankind, should tremble at the appearance of their +divine Judge. [60] + +[Footnote 591: This was, in fact, an integral part of the Jewish notion +of the Messiah, from which the minds of the apostles themselves were but +gradually detached. See Bertholdt, Christologia Judaeorum, concluding +chapters--M.] + +[Footnote 60: This expectation was countenanced by the twenty-fourth +chapter of St. Matthew, and by the first epistle of St. Paul to the +Thessalonians. Erasmus removes the difficulty by the help of allegory +and metaphor; and the learned Grotius ventures to insinuate, that, for +wise purposes, the pious deception was permitted to take place. * Note: +Some modern theologians explain it without discovering either allegory +or deception. They say, that Jesus Christ, after having proclaimed the +ruin of Jerusalem and of the Temple, speaks of his second coming and the +sings which were to precede it; but those who believed that the moment +was near deceived themselves as to the sense of two words, an error +which still subsists in our versions of the Gospel according to St. +Matthew, xxiv. 29, 34. In verse 29, we read, "Immediately after the +tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened," &c. The Greek word +signifies all at once, suddenly, not immediately; so that it signifies +only the sudden appearance of the signs which Jesus Christ announces not +the shortness of the interval which was to separate them from the "days +of tribulation," of which he was speaking. The verse 34 is this "Verily +I say unto you, This generation shall not pass till all these things +shall be fulfilled." Jesus, speaking to his disciples, uses these words, +which the translators have rendered by this generation, but which means +the race, the filiation of my disciples; that is, he speaks of a class +of men, not of a generation. The true sense then, according to these +learned men, is, In truth I tell you that this race of men, of which you +are the commencement, shall not pass away till this shall take place; +that is to say, the succession of Christians shall not cease till his +coming. See Commentary of M. Paulus on the New Test., edit. 1802, tom. +iii. p. 445,--446.--G. ----Others, as Rosenmuller and Kuinoel, in loc., +confine this passage to a highly figurative description of the ruins of +the Jewish city and polity.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part IV. + +The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately +connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation +had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, +according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was +fixed to six thousand years. [61] By the same analogy it was inferred, +that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost +elapsed, [62] would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; +and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect +who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would +reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general +resurrection. So pleasing was this hope to the mind of believers, +that the New Jerusalem, the seat of this blissful kingdom, was quickly +adorned with all the gayest colors of the imagination. A felicity +consisting only of pure and spiritual pleasure would have appeared too +refined for its inhabitants, who were still supposed to possess their +human nature and senses. A garden of Eden, with the amusements of the +pastoral life, was no longer suited to the advanced state of society +which prevailed under the Roman empire. A city was therefore erected of +gold and precious stones, and a supernatural plenty of corn and wine +was bestowed on the adjacent territory; in the free enjoyment of whose +spontaneous productions, the happy and benevolent people was never to be +restrained by any jealous laws of exclusive property. [63] The assurance +of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers +from Justin Martyr, [64] and Irenaeus, who conversed with the immediate +disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the +son of Constantine. [65] Though it might not be universally received, it +appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; +and it seems so well adapted to the desires and apprehensions of +mankind, that it must have contributed in a very considerable degree to +the progress of the Christian faith. But when the edifice of the church +was almost completed, the temporary support was laid aside. The +doctrine of Christ's reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound +allegory, was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, +and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and +fanaticism. [66] A mysterious prophecy, which still forms a part of the +sacred canon, but which was thought to favor the exploded sentiment, has +very narrowly escaped the proscription of the church. [67] + +[Footnote 61: See Burnet's Sacred Theory, part iii. c. 5. This tradition +may be traced as high as the the author of Epistle of Barnabas, who +wrote in the first century, and who seems to have been half a Jew. * +Note: In fact it is purely Jewish. See Mosheim, De Reb. Christ. ii. 8. +Lightfoot's Works, 8vo. edit. vol. iii. p. 37. Bertholdt, Christologia +Judaeorum ch. 38.--M.] + +[Footnote 62: The primitive church of Antioch computed almost 6000 years +from the creation of the world to the birth of Christ. Africanus, +Lactantius, and the Greek church, have reduced that number to 5500, and +Eusebius has contented himself with 5200 years. These calculations were +formed on the Septuagint, which was universally received during the six +first centuries. The authority of the vulgate and of the Hebrew text has +determined the moderns, Protestants as well as Catholics, to prefer a +period of about 4000 years; though, in the study of profane antiquity, +they often find themselves straitened by those narrow limits. * Note: +Most of the more learned modern English Protestants, Dr. Hales, Mr. +Faber, Dr. Russel, as well as the Continental writers, adopt the larger +chronology. There is little doubt that the narrower system was framed by +the Jews of Tiberias; it was clearly neither that of St. Paul, nor of +Josephus, nor of the Samaritan Text. It is greatly to be regretted that +the chronology of the earlier Scriptures should ever have been made a +religious question--M.] + +[Footnote 63: Most of these pictures were borrowed from a +misrepresentation of Isaiah, Daniel, and the Apocalypse. One of the +grossest images may be found in Irenaeus, (l. v. p. 455,) the disciple +of Papias, who had seen the apostle St. John.] + +[Footnote 64: See the second dialogue of Justin with Triphon, and +the seventh book of Lactantius. It is unnecessary to allege all the +intermediate fathers, as the fact is not disputed. Yet the curious +reader may consult Daille de Uus Patrum, l. ii. c. 4.] + +[Footnote 65: The testimony of Justin of his own faith and that of his +orthodox brethren, in the doctrine of a Millennium, is delivered in the +clearest and most solemn manner, (Dialog. cum Tryphonte Jud. p. 177, +178, edit. Benedictin.) If in the beginning of this important passage +there is any thing like an inconsistency, we may impute it, as we think +proper, either to the author or to his transcribers. * Note: The +Millenium is described in what once stood as the XLIst Article of the +English Church (see Collier, Eccles. Hist., for Articles of Edw. VI.) as +"a fable of Jewish dotage." The whole of these gross and earthly images +may be traced in the works which treat on the Jewish traditions, in +Lightfoot, Schoetgen, and Eisenmenger; "Das enthdeckte Judenthum" t. ii +809; and briefly in Bertholdt, i. c. 38, 39.--M.] + +[Footnote 66: Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 223, tom. +ii. p. 366, and Mosheim, p. 720; though the latter of these learned +divines is not altogether candid on this occasion.] + +[Footnote 67: In the council of Laodicea, (about the year 360,) the +Apocalypse was tacitly excluded from the sacred canon, by the same +churches of Asia to which it is addressed; and we may learn from the +complaint of Sulpicius Severus, that their sentence had been ratified by +the greater number of Christians of his time. From what causes then is +the Apocalypse at present so generally received by the Greek, the Roman, +and the Protestant churches? The following ones may be assigned. 1. The +Greeks were subdued by the authority of an impostor, who, in the sixth +century, assumed the character of Dionysius the Areopagite. 2. A just +apprehension that the grammarians might become more important than +the theologians, engaged the council of Trent to fix the seal of their +infallibility on all the books of Scripture contained in the Latin +Vulgate, in the number of which the Apocalypse was fortunately included. +(Fr. Paolo, Istoria del Concilio Tridentino, l. ii.) 3. The advantage +of turning those mysterious prophecies against the See of Rome, inspired +the Protestants with uncommon veneration for so useful an ally. See the +ingenious and elegant discourses of the present bishop of Litchfield on +that unpromising subject. * Note: The exclusion of the Apocalypse is +not improbably assigned to its obvious unfitness to be read in +churches. It is to be feared that a history of the interpretation of the +Apocalypse would not give a very favorable view either of the wisdom +or the charity of the successive ages of Christianity. Wetstein's +interpretation, differently modified, is adopted by most Continental +scholars.--M.] + +Whilst the happiness and glory of a temporal reign were promised to the +disciples of Christ, the most dreadful calamities were denounced against +an unbelieving world. The edification of a new Jerusalem was to advance +by equal steps with the destruction of the mystic Babylon; and as +long as the emperors who reigned before Constantine persisted in the +profession of idolatry, the epithet of Babylon was applied to the city +and to the empire of Rome. A regular series was prepared of all the +moral and physical evils which can afflict a flourishing nation; +intestine discord, and the invasion of the fiercest barbarians from +the unknown regions of the North; pestilence and famine, comets and +eclipses, earthquakes and inundations. [68] All these were only so many +preparatory and alarming signs of the great catastrophe of Rome, when +the country of the Scipios and Caesars should be consumed by a flame +from Heaven, and the city of the seven hills, with her palaces, her +temples, and her triumphal arches, should be buried in a vast lake of +fire and brimstone. It might, however, afford some consolation to Roman +vanity, that the period of their empire would be that of the world +itself; which, as it had once perished by the element of water, was +destined to experience a second and a speedy destruction from the +element of fire. In the opinion of a general conflagration, the faith of +the Christian very happily coincided with the tradition of the East, +the philosophy of the Stoics, and the analogy of Nature; and even the +country, which, from religious motives, had been chosen for the origin +and principal scene of the conflagration, was the best adapted for that +purpose by natural and physical causes; by its deep caverns, beds of +sulphur, and numerous volcanoes, of which those of Aetna, of Vesuvius, +and of Lipari, exhibit a very imperfect representation. The calmest +and most intrepid sceptic could not refuse to acknowledge that the +destruction of the present system of the world by fire, was in itself +extremely probable. The Christian, who founded his belief much less on +the fallacious arguments of reason than on the authority of tradition +and the interpretation of Scripture, expected it with terror and +confidence as a certain and approaching event; and as his mind was +perpetually filled with the solemn idea, he considered every disaster +that happened to the empire as an infallible symptom of an expiring +world. [69] + +[Footnote 68: Lactantius (Institut. Divin. vii. 15, &c.) relates the +dismal talk of futurity with great spirit and eloquence. * Note: +Lactantius had a notion of a great Asiatic empire, which was previously +to rise on the ruins of the Roman: quod Romanum nomen animus dicere, sed +dicam. quia futurum est tolletur de terra, et impere. Asiam +revertetur.--M.] + +[Footnote 69: On this subject every reader of taste will be entertained +with the third part of Burnet's Sacred Theory. He blends philosophy, +Scripture, and tradition, into one magnificent system; in the +description of which he displays a strength of fancy not inferior +to that of Milton himself.] + +The condemnation of the wisest and most +virtuous of the Pagans, on account of their ignorance or disbelief of +the divine truth, seems to offend the reason and the humanity of the +present age. [70] But the primitive church, whose faith was of a much +firmer consistence, delivered over, without hesitation, to eternal +torture, the far greater part of the human species. A charitable hope +might perhaps be indulged in favor of Socrates, or some other sages +of antiquity, who had consulted the light of reason before that of the +gospel had arisen. [71] But it was unanimously affirmed, that those who, +since the birth or the death of Christ, had obstinately persisted in the +worship of the daemons, neither deserved nor could expect a pardon from +the irritated justice of the Deity. These rigid sentiments, which had +been unknown to the ancient world, appear to have infused a spirit of +bitterness into a system of love and harmony. The ties of blood and +friendship were frequently torn asunder by the difference of religious +faith; and the Christians, who, in this world, found themselves +oppressed by the power of the Pagans, were sometimes seduced by +resentment and spiritual pride to delight in the prospect of their +future triumph. "You are fond of spectacles," exclaims the stern +Tertullian; "expect the greatest of all spectacles, the last and eternal +judgment of the universe. How shall I admire, how laugh, how rejoice, +how exult, when I behold so many proud monarchs, so many fancied gods, +groaning in the lowest abyss of darkness; so many magistrates, who +persecuted the name of the Lord, liquefying in fiercer fires than they +ever kindled against the Christians; so many sage philosophers blushing +in red-hot flames with their deluded scholars; so many celebrated poets +trembling before the tribunal, not of Minos, but of Christ; so many +tragedians, more tuneful in the expression of their own sufferings; so +many dancers." + +[711] But the humanity of the reader will permit me to draw a veil over the +rest of this infernal description, which the zealous African pursues in +a long variety of affected and unfeeling witticisms. [72] + +[Footnote 70: And yet whatever may be the language of +individuals, it is still the public doctrine of all the Christian +churches; nor can even our own refuse to admit the conclusions which +must be drawn from the viiith and the xviiith of her Articles. The +Jansenists, who have so diligently studied the works of the fathers, +maintain this sentiment with distinguished zeal; and the learned M. de +Tillemont never dismisses a virtuous emperor without pronouncing his +damnation. Zuinglius is perhaps the only leader of a party who has +ever adopted the milder sentiment, and he gave no less offence to the +Lutherans than to the Catholics. See Bossuet, Histoire des Variations +des Eglises Protestantes, l. ii. c. 19--22.] + +[Footnote 71: Justin and Clemens of Alexandria allow that some of +the philosophers were instructed by the Logos; confounding its double +signification of the human reason, and of the Divine Word.] + +[Footnote 711: This translation is not exact: the first sentence is imperfect. +Tertullian says, Ille dies nationibus insperatus, ille derisus, cum +tanta sacculi vetustas et tot ejus nativitates uno igne haurientur. +The text does not authorize the exaggerated expressions, so many +magistrates, so many sago philosophers, so many poets, &c.; but simply +magistrates, philosophers, poets.--G. --It is not clear that Gibbon's +version or paraphrase is incorrect: Tertullian writes, tot tantosque +reges item praesides, &c.--M.] + +[Footnote 72: Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 30. In order to ascertain +the degree of authority which the zealous African had acquired it may be +sufficient to allege the testimony of Cyprian, the doctor and guide of +all the western churches. (See Prudent. Hym. xiii. 100.) As often as he +applied himself to his daily study of the writings of Tertullian, he was +accustomed to say, "Da mihi magistrum, Give me my master." (Hieronym. de +Viris Illustribus, tom. i. p. 284.)] + +[Footnote 72: The object of Tertullian's vehemence in his Treatise, was +to keep the Christians away from the secular games celebrated by the +Emperor Severus: It has not prevented him from showing himself in other +places full of benevolence and charity towards unbelievers: the spirit +of the gospel has sometimes prevailed over the violence of human +passions: Qui ergo putaveris nihil nos de salute Caesaris curare (he +says in his Apology) inspice Dei voces, literas nostras. Scitote ex +illis praeceptum esse nobis ad redudantionem, benignitates etiam pro +inimicis Deum orare, et pro persecutoribus cona precari. Sed etiam +nominatim atque manifeste orate inquit (Christus) pro regibus et pro +principibus et potestatibus ut omnia sint tranquilla vobis Tert. Apol. +c. 31.--G. ----It would be wiser for Christianity, retreating upon its +genuine records in the New Testament, to disclaim this fierce African, +than to identify itself with his furious invectives by unsatisfactory +apologies for their unchristian fanaticism.--M.] + +Doubtless there were many among the primitive Christians of a temper +more suitable to the meekness and charity of their profession. There +were many who felt a sincere compassion for the danger of their friends +and countrymen, and who exerted the most benevolent zeal to save them +from the impending destruction. + +The careless Polytheist, assailed by new and unexpected terrors, against +which neither his priests nor his philosophers could afford him any +certain protection, was very frequently terrified and subdued by the +menace of eternal tortures. His fears might assist the progress of his +faith and reason; and if he could once persuade himself to suspect that +the Christian religion might possibly be true, it became an easy task to +convince him that it was the safest and most prudent party that he could +possibly embrace. + +III. The supernatural gifts, which even in this life were ascribed to +the Christians above the rest of mankind, must have conduced to their +own comfort, and very frequently to the conviction of infidels. Besides +the occasional prodigies, which might sometimes be effected by the +immediate interposition of the Deity when he suspended the laws of +Nature for the service of religion, the Christian church, from the +time of the apostles and their first disciples, [73] has claimed an +uninterrupted succession of miraculous powers, the gift of tongues, of +vision, and of prophecy, the power of expelling daemons, of healing the +sick, and of raising the dead. The knowledge of foreign languages +was frequently communicated to the contemporaries of Irenaeus, though +Irenaeus himself was left to struggle with the difficulties of a +barbarous dialect, whilst he preached the gospel to the natives of Gaul. +[74] The divine inspiration, whether it was conveyed in the form of a +waking or of a sleeping vision, is described as a favor very liberally +bestowed on all ranks of the faithful, on women as on elders, on boys as +well as upon bishops. When their devout minds were sufficiently prepared +by a course of prayer, of fasting, and of vigils, to receive the +extraordinary impulse, they were transported out of their senses, and +delivered in ecstasy what was inspired, being mere organs of the Holy +Spirit, just as a pipe or flute is of him who blows into it. [75] We may +add, that the design of these visions was, for the most part, either to +disclose the future history, or to guide the present administration, +of the church. The expulsion of the daemons from the bodies of those +unhappy persons whom they had been permitted to torment, was considered +as a signal though ordinary triumph of religion, and is repeatedly +alleged by the ancient apoligists, as the most convincing evidence of +the truth of Christianity. The awful ceremony was usually performed in a +public manner, and in the presence of a great number of spectators; +the patient was relieved by the power or skill of the exorcist, and the +vanquished daemon was heard to confess that he was one of the fabled +gods of antiquity, who had impiously usurped the adoration of mankind. +[76] But the miraculous cure of diseases of the most inveterate or +even preternatural kind, can no longer occasion any surprise, when we +recollect, that in the days of Iranaeus, about the end of the second +century, the resurrection of the dead was very far from being esteemed +an uncommon event; that the miracle was frequently performed on +necessary occasions, by great fasting and the joint supplication of the +church of the place, and that the persons thus restored to their prayers +had lived afterwards among them many years. [77] At such a period, when +faith could boast of so many wonderful victories over death, it seems +difficult to account for the scepticism of those philosophers, who still +rejected and derided the doctrine of the resurrection. A noble Grecian +had rested on this important ground the whole controversy, and promised +Theophilus, Bishop of Antioch, that if he could be gratified with the +sight of a single person who had been actually raised from the dead, +he would immediately embrace the Christian religion. It is somewhat +remarkable, that the prelate of the first eastern church, however +anxious for the conversion of his friend, thought proper to decline this +fair and reasonable challenge. [78] + +[Footnote 73: Notwithstanding the evasions of Dr. Middleton, it is +impossible to overlook the clear traces of visions and inspiration, +which may be found in the apostolic fathers. * Note: Gibbon should have +noticed the distinct and remarkable passage from Chrysostom, quoted by +Middleton, (Works, vol. i. p. 105,) in which he affirms the long +discontinuance of miracles as a notorious fact.--M.] + +[Footnote 74: Irenaeus adv. Haeres. Proem. p.3 Dr. Middleton (Free +Inquiry, p. 96, &c.) observes, that as this pretension of all others was +the most difficult to support by art, it was the soonest given up. The +observation suits his hypothesis. * Note: This passage of Irenaeus +contains no allusion to the gift of tongues; it is merely an apology for +a rude and unpolished Greek style, which could not be expected from one +who passed his life in a remote and barbarous province, and was +continually obliged to speak the Celtic language.--M. Note: Except in +the life of Pachomius, an Egyptian monk of the fourth century. (see +Jortin, Ecc. Hist. i. p. 368, edit. 1805,) and the latter (not earlier) +lives of Xavier, there is no claim laid to the gift of tongues since the +time of Irenaeus; and of this claim, Xavier's own letters are profoundly +silent. See Douglas's Criterion, p. 76 edit. 1807.--M.] + +[Footnote 75: Athenagoras in Legatione. Justin Martyr, Cohort. ad Gentes +Tertullian advers. Marcionit. l. iv. These descriptions are not +very unlike the prophetic fury, for which Cicero (de Divinat.ii. 54) +expresses so little reverence.] + +[Footnote 76: Tertullian (Apolog. c. 23) throws out a bold defiance +to the Pagan magistrates. Of the primitive miracles, the power of +exorcising is the only one which has been assumed by Protestants. * +Note: But by Protestants neither of the most enlightened ages nor most +reasoning minds.--M.] + +[Footnote 77: Irenaeus adv. Haereses, l. ii. 56, 57, l. v. c. 6. Mr. +Dodwell (Dissertat. ad Irenaeum, ii. 42) concludes, that the second +century was still more fertile in miracles than the first. * Note: It is +difficult to answer Middleton's objection to this statement of Irenae +us: "It is very strange, that from the time of the apostles there is not +a single instance of this miracle to be found in the three first +centuries; except a single case, slightly intimated in Eusebius, from +the Works of Papias; which he seems to rank among the other fabulous +stories delivered by that weak man." Middleton, Works, vol. i. p. 59. +Bp. Douglas (Criterion, p 389) would consider Irenaeus to speak of what +had "been performed formerly." not in his own time.--M.] + +[Footnote 78: Theophilus ad Autolycum, l. i. p. 345. Edit. Benedictin. +Paris, 1742. * Note: A candid sceptic might discern some impropriety in +the Bishop being called upon to perform a miracle on demand.--M.] + +The miracles of the primitive church, after obtaining the sanction of +ages, have been lately attacked in a very free and ingenious inquiry, +[79] which, though it has met with the most favorable reception from the +public, appears to have excited a general scandal among the divines of +our own as well as of the other Protestant churches of Europe. [80] Our +different sentiments on this subject will be much less influenced by any +particular arguments, than by our habits of study and reflection; and, +above all, by the degree of evidence which we have accustomed ourselves +to require for the proof of a miraculous event. The duty of an historian +does not call upon him to interpose his private judgment in this nice +and important controversy; but he ought not to dissemble the difficulty +of adopting such a theory as may reconcile the interest of religion with +that of reason, of making a proper application of that theory, and of +defining with precision the limits of that happy period, exempt from +error and from deceit, to which we might be disposed to extend the gift +of supernatural powers. From the first of the fathers to the last of the +popes, a succession of bishops, of saints, of martyrs, and of miracles, +is continued without interruption; and the progress of superstition +was so gradual, and almost imperceptible, that we know not in what +particular link we should break the chain of tradition. Every age bears +testimony to the wonderful events by which it was distinguished, and +its testimony appears no less weighty and respectable than that of the +preceding generation, till we are insensibly led on to accuse our own +inconsistency, if in the eighth or in the twelfth century we deny to the +venerable Bede, or to the holy Bernard, the same degree of confidence +which, in the second century, we had so liberally granted to Justin or +to Irenaeus. [81] If the truth of any of those miracles is appreciated by +their apparent use and propriety, every age had unbelievers to convince, +heretics to confute, and idolatrous nations to convert; and sufficient +motives might always be produced to justify the interposition of Heaven. +And yet, since every friend to revelation is persuaded of the reality, +and every reasonable man is convinced of the cessation, of miraculous +powers, it is evident that there must have been some period in which +they were either suddenly or gradually withdrawn from the Christian +church. Whatever aera is chosen for that purpose, the death of the +apostles, the conversion of the Roman empire, or the extinction of the +Arian heresy, [82] the insensibility of the Christians who lived at that +time will equally afford a just matter of surprise. They still supported +their pretensions after they had lost their power. Credulity performed +the office of faith; fanaticism was permitted to assume the language of +inspiration, and the effects of accident or contrivance were ascribed +to supernatural causes. The recent experience of genuine miracles should +have instructed the Christian world in the ways of Providence, and +habituated their eye (if we may use a very inadequate expression) to the +style of the divine artist. Should the most skilful painter of modern +Italy presume to decorate his feeble imitations with the name of Raphael +or of Correggio, the insolent fraud would be soon discovered, and +indignantly rejected. + +[Footnote 79: Dr. Middleton sent out his Introduction in the year 1747, +published his Free Inquiry in 1749, and before his death, which happened +in 1750, he had prepared a vindication of it against his numerous +adversaries.] + +[Footnote 80: The university of Oxford conferred degrees +on his opponents. From the indignation of Mosheim, (p. 221,) we may +discover the sentiments of the Lutheran divines. * Note: Yet many +Protestant divines will now without reluctance confine miracles to the +time of the apostles, or at least to the first century.--M] + +[Footnote 81: It may seem somewhat remarkable, that Bernard of +Clairvaux, who records so many miracles of his friend St. Malachi, never +takes any notice of his own, which, in their turn, however, are +carefully related by his companions and disciples. In the long series of +ecclesiastical history, does there exist a single instance of a saint +asserting that he himself possessed the gift of miracles?] + +[Footnote 82: The conversion of Constantine is the aera which is most +usually fixed by Protestants. The more rational divines are unwilling to +admit the miracles of the ivth, whilst the more credulous are unwilling +to reject those of the vth century. * Note: All this appears to proceed +on the principle that any distinct line can be drawn in an unphilosophic +age between wonders and miracles, or between what piety, from their +unexpected and extraordinary nature, the marvellous concurrence of +secondary causes to some remarkable end, may consider providential +interpositions, and miracles strictly so called, in which the laws of +nature are suspended or violated. It is impossible to assign, on one +side, limits to human credulity, on the other, to the influence of the +imagination on the bodily frame; but some of the miracles recorded in +the Gospels are such palpable impossibilities, according to the known +laws and operations of nature, that if recorded on sufficient evidence, +and the evidence we believe to be that of eye-witnesses, we cannot +reject them, without either asserting, with Hume, that no evidence can +prove a miracle, or that the Author of Nature has no power of suspending +its ordinary laws. But which of the post-apostolic miracles will bear +this test?--M.] + +Whatever opinion may be entertained of the miracles of the primitive +church since the time of the apostles, this unresisting softness of +temper, so conspicuous among the believers of the second and third +centuries, proved of some accidental benefit to the cause of truth and +religion. In modern times, a latent and even involuntary scepticism +adheres to the most pious dispositions. Their admission of supernatural +truths is much less an active consent than a cold and passive +acquiescence. Accustomed long since to observe and to respect the +variable order of Nature, our reason, or at least our imagination, is +not sufficiently prepared to sustain the visible action of the Deity. + +But, in the first ages of Christianity, the situation of mankind was +extremely different. The most curious, or the most credulous, among the +Pagans, were often persuaded to enter into a society which asserted an +actual claim of miraculous powers. The primitive Christians perpetually +trod on mystic ground, and their minds were exercised by the habits of +believing the most extraordinary events. They felt, or they fancied, +that on every side they were incessantly assaulted by daemons, comforted +by visions, instructed by prophecy, and surprisingly delivered from +danger, sickness, and from death itself, by the supplications of the +church. The real or imaginary prodigies, of which they so frequently +conceived themselves to be the objects, the instruments, or the +spectators, very happily disposed them to adopt with the same ease, +but with far greater justice, the authentic wonders of the evangelic +history; and thus miracles that exceeded not the measure of their own +experience, inspired them with the most lively assurance of mysteries +which were acknowledged to surpass the limits of their understanding. It +is this deep impression of supernatural truths, which has been so much +celebrated under the name of faith; a state of mind described as +the surest pledge of the divine favor and of future felicity, and +recommended as the first, or perhaps the only merit of a Christian. +According to the more rigid doctors, the moral virtues, which may be +equally practised by infidels, are destitute of any value or efficacy in +the work of our justification. + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part V. + +IV. But the primitive Christian demonstrated his faith by his virtues; +and it was very justly supposed that the divine persuasion, which +enlightened or subdued the understanding, must, at the same time, purify +the heart, and direct the actions, of the believer. The first apologists +of Christianity who justify the innocence of their brethren, and the +writers of a later period who celebrate the sanctity of their ancestors, +display, in the most lively colors, the reformation of manners which was +introduced into the world by the preaching of the gospel. As it is my +intention to remark only such human causes as were permitted to second +the influence of revelation, I shall slightly mention two motives which +might naturally render the lives of the primitive Christians much purer +and more austere than those of their Pagan contemporaries, or their +degenerate successors; repentance for their past sins, and the laudable +desire of supporting the reputation of the society in which they were +engaged. [83] + +[Footnote 83: These, in the opinion of the editor, are the most uncandid +paragraphs in Gibbon's History. He ought either, with manly courage, to +have denied the moral reformation introduced by Christianity, or fairly +to have investigated all its motives; not to have confined himself to +an insidious and sarcastic description of the less pure and generous +elements of the Christian character as it appeared even at that early +time.--M.] + +It is a very ancient reproach, suggested by the ignorance or the malice +of infidelity, that the Christians allured into their party the most +atrocious criminals, who, as soon as they were touched by a sense of +remorse, were easily persuaded to wash away, in the water of baptism, +the guilt of their past conduct, for which the temples of the gods +refused to grant them any expiation. But this reproach, when it is +cleared from misrepresentation, contributes as much to the honor as it +did to the increase of the church. [83] The friends of Christianity may +acknowledge without a blush, that many of the most eminent saints had +been before their baptism the most abandoned sinners. Those persons, who +in the world had followed, though in an imperfect manner, the dictates +of benevolence and propriety, derived such a calm satisfaction from the +opinion of their own rectitude, as rendered them much less susceptible +of the sudden emotions of shame, of grief, and of terror, which have +given birth to so many wonderful conversions. After the example of their +divine Master, the missionaries of the gospel disdained not the society +of men, and especially of women, oppressed by the consciousness, and +very often by the effects, of their vices. As they emerged from sin +and superstition to the glorious hope of immortality, they resolved to +devote themselves to a life, not only of virtue, but of penitence. The +desire of perfection became the ruling passion of their soul; and it is +well known, that while reason embraces a cold mediocrity, our passions +hurry us, with rapid violence, over the space which lies between the +most opposite extremes. + +[Footnote 83: The imputations of Celsus and Julian, with the defence of +the fathers, are very fairly stated by Spanheim, Commentaire sur les +Cesars de Julian, p. 468.] + +When the new converts had been enrolled in the number of the faithful, +and were admitted to the sacraments of the church, they found themselves +restrained from relapsing into their past disorders by another +consideration of a less spiritual, but of a very innocent and +respectable nature. Any particular society that has departed from +the great body of the nation, or the religion to which it belonged, +immediately becomes the object of universal as well as invidious +observation. In proportion to the smallness of its numbers, the +character of the society may be affected by the virtues and vices of the +persons who compose it; and every member is engaged to watch with the +most vigilant attention over his own behavior, and over that of his +brethren, since, as he must expect to incur a part of the common +disgrace, he may hope to enjoy a share of the common reputation. When +the Christians of Bithynia were brought before the tribunal of the +younger Pliny, they assured the proconsul, that, far from being engaged +in any unlawful conspiracy, they were bound by a solemn obligation to +abstain from the commission of those crimes which disturb the private +or public peace of society, from theft, robbery, adultery, perjury, +and fraud. [84] [841] Near a century afterwards, Tertullian with an honest +pride, could boast, that very few Christians had suffered by the hand of +the executioner, except on account of their religion. [85] Their serious +and sequestered life, averse to the gay luxury of the age, inured +them to chastity, temperance, economy, and all the sober and domestic +virtues. As the greater number were of some trade or profession, it was +incumbent on them, by the strictest integrity and the fairest dealing, +to remove the suspicions which the profane are too apt to conceive +against the appearances of sanctity. The contempt of the world exercised +them in the habits of humility, meekness, and patience. The more they +were persecuted, the more closely they adhered to each other. Their +mutual charity and unsuspecting confidence has been remarked by +infidels, and was too often abused by perfidious friends. [86] + +[Footnote 84: Plin. Epist. x. 97. * Note: Is not the sense of Tertullian +rather, if guilty of any other offence, he had thereby ceased to be a +Christian?--M.] + +[Footnote 841: And this blamelessness was fully admitted by the candid and +enlightened Roman.--M.] + +[Footnote 85: Tertullian, Apolog. c. 44. He adds, however, with some +degree of hesitation, "Aut si aliud, jam non Christianus." * Note: +Tertullian says positively no Christian, nemo illic Christianus; for the +rest, the limitation which he himself subjoins, and which Gibbon quotes +in the foregoing note, diminishes the force of this assertion, and +appears to prove that at least he knew none such.--G.] + +[Footnote 86: The philosopher Peregrinus (of whose life and death Lucian +has left us so entertaining an account) imposed, for a long time, on the +credulous simplicity of the Christians of Asia.] + +It is a very honorable circumstance for the morals of the primitive +Christians, that even their faults, or rather errors, were derived +from an excess of virtue. The bishops and doctors of the church, whose +evidence attests, and whose authority might influence, the professions, +the principles, and even the practice of their contemporaries, had +studied the Scriptures with less skill than devotion; and they often +received, in the most literal sense, those rigid precepts of Christ +and the apostles, to which the prudence of succeeding commentators has +applied a looser and more figurative mode of interpretation. Ambitious +to exalt the perfection of the gospel above the wisdom of philosophy, +the zealous fathers have carried the duties of self-mortification, of +purity, and of patience, to a height which it is scarcely possible to +attain, and much less to preserve, in our present state of weakness and +corruption. A doctrine so extraordinary and so sublime must inevitably +command the veneration of the people; but it was ill calculated to +obtain the suffrage of those worldly philosophers, who, in the conduct +of this transitory life, consult only the feelings of nature and the +interest of society. [87] + +[Footnote 87: See a very judicious treatise of Barbeyrac sur la Morale +des Peres.] + +There are two very natural propensities which we may distinguish in the +most virtuous and liberal dispositions, the love of pleasure and the +love of action. If the former is refined by art and learning, improved +by the charms of social intercourse, and corrected by a just regard to +economy, to health, and to reputation, it is productive of the greatest +part of the happiness of private life. The love of action is a principle +of a much stronger and more doubtful nature. It often leads to anger, +to ambition, and to revenge; but when it is guided by the sense of +propriety and benevolence, it becomes the parent of every virtue, and if +those virtues are accompanied with equal abilities, a family, a state, +or an empire, may be indebted for their safety and prosperity to the +undaunted courage of a single man. To the love of pleasure we may +therefore ascribe most of the agreeable, to the love of action we +may attribute most of the useful and respectable, qualifications. The +character in which both the one and the other should be united and +harmonized, would seem to constitute the most perfect idea of human +nature. The insensible and inactive disposition, which should be +supposed alike destitute of both, would be rejected, by the common +consent of mankind, as utterly incapable of procuring any happiness to +the individual, or any public benefit to the world. But it was not +in this world, that the primitive Christians were desirous of making +themselves either agreeable or useful. [*871] + +[Footnote 871: El que me fait cette homelie semi-stoicienne, +semi-epicurienne? t'on jamais regarde l'amour du plaisir comme l'un des +principes de la perfection morale? Et de quel droit faites vous de +l'amour de l'action, et de l'amour du plaisir, les seuls elemens de +l'etre humain? Est ce que vous faites abstraction de la verite en +elle-meme, de la conscience et du sentiment du devoir? Est ce que vous ne +sentez point, par exemple, que le sacrifice du moi a la justice et a la +verite, est aussi dans le coeur de l'homme: que tout n'est pas pour lui +action ou plaisir, et que dans le bien ce n'est pas le mouvement, mais +la verite, qu'il cherche? Et puis * * Thucy dide et Tacite. ces maitres +de l'histoire, ont ils jamais introduits dans leur recits un fragment de +dissertation sur le plaisir et sur l'action. Villemain Cours de Lit. +Franc part ii. Lecon v.--M.] + +The acquisition of knowledge, the exercise of our reason or fancy, and +the cheerful flow of unguarded conversation, may employ the leisure of +a liberal mind. Such amusements, however, were rejected with abhorrence, +or admitted with the utmost caution, by the severity of the fathers, +who despised all knowledge that was not useful to salvation, and who +considered all levity of discourse as a criminal abuse of the gift of +speech. In our present state of existence the body is so inseparably +connected with the soul, that it seems to be our interest to taste, +with innocence and moderation, the enjoyments of which that faithful +companion is susceptible. Very different was the reasoning of our devout +predecessors; vainly aspiring to imitate the perfection of angels, they +disdained, or they affected to disdain, every earthly and corporeal +delight. [88] Some of our senses indeed are necessary for our +preservation, others for our subsistence, and others again for our +information; and thus far it was impossible to reject the use of them. +The first sensation of pleasure was marked as the first moment of their +abuse. The unfeeling candidate for heaven was instructed, not only to +resist the grosser allurements of the taste or smell, but even to +shut his ears against the profane harmony of sounds, and to view with +indifference the most finished productions of human art. Gay apparel, +magnificent houses, and elegant furniture, were supposed to unite +the double guilt of pride and of sensuality; a simple and mortified +appearance was more suitable to the Christian who was certain of his +sins and doubtful of his salvation. In their censures of luxury, the +fathers are extremely minute and circumstantial; [89] and among the +various articles which excite their pious indignation, we may enumerate +false hair, garments of any color except white, instruments of music, +vases of gold or silver, downy pillows, (as Jacob reposed his head on a +stone,) white bread, foreign wines, public salutations, the use of warm +baths, and the practice of shaving the beard, which, according to the +expression of Tertullian, is a lie against our own faces, and an impious +attempt to improve the works of the Creator. [90] When Christianity +was introduced among the rich and the polite, the observation of these +singular laws was left, as it would be at present, to the few who +were ambitious of superior sanctity. But it is always easy, as well as +agreeable, for the inferior ranks of mankind to claim a merit from the +contempt of that pomp and pleasure which fortune has placed beyond their +reach. The virtue of the primitive Christians, like that of the first +Romans, was very frequently guarded by poverty and ignorance. + +[Footnote 88: Lactant. Institut. Divin. l. vi. c. 20, 21, 22.] + +[Footnote 89: Consult a work of Clemens of Alexandria, entitled The +Paedagogue, which contains the rudiments of ethics, as they were taught +in the most celebrated of the Christian schools.] + +[Footnote 90: Tertullian, de Spectaculis, c. 23. Clemens Alexandrin. +Paedagog. l. iii. c. 8.] + +The chaste severity of the fathers, in whatever related to the commerce +of the two sexes, flowed from the same principle; their abhorrence +of every enjoyment which might gratify the sensual, and degrade the +spiritual, nature of man. It was their favorite opinion, that if Adam +had preserved his obedience to the Creator, he would have lived forever +in a state of virgin purity, and that some harmless mode of vegetation +might have peopled paradise with a race of innocent and immortal beings. +[91] The use of marriage was permitted only to his fallen posterity, as +a necessary expedient to continue the human species, and as a restraint, +however imperfect, on the natural licentiousness of desire. The +hesitation of the orthodox casuists on this interesting subject, betrays +the perplexity of men, unwilling to approve an institution which they +were compelled to tolerate. [92] The enumeration of the very whimsical +laws, which they most circumstantially imposed on the marriage-bed, +would force a smile from the young and a blush from the fair. It was +their unanimous sentiment, that a first marriage was adequate to all the +purposes of nature and of society. The sensual connection was refined +into a resemblance of the mystic union of Christ with his church, and +was pronounced to be indissoluble either by divorce or by death. +The practice of second nuptials was branded with the name of a legal +adultery; and the persons who were guilty of so scandalous an offence +against Christian purity, were soon excluded from the honors, and even +from the alms, of the church. [93] Since desire was imputed as a crime, +and marriage was tolerated as a defect, it was consistent with the same +principles to consider a state of celibacy as the nearest approach to +the divine perfection. It was with the utmost difficulty that ancient +Rome could support the institution of six vestals; [94] but the primitive +church was filled with a great number of persons of either sex, who had +devoted themselves to the profession of perpetual chastity. [95] A few of +these, among whom we may reckon the learned Origen, judged it the most +prudent to disarm the tempter. [96] Some were insensible and some were +invincible against the assaults of the flesh. Disdaining an ignominious +flight, the virgins of the warm climate of Africa encountered the enemy +in the closest engagement; they permitted priests and deacons to share +their bed, and gloried amidst the flames in their unsullied purity. But +insulted Nature sometimes vindicated her rights, and this new species +of martyrdom served only to introduce a new scandal into the church. [97] +Among the Christian ascetics, however, (a name which they soon acquired +from their painful exercise,) many, as they were less presumptuous, were +probably more successful. The loss of sensual pleasure was supplied +and compensated by spiritual pride. Even the multitude of Pagans +were inclined to estimate the merit of the sacrifice by its apparent +difficulty; and it was in the praise of these chaste spouses of +Christ that the fathers have poured forth the troubled stream of their +eloquence. [98] Such are the early traces of monastic principles and +institutions, which, in a subsequent age, have counterbalanced all the +temporal advantages of Christianity. [99] + +[Footnote 91: Beausobro, Hist. Critique du Manicheisme, l. vii. c. +3. Justin, Gregory of Nyssa, Augustin, &c., strongly incline to this +opinion. Note: But these were Gnostic or Manichean opinions. Beausobre +distinctly describes Autustine's bias to his recent escape from +Manicheism; and adds that he afterwards changed his views.--M.] + +[Footnote 92: Some of the Gnostic heretics were more consistent; they +rejected the use of marriage.] + +[Footnote 93: See a chain of tradition, from Justin Martyr to Jerome, in +the Morale des Peres, c. iv. 6--26.] + +[Footnote 94: See a very curious Dissertation on the Vestals, in +the Memoires de l'Academie des Inscriptions, tom. iv. p. 161--227. +Notwithstanding the honors and rewards which were bestowed on those +virgins, it was difficult to procure a sufficient number; nor could the +dread of the most horrible death always restrain their incontinence.] + +[Footnote 95: Cupiditatem procreandi aut unam scimus aut nullam. +Minutius Faelix, c. 31. Justin. Apolog. Major. Athenagoras in Legat. c +28. Tertullian de Cultu Foemin. l. ii.] + +[Footnote 96: Eusebius, l. vi. 8. Before the fame of Origen had excited +envy and persecution, this extraordinary action was rather admired than +censured. As it was his general practice to allegorize Scripture, it +seems unfortunate that in this instance only, he should have adopted the +literal sense.] + +[Footnote 97: Cyprian. Epist. 4, and Dodwell, Dissertat. Cyprianic. iii. +Something like this rash attempt was long afterwards imputed to the +founder of the order of Fontevrault. Bayle has amused himself and his +readers on that very delicate subject.] + +[Footnote 98: Dupin (Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. i. p. 195) gives +a particular account of the dialogue of the ten virgins, as it was +composed by Methodius, Bishop of Tyre. The praises of virginity are +excessive.] + +[Footnote 99: The Ascetics (as early as the second century) made a +public profession of mortifying their bodies, and of abstaining from the +use of flesh and wine. Mosheim, p. 310.] + +The Christians were not less averse to the business than to the +pleasures of this world. The defence of our persons and property they +knew not how to reconcile with the patient doctrine which enjoined an +unlimited forgiveness of past injuries, and commanded them to invite the +repetition of fresh insults. Their simplicity was offended by the use of +oaths, by the pomp of magistracy, and by the active contention of public +life; nor could their humane ignorance be convinced that it was lawful +on any occasion to shed the blood of our fellow-creatures, either by +the sword of justice, or by that of war; even though their criminal +or hostile attempts should threaten the peace and safety of the whole +community. [100] It was acknowledged, that, under a less perfect law, +the powers of the Jewish constitution had been exercised, with the +approbation of Heaven, by inspired prophets and by anointed kings. The +Christians felt and confessed that such institutions might be necessary +for the present system of the world, and they cheerfully submitted to +the authority of their Pagan governors. But while they inculcated the +maxims of passive obedience, they refused to take any active part in +the civil administration or the military defence of the empire. Some +indulgence might, perhaps, be allowed to those persons who, before +their conversion, were already engaged in such violent and sanguinary +occupations; [101] but it was impossible that the Christians, without +renouncing a more sacred duty, could assume the character of soldiers, +of magistrates, or of princes. [102] This indolent, or even criminal +disregard to the public welfare, exposed them to the contempt and +reproaches of the Pagans who very frequently asked, what must be the +fate of the empire, attacked on every side by the barbarians, if all +mankind should adopt the pusillanimous sentiments of the new sect. [103] +To this insulting question the Christian apologists returned obscure and +ambiguous answers, as they were unwilling to reveal the secret cause of +their security; the expectation that, before the conversion of mankind +was accomplished, war, government, the Roman empire, and the world +itself, would be no more. It may be observed, that, in this instance +likewise, the situation of the first Christians coincided very happily +with their religious scruples, and that their aversion to an active life +contributed rather to excuse them from the service, than to exclude them +from the honors, of the state and army. + +[Footnote 100: See the Morale des Peres. The same patient principles +have been revived since the Reformation by the Socinians, the modern +Anabaptists, and the Quakers. Barclay, the Apologist of the Quakers, has +protected his brethren by the authority of the primitive Christian; p. +542-549] + +[Footnote 101: Tertullian, Apolog. c. 21. De Idololatria, c. 17, 18. +Origen contra Celsum, l. v. p. 253, l. vii. p. 348, l. viii. +p. 423-428.] + +[Footnote 102: Tertullian (de Corona Militis, c. 11) suggested to +them the expedient of deserting; a counsel which, if it had been +generally known, was not very proper to conciliate the favor of the +emperors towards the Christian sect. * Note: There is nothing which +ought to astonish us in the refusal of the primitive Christians to take +part in public affairs; it was the natural consequence of the +contrariety of their principles to the customs, laws, and active life of +the Pagan world. As Christians, they could not enter into the senate, +which, according to Gibbon himself, always assembled in a temple or +consecrated place, and where each senator, before he took his seat, made +a libation of a few drops of wine, and burnt incense on the altar; as +Christians, they could not assist at festivals and banquets, which +always terminated with libations, &c.; finally, as "the innumerable +deities and rites of polytheism were closely interwoven with every +circumstance of public and private life," the Christians could not +participate in them without incurring, according to their principles, +the guilt of impiety. It was then much less by an effect of their +doctrine, than by the consequence of their situation, that they stood +aloof from public business. Whenever this situation offered no +impediment, they showed as much activity as the Pagans. Proinde, says +Justin Martyr, (Apol. c. 17,) nos solum Deum adoramus, et vobis in rebus +aliis laeti inservimus.--G. -----This latter passage, M. Guizot quotes +in Latin; if he had consulted the original, he would have found it to be +altogether irrelevant: it merely relates to the payment of taxes.--M. -- +--Tertullian does not suggest to the soldiers the expedient of +deserting; he says that they ought to be constantly on their guard to do +nothing during their service contrary to the law of God, and to resolve +to suffer martyrdom rather than submit to a base compliance, or openly +to renounce the service. (De Cor. Mil. ii. p. 127.) He does not +positively decide that the military service is not permitted to +Christians; he ends, indeed, by saying, Puta denique licere militiam +usque ad causam coronae.--G. ----M. Guizot is. I think, again +unfortunate in his defence of Tertullian. That father says, that many +Christian soldiers had deserted, aut deserendum statim sit, ut a multis +actum. The latter sentence, Puta, &c, &c., is a concession for the sake +of argument: wha follows is more to the purpose.--M. Many other passages +of Tertullian prove that the army was full of Christians, Hesterni sumus +et vestra omnia implevimus, urbes, insulas, castella, municipia, +conciliabula, castra ipsa. (Apol. c. 37.) Navigamus et not vobiscum et +militamus. (c. 42.) Origen, in truth, appears to have maintained a more +rigid opinion, (Cont. Cels. l. viii.;) but he has often renounced this +exaggerated severity, perhaps necessary to produce great results, and he +speaks of the profession of arms as an honorable one. (l. iv. c. 218.)-- +G. ----On these points Christian opinion, it should seem, was much +divided Tertullian, when he wrote the De Cor. Mil., was evidently +inclining to more ascetic opinions, and Origen was of the same class. +See Neander, vol. l part ii. p. 305, edit. 1828.--M.] + +[Footnote 103: As well as we can judge from the mutilated representation +of Origen, (1. viii. p. 423,) his adversary, Celsus, had urged his +objection with great force and candor.] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part VI. + +V. But the human character, however it may be exalted or depressed by a +temporary enthusiasm, will return by degrees to its proper and natural +level, and will resume those passions that seem the most adapted to its +present condition. The primitive Christians were dead to the business +and pleasures of the world; but their love of action, which could never +be entirely extinguished, soon revived, and found a new occupation in +the government of the church. A separate society, which attacked the +established religion of the empire, was obliged to adopt some form +of internal policy, and to appoint a sufficient number of ministers, +intrusted not only with the spiritual functions, but even with the +temporal direction of the Christian commonwealth. The safety of that +society, its honor, its aggrandizement, were productive, even in the +most pious minds, of a spirit of patriotism, such as the first of +the Romans had felt for the republic, and sometimes of a similar +indifference, in the use of whatever means might probably conduce to so +desirable an end. The ambition of raising themselves or their friends +to the honors and offices of the church, was disguised by the laudable +intention of devoting to the public benefit the power and consideration, +which, for that purpose only, it became their duty to solicit. In the +exercise of their functions, they were frequently called upon to detect +the errors of heresy or the arts of faction, to oppose the designs +of perfidious brethren, to stigmatize their characters with deserved +infamy, and to expel them from the bosom of a society whose peace and +happiness they had attempted to disturb. The ecclesiastical governors of +the Christians were taught to unite the wisdom of the serpent with the +innocence of the dove; but as the former was refined, so the latter was +insensibly corrupted, by the habits of government. If the church as +well as in the world, the persons who were placed in any public station +rendered themselves considerable by their eloquence and firmness, by +their knowledge of mankind, and by their dexterity in business; and +while they concealed from others, and perhaps from themselves, the +secret motives of their conduct, they too frequently relapsed into all +the turbulent passions of active life, which were tinctured with an +additional degree of bitterness and obstinacy from the infusion of +spiritual zeal. + +The government of the church has often been the subject, as well as +the prize, of religious contention. The hostile disputants of Rome, +of Paris, of Oxford, and of Geneva, have alike struggled to reduce the +primitive and apostolic model [104] to the respective standards of their +own policy. The few who have pursued this inquiry with more candor and +impartiality, are of opinion, [105] that the apostles declined the office +of legislation, and rather chose to endure some partial scandals and +divisions, than to exclude the Christians of a future age from the +liberty of varying their forms of ecclesiastical government according +to the changes of times and circumstances. The scheme of policy, which, +under their approbation, was adopted for the use of the first century, +may be discovered from the practice of Jerusalem, of Ephesus, or of +Corinth. The societies which were instituted in the cities of the Roman +empire, were united only by the ties of faith and charity. Independence +and equality formed the basis of their internal constitution. The +want of discipline and human learning was supplied by the occasional +assistance of the prophets, [106] who were called to that function +without distinction of age, of sex, [1061] or of natural abilities, and who, +as often as they felt the divine impulse, poured forth the effusions +of the Spirit in the assembly of the faithful. But these extraordinary +gifts were frequently abused or misapplied by the prophetic teachers. +They displayed them at an improper season, presumptuously disturbed +the service of the assembly, and, by their pride or mistaken zeal, they +introduced, particularly into the apostolic church of Corinth, a long +and melancholy train of disorders. [107] As the institution of prophets +became useless, and even pernicious, their powers were withdrawn, and +their office abolished. The public functions of religion were solely +intrusted to the established ministers of the church, the bishops and +the presbyters; two appellations which, in their first origin, appear +to have distinguished the same office and the same order of persons. +The name of Presbyter was expressive of their age, or rather of their +gravity and wisdom. The title of Bishop denoted their inspection over +the faith and manners of the Christians who were committed to their +pastoral care. In proportion to the respective numbers of the faithful, +a larger or smaller number of these episcopal presbyters guided each +infant congregation with equal authority and with united counsels. +[108] + +[Footnote 104: The aristocratical party in France, as well as in +England, has strenuously maintained the divine origin of bishops. +But the Calvinistical presbyters were impatient of a superior; and the +Roman Pontiff refused to acknowledge an equal. See Fra Paolo.] + +[Footnote 105: In the history of the Christian hierarchy, I have, for +the most part, followed the learned and candid Mosheim.] + +[Footnote 106: For the prophets of the primitive church, see Mosheim, +Dissertationes ad Hist. Eccles. pertinentes, tom. ii. p. 132--208.] + +[Footnote 1061: St. Paul distinctly reproves the intrusion of females into +the prophets office. 1 Cor. xiv. 34, 35. 1 Tim. ii. 11.--M.] + +[Footnote 107: See the epistles of St. Paul, and of Clemens, to the +Corinthians. * Note: The first ministers established in the church were +the deacons, appointed at Jerusalem, seven in number; they were charged +with the distribution of the alms; even females had a share in this +employment. After the deacons came the elders or priests, charged with +the maintenance of order and decorum in the community, and to act every +where in its name. The bishops were afterwards charged to watch over the +faith and the instruction of the disciples: the apostles themselves +appointed several bishops. Tertullian, (adv. Marium, c. v.,) Clement of +Alexandria, and many fathers of the second and third century, do not +permit us to doubt this fact. The equality of rank between these +different functionaries did not prevent their functions being, even in +their origin, distinct; they became subsequently still more so. See +Plank, Geschichte der Christ. Kirch. Verfassung., vol. i. p. 24.--G. On +this extremely obscure subject, which has been so much perplexed by +passion and interest, it is impossible to justify any opinion without +entering into long and controversial details.----It must be admitted, in +opposition to Plank, that in the New Testament, several words are +sometimes indiscriminately used. (Acts xx. v. 17, comp. with 28 Tit. i. +5 and 7. Philip. i. 1.) But it is as clear, that as soon as we can +discern the form of church government, at a period closely bordering +upon, if not within, the apostolic age, it appears with a bishop at the +head of each community, holding some superiority over the presbyters. +Whether he was, as Gibbon from Mosheim supposes, merely an elective head +of the College of Presbyters, (for this we have, in fact, no valid +authority,) or whether his distinct functions were established on +apostolic authority, is still contested. The universal submission to +this episcopacy, in every part of the Christian world appears to me +strongly to favor the latter view.--M.] + +[Footnote 108: Hooker's Ecclesiastical Polity, l. vii.] + +But the most perfect equality of freedom requires the directing hand +of a superior magistrate: and the order of public deliberations soon +introduces the office of a president, invested at least with +the authority of collecting the sentiments, and of executing the +resolutions, of the assembly. A regard for the public tranquillity, +which would so frequently have been interrupted by annual or by +occasional elections, induced the primitive Christians to constitute an +honorable and perpetual magistracy, and to choose one of the wisest and +most holy among their presbyterians to execute, during his life, +the duties of their ecclesiastical governor. It was under these +circumstances that the lofty title of Bishop began to raise itself above +the humble appellation of Presbyter; and while the latter remained the +most natural distinction for the members of every Christian senate, the +former was appropriated to the dignity of its new president. [109] The +advantages of this episcopal form of government, which appears to +have been introduced before the end of the first century, [110] were +so obvious, and so important for the future greatness, as well as the +present peace, of Christianity, that it was adopted without delay by all +the societies which were already scattered over the empire, had acquired +in a very early period the sanction of antiquity, [111] and is still +revered by the most powerful churches, both of the East and of the West, +as a primitive and even as a divine establishment. [112] It is needless +to observe, that the pious and humble presbyters, who were first +dignified with the episcopal title, could not possess, and would +probably have rejected, the power and pomp which now encircles the +tiara of the Roman pontiff, or the mitre of a German prelate. But we +may define, in a few words, the narrow limits of their original +jurisdiction, which was chiefly of a spiritual, though in some instances +of a temporal nature. [113] It consisted in the administration of +the sacraments and discipline of the church, the superintendency of +religious ceremonies, which imperceptibly increased in number and +variety, the consecration of ecclesiastical ministers, to whom the +bishop assigned their respective functions, the management of the public +fund, and the determination of all such differences as the faithful were +unwilling to expose before the tribunal of an idolatrous judge. These +powers, during a short period, were exercised according to the advice +of the presbyteral college, and with the consent and approbation of the +assembly of Christians. The primitive bishops were considered only as +the first of their equals, and the honorable servants of a free people. +Whenever the episcopal chair became vacant by death, a new president was +chosen among the presbyters by the suffrages of the whole congregation, +every member of which supposed himself invested with a sacred and +sacerdotal character. [114] + +[Footnote 109: See Jerome and Titum, c. i. and Epistol. 85, (in the +Benedictine edition, 101,) and the elaborate apology of Blondel, pro +sententia Hieronymi. The ancient state, as it is described by Jerome, of +the bishop and presbyters of Alexandria, receives a remarkable +confirmation from the patriarch Eutychius, (Annal. tom. i. p. 330, Vers +Pocock;) whose testimony I know not how to reject, in spite of all the +objections of the learned Pearson in his Vindiciae Ignatianae, part i. +c. 11.] + +[Footnote 110: See the introduction to the Apocalypse. Bishops, under +the name of angels, were already instituted in the seven cities of Asia. +And yet the epistle of Clemens (which is probably of as ancient a date) +does not lead us to discover any traces of episcopacy either at Corinth +or Rome.] + +[Footnote 111: Nulla Ecclesia sine Episcopo, has been a fact as well as +a maxim since the time of Tertullian and Irenaeus.] + +[Footnote 112: After we have passed the difficulties of the first +century, we find the episcopal government universally established, till +it was interrupted by the republican genius of the Swiss and German +reformers.] + +[Footnote 113: See Mosheim in the first and second centuries. Ignatius +(ad Smyrnaeos, c. 3, &c.) is fond of exalting the episcopal dignity. Le +Clerc (Hist. Eccles. p. 569) very bluntly censures his conduct, Mosheim, +with a more critical judgment, (p. 161,) suspects the purity even of the +smaller epistles.] + +[Footnote 114: Nonne et Laici sacerdotes sumus? Tertullian, Exhort. ad +Castitat. c. 7. As the human heart is still the same, several of the +observations which Mr. Hume has made on Enthusiasm, (Essays, vol. i. p. +76, quarto edit.) may be applied even to real inspiration. * Note: This +expression was employed by the earlier Christian writers in the sense +used by St. Peter, 1 Ep ii. 9. It was the sanctity and virtue not the +power of priesthood, in which all Christians were to be equally +distinguished.--M.] + +Such was the mild and equal constitution by which the Christians were +governed more than a hundred years after the death of the apostles. +Every society formed within itself a separate and independent republic; +and although the most distant of these little states maintained a +mutual as well as friendly intercourse of letters and deputations, +the Christian world was not yet connected by any supreme authority or +legislative assembly. As the numbers of the faithful were gradually +multiplied, they discovered the advantages that might result from a +closer union of their interest and designs. Towards the end of the +second century, the churches of Greece and Asia adopted the useful +institutions of provincial synods, [1141] and they may justly be supposed to +have borrowed the model of a representative council from the celebrated +examples of their own country, the Amphictyons, the Achaean league, or +the assemblies of the Ionian cities. It was soon established as a custom +and as a law, that the bishops of the independent churches should meet +in the capital of the province at the stated periods of spring and +autumn. Their deliberations were assisted by the advice of a few +distinguished presbyters, and moderated by the presence of a listening +multitude. [115] Their decrees, which were styled Canons, regulated every +important controversy of faith and discipline; and it was natural to +believe that a liberal effusion of the Holy Spirit would be poured +on the united assembly of the delegates of the Christian people. The +institution of synods was so well suited to private ambition, and +to public interest, that in the space of a few years it was received +throughout the whole empire. A regular correspondence was established +between the provincial councils, which mutually communicated and +approved their respective proceedings; and the catholic church soon +assumed the form, and acquired the strength, of a great foederative +republic. [116] + +[Footnote 1141: The synods were not the first means taken by the insulated +churches to enter into communion and to assume a corporate character. +The dioceses were first formed by the union of several country churches +with a church in a city: many churches in one city uniting among +themselves, or joining a more considerable church, became metropolitan. +The dioceses were not formed before the beginning of the second century: +before that time the Christians had not established sufficient churches +in the country to stand in need of that union. It is towards the +middle of the same century that we discover the first traces of the +metropolitan constitution. (Probably the country churches were founded +in general by missionaries from those in the city, and would preserve a +natural connection with the parent church.)--M. ----The provincial +synods did not commence till towards the middle of the third century, +and were not the first synods. History gives us distinct notions of the +synods, held towards the end of the second century, at Ephesus at +Jerusalem, at Pontus, and at Rome, to put an end to the disputes which +had arisen between the Latin and Asiatic churches about the celebration +of Easter. But these synods were not subject to any regular form or +periodical return; this regularity was first established with the +provincial synods, which were formed by a union of the bishops of a +district, subject to a metropolitan. Plank, p. 90. Geschichte der +Christ. Kirch. Verfassung--G] + +[Footnote 115: Acta Concil. Carthag. apud Cyprian. edit. Fell, p. 158. +This council was composed of eighty-seven bishops from the provinces of +Mauritania, Numidia, and Africa; some presbyters and deacons assisted at +the assembly; praesente plebis maxima parte.] + +[Footnote 116: Aguntur praeterea per Graecias illas, certis in locis +concilia, &c Tertullian de Jejuniis, c. 13. The African mentions it as a +recent and foreign institution. The coalition of the Christian churches +is very ably explained by Mosheim, p. 164 170.] + +As the legislative authority of the particular churches was insensibly +superseded by the use of councils, the bishops obtained by their +alliance a much larger share of executive and arbitrary power; and as +soon as they were connected by a sense of their common interest, they +were enabled to attack with united vigor, the original rights of their +clergy and people. The prelates of the third century imperceptibly +changed the language of exhortation into that of command, scattered the +seeds of future usurpations, and supplied, by scripture allegories and +declamatory rhetoric, their deficiency of force and of reason. They +exalted the unity and power of the church, as it was represented in the +Episcopal Office, of which every bishop enjoyed an equal and undivided +portion. [117] Princes and magistrates, it was often repeated, might +boast an earthly claim to a transitory dominion; it was the episcopal +authority alone which was derived from the Deity, and extended itself +over this and over another world. The bishops were the vicegerents of +Christ, the successors of the apostles, and the mystic substitutes +of the high priest of the Mosaic law. Their exclusive privilege of +conferring the sacerdotal character, invaded the freedom both of +clerical and of popular elections; and if, in the administration of +the church, they still consulted the judgment of the presbyters, or the +inclination of the people, they most carefully inculcated the merit of +such a voluntary condescension. The bishops acknowledged the supreme +authority which resided in the assembly of their brethren; but in the +government of his peculiar diocese, each of them exacted from his +flock the same implicit obedience as if that favorite metaphor had been +literally just, and as if the shepherd had been of a more exalted nature +than that of his sheep. [118] This obedience, however, was not imposed +without some efforts on one side, and some resistance on the other. The +democratical part of the constitution was, in many places, very warmly +supported by the zealous or interested opposition of the inferior +clergy. But their patriotism received the ignominious epithets of +faction and schism; and the episcopal cause was indebted for its rapid +progress to the labors of many active prelates, who, like Cyprian of +Carthage, could reconcile the arts of the most ambitious statesman with +the Christian virtues which seem adapted to the character of a saint and +martyr. [119] + +[Footnote 117: Cyprian, in his admired treatise De Unitate Ecclesiae. p. +75--86] + +[Footnote 118: We may appeal to the whole tenor of Cyprian's conduct, of +his doctrine, and of his epistles. Le Clerc, in a short life of Cyprian, +(Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xii. p. 207--378,) has laid him open +with great freedom and accuracy.] + +[Footnote 119: If Novatus, Felicissimus, &c., whom the Bishop of +Carthage expelled from his church, and from Africa, were not the most +detestable monsters of wickedness, the zeal of Cyprian must occasionally +have prevailed over his veracity. For a very just account of these +obscure quarrels, see Mosheim, p. 497--512.] + +The same causes which at first had destroyed the equality of the +presbyters introduced among the bishops a preeminence of rank, and from +thence a superiority of jurisdiction. As often as in the spring and +autumn they met in provincial synod, the difference of personal merit +and reputation was very sensibly felt among the members of the assembly, +and the multitude was governed by the wisdom and eloquence of the few. +But the order of public proceedings required a more regular and less +invidious distinction; the office of perpetual presidents in the +councils of each province was conferred on the bishops of the principal +city; and these aspiring prelates, who soon acquired the lofty titles of +Metropolitans and Primates, secretly prepared themselves to usurp over +their episcopal brethren the same authority which the bishops had so +lately assumed above the college of presbyters. [120] Nor was it long +before an emulation of preeminence and power prevailed among the +Metropolitans themselves, each of them affecting to display, in the most +pompous terms, the temporal honors and advantages of the city over which +he presided; the numbers and opulence of the Christians who were subject +to their pastoral care; the saints and martyrs who had arisen among +them; and the purity with which they preserved the tradition of the +faith, as it had been transmitted through a series of orthodox bishops +from the apostle or the apostolic disciple, to whom the foundation of +their church was ascribed. [121] From every cause, either of a civil or +of an ecclesiastical nature, it was easy to foresee that Rome must enjoy +the respect, and would soon claim the obedience of the provinces. The +society of the faithful bore a just proportion to the capital of the +empire; and the Roman church was the greatest, the most numerous, +and, in regard to the West, the most ancient of all the Christian +establishments, many of which had received their religion from the pious +labors of her missionaries. Instead of one apostolic founder, the utmost +boast of Antioch, of Ephesus, or of Corinth, the banks of the Tyber were +supposed to have been honored with the preaching and martyrdom of the +two most eminent among the apostles; [122] and the bishops of Rome +very prudently claimed the inheritance of whatsoever prerogatives were +attributed either to the person or to the office of St. Peter. [123] +The bishops of Italy and of the provinces were disposed to allow them +a primacy of order and association (such was their very accurate +expression) in the Christian aristocracy. [124] But the power of a +monarch was rejected with abhorrence, and the aspiring genius of +Rome experienced from the nations of Asia and Africa a more vigorous +resistance to her spiritual, than she had formerly done to her temporal, +dominion. The patriotic Cyprian, who ruled with the most absolute +sway the church of Carthage and the provincial synods, opposed with +resolution and success the ambition of the Roman pontiff, artfully +connected his own cause with that of the eastern bishops, and, like +Hannibal, sought out new allies in the heart of Asia. [125] If this Punic +war was carried on without any effusion of blood, it was owing much +less to the moderation than to the weakness of the contending prelates. +Invectives and excommunications were their only weapons; and these, +during the progress of the whole controversy, they hurled against each +other with equal fury and devotion. The hard necessity of censuring +either a pope, or a saint and martyr, distresses the modern Catholics +whenever they are obliged to relate the particulars of a dispute in +which the champions of religion indulged such passions as seem much more +adapted to the senate or to the camp. [126] + +[Footnote 120: Mosheim, p. 269, 574. Dupin, Antiquae Eccles. Disciplin. +p. 19, 20.] + +[Footnote 121: Tertullian, in a distinct treatise, has pleaded against +the heretics the right of prescription, as it was held by the apostolic +churches.] + +[Footnote 122: The journey of St. Peter to Rome is mentioned by most of +the ancients, (see Eusebius, ii. 25,) maintained by all the Catholics, +allowed by some Protestants, (see Pearson and Dodwell de Success. +Episcop. Roman,) but has been vigorously attacked by Spanheim, +(Miscellanes Sacra, iii. 3.) According to Father Hardouin, the monks of +the thirteenth century, who composed the Aeneid, represented St. Peter +under the allegorical character of the Trojan hero. * Note: It is quite +clear that, strictly speaking, the church of Rome was not founded by +either of these apostles. St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans proves +undeniably the flourishing state of the church before his visit to the +city; and many Roman Catholic writers have given up the impracticable +task of reconciling with chronology any visit of St. Peter to Rome +before the end of the reign of Claudius, or the beginning of that of +Nero.--M.] + +[Footnote 123: It is in French only that the famous +allusion to St. Peter's name is exact. Tu es Pierre, et sur cette +pierre.--The same is imperfect in Greek, Latin, Italian, &c., and +totally unintelligible in our Tentonic languages. * Note: It is exact in +Syro-Chaldaic, the language in which it was spoken by Jesus Christ. (St. +Matt. xvi. 17.) Peter was called Cephas; and cepha signifies base, +foundation, rock--G.] + +[Footnote 124: Irenaeus adv. Haereses, iii. 3. Tertullian de +Praescription. c. 36, and Cyprian, Epistol. 27, 55, 71, 75. Le +Clere (Hist. Eccles. p. 764) and Mosheim (p. 258, 578) labor in the +interpretation of these passages. But the loose and rhetorical style of +the fathers often appears favorable to the pretensions of Rome.] + +[Footnote 125: See the sharp epistle from Firmilianus, bishop of +Caesarea, to Stephen, bishop of Rome, ap. Cyprian, Epistol. 75.] + +[Footnote 126: Concerning this dispute of the rebaptism of heretics, see +the epistles of Cyprian, and the seventh book of Eusebius.] + +The progress of the ecclesiastical authority gave birth to the memorable +distinction of the laity and of the clergy, which had been unknown +to the Greeks and Romans. [127] The former of these appellations +comprehended the body of the Christian people; the latter, according to +the signification of the word, was appropriated to the chosen portion +that had been set apart for the service of religion; a celebrated order +of men, which has furnished the most important, though not always the +most edifying, subjects for modern history. Their mutual hostilities +sometimes disturbed the peace of the infant church, but their zeal and +activity were united in the common cause, and the love of power, which +(under the most artful disguises) could insinuate itself into the +breasts of bishops and martyrs, animated them to increase the number of +their subjects, and to enlarge the limits of the Christian empire. They +were destitute of any temporal force, and they were for a long +time discouraged and oppressed, rather than assisted, by the civil +magistrate; but they had acquired, and they employed within their own +society, the two most efficacious instruments of government, rewards and +punishments; the former derived from the pious liberality, the latter +from the devout apprehensions, of the faithful. + +[Footnote 127: For the origin of these words, see Mosheim, p. 141. +Spanheim, Hist. Ecclesiast. p. 633. The distinction of Clerus and Iaicus +was established before the time of Tertullian.] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part VII + +I. The community of goods, which had so agreeably amused the imagination +of Plato, [128] and which subsisted in some degree among the austere sect +of the Essenians, [129] was adopted for a short time in the primitive +church. The fervor of the first proselytes prompted them to sell those +worldly possessions, which they despised, to lay the price of them at +the feet of the apostles, and to content themselves with receiving an +equal share out of the general distribution. [130] The progress of the +Christian religion relaxed, and gradually abolished, this generous +institution, which, in hands less pure than those of the apostles, would +too soon have been corrupted and abused by the returning selfishness +of human nature; and the converts who embraced the new religion were +permitted to retain the possession of their patrimony, to receive +legacies and inheritances, and to increase their separate property +by all the lawful means of trade and industry. Instead of an absolute +sacrifice, a moderate proportion was accepted by the ministers of the +gospel; and in their weekly or monthly assemblies, every believer, +according to the exigency of the occasion, and the measure of his wealth +and piety, presented his voluntary offering for the use of the common +fund. [131] Nothing, however inconsiderable, was refused; but it was +diligently inculcated; that, in the article of Tithes, the Mosaic law +was still of divine obligation; and that since the Jews, under a less +perfect discipline, had been commanded to pay a tenth part of all that +they possessed, it would become the disciples of Christ to distinguish +themselves by a superior degree of liberality, [132] and to acquire +some merit by resigning a superfluous treasure, which must so soon be +annihilated with the world itself. [133] It is almost unnecessary to +observe, that the revenue of each particular church, which was of so +uncertain and fluctuating a nature, must have varied with the poverty +or the opulence of the faithful, as they were dispersed in obscure +villages, or collected in the great cities of the empire. In the time +of the emperor Decius, it was the opinion of the magistrates, that the +Christians of Rome were possessed of very considerable wealth; that +vessels of gold and silver were used in their religious worship, and +that many among their proselytes had sold their lands and houses to +increase the public riches of the sect, at the expense, indeed, of +their unfortunate children, who found themselves beggars, because their +parents had been saints. [134] We should listen with distrust to the +suspicions of strangers and enemies: on this occasion, however, they +receive a very specious and probable color from the two following +circumstances, the only ones that have reached our knowledge, which +define any precise sums, or convey any distinct idea. Almost at the same +period, the bishop of Carthage, from a society less opulent than that of +Rome, collected a hundred thousand sesterces, (above eight hundred +and fifty pounds sterling,) on a sudden call of charity to redeem +the brethren of Numidia, who had been carried away captives by the +barbarians of the desert. [135] About a hundred years before the reign of +Decius, the Roman church had received, in a single donation, the sum of +two hundred thousand sesterces from a stranger of Pontus, who proposed +to fix his residence in the capital. [136] These oblations, for the +most part, were made in money; nor was the society of Christians either +desirous or capable of acquiring, to any considerable degree, the +encumbrance of landed property. It had been provided by several laws, +which were enacted with the same design as our statutes of mortmain, +that no real estates should be given or bequeathed to any corporate +body, without either a special privilege or a particular dispensation +from the emperor or from the senate; [137] who were seldom disposed to +grant them in favor of a sect, at first the object of their contempt, +and at last of their fears and jealousy. A transaction, however, is +related under the reign of Alexander Severus, which discovers that the +restraint was sometimes eluded or suspended, and that the Christians +were permitted to claim and to possess lands within the limits of Rome +itself. [138] The progress of Christianity, and the civil confusion of +the empire, contributed to relax the severity of the laws; and before +the close of the third century many considerable estates were bestowed +on the opulent churches of Rome, Milan, Carthage, Antioch, Alexandria, +and the other great cities of Italy and the provinces. + +[Footnote 128: The community instituted by Plato is more perfect than +that which Sir Thomas More had imagined for his Utopia. The community +of women, and that of temporal goods, may be considered as inseparable +parts of the same system.] + +[Footnote 129: Joseph. Antiquitat. xviii. 2. Philo, de Vit. +Contemplativ.] + +[Footnote 130: See the Acts of the Apostles, c. 2, 4, 5, with Grotius's +Commentary. Mosheim, in a particular dissertation, attacks the common +opinion with very inconclusive arguments. * Note: This is not the +general judgment on Mosheim's learned dissertation. There is no trace in +the latter part of the New Testament of this community of goods, and +many distinct proofs of the contrary. All exhortations to almsgiving +would have been unmeaning if property had been in common--M.] + +[Footnote 131: Justin Martyr, Apolog. Major, c. 89. Tertullian, Apolog. +c. 39.] + +[Footnote 132: Irenaeus ad Haeres. l. iv. c. 27, 34. Origen in Num. Hom. +ii Cyprian de Unitat. Eccles. Constitut. Apostol. l. ii. c. 34, 35, +with the notes of Cotelerius. The Constitutions introduce this divine +precept, by declaring that priests are as much above kings as the soul +is above the body. Among the tithable articles, they enumerate corn, +wine, oil, and wool. On this interesting subject, consult Prideaux's +History of Tithes, and Fra Paolo delle Materie Beneficiarie; two writers +of a very different character.] + +[Footnote 133: The same opinion which prevailed about the year one +thousand, was productive of the same effects. Most of the Donations +express their motive, "appropinquante mundi fine." See Mosheim's General +History of the Church, vol. i. p. 457.] + +[Footnote 134: Tum summa cura est fratribus (Ut sermo testatur loquax.) +Offerre, fundis venditis Sestertiorum millia. Addicta avorum praedia +Foedis sub auctionibus, Successor exheres gemit Sanctis egens +Parentibus. Haec occuluntur abditis Ecclesiarum in angulis. Et summa +pietas creditur Nudare dulces liberos.----Prudent. Hymn 2. +The subsequent conduct of the deacon Laurence only proves how proper a +use was made of the wealth of the Roman church; it was undoubtedly +very considerable; but Fra Paolo (c. 3) appears to exaggerate, when he +supposes that the successors of Commodus were urged to persecute the +Christians by their own avarice, or that of their Praetorian praefects.] + +[Footnote 135: Cyprian, Epistol. 62.] + +[Footnote 136: Tertullian de Praescriptione, c. 30.] + +[Footnote 137: Diocletian gave a rescript, which is only a declaration +of the old law; "Collegium, si nullo speciali privilegio subnixum sit, +haereditatem capere non posse, dubium non est." Fra Paolo (c. 4) thinks +that these regulations had been much neglected since the reign of +Valerian.] + +[Footnote 138: Hist. August. p. 131. The ground had been public; and was +row disputed between the society of Christians and that of butchers. +Note *: Carponarii, rather victuallers.--M.] + +The bishop was the natural steward of the church; the public stock was +intrusted to his care without account or control; the presbyters were +confined to their spiritual functions, and the more dependent order of +the deacons was solely employed in the management and distribution of +the ecclesiastical revenue. [139] If we may give credit to the vehement +declamations of Cyprian, there were too many among his African brethren, +who, in the execution of their charge, violated every precept, not only +of evangelical perfection, but even of moral virtue. By some of these +unfaithful stewards the riches of the church were lavished in sensual +pleasures; by others they were perverted to the purposes of private +gain, of fraudulent purchases, and of rapacious usury. [140] But as +long as the contributions of the Christian people were free and +unconstrained, the abuse of their confidence could not be very frequent, +and the general uses to which their liberality was applied reflected +honor on the religious society. A decent portion was reserved for the +maintenance of the bishop and his clergy; a sufficient sum was allotted +for the expenses of the public worship, of which the feasts of love, the +agapae, as they were called, constituted a very pleasing part. The +whole remainder was the sacred patrimony of the poor. According to +the discretion of the bishop, it was distributed to support widows and +orphans, the lame, the sick, and the aged of the community; to comfort +strangers and pilgrims, and to alleviate the misfortunes of prisoners +and captives, more especially when their sufferings had been occasioned +by their firm attachment to the cause of religion. [141] A generous +intercourse of charity united the most distant provinces, and the +smaller congregations were cheerfully assisted by the alms of their more +opulent brethren. [142] Such an institution, which paid less regard to +the merit than to the distress of the object, very materially conduced +to the progress of Christianity. The Pagans, who were actuated by a +sense of humanity, while they derided the doctrines, acknowledged the +benevolence, of the new sect. [143] The prospect of immediate relief and +of future protection allured into its hospitable bosom many of those +unhappy persons whom the neglect of the world would have abandoned to +the miseries of want, of sickness, and of old age. There is some reason +likewise to believe that great numbers of infants, who, according to the +inhuman practice of the times, had been exposed by their parents, were +frequently rescued from death, baptized, educated, and maintained by the +piety of the Christians, and at the expense of the public treasure. [144] + +[Footnote 139: Constitut. Apostol. ii. 35.] + +[Footnote 140: Cyprian de Lapsis, p. 89. Epistol. 65. The charge is +confirmed by the 19th and 20th canon of the council of Illiberis.] + +[Footnote 141: See the apologies of Justin, Tertullian, &c.] + +[Footnote 142: The wealth and liberality of the Romans to their most distant +brethren is gratefully celebrated by Dionysius of Corinth, ap. Euseb. l. +iv. c. 23.] + +[Footnote 143: See Lucian iu Peregrin. Julian (Epist. 49) seems +mortified that the Christian charity maintains not only their own, but +likewise the heathen poor.] + +[Footnote 144: Such, at least, has been the laudable conduct of more +modern missionaries, under the same circumstances. Above three thousand +new-born infants are annually exposed in the streets of Pekin. See Le +Comte, Memoires sur la Chine, and the Recherches sur les Chinois et +les Egyptians, tom. i. p. 61.] + + +II. It is the undoubted right of every society to exclude from its +communion and benefits such among its members as reject or violate those +regulations which have been established by general consent. In the +exercise of this power, the censures of the Christian church were +chiefly directed against scandalous sinners, and particularly those who +were guilty of murder, of fraud, or of incontinence; against the authors +or the followers of any heretical opinions which had been condemned by +the judgment of the episcopal order; and against those unhappy persons, +who, whether from choice or compulsion, had polluted themselves after +their baptism by any act of idolatrous worship. The consequences of +excommunication were of a temporal as well as a spiritual nature. The +Christian against whom it was pronounced, was deprived of any part in +the oblations of the faithful. The ties both of religious and of private +friendship were dissolved: he found himself a profane object of +abhorrence to the persons whom he the most esteemed, or by whom he had +been the most tenderly beloved; and as far as an expulsion from a +respectable society could imprint on his character a mark of disgrace, +he was shunned or suspected by the generality of mankind. The situation +of these unfortunate exiles was in itself very painful and melancholy; +but, as it usually happens, their apprehensions far exceeded their +sufferings. The benefits of the Christian communion were those of +eternal life; nor could they erase from their minds the awful opinion, +that to those ecclesiastical governors by whom they were condemned, the +Deity had committed the keys of Hell and of Paradise. The heretics, +indeed, who might be supported by the consciousness of their intentions, +and by the flattering hope that they alone had discovered the true path +of salvation, endeavored to regain, in their separate assemblies, those +comforts, temporal as well as spiritual, which they no longer derived +from the great society of Christians. But almost all those who had +reluctantly yielded to the power of vice or idolatry were sensible of +their fallen condition, and anxiously desirous of being restored to the +benefits of the Christian communion. + +With regard to the treatment of these penitents, two opposite opinions, +the one of justice, the other of mercy, divided the primitive church. +The more rigid and inflexible casuists refused them forever, and without +exception, the meanest place in the holy community, which they had +disgraced or deserted; and leaving them to the remorse of a guilty +conscience, indulged them only with a faint ray of hope that the +contrition of their life and death might possibly be accepted by the +Supreme Being. [145] A milder sentiment was embraced in practice as +well as in theory, by the purest and most respectable of the Christian +churches. [146] The gates of reconciliation and of heaven were seldom +shut against the returning penitent; but a severe and solemn form of +discipline was instituted, which, while it served to expiate his crime, +might powerfully deter the spectators from the imitation of his example. +Humbled by a public confession, emaciated by fasting and clothed in +sackcloth, the penitent lay prostrate at the door of the assembly, +imploring with tears the pardon of his offences, and soliciting the +prayers of the faithful. [147] If the fault was of a very heinous nature, +whole years of penance were esteemed an inadequate satisfaction to the +divine justice; and it was always by slow and painful gradations that +the sinner, the heretic, or the apostate, was readmitted into the bosom +of the church. A sentence of perpetual excommunication was, however, +reserved for some crimes of an extraordinary magnitude, and particularly +for the inexcusable relapses of those penitents who had already +experienced and abused the clemency of their ecclesiastical superiors. +According to the circumstances or the number of the guilty, the exercise +of the Christian discipline was varied by the discretion of the bishops. +The councils of Ancyra and Illiberis were held about the same time, the +one in Galatia, the other in Spain; but their respective canons, which +are still extant, seem to breathe a very different spirit. The Galatian, +who after his baptism had repeatedly sacrificed to idols, might obtain +his pardon by a penance of seven years; and if he had seduced others to +imitate his example, only three years more were added to the term of his +exile. But the unhappy Spaniard, who had committed the same offence, was +deprived of the hope of reconciliation, even in the article of death; +and his idolatry was placed at the head of a list of seventeen other +crimes, against which a sentence no less terrible was pronounced. Among +these we may distinguish the inexpiable guilt of calumniating a bishop, +a presbyter, or even a deacon. [148] + +[Footnote 145: The Montanists and the Novatians, who adhered to this +opinion with the greatest rigor and obstinacy, found themselves at last +in the number of excommunicated heretics. See the learned and copious +Mosheim, Secul. ii. and iii.] + +[Footnote 146: Dionysius ap. Euseb. iv. 23. Cyprian, de Lapsis.] + +[Footnote 147: Cave's Primitive Christianity, part iii. c. 5. The +admirers of antiquity regret the loss of this public penance.] + +[Footnote 148: See in Dupin, Bibliotheque Ecclesiastique, tom. ii. +p. 304--313, a short but rational exposition of the canons of those +councils, which were assembled in the first moments of tranquillity, +after the persecution of Diocletian. This persecution had been much less +severely felt in Spain than in Galatia; a difference which may, in some +measure account for the contrast of their regulations.] + +The well-tempered mixture of liberality and rigor, the judicious +dispensation of rewards and punishments, according to the maxims of +policy as well as justice, constituted the human strength of the church. +The Bishops, whose paternal care extended itself to the government of +both worlds, were sensible of the importance of these prerogatives; and +covering their ambition with the fair pretence of the love of order, +they were jealous of any rival in the exercise of a discipline so +necessary to prevent the desertion of those troops which had enlisted +themselves under the banner of the cross, and whose numbers every day +became more considerable. From the imperious declamations of Cyprian, +we should naturally conclude that the doctrines of excommunication and +penance formed the most essential part of religion; and that it was much +less dangerous for the disciples of Christ to neglect the observance of +the moral duties, than to despise the censures and authority of their +bishops. Sometimes we might imagine that we were listening to the voice +of Moses, when he commanded the earth to open, and to swallow up, in +consuming flames, the rebellious race which refused obedience to the +priesthood of Aaron; and we should sometimes suppose that we hear a +Roman consul asserting the majesty of the republic, and declaring his +inflexible resolution to enforce the rigor of the laws. "If such +irregularities are suffered with impunity," (it is thus that the bishop +of Carthage chides the lenity of his colleague,) "if such irregularities +are suffered, there is an end of Episcopal Vigor; [149] an end of the +sublime and divine power of governing the Church, an end of Christianity +itself." Cyprian had renounced those temporal honors, which it is +probable he would never have obtained; but the acquisition of +such absolute command over the consciences and understanding of a +congregation, however obscure or despised by the world, is more truly +grateful to the pride of the human heart, than the possession of the +most despotic power, imposed by arms and conquest on a reluctant people. +[Footnote 1491]: Gibbon has been accused of injustice to the character of +Cyprian, as exalting the "censures and authority of the church above the +observance of the moral duties." Felicissimus had been condemned by a +synod of bishops, (non tantum mea, sed plurimorum coepiscorum, sententia +condemnatum,) on the charge not only of schism, but of embezzlement of +public money, the debauching of virgins, and frequent acts of adultery. +His violent menaces had extorted his readmission into the church, +against which Cyprian protests with much vehemence: ne pecuniae +commissae sibi fraudator, ne stuprator virginum, ne matrimoniorum +multorum depopulator et corruptor, ultra adhuc sponsam Christi +incorruptam praesentiae suae dedecore, et impudica atque incesta +contagione, violaret. See Chelsum's Remarks, p. 134. If these +charges against Felicissimus were true, they were something more than +"irregularities," A Roman censor would have been a fairer subject of +comparison than a consul. On the other hand, it must be admitted that +the charge of adultery deepens very rapidly as the controversy becomes +more violent. It is first represented as a single act, recently +detected, and which men of character were prepared to substantiate: +adulterii etiam crimen accedit. quod patres nostri graves viri +deprehendisse se nuntiaverunt, et probaturos se asseverarunt. Epist. +xxxviii. The heretic has now darkened into a man of notorious and +general profligacy. Nor can it be denied that of the whole long epistle, +very far the larger and the more passionate part dwells on the breach +of ecclesiastical unity rather than on the violation of Christian +holiness.--M.] + +[Footnote 149: Cyprian Epist. 69.] + +[Footnote 1491: This supposition appears unfounded: the birth and the +talents of Cyprian might make us presume the contrary. Thascius +Caecilius Cyprianus, Carthaginensis, artis oratoriae professione clarus, +magnam sibi gloriam, opes, honores acquisivit, epularibus caenis et +largis dapibus assuetus, pretiosa veste conspicuus, auro atque purpura +fulgens, fascibus oblectatus et honoribus, stipatus clientium cuneis, +frequentiore comitatu officii agminis honestatus, ut ipse de se loquitur +in Epistola ad Donatum. See De Cave, Hist. Liter. b. i. p. 87.--G. +Cave has rather embellished Cyprian's language.--M.] + +In the course of this important, though perhaps tedious inquiry, I have +attempted to display the secondary causes which so efficaciously +assisted the truth of the Christian religion. If among these causes we +have discovered any artificial ornaments, any accidental circumstances, +or any mixture of error and passion, it cannot appear surprising that +mankind should be the most sensibly affected by such motives as were +suited to their imperfect nature. It was by the aid of these causes, +exclusive zeal, the immediate expectation of another world, the claim of +miracles, the practice of rigid virtue, and the constitution of the +primitive church, that Christianity spread itself with so much success +in the Roman empire. To the first of these the Christians were indebted +for their invincible valor, which disdained to capitulate with the enemy +whom they were resolved to vanquish. The three succeeding causes +supplied their valor with the most formidable arms. The last of these +causes united their courage, directed their arms, and gave their efforts +that irresistible weight, which even a small band of well-trained and +intrepid volunteers has so often possessed over an undisciplined +multitude, ignorant of the subject, and careless of the event of the +war. In the various religions of Polytheism, some wandering fanatics of +Egypt and Syria, who addressed themselves to the credulous superstition +of the populace, were perhaps the only order of priests [150] that +derived their whole support and credit from their sacerdotal profession, +and were very deeply affected by a personal concern for the safety or +prosperity of their tutelar deities. The ministers of Polytheism, both +in Rome and in the provinces, were, for the most part, men of a noble +birth, and of an affluent fortune, who received, as an honorable +distinction, the care of a celebrated temple, or of a public sacrifice, +exhibited, very frequently at their own expense, the sacred games, [151] +and with cold indifference performed the ancient rites, according to the +laws and fashion of their country. As they were engaged in the ordinary +occupations of life, their zeal and devotion were seldom animated by a +sense of interest, or by the habits of an ecclesiastical character. +Confined to their respective temples and cities, they remained without +any connection of discipline or government; and whilst they acknowledged +the supreme jurisdiction of the senate, of the college of pontiffs, and +of the emperor, those civil magistrates contented themselves with the +easy task of maintaining in peace and dignity the general worship of +mankind. We have already seen how various, how loose, and how uncertain +were the religious sentiments of Polytheists. They were abandoned, +almost without control, to the natural workings of a superstitious +fancy. The accidental circumstances of their life and situation +determined the object as well as the degree of their devotion; and as +long as their adoration was successively prostituted to a thousand +deities, it was scarcely possible that their hearts could be susceptible +of a very sincere or lively passion for any of them. + +[Footnote 150: The arts, the manners, and the vices of the priests of +the Syrian goddess are very humorously described by Apuleius, in the +eighth book of his Metamorphosis.] + +[Footnote 151: The office of Asiarch was of this nature, and it is +frequently mentioned in Aristides, the Inscriptions, &c. It was annual +and elective. None but the vainest citizens could desire the honor; +none but the most wealthy could support the expense. See, in the Patres +Apostol. tom. ii. p. 200, with how much indifference Philip the Asiarch +conducted himself in the martyrdom of Polycarp. There were likewise +Bithyniarchs, Lyciarchs, &c.] + +When Christianity appeared in the world, even these faint and imperfect +impressions had lost much of their original power. Human reason, which +by its unassisted strength is incapable of perceiving the mysteries of +faith, had already obtained an easy triumph over the folly of Paganism; +and when Tertullian or Lactantius employ their labors in exposing its +falsehood and extravagance, they are obliged to transcribe the eloquence +of Cicero or the wit of Lucian. The contagion of these sceptical +writings had been diffused far beyond the number of their readers. The +fashion of incredulity was communicated from the philosopher to the man +of pleasure or business, from the noble to the plebeian, and from the +master to the menial slave who waited at his table, and who eagerly +listened to the freedom of his conversation. On public occasions the +philosophic part of mankind affected to treat with respect and decency +the religious institutions of their country; but their secret contempt +penetrated through the thin and awkward disguise; and even the people, +when they discovered that their deities were rejected and derided by +those whose rank or understanding they were accustomed to reverence, +were filled with doubts and apprehensions concerning the truth of those +doctrines, to which they had yielded the most implicit belief. The +decline of ancient prejudice exposed a very numerous portion of human +kind to the danger of a painful and comfortless situation. A state of +scepticism and suspense may amuse a few inquisitive minds. But the +practice of superstition is so congenial to the multitude, that if they +are forcibly awakened, they still regret the loss of their pleasing +vision. Their love of the marvellous and supernatural, their curiosity +with regard to future events, and their strong propensity to extend +their hopes and fears beyond the limits of the visible world, were the +principal causes which favored the establishment of Polytheism. So +urgent on the vulgar is the necessity of believing, that the fall of any +system of mythology will most probably be succeeded by the introduction +of some other mode of superstition. Some deities of a more recent and +fashionable cast might soon have occupied the deserted temples of +Jupiter and Apollo, if, in the decisive moment, the wisdom of Providence +had not interposed a genuine revelation, fitted to inspire the most +rational esteem and conviction, whilst, at the same time, it was adorned +with all that could attract the curiosity, the wonder, and the +veneration of the people. In their actual disposition, as many were +almost disengaged from their artificial prejudices, but equally +susceptible and desirous of a devout attachment; an object much less +deserving would have been sufficient to fill the vacant place in their +hearts, and to gratify the uncertain eagerness of their passions. Those +who are inclined to pursue this reflection, instead of viewing with +astonishment the rapid progress of Christianity, will perhaps be +surprised that its success was not still more rapid and still more +universal. It has been observed, with truth as well as propriety, that +the conquests of Rome prepared and facilitated those of Christianity. In +the second chapter of this work we have attempted to explain in what +manner the most civilized provinces of Europe, Asia, and Africa were +united under the dominion of one sovereign, and gradually connected by +the most intimate ties of laws, of manners, and of language. The Jews of +Palestine, who had fondly expected a temporal deliverer, gave so cold a +reception to the miracles of the divine prophet, that it was found +unnecessary to publish, or at least to preserve, any Hebrew gospel. +[152] The authentic histories of the actions of Christ were composed in +the Greek language, at a considerable distance from Jerusalem, and after +the Gentile converts were grown extremely numerous. [153] As soon as +those histories were translated into the Latin tongue, they were +perfectly intelligible to all the subjects of Rome, excepting only to +the peasants of Syria and Egypt, for whose benefit particular versions +were afterwards made. The public highways, which had been constructed +for the use of the legions, opened an easy passage for the Christian +missionaries from Damascus to Corinth, and from Italy to the extremity +of Spain or Britain; nor did those spiritual conquerors encounter any of +the obstacles which usually retard or prevent the introduction of a +foreign religion into a distant country. There is the strongest reason +to believe, that before the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine, the +faith of Christ had been preached in every province, and in all the +great cities of the empire; but the foundation of the several +congregations, the numbers of the faithful who composed them, and their +proportion to the unbelieving multitude, are now buried in obscurity, or +disguised by fiction and declamation. Such imperfect circumstances, +however, as have reached our knowledge concerning the increase of the +Christian name in Asia and Greece, in Egypt, in Italy, and in the West, +we shall now proceed to relate, without neglecting the real or imaginary +acquisitions which lay beyond the frontiers of the Roman empire. + +[Footnote 152: The modern critics are not disposed to believe what the +fathers almost unanimously assert, that St. Matthew composed a Hebrew +gospel, of which only the Greek translation is extant. It seems, +however, dangerous to reject their testimony. * Note: Strong reasons +appear to confirm this testimony. Papias, contemporary of the Apostle +St. John, says positively that Matthew had written the discourses of +Jesus Christ in Hebrew, and that each interpreted them as he could. This +Hebrew was the Syro-Chaldaic dialect, then in use at Jerusalem: Origen, +Irenaeus, Eusebius, Jerome, Epiphanius, confirm this statement. Jesus +Christ preached himself in Syro-Chaldaic, as is proved by many words +which he used, and which the Evangelists have taken the pains to +translate. St. Paul, addressing the Jews, used the same language: Acts +xxi. 40, xxii. 2, xxvi. 14. The opinions of some critics prove nothing +against such undeniable testimonies. Moreover, their principal objection +is, that St. Matthew quotes the Old Testament according to the Greek +version of the LXX., which is inaccurate; for of ten quotations, found +in his Gospel, seven are evidently taken from the Hebrew text; the threo +others offer little that differ: moreover, the latter are not literal +quotations. St. Jerome says positively, that, according to a copy which +he had seen in the library of Caesarea, the quotations were made in +Hebrew (in Catal.) More modern critics, among others Michaelis, do not +entertain a doubt on the subject. The Greek version appears to have been +made in the time of the apostles, as St. Jerome and St. Augustus affirm, +perhaps by one of them.--G. ----Among modern critics, Dr. Hug has +asserted the Greek original of St. Matthew, but the general opinion of +the most learned biblical writer, supports the view of M. Guizot.--M.] + +[Footnote 153: Under the reigns of Nero and Domitian, and in the cities +of Alexandria, Antioch, Rome, and Ephesus. See Mill. Prolegomena ad Nov. +Testament, and Dr. Lardner's fair and extensive collection, vol. +xv. Note: This question has, it is well known, been most elaborately +discussed since the time of Gibbon. The Preface to the Translation of +Schleier Macher's Version of St. Luke contains a very able summary of +the various theories.--M.] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part VIII. + +The rich provinces that extend from the Euphrates to the Ionian +Sea, were the principal theatre on which the apostle of the Gentiles +displayed his zeal and piety. The seeds of the gospel, which he +had scattered in a fertile soil, were diligently cultivated by his +disciples; and it should seem that, during the two first centuries, the +most considerable body of Christians was contained within those limits. +Among the societies which were instituted in Syria, none were more +ancient or more illustrious than those of Damascus, of Berea or Aleppo, +and of Antioch. The prophetic introduction of the Apocalypse has +described and immortalized the seven churches of Asia; Ephesus, Smyrna, +Pergamus, Thyatira, [154] Sardes, Laodicea and Philadelphia; and their +colonies were soon diffused over that populous country. In a very early +period, the islands of Cyprus and Crete, the provinces of Thrace and +Macedonia, gave a favorable reception to the new religion; and Christian +republics were soon founded in the cities of Corinth, of Sparta, and of +Athens. [155] The antiquity of the Greek and Asiatic churches allowed a +sufficient space of time for their increase and multiplication; and +even the swarms of Gnostics and other heretics serve to display the +flourishing condition of the orthodox church, since the appellation of +heretics has always been applied to the less numerous party. To these +domestic testimonies we may add the confession, the complaints, and the +apprehensions of the Gentiles themselves. From the writings of Lucian, a +philosopher who had studied mankind, and who describes their manners in +the most lively colors, we may learn that, under the reign of Commodus, +his native country of Pontus was filled with Epicureans and Christians. +[156] Within fourscore years after the death of Christ, [157] the humane +Pliny laments the magnitude of the evil which he vainly attempted +to eradicate. In his very curious epistle to the emperor Trajan, he +affirms, that the temples were almost deserted, that the sacred victims +scarcely found any purchasers, and that the superstition had not only +infected the cities, but had even spread itself into the villages +and the open country of Pontus and Bithynia. [158] + +[Footnote 154: The Alogians (Epiphanius de Haeres. 51) disputed the +genuineness of the Apocalypse, because the church of Thyatira was not +yet founded. Epiphanius, who allows the fact, extricates himself from +the difficulty by ingeniously supposing that St. John wrote in the +spirit of prophecy. See Abauzit, Discours sur l'Apocalypse.] + +[Footnote 155: The epistles of Ignatius and Dionysius (ap. Euseb. iv. +23) point out many churches in Asia and Greece. That of Athens seems to +have been one of the least flourishing.] + +[Footnote 156: Lucian in Alexandro, c. 25. Christianity however, must +have been very unequally diffused over Pontus; since, in the middle of +the third century, there was no more than seventeen believers in +the extensive diocese of Neo-Caesarea. See M. de Tillemont, Memoires +Ecclesiast. tom. iv. p. 675, from Basil and Gregory of Nyssa, who were +themselves natives of Cappadocia. Note: Gibbon forgot the conclusion of +this story, that Gregory left only seventeen heathens in his diocese. +The antithesis is suspicious, and both numbers may have been chosen to +magnify the spiritual fame of the wonder-worker.--M.] + +[Footnote 157: According to the ancients, Jesus Christ suffered under +the consulship of the two Gemini, in the year 29 of our present aera. +Pliny was sent into Bithynia (according to Pagi) in the year 110.] + +[Footnote 158: Plin. Epist. x. 97.] + +Without descending into a minute scrutiny of the expressions or of the +motives of those writers who either celebrate or lament the progress of +Christianity in the East, it may in general be observed, that none +of them have left us any grounds from whence a just estimate might +be formed of the real numbers of the faithful in those provinces. One +circumstance, however, has been fortunately preserved, which seems to +cast a more distinct light on this obscure but interesting subject. +Under the reign of Theodosius, after Christianity had enjoyed, during +more than sixty years, the sunshine of Imperial favor, the ancient and +illustrious church of Antioch consisted of one hundred thousand persons, +three thousand of whom were supported out of the public oblations. [159] +The splendor and dignity of the queen of the East, the acknowledged +populousness of Caesarea, Seleucia, and Alexandria, and the destruction +of two hundred and fifty thousand souls in the earthquake which +afflicted Antioch under the elder Justin, [160] are so many convincing +proofs that the whole number of its inhabitants was not less than half a +million, and that the Christians, however multiplied by zeal and +power, did not exceed a fifth part of that great city. How different +a proportion must we adopt when we compare the persecuted with the +triumphant church, the West with the East, remote villages with populous +towns, and countries recently converted to the faith with the place +where the believers first received the appellation of Christians! It +must not, however, be dissembled, that, in another passage, Chrysostom, +to whom we are indebted for this useful information, computes the +multitude of the faithful as even superior to that of the Jews and +Pagans. [161] But the solution of this apparent difficulty is easy and +obvious. The eloquent preacher draws a parallel between the civil +and the ecclesiastical constitution of Antioch; between the list of +Christians who had acquired heaven by baptism, and the list of citizens +who had a right to share the public liberality. Slaves, strangers, +and infants were comprised in the former; they were excluded from the +latter. + +[Footnote 159: Chrysostom. Opera, tom. vii. p. 658, 810, (edit. +Savil. ii. 422, 329.)] + +[Footnote 160: John Malala, tom. ii. p. 144. He draws the same +conclusion with regard to the populousness of antioch.] + +[Footnote 161: Chrysostom. tom. i. p. 592. I am indebted for these +passages, though not for my inference, to the learned Dr. Lardner. +Credibility of the Gospel of History, vol. xii. p. 370. * Note: The +statements of Chrysostom with regard to the population of Antioch, +whatever may be their accuracy, are perfectly consistent. In one passage +he reckons the population at 200,000. In a second the Christians at +100,000. In a third he states that the Christians formed more than half +the population. Gibbon has neglected to notice the first passage, and +has drawn by estimate of the population of Antioch from other sources. +The 8000 maintained by alms were widows and virgins alone--M.] + +The extensive commerce of Alexandria, and its proximity to Palestine, +gave an easy entrance to the new religion. It was at first embraced by +great numbers of the Theraputae, or Essenians, of the Lake Mareotis, +a Jewish sect which had abated much of its reverence for the Mosaic +ceremonies. The austere life of the Essenians, their fasts and +excommunications, the community of goods, the love of celibacy, their +zeal for martyrdom, and the warmth though not the purity of their faith, +already offered a very lively image of the primitive discipline. [162] It +was in the school of Alexandria that the Christian theology appears to +have assumed a regular and scientific form; and when Hadrian visited +Egypt, he found a church composed of Jews and of Greeks, sufficiently +important to attract the notice of that inquisitive prince. [163] But the +progress of Christianity was for a long time confined within the limits +of a single city, which was itself a foreign colony, and till the +close of the second century the predecessors of Demetrius were the only +prelates of the Egyptian church. Three bishops were consecrated by +the hands of Demetrius, and the number was increased to twenty by his +successor Heraclas. [164] The body of the natives, a people distinguished +by a sullen inflexibility of temper, [165] entertained the new doctrine +with coldness and reluctance; and even in the time of Origen, it was +rare to meet with an Egyptian who had surmounted his early prejudices +in favor of the sacred animals of his country. [166] As soon, indeed, as +Christianity ascended the throne, the zeal of those barbarians obeyed +the prevailing impulsion; the cities of Egypt were filled with bishops, +and the deserts of Thebais swarmed with hermits. + +[Footnote 162: Basnage, Histoire des Juifs, l. 2, c. 20, 21, 22, 23, has +examined with the most critical accuracy the curious treatise of Philo, +which describes the Therapeutae. By proving that it was composed as +early as the time of Augustus, Basnage has demonstrated, in spite +of Eusebius (l. ii. c. 17) and a crowd of modern Catholics, that the +Therapeutae were neither Christians nor monks. It still remains probable +that they changed their name, preserved their manners, adopted some +new articles of faith, and gradually became the fathers of the Egyptian +Ascetics.] + +[Footnote 163: See a letter of Hadrian in the Augustan History, p. +245.] + +[Footnote 164: For the succession of Alexandrian bishops, consult +Renaudot's History, p. 24, &c. This curious fact is preserved by the +patriarch Eutychius, (Annal. tom. i. p. 334, Vers. Pocock,) and its +internal evidence would alone be a sufficient answer to all the +objections which Bishop Pearson has urged in the Vindiciae Ignatianae.] + +[Footnote 165: Ammian. Marcellin. xxii. 16.] + +[Footnote 166: Origen contra Celsum, l. i. p. 40.] + +A perpetual stream of strangers and provincials flowed into the +capacious bosom of Rome. Whatever was strange or odious, whoever was +guilty or suspected, might hope, in the obscurity of that immense +capital, to elude the vigilance of the law. In such a various conflux +of nations, every teacher, either of truth or falsehood, every founder, +whether of a virtuous or a criminal association, might easily multiply +his disciples or accomplices. The Christians of Rome, at the time of the +accidental persecution of Nero, are represented by Tacitus as already +amounting to a very great multitude, [167] and the language of that +great historian is almost similar to the style employed by Livy, when +he relates the introduction and the suppression of the rites of Bacchus. +After the Bacchanals had awakened the severity of the senate, it was +likewise apprehended that a very great multitude, as it were another +people, had been initiated into those abhorred mysteries. A more careful +inquiry soon demonstrated, that the offenders did not exceed seven +thousand; a number indeed sufficiently alarming, when considered as the +object of public justice. [168] It is with the same candid allowance that +we should interpret the vague expressions of Tacitus, and in a former +instance of Pliny, when they exaggerate the crowds of deluded fanatics +who had forsaken the established worship of the gods. The church of Rome +was undoubtedly the first and most populous of the empire; and we are +possessed of an authentic record which attests the state of religion in +that city about the middle of the third century, and after a peace of +thirty-eight years. The clergy, at that time, consisted of a bishop, +forty-six presbyters, seven deacons, as many sub-deacons, forty-two +acolytes, and fifty readers, exorcists, and porters. The number of +widows, of the infirm, and of the poor, who were maintained by the +oblations of the faithful, amounted to fifteen hundred. [169] From +reason, as well as from the analogy of Antioch, we may venture +to estimate the Christians of Rome at about fifty thousand. The +populousness of that great capital cannot perhaps be exactly +ascertained; but the most modest calculation will not surely reduce +it lower than a million of inhabitants, of whom the Christians might +constitute at the most a twentieth part. [170] + +[Footnote 167: Ingens multitudo is the expression of Tacitus, xv. 44.] + +[Footnote 168: T. Liv. xxxix. 13, 15, 16, 17. Nothing could exceed +the horror and consternation of the senate on the discovery of the +Bacchanalians, whose depravity is described, and perhaps exaggerated, by +Livy.] + +[Footnote 169: Eusebius, l. vi. c. 43. The Latin translator (M. +de Valois) has thought proper to reduce the number of presbyters to +forty-four.] + +[Footnote 170: This proportion of the presbyters and of +the poor, to the rest of the people, was originally fixed by Burnet, +(Travels into Italy, p. 168,) and is approved by Moyle, (vol. ii. p. +151.) They were both unacquainted with the passage of Chrysostom, which +converts their conjecture almost into a fact.] + +The western provincials appeared to have derived the knowledge of +Christianity from the same source which had diffused among them the +language, the sentiments, and the manners of Rome. + +In this more important circumstance, Africa, as well as Gaul, was +gradually fashioned to the imitation of the capital. Yet notwithstanding +the many favorable occasions which might invite the Roman missionaries +to visit their Latin provinces, it was late before they passed either +the sea or the Alps; [171] nor can we discover in those great countries +any assured traces either of faith or of persecution that ascend higher +than the reign of the Antonines. [172] The slow progress of the gospel +in the cold climate of Gaul, was extremely different from the eagerness +with which it seems to have been received on the burning sands of +Africa. The African Christians soon formed one of the principal members +of the primitive church. The practice introduced into that province of +appointing bishops to the most inconsiderable towns, and very frequently +to the most obscure villages, contributed to multiply the splendor and +importance of their religious societies, which during the course of the +third century were animated by the zeal of Tertullian, directed by the +abilities of Cyprian, and adorned by the eloquence of Lactantius. + +But if, on the contrary, we turn our eyes towards Gaul, we must content +ourselves with discovering, in the time of Marcus Antoninus, the feeble +and united congregations of Lyons and Vienna; and even as late as the +reign of Decius, we are assured, that in a few cities only, Arles, +Narbonne, Thoulouse, Limoges, Clermont, Tours, and Paris, some scattered +churches were supported by the devotion of a small number of Christians. +[173] Silence is indeed very consistent with devotion; but as it is +seldom compatible with zeal, we may perceive and lament the languid +state of Christianity in those provinces which had exchanged the +Celtic for the Latin tongue, since they did not, during the three first +centuries, give birth to a single ecclesiastical writer. From Gaul, +which claimed a just preeminence of learning and authority over all the +countries on this side of the Alps, the light of the gospel was more +faintly reflected on the remote provinces of Spain and Britain; and if +we may credit the vehement assertions of Tertullian, they had already +received the first rays of the faith, when he addressed his apology +to the magistrates of the emperor Severus. [174] But the obscure +and imperfect origin of the western churches of Europe has been so +negligently recorded, that if we would relate the time and manner of +their foundation, we must supply the silence of antiquity by those +legends which avarice or superstition long afterwards dictated to the +monks in the lazy gloom of their convents. [175] Of these holy romances, +that of the apostle St. James can alone, by its singular extravagance, +deserve to be mentioned. From a peaceful fisherman of the Lake of +Gennesareth, he was transformed into a valorous knight, who charged at +the head of the Spanish chivalry in their battles against the Moors. The +gravest historians have celebrated his exploits; the miraculous shrine +of Compostella displayed his power; and the sword of a military order, +assisted by the terrors of the Inquisition, was sufficient to remove +every objection of profane criticism. [176] + +[Footnote 171: Serius trans Alpes, religione Dei suscepta. Sulpicius +Severus, l. ii. With regard to Africa, see Tertullian ad Scapulam, c. 3. +It is imagined that the Scyllitan martyrs were the first, (Acta Sincera +Rumart. p. 34.) One of the adversaries of Apuleius seems to have been a +Christian. Apolog. p. 496, 497, edit. Delphin.] + +[Footnote 172: Tum primum intra Gallias martyria visa. Sulp. Severus, +l. ii. These were the celebrated martyrs of Lyons. See Eusebius, v. i. +Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 316. According to the Donatists, +whose assertion is confirmed by the tacit acknowledgment of Augustin, +Africa was the last of the provinces which received the gospel. +Tillemont, Mem. Ecclesiast. tom. i. p. 754.] + +[Footnote 173: Rarae in aliquibus civitatibus ecclesiae, paucorum +Christianorum devotione, resurgerent. Acta Sincera, p. 130. Gregory of +Tours, l i. c. 28. Mosheim, p. 207, 449. There is some reason to believe +that in the beginning of the fourth century, the extensive dioceses of +Liege, of Treves, and of Cologne, composed a single bishopric, which had +been very recently founded. See Memoires de Tillemont, tom vi. part i. +p. 43, 411.] + +[Footnote 174: The date of Tertullian's Apology is fixed, in a +dissertation of Mosheim, to the year 198.] + +[Footnote 175: In the fifteenth century, there were few who had either +inclination or courage to question, whether Joseph of Arimathea founded +the monastery of Glastonbury, and whether Dionysius the Areopagite +preferred the residence of Paris to that of Athens.] + +[Footnote 176: The stupendous metamorphosis was performed in the ninth +century. See Mariana, (Hist. Hispan. l. vii. c. 13, tom. i. p. 285, +edit. Hag. Com. 1733,) who, in every sense, imitates Livy, and the +honest detection of the legend of St. James by Dr. Geddes, Miscellanies, +vol. ii. p. 221.] + +The progress of Christianity was not confined to the Roman empire; and +according to the primitive fathers, who interpret facts by prophecy, the +new religion, within a century after the death of its divine Author, had +already visited every part of the globe. "There exists not," says Justin +Martyr, "a people, whether Greek or Barbarian, or any other race of men, +by whatsoever appellation or manners they may be distinguished, however +ignorant of arts or agriculture, whether they dwell under tents, or +wander about in covered wagons, among whom prayers are not offered up in +the name of a crucified Jesus to the Father and Creator of all things." +[177] But this splendid exaggeration, which even at present it would be +extremely difficult to reconcile with the real state of mankind, can be +considered only as the rash sally of a devout but careless writer, the +measure of whose belief was regulated by that of his wishes. But neither +the belief nor the wishes of the fathers can alter the truth of history. +It will still remain an undoubted fact, that the barbarians of Scythia +and Germany, who afterwards subverted the Roman monarchy, were involved +in the darkness of paganism; and that even the conversion of Iberia, of +Armenia, or of Aethiopia, was not attempted with any degree of success +till the sceptre was in the hands of an orthodox emperor. [178] Before +that time, the various accidents of war and commerce might indeed +diffuse an imperfect knowledge of the gospel among the tribes of +Caledonia, [179] and among the borderers of the Rhine, the Danube, and +the Euphrates. [180] Beyond the last-mentioned river, Edessa was +distinguished by a firm and early adherence to the faith. [181] From +Edessa the principles of Christianity were easily introduced into the +Greek and Syrian cities which obeyed the successors of Artaxerxes; but +they do not appear to have made any deep impression on the minds of the +Persians, whose religious system, by the labors of a well disciplined +order of priests, had been constructed with much more art and solidity +than the uncertain mythology of Greece and Rome. [182] + +[Footnote 177: Justin Martyr, Dialog. cum Tryphon. p. 341. Irenaeus adv. +Haeres. l. i. c. 10. Tertullian adv. Jud. c. 7. See Mosheim, p. 203.] + +[Footnote 178: See the fourth century of Mosheim's History of the +Church. Many, though very confused circumstances, that relate to the +conversion of Iberia and Armenia, may be found in Moses of Chorene, l. +ii. c. 78--89. Note: Mons. St. Martin has shown that Armenia was the +first nation that embraced Christianity. Memoires sur l'Armenie, vol. i. +p. 306, and notes to Le Beae. Gibbon, indeed had expressed his intention +of withdrawing the words "of Armenia" from the text of future editions. +(Vindication, Works, iv. 577.) He was bitterly taunted by Person for +neglecting or declining to fulfil his promise. Preface to Letters to +Travis.--M.] + +[Footnote 179: According to Tertullian, the Christian faith had +penetrated into parts of Britain inaccessible to the Roman arms. About a +century afterwards, Ossian, the son of Fingal, is said to have disputed, +in his extreme old age, with one of the foreign missionaries, and the +dispute is still extant, in verse, and in the Erse language. See Mr. +Macpher son's Dissertation on the Antiquity of Ossian's Poems, p. 10.] + +[Footnote 180: The Goths, who ravaged Asia in the reign of Gallienus, +carried away great numbers of captives; some of whom were Christians, +and became missionaries. See Tillemont, Memoires Ecclesiast. tom. iv. p. +44.] + +[Footnote 181: The legends of Abgarus, fabulous as it is, affords +a decisive proof, that many years before Eusebius wrote his history, the +greatest part of the inhabitants of Edessa had embraced Christianity. +Their rivals, the citizens of Carrhae, adhered, on the contrary, to the +cause of Paganism, as late as the sixth century.] + +[Footnote 182: According to Bardesanes (ap. Euseb. Praepar. Evangel.) +there were some Christians in Persia before the end of the second +century. In the time of Constantine (see his epistle to Sapor, Vit. l. +iv. c. 13) they composed a flourishing church. Consult Beausobre, Hist. +Cristique du Manicheisme, tom. i. p. 180, and the Bibliotheca Orietalis +of Assemani.] + + + + +Chapter XV: Progress Of The Christian Religion.--Part IX. + +From this impartial though imperfect survey of the progress of +Christianity, it may perhaps seem probable, that the number of its +proselytes has been excessively magnified by fear on the one side, and +by devotion on the other. According to the irreproachable testimony of +Origen, [183] the proportion of the faithful was very inconsiderable, +when compared with the multitude of an unbelieving world; but, as we are +left without any distinct information, it is impossible to determine, +and it is difficult even to conjecture, the real numbers of the +primitive Christians. The most favorable calculation, however, that can +be deduced from the examples of Antioch and of Rome, will not permit +us to imagine that more than a twentieth part of the subjects of the empire had enlisted themselves under the banner of the cross +before the important conversion of Constantine. But their habits of +faith, of zeal, and of union, seemed to multiply their numbers; and the +same causes which contributed to their future increase, served to render +their actual strength more apparent and more formidable. + +[Footnote 183: Origen contra Celsum, l. viii. p. 424.] + +Such is the constitution of civil society, that whilst a few persons are +distinguished by riches, by honors, and by knowledge, the body of the +people is condemned to obscurity, ignorance and poverty. The Christian +religion, which addressed itself to the whole human race, must +consequently collect a far greater number of proselytes from the +lower than from the superior ranks of life. This innocent and natural +circumstance has been improved into a very odious imputation, which +seems to be less strenuously denied by the apologists, than it is urged +by the adversaries, of the faith; that the new sect of Christians was +almost entirely composed of the dregs of the populace, of peasants and +mechanics, of boys and women, of beggars and slaves, the last of whom +might sometimes introduce the missionaries into the rich and noble +families to which they belonged. These obscure teachers (such was the +charge of malice and infidelity) are as mute in public as they are +loquacious and dogmatical in private. Whilst they cautiously avoid +the dangerous encounter of philosophers, they mingle with the rude and +illiterate crowd, and insinuate themselves into those minds, whom their +age, their sex, or their education, has the best disposed to receive the +impression of superstitious terrors. [184] + +[Footnote 184: Minucius Felix, c. 8, with Wowerus's notes. Celsus ap. +Origen, l. iii. p. 138, 142. Julian ap. Cyril. l. vi. p. 206, edit. +Spanheim.] + +This unfavorable picture, though not devoid of a faint resemblance, +betrays, by its dark coloring and distorted features, the pencil of an +enemy. As the humble faith of Christ diffused itself through the world, +it was embraced by several persons who derived some consequence from the +advantages of nature or fortune. Aristides, who presented an eloquent +apology to the emperor Hadrian, was an Athenian philosopher. [185] Justin +Martyr had sought divine knowledge in the schools of Zeno, of Aristotle, +of Pythagoras, and of Plato, before he fortunately was accosted by the +old man, or rather the angel, who turned his attention to the study +of the Jewish prophets. [186] Clemens of Alexandria had acquired much +various reading in the Greek, and Tertullian in the Latin, language. +Julius Africanus and Origen possessed a very considerable share of +the learning of their times; and although the style of Cyprian is very +different from that of Lactantius, we might almost discover that both +those writers had been public teachers of rhetoric. Even the study of +philosophy was at length introduced among the Christians, but it was not +always productive of the most salutary effects; knowledge was as often +the parent of heresy as of devotion, and the description which was +designed for the followers of Artemon, may, with equal propriety, +be applied to the various sects that resisted the successors of the +apostles. "They presume to alter the Holy Scriptures, to abandon the +ancient rule of faith, and to form their opinions according to the +subtile precepts of logic. The science of the church is neglected for +the study of geometry, and they lose sight of heaven while they are +employed in measuring the earth. Euclid is perpetually in their hands. +Aristotle and Theophrastus are the objects of their admiration; and they +express an uncommon reverence for the works of Galen. Their errors are +derived from the abuse of the arts and sciences of the infidels, and +they corrupt the simplicity of the gospel by the refinements of human +reason." [187] + +[Footnote 185: Euseb. Hist. Eccles. iv. 3. Hieronym. Epist. 83.] + +[Footnote 186: The story is prettily told in Justin's Dialogues. +Tillemont, (Mem Ecclesiast. tom. ii. p. 384,) who relates it after him +is sure that the old man was a disguised angel.] + +[Footnote 187: Eusebius, v. 28. It may be hoped, that none, except the +heretics, gave occasion to the complaint of Celsus, (ap. Origen, l. ii. +p. 77,) that the Christians were perpetually correcting and altering +their Gospels. * Note: Origen states in reply, that he knows of none who +had altered the Gospels except the Marcionites, the Valentinians, and +perhaps some followers of Lucanus.--M.] + +Nor can it be affirmed with truth, that the advantages of birth and +fortune were always separated from the profession of Christianity. +Several Roman citizens were brought before the tribunal of Pliny, and he +soon discovered, that a great number of persons of every order of men +in Bithynia had deserted the religion of their ancestors. [188] His +unsuspected testimony may, in this instance, obtain more credit than the +bold challenge of Tertullian, when he addresses himself to the fears as +well as the humanity of the proconsul of Africa, by assuring him, that +if he persists in his cruel intentions, he must decimate Carthage, +and that he will find among the guilty many persons of his own rank, +senators and matrons of nobles' extraction, and the friends or relations +of his most intimate friends. [189] It appears, however, that about forty +years afterwards the emperor Valerian was persuaded of the truth of this +assertion, since in one of his rescripts he evidently supposes, that +senators, Roman knights, and ladies of quality, were engaged in the +Christian sect. [190] The church still continued to increase its +outward splendor as it lost its internal purity; and, in the reign +of Diocletian, the palace, the courts of justice, and even the army, +concealed a multitude of Christians, who endeavored to reconcile the +interests of the present with those of a future life. + +[Footnote 188: Plin. Epist. x. 97. Fuerunt alii similis amentiae, cives +Romani---Multi enim omnis aetatis, omnis ordinis, utriusque sexus, etiam +vocuntur in periculum et vocabuntur.] + +[Footnote 189: Tertullian ad Scapulum. Yet even his rhetoric rises no +higher than to claim a tenth part of Carthage.] + +[Footnote 190: Cyprian. Epist. 70.] + +And yet these exceptions are either too few in number, or too recent in +time, entirely to remove the imputation of ignorance and obscurity which +has been so arrogantly cast on the first proselytes of Christianity. [1901] +Instead of employing in our defence the fictions of later ages, it will +be more prudent to convert the occasion of scandal into a subject of +edification. Our serious thoughts will suggest to us, that the apostles +themselves were chosen by Providence among the fishermen of Galilee, +and that the lower we depress the temporal condition of the first +Christians, the more reason we shall find to admire their merit and +success. It is incumbent on us diligently to remember, that the kingdom +of heaven was promised to the poor in spirit, and that minds afflicted +by calamity and the contempt of mankind, cheerfully listen to the divine +promise of future happiness; while, on the contrary, the fortunate are +satisfied with the possession of this world; and the wise abuse in doubt +and dispute their vain superiority of reason and knowledge. + +[Footnote 1901: This incomplete enumeration ought to be increased by the +names of several Pagans converted at the dawn of Christianity, and whose +conversion weakens the reproach which the historian appears to support. +Such are, the Proconsul Sergius Paulus, converted at Paphos, (Acts +xiii. 7--12.) Dionysius, member of the Areopagus, converted with several +others, al Athens, (Acts xvii. 34;) several persons at the court of +Nero, (Philip. iv 22;) Erastus, receiver at Corinth, (Rom. xvi.23;) +some Asiarchs, (Acts xix. 31) As to the philosophers, we may add Tatian, +Athenagoras, Theophilus of Antioch, Hegesippus, Melito, Miltiades, +Pantaenus, Ammenius, all distinguished for their genius and +learning.--G.] + +We stand in need of such reflections to comfort us for the loss of some +illustrious characters, which in our eyes might have seemed the most +worthy of the heavenly present. The names of Seneca, of the elder and +the younger Pliny, of Tacitus, of Plutarch, of Galen, of the slave +Epictetus, and of the emperor Marcus Antoninus, adorn the age in which +they flourished, and exalt the dignity of human nature. They filled with +glory their respective stations, either in active or contemplative life; +their excellent understandings were improved by study; Philosophy had +purified their minds from the prejudices of the popular superstition; +and their days were spent in the pursuit of truth and the practice of +virtue. Yet all these sages (it is no less an object of surprise than of +concern) overlooked or rejected the perfection of the Christian system. +Their language or their silence equally discover their contempt for the +growing sect, which in their time had diffused itself over the Roman +empire. Those among them who condescended to mention the Christians, +consider them only as obstinate and perverse enthusiasts, who exacted an +implicit submission to their mysterious doctrines, without being able +to produce a single argument that could engage the attention of men of +sense and learning. [191] + +[Footnote 191: Dr. Lardner, in his first and second volumes of Jewish +and Christian testimonies, collects and illustrates those of Pliny +the younger, of Tacitus, of Galen, of Marcus Antoninus, and perhaps of +Epictetus, (for it is doubtful whether that philosopher means to speak +of the Christians.) The new sect is totally unnoticed by Seneca, the +elder Pliny, and Plutarch.] + +It is at least doubtful whether any of these +philosophers perused the apologies [1911] which the primitive Christians +repeatedly published in behalf of themselves and of their religion; but +it is much to be lamented that such a cause was not defended by +abler advocates. They expose with superfluous with and eloquence the +extravagance of Polytheism. They interest our compassion by displaying +the innocence and sufferings of their injured brethren. But when they +would demonstrate the divine origin of Christianity, they insist much +more strongly on the predictions which announced, than on the miracles +which accompanied, the appearance of the Messiah. Their favorite +argument might serve to edify a Christian or to convert a Jew, +since both the one and the other acknowledge the authority of those +prophecies, and both are obliged, with devout reverence, to search for +their sense and their accomplishment. But this mode of persuasion loses +much of its weight and influence, when it is addressed to those who +neither understand nor respect the Mosaic dispensation and the prophetic +style. [192] In the unskilful hands of Justin and of the succeeding +apologists, the sublime meaning of the Hebrew oracles evaporates in +distant types, affected conceits, and cold allegories; and even their +authenticity was rendered suspicious to an unenlightened Gentile, by the +mixture of pious forgeries, which, under the names of Orpheus, Hermes, +and the Sibyls, [193] were obtruded on him as of equal value with the +genuine inspirations of Heaven. The adoption of fraud and sophistry +in the defence of revelation too often reminds us of the injudicious +conduct of those poets who load their invulnerable heroes with a useless +weight of cumbersome and brittle armor. + +[Footnote 1911: The emperors Hadrian, Antoninus &c., read with astonishment +the apologies of Justin Martyr, of Aristides, of Melito, &c. (See St. +Hieron. ad mag. orat. Orosius, lviii. c. 13.) Eusebius says expressly, +that the cause of Christianity was defended before the senate, in a very +elegant discourse, by Apollonius the Martyr.--G. ----Gibbon, in his +severer spirit of criticism, may have questioned the authority of Jerome +and Eusebius. There are some difficulties about Apollonius, which +Heinichen (note in loc. Eusebii) would solve, by suppose lag him to have +been, as Jerome states, a senator.--M.] + +[Footnote 192: If the famous prophecy of the Seventy Weeks had been +alleged to a Roman philosopher, would he not have replied in the words +of Cicero, "Quae tandem ista auguratio est, annorum potius quam aut +raensium aut dierum?" De Divinatione, ii. 30. Observe with what +irreverence Lucian, (in Alexandro, c. 13.) and his friend Celsus ap. +Origen, (l. vii. p. 327,) express themselves concerning the Hebrew +prophets.] + +[Footnote 193: The philosophers who derided the more ancient predictions +of the Sibyls, would easily have detected the Jewish and Christian +forgeries, which have been so triumphantly quoted by the fathers, from +Justin Martyr to Lactantius. When the Sibylline verses had performed +their appointed task, they, like the system of the millennium, were +quietly laid aside. The Christian Sybil had unluckily fixed the ruin of +Rome for the year 195, A. U. C. 948.] + +But how shall we excuse the supine inattention of the Pagan and +philosophic world, to those evidences which were represented by the hand +of Omnipotence, not to their reason, but to their senses? During the age +of Christ, of his apostles, and of their first disciples, the doctrine +which they preached was confirmed by innumerable prodigies. The lame +walked, the blind saw, the sick were healed, the dead were raised, +daemons were expelled, and the laws of Nature were frequently suspended +for the benefit of the church. But the sages of Greece and Rome turned +aside from the awful spectacle, and, pursuing the ordinary occupations +of life and study, appeared unconscious of any alterations in the moral +or physical government of the world. Under the reign of Tiberius, the +whole earth, [194] or at least a celebrated province of the Roman empire, +[195] was involved in a preternatural darkness of three hours. Even this +miraculous event, which ought to have excited the wonder, the curiosity, +and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice in an age of science +and history. [196] It happened during the lifetime of Seneca and the +elder Pliny, who must have experienced the immediate effects, or +received the earliest intelligence, of the prodigy. Each of these +philosophers, in a laborious work, has recorded all the great phenomena +of Nature, earthquakes, meteors comets, and eclipses, which his +indefatigable curiosity could collect. [197] Both the one and the other +have omitted to mention the greatest phenomenon to which the mortal eye +has been witness since the creation of the globe. A distinct chapter +of Pliny [198] is designed for eclipses of an extraordinary nature and +unusual duration; but he contents himself with describing the singular +defect of light which followed the murder of Caesar, when, during the +greatest part of a year, the orb of the sun appeared pale and without +splendor. The season of obscurity, which cannot surely be compared with +the preternatural darkness of the Passion, had been already celebrated +by most of the poets [199] and historians of that memorable age. [200] + +[Footnote 194: The fathers, as they are drawn out in battle array by +Dom Calmet, (Dissertations sur la Bible, tom. iii. p. 295--308,) seem to +cover the whole earth with darkness, in which they are followed by most +of the moderns.] + +[Footnote 195: Origen ad Matth. c. 27, and a few modern critics, Beza, +Le Clerc, Lardner, &c., are desirous of confining it to the land of +Judea.] + +[Footnote 196: The celebrated passage of Phlegon is now wisely +abandoned. When Tertullian assures the Pagans that the mention of the +prodigy is found in Arcanis (not Archivis) vestris, (see his Apology, c. +21,) he probably appeals to the Sibylline verses, which relate it +exactly in the words of the Gospel. * Note: According to some learned +theologians a misunderstanding of the text in the Gospel has given rise +to this mistake, which has employed and wearied so many laborious +commentators, though Origen had already taken the pains to preinform +them. The expression does not mean, they assert, an eclipse, but any +kind of obscurity occasioned in the atmosphere, whether by clouds or any +other cause. As this obscuration of the sun rarely took place in +Palestine, where in the middle of April the sky was usually clear, it +assumed, in the eyes of the Jews and Christians, an importance +conformable to the received notion, that the sun concealed at midday was +a sinister presage. See Amos viii. 9, 10. The word is often taken in +this sense by contemporary writers; the Apocalypse says the sun was +concealed, when speaking of an obscuration caused by smoke and dust. +(Revel. ix. 2.) Moreover, the Hebrew word ophal, which in the LXX. +answers to the Greek, signifies any darkness; and the Evangelists, who +have modelled the sense of their expressions by those of the LXX., must +have taken it in the same latitude. This darkening of the sky usually +precedes earthquakes. (Matt. xxvii. 51.) The Heathen authors furnish us +a number of examples, of which a miraculous explanation was given at the +time. See Ovid. ii. v. 33, l. xv. v. 785. Pliny, Hist. Nat. l. ii. c 30. +Wetstein has collected all these examples in his edition of the New +Testament. We need not, then, be astonished at the silence of the Pagan +authors concerning a phenomenon which did not extend beyond Jerusalem, +and which might have nothing contrary to the laws of nature; although +the Christians and the Jews may have regarded it as a sinister presage. +See Michaelia Notes on New Testament, v. i. p. 290. Paulus, Commentary +on New Testament, iii. p. 760.--G.] + +[Footnote 197: Seneca, Quaest. Natur. l. i. 15, vi. l. vii. 17. Plin. +Hist. Natur. l. ii.] + +[Footnote 198: Plin. Hist. Natur. ii. 30.] + +[Footnote 199: Virgil. Georgic. i. 466. Tibullus, l. i. Eleg. v. ver. +75. Ovid Metamorph. xv. 782. Lucan. Pharsal. i. 540. The last of these +poets places this prodigy before the civil war.] + +[Footnote 200: See a public epistle of M. Antony in Joseph. Antiquit. +xiv. 12. Plutarch in Caesar. p. 471. Appian. Bell. Civil. l. iv. Dion +Cassius, l. xlv. p. 431. Julius Obsequens, c. 128. His little treatise +is an abstract of Livy's prodigies.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The History of The Decline and Fall of +the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DECLINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE *** + +***** This file should be named 731.txt or 731.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/7/3/731/ + +Produced by David Reed + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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